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Unprovoked murder? The culture clash in Iraq and the growing resistance

...Amara is a tough town, filled with hard men. They say they gave the British a chance, welcomed them. But they weren't giving up their guns. They didn't give them up to Saddam and they weren't going to surrender them to the British. They'd fought Saddam to the point that he drained their marshes so they would have no place to hide.

In less than two days, we have 10 dead, 16 wounded and 2 missing and possibly kidnapped. In addition, the power has been blown in Baghdad, the water no longer works, and the average temperature is 110 degrees.
Meanwhile, the lights are on at the Presidential Palace as Jerry Bremer labors away in air conditioned opulance.

Is it a pattern of resistance? Maybe. But the complaints about US and British behavior, the cultural misunderstandings between the occupier and the occupied is what is driving the killing. The British act like Amara, a den of smugglers, will turn over their kin for defending their faith and honor. There was no misunderstanding on their part. The British disrespected them and they paid for it.

The coalition has misjudged the Iraqi people and their awareness. They treat them like Afghans, isolated from the world, and they are not. They are no more isolated or religious as your average Texan. They know the world well enough to know the CPA is ruining their lives. Who wants to swelter and drink dirty water? Freedom doesn't eliminate cholera.

The lack of Arabic speakers, the ignorance of basic religious and local customs, the force being used is leading to disaster. ...