Learned Helplessness on a National Scale

Learned helplessness is a psychological term that is often associted with the elderly. It is a mental condition where an individual feels he or she is unable to complete a task they could in the passed without the help of others. Many times this can be observed in such places as nursing homes and to a lesser degree in hospitals. People who rely entirely on another individual (or group) to take care of their most basic of needs.

Iraq is a nation of people who are being taught learned helplessness on a national scale. They play little if any role in the reconstruction of their nation. The Iraqi people have another nation, the United States, that is willing to complete this task for them. Before the American invasion of Iraq, these people were oppressed and apathetic. They could only see what was in front of their faces; a people unable to dream, only follow orders. I fear the United States is creating another environment where the Iraqis can only see what is before them, and unable to see the greater picture and opportunites they have in a sovereign nation in which they control exclusively. Instead of allowing the Iraqi government to create a viable security/police/military apparatus, we see an increase in American military presence. We are teaching them that they need not worry about fighting these battles for themselves when they can rely on us to complete the task for them.

That is what I mean by learned helplessness on a epidemic scale. This isn't grandma or grandpa in the nursing home in the next county. This is a culture, a society that cannot logically fend for itself. A society of infants that are looking to us for their survival in a post-Saddam environment. We have created a situation where we must take care of these people's future. This is simply not feeding a group of people, but providing for them the principles of democracy in an environment of disdain and mistrust.

We have given over one-thousand American lives to securing this nation; however, we really have gotten no closer to solving this problem than the day the occupation of Iraq began. Instead of Saddam Hussein and Republican Guard, we are facing militants and guerilla warfare. We know that guerilla warfare can be a viable alternative to standard military combat, just consider the American Revolution!

I think the US government must return more autonomy to the Iraqi government. There must be an immediate push for the creation of Iraqi military and police forces. This will secure the sovereignty of the new government in a way that it can protect and legitimize itself. In the final idealistic Iraq, the people will be able to care for themselves in every way a sovereign nation can and must, without the polarizing effects of a foreign power dominating it! That is true independence from tyranny.