The lessons of Iraq

by Editor · March 21, 2007

Four years ago, military forces led by the United States and Britain invaded Iraq, a sovereign country, in defiance of international law and on pretexts that even at the time were, charitably put, disputable, and which time has exposed as gross deceit.

Nothing good has come from the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime, brutal and repugnant though it was, left a predictable power vacuum which has led to an equally predictable sectarian civil war.

In his efforts to justify an invasion of Iraq, US President George W Bush claimed a link between Saddam and the terrorists of al-Qaeda. To any serious observer of the region’s politics these claims were preposterous; Saddam’s secularist regime was very much at odds with the theocratic precepts of al-Qaeda. Ironically, by removing Saddam, the US opened the gates for al-Qaeda, and other Islamic fundamentalist groups that are no friends of peace, to enter Iraq.

Iraqis today go about their daily business knowing that at any moment they might die in a massacre or car bomb. Terrorists have perfected ways to maximise the number of civilian casualties in bomb attacks, which neither the occupying forces nor Iraq’s security forces have proved capable of counteracting.

It cannot be said that life for Iraqis is better now than it was four years ago, even less so for Christians, as we reported last week.

The future for Iraq is, at best, uncertain. Prospects for a resolution to the sectarian strife are not promising. The US-led invasion unleashed an uncontrollable monster that threatens to consume Iraq.

Tragically, there seem to be no answers as to what course of action might return a sense of stability to Iraq. The occupation of Iraq remains a root problem, especially if there is merit to allegations that US forces fuel sectarian conflict, instead of confining it. At the same time, a total withdrawal of US troops might aggravate the distressing situation.

The US and Britain created a mess which they now have an obligation to clear up.

Some peace groups have mooted the idea of an aid programme for Iraq along the lines of the US Marshall Plan which facilitated the rebuilding of Western Europe, especially West Germany, after the Second World War.

A consortium of US peace groups, which includes Catholic organisations, is proposing a $590 million plan to bring proven strategies of peace-building, humanitarian relief and responsible economic development to Iraq.

The sum of $590 million is very modest, being equal to two-and-a-half day’s worth of funding of the US military. In other words, if the peace consortium’s figures are realistic, it would be cheaper to help rebuild Iraq than to continue an occupation in which the US and British troops are arguably more a part of the problem than of the solution.

It takes imagination and fortitude to place one’s trust in peaceful means to accomplish peace. It is also the most Christian way.

The Catholic peace movement Pax Christi, in an advertisement run in the US-based National Catholic Reporter magazine of March 16, rightly pointed out: For all who would believe that violence can serve any productive purpose, the tragic experience in Iraq should be ample evidence to the contrary.

It seems inconceivable, irresponsible and ignorant of Mr Bush to now raise the prospect of military action against Iran, as if the tragic experience of Iraq has bypassed the US government altogether.

This experience has taught that belligerent methods have failed to create peace in the region (if that ever was the motivation for the invasion of Iraq).

It is now time to give peaceful means a chance.