Unchecked Man’s Devious Will: US Age of Common Man and Gilded Age Versus Recent Iraq

Bewildered by the wave of terror and ongoing political corruption in Iraq, one feels compelled to dig deeper into the history of prosperous nations in an attempt to help eliminate the loss of time and human souls. In this endeavour, the study finds out that the current bleak circumstances in Iraq look in so many ways like the bloody events and widespread corruption during the 19th Century in the States, specifically in the Age of Common Man and the Gilded Age. Bleak ages, were eventually followed by a culture of peace and time of order and prosperity in the States. Keywords— Gilded Age, Age of Terror, Mankind, Iraq,


INTRODUCTION
The factors behind human conflicts for a time became the preoccupation of several philosophers interpreting variously the causes and effects of the everlasting bloody conflicts. Their interpretations vary from one to another, yet they all agree that Man's innate Will is the chief cause. The will is an impulse innately existing in human beings, and a motive influencing the actions and conducts of all creatures. Not only man, but also all other living creatures have a will: every beast has got a will like man, and so do the soulless birds. Among others, Man's will is blind, ruthless, and wicked. On one hand, in a culture of violence, the will-to-power remains unchecked, and entails only bloodshed, destruction and miseries. On the other hand, in a peaceful environment, Man's evil will is more likely kept in check, as thoroughly reiterated in the following; What distinguishes man from animals is the insight into the advantages that can be derived from cooperation under the division of labour. Man curbs his innate instinct of aggression in order to cooperate with other human beings. The more he wants to improve his material well-bein g , the more he must expand the system of the division of labour. Concomitantly he must more and more restrict the sphere in which he resorts to military action. Human cooperation under the division of labour in the civil society "bursts asunder," whenever citizens turn into warriors and resort to war (Von Mises, 1998). It is true that peace of civil society bursts asunder, when citizens are mobilized to carry muskets, and the instinct of aggression vigorously prevails and sets loose the devil in Man. As a consequence, Keats' Tyger would be unleashed to crush mercilessly the defenceless lamb . The tiger-like corrupt politicians, enslaved by their innate will, insidiously invest devious tactics to mobilize the multitudes in an attempt to exploit and manipulate helpless nations. Many historical events reveal that most politicians, regardless of time or place, are more Machiavellian in their felony than the Prince of Machiavelli himself. They gilded the real motive with thin layers of false gold, yet they insidiously constitutionalize their whims and use their armed apparatus to achieve their inhuman goal. Might makes Right is constantly the bewitching credo embraced by corrupt politicians. Without any doubt, such a credo arouses to action selfish struggle among humans.
phenomena, living and non-living, animating the universe and would ever lead meaninglessly to all sufferings and miseries, for the will is never sated (Warburton, p. 150). To Schopenhauer, the will is not intelligence; it is blind, directionless striving, and thus condemns most humans to lives of suffering (Warburton, p. 941).
Von Hartmann, the rather optimistic philosopher, sees the Will as an unconscious mental energy he calls interchangeably the Will and sometimes the Unconscious. The consciousness has developed in higher animals, including man, as an accident of evolution and the thrust of the unconscious toward self-realization. This may gradually prevail throughout the universe and then the innate wickedness of Man would be contained (Smith , 1981). Such optimistic views are unfortunately deflated by the ongoing gruesome events that keep smudging the face of earth with human blood.
Charles Darwin, in his book On the Origin of Species, infers that the Will is the main motive behind men's and beasts' activities. His ideas were more influential as compared to others', reaching beyond the subject of biological evolution and moving into the social arena. Darwin's idea of survival of the fittest is applied to majority of human activities. Survival of the fittest thus has become the social byword, and life becomes similar to a contest among ruthless contenders. Man can hope to prosper only by defeating his competitors. Unfortunately, the struggle among men has become ruthless and cutthroat. Only by defeating their competitors could man foolishly hope to prosper. Grappling with any such common conviction, the survival goes not only to the fittest, but also to the wiliest, the most crooked, and most corrupt enterprises. Corrupt politicians eventually create a Darwinian environment where the wicked will of man is set loose, and in turn roams randomly and crush without mercy whoever stands against its fulfilmen t . Schopenhauer agreed that the Will of man ruthlessly propels the evolutionary struggle for survival among living creatures (Brown, 2001).

Making of a New Nation
While paging the American history, the European settlers had been engaged into hundreds of battles and wars since the very beginning. After landing on the shores of America, the new settlers, a mixture of headstrong gentlemen-idlers or work-shy never-do-well, the off-scouring of English society came full of hope to a land the English poet Michael Drayton called Earth's Paradise, Where nature hath in store Fowl, venison, and fish And the fruitfullest soil, Without your toil, Three harvests more, All greater than you wish (McMichael, p.13).
The settlers engaged first into a number of skirmishes with the natives of the land particularly after they showed trends to trespass the Indians' lot. However, their aggression was approximate to their plain weaponry and capacities. More possibly, for being strangers, scarce in number, and less capable, they resorted to trade with the Plains Indians instead of raid, and hence their will-topower was kept in check. Out of necessity, they maintained good relationships with the natives to the point of blood mixing, marriage. Some learned the Indian languages, others mingled peacefully with the so-called savage tribes. No one can doubt that Captain John Smith's story of capture and rescue has become an authentic American legend that filled the popular imagination with exotic vision of deliverance in the arms of a dusky princess of the forest (McGinnis, 1966).
Things had drastically changed after the American Independence. The new capable and mighty Republic eyed the vast lands of the continent westward, yet the expansion could not be attained but by confiscating the lands of the natural owners, the Plains Indians. In this context, the infamous Jackson's Bill came into existence demanding the removal of Indians out of the south-eastern states to new lands in the west. This Bill passed and was terribly used by most States to legitimize aggressions against Plains Indians, and in turn accelerated the process of pushing them westward. Jackson's justification was worse than his intent. Arrogantly he boasted that Indians had no intelligence, no industry, no moral habits, nor the desire of improvements (White, 1991), as if advocating the idea of Nietzsche: the strongest and fittest have the right to exploit and abuse the weakest. Ironically, before the actual implementation of the removal policy, a systematic process of demonizing the target nation began and replaced the romantic adulation and celebration of the Noble Savages, as was common during the Age of Reason and Revolution.

Militarized Communities
Civil societies in the States, during the Age of Common Man were held hostage by the grip of armed factions, and history is being repeated nowadays. The selfish thrust of politicians toward supremacy had created a culture of violence, the appropriate environment for the prevalence of Man's Will-to-Power. The American societies turned totally militarized, before the Civil War and however more after. A citizen was forced to carry weapons and enlist in some militarized groups, resulting in almost the whole nation to become a de facto military zone. There were hundreds of local militias, volunteers, and vigilantes' throng beside the national army. The excuse for the show of power was always to defend communities against aggression, be it the British forces, royalist sympathizers, or the anti-Christ savage forces, as the first European settlers labelled the Plains Indians.

Exploitation of the Weakest Indian Nation
By 1837, the Indian Removal Act was put into practice, and inevitably allowed the will-to-power to ardently advance at the expense of peaceful trends. The infamous Bill of Andrew Jackson theoretically provided for voluntary removal and had safeguards for the rights of Indians, but in real the removal was involuntary, brutal and ignored safeguards, and terribly used by greedy multitudes and corrupt politicians to confiscate the lands of Plains Indians (Cave, 2003). Investing smartly in the fiction of Manifest Destiny, corrupt politicians easily mobilized not only professional armed forces, but also greedy settlers to carry muskets and move eastward and westward to crush, destroy, and exterminate whoever stood against the fulfilment of their mission, be it Indians, Mexicans, French or British. Ironically, the vast multitudes were in favour of their politicians' whim and the reason was not really hard to discern. For the common run, it was more alluring, since violence and raid harvest more gain, than does mutual trade and peaceful coexistence. By violent means, one may acquire all what he seeks; whereas, through peaceful means one may get half or less than what he desperately desires. Soon a culture of violence was created, and military traditions prevailed.
Even the most civilized activity, election, was strongly affected by military life and traditions. Political parties in the 19th century thought of themselves as armiesas disciplined, hierarchical fighting organizations whose mission was to defeat a clearly identified opponent, and most elections of the 19th Century became realigning elections (Dinkin, 1989). Theodore Roosevelt explains how the political machine worked: The organization of a party in our city is really much like that of an army. There is one great central boss, assisted by some trusted and able lieutenants; these communicate with the different district bosses, whom they alternately bully and assist. The district boss in turn has a number of half-subordinates, half-allies , under him; these latter choose the captains of the election districts, etc., and come into contact with the common healers (Coleman, 2000).
In comparison, in Iraq many political leaders had experience as military officers or engaged into violent events. This affected to a great deal the structuring of their parties and followers. After elections, most government jobs are also distributed on a patronage basis to party members and followers, whereas the qualifications of the candidates matter the least. Nepotism and cronyism are widespread in the practices of most Iraqi politicians, who usually distribute the most prestigious and sensitive jobs to followers and relatives, pending they defend for good or ill their patrons. As a result, classes of unqualified opportunists hold sensitive posts that fall way beyond their expertise; regardless they would enjoy unprecedented support of their backers in case of failings or corruption.

The Trail of Tears
As mentioned before, the infamous Act of President Jackson set loose the offensive will of militants and allowed it to ruthlessly reveal itself outwardly. By the power of the Indian Removal Act, the American government began forcibly relocating East Coast Indian five tribes across the Mississippi River towards a new designated land named the Indian Territory in Oklahoma State. Ironically these tribes were known as civilized tribes, unlike what Jackson had labelled them as less intelligent, less industrious, less principled, and less ambitious. Before the implementation of the Removal Act, Indians maintained moderate relationship with authorities and lived peacefully in autonomous communities. After, all must leave their ancestral lands. For an Indian to avoid removal, he had to utterly surrender ancestral heritage and submit to the Will of his oppressor. And worse, the events revealed that many natives who took the offer were defrauded by ravenous speculators; they stole their claims and sold their land to whites (Baird , 1973). The exodus of Plains Indians explicitly showed the brutality of man against man, when the dictates of man's blind will take the lead. About 17,000 Cherokee Indians, along with approximately 2,000 Cherokee-owned black slaves, were unjustly removed from their homeland, for no reason but to implement the Indian Removal Act (Grenke, 2005).
Historians such as David Stannard and Barbara Mann noted that the militants deliberately routed the march of the Cherokee, the largest tribe among the rest, to pass through areas of known cholera epidemic, such as Vicksburg, perhaps to double the fatalities among the target nation, and then to erase native Indians from the face of earth, if it was possible (Stannard, 1993). The atrocities of the American militants bring to mind the letters of British commander Jeffery Amherst in which he authorized the deliberate use of disease-infected blankets as a biological weapon against Indians during the Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763. Amherst instructed his subordinates, you will Do well to try to Inoculate the Indians by means of Blankets, as well as to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race, and maintained, I need only Add, I Wish to Hear of no prisoners should any of the villains be met with arms (Henderson, 1999;Fenn, 2000). In the same fashion, the brutality of Man against man was felt when smallpo x swept the northern plains of the U.S. in 1837. The U.S. Secretary of War Lewis Cass ordered that no Mandan along with other Indian tribes be given smallpox vaccinations, which were provided to other tribes in other areas (Kotar, 2013;Washburn, 2006;Valencia-Weber, 2003). The intent is not hard to discern; it is simply to exterminate the real possessors and confiscate their land.

International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS)
More atrocities could be seen during the march of pains. The Trail of Tears of Cherokee Indians began during a bitterly cold winter in Red Clay, Tennessee, the last Eastern capital of the Cherokee nation, and headed north till they found a place to cross the giant river. After crossing the river, they would be taken south, backward, to the State of Oklahoma. Furthermore, the evacuees were treated like sick beasts because of epidemic diseases spread among them. Their military escort did not allow them to go into any towns or villages along the way, so their superiors, the white settlers, would not be contaminated. After crossing Tennessee and Kentucky, they arrived at Ohio River across from Golconda in southern Illinois about the 3rd of December 1838. At the crossing bank, they were not allowed to take the ferry, until all white settlers and black slaves wishing to cross were serviced. Exhausted Indians took shelter for more than three long weeks under Mantle Rock, on the Kentucky side, waiting for their oppressive escorts to give consent to take the ferry. Many died huddled together at Mantle Rock waiting to cross. After 23 days of waiting, they crossed southern Illinois, on December 26. The pitiable plight of Indians can be seen in the heart-felt testimony of a witness.
There is the coldest weather in Illinois I ever experienced anywhere. The streams are all frozen over something like 8 or 12 inches [20 or 30 cm] thick. We are compelled to cut through the ice to get water for ourselves and animals. It snows here every two or three days at the farthest.
We are now camped in Mississippi [River] swamp 4 miles (6 km) from the river, and there is no possible chance of crossing the river for the numerous quantities of ice that comes floating down the river every day. We have only travelled 65 miles (105 km) on the last month, including the time spent at this place, which has been about three weeks. It is unknown when we shall cross the river (Adams, 1973).
The death toll of Indians as a result of the Trail of Tears (in Cherokee Nunna dual Tsuny) The Trail Where They Cried) has been variously estimated (Mooney, 2007). A doctor and missionary Elizur Butler, who made the journey with one party, estimated 4,000 deaths (Carter, 1976). Stannard estimates that 8000 Cherokee died, that was about half of the total population, during the forced removal. It seems that most concerned officials had a share in the Indians' plight and this may explain the idea that neither the legislatives nor the jurisdictional authorities raised an eyebrow, though the exodus was bitterly disdainful.

West Mississippi River Wars
The exodus of Plains Indians to the eastern states did not end their struggle. The bloody campaign continued westward. As the Civil War halted, the fiction of Manifest Destiny gained more momentum. More than 40 wars were mercilessly waged against Plains Indians throughout the western regions especially in the states bordering Mexico, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona as Michno states (Michno, 2003). Those wars had cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women and children, including those killed in individual combats, and the lives of about 45,000-55,000 Indians. Several Indian tribes in Texas, such as the Karankawan, Akokisa, Bidui and others, were extinguished due to conflicts with white settlers. Ironically, all the atrocities committed against Indians went unnoticed or ever tried, simply because corrupt politicians themselves mobilized militants as to the slaughtering of indigenous population.

Civil War Luminaries
As aforementioned, wars provide a generation of professional warriors whose mission in life is to neutralize and exterminate opponents, and the American Civil War did the same. It fostered a number of war luminaries who continued the same ruthless thrust, they experienced against the Southerners, in their campaign against the Plains Indians. One of the deadliest campaigns against the Indians was the Snake War in 1864-1868, in the states of Oregon, Nevada, California, and Idaho. In this war, the will-to-power showed its worst form of barbarism. As common, this bloody campaign was accelerated by the American road of The Great Pacific Railway from the east coast to the west coast. The politicians for being big investors in the giant project urged militants to make room for the railway by clearing the surrounding areas from natives (Hyde, 1968). General Carson, born and raised in a culture of violence and war, took a significant part in the infamous campaign. Totally blinded by the dictates of his wicked will, he did everything in his capacity to accomplish the merciless mission assigned by superiors. He resorted even to scorched earth policy in the Navajo Campaign, burning Navajo fields and homes, and capturing or killing the Plains Indians, men, women, children, and even their livestock (Capps, 1975).
Second to General Carson, the name of Colonel Chivington stands out among the rest as an emblem of Chivington once led a 700-man force of Militia in a massacre of 163 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho, about two-thirds of whom were women, children, and infants. Chivington's troops began a full day given over to bloodlust, orgiastic mutilation, rapine, and destruction, despite the display of the U.S. flag and white surrender flags by the Indians to the side of their tents (Miles, 1973). They murdered as many as they could, plundered the teepees, and took the horses. Most Indians were killed by cannon fire, especially by those firing from the south bank of the river at the people retreating up the creek. Among Chivington's force, 24 soldiers were killed and 52 were wounded, mostly because some of Reverend Chivington's men were drunk and that many of the soldiers' casualties were due to friendly fire (Brown , 2007). However, mere killing was not enough revenge for Chivington and his hounds. After the smoke cleared, Chivington's men came back and finished off many of the wounded, cut them all into pieces, and worse mutilated the corpses of the victims. They also scalped indiscriminately many of the dead, men, women, children or infants, and dressed their weapons, hats, and gears with scalps and other body parts, including human fetuses, and male and female genitalia. Furthermore, they publicly displayed these battle trophies, more than one hundred drying scalps, around Denver. Without regret, the displayers were acclaimed conquering heroes, who once again covered themselves with glory as the announcement by a Republican Party newspaper stated (Mann, 2009). A glory, yet with no denial, was tainted with the blood and drying scalps of innocent people, as illustrated by one of the witnesses; Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried. The body of White Antelope, lying solitarily in the creek bed, was a prime target. Besides scalping him, the soldiers cut off his nose, ears, and testicles-the last for a tobacco pouch (Russell, 2002).
A more detailed account of the Sand Creek Massacre, based on U.S. Army records, biographies, and firsthand accounts, exposes a heinous barbarism and madness of Chivington and his soldiers. For instance, John Smith's testimony before a congressional committee of eyewitnesses exposed further what Man has done to Man when his ruthless will was unleashed and backed by corrupt politicians. Smith describes this gruesome scene as follows; I saw the bodies of those lying there than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors ... By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops.
A more graphic version of the carnage was given by Robert Bent, another eyewitness of the massacre, I saw one squaw lying on the bank, whose leg had been broken. A soldier came up to her with a drawn sabre. She raised her arm to protect herself; he struck, breaking her arm. She rolled over, and raised her other arm; he struck, breaking that, and then left her without killing her. I saw one squaw cut open, with an unborn child lying by her side (Godfrey, 1986). And the most unbearable form of savagery of the supposedly civilized raiders can be seen in the testimony of Major Anthony; There was one little child, probably three years old, just big enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had gone ahead, and this little child was behind, following after them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, travelling in the sand. I saw one man get off his horse at a distance of about seventy-five yards and draw up his rifle and fire. He missed the child. Another man came up and said, 'let me try the son of a b-. I can hit him.' He got down off his horse, kneeled down, and fired at the little child, but he missed him. A third man came up, and made a similar remark, and fired, and the little fellow dropped. (Major Anthony, New York Tribune, 1879) .

International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS)
The pristine voices, that condemned the massacre of helpless people, had no effect in the scuffle. The carnage went unnoticed by politicians or legislatives. Nobody was tried or convicted however the despicable atrocities. On the contrary, the wicked will of man remained unchecked, and the indiscriminate slaughter of Indian men, women and children would continue west of Mississippi River to the end of the 19th. Corrupt politicians encouraged such extermination campaign and worse strove to eliminate the possibility of any peaceful relations with Indian tribes, as though the strongest was bent to subjugate others to his will. Corrupt politicians unleashed Man's will-to-power and let it advance outwardly with no restrictions.

Wounded Knee Massacre
Despite the lapse of time, the will to overpower others remained the dominant drive that geared the movers and shakers in American politics. The campaign against Plains Indians never ceased. A duplication of Sand Greek Massacre took place at Wounded Knee Greek in 1890. On December 28 (1890), the records stated that a detachment of US troopers led by Samuel M. Whitside intercepted a band of Indians near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made a camp. Later that evening, Colonel James W. Forsyth and the rest of his men arrived, bringing the number of troopers to 500. In the Indian camp, there were around 350 Lakota: 230 men and 120 women and children. The troopers surrounded the Indians' camp and positioned around the encampment four rapid -fire, Hotchkiss mountain guns . At daybreak on December 29, Forsyth ordered the surrender of weapons and the immediate removal of the Lakota from the zone of military operations to awaiting trains. While the search for weapons went on, a deaf tribesman was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it (Russell, 2002;Parsons, 2011).
In the scuffle, the gun went off, and indiscriminat e killing started on the camp. Other soldiers used the Hotchkiss guns against the tipi camp, and sent to death foes and friends. Forsyth's officers had lost all control of their men. Some of the soldiers grew berserk and finished off even the wounded. Others leaped onto their horses and pursued the Indians (men, women, and children), in some cases for miles across the prairies and killed them there. In less than an hour, at least 150 Indians were killed and 50 wounded (Bateman, 2008). Historian Dee Brown mentions an estimate of 300 of the original 350 had been killed or wounded; for after the carnage, the soldiers loaded only 51 survivors out of the 350 inhabitants (4 men and 47 women and children) onto wagons and took them to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Twenty-five army soldiers also died, and 39 were wounded (6 of the wounded later died). It is believed that many of the soldiers were victims of friendly fire by the Hotchkiss guns that opened fire at random on the battleground. Several accounts of eyewitnesses shed further light upon the atrocities of civilized men against what they labelled as the savages when the former adhered blindly to his wicked will. Captain Edward Godfrey, one of the American Force, gave pathetic account of the carnage; I know the men did not aim deliberately and they were greatly excited. I don't believe they saw their sights. They fired rapidly but it seemed to me only a few seconds till there was not a living thing before us; warriors, squaws, children, ponies, and dogs... went down before that unaimed fire (Green, 1994).
After three days, the burial of the dead Indians was carried out by civilians hired by the military. It was reported that the deceased were frozen after a three-day blizzard. It was also reported that four infants were found alive, wrapped in their deceased mothers' shawls (Prucha, 1995).
General Nelson A. Miles who visited the scene of carnage, following a three-day blizzard, estimated that around 300 snow shrouded forms were strewn over the countryside. He also discovered to his horror that helpless children and women with babies in their arms had been chased as far as two miles from the original scene of encounter and cut down without mercy  /dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.4.3.2 by the troopers.... Judging by the slaughter on the battlefield it was suggested that the soldiers simply went berserk. For who could explain such a merciless disregard for life? As I see it the battle was more or less a matter of spontaneous combustion, sparked by mutual distrust (Childs, 2016).
Regardless of Miles' conclusion that Wounded Knee was a deliberate massacre rather than a tragedy caused by poor decisions, the commander of the raid, Forsyth was exonerated, and all allegations later whitewashed (Josephy, et al, 1990). Furthermore, around twenty soldiers were awarded the Medal of honour (Ehle, 2011) for the disdainful killing of innocent people.
The attitude of American public, deceived by both the fiction of Manifest Destiny and the systematic process of demonizing the targeted nation was mostly malevolence: the only good Indian is a dead Indian. Some held that Indians live in 'inferior' societies and by assimilation into white society they can be redeemed, and very few believed that Native Americans and settlers could co-exist in separate but equal societies, dividing up the remaining western land. Clearly the vast majority of settlers, led by the feeling of white supremacy, justified the extermination of Indians, or at best to give willin g Indians a chance to avoid killing by assimilating into white societies and abiding by the rules and regulations of their oppressors; the third attitude seemed less effective and totally ignored by ruthless politicians.

Devious Acts of Man's Ruthless Will in California
In California and other neighbouring states, the wicked Will of man remained the leading drive and caused the same atrocities committed elsewhere. In fact, the U.S. colonization of California started in 1849, and resulted in a large number of state-subsidized massacres against the Plains Indians. In one such series of conflicts, the so-called Mendocino War and the subsequent Round Valley War, the entirety of the Yuki tribe was brought to the brink of extinction, from a previous population of some 3,500 people to fewer than 100. According to (Andrews, 2016), the estimates of the pre-Columbian population of California was at least 310,000, and perhaps as much as 705,000. By 1849, due to Spanish and Mexican colonization and epidemics this number had decreased to 100,000. But from 1849 and up until 1890 the indigenous population of California had fallen below 20,000, primarily because of the killings (Jackson, 1994). At least 4,500 Californian Indians were killed between 1849 and 1870; while, many more perished due to disease and starvation. Moreover, 10,000 Indians were also kidnapped and sold as slaves.

Culture of Violence in Iraq
It might be considered coincidental to see that the terrible consequences the American nation suffered during the second half of the 19th Century, have their counterparts in Iraq during the second half of 20th Century and after. Furthermore, the current turmoil in Iraq has been caused by almost the same factors that stood behind the bloody events in the States. Corrupt politicians, and a series of wars created a culture of violence and in turn produced generations of fierce warriors with one goal in mind-to crush ruthlessly their opponents and attain superiority. In both cases, the culture of violence unleased devilish trends in man and set loose his wicked will regardless of time, race, or faith. With no doubt, the bloody events in Iraq, during the second half of the 20th Century till the present time are the offspring of a culture of violence created by corrupt politicians, insomuch as the case in the States during most of the 19th Century. Striking analogies do exist, and thus validate the comparison of this relatively small country to the American States.
The analogies may press the idea that Iraq can be seen as a microcosm of the States regardless of size and time. As the American society was born out of a series of wars, Iraq has been also engaged into a series of bloody events and wars during its most recent history. Modern Iraq especially after the overthrow of monarchy in 1958 suffered repeatedly troubling times. The sudden change from a peaceful monarchy to an unstable republic was drastic and extremely violent. In 1958, a military coup left the royal family and supporters slaughtered, mutilated, and worse corps burned and drawn round the streets by thugs and rebels. Ever since, the curse of the royal family never abated. Four years later, in 1963, the new leaders of the republic faced the same ordeal of the Royalists, ruthlessly slaughtered and thousands of supporters neutralized or at best suffered horrible terms of confinement in torture chambers. Another violent division took place within only a few months, and the targets suffered the same bloody fate. Furthermore, in less than three years (1966), the aircraft of the self-appointed President was blown off in the air, and the President and attendants were burned to death. In 1968, the new President was ousted, fortunately with no bloodshed. In 1979, another internal coup took place and hundreds were hastily executed. In 1980, Gulf War I erupted and lasted for years. The war halted in 1988 and soon followed by Gulf War II in 1990-1991. Immediately after the ceasefire and the humiliating withdrawal from Kuwait, a bloody uprising broke out in the South and North of Iraq, and left ten thousands of fatalities on both s ides. Soon after, Iraqis suffered a horrendous 13-years of sanction and embargo, by which people turned into wild hungry beasts.
After the occupation of Iraq in 2003, the coalition authority gave the rein to opportunist expats with no substance, thus terribly mismanaged the whole situation and made it worse than ever. Thousands of impoverished refugees and fugitives came back from exile and all of a sudden found themselves rulers of the wrecked nation, yet done nothing except deepening the wounds of the broken nation. The whole situation became anarchic and chaotic. The chaos took a bloody turn soon, hence the loss of thousand innocent souls especially after the wave of terrorism.

Wave of Violence and Terror in Iraq
The new rulers waged a violent campaign on the dissembled apparatus of the old regime, seeking revenge for the long years of persecution, despotism, and injustice they suffered at the hands of their executioners. Thus, the whole nation fractured into two vengeful factions: one is poised to seek revenge and another is bent to fight back to regain what he has lost. In such a chaotic contest, man's will-to-power found an appropriate environment to escalate. Corrupt politicians snatched the broiling sectarian and ethnic sentiments to align supporters, especially at the times of national or municipal elections. Each politician raises the flag and banners of his religious sect or ethnic group. As a result, the united country fragmented into three major contenders, the Shias, the Sunni Arabs, and the Kurds, beside many subdivisions.
Hostile retaliations gave birth to fiercer resistance that disregarded the basic rules of war. Die-hard groups and fanatics of all sorts took the lead. New weird version of Islam prevailed and succeeded to recruit thousands of brain-washed young desperate losers ready to retaliate and sacrifice themselves for the sake of their new religion, yet the insidious motivation is hard to conceal. It is mainly the injured pride and loss of privileges, for most insurgents were part of the dissolved security forces of the ousted regime. Killing, slaughtering, burning, raping, enslaving women of other faiths became a daily practice. Some lunatic factions, such as ISIS and the like, committed the most despicable crimes which the earth has never witnessed, and the blood of ISIS' crimes has not dried yet.

American Congress and Iraqi Parliament
The three-fold entities of Iraqi authorities, the executive, the juridical, and the legislative are corrupt insomuch as were the American authorities during the 19th Century, in particular during the Common Man Age, and the Gilded Age. It seems also quite coincidental to see the current Iraqi Parliament look in many ways like the American Congress during the second half of the 19th Century. During the Gilded Age, 1876-1900, the Congress was known for being rowdy and inefficient. It was not unusual to find that a quorum could not be achieved because too many members were drunk or otherwise preoccupied with extra-governmental affairs (Politics in the Gilded Age, 2018). The above words totally apply to the Iraqi Parliament, which has been classified as the most corrupted institutional body ever, full of opportunists, and wicked schemers who mind nothing but the gain they accumulate. Before the election, each candidate feeds his audience with lip services and sugar-coated rhetoric. After election, the logo, doctrines, and all election rhetoric would disappear. Winning a seat at the Parliament is a time of harvest as most MPs conceive and practice. It is quite known that the Iraqi parliamentarians privilege themselves with the highest salaries in the world, despite the idea that more than 35% of Iraqis living below the poverty line.

Forming of Accorded Government
After election, no faction wants to play opposition. All press hard to obtain ministerial portfolios approximat e to their seats at the Parliament, each ten seats are equal to one portfolio. To distribute posts, the heads of winning blocs would be engaged into a long process of bargaining. After settlement of posts among blocs, a new bargain within the winning blocs would take place. Against all odds, the position in the new cabinet would go to the ones who pay more than others. Some wealthy people made good use of their financial power to buy their way into high offices insomuch as it was in the American state governorships and States Senate. Depending upon the expected gain, the price of some ministries in Iraq would go higher than 25 million US dollars. The bargain may last at least two to three months to settle on the names of the new cabinet members, and the portfolios usually go to highest buyers. Ironically enough, the gain the minister makes must be also shared with others, and the loyalty remains to the head of the bloc not the Prime Minister. The other positions at the ministry would be then filled in with the supporters and relatives of the minister with the least regards to qualifications or potentials. The Presidents, the deputies of Presidents, the PM, and the Ministers usually install several dozen of their relatives in lucrative posts especially at their offices. The posts are often filled by people with less experience in city government and less understanding of the state politics.

Infamous Scandals
The Gilded Age was known an unprecedented era of political corruption and infected with many scandals. To name but a few, the Crédit Mobilier scandal, Whisky Ring Scandal, Teapot Dome Scandal, Veteran's Bureau Scandal, yet all the schemers managed to escape punishment, or at best judged to pay insignificant fines. For instance, Forbes stole over $250 million worth by confiscating supplies and then selling them at discount rates, yet he was fined only $10,000. Iraqi politics is also plagued with political scandals, which rocked the Iraqi nation. However, all go without any disciplinary measures. The worst among so many was the scandal of Oil Ministry in which Iraqi high-ranking officials including senior officials at the oil ministry are involved. The officials have been accused of receiving bribes fro m large corporations in return for winning business. An investigative report, published in 2016 by several large media outlets including Fairfax Media, the Huffington Post, and the Age, revealed that the Monaco-Based company Unaoil had allegedly served as an intermediary between large oil companies such as British Rolls-Royce, US giant Halliburton, Australia's Leighton Holdings and Korea's Samsung and Hyundai to win $ billions of government contracts.
The other scandal involved the former Minister of Electricity, who signed two huge contracts in July 2011 with Capgent (Canada) and MBH (Germany), worth a total of $1.7 billion. The investigation showed that the Canadian company (which won a $1 billion contract) was a fictitious entity that existed only on paper, and that the German company (which won a $700 million contract) had filed for bankruptcy six month prior to signing the contract with Iraqi authority. The case ended only with the Prime Minister sacking the Minister of electricity. Ever since, the case has remained closed, and no crimin al charges were filed. Another was known as the Fake Bomb Detectors used by security services. The Parliament also failed to hold the government accountable for purchasing those fake devices, despite having acknowledged that the devices are defective, and caused the loss of thousand innocent souls. It is said that MPs' attempts to preserve their privileges made it easier for the government to escape accountability. Soon after, neither the government nor the Parliament ever refers to this case regardless of its high sensitivity and the horrible damage the fake detectors caused. The matter was concealed for good, and most high-ranking officials continue to make a killing out of their sycophancy and schemes.

II.
CONCLUSION The American Age of Common Man and the Gilded Age witnessed widespread political corruption and violence; however, those troubling ages would be followed by order and rapid advancement. In the wake of the 20th Century, the trends of Machiavellianism and social Darwinism have retreated and given way to relatively more peaceful inclinations . Political corruption and violence have been also contained and eliminated. It could be said that after long years of conflict, the Will of man or the unconscious mental energy, has inevitably evolved toward self-realization, hence the American consciousness has developed gradually and prevailed throughout the continent. In other words, the unconscious Will, as Von Hartmann calls, has become conscious, and then the innate wickedness of Man has been kept in check.
Considering the bleak past events which American endured, one might anticipate that the current troubling situation in Iraq would be inevitably replaced by a conscious era, an era of peace and prosperity. In spite of the corruption detected in the three forms of authority: the executive, the legislative, and the jurisdictional and the widespread bloodshed, things might change, and Iraq would rise out of the ashes as the States had done. Machiavellianism and social Darwinism in practice of politicians and unfortunately great portion of the public would by time decline, and hopefully followed by peace and prosperity. The unconscious would inevitably change into positive consciousness and miseries would be wrapped for ever.
Furthermore, one may remind that settling disputes by arms delivers only despicable consequences as shown in the body of this study. In time of war, contenders more likely turn into wild beasts striving to attain superiority. Violence and wars produce only generations of warriors whose human heart might lose its pristine nature and yield completely to a hysterical high s pirit and murderous seriousness that might bring a total destruction to our planet. Trends for violence should be continuously monitored in a peaceful environment and it is quite possible that man's innate wickedness would be eliminated.