Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

3. The Iraqi Debacle: Democracy, Desperation, and the Ethics of War

25 THE฀IRAQI฀DEBACLE The฀Iraqi฀Debacle 3 Democracy,฀Desperation,฀and฀the฀Ethics฀of฀War As฀a฀member฀of฀U.S.฀Academics฀against฀War,฀I฀visited฀ ฀฀Baghdad฀and฀some฀other฀Iraqi฀cities฀before฀the฀bombing฀ began฀in฀2003.1 ฀It฀was฀clear฀to฀our฀group฀that฀the฀justifications฀ offered฀in฀support฀of฀the฀attack฀were฀at฀odds฀with฀reality.฀Iraq฀ was฀a฀broken-down฀country฀still฀suffering฀from฀the฀effects฀of฀ the฀1991฀Gulf฀War,2 ฀and฀it฀posed฀no฀threat฀to฀the฀United฀States฀ or฀its฀national฀interests.฀I฀still฀remember฀the฀brightly฀lit฀shops฀ of฀Baghdad,฀bustling฀with฀activity฀once฀the฀sun฀went฀down.฀ There฀were฀goods฀in฀the฀stores,฀schools฀were฀functioning,฀and฀ the฀streets฀were฀safe.฀Women฀had฀entered฀the฀social฀mainstream ,฀the฀religious฀attended฀their฀mosques,฀and฀all฀raised฀ their฀families.฀Life฀under฀Saddam฀Hussein฀was฀anything฀but฀ pleasant,฀but฀despite฀the฀fear฀of฀the฀police฀and฀loathing฀of฀the฀ government,฀people฀went฀about฀their฀business. None฀of฀this,฀of฀course,฀is฀the฀case฀any฀longer.฀Iraq฀has฀ become฀a฀wasteland฀torn฀apart฀by฀civil฀war฀and฀an฀insurgency฀ directed฀against฀American฀troops.฀Even฀neoconservatives฀now฀ regret฀the฀mistakes—always฀technical฀in฀nature—that฀were฀ made.฀But฀they฀insist฀that฀it฀is฀time฀to฀forget฀the฀past,฀“support฀ our฀troops,”฀recognize฀the฀chaos฀that฀withdrawal฀will฀produce,฀ and฀get฀behind฀the฀Iraqi฀government฀installed฀by฀the฀United฀ States.฀It฀is฀virtually฀the฀same฀with฀that฀array฀of฀right-wing฀ media฀pundits฀and฀their฀liberal฀fellow฀travelers฀who฀celebrated฀ victory,฀chastised฀critics,฀called฀for฀apologies฀from฀the฀Left,฀and฀ completely฀misconceived฀what฀was฀actually฀taking฀place.3 26 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH With฀the฀congressional฀elections฀of฀2006,฀which฀resulted฀ in฀a฀Democratic฀takeover฀of฀both฀the฀House฀and฀the฀Senate,฀ the฀American฀people฀finally฀expressed฀their฀disapproval฀of฀the฀ Iraq฀strategy฀pursued฀by฀the฀Bush฀administration.฀Secretary฀of฀ Defense฀Donald฀Rumsfeld฀was฀forced฀to฀resign,฀and฀UN฀Ambassador ฀John฀Bolton฀relinquished฀his฀position.฀The฀true฀dimensions฀ of฀their฀terrible฀policy,฀however,฀still฀remain฀to฀be฀explored.฀Iraq฀ can฀serve฀as฀a฀cautionary฀warning฀only฀if฀such฀an฀exploration฀ takes฀place.฀The฀costs฀to฀the฀American฀psyche฀will฀be฀high.฀It฀ will฀require฀dealing฀frankly฀with฀what฀will฀undoubtedly฀become฀ a฀memory฀as฀painful฀as฀the฀one฀produced฀by฀Vietnam.฀ On฀May฀1,฀2003,฀President฀Bush฀landed฀on฀an฀aircraft฀carrier฀ and฀proclaimed฀victory฀in฀Iraq฀with฀the฀words฀“Mission฀Accomplished !”฀The฀threat฀to฀the฀United฀States฀had฀seemingly฀passed,฀ the฀weapons฀of฀mass฀destruction฀had฀not฀been฀launched,฀and฀ an฀ally฀of฀al฀Qaeda฀had฀been฀destroyed.฀The฀Baath฀Party,฀once฀ headed฀by฀Saddam฀Hussein,฀had฀collapsed.฀Statues฀of฀the฀dictator ฀had฀tumbled,฀and฀Iraqis฀awaited฀a฀democratic฀regime฀that฀was฀ just฀around฀the฀corner.฀American฀neoconservatives฀congratulated฀ themselves฀on฀their฀steely฀realism,฀and฀polls฀showed฀that฀support฀ for฀the฀military฀action฀had฀gone฀through฀the฀roof. Four฀months฀after฀the฀invasion฀of฀Iraq,฀President฀Bush฀ explained฀the฀reasons฀for฀his฀success.฀He฀told฀a฀Palestinian฀ delegation฀headed฀by฀then฀foreign฀minister฀Nabil฀Shaath฀that฀ God฀had฀instructed฀him฀to฀fight฀the฀terrorists฀in฀Iraq.4 ฀Apparently ,฀however,฀God฀was฀not฀the฀only฀one฀whispering฀in฀his฀ ear.฀It฀seems฀that฀the฀Bush฀administration฀relied฀on฀information ฀provided฀by฀a฀prisoner—Ibn฀al-Shaykh฀al-Libi—who,฀in฀ keeping฀with฀the฀policy฀of฀“rendition,”฀had฀been฀handed฀over฀ to฀Egypt.฀And฀this฀prisoner,฀hoping฀to฀escape฀torture,฀had฀ claimed฀that฀ties฀existed฀between฀Iraq฀and฀al฀Qaeda.5 ฀In฀any฀ event,฀there฀was฀nothing฀left฀for฀American฀troops฀to฀do฀but฀ mop฀up.฀The฀situation฀in฀Iraq฀was฀well฀in฀hand. 27 THE฀IRAQI฀DEBACLE As฀for฀the฀residual฀resistance฀in฀Iraq,฀the฀president฀would฀ soon฀invite฀them฀to฀“bring฀it฀on!”฀They฀brought฀it฀on,฀all฀right,฀ with฀or฀without฀God฀on฀their฀side,฀and฀everyone—including฀ Bush฀and฀Blair—now฀seems฀to฀agree฀that฀the฀cry฀“Mission฀Accomplished !”฀was฀a฀bit฀premature.6 ฀As฀2007฀begins,฀American฀ deaths฀have฀climbed฀to฀over฀three฀thousand,฀and฀between฀five฀ and฀ten฀times฀that฀number฀have฀been฀wounded.฀But฀the฀real฀ victims฀are฀the฀Iraqis.฀Over฀the฀last฀three฀years,฀100,000฀Iraqi฀ men฀have฀been฀detained;฀most฀of฀them฀were฀innocent฀of฀any฀ wrongdoing,฀and฀as฀of฀June฀2006,฀“only”฀15,000฀were฀still฀in฀ custody.7 ฀Middle-class฀Iraqis฀have฀fled฀to฀Jordan฀and฀other฀ neighboring฀states฀by฀the฀thousands,฀and...