MIDDLE EAST DEBACLE

By Li Zixin

‘At this hour， American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq， to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger... We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens， for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice.” Those are the words spoken by former U.S. President George W. Bush as he launched the Iraq War in 2003. Eighteen years on， what he said seems cold comfort compared to the suffering of the Iraqi people.

The reconstruction of Iraq is still in the most fragile of stages， the lives of the people have yet to be improved and extremist ideas continue to surge. The country lingers in a transitional period of political reconciliation and the road to national rejuvenation remains difficult to navigate.

U.S. attempts to recreate Iraq in its own image—an American-style democracy in the Middle East—have failed. Current U.S. President Joe Biden has made it clear that the country will completely end its militarys combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021.

With the Taliban taking back control of Afghanistan in August， the U.S. has made a quick exit from the country， which was also caught up in the same “war on terror” and “democratic transformation” as Iraq. So， the question becomes， what has the U.S. brought to Iraq and what has Iraq been left with？

The suffering

In 2003， then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held up a vial containing white powder to persuade the world that Saddam Husseins regime was concealing weapons of mass destruction （WMDs） during his presentation making the case for a war with Iraq to the UN Security Council.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with French media back in 2014， “The entire world remembers the U.S. secretary of state demonstrating the evidence of Iraqs WMDs， waving around some test tube with washing powder in the UN Security Council. Eventually， the U.S. troops invaded Iraq， Saddam Hussein was hanged and later it turned out there had never been any WMDs in Iraq.”

The U.S. invasion was not only a disaster for Iraq and its people， but it also served as the prelude to a nightmare for the U.S. itself， as well as a serious security threat to the Middle East and other regions worldwide.

According to the pre-war hypothesis， the Iraq War was supposed to be an offensive like the Gulf War， in which the U.S. army would win through absolute military superiority in a very short time and at minimal cost or damage. Nevertheless， the war ended up lasting nine years， costing $1.9 trillion in total and killing or wounding more than 50，000 U.S. troops.