As the US pulls out, what did the Iraq war achieve?
Iraq is a country I have visited many times since I was first there to report from the front line of the harrowing Iran/iraq war in 1980. Foreign intervention and interference has dogged it for more than a century. No wonder Baghdad is seized with parties and celebration.
For the promised American pull-out from Iraq starts today. US forces start pulling out of urban areas in the country on what the Iraqi government has declared to be National Sovereignty Day.
This is not the end of the US-led occupation, merely the beginning of the end. 131,000 US forces remain and will do so until the cessation of combat operations in September 2010 and the eventual pull-out in 2011.
And the US and her allies leave amid an alarming upsurge of bomb attacks (200 dead in a week). Is it too fanciful to suggest that this horrifying adventure spells the last of such “wars of choice”?
Nonetheless, a military adventure which displaced some 4 million Iraqis, killed and wounded as many as a million (we shall never know the true figure), and reduced the country’s precious oil output to the point where, even today, it remains below that of Saddam’s final year in power, is coming to an end.
That adventure also shredded the reputation of Tony Blair at home and divided Europe as never before. This is before we even begin to estimate the financial costs of the war, which run into trillions of dollars.
So what were the Iraq war aims? To safeguard oil supplies? To remove Saddam? To instil a new democracy in the heart of the Middle East? To find and destroy weapons of mass destruction? To provide a bulwark against, and to reduce the power of, Iran?
Six new oilfield contracts are to be auctioned today, but production is still stagnant and the oil law is still stuck in the Iraqi parliament. Saddam has been replaced by an upsurge in radical religiously backed parties that threaten civil war at any turn.
Democracy has delivered a factional parliament and, in the prime minister, the firm hand that Iraq has grown used to. Water and power supplies remain inadequate. And Iran, despite recent events, is stronger than at any time since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Perhaps Iraq enjoys a greater collective spirit of hope than at any recent time. But that hope has come expensively, and there is still a ways to go.
It is hard to imagine that history will smile on the two men, Bush and Blair, who decided to take the world in to this war – although it isn’t beyond the wit of Europe to reward one of them (who defied the majority of EU leaders on the war) with its presidency.
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- Expect no apology from Bush shoe thrower
- From Guernica to Iraq
- Wall to wall in Tehran
There are 21 comments on this post
I’m sure it added a lot to our national debt. We couldn’t afford it, even without the Banking crisis…
It’s no more than he, and Mandy of course, think he deserves. As mere mortals, we aren’t allowed an opinion on the matter.
It was a completely unnecessary and ultimately fruitless war. I will always remember those first few nights of shock and awe played out on our TV sets and thinking of the thousands of innocent people being bombed to destruction on the whim of Bush and Blair.
We should be ashamed it was done in our name and unsurprised that countries like Iran hate us. If I was an Iranian, I think I would be in favour of having nuclear weapons as a deterrent to the West.
The best solution for Britain now is to scrap Trident and show that we mean what we say about wanting a peaceful world. For far too long it has been ‘necessary’ for us to have nuclear weapons but ‘unthinkable’ that others should. That’s certainly hypocritcal and probably racist on the grounds that we feel we are so much better than everyone else that we can be trusted with them.
Well let’s hope that this removal from Iraq will actaully happen. Bush said a similar thing but the troops never really left.
Of course this war was to safeguard oil supplies. Saddam Hussein was no saint but his removal from power could have been done more tactfully. This wasn’t good enough for ‘blood thirsty’ Bush or Blair; they only made matters worse! While murdering hundreds-of-thousands of innocent men, women and CHILDREN for the black gold they left Iraq on the brink of civil war. Well done Tony and George, I’m sure Saddam is looking forward to seeing you both; in hell!
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Probably more than 1 million Iraqi deaths (ORB, Lancet), millions displaced and cities divided on religious grounds by concrete walls.Over 4,500 US and UK soldiers killed with many tens of thousands with serious injuries both physical and mental.
The country still has poor sanitation and electricity supplies.
Trust in politicians got even worse and spin doctors were put in charge of making a case for war based on no concrete evidence. “But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” – Downing Street memo.
Had Blix’s UNMOVIC been allowed to do their job, all that need not have happened.
Now, Western companies fight over lucrative oil contracts and mercenaries operate outside Iraqi law.
Jon,
the stated aims were to find and destroy Iraq’s WMD. Many knew this to be a sham
That’s why over one million people in the UK marched to oppose it.
According to Bush and Blair (Oopps, I mean B’liar), the Iraq War was started on the grounds that there were WMD. Evidence subsequently found that this was not the case.
In my opinion, George Bush invaded Iraq to settle old scores, and Teflon Tony followed to satisfy his own ambition. They were not interested in what was best for the people of Iraq and as such, I question whether it has been left in a better situation compared to before.
Both men have many questions to answer and I fear that neither of them will ever be brought to justice.
Notice that those who instruct war are never in the firing line. Pity.
This war was the result of revenge for Bush seniors failings and, it turned out to be the biggest lie imaginable. The public were duped by all the stories of Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Biological stockpiles, etc.
Short term political corruption has resulted in seeds of hatreds & future terrorists.
The western Rambo mentality has created a world more divided &, we in the west are still shown selective media stories and propaganda that all is going good in Iraq, as long as ya forget the million + dead.
To prevent ‘terrorism’, stop being part of it.
Yes, but all these comments avoid the question…what did this needless war accomplish? That won’t be known until all foreign troops are long gone from Iraq…if that’s at all possible now.
If a stable progressive democracy results than there will be some measure of satisfaction in the West. But, if the three main factions break apart and engage in endless civil conflict, the entire debacle will have been a total waste.
Saadam, for all his faults, knew the Arab mind and maintained peace as has long been the case throughout this region, through terror.
With that terror gone, will Iraq disintegrate or fall prey to another strong man who will hold the country together by the Saadam method of crowd control?
The chances of US pulling out of Iraq are about the same as me winning lottery next Saturday – and every Saturday til I drop . A ” samll ” force is to be left behind in 2011 plus a large Private Army to make sure it is US that gets Iraq oil and its benifiets – not the people of Iraq – those that are left . Meanwhile Blair and Bush are still free – if there was a scrap of justice in this world – they would face trial for what they have done – how many deaths are they directly reponsible for – a court should decide – but it is the Rich and Powerful who decide what is ” justice ”..
The Iraq tragedy has been a direct result of political power within Britain and the US being unaccountable to the electorate.
Both democracies require change to prevent such ‘colonial interventions’ .
After Vietnam and Cambodia you would expect that such obvious injustice would prevent a repeat. No
I despair…
The liberation of Iraq leaves it in a better position than it was before, because it has democracy and hope instead of dictatorship and despair. Those responsible for terrorist atrocities are dethroned fascists and should be condemned by all responsible people. Nothing excuses their violence.
With Obama in power there is unfortunately no hope of liberating Syria and Cuba on the way home. Especially as the US now sides with Presidents aspiring to dictatorship, as in Honduras.
However, Obama may yet be forced to take military action against the deranged mullahs of Iran to prevent them nuking Israel and Britain. Obviously he wouldn’t be interest in regime change though. Obama is a Kissingerite merchant of realpolitik rather than a partidan of democracy like President Bush.
The impotence of the world and in particular it’s representation within the UN has been laid bare by the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq and to the aftermath. Who can hold Bush and Blair to account? The 5 permanent members of the Security Council can veto what they like – WHY? What are the ICC doing? There is simply no method of turning the wheels of justice at that level and it makes you want to cry. I’m no conspiracy theorist but it is all too clear that there are people in this world who are untouchable and control our lives (and deaths) as they see fit.
The Iraq “War” as far as I could see was a sham- an opportunistic attempt for George Bush to try and end some unfinished business that his Dad never got around to after Saddams Invasion of Kuwait.
If WMDs were the reason, why not go into North Korea?
It seems clear they do have WMDs My guess is that even if they had oil Bush wouldnt have gone in for that very reason.
No matter how you try to twist it, This war was started by Saddam Hussein. He left no choice but to finish do what should have been done in ’91. I am glad as are the majority of the people of Iraq that the leaders of the coalition has the guts to do what the cowards at the UN were scared to do! Once again showing that the UN is a toothless relic of a time long gone. Why do you blame the deaths caused by the terrorist gangsters on our forces?
The Iraq war got rid of a wicked man who thought nothing of using chemical weapons on his own people, It has given the Iraqi people freedom to choose their own leaders, it has brought down an evil repressive regime. it has removed a significant threat to neighbouring countries in that region. For these reasons alone the war achieved more than what all those Chamberlainesque appeasers would in 50 years of appeasing! The sanctions that were only hurting the people of Iraq are no more and now Iraq will rebuild into a free and prosperous nation.
It was a totally unnecessary war. Surely there were alternative methods to deal with Saddam Hussein. Today Iraq is in a much worse position than when Saddam was in power – over 1 million dead, millions orphaned and widowed and made homeless. The country still is in a state of chaos with the Americans using Shias against Sunnis to divide the country even further. I do not see stability coming to Iraq for a long time yet.
Absolutely everything Blair cast his shadow on has been wrecked or a disaster.
apart from the hundreds of thousands of dead civilians and a coutry left in ruins? it made sure that Iraqis will be deprived of their oil revenues because the legislation (and administration) introduced during occupation has skewed the balance in favour of western companies.
1) The Iraq War was not a war but an attack by the UK and US on a military unequal country. At school this is called bullying.
2) The Iraq Attack was not about liberation but about securing oil and gas extraction, just as the Afganistan Attack is all about keeping the oil pipelines through the Caspian Sea out of the hands of the Taliban.
3) The Iraq Attack was illegal and therefore Blair and Bush should be tried under the genocide act for genocide crimes in the murdering of 100,000+ innocent civilians.
4) I’m ashamed to be a UK citizen and ashamed that my taxes helped fund and continue to fund the Iraq and Afganistan Genocides.
Jon:
The outcome of the Iraq War and the pulling out of U.S. Combat Troops…Achieve very little in any outcome, except for the people in Iraq are more secure….
NB: I have a friend from Iraq…..
~Dennis Junior~