The Iraq Disaster: Ending The Nightmare May 19, 2004 – By Clayton Trapp
The Vietnam War caused the deaths of 56,000 Americans and 3 million
Vietnamese. The American war dead are remembered with a mixture of sadness
and everything else, the Vietnamese remembered primarily in Vietnam. There
was no end to the war in sight, when the United States finally pulled out.
The Iraq Disaster, it was never actually much of a war, but unquestionably a
disaster, has to date led to something along the lines of 1000 American dead,
and 30,000 Iraqis. There is no end to the disaster in sight, though Spain,
Honduras and the Dominican Republic have already pulled out.
With polls suggesting that Labour is about to take a substantial hit in
elections this summer, Tony Blair has declared his intention to bring home
British troops "as soon as possible." Silvio Berlusconi has seen his approval
rating dip below 1 in 3, and insiders say that he's bringing the Italians
home even sooner than that.
When the second and third largest delegations of troops are gone, leaving an
already unstable occupation force further decimated, what is America going to
do? Double our own military presence? Reinstate the draft? Eliminate all
environmental protections and tax big business to sustain a stalemated war
effort?
It is obvious, but so many people don't get it that it bears repeating: there
is no end to the Iraq Disaster in sight. There is no possibility of an exit
strategy with honour. We are either going to stay and make matters ever
worse, or we are going to admit our mistakes, too late. Historic damage has
been done, and is not going to be undone any time soon, perhaps in our
lifetimes. The American troops lack the ability to protect the Iraqi people
and are unable, even, to protect the chosen Iraqi puppets or oil supply.
I. It Hasn't Even Worked for the Oil Companies
Most people who pay any attention at all understood that the invasion of Iraq
had more to do with corporate oil interests than anything else. They'd "won"
the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, they had their man in the White House,
and to the victors go the spoils. That's business, that's politics.
No one recognized this dynamic more clearly than oil industry insiders.
Non-U.S. oil interests were horrified that they had been out maneuvered by
their American counterparts and clamoured for a piece of the action. No one
was more active on this account than British Petroleum CEO John Browne, who
parlayed his close ties with Tony Blair into a suitably strong position.
In a move that received little publicity, and no analysis to speak of, Browne
has announced that BP no longer has any interest in Iraq. Browne explained
his position as being due to the deterioration of security in the country.
Given that oil investment is a long term proposition, it is not inappropriate
to assume that Browne is anticipating violence and instability in Iraq
measurable in decades, rather than weeks or months.
John Browne is not a philanthropist, he is a businessman. He is not merely a
businessman, he is a superbusinessman: he announced record profits the same
week that he effectively pulled BP out of Iraq. And that's not all: Browne
has indicated that he'd like to pull BP out of the Middle East altogether,
and focus instead on oil reserves in Russia, Angola, and the Caspian.
Eighteen months ago the U.S. wasn't in Iraq, oil prices were down, and the
oil industry was among the most stable investments in the world. Today the
U.S. has colonized Iraq, oil prices are skyrocketing, and captains of the oil
industry are trying to figure out how to get out of the Middle East entirely.
II. Win the War, Lose the Peace
No one doubted that the U.S. military was more than a match for their Iraqi
counterparts. If anything, analysts were surprised at how long it took for
them to enter Baghdad. The only other surprise was that Iraq had so little
firepower. Even most opponents of the war expected Saddam Hussein to bust out
some nasty weaponry at some point. Instead, it appears that he'd effectively
been in compliance with UN resolutions against him.
The Bush administration assured the world that the U.S. military would be
greeted as liberators. That never happened. Iraqis were understandably
delighted to be rid of Hussein, but if there was a honeymoon between even a
minority of Iraqis and the occupying forces, it was one of those five-minute
deals.
Instead of liberators the American military is now almost universally
perceived as thugs, perverts, and murderers. Abuse of prisoners that
initially seemed to be a series of isolated incidents now appears to likely
be systemic in nature. They weren't just following orders, but they were
working within accepted guidelines. I do not believe that anything close to a
majority of American troops participated in the horrifying treatment of Iraqi
men, women, and children at their hands, but it's quite clear that plenty of
people, including men in the highest echelons of the Bush administration,
knew about it and did nothing to stop it.
The Bush administration has taken no less of a hit when it comes to its own
relationship with the military. Recent internal studies show that U.S. troop
casualties could have been reduced by 25% had they only been provided
appropriate armoured transportation (humvees). What was the government
spending the cash on instead? Public relations? Meet and greets with oil
executives? Lawyers for Rumsfeld? I wonder how the families of the deceased
are going to vote. I wonder if it will take longer to forget this time.
Despite his history as a draft dodger (perhaps his sole redeeming quality),
the military also considered Bush very much their man. Public esteem of the
military hasn't been lower in at least 30 years, perhaps ever, and the best
minds in the military can't be pleased with the way that they've been set up.
III. Racism is Us, USA
It is absurd to suggest that there is not a racist element to the Iraq
Disaster. We track American casualties on an hourly basis, and report with
genuine sadness as that number increases. We do not even bother, however, to
try to figure out how many Iraqis we've been killing. The death of an
American serviceman invading a sovereign country is news. The death of a
hundred Iraqis trying to go about their business in a peaceful manner is not.
We put Iraqi puppets in place on the basis of their being as much like us as
possible. It's like the big business approach to equal rights in the wake of
the civil rights movement: "We're happy to hire black people, so long as they
act like honkeys."
Whether the Bush administration thinks that Muslims are stupid and inferior
is effectively moot. They aren't. It hasn't escaped anyone's notice that
getting rid of Saddam Hussein was only the start of it: we then moved on to
trying to remold their entire civilization in a mirror image of our own. Not
much democracy there, more like social tyranny.
IV. Democracy in Iraq
The first thing that any duly elected representational government in Iraq is
going to do is throw us out. That being the case, President Bush has gone
into a stalling pattern on elections. "We'll have elections some day, and I'm
proud to have brought freedom and democracy to Iraq," sort of thing.
The great irony is that authentic democracy in Iraq, whether they're "ready"
for it or not, is the only possible solution to the entire mess. They'll get
elected and throw us out, which is, sadly, the best that can come from the
situation for any of us. I hope that they'll elect someone wise, a man of
peace, and I wish that we had, too.
After the Iraqi elections, which should be held as soon as possible,
certainly by the end of July, we can begin the very long process of
rehabilitating ourselves by helping with the costs of all of the damages
we've caused. There's a limit to the goodwill engendered by giving good rates
on gravestones by the bushel, but we're going to have to start somewhere.
Clayton Trapp is the UK Bureau Chief of FirstCasualty.com, and the author
of the novel Snap Once. Check out his web page by clicking here.
The Iraq Disaster: Ending The Nightmare
