Iraq War: Lies and hegemony cause 20 years of disaster

Jia Xiaojing, reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network

In March 2003, several missiles pierced the night sky of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. This historic moment, described by the Western media as an "awesome moment," sounded the death knell for Saddam's regime. Subsequently, the war in Iraq, initiated by the United States, was won in its entirety. Years later, however, declassified documents revealed that the most important local war of the 20th century was full of "lies and deception."

In November 2001, shortly after the United States experienced 9/11, then-U.S. President George W. Bush ordered defense officials to develop strategies for dealing with Saddam, which he considered a "threat," according to a November 2022 declassified memo from the National Archives. George W. Bush told the official that Iraq's high-profile opposition to the United States and its support for terrorism and that the best U.S. strategy was to "kill terrorists before they could do so," even though there was no evidence that Saddam would launch 9/11-style terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland.

To persuade the U.S. Congress to support an invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush tried a variety of methods. In his congressional address, he asked lawmakers to "imagine" what would happen if Saddam supported an attack like 9/11, NBC reported. Former U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that at the time, the United States "couldn't wait to find a smoking gun."

U.S. intelligence agencies quickly found "evidence" that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat to the United States: a bottle of white powder of unknown composition. Many believe that the threat of Saddam's regime to the Western world is "imminent." The appearance of former US Secretary of State Powell holding "evidence" in his hand is fixed in the memories of many people.

Thirteen years later, a series of classified documents exposed confirmed that the "evidence" in Powell's hands was an elaborate lie. Today, 20 years later, when people reevaluate the Iraq war, the most common reference is "America's failure." "George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq based on false, exaggerated, and erroneous intelligence undermined the credibility of the United States and was a major strategic mistake." The American "Arab-American" news network wrote.

The US magazine Foreign Policy believes that the invasion of Iraq is the most important decision of George W. Bush's presidency and the most important decision of the United States since the end of the Cold War, which eventually led to tragedy: "This is not because Bush Jr. was deceived, but because he valued American rights." ”

U.S. Representative Jason Crowe's office has several items related to the Iraq War: a soldier's badge when he joined the army, a mortar part and a piece of shrapnel blocked by body armor.

Twenty years ago, at the age of 24, Crowe was sent to the battlefield in Iraq. He told The Associated Press that he had been convinced Iraq was hiding chemical weapons. But now, as a member of the oversight board of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, he is convinced that the intelligence is wrong. "It's no exaggeration to say that this experience changed my life and changed my life."

According to Foreign Policy, the U.S. war in Iraq "stirs up Muslim discontent with the United States, complicates the 'global war on terror,' and divides the American people." Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Armitage acknowledged years later that the invasion "not only led to chaos, but also spawned the Islamic State (IS)."

According to a recent report released by the "Cost of War" project of Brown University, the US invasion of Iraq caused more than 200,000 Iraqis to die and at least 9 million people to be displaced; More than 9,000 U.S. soldiers and associated personnel died; U.S. taxpayers lost more than $2 trillion.

The Associated Press said that in order to support the United States in waging foreign wars, the erroneous statement that "Iraq has nuclear and chemical weapons" has been repeatedly quoted, which has caused lasting damage to the credibility of the US intelligence community and has a profound impact on today's US intelligence agencies and their officials.

The latest joint poll by the Associated Press and the Public Affairs Research Center of the Public Opinion Institute shows that only 18 percent of U.S. adults are confident in U.S. intelligence agencies; 49% have "some" confidence; 31% have little confidence.

"The Senate and House of Representatives are in favor of starting the Iraq War, which is an important moment in American history. In the decades since, its aftermath has been particularly revergatory. The Bush administration's most important accusation proved unfounded, but it changed the political landscape in the Middle East forever. The Canadian Star commented.

The greatest victims of the war are the Iraqi people. Qatar's Al Jazeera said the U.S. invasion of Iraq has caused Iraq to suffer violence and conflict for 20 years, "fierce rocket attacks on Baghdad, regime chaos after the fall of Saddam, sectarian clashes, prolonged violence caused by IS... That is how Iraqis remember their country. ”

Zainab A-Shamari, a 21-year-old student at the University of Baghdad, lost his brother and father as a result of communal clashes. "We don't have a normal childhood. Even the one percent we experience is simply incomprehensible. She said "fear" was her biggest feeling about her childhood, "We were afraid of killing, we were afraid of displacement... We are always afraid of this, afraid of that. ”

A-Shamari's story is not unusual in Iraq. According to Al Jazeera, almost every Iraqi has experienced the loss of a family member or friend.

Lord Peter Hain, a former member of the cabinet of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, told the BBC he regretted voting for Britain's involvement in the Iraq war. "I believe in intelligence and, sadly, they are proven to be completely wrong. We go to war for lies. ”

Twenty years ago, the son of the Englishman Roger Coase was sent to the battlefields of Iraq, where he died. Coase is still seeking justice for his son. He believed that war had been a mistake from the start. "We didn't need to go to war with Iraq ... War must be the last option, considered only when all other means fail. ”

Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said that the invasion of Iraq did not immediately weaken U.S. influence in the Gulf, and after the U.S. announced its withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, Arab countries began to reflect on whether to continue to follow the U.S. trend.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Steinberg told the Arab-American website that the Iraq war has made U.S. allies deeply question the United States and seriously damaged U.S. influence.

On March 20, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference that the US war in Iraq launched under the pretext of lies has brought profound disasters to Iraq and the Middle East, and has also caused a serious negative impact on world peace and stability.

Wang Wenbin said that what is worrying is that the United States has obviously not really learned the lessons of the Iraq war, and after the Iraq war, it has participated in the conflicts in Libya and Syria, and is still peddling American-style democracy everywhere. People have reason to ask: Who will pay the next 20 years of American hegemony?

Source: China Youth Daily client