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Misguided wars: comparing the lost French cause in Algeria with the US debacle in Iraq

12/09/2007 By Robert Matthews

It has been said that the war in Algeria off ers some thoughts and lessons for the US dilemma in Iraq today. An examination of the two cases, however, reveals more diff erences than similarities between the two conflicts.

Are the similarities enough to provide a workable context and render comparisons relevant? Most of the similarities fall under the rubric of strategies and tactics while the differences are contextual, circumstantial, structural, historical and, thus, profound.

However, these striking differences allow us to place Iraq in some perspective. Provided there are suffi cient grounds for comparison, the exercise of juxtaposing two historical phenomena, even ones with substantial distinctions, can cast into high relief the essential aspects both.

Since there are more contrasts than parallels, there are perhaps fewer lessons and guideposts for the future in Iraq, but the exercise yields some insights into the nature of the two confl icts.

Are the similarities enough to overshadow the clear distinctions and render a comparison relevant? We shall venture a qualified yes.

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Keywords

Al Qaeda Algeria External intervention Iraq Middle East and North Africa Terrorism

Bio author: Robert Matthews

Robert Matthews, Associate Fellow of FRIDE, holds a Ph.D in Latin American history from New York University, where he was a teacher at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. For twenty years was a collaborator with the Peace Research Center - Centro de Investigación para la Paz (CIP) - in Madrid, specializing in United States foreign policy.