Obama Ending Bush’s Iraq Adventure

President Barack Obama is putting an end to the presence of the American expeditionary forces in Iraq at the end of August, just as he stated he would during his presidential campaign. 50,000 troops will, nevertheless, remain in Iraq and will officially act as consultants for the Iraqi security forces. The important fact is that a major step is being taken in order to bring one of the most controversial decisions taken by a U.S. president after World War II to an end.

However, the announcement did not create too much of a stir in the U.S., as the war in Iraq was already considered to be a dead-end, and its evolution and unfortunate consequences caused the Bush administration to have the lowest approval ratings for any U.S. president to date. On top of that, the war in Iraq created, for the first time since 1945, an unimaginable rupture between the U.S. and its major European allies. The only exception was Great Britain, with Tony Blair as prime minister, whose behavior was reminiscent of the way in which Bulgaria acted towards the Bolshevik Kremlin during the communist regime!

As for the current situation in Iraq, if one compares it to the political regime George W. Bush had planned to create there — an oasis of democracy, a democratic, stable and prosperous example for the great Middle East — it is obvious that the attempt was a failure. It is true that, when the American troops arrived in Iraq in March 2003, they found Saddam Hussein in charge and managed to depose him. However, the troops did not find what Bush, Vice President Cheney and, to a certain degree, Secretary of State Colin Powell, claimed there should be plenty of: weapons of mass destruction, supposedly manufactured by Saddam’s regime. They also failed to find connections to the terrorist group al-Qaida.

Using the summary above as a starting point, we should see what the American troops are leaving behind now, when most of them are leaving Iraq: a politically void country, in spite of the elections held during spring; a state that has not been governed for months, as the parties that won the elections could not form a coalition cabinet despite U.S. mediation and insistent pressure; a country on which violence is taking its toll: car bombs and kamikaze attacks take place on an almost daily basis, both in Bagdad and the provinces.

There are several examples to support this: an attack took place Thursday evening in Kut (the capital of the Wasit province, a city 100 miles south of Baghdad), which killed 33 people and injured 85. This was the most severe attack after the one in March 2008 (44 dead and 75 injured). The same morning in Baghdad, al-Qaida members killed nine members of the security forces at a checkpoint. In fact, July has proven to be the bloodiest month in the last two years: 535 died, out of which 396 were civilians, and 1,043 were injured. There is a resurrection of violence — instead of a diminution — after more than seven years of war, although the insurrection was thought to be, if not annihilated, at least weakened. And speaking of al-Qaida, one should note that the terrorist group is very prominent on the Iraqi front, as the local groups which have joined it are very active, and their attacks and actions are unprecedentedly violent. In the meantime, al-Qaida has also gained ground in other countries in the region.

Another harsh reality, which has multiple negative consequences on day-to-day life, is the deepening ethnic conflict between the Shia and the Sunni. If, during Saddam’s regime, the latter were in charge, once the dictator was overthrown, the Shia won the elections. But this did not create peace, not even among the Shia themselves. Some Shia groups are also markedly anti-American, the most poignant example being that of the Imam al-Sadr who has fought the American troops on more than one occasion.

There are also conflicts between the Arabs and the Kurds, which have been exacerbated during the seven years of war, with tremendous consequences on the whole area, especially in Turkey. To be precise, during this period, the regional autonomous Kurdish Parliament, supported directly or indirectly by the U.S., became very active and even adopted a constitution and a flag and claimed the oil deposits in Kirkuk and several towns in the Ninawa and Diyala Governorates. In fact, this was one of the great stakes in Iraq, targeted by Cheney’s group and other Republican circles. Last but not least, one should not forget about the importance of supervising the Iraqi-Iranian border, which is a place of transit for significant al-Qaida supplies. Will the Iraqi troops be able to supervise the border effectively and constantly? This is only one of the many major questions that need to be answered at this point, when most U.S. troops are leaving Iraq after an adventure that lasted for more than seven years and eventually proved to be unsuccessful.