"Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act (Public Law 105-338) expressed the sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime and promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime;"And all that talk about neo-conservatives and their desire to promote democracy abroad through military force never happened either?
I was reminded of that classic comedy recently when Tony Blair, who helped lead us into the Iraq flytrap ten years ago, appeared on BBC’s “Newsnight.” In painstaking detail, the former British prime minister admitted that life in Iraq today is not quite what he had hoped it would be.posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:29 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]
After all, there “are still terrorist activities that are killing innocent people for no good reason.” The “liberation” of Iraq saw the death of at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians (other estimates are up to 200,000), not to mention thousands of coalition troops. The country is still facing “big problems.” All true, conceded Blair. But when all is said and done, he reasoned, at least a murderous despot is gone and democracy has taken root in the heart of the Arab world.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. To mark the anniversary, Reason asked a group of leading policy analysts, scholars, and journalists to consider the lessons and legacies of the war, a decade after the launch of hostilities. What follows is a critical look at both the war abroad and its impact at homeposted by the man of twists and turns at 12:35 PM on March 19
In an instant, you grasped that the attacks provided a fresh opportunity to implement Wohlstetter’s Precepts, and Iraq offered a made-to-order venue. “We cannot wait to act until the threat is imminent,” you said in 2002. Toppling Saddam Hussein would validate the alternative to waiting. In Iraq the United States would demonstrate the efficacy of preventive war.posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:43 PM on March 19 [5 favorites]
So even conceding a hat tip to Albert Wohlstetter, the Bush Doctrine was largely your handiwork. The urgency of invading Iraq stemmed from the need to validate that doctrine before the window of opportunity closed. What made it necessary to act immediately was not Saddam’s purported WMD program. It was not his nearly nonexistent links to Al Qaeda. It was certainly not the way he abused his own people. No, what drove events was the imperative of claiming for the United States prerogatives allowed no other nation.
I do not doubt the sincerity of your conviction (shared by President Bush) that our country could be counted on to exercise those prerogatives in ways beneficial to all humankind — promoting peace, democracy, and human rights. But the proximate aim was to unshackle American power. Saddam Hussein’s demise would serve as an object lesson for all: Here’s what we can do. Here’s what we will do.
What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, and basically saying, "What part of this sentence don't you understand? You don't think we care about our open society? You think this bubble fantasy, we're just gonna let it grow? Well, suck on this." That, Charlie, was what this war was about.The quote starts around 2:30. The fact that Charlie Rose nods solemnly as this is being said tells you all you need to know about media credulity and its willingness to treat any statement made by an officially sanctioned Very Serious Person as worthy of serious consideration.
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it is important for the United States to speak clearly about its goals and objectives and then to act on them. And what we have said clearly is that this is a regime that must not be allowed to retain weapons of mass destruction. This is a regime, at least the United States believes, should be changed. Our friends in the Arab world know it. The leaders in Turkey know it. I met with the President of Turkey earlier this week. They are all anxious to see whether or not the UN will be involved in this. There is a desire for the international community to act.The Administration's Position With Regard to Iraq, 9/26/2002
And I think it's important for us to stick to our principles and stick to the policy objectives that we have out there. And it may not be the gates of hell opening; it may be the gates of promise opening when Saddam Hussein finally leaves the scene.
MR. SNOW: Is the Iraqi opposition capable of putting together a functioning democratic government?
SECRETARY POWELL: We believe that in due course the Iraqi opposition, plus individuals within Iraq, both those outside and those inside, with the support of the international community, after the departure from the scene of Mr. Hussein, have the potential and the promise of putting together a better system of government that reflects the will of all the people of Iraq and is based on some concept, a solid concept, of democracy. Sure, why not?
All of these demands on Iraq are spelled out in the sixteen Security Council resolutions levied against that country since 1991. If these demands on Iraq sound like regime change, then so be it. And Mr. Chairman, if there is regime change, brought about either by Iraqi voluntary compliance with these demands or by the use of military force to compel compliance, the United States will commit wholeheartedly to the reconstruction of Iraq as a democratic state with its territory intact.posted by Jahaza at 1:47 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]
On the news side, no stories have appeared in print to date. The At War blog has a series this week from those directly affected by the invasion.Via Charles P. Pierce at Esquire's Politice blog: Pleased To Be Shutting The Piehole Now
I asked Dean Baquet, a managing editor, about the low-key approach. He said that while a few stories are planned, editors did not see a need for a major project or special section, as they did with the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“The war itself has been dissected to a tremendous degree,” he told me. “You have to have something new or fresh to say.” He would not provide specifics about the articles that are planned, but said there might be one or two that would make their way onto the front page this week.
Hans Blix: Iraq War was a terrible mistake and violation of U.N. charter, Hans Blix, Special to CNN, 19 March 2013
The War on Iraq will make it clear to our friends and enemies in the Middle East (and elsewhere) that we mean business: Free your people, reform your societies, liberalize, and democratize... or we're going to come over there, remove you from power, free your people, and reform your societies for ourselves.posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 3:24 PM on March 19
Q: How will you measure whether the war in Iraq was a success 10 years from now?posted by waxbanks at 6:04 PM on March 19
A: Well, we’ve dropped a huge depth charge into what was a completely frozen and imprisoned region. It will take longer than 10 years for us to find out what the long-term effect is of millions of Iraqis suddenly getting the right to vote.... The ripple effect of things like free press, blogging, satellite dishes, rights of national minorities, all of that, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Egypt -- a lot of that’s been very positive already. Years from now I hope to be meeting young Iraqis who don’t really remember the war very well but who can date their own emancipation from it.
--Christopher Hitchens, 2006
So, when areFTFY.weother people, not me (as I'm busy on the Internet) going to start looking into arresting Cheney and Bush for this and trying them for war crimes?
Significantly, the plan calls for increases between 30 percent to 78 percent in Tricare annual premiums for the first year. After that, the plan will impose five-year increases ranging from 94 percent to 345 percent—more than 3 times current levels.Tricare Prime Cut in Five West Areas
Under the changes that will start April 1, as many as 170,000 Prime enrollees across all three regions eventually may have to drive longer distances to see a Prime provider or switch to Tricare Standard, which has no enrollment fees but carries greater out-of-pocket costs:Military Families Get 2400$ Bill From Obamacare
• Cost shares are 20 percent for active-duty family members and 25 percent for retirees and other eligible beneficiaries.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, “Families covered by Tricare, the health program for active and retired members of the military, must pay as much as $200 a month to let an adult stay on their plan until age 26.”posted by corb at 6:51 PM on March 19
– Myth: At least women’s rights have improved with Saddam gone.posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:18 PM on March 19 [2 favorites]
– Truth: Women enjoyed many more privileges under Saddam’s brutal, secular rule. The U.S.-led invasion ushered in Shiite Islamist rulers – most of whom had spent years sheltered by the theocracy in neighboring Iran – who immediately set about rolling back women’s rights in matters of family law. The lack of security since Saddam’s ouster also has been used as justification for keeping women indoors, shutting them off from political and civic life. The Shiite and Sunni militants who’ve roamed Iraq since the invasion have targeted women’s advocates.
– Truth: The surge was only one factor in the temporary abating of violence at that time. It was successful only in tandem with several other important events, chiefly the unilateral cease-fire of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army militants, previous military successes against some extremist Sunni leaders and the near-total sectarian cleansing of Baghdad neighborhoods.Of course, you could easily make the following small style changes to completely alter the nature of the paragraph:
The surge wasIn that version, you have a matter-of-fact explanation of why the 'surge' produced its intended effect, without lameass equivocating and weasel words. The same article does the now-standard self-contradictory oscillation between 'Iraq was our responsibility and we should've done much much more to help post-Saddam' and (of course) 'We can't get out fast enough and no good end is or indeed ever was possible; any US presence in Iraq is intolerable.'onlyone factor in the temporary abating of violence at that time. It was successfulonlyin tandem with several other important events, chiefly the unilateral cease-fire of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army militants, previous military successes against some extremist Sunni leaders and the near-total sectarian cleansing of Baghdad neighborhoods.
‘Tis the season for Iraq war apologies from the elite class that helped send us there. They are varyingly sincere–Jon Chait, for example, admits he was wrong but just hopes Iraq doesn’t discredit the idea of humanitarian intervention on the whole–and opportunistic. Mike Riggs at Reason notes the odd masculinism in Bill Keller’s long-winded reappraisal that blames a coterie of unexpectedly hawkish writers. David Frum says if he had raised objections, they wouldn’t have mattered; “I could have set myself on fire in protest on the White House lawn and the war would have proceeded without me.”posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:52 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]
Yet none of those bother me quite as much as Ezra Klein’s, who calls his support for the war an “analytical failure”:
In sum, the costly removal of a brutal tyrant who threatened his own citizens and neighboring countries won no applause, earned no gratitude, established no reliable ally, and produced no lasting strategic benefit.posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:02 PM on March 24
...the plan will eventually see Zawahiri disappear into the Sinai region which, since the ouster of Mubarak, has become a mostly-lawless no man’s land. Terrorism experts have already acknowledged that Al Qaeda has a foothold there, under the leadership of none other than Zawahiri’s brother, Muhammad.posted by Golden Eternity at 9:35 PM on March 28
So far, there is no external confirmation of the report, though a host of newspapers throughout the region are reporting it as fact.
Because you read stuff like this, you are probably all for learning and reflection about war, but bored to tears by the Lessons of Iraq, especially when they come in a media-driven festival of official reflection centered, for no good reason, on an anniversary. You likely agree that invading Iraq was a mistake, that the Bush Administration sold the war dishonestly, and that more pre-war media skepticism about smoking guns and nexuses would have been useful. If you do not agree with that, you probably never will. So here are some less tired takeaways from the war that might still be usefully debated.1. Power is perilous
...only 29% saw democracy as the country’s best political system, while 32% favored military rule and 38% approved of a government based on sharia, or Islamic law.posted by Golden Eternity at 9:31 AM on April 3
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Iraq war: 10 years on
posted by homunculus at 10:14 AM on March 19 [2 favorites]