Iraq – The New Frontier

Iraq – The New Frontier

by Marcus Cohen

It is becoming increasingly obvious to much of the world outside of the closed minds of Washington and London that the Allied attack has already failed in its stated purposes. The reasons for war appeared to shift uneasily as each came under closer international scrutiny and though weapons of mass destruction were given as the original catalyst no proof of their existence has yet been produced from captured Iraqi facilities. Should evidence now suddenly appear many both in the region and elsewhere would undoubtedly prove hard to convince that the Americans had not simply planted the illegal material. Next came liberation of the Iraqi people from the evils of the Baghdad regime, unfortunately nobody appeared to ask the Iraqi’s whether they wanted to be ‘liberated’ by modern day Christian Crusaders and all the evidence would so far suggest a surprising willingness to fight their would be saviours. Perhaps excuse number three will revolve around Iraq’s part in an evil alliance with future US targets; Syria and Iran.

The United States is at grave risk of being seen as nothing more than a new colonial power and of treating the Iraqi’s like the Red Indians or Native Americans and indeed victims of an early form of ethnic cleansing; the only good Iraqi is a dead Iraqi! Recent evidence of this attitude has come from a number of highly reputable sources such as Mark Franchetti of the London Times and has been tragically confirmed by recent trigger happy shootings of civilians by US troops. Had this been carried out by Serbian troops against Kosovan Muslims Washington would have been the first to loudly cry ‘War Crime'. It has to be hoped that President Bush’s propagandists are better than the Milosevic apologists were at creating a positive spin.


Suicide bomb changes course of the war.

With just one successful suicide bomb attack Iraq changed the road map of this war. American soldiers on the ground have reacted in the largely predictable manner of fighting men; shoot first and ask questions later. However, that will probably not be sufficient reason even for a largely docile US news media. America is now going to be cast as the villains; the invaders and finally the oppressors of an Arab nation by the vast majority of ordinary people in the Middle East, despite Washington’s best efforts to win the vital ‘hearts and minds’ campaign. In truth the game is over and America’s cover has been blown. This is a war for strategic position and very probably to prepare the ground for the real target, Iran. The original 4-6 day warplan was a perfect example of an arrogant disregard for a Middle Eastern country, its armed forces and the determination of its people to resist an invader. It was also planned to ‘shock and awe’ the entire region with a quick and comprehensive defeat of Iraq which it was hoped would cause Syria and Iran to take the hint and fall into line... Unfortunately nobody in Washington thought to check with the Iraq people first and it has come as something of a shock to find that ordinary Iraqi’s had no wish to be liberated by moralizing evangelical Christians from Texas or anywhere else.

Washington having painted itself into an avoidable and highly uncomfortable corner may now decide to prosecute this foolish war even more vigorously with a beefed up ground campaign and ever more intensive bombing. To many it would seem that Bush and Blair are intent on throwing yet more oil on the flames of Islamic anger. So be it, America it seems will probably pay an extremely high price for its first war of outright aggression, unprovoked and without a single shred of acceptable international legitimacy. It should be noted that the International Red Cross believe that around 100 innocent Iraqi civilians are being killed by American and British forces each day of this war. It is therefore becoming ever more difficult to claim the moral high ground even against such a cruel dictator as Saddam Hussein when you end up shooting and bombing the very people you are supposed to be liberating.


Saddam legacy will haunt the West for years to come.

To a very large extent Saddam Hussein has already effectively won the real war. Even though Iraq will surely loose the military confrontation, the stubborn resistance of its people has ensured that Washington will only inherit the title of an imperialist aggressor and not that of a humanitarian liberator in the eyes of a billion or more Muslims. The United States stands to gain control of a hostile nation in an unstable and bitterly resentful region. President Mubarak of Egypt is probably correct in suggesting that the Iraq War will be the catalyst for the creation of America’s worst nightmare. International Terrorism will in all likelihood come to significantly threaten every American serviceman, diplomat, businessman and tourist alike, wherever in the world they may be and indeed for much of the rest of the 21st century.

Washington’s precipitate action in Iraq is also almost certain to encourage a massive worldwide proliferation of both advanced missile and weapons of mass destruction technology as countries rush to protect themselves from becoming a future victim of US policy. If Washington is determined to expose all other nations and in particular Syria, Libya, Iran, Pakistan, India and North Korea to the same litmus test as Iraq then this divisive conflict will just be the first in a series wars that will in all probability final wreck any chance of peace in this century and cause incalculable damage to the major Western economies. This is likely to be Saddam’s lasting legacy to a world seemingly still incapable of learning the important lessons of history or realizing that the days of imperial posturing are long gone.

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