With national moral at its lowest, disregard to human life acutest, tendency to death, destruction and deformity sharpest, present day Iraq defies all logic, reviles all common sense, and bedevils all humanity: George W. Bush must be proud of his creation of New Iraq to cruise along to create New Middle East.

What he has gained by unleashing forces of evil on Iraq in the name of democracy, humanity, safety and security since the fall of Baghdad in 2003 is in the knowledge of everyone except the conceiver of New Middle East plan.

Baghdad fell many times earlier in history, however, this time the whole nation is falling apart: on the average daily about 100 people are being killed in Baghdad. However, the scary side of the issue is that in modern day warfare, with medical care so high and effective, death toll is not the right gauge to judge the gravity of the situation in the war theatre.     

According to military strategist nowadays real gauge of on the ground military situation is assessed on the basis of people injured. Presently daily more than 300 people are being maimed, decapitated and rendered ineffective to live normal life in Iraq and majority of them in Baghdad, they all would have been dead about fifty years ago.

This is all time high figures in human history minus two great wars of European continent where too never were so many casualties in one city at such protracted level. A great deal of treacherous, diabolical and inhuman thinking might have gone into the plan that has brought the Iraq situation to the present stage.

If Mr. Bush was not pro-active in bringing disaster on Iraq he certainly was instru-mental, in many ways, and a guide to bring the nation to the edge of abyss: the division of Iraq should never have been an option. Only for myopic, debased and morally depraved leaders economic interests supersede all other considerations. There are five perceptions on Iraq that need our attention.

Firstly Mr Bush acted against the dictum that dishonesty of purpose earns only temporary laurels: one cannot fool all the people for all the times. Iraq is crumbling under its own weight; innocent, non-combatant people are made legitimate targets both by terrorists and anti-terror forces; daily life of ordinary Iraqi has become miserable and most Iraq is pushed down far blow the poverty line; no life, property and honour is safe in present day Iraq, however, Mr Bush, under the stupor of partial military victory has the cheek to face the world as if he has done some great service to Iraq and the Middle East.

Secondly, Mr Bush is adamant not to learn from mistakes. He has committed one mistake after another but has always claimed to be right. He attacked Iraq when the whole world was against this. He did not have post war policies for Iraq and quick run-over Saddam’s army flabbergasted the US administration that was caught nonplus and was completely unprepared to deal with Iraq situation that too at the end precipitated the crisis.

Quite unwisely it disbanded the Iraqi army and left hundred thousands of trained fighters without means to support their families. That naturally provided fodder to extremist elements in the country. To protract its stay in the country it played out Shia against Sunnis ethos. It interfered in the formation of Iraqi government and allowed the law and order situation to deteriorate. It even interfered and caused the selection of leaders of its own choice.

It never checked corruption in the US military whose human rights record was pathetically dismal. It never abandoned its strategy to protract its stay in Iraq against people’s wishes. It has unnecessarily and on flimsy grounds has delayed handing over the security of certain secure areas to Iraqi police so that other unsecured areas of Baghdad could be put under severe watch to neutralize the terrorists as well as insurgents.

It failed to establish trusty relationship with local leaders in all areas of Iraq and has remained an alien, ignoble, autocratic and oppressive identity. The most problematic of all is the ‘victor’s psychology’ which has drawn a thick curtain between the US and ordinary Iraqi people as well as its grassroots level leadership: the list is interminably long.

Thirdly, the US vendetta in the Middle East throws a challenge to the regional states that are extremely suspicious of its designs on the region. Further the US itself has not cared a bit to win the confidence of the surrounding states in the region. Inimical and haughty approach is not making things easier for the US in Iraq. Instead of dealing with on the ground realities it has found it convenient to indulge in blame game to pass the buck of responsibility on to the
surrounding states.

It is a convenient escape but helping not a bit to improve law and order situation in Iraq and redeem people’s suffering. Fourthly, contrary to the wishes of Iraqi people the US division of Iraq was on agenda for a long time. The US has been creating a situation so that it can apply its diabolical plan to protract its stay in the country.

It cannot leave Iraq behind with Shia strong government at the centre having close ties with Iran. It would tantamount a complete failure of the US policy. In any eventuality of the US leaving Iraq there must be very weak centre or the country must be split into three very loose federating units, or three independent countries split among Kurd of the north, Sunnis of the central Iraq and Shias of the South should emerge.

However, it has its snags too. Shia region of the south is an oil rich region and might have strong ties with Iran to form, very unpalatable to the US, a Shia arc. Otherwise, the power clout will rest with Iran and the Shia arc will emerge as yet another challenge for the US sphinx: since there is no alternative Iraq should continue to bleed. The Iraq situation is best described by an Irish poet William Butler Yeast 1865-1939 about a century ago.

He saw the ‘second coming,’ in Iraq’s case ‘new Iraq’ not as a triumph of righteous-ness, peace, harmony and stability but the birth of a savage, pitiless, disconcerting and unsettling era turning things upside down.

‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.’ The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere; The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst. Are full of passionate intensity.’ Only history will judge how successful Mr Bush was in dealing with his ‘Frankenstein monster.’ For the present Iraq is the worst case scenario with thick dark clouds and no silver linings. Without ‘sincerity of purpose’ the US cannot hope to achieve anything in Iraq.

Information

Baghdad fell many times earlier in history, however, this time the whole nation is falling apart: on the average daily about 100 people are being killed in Baghdad. However, the scary side of the issue is that in modern day warfare,  with medical care so high and effective, death toll is not the right gauge to judge the gravity of the situation in the war theatre.  

First appeared in Pakistan Observer on October 19, 2006