America Must Learn from Its Failure in the Iraq War

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Aug. 31 that American military units would end their mission and withdraw from Iraq. Not only has the seven-year-long war in Iraq caused America a huge loss both financially and in lives, severely divided the political views among the American people, and tarnished America’s image internationally, it has ended in failure and left Iraq with a serious trauma from the war. America withdrew from the battlefield in Iraq not only to relieve a heavy burden, but also to readjust its global tactics. However, if America does not learn from its failure in Iraq and keeps trying to find a new “imaginary enemy” and continues to behave as a hegemonic power, the failure in the Iraq will repeat itself.

Approximately 4,500 American soldiers died and over 30,000 soldiers and civilians were injured in the Iraq war. The military cost was over $742.3 billion, exceeding the amount spent in the Vietnam and Korean wars. In order to support the massive cost of the war, the U.S. government tightened its own expenses, which led to public resentment and complaints about the war. Outside its borders, the U.S. has been criticized repeatedly as it began the war without the approval of the United Nations. The Obama administration’s announcement of the military withdrawal in Iraq to keep his campaign promise is aimed at helping the Democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections. More importantly, as the financial crisis and the massive military expenses were simultaneously weakening the economy, the “bleeding” of the Iraq war had to be stopped before it completely wrecked the U.S. economy and the everyday lives of people.

Although it has been seven years since the Iraq war overturned Saddam Hussein’s regime, the U.S. has failed to bring the democracy, freedom and prosperity that it had preached to the Iraqi people. The war has killed more than 10,000 Iraqi civilians, wounded 20,000 people and caused more than 4.8 million people to lose their homes. Replacing Saddam Hussein resulted in non-stop violence between factions, an unstable political situation and the lack of basic personal safety between civilians. Once the U.S. troops complete their withdrawal, the current Iraqi government will not be able to control the situation. The conflict between the political factions will become even more violent, and the bloodshed will not cease; it is very possible that Iraq will descend into complete chaos.

President Obama has emphasized “smart power” diplomacy upon his election, and has repeatedly asserted that America will go back to a policy of “multilateralism” in international affairs. However, America remains a unilateral power. At the same time it is withdrawing from Iraq, the U.S. has resumed its militaristic foreign strategy. A new strategy is brewing in Europe through NATO and a plan to return to Asia has also surfaced. The U.S. has recently demonstrated its military power in the waters of northeast Asia, and has once again rebuilt a military containment network surrounding China. However, the 21st century has become a multipolar world, and China’s peaceful rise cannot be stopped, nor can Russia be ignored on as a world player any longer, and so America’s unilateral strategy will no longer be effective. America must learn to respect other countries in order to avoid creating new conflicts.