Going As Positive As I Can

I participated in Saturday’s anti-war rally in Phoenix along with fellow Veterans for Peace and other local peace and justice activists. Turnout was small but the rally and march were lively and boisterous, echoing in the high rise canyons of Phoenix’s mostly empty downtown. Later two other Veterans for Peace, a Code Pink representative and I participated in a call in show on local radio. We spoke of all the reasons why we think the Iraq war is wrong and needs to end sooner rather than later. One caller berated us for being “negative, negative, negative” and how it demeans our troops. The host asked us several times if we didn’t see some good in America’s Iraqi intervention.

My answer is that whatever good America achieves in Iraq is more than counterbalanced by the harm our intervention has caused to Iraq, its people, their economy, our troops and our security. Iraq is simply not a positive experience unless you happen to be a military contractor/supplier or a Shi’ia fundamentalist. Specifically,

• The Iraqi people have been immiserated by the consequences of our invasion. Their economy has been destroyed. The nation’s social fabric has been rent; people who were once friends and neighbors are becoming the victims of ethnic cleansing. Personal safety is precarious.

• Removing Saddam Hussein unleashed political forces that have sharpened conflict among ethnic and sectarian groups. The notion of Iraq as an independent, stable nation (precarious from day one) is fast receding into the past. Even if some semblance of a single state is established, real power will remain fragmented.

• American troops are being worn down in an unclear mission in which they are regarded as foreign occupiers and end up “pacifying” the same areas over and over. Even our “allies” in Iraq (ie, the politicians trying to cobble together a government to which we can hand off the country) believe that it is appropriate to resist the occupation. American honor has been compromised by carelessness (“collateral damage” that kills civilians and destroys their homes) and outright brutality (the torture).

• The United States’ ability to respond to crises around the world is limited by the occupation of Iraq. We have few troops and equipment that can be deployed to meet other emergencies. The absence of National Guard troops in Louisiana and Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina suggests what is to come.

• The war in Iraq breeds more terrorism. Not only does the American presence inflame Islamic fundamentalists and nationalists but it provides opportunity for various groups to develop skills in waging asymmetric war against America and other nations. Fighting what was a non-existent threat in Iraq has distracted America from dealing with the very real threats caused by small, dedicated terrorist groups who operate largely under the radar well outside of Iraq. The Taliban, whom we defeated in 2002 remain an active force, waging an insurgency against the United States and the Afghan government.

That’s all pretty negative and, unfortunately, it’s all pretty major too. When I think about the positives, they seem small in comparison.

• Saddam is gone.

• American forces have demonstrated great courage and bravery under very difficult circumstances.

• The Iraqi people have demonstrated their ability to endure under very difficult circumstances.

• America has rebuilt some of the infrastructure destroyed during the war and the decade of sanctions that preceded the invasion.

• The occasional Iraqi obtains a high level of care in an American hospital.

I wish it were otherwise. I wish I had been wrong about the war, that it had turned out to be the cakewalk predicted by BushCheney. But it was a doomed effort from the start; history, culture and ignorance combined to deprive America of its goals in Iraq, leaving this nation unsure and exposed in a region that is dangerously unstable. Three years ago, I knew pretty much what would happen. So did many, many others. Our skepticism and criticism did not compromise the war effort. BushCheney and his warriors did that with their arrogance, ignorance and amazing incompetence even as American forces performed well.

So it’s not easy being positive, however much I try. Maybe that’s why I am in such a dark mood today.

"Ah the freedom. Look, we have the gas-line freedom, the looting freedom, the killing freedom, the rape freedom, the hash-smoking freedom. I don't know what to do with all this freedom."

Akeel, a 26 year old Baghdad resident on life in the new Iraq.

update: John Simpson of the BBC has an article pointing out some of the good things that have occurred in Iraq as a result of the invasion. He notes the proliferation of motor vehicles, an abundance of consumer goods (albeit high priced), growth of media and access to satellite television, participation in elections and a people no longer in terror of authority. Like me, Mr. Simpson, also notes some of the downside aspects of life in Iraq three years after the invasion.