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"It began with victory and ended with disaster." A British newspaper about the Iraq war and how it changed the world order
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]American military wheels before leaving Iraq at the end of 2011 (AP)
2023-03-14 04:31
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Shafaq News/ The British newspaper "The Guardian" said that, contrary to what French politician Georges Clemenceau said that "war is a series of disasters that lead to victory", in the case of the invasion of Iraq, the war began with victory and ended with a series of disasters.
A report by the British newspaper, translated by Shafaq News Agency, considered; The major US military withdrawal from Iraq was completed by 2011, which was an answer to the question posed by Gen. David Petraeus during the first military push into Baghdad in 2003 when he said, "Tell me, how does this end?"
However, the report indicated that the invasion still casts a shadow over the international system, distorts the political process itself, and deals a strong blow to the self-confidence that the West felt in the years that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall.
He pointed out that on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the war, which falls on March 20, it is no longer important whether the war was waged based on deliberate misleading, distortion, or misunderstanding, or even based on a wrong hypothesis, noting that former President Barack Obama concluded One lesson from what was going on was saying "don't do stupid things".
The report referred to the question mentioned in the title of Catherine Ashton's new European Politics book on diplomacy, "Then what?" It was put forward by many in relation to Iraq before the invasion. Ideas regarding the perilous consequences for Iraq were put forward in notes and meetings at the time by Britain-based Iraq experts such as Rosemary Hollis and Toby Dodge and by a large number of American specialists in the Middle East, including the head of the CIA. The current CIA, Bill Burns, however, those concerned, including George Bush, chose to ignore these warnings.
The report indicated that Dodge, who had recently returned from Iraq, was invited to "Downing Street" in order to warn Tony Blair that the invasion would be a disaster. Dodge Blair recalls when he initially said, "I know you think I shouldn't do it, but I have to do it. I know it's going to be bad. Tell me how bad that's going to be."
The report quoted Doug as saying that "there was no one in London and Washington who had the first idea about Iraq, but they were planning to occupy it and run the place."
After the report referred to the looting of the capital and the dismantling of the institutions of the dictatorship, he said
The chaos produced extensive writing on post-war planning, many official inquiries, notably Britain's Chilcot Inquiry, and a two-volume report by the US Army. The report quoted Dodge as saying, "We've been searching for the past 20 years about what was the big mistake. Some things accelerated the collapse, like the legacy of sanctions or de-Baathification. But the big mistake, the original sin, was invading a country you knew nothing about. It was doomed. Period."
The report pointed to the lack of a coherent plan agreed upon for who or who will replace Saddam Hussein, the heating up of sectarian rivalry between Shiites and Sunni Shiites across the Middle East, rebellion by Sunnis, the birth of ISIS, the chaos of the Syrian civil war, and the emergence of the so-called caliphate of the organization throughout Syria. And Iraq.
In addition, the war has emboldened Iran and its proxies throughout the Middle East, has also raised tensions in the West over the war in Syria, spared President Bashar al-Assad from an armed rebellion, and given Vladimir Putin an unexpected ticket back to the Middle East.
Among the effects of what happened, too, is that if other Arab leaders needed a reason to suppress the threat posed by the "Arab Spring" in 2011, the chaos of democracy in Iraq provided them with this excuse. The report continued that the unilateral American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Donald Trump sought and then pursued by his successor, Joe Biden, was a result of discontent with the failure of state-building represented by Iraq.
The report considered that the invasion had a contemporary importance in light of the West's wariness of regime change in Tehran, not to mention Moscow, where French President Emmanuel Macron asked during the Munich Security Conference recently, "Change to what and by what means?", In light of his awareness of the corrupt and sectarian governments in Iraq after The year 2003 is sufficient warning of regime change in Russia.
The report indicated that when the United States condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and praises the virtues of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the United Nations Charter, it will only take seconds for China, Russia and countries in the south of the world to invoke the example of Iraq to accuse the United States of double standards. The report stated that the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, recently admitted that "countries have memories."
The report also indicated that, from Putin's point of view, he was critical of everything the United States did later, including courting Islamists during the "Arab Spring," misleading him about the UN's mandate to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya, and siding with groups that include jihadists against the regime. Assad in Syria, support for the Maidan protests in Ukraine in 2014 and an indication of US hegemony.
The report added; The Saudis, longtime US allies, felt betrayed by the invasion, because of the dangers of suddenly importing democracy into Iraq. He continued
Former Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal complained that the United States had "effectively handed Iraq over to Iran on a silver platter." He added that the Gulf monarchies complained that the West had created a hostile Iranian-Syrian axis, which included the Hezbollah-Iraq-Syria-Hamas alliance, which was later used to further constrain the Saudis in Yemen.
The report quoted researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs Hamid Reza Azizi as saying that the 2003 invasion "radically changed Iran's perception of the threat," as its leaders saw evidence of Washington's willingness to embark on a strategy of active interventions. "The most immediate effect has been that support for armed non-state actors has become a central feature of Iran's military strategy," he added.
The report also added that Iran has gained influence through groups such as the Mahdi Army, and other factions formed by the Iranian Quds Force. He added that the Pentagon said that more than 600 of the 4,000 US soldiers killed in Iraq were killed by Iranian-backed groups.
The report stated that Bush himself was ambivalent about his motives on Iraq, which reflects the divisions of the administration internally, explaining that in the beginning, the US response to September 11 was primarily to protect America from terrorists, but it also indicated that Saddam Hussein was arming them. terrorists.
The report continued that by August 2002, Bush signed a secret document drafted by US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, indicating that the United States could work towards creating a new Iraq whose society would be based on democracy and be a model of good governance in the region.
The report considered that the Iraq war was an obstacle to the spread of democracy in the region, adding that the Gulf monarchies breathed a sigh of relief because the first democratic experiment in the region did not succeed, while opinion polls showed that the vast majority in the Middle East opposed the American invasion.
The report saw that when the "Arab Spring" uprisings erupted in 2011 and 2012, it had nothing to do with American inspiration, but rather with youth unemployment, corruption, Qatar's sponsorship of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the rise of the new media scene.
The report quoted Iyad al-Baghdadi, a researcher at the Middle East Crisis Factory Institute, as saying that "many movements were not seeking to replicate the prevailing neoliberal world order, but were seeking something different."
He pointed out that Obama hated the Gulf monarchies, but when the Egyptian army overthrew the democratically elected Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Obama prevaricated before choosing not to describe it as a "coup."
The report added that the fact that China, and not the United States, is the one that recently negotiated the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation agreement is being viewed, which is considered an additional indication of the diminishing American influence in the region.
The report quoted Marcin Al-Shammari, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, as warning against disappointment and even nostalgia for a strong state. She indicated that most Iraqis were born after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and that their memory of Baathism comes from their families or from social networking sites. She added that Iraqi youth believed that democracy would produce social and economic rights, but that failed.
The report concludes that this does not represent the glorious legacy envisioned by those who began the invasion in 2003.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]American military wheels before leaving Iraq at the end of 2011 (AP)
2023-03-14 04:31
Share
Font
Shafaq News/ The British newspaper "The Guardian" said that, contrary to what French politician Georges Clemenceau said that "war is a series of disasters that lead to victory", in the case of the invasion of Iraq, the war began with victory and ended with a series of disasters.
A report by the British newspaper, translated by Shafaq News Agency, considered; The major US military withdrawal from Iraq was completed by 2011, which was an answer to the question posed by Gen. David Petraeus during the first military push into Baghdad in 2003 when he said, "Tell me, how does this end?"
However, the report indicated that the invasion still casts a shadow over the international system, distorts the political process itself, and deals a strong blow to the self-confidence that the West felt in the years that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall.
He pointed out that on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the war, which falls on March 20, it is no longer important whether the war was waged based on deliberate misleading, distortion, or misunderstanding, or even based on a wrong hypothesis, noting that former President Barack Obama concluded One lesson from what was going on was saying "don't do stupid things".
The report referred to the question mentioned in the title of Catherine Ashton's new European Politics book on diplomacy, "Then what?" It was put forward by many in relation to Iraq before the invasion. Ideas regarding the perilous consequences for Iraq were put forward in notes and meetings at the time by Britain-based Iraq experts such as Rosemary Hollis and Toby Dodge and by a large number of American specialists in the Middle East, including the head of the CIA. The current CIA, Bill Burns, however, those concerned, including George Bush, chose to ignore these warnings.
The report indicated that Dodge, who had recently returned from Iraq, was invited to "Downing Street" in order to warn Tony Blair that the invasion would be a disaster. Dodge Blair recalls when he initially said, "I know you think I shouldn't do it, but I have to do it. I know it's going to be bad. Tell me how bad that's going to be."
The report quoted Doug as saying that "there was no one in London and Washington who had the first idea about Iraq, but they were planning to occupy it and run the place."
After the report referred to the looting of the capital and the dismantling of the institutions of the dictatorship, he said
The chaos produced extensive writing on post-war planning, many official inquiries, notably Britain's Chilcot Inquiry, and a two-volume report by the US Army. The report quoted Dodge as saying, "We've been searching for the past 20 years about what was the big mistake. Some things accelerated the collapse, like the legacy of sanctions or de-Baathification. But the big mistake, the original sin, was invading a country you knew nothing about. It was doomed. Period."
The report pointed to the lack of a coherent plan agreed upon for who or who will replace Saddam Hussein, the heating up of sectarian rivalry between Shiites and Sunni Shiites across the Middle East, rebellion by Sunnis, the birth of ISIS, the chaos of the Syrian civil war, and the emergence of the so-called caliphate of the organization throughout Syria. And Iraq.
In addition, the war has emboldened Iran and its proxies throughout the Middle East, has also raised tensions in the West over the war in Syria, spared President Bashar al-Assad from an armed rebellion, and given Vladimir Putin an unexpected ticket back to the Middle East.
Among the effects of what happened, too, is that if other Arab leaders needed a reason to suppress the threat posed by the "Arab Spring" in 2011, the chaos of democracy in Iraq provided them with this excuse. The report continued that the unilateral American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Donald Trump sought and then pursued by his successor, Joe Biden, was a result of discontent with the failure of state-building represented by Iraq.
The report considered that the invasion had a contemporary importance in light of the West's wariness of regime change in Tehran, not to mention Moscow, where French President Emmanuel Macron asked during the Munich Security Conference recently, "Change to what and by what means?", In light of his awareness of the corrupt and sectarian governments in Iraq after The year 2003 is sufficient warning of regime change in Russia.
The report indicated that when the United States condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and praises the virtues of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the United Nations Charter, it will only take seconds for China, Russia and countries in the south of the world to invoke the example of Iraq to accuse the United States of double standards. The report stated that the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, recently admitted that "countries have memories."
The report also indicated that, from Putin's point of view, he was critical of everything the United States did later, including courting Islamists during the "Arab Spring," misleading him about the UN's mandate to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya, and siding with groups that include jihadists against the regime. Assad in Syria, support for the Maidan protests in Ukraine in 2014 and an indication of US hegemony.
The report added; The Saudis, longtime US allies, felt betrayed by the invasion, because of the dangers of suddenly importing democracy into Iraq. He continued
Former Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal complained that the United States had "effectively handed Iraq over to Iran on a silver platter." He added that the Gulf monarchies complained that the West had created a hostile Iranian-Syrian axis, which included the Hezbollah-Iraq-Syria-Hamas alliance, which was later used to further constrain the Saudis in Yemen.
The report quoted researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs Hamid Reza Azizi as saying that the 2003 invasion "radically changed Iran's perception of the threat," as its leaders saw evidence of Washington's willingness to embark on a strategy of active interventions. "The most immediate effect has been that support for armed non-state actors has become a central feature of Iran's military strategy," he added.
The report also added that Iran has gained influence through groups such as the Mahdi Army, and other factions formed by the Iranian Quds Force. He added that the Pentagon said that more than 600 of the 4,000 US soldiers killed in Iraq were killed by Iranian-backed groups.
The report stated that Bush himself was ambivalent about his motives on Iraq, which reflects the divisions of the administration internally, explaining that in the beginning, the US response to September 11 was primarily to protect America from terrorists, but it also indicated that Saddam Hussein was arming them. terrorists.
The report continued that by August 2002, Bush signed a secret document drafted by US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, indicating that the United States could work towards creating a new Iraq whose society would be based on democracy and be a model of good governance in the region.
The report considered that the Iraq war was an obstacle to the spread of democracy in the region, adding that the Gulf monarchies breathed a sigh of relief because the first democratic experiment in the region did not succeed, while opinion polls showed that the vast majority in the Middle East opposed the American invasion.
The report saw that when the "Arab Spring" uprisings erupted in 2011 and 2012, it had nothing to do with American inspiration, but rather with youth unemployment, corruption, Qatar's sponsorship of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the rise of the new media scene.
The report quoted Iyad al-Baghdadi, a researcher at the Middle East Crisis Factory Institute, as saying that "many movements were not seeking to replicate the prevailing neoliberal world order, but were seeking something different."
He pointed out that Obama hated the Gulf monarchies, but when the Egyptian army overthrew the democratically elected Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Obama prevaricated before choosing not to describe it as a "coup."
The report added that the fact that China, and not the United States, is the one that recently negotiated the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation agreement is being viewed, which is considered an additional indication of the diminishing American influence in the region.
The report quoted Marcin Al-Shammari, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, as warning against disappointment and even nostalgia for a strong state. She indicated that most Iraqis were born after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and that their memory of Baathism comes from their families or from social networking sites. She added that Iraqi youth believed that democracy would produce social and economic rights, but that failed.
The report concludes that this does not represent the glorious legacy envisioned by those who began the invasion in 2003.
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