They came, they conquered, they destroyed and now the US have unfortunately, handed over Iraq, the Cradle of Civilisation and the heart of the Arab world to people whose loyalty is more to Iran than their own country. So many have died as a result of the 2003 invasion; so many have lost people they love — and for what? Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction while evidence given to Britain's Iraq Inquiry by Tony Blair, former British prime minister and the former Chief of MI5 suggests that was known all along.
US claims that the war was waged to root out Al Qaida is also false as there were no terrorists in Iraq before the invasion. Al Qaida's arrival was a direct response to the conflict. The US Special Forces commander Brigadier-General Patrick Higgins has recently confirmed that Al Qaida and other terrorist organisations in Iraq remain "pretty much intact". US forces have achieved little during the past seven years. Iraq is as unstable as ever.
When none of their pretexts for war remained standing, the invaders patted themselves on the back for democratising the nation. This was another sham. How can an occupied country beset by sectarian conflict and stricken by terrorist bombs be a democracy in any sense of the term? Several months have passed since elections and, today, Iraqis remain in the dark as to who will become their next prime minister.
George W. Bush and his dimwitted administration have much to answer for. But as long as America holds a veto in the UN Security Council they will never be held to account. As if the invasion itself that was fuelled by lies wasn't despicable enough, Washington robbed Iraq of its peoples' unity and its Arab identity. The US devastated Iraq with no thought to the day after apart from a desire to punish anyone deemed to have been a supporter of Saddam Hussain.
The army was disbanded, ministries were trashed and members of the Baath Party were thrown out of their jobs. A kangaroo court was set up to try Saddam, whose death by hanging in one of the holiest days for Muslims was a cause of humiliation for Arabs and Muslims, yet a cause of celebration for Washington. The reins of power were handed to politicians who had spent most of their lives outside their country and whose loyalty to the regional power is more than to their own nation.
Ebrahim Al Jaafari who was the prime minister in Iraq's transitional government had spent nine years in Iran. The incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has lived variously in Iran, Syria and Jordan. In September 2006, he made an official visit to Tehran when he referred to Iran as "a good friend and brother".
Last month marked the end of America's misnamed ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom'. The US military drew down and handed the towel to US diplomats. Some 96,000 US combat troops were expected to be out of Iraq by September 1st, leaving 50,000 of their comrades in country to ‘advise and assist' their Iraqi counterparts until at least 2011.
What happens next is anyone's guess but the door could be opened to a potential all-out sectarian bloodbath as well as a power vacuum that will undoubtedly be filled by Iran waiting in the wings. Iranian tentacles have already spread to Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza, Somalia and Sudan. Iraq is destined to be yet another notch on Tehran's belt.
Accusations
Speaking from an Iraqi jail, Saddam's former deputy prime minister Tarek Aziz has accused the US of "leaving Iraq to the wolves" during a surge of countrywide violence. "We are all victims of America and Britain," he said. "They killed our country in many ways. When you make a mistake you need to correct the mistake, not leave Iraq to its death".
With Iraqi fatalities for July the highest since May 2008 Aziz is right to be worried. No one wants to see foreign forces quit Iraq more than I do but they broke it so they must fix it, which so far they have failed to do. The ongoing violence is only one aspect of Iraq's problems. Iraqis still suffer from high unemployment and poverty as well as a lack of electricity, clean water, and fully equipped medical facilities.
In November last year, I devised a plan for the future of Iraq which I sent to Obama and Britain's former prime minister Gordon Brown. It called for the dissolution of the Iraqi parliament, the introduction of temporary emergency law, the setting up of a ‘truth and reconciliation' commission and the appointment of a "strong, impartial, secular Prime Minister and President without any known links to Iran.
For the foreseeable future, Iraq needs to be governed by a strongman; a true patriot, who will not tolerate the specter of sectarianism; someone who speaks and acts for the benefit of all Iraqis, whether they be Sunni, Shiite, Kurd, Turkmen and Christians. When all the US troops and mercenaries have gone and when Iraqis have regained their spirit of nationalism, only then should democracy be reintroduced.
Unfortunately, Obama did not show care as to what happens to Iraq. He is keen to cut-and-run so he can free-up troops to bolster Washington's other useless war in Afghanistan. In a recent speech, he romanticised America's military role in Iraq forgetting that prior to taking office he had labelled Iraq "an unwise war" in which "we did not use our military wisely".
Whichever way Obama now tries to dress-up his country's blunders he can never erase the stain on its reputation. He may be able to console himself with the thought that he was not the one to decapitate Iraq but will he ever be able to forgive himself for handing Iraq to Iran on a silver platter?
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor is a businessman and chairman of Al Habtoor Group.
