Political Science

Paper Outline
Introduction
Provides a general outlook of the culture of the Iraqi people from a historical perspective
Illustrates how the US and other foreign troops interact with the Iraqi people and are thus affected by the culture of the Iraqi people.

Impact of the Iraqi culture on the US soldiers
Explains how the culture of the Iraqi people was the cradle of civilization during the ancient era and how the Iraqis are proud of their ancient heritage.

Shows how the norms and values of the Iraqi people have changed over time thus changing the Iraqi people from very hospitable people to highly violent individuals.

The violent nature of the Iraqi people has had a great impact on the US troops deployed in the country.

The Bedouin culture adopted by the Iraqi people as explained by Ali al-Wardi has been discussed, as well as it has impacted on the US soldiers.

 The aspect of lack of firm democratic foundation in Iraq has also affected the US soldiers, who are compelled to use other means other than democratic principles in resolving various issues.

Conclusion
Summarizes the various aspects of the Iraqi culture that have had a lot of impact on the US troops deployed in the country.

Shows that there is a contradiction between the assertions made by the Iraqi people concerning their culture as most of the claims they make are only true as far as history is concerned but they have dramatically changed over time.

Introduction
The culture and traditions of a country embodies its values, norms and institutions of behavior that are rooted in the collective and history memory of the nation. As the troops from the United States and other coalition forces in Iraq work to stabilize the country as  well as transform the society of Iraq, the nature of this countrys culture and identity is very crucial not only to the archeologists and the anthropologists, but also to the military officers and the policymakers. Despite the fact that violence may seem to be very dominant as indicated by the international media houses, below the surface is an Iraqi culture that is very vibrant which is struggling enormously to reassert itself. This culture has had a great impact on the US troops based in the country as they have to interact with the Iraqi people on a daily basis. Just like other people, the US soldiers are social people and are eager to learn about the culture of the Iraqis (Raphaeli, para 2).

Impact of the Iraqi culture on the US soldiers
When asked queries concerning their culture, most Iraqis recall the role of their nation as civilizations cradle and assert descent from Assyrians, Babylonians, and Sumerians. Today, several billboards and television commercials in Baghdad make most of their references to the ancient heritage of their country. However, the modern culture of the Iraqi people is marked with violence and tribalism.

These two elements of the Iraqi culture are the ones that have had a lot of impact on the US soldiers deployed in the country. They have to contend with highly violent Iraqi insurgents who are capable of killing anyone with anything and thus the US troops have to be extra cautious. The extent of the violent nature of the Iraqi people can currently be demonstrated by their ability to commit suicide in order to attack an enemy as it is the case with the suicide bombers. The current wave of tribalism in the country especially between the especially between the Shias and the Sunnis has had a lot of impact on the US soldiers operating in the country. It has to ensure that neither the Shias nor the Sunnis hurt the other cause of the animosity that exists between them. This has greatly affected the way the US troops deployed in the country operate since they have an extra role of ensuring that the tribalism is done away with in the country in order to make the country more stable politically and economically (Lawrence, para 4).

According Ali al-Wardi, a renowned Iraqi sociologist and historian, the bedrock of the Iraqi culture is the Bedouin. The Bedouin culture is characterized by three main elements chivalry, raiding and tribalism. Each of these components is well defined under the taghalub concept. The Bedouin individuals attempt to persuade others by his tribes force, his superiority strength and his personal strength. The Bedouin individual has had significant impact on the US soldiers since he is ready to do anything to prove that he is much superior. The US soldiers have to ensure that they are not persuaded by the claims of the Bedouin individual (Advameg, Inc, para 5).

Over the years, especially under the leadership of their former leader, Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people glorified violence. This had a lot of impact on shaping the society and the culture of the Iraqi people that the US soldiers have to contend with today. The US troops have learnt that the society of Iraq glorifies violence and to them it is more of a virtue than a vice. This has had a great impact on the working of the US soldiers as well as their relations with the Iraqi people. Even though in the past, the Iraqi people were very hospitable this has greatly changed and they no longer value such attributes. The case is even worse when the people from US or western nations are involved since the Iraqi people treat them with a lot of contempt (Lawrence, para 6).

The Iraqi people have very little trust if any on the American soldiers and have made this to be part of their culture over the years. This aspect has impacted on the US soldiers very negatively and has acted as a great stumbling block in their quest of stabilizing the country. The low levels of trust usually make the Iraqi people not to be open while holding dialogues with the US military on the way forward in ensuring that their nation becomes more stable as soon as possible. This makes the American soldiers to make use of other methods other than dialogue in resolving the conflict in the country. Furthermore, even if the Iraqi policymakers reach on any agreements with the US soldiers, most likely the Iraqi side will not observe its obligations making the relations between the two sides even more complicated (Raphaeli, para 8).

The Iraqi society has not been built on the ideologies and concepts of democracy and thus when the US through its soldiers attempts to introduce such concepts they are received with a lot of confusion. The non oppressed side will reject such attempts in order to continue oppressing the other communities, while the oppressed ones will accept them not because they like the idea, but due to the fact that it will enable them propagate the tribalism hatred. In such a non democratic society, the US soldiers have to use non democratic means of resolving matters in the short run in the hope of changing the entire society in the long run. The application of non democratic means to resolve an issue is a very new concept to the US soldiers who are forced to apply them in order to meet the short term goals of the nation and thus have the ability of focusing on the long term objectives of the Iraqi society (Advameg, Inc, para 9).

Conclusion
The culture of the Iraqi people presents absurdity, since on one side it purports to claim the great achievements of its civilizations and on the other side the same culture is marked by discord, war and violence. Perhaps the explanations provided by Wardi that the culture of the Iraq people is basically Bedouin culture which regards peace to be only temporary while conflict is permanent is the best explanation for this culture. The US soldiers who have been deployed in the country for close to one decade have been greatly affected by this Bedouin culture of the Iraqi people and have to contend with it in order to achieve their main objectives of stabilizing the country. Most of the impacts the Iraqi culture have had on the American soldiers is negative and have greatly affected the US troops operating in the country and interacting with the Iraqi people on a daily basis.