No More Iraqi Style Wars...Promise

   

The overarching pretext for the 2003 war on Iraq was discovered a sham one year later. In 2004, David Kay, the former UN weapons inspector and Chief of the Iraq Survey Group in Baghdad resigned and announced that he didn’t think former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had possessed any stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons. Former Secretary of State Collin Powell told the Washington Post that he too was having second thoughts about the war based on Kay’s testimony and although he retracted his remarks one day later, the bombshell he dropped caused enough damage. “For many Americans, such candour from inside the intelligence established was both illuminating and devastating. It didn’t matter that the Survey Group had reaffirmed Saddam’s capacity to reconstitute his illicit weapons program, or that he had been developing ballistic missile systems that might deliver new weapons in the future, it didn’t matter that Saddam had killed or scarred tens of thousands of Kurds and Iranians with nerve agents or mustard gas, or that he had been twice discovered developing nuclear weapons….all that mattered in 2004 for many Americans was that they had been colossally misled”(Tyler, 2009: 6-7).

     Now the American political establishment is an intelligent one. It rarely repeats its mistakes and almost always learns from lessons from the past. After the immense amount of money poured out of the American treasury to finance two major wars in the Middle East, the sad number of lives lost in war zones and the counter effect that such wars bore (rising extremism and vindictive jihadism), the Americans are done. No more unnecessary wars, no more blood spilling and no more missionary acts to liberate and democratize the world. Unfortunately, the politics of a superpower cannot follow this logic, and constant and surly intervention in world affairs – in the name of whatever it is – is necessary. A pretext to carry out wars for higher ends than those announced is needed. And the USA managed to find one two days ago.

     The timing of Obama’s speech on the September 11^th thirteenth anniversary was just perfect. In that speech, he outlined the strategy to be followed by the USA and regional actors to eradicate the ISIS and end its acts of terror. His speech also stressed on the need for Middle Eastern countries to assume their share of responsibility and join efforts to fight IS off. And the region’s leaders came through. The foreign ministers of the regional alliance (composed of USA, GCC states, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey) against ISIS and other terrorist organizations met in Jeddah yesterday and confirmed its commitment to fight off ISIS, agreeing on who needs to do what. Their efforts will not end at launching a fully-fledged war against ISIS, but will also include actions to stop the flow of foreign fighters into and out of the IS. Most importantly, the Syrian opposition forces will also be trained, supplied with advanced weapons and financed, enjoying a major role in this alliance as it will ensure fighting off ISIS, securing the areas freed from the militants’ grip and prevent the Syrian regime from taking advantage of the strikes against ISIS for its own military and political ends. Considering that the Assad regime may take advantage of the war against ISIS to strike the opposition, the latter will be armed and supported so as it fulfil its mission without wicked intervention from a terrorist-harbouring regime. Both the USA and Saudi Arabia agreed in the meeting on the important role of the Syrian opposition and the need to train it and arm it.

   What a happy coincidence. Just when the world agreed that there can be nothing done to curb the Syrian regime’s tenacious will to remain in power, IS came along. Assad’s swift approval to rid Syria of its chemical weapons' stockpile, his holding of free elections as promised and his deviously intelligent message to the world of the dangers of a fragmented Assad-free Islamist Syria gave reason to the world in general and the American public in particular to oppose further military interventions. Let Syrians deal with their issues and as long as Assad is popular amongst some, well then let him be. However, things quickly changed when IS came to light, beheading Christians, enslaving women and children, abducting western journalists and slitting their throats in cold cold blood, expanding a radical and dangerous state, targeting religious minorities and burning down churches. These barbaric images not only enraged the world, but also scared it. What if this IS does expand? What if its population grows? What if it actually manages to train an army that could attack western interests and western nations? Action must be taken, and money must be spent, and blood must be spilled to stop that. While we are at it, and since it is all part of the same operation and serves the same end, let’s also get rid of Assad via military intervention. Sweet. Olé Obama.