War in Iraq

The war in Eye-rack is approaching its 5th anniversary. I'm feeling decidedly ambiguous about the whole project. I'll just give my take on it.

Saddam Hussein was America's own son of a b****. Following the Islamic revolution in Iraq's eastern neighbour Persia / Iran in 1979, the USA wanted an ally to prevent the spread of radical Islam across the Middle East. So they pumped Iraq's small-town dictator Saddam Hussein full of arms, and he fought a bloody war against Iran, which neither side won. In 1988, the war drew to a close, and Saddam Hussein decided to wage war on his own people, using nerve gas against the village of Halabja in the north of his country. During the 1980s, Mr Hussein had nuclear ambitions, but that was knocked out in an audicious airstrike by the Israeli airforce in 1981.

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein became a naughty boy by invading Kuweit, which Iraq regards as its 19th province. His troops overran the province in days, but after US forces amassed in Saudi Arabia and surrounding areas, the Iraqis were routed in short order some 7 months later. The road to Baghdad lay open, and American forces were 100 miles from the capital. They were ordered to halt their progress, at the behest of other Arab leaders. A decision which I personally reckon to have been a severe mistake.

In the following 12 years, Saddam Hussein continued to be a pain in the backside, but he was in a military stranglehold, and not an immediate threat to anybody's interests. Although he had used surface-to-surface Scud missiles during the 1990/1 war, the threat of chemical or biological weapons was never carried through. In fact, it is thought that in a flash of realism, Saddam has probably destroyed what stockpiles of nasties he held as his position became ever more restricted.

However, George W. Bush was now on the throne in the White House, and he got it in his head that he wanted to finish the jobthat his daddy had failed to complete in 1991. Furthermore, he blamed Saddam Hussein for complicity in 9/11, even though there was no evidence to support that accusation.

In 2003, the decision was taken to effect a regime change in Iraq, oust Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi people would warmly embrace their liberators, the American and British armies. The reason given was that Saddam held chemical, biological or nuclear weapons - without a shred of credible evidence. Afraid that UN inspection teams would back that up, troops were amassed and sent into Iraq on 19 March 2003.

Saddam Hussein was deposed within a month, and he hid in a hole in the ground, from which he was extracted in December 2003. Having stood trial, he was convicted of genocide and sentenced to death. His hanging, though deserved, was bereft of any dignity as the condemned man was taunted to his dying moment, and nearly decapitated in the process. Some would say he didn't deserve any dignity. It shows, in my book, greatness of character to grant dignity - if only to show the guilty party off as the real villain.

Having kicked Saddam out on April 9th, 2003, president Bush didn't have a proper plan beyond that. He showed a complete lack of insight into Middle Eastern politics of recent and more distant years, being totally unaware that many in the Middle East regard America as their arch enemy for their support for Israel, which (through its foundation in 1948) has usurped Arab lands and suppressed the Palestinians. If Mr Bush had shown insight - well, that's an empty line of reasoning. He rarely has in international politics.

So, the presence of American troops in an Arab state was a convenient rallying call for Al-Qa'eda, which sought to fill a power vacuum through an insurgency. Meanwhile, an Iraqi government was installed which was, if anything, weak. Fortunately, the Iraqis are getting fed up with all the Islamic hot-heads coming into their country, stirring up trouble that they don't want. Things are slowly, very slowly, improving. Suicide bombers still do their deadly work, and battles are still being fought in Iraq.

British and American forces will be in Iraq for years to come, to sort out the mess that their governments created. Mr Blair has left office in the UK, and Mr Brown will not be taking any really major foreign policy decisions before the next General Election in 2009. Mr Bush will be leaving the White House in January of that year. Their legacy will be slightly different from the one they may have had in mind upon ascending to office in 1997 and 2000 respectively.

The War in Iraq.

Tags: iraq, iran, saddam, hussein, america