The US invasion of Iraq, a country that was not connected to the 9/11 attacks, squandered that good will, and the attractiveness of the US in Muslim countries like Indonesia plummeted from 75% approval in 2000 to half that level today. Indeed, occupying a divided nation is messy, and it is bound to produce episodes like Abu Ghraib and Haditha, which undercut America’s attractiveness not just in Iraq, but around the world.
我们使用军事力量的方式也影响到“拉姆斯菲尔德比”。9/11事件后，全世界都对美国对塔利班的军事打击表示理解和同情，而美国入侵与9/11袭击毫无瓜葛的伊拉克将世界人民的同情挥霍殆尽。美国在印度尼西亚等穆斯林国家的吸引力指数已经从2000年的74%大幅下降至上述比例的一半。实际上，占领一个四分五裂的国家本身就非常棘手，像阿布格莱布和哈迪塞这样的事件几乎肯定会发生，它们使美国在伊拉克、乃至全球的吸引力都大受影响。