How to Destroy a Country

Iraq today is failed and poor. But it used to be rich. WHY?

Some sources/readings:
Prisoners of Geography - Tim Marshall
False Economy - Alan Beattie

[orikihiro]

As an Iraqi who lived under Saddam's regime and witnessed most of these events, this brings tears to my eyes and reminds me of the many horrors I've seen. But I have to say this video is very accurate in portraying Iraq's recent history. it won't be an exaggeration to say that he did a better job covering this than most (if not all) main stream media outlets.

I also liked that h0ser mentioned (Towards the end of the video), how Iraq was broken even before the US invaded it. I deeply believe that Iraq shot itself in the foot way before the gulf war or the 2003 invasion. Iraqi leaders and political elite are highly incompetent and with their sheer stupidity and the support of their loyalists destroyed the country, and made sure it won't have a stable future.

I hope to see a video in the future talking about, how having land borders with 6 countries (3 of them are major regional players) contributed to the geopolitical instability of Iraq, and how Iran and other countries are having proxy conflicts to suck up its wealth. that would be great.

Thank you @h0ser for covering this. very accurate and entertaining even if it made me bit sad.

[MrSpherical]

Great geopolitical education, this man knows how to entertain

[rsq]

USA : Oh they have Oil .... they really need democracy

[trytry]

My dad was in Syria as a tourist when 9/11 happened. He recalls someone ushering him into a bar to look at the television.
He left the next day.

Me and my dad have a great love of architecture and history, it’s caused me so much pain to see one of the historically wealthiest parts of the world get torn apart like it has been.

I may not be from the Middle East, but that doesn’t mean I can’t despair about the situation there.

Never forget Palmyra.

So much has been lost, but hopefully some of it can be regained

[RDA]

Step 1) Trust the British
Step 2) Become a British protectorate
Step 3) oh fuck I can't believe you've done this

[HabibiSpice]

As an Iraqi American, it’s a shame what happened to Iraq. Every American veteran I’ve met who served in Iraq had the nicest things to say about my people and every Iraqi I’ve ever met wanted the same things everyone else does: happiness, prosperity, and peace. We’re good people but we can’t defend ourselves against the rampant evil that taints Iraq. They don’t represent us but they sure do hurt us. People think that Iraqis like the terrorist groups and the war-mongering but we don’t, not mostly at least, because the first people to get hurt by them is us. It’s a damn shame.

[CCGarland]

Really informative while entertaining. I wish we had these types of YouTube channels back when I deployed to Afghanistan. I spent a year there and had no idea as to why we were there or the strategic goal. I was very confused. I just followed orders but I can't tell you to this day, over a decade later, what our goal was - other than to "win hearts and minds" and "get home safe".

[gsxii]

As a Lebanese i love how u mentioned us as an olive oil corrupt nation. Couldn’t be more true

[The_Hope_Lost]

I am Iraqi...🇮🇶
With a lot of mistakes and skipping the causes of wars... And not mentioning anything after 2017... But it's good A miniature historical lesson for modern Iraq

.... But The truth is that most of you still see us as a destroyed country and a desert... It's been 6 years.. Now....
If you want to see Iraq now. Iraq is open to all and we welcome you all to come to our country....
You can see hundreds of non-Iraqis visiting Iraq now...

[onemoreminute]

Imo, Saddam Hussein might just be the most failed dicator I've read about

-Goes to war with Iran and loses after 8 years
- Racks up huge war debt
- Invades Kuwait to pay off debt, but then gets kicked out by west
- West then invades again because he has weapons he doesn't actually have
- Dies

[Ghhhhhhhhhhh]

الشعب العراقي لطيف
السياسة الخارجية وتحكم الدول المجاورة هيه من اساس خراب هذه الدولة العظيمة.

[tengkualiff]

1) Have oil
2) Make sure you don't have democracy
3) Have a democracy

[abbas]

As an Iraqi I can’t help but laugh at our country’s fall, but I also have hope that Iraq will strive again. I currently live in the US which is ironic but at least now I have better education and a sense of safety.
Ever since I was born, Iraq’s Politics were chaotic, although my parents made it work, we had just enough to keep it together.

[nadwanrosetta]

As an Iraqi I can say, yep, this is exactly what happened to us in the last 100 years of absurdity despite it seeming to be exaggerated and unbelievable. No one has been fucked up that much like us

[alpha_berchermuesli]

how am i only finding this channel now. absolutely amazing essays/coverages on historical topics. and sources.

[Harry_S._]

The parts with Hoser explaining all the dumpsterfire madness while an Arabic version of Blinding Lights (Moroccan singer Rachid Aseyakhe) is playing in background are peak Youtube art

[mozorellastick]

My uncle was a 16 year old when he fought in the Iran Iraq war. There was an Iraqi general who was shooting at the Iranian soldiers by himself. He made some good shots and kept going till he ran out of bullets. My uncle said he was this huge buff dude, and my uncle and his squad mates went to see him once he had stopped shooting. One of the Iranian soldiers offered him some water as they saw he had been shot, but he was still on the adrenaline of the fight and wacked the water canteen away. This dude was so huge that he literally hurled the soldier like 2 feet from where he was standing with one arm. My uncle saw that he had actually been shot in the leg and was losing a lot of blood. My uncles arm had been skinned during a squirming and he had a keffiye wrapped around it, but he saw that the Iraqi general was losing a lot of blood. He knelt to take the keffiye off of his own wounds to wrap around his leg so he didn't lose too much blood, and felt a wetness on the top of his head. He looked up to see the general crying. My uncles selfless deed and that giant buff generals emotional reaction showed that Iranians and Iraqis didn't want to kill eachother, we loved each other and saw each other as brothers. We have all put the war behind us, and none of my family harbours any ill feelings towards Iraq, even though they were the ones that invaded Iran, and even though we lost two of my uncles in the battle field. The wests interference and suddams sociopathic actions destroyed Iraq and led to countless deaths on both sides. It was a war between brothers, and the people on both sides genuinely cared about eachother. Even today I as an Iranian have nothing but love to give to the Iraqi people, they have been through so much just as we have, and I pray one day they will find peace and freedom

[minikonshu]

As an Iraqi who *unfortunately* still lives in Iraq I can confirm that Iraq is like a fever dream

[rigmaroul]

i actually love your editing style dude you make history(formerly my worst subject) funny and still keep every fact in😭

[Habere-ijff]

im an iraqi kurd who lives near the turkish border and i have to say, i was too young to remember all this but my family has told me many stories. and currently at this point the area i live in is pretty stable and the last time i heard a gunshot, was when a crazy man (or drunk) went up an unfinished apartment tower and shot at the road. that was about 2 years ago. it is pretty rare to see poverty here (if you know where to avoid) and its annoyingly centered around cars here. overall its not bad in the north but in the south its a horribly different story in the south of which i will not give any more details.