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America: Changing the game in Iraq

Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/24/2007

Saddam Hussein is gone now, and gone in a big way. Whatever else Mr. Hussein achieved during his tenure as an Iraqi dictator, his death has suddenly divided the world into two fractions - one faction supporting his hanging and the other faction condemning .

Reaction to the hanging of Saddam Hussein, in Iraq and beyond, has been going on. Have to admit, the legal basis for his hanging was shaky. Yet when it comes to dealing with a proven international menace like Mr. Hussein, law may sometimes have to yield to power. Too bad, therefore, International Court’s verdict could not honestly be cited to justify his hanging.

Mr. Hussein’s record for trickery and brutality means he should never be given the benefit of any doubt. But while his hanging may not be the right answer to the immediate question, it would be a mistake to imagine how they make the bigger problem of how to live without Saddam any easier in Iraq.

Irrespective of Mr. Hussein’s demise, the road ahead in Iraq is not as rosy as American thinks because insurgents are attacking American troops as ever leading many to think that America made a grave tactical mistake my hanging Saddam.

Nonetheless, amidst the worldwide condemnation of the Iraq war, President Bush on Wednesday January 10th completely ignored the managed withdrawal advocated by the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission co-chaired by James Baker, a former secretary of state and threw his last dice by announcing that that he would send more than 20,000 extra troops to Iraq.

According to the sources, the latest military effort will be bolstered with economic, political and diplomatic measures. But observers say, even though there are slim chances of the war waging down because the tension in Iraq is just refusing to die down. Expert say, more troops means more horror in Iraq because most Iraqis don’t wish to have American troops in Iraq, though they want security in Iraq.

Over 3,000 Iraqis are dying every month according to the U.N reports. And this is the ground reality. But what promoted president Bush to send more troops is not justifiable simply under the ground that nothing has improved during the last four years. And if the tension in Iraq accelerates, then that would surely aggravate divisions among the American’s and would pose further complications for Mr. Bush.

The problem, however, for America lies not only in taming the insurgents by adding more troops on the ground but in balancing the Shia dominated Iraqi government. And this indeed is a tough job given the ever polarizing Shia’s and Sunni’s ideologies.

Analyst says, another problem with America is that it thinks it knows a lot about Iraq but in reality it knows nothing about Iraq. And, ironically, it is not acknowledging this fact. Now the time has come for America to accept this fact because peace can only come in Iraq if Shia’s and Sunni sit together and talk because foreigners cannot solve the Iraqi problem.

So what can the international community do to bail Iraq out? The answer is simple, empower the Iraqi government and let them give the autonomy to rule as they wish. There must be a fully functional government in Iraq, and for this to happen, Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, must take a lead and continue to move towards national reconciliation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bush has yet to learn that he is like a helpless frog that has fallen into a well in Iraq. We doubt if he can get out of it. Will the extra troops be able to break the vicious circle of violence in Iraq? Only time will tell his. And furthermore is it worthwhile for America to spend so much money per day in Iraq? Yes, to build the nation it has shattered by war. To shoulder the heart it has broken by war.

The sentiment of the Iraqi people is not with Bush on his decision to put extra troops in their soil, and they are wary of the American economic grants too. They think, American help in Iraq is temporary. There is no such thing as free lunch. The question is who will ultimately pay, Iraq or the United States.

Iraqis say’s that the Iraqi government shouldn’t thank Mr. Bush for channeling huge amount of dollars in Iraq. “We must not forget that the U.S government never gives a helping hand to any country without sooner or later asking for something back,” most Iraqis are saying.

Meanwhile, the subtlety of the modern American naked dance in Iraq has put the Roman centurions, the Spanish conquistadors, and the eighteenth and the nineteenth century Europeans colonial powers to shame. America has failed in Iraq. It’s the next domino after Vietnam.

The Bush administration is the culprit but they have not yet realized that have lost the war. They may not be admitting defeat because all is not lost for them in Iraq. America is stubborn and they have every reason to be one because, no matter how many times we try to revise history, the fact remains that the U.S. accomplishes its objectives but the cost varies.

No country has a spotless record, and the history of the U.S. does not contain all the sins of mankind so when we condemn the sins committed by the U.S in Iraq, we must also condemn the insurgent’s invasion of the U.S troops, fanatic extremist’s conquest and the sectarian violence evolving in Iraq.

But the question, public want to put on the Bush administration at this very critical juncture of time is this: Founding fathers of America had not envisioned the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to exist only for Americans, so why is Mr. Bush now implementing strategies that promoted the imperialist values they had fought against? Surely he owes the public an explanation.