Lessons from Iraq

Leaving aside the initial preponderence of global opinion against the idea of invading Iraq, the Iraq “experiment” should now be judged by its own criteria for success. Viewed in this manner, the process is an abject failure. Full stop.

Combatting Terrorism: The Madrid and London bombings; plots that have either succeeded or been foiled in several Middle east countries including Jordan; ongoing and highly lethal terrosist activity against Iraqi civilians who side with the government there, growing Palestinian militancy, ongoing Islamic militancy in South Asia; these are some examples of the lack of positive impact the Iraq war has had on Terrorism as social and political phenomenon. The obverse argument is more likely to be true: the US has succeeded in growing Terrorism.

Fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here: This is a specious category in the first place, since the real cost to American society has been enormous. The globe is now one. There is in fact no “over there”, and the costs hit just as hard regardless of the geographic arena. The costs are pushing 300 billion dollars, and far more American lives have been lost or forever ruined by this war than 9/11, the largest single terrorist attack in history (with the exception of Nagasaki). But let’s draw an analogy here. US forces have repeatedly criticized as “cowardly” opponents who locate their bases, safe houses and weapons caches in civilian areas. I wish someone would explain how this differs from the idea of “fighting them over there”. Rather than face enemies at home, where the likelihood of mercy for civilian populations is nil, the United States relocates the conflict to a foriegn nation. They go to an Islamic nation and mix themselves in with the citizenry there, ensuring any attacks on them will result in civilian casualties. Then, when said casualties occur, they criticize their enemies for killing their own people. Ironic, isn’t it? Fighting them over there is really no different than locating your base in a civilian area, unless you believe an Iraqi civilian is worth less than an American civilian (which is clearly the case for US leadership, but one wonders about US citizenry). 50-100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed in this conflict.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: This topic has been addressed continuously, so I’ll be quick. Purported WMD are either not found, never existed or moved on. All three scenarios are outrageously bad, for their own reasons. On the other hand, the US military is an actual, functional WMD. Their aircraft have strewn uranium across Iraq, repeatedly killed hundreds with single and clusters of conventional bombs, slowly but surely killed thousands and thousands more, razed the infrastructure of Iraqi society and economy to the ground. What IS a WMD? I say the proof is in the pudding.

Spreading freedom and Democracy: This is a euphemism for US foreign policy goals, but one could give them the benefit of the doubt and read it literally as an attempt to provide an exmaple of how civilized nations act, and to foster the same sort of behaviour abroad. Here’s three examples, one for each read:

Siding with Iran

Iraq supports Iran’s right to use nuclear technology for peaceful means and wants a diplomatic solution to the standoff between the Islamic Republic and the United States over uranium enrichment, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

He also said Iraqi territory will not be used to threaten Iran.

The United States contends Iran aims to develop nuclear weapons, and has led the calls for that country to abandon its program.

Tennis team killed for wearing shorts

THE coach of the Iraqi national tennis team and two of his players were shot dead in Baghdad, apparently for wearing shorts, in a district where Islamic radicals have started to enforce brutal, Taleban-style law.

Hussein Ahmed Rashid was shot at close range with two of his players, Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda, in the al-Saidiyah neighbourhood, a national Olympic Committee official said.

One of the players, wearing shorts, had left the car to drop off some items at a laundry. When he returned to the vehicle, gunmen in a grey saloon car swerved and blocked the players’ car, witnesses said.

Three men in civilian clothes surrounded the car and ordered the passengers to get out. When they refused, one of the men produced a revolver and shot the players. The coach sat helplessly in the back while the assailants dragged out the players’ bodies and dumped them in the road. Then one of the assailants cocked a handgun and shot the coach in the head.

The dead men were wearing green sports jerseys emblazoned with the word “Iraq�. One of the shirts bore an Olympics patch.

An Iraqi National Guard checkpoint was about 100m from the site of the ambush, but the soldiers did nothing, witnesses said. They added that gunmen had used the same car in the past two months during attacks on the owner of an electrical parts shop and a pedestrian. Local people suspect that the murders have been carried out by the Islamic militants roaming al-Saidiyah and the adjoining district of al-Amariyah.

Radicals have been leaving leaflets at homes, forbidding women to drive or go outside without being veiled. The leaflet also warns men not to wear shorts or dress in T-shirts bearing images or English writing.

In addition, the leaflet forbids men from wearing goatee beards and anyone from buying mayonnaise. The leaflet threatens violators with death.

Islamic militants hold immense power in western and southern Baghdad, and they have been known to kill barbers who give American-style haircuts. The area is regarded as being as off limits to Westerners, where a visit can spell instant death.

Details surface of U.S. ‘atrocity’ in Iraq

It is alleged that a small squad of Marines killed at least three separate groups of people in cold blood — five men in a taxi and two larger groups, including women and children, in two houses in the city of Haditha. It appears to have been a deliberate set of reprisal killings after a Marine was killed by insurgents, according to reports pieced together from those who have attended the briefings.

“This was not an accident,� said Minnesota Republican John Kline, a former Marine colonel who was briefed about the killings along with other members of the House of Representatives armed-services committee. “This was not an immediate response to an attack. This would be an atrocity,� he told The New York Times.

Creating Stability in the Middle East: See above.

I don’t mean to be flip, but these results are just so bad that they exceed the predictions of most naysayers at the outset. The US has lost the moral authority to lead gained from WWII and the stare down of the Soviet Union. It is time for the world to look elsewhere for leadership.