STORY SUMMARY
Ten years ago this week, I was covering the U.S. military as it began its assault on Iraq.
Invading Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein a decade ago was one of the biggest strategic errors in modern American history.
One was from a prominent Lebanese Shiite publisher who supported the war, but on the condition that America was resolute enough to finish what it was starting.
America’s military power, awesome as it was, turned out not to be sufficient to impose a settlement in Iraq; and in a grinding war of occupation, all America’s might could not turn on the electricity in Baghdad or frighten Sunnis and Shiites into cooperating with each other.
What other lessons should America learn from Iraq?
The U.S. dreamed that it would modernize Iraq by toppling Saddam Hussein. But when it disbanded the nonsectarian army and most of the secular government, Iraqis had nowhere to turn but their most basic ethnic and tribal identities as Sunnis or Shiites, Kurds or Arabs.
In the political vacuum the U.S. created, Iraq tumbled into the past – pulling a lot of the Arab world with it
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Americas, Iraq, United States
Error? It depends what we believe was the intention of the war. Journalists write that ‘no plans were made for ‘the day after’ and therefore Iraq transition was not managed well (or at all). Who said that anyone WANTED TO manage the transition well?
If the intention was to destroy the country then the plan was achieved! If the intention was for Dick Cheyney and Associates to become billionaires than that aim was achieved. If the intention was to divert the attention away from Israeli settlement construction than that aim was achieved. Who cares for Iraqi Civilian death? That is just ‘collateral damage’. Who cares for US army casualties? They were not from the ruling class.
all the aims that I have mentioned above are being achieved in the Syrian carnage at a much cheaper price. Jihadists from all over the place do the killing at a fraction of the cost of a US marine. The only ones that suffer are the US contractors, who are not earning as much as they did in Iraq (but I suppose they still have sufficient cash from that adventure).
I completely agree, brother Rafiq!!
They have achieved their objectives, let there be no doubt. The same is true for Afghanistan, only history will tell what they were after: mineral resources, oil, opium??!!