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Iraq War: Five Years Later, No End in Sight
Sawraj Singh

Five years have passed since the start of the Iraq war yet no end seems to be in sight. President Bush’s claim of victory in the war looks completely false. Either the President is detached from the realities or he is not telling us the truth. There were two declared goals of the war. One: to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction, and the second: promoting democracy in the Middle East. None of the two objectives have been fulfilled.

The weapons of mass destruction were never found. President Bush claimed at the time of invasion that he was informed by the American intelligence that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. However, the CIA has denied that it gave any firm information about the weapons of mass destruction. No wonder, no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

The Iraq war has not promoted democracy in the Middle East. It has actually hurt the cause of democracy there. Moreover, the definition of democracy has also been changed in the Middle East. People should elect the government that is liked by the western countries, otherwise the West is not going to accept their verdict. People voted for the Hamas in Palestine and for the Hezbollah in Lebanon, but that was not acceptable to the West. Basically, the West wants governments there who will toe its line.

We have spent more money in the Iraqi war then in the Second World War, yet peace does not seem to be an achievable goal. More than 4,000 Americans have been killed in Iraq. 97% of these people were killed after President Bush had declared that the war was over in 2003.

It’s true that last year less Americans were killed than the year before, but it is not because there is less violence. The type of violence has changed. After the Americans were able to win over some Sunni tribes, the Al Qaeda labeled them traitors and made eliminating them as its top priority.

The Shias were the main American allies, but they are not happy with America reaching out to the Sunnis. Therefore, they have moved even closer to Iran. America has blamed Iran for the recent attacks on the green zone. Both the Sunnis and the Shias have considered the Kurds in Iraq the American lackeys, yet Turkey, an American ally, is punishing them.

One casualty of the Iraq war is Afghanistan. Violence in Afghanistan has been steadily growing. The NATO and the American forces are now unable to control the violence there. The NATO is asking for more troops in Afghanistan. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have showed to the World that America is no longer a superpower because it cannot fight two wars at the same time even with very small countries. The Army has been overstretched in these two wars.

President Bush seems to have retreated from his theory about the “Axis of Evil.” He was calling Iran and North Korea part of the Axis of Evil. However, he is not considering attacking those countries. Russia and China have started asserting and projecting their power. Russia has started challenging the West in Europe, while China is expanding its influence in Asia.

Most of the world sees America as a loser in Iraq. President Bush should start paying attention to the world opinion. Both of the democratic Presidential candidates have announced that they will withdraw the American forces from Iraq. Hilary Clinton will withdraw the American forces in 60 days and Barack Obama is for a phased withdrawal. President Bush should accept the reality in Iraq and spare America and the rest of the world more harm.

2 April 2008
 

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