Afghanistan, Iraq And Libya Are Not Exactly Great Examples Of The Effectiveness Of Western Interference

Henry Forth writes from Whitehall in London: Around 100 dead in Iraq this week, compliments of terrorists leaving car bombs in crowded areas. In other news: an Afghan police commander skips with his junior officer corps to join the Taliban who are picking off NATO troops with relentless determination. Internecine warfare in Libya in spite of elections the West said would fix democracy for all.

Spot the connection? Three places in which Western led forces arrived to make life peaceful and caused even more mess. What other country is next in line to welcome an America led Freedom Loving Coalition?

Iraq is almost forgotten because after Western troops abandoned the ‘liberated’ Iraqi people, so did the television crews and big name Press Corps.

It is a case of the reporter picking his way through the rubble of an attack crying out “Anyone been raped and speak English?” The classic satire of true public and therefore media interest in a conflict in a faraway place about which we know little, or even nothing and care less.

Our political excuses begin with the Blair Doctrine in Iraq: the leader was an evil man (Saddam we mean – we think) and had weapons of mass destruction and therefore, whatever the UN legal authority, that man and his non-existent weapons had to be removed.

When we abandoned Iraq – and don’t give us that crap about mission accomplished – we left no mechanism for safe transition for a nation state to be honestly and quietly governed.

Everyone beyond the Blair-Bush syndrome knew what would happen. Sunni versus Shia versus Kurd. That may be a crude description of the situation but like most diplomatic and political expletives it gets to the point very quickly.

Just look at what happened this week in Iraq. In Taj, about 20 kilometers north of the capital at least 160 people were killed or wounded in one day. Car bombs killed and wounded more people in Kirkuk, the Shadr district of Baghdad, Saadiya, Khan Beni-Saad, Tuz Khurmatu and Dibis. There was nothing new in this.

In January, about 100 were killed or wounded in a prominent Shia enclave of the capital. In February, hundreds were maimed and others killed right across Iraq. In March, 45 (maybe six more) died in car bombings (big one in Kabala). In June, more than 100 were killed and at the very least 300 were wounded in what was billed as the worst violence since the US pulled out last December. So far this month, 70 (at least) have dead. More to come.

So America early this month signed up Afghanistan for its newest best non-NATO ally. That’s more or less what they said about Iraq. The inability to leave Iraq with a double checked transition operation has left the political leadership of those fine people devouring each other. Revenge never spills enough blood to satisfy enemies centuries old.

Maybe State Department and British Foreign Office mandarins should be studying Iraq and telling their vote-seeking political bosses that the reality of getting out at the first opportunity is that we leave the doors open for the enemy whose ass we claimed we were kicking to walk back in.

But then the media will pull out when the military goes, so who will know? I mean, how many people will read about the deaths in Iraq yesterday, this week, last month, this year and care a toss? Pity, the Iraqis and Afghans were, by and large, really nice people – until Blair-Bush Inc arrived.

–End–

1 Comment

1. Longbettlisa says:

   July 26, 2012 at 6:32 pm

   Hi Henry good post here on Stirring Trouble Internationally and such a difficult topic, for NATO to deal with. The Taliban in Iraq used car bombs for years as indeed other terror organisations. It will great to see all this swelling die down soon but by the sounds of things here its going to be a long walk home to restore Taj.