Iraq: A Big Mistake
Nehad Ismail
April 12, 2006
The Bush Iraqi Project is facing failure
I commented recently that the Iraqi Humpty Dumpty has been broken to pieces and the Bush Administration cannot put it together again.
I also posed the question: Has the American project in Iraq been scuppered by the Civil war?Some argued that was a pessimistic view and disagreed and others agreed. Let’s take a look at the following facts and headlines that screamed for attention of the readers in world media during March and April:
And the list goes on and on.
It is clear that the American grand design for Iraq has turned sour. It is in deep trouble.
For every American soldier killed, over 60 Iraqi civilian non-combatants are murdered by fellow Muslims. This is done in the name of Islam.
The London Sunday Times reported recently that 182 former pilots and 416 senior military officers had been killed by Iranian backed militias by the end of 2005. Hundreds others fled to neighbouring countries. The main culprit is the Shi’ite Badr Brigade which is trained and financed by Iran. Survivors of such attacks blame Iran for instigating such attacks as acts of vengeance for the role played by the pilots and officers in the Iran Iraq war in the 1980s.
In March 2006 gunmen wearing uniforms of Iraq’s interior ministry commandos raided a private security company in the centre of Baghdad and kidnapped 35 employees who are now presumed killed. At least 20 of those kidnapped were former high ranking Sunni pilots in Saddam air force.
What’s to be done?
Nobody can deny except Dick Cheney and President Bush that Iran is heading relentlessly toward civil war.
It is also clear that there is no military solution to the problem. Only a political one. This requires massive diplomatic efforts. Both Sunni and Shi’ite leaders need to be told of the options available if they don’t come to an agreement.
One option is to divide the country on sectarian grounds under the federal umbrella. Iraq will not work as it did under Saddam. The Bush Administration is desperately seeking a face-saving formula, but no one is interested in helping out. Even its reliable allies in the region are too impotent or unwilling to help. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel are sitting on the fence as observers.
Syria and Iran are feeling comfortable about the messy situation in Iraq. They derive satisfaction from the fact that the US is plunging deeper and deeper into the Iraqi quagmire. Both Syria and Iran are fully aware of the US reluctance to get involved in a new adventure against them. Therefore Iran can defy the world over its nuclear program and Syria can ignore the world over its interference in Lebanon and its efforts to undermine the UN investigation into the assassination of Rafqi Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was murdered on February 14th 2005.
It is not a scenario that the Bush Administration envisaged when it planned the invasion of Iraq. We are where we are now and what is to be done.
How can the US extricate itself from this messy no-win situation.
The temptation to cut and run is gaining momentum. It is unadvisable to take this course which would leave the Iraqi civilian population at the mercy of Al-Zarqawi and his blood thirsty lieutenants who specialise in the wholesale murder of Iraqis. The Iranian backed militias are busy killing Iraqis believed to be supporters of the former regime.
The US must try to convince its allies mainly Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to contribute troops to help maintain law and order, until the Iraqis are fit to take care of their own security. It needs to reach a deal with Syria and Iran to persuade them to do more to secure their respective borders with Iraq. In the case of Syria and Iran the price would be high. Syria would insist that the UN investigation of the Hariri’s murder would not implicate individuals close to the top of the Syrian Pyramid. Iran would seek a formula to permit the uranium enrichment program ostensibly for peaceful purposes to continue. Both are unpalatable for the US.
I commented recently that the Iraqi Humpty Dumpty has been broken to pieces and the Bush Administration cannot put it together again.
I also posed the question: Has the American project in Iraq been scuppered by the Civil war?Some argued that was a pessimistic view and disagreed and others agreed. Let’s take a look at the following facts and headlines that screamed for attention of the readers in world media during March and April:
- Suicide bombers kill 79 in packed mosque in Iraq
- Death toll rises to 85 in Iraq
- Iraqis mourn victims of Shi’ite mosque attack
- In the seven days until end March some 250 Iraqis were killed
- Since April 1st more than 150 Iraqis have been killed.
- 57 passengers on a bus were murdered in February 2006
- 58 bodies recovered from the Tigris River recently
- Over 160 Kurds murdered in the northern town of Irbil
- 60 Kurds were murdered in Kirkuk
- 140 murdered in Hilla
- 50 killed Sunday April 2nd
- The bodies of 10 men, all blindfolded with their hands tied in front were found in Western Baghdad. All had been shot.
- 9 people, including 3 women and 2 children were killed in Dora south of Baghdad early April
- Police found 30 more victims, most of them beheaded on March 27th, north of Baghdad
- 16 other killed by US backed raid in a Shi’ite district of Baghdad
- Unspecified number of people killed in Basra on March 25th and 26th
- 18 bodies were found at Al-Mustafa Hussainya Mosque in Baghdad on March 26th
- 58 killed in execution-style slaying on March 23rd in Baghdad
And the list goes on and on.
It is clear that the American grand design for Iraq has turned sour. It is in deep trouble.
For every American soldier killed, over 60 Iraqi civilian non-combatants are murdered by fellow Muslims. This is done in the name of Islam.
The London Sunday Times reported recently that 182 former pilots and 416 senior military officers had been killed by Iranian backed militias by the end of 2005. Hundreds others fled to neighbouring countries. The main culprit is the Shi’ite Badr Brigade which is trained and financed by Iran. Survivors of such attacks blame Iran for instigating such attacks as acts of vengeance for the role played by the pilots and officers in the Iran Iraq war in the 1980s.
In March 2006 gunmen wearing uniforms of Iraq’s interior ministry commandos raided a private security company in the centre of Baghdad and kidnapped 35 employees who are now presumed killed. At least 20 of those kidnapped were former high ranking Sunni pilots in Saddam air force.
What’s to be done?
Nobody can deny except Dick Cheney and President Bush that Iran is heading relentlessly toward civil war.
It is also clear that there is no military solution to the problem. Only a political one. This requires massive diplomatic efforts. Both Sunni and Shi’ite leaders need to be told of the options available if they don’t come to an agreement.
One option is to divide the country on sectarian grounds under the federal umbrella. Iraq will not work as it did under Saddam. The Bush Administration is desperately seeking a face-saving formula, but no one is interested in helping out. Even its reliable allies in the region are too impotent or unwilling to help. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel are sitting on the fence as observers.
Syria and Iran are feeling comfortable about the messy situation in Iraq. They derive satisfaction from the fact that the US is plunging deeper and deeper into the Iraqi quagmire. Both Syria and Iran are fully aware of the US reluctance to get involved in a new adventure against them. Therefore Iran can defy the world over its nuclear program and Syria can ignore the world over its interference in Lebanon and its efforts to undermine the UN investigation into the assassination of Rafqi Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was murdered on February 14th 2005.
It is not a scenario that the Bush Administration envisaged when it planned the invasion of Iraq. We are where we are now and what is to be done.
How can the US extricate itself from this messy no-win situation.
The temptation to cut and run is gaining momentum. It is unadvisable to take this course which would leave the Iraqi civilian population at the mercy of Al-Zarqawi and his blood thirsty lieutenants who specialise in the wholesale murder of Iraqis. The Iranian backed militias are busy killing Iraqis believed to be supporters of the former regime.
The US must try to convince its allies mainly Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to contribute troops to help maintain law and order, until the Iraqis are fit to take care of their own security. It needs to reach a deal with Syria and Iran to persuade them to do more to secure their respective borders with Iraq. In the case of Syria and Iran the price would be high. Syria would insist that the UN investigation of the Hariri’s murder would not implicate individuals close to the top of the Syrian Pyramid. Iran would seek a formula to permit the uranium enrichment program ostensibly for peaceful purposes to continue. Both are unpalatable for the US.
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