The death of Iraq, the United States destroyed a country with a lie
In February 2003, then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell took out a small tube of "white powder" at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, declaring that this was "evidence" that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction.
On this basis, the United States and its allies have brazenly launched a war against Iraq in defiance of the strong opposition of the international community, bypassing the United Nations Security Council.
The blood-red soil, the smell of gunpowder in the air, the helpless moans of mothers in the desert... Iraqi writer Ali Hussein al-Obaid wrote about the colors, smells and sounds of war in his short story collection The Language of the Land. For Iraqis, the fragments of war are embedded in shaking memories, and the war never seems to stop.
Obert once tweeted: "The louder you speak, the closer you get to the cliff of lies." Powell's "voice" completely rewrote Iraq's history. The bloody war that lasted eight years claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced nearly 10 million Iraqis.
On March 6, in the town of Zuluyeh in Salahuddin province in northern Iraq, Abdullah Mahmoud Ibrahim showed photographs of his home after it was blown up by U.S. forces. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Dongzhen
In December 2008, Iraqi journalist Montaz Zeid couldn't contain his indignation and threw his shoes at then-US President George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad. In 2021, he tweeted at the time of Powell's death: "I am very sorry that Powell died without being tried for his crimes in Iraq. ”
For the United States, finding Iraq's so-called weapons of mass destruction is far less important than overthrowing Saddam's regime. The BBC's Arabic channel quoted Louis Rueda, head of the CIA's Iraq Operations Group, as saying in a March 14 report: "Even if Saddam Hussein had only a rubber band or a paper clip, we would have invaded Iraq..."
On March 18, in Washington, D.C., anti-war activists attended a rally in front of the White House, urging the U.S. government to reflect on the Iraq war and calling on the United States to shut down the "war machine." Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
In a statement to the Russian Satellite News Agency, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Kasuri recalled his experience in participating in discussions on Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. In his view, the United States Government was well aware that it could not secure the Council's support on Iraq.
"There is a lot of strong opposition, and I think the reputation of the United States has been greatly affected by that; First Afghanistan, then Iraq, which actually had a very negative impact on the United States. ”
On the 20th anniversary of the US war in Iraq, many overseas netizens expressed their anger on social media. Netizen Ziad Tikriti tweeted, "The arguments and accusations made by the United States on weapons of mass destruction are nothing more than a cover to occupy Iraq, destroy its infrastructure and diplomatic relations, and even destroy the whole of Iraq." ”
Netizen Hanan Abdullatif wrote in a tweet: "The most heinous crime of modern times is the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the United States and its allies under the pretext of weapons of mass destruction, and the Iraqi people are still suffering the consequences of war crimes, while the real perpetrators are not punished." ”
Twitter screenshot
Netizen Murtada Misani posted a series of photos of American soldiers destroying Iraqi cultural monuments and stealing cultural relics, and sarcastically said: "Twenty years ago, the United States occupied Iraq under the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction that threaten all mankind. In these photos, we can see the "weapons of destruction" that the United States took from Iraq in order to "save humanity". ”
Twitter screenshot
Razak Hamid, owner of an Iraqi shop, said: "The United States has never brought democracy, but it has sown the seeds of corruption there." We have no electricity, no public services... They kill innocent people, they bring only war and destruction. ”
A lie by the United States ruined Iraq. Since then, tragedies have been repeated in Syria, Yemen and Libya. In January, the Arab Public Opinion Index 2022, released by the Center for Arab Studies in Doha, Qatar, showed that 78% of Arabs believe that the United States poses a threat to stability in the region.
Between 2003 and 2021, some 209,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in war and violence, and about 9.2 million Iraqis became refugees or were forced to leave their homeland – and the disaster began with the test tube filled with white powder.
In recent years, U.S. and British officials have publicly acknowledged that Iraq does not possess chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction, and have repentantly disclosed details of its insistence on waging war.
"What is the use of repentance?" Some netizens posted on Twitter, "This is a ridiculous war. ”
Executive Producer: Xin Jianqiang Yan Junyan Reporter: Lin Yan Zhao Weihong Xin Jianqiang Editor: Lin Jianjie Ma Xiaoyan Indifferent Xinhua News Agency International Department produced by Xinhua News Agency International Communication Integration Platform
What is the use of repentance?