Iraq: the criminal legacy of US imperialism

Vanguard July 2014
Bill F.

What has been the result of the US led “war on terror”? Is the world a safer place? Has the promise of freedom and democracy been realised in countries occupied by US troops and bombarded by US missiles?

Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria – all victims of US aggression and interference – are now devastated countries spilling out millions of refugees. Apart from the hundreds of thousands killed and maimed, their infrastructure and social fabric have been destroyed, their museums and national treasures looted, their water supplies and natural environments poisoned.

In unbelievable acts of hypocrisy, American and European corporations have made billions from the sale of weaponry and then “reconstruction” of infrastructure blown apart by the weaponry supplied.

In Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, corrupt elections have resulted in corrupt governments run by people complicit with US imperialism from day one, stooges and puppets ruling by fear and nepotism.

Terrorists

As for ‘terrorists”, many of the fanatical Islamic fighters have been armed and supported by the CIA to carry out its dirty work of undermining and subverting previous governments that the US didn’t like. ISIL (ISIS) and other groups like it are the direct result of US foreign policy, the policy of imperialism.

Like many of the monsters created in the past (Diem, Ky, Noriega, Suharto, Mubarak, Marcos… a long list) the US has been unable to control their grab for more power and their blatant abuse of human rights.

ISIL armies now threaten the puppet leader of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, installed by the US in 2006 and now under US pressure to cobble together a “more representative” government.

The same forces are being rolled back in Syria by the Syrian people and army, but not without terrible suffering for the masses.

The essence of imperialism

Some people might consider the mess in the Middle East to be the result of misguided leaders or simply poor diplomacy.

They forget that Obama came to office opposing the invasion of Iraq. Once in power, however, he poured more troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, and supplied weapons and support to the rebel fanatics in Syria.

Obama was elected to implement the policies of US imperialism – he is in the cab of a runaway train that cannot be diverted, it can only be stopped in its tracks!

Some, like Hugh White (professor, Australian National University) don’t want to face up to the fact that systemic imperialism is the the driving economic, ideological and military factor in United States foreign policy.

“The reality is that Iraq is falling apart, and the choice facing America is whether it should try to hold it together. Should it try to preserve Iraq as it used to be?  Whether America itself has caused Iraq to come apart is irrelevant to this question.”

White only wants a solution that does not condemn the US, does not expose the nature of imperialism, and does not educate decent people to struggle against it. Nothing could be more relevant.

........................
Further reading:  The US - most responsible for sectarian civil war in Iraq and Syria