Iraq War Without End

War anniversaries are noted rather than celebrated. War is a somber affair; even victory comes at a cost. So today I note the beginning of the Iraq War’s fourth year. This year along with two of its predecessors was not supposed to happen. Mission Accomplished in 2003 morphed into Stay the Course in 2004, 2005 and now 2006. All that is certain from three years of war and nation building in Iraq are many tens of thousand dead and wounded, massive destruction, chaos and instability arising from sectarian and ethnic rivalry. The quick and easy victory has turned into a quagmire that of violence, intrigue and instability.

The United States never had much credibility in Iraq, either with its people or the Arab world. What little credibility and goodwill we may have earned by removing Saddam Hussein was destroyed by the many dead, wounded and dispossessed left in our military wake. Iraqis were suspicious of America’s intentions in 2003 but welcomed the chance to escape Saddam. Now they cannot understand how powerful America cannot restore infrastructure, services that Saddam managed even under international sanctions. Many recall a time when life was normal, when they did not fear for their lives and suffer the humiliation of a foreign occupier, a time when they had a functioning economy, reliable water, electricity and fuel. America dismantled Iraqi society without understanding the forces it would unleash. In the absence of a stable government Iraq, once a bastion of secular stability in the middle east, is now becoming more fundamentalist and fragmented.

No good reason justified the American invasion. The weapons of mass destruction that were the heavily marketed reason for the war were long gone by 2003, dismantled by the Iraqis themselves, when BushCheney and the neo-con Vulcans charged into Iraq. UN inspectors were beginning to realize that Iraq, despite its bluster, coyness and dissembling, had actually disposed of its nuclear and other WMD’s. But the American warriors would accept nothing less than a coup d’etat by invasion.

Iraq was a no lose proposition for BushCheney and the Vulcans. Nothing could stop the American invasion. World opinion did not count for anything in his universe. American military forces would make short work of Iraqi opposition. After that, America would simply build a new Iraq in its own image with permanent military bases to oversee the region. So simple. But even if it ended up costing more American life and treasure, BushCheney would still establish American hegemony over huge oil reserves, giving American interests ample opportunity to leverage this resource in their own favor. If a few thousand Americans are killed and maimed in the process, that’s simply the cost of business. Their families can always be bought off with false patriotism that won’t let their sons/daughters/etc die in vain. After all, BushCheney will profit, even if America and the world don’t.

If I sound bitter, that’s because I am. Bitterness and anger are the lessons I have learned from three years of war. I am enraged that BushCheney hijacked American patriotism and disdained the rest of the world after 9-11. I am angry that my fellow Americans blindly supported an aggressive war against a nation that did not attack us,. I am angry that American forces were so ill prepared to manage the aftermath of the invasion. I am angry that my country has wreaked havoc on an another country. I am angry that America is a both a pawn and perpetrator in a foreign land. I am angry that BushCheney cynically manipulated patriotism into blind fear. Forty years ago, America stumbled into war based on lies and misinformation. Even with that experience, Americans fell so easily into the Iraq war. FDR was so right. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

BushCheney never told America the truth about Iraq. This nation would have never accepted what has become the current mission; even in 2003 Americans were not interested in anything other than short, successful intervention. That’s why BushCheney ramped up the fear and purged anyone who suggested that this “painless” action might incur real costs. Initiated with lies, the Iraq war has no real purpose now beyond averting an embarrassing defeat. A vague mission that guarantees more casualties on all sides but offers little to boost morale and sense of accomplishment among those required to serve or endure its consequences.

These days America talks only of how and when to exit Iraq. Even that discussion is pathetically limited to American casualties and costs, not Iraqi capability or long term American presence. Remember that when BushCheney and his generals talk of Iraqi fighting forces, those forces are propped up with American logistics and advisors, supported by American armor, artillery and air power. The US won’t be leaving Iraq any time soon.

The turn of a fourth year of war is hereby duly noted.