Can the success in rebuilding Japan be duplicated in Iraq?

Absolutely not!
To really understand, you must look at a broader spectrum of things. Japan before the war was a thriving capital of industrial power. The war with China in 1894-1895 made Japan the world's first non-Western modern imperial power, and the war with Russia proved that a Western power could be defeated by a non-Western State. The aftermath of these two wars left Japan the dominant power in the Far East, with a sphere of influence extending over southern Manchuria and Korea. During WW1 it declared war on the Central Powers, attacking German colonial outposts in East Asia, and taking advantage of the opportunity to expand its influence in Asia and its territorial holdings in the Pacific.
The post-war era brought Japan unprecedented prosperity. Japan went to the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 as one of the great military and industrial powers of the world and received official recognition as one of the "Big Five" of the new international order. With that said, it is sufficient to say that then and even in its history, the Japanese have always been a proud people. But as most of you know, within the course of one war (WW2) Japan’s prosperous Imperial Empire was nothing more than a firebombed and radiation drowned, shell of a country. The Japanese Empire's government was dismantled under General Douglas MacArthur and replaced by a constitutional monarchy with the emperor as a figurehead. But it was still, a united Japan. The whole of Japan was united under one religion, unlike Iraq. Japan also had an enormous amount of national pride left, and believed that it once again was destined to such prosperity. With the assistance of American reconstruction (though it was undoubtedly our responsibility, the obvious reasons for the assistance was anti-communist oriented) and the unity of the Japanese people, Japan was quickly rebuilt.
Iraq on the other hand is completely different. A site on constant military conflict, Iraq has never been a world power. Due to the post-Saddam Hussein power shift from Sunni to Shia, Iraq has turned into a ubiquitous region of sectarian violence and anti-American strife. Making reconstruction impossible.

Groupthink and Doublethink

The question was raised in my Sociology class; Is there a correlation between Groupthink and Doublethink? I say, Yes...

Now, Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing and evaluating ideas. It may cause groups to make hasty, irrational decisions, where individual doubts are set aside, for fear of upsetting the group's balance.

and According to George Orwell's Novel 1984, Doublethink is the act of holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously, believing both, despite being aware of their incompatibility.

And many people don't believe doublethink exists. I've been told that is it only fiction, like the book. But people use doublethink all the time, in-fact I used it at school just recently when I said I was absent because I had court. I lied. I had a trig test I was unprepared for. But I didn't lie like most people do who know they are lieing, I tricked myself, I consciously told myself it was true, making it very easy to lie, because, if I believe it's true, I'll have no problem telling anyone such.

So my hypothesis is that Groupthink theory and Doublethink theory are interlinked and are quite rampant in society, the media, and politics, and that a person will use doublethink to deny truth in order to comply with the established group.

I'll use a prime example of untruths…

Before the Iraq war, George Bush made a comment in one of his speeches… and it was "if Saddam Hussein does not disarm, the United States of America will lead a coalition and disarm him in the name of Peace."

Now anyone believing in this statement has to use Doublethink to agree with it.

Disarm is the name of peace? Disarming means War…. And War in the name of peace? The statement is doublethink. It's a blackwhite. War is peace, Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength…

(Not to mention that is wasn't long before the news came out that there was nothing to disarm in the first place… It's a little hard to drop your gun when you're not holding one… )

Now, Why would anyone use doublethink to believe Bush's statement? Well, because if they didn't it would conflict with the Group leader's statements and the group… Groupthink…

2 More Poems

Nowhere but up

-Corey Landon Walsh
1-20-07
I can barely lift a pen,
To say the very least.
With helplessness taking over,
I'll drink until deceased.
No word or oath or creed,
Can help me so today.
I'll just drink till I see bottom,
And err improve the day.
For if I had the choice,
I'd choose the later grave.
Sweet peace and humble sleep,
With agony I would wave.
But I am not near brave,
Brave enough to choose.
So I'll chug the whisky down,
And hope that I will lose.


Shattered
By Corey Walsh
You think you're broken? My Heart was crushed.
For death, dawn, and dieing – I know too much.
Every word's a cut; every breath's a bruise
Every glance is a knife through my broken heart too.
What total Connection – Feelings so rushed.
Who ever knew that is was all too much.
Though special to me – to you, was just a ruse.
All I ever wanted – was to be Loved by You.