IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THEBENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL

IRAQ - A QUAGMIRE FOR THE USA

[Shamim A Siddiqi. New York]

The coalition army of USA-UK entered into the sovereign land of Iraq under the pretext to liberate the country from the tyrant clutches of Saddam Hussein, put it on the path of democracy and rule the affairs of the country by its own elected representatives. President Bush, his defense and security advisers took it very lightly. They entered into the country without planning as how to meet the aftereffects of war, mop out the remnants of Saddam’s army, eliminate the resisting forces when cropped up, deliver the “promised” freedom and “cater” the basic human needs of the people of Iraq: water, food, electricity and “peace” that were denied to them for decades together.

Unfortunately, neither the coalition forces of Bush-Blair could attain the aforesaid declared objectives nor could they dig out any trace of the Weapons of Mass Destruction which constituted the immediate and the most prominent plea to attack Iraq and destroy the developing “den” of “international terrorism”. More than five months have passed since Iraq was “conquered” but all the set “goals appear to be the “wishful” thinking of our President and his henchmen. Iraq is becoming a “bloody quagmire” for America and every day, without any exception, the precious life of our soldiers are sacrificed at the altar of Bush desire to “teach” democracy to the ME and “transform” that region into the cradle of people’s rule. The price in terms of cost both of men and material [money] is surmounting by leaps and bounds.

Yesterday, September 8, 2003, in his nation wide telecast speech at prime time, President Bush has made a tacit “retreat” from his position of “mono-fight” in Iraq to UNO-fight” by the world body. Mr. Bush declared, “Our strategy in Iraq has three objectives: destroying the terrorists; enlisting the support of other nations for a free Iraq; and helping Iraqis assume responsibilities for their own defense and their own future.” He is going to present additional budget of $87 Billion for sustaining the development cost of Iraq and Afghanistan and the prolong war of attrition in both “free” countries during the current fiscal year that is likely to blow up the deficit to over half a trillion dollar. Will President Bush get these objectives achieved is a big question to be resolved by the saner elements of the USA and the world community sitting in the UN?

1. Destroying the terrorists: Terrorism cannot be routed out unless President Bush and his coalition sincerely try to remove the causes that breed the reaction of the oppressed and deprived people in different parts of the world. They have the birth right to feel free and exercise their right to chose and be governed by their own democratically elected representatives but it is denied to them. The oppressed people of the world have “perhaps” now the best chance in Iraq to take “revenge” from the USA with whose connivance they are denied to rule by themselves. Visibly, they are perhaps concentrating in Iraq as the best “ground” now available to them to make America to pay the “price” of its “blindly” supporting Israel in Palestine, giving tacit approval to Putin in Chechnya, India in Kashmir and the “usurpers”, the so-called rulers of the Middle East and that of North Africa. The current influx of terrorism around the world is the “effect” of denying the human rights. If today the people sitting in the White House recast their foreign policy in terms of human rights, get rid of its supports to tyrants and unrepresentative regimes around the world, I can assure our President Mr. Bush, he will save both the life of our soldiers and reduce the burden on National budget by hundreds of Billions in no time. Till that time, he cannot fight out terrorism at any place.

2. Enlisting the support of other nations for a free Iraq: Originally, President Bush ignored the world body and preferred to go alone with PM Blair of UK. Now the world leadership will squeeze the USA to get the price of its previous follies to the extent possible. The USA has to pay a big price, give up its concept of “preemptive attack and going alone” without the sanction of SC and share the “booty” of war in Iraq with other “greedy” powers of Europe. President Bush has no choice but to “surrender” his “ill-gotten gains” in Iraq after showing some eyebrows on his “aging” face. This “honorable” retreat will be better for us than repeating the ignominious history of withdrawal from Vietnam.

3. Helping Iraqis assume responsibilities for their own defense and their own future: Here again the intentions of our administration are not fair. It has installed a government of its own choice who in the eyes of the people of Iraq are the “puppets” of the USA. They have no footings in the land and are likely to be “killed” one by one. If the regime of their “chosen” people drafts any constitution, it would lack the sanction of the popular support. In fact, the Government of the USA is not sincere on this count too. They are determined to install a government of their choice, a constitution of their liking and a system bearing American taste and liberalism in every walk of life and that will be constantly resisted by the people of land, specially the Shiite majority who are determined to see their own system or Shariah dominant in the country. The “tussle” will continue for a long time, delaying the adaptation and promulgation of a constitution that represents the united spirit of all the people of the land.

It appears that President Bush is not likely to attain any of his goals in Iraq. A state of stagnancy will continue on all these counts. The USA will spend a lot of money and sacrifice the life of its many brave soldiers not in the battle field but in ambushes here and there. Iraq has already been turned into a “bloody” quagmire for President Bush and his “holy” alliance and will continue to bleed for a continuous long time with a big burden on its military might and annual budget, resulting only in creating hate against Uncle Sam and inflating our deficit to staggering heights.

Conclusion: Our Congress would be wise enough “still” to investigate about the tragedy of September 11: “who did it and for what”? Unless it is properly investigated by our Supreme Court Judges, persons like Mr. Bush will continue to make rough shots and put our future in jeopardy. This is the root cause of our “crooked” foreign policies and devastated “home” interrogations and “spying” on individuals that are fast “choking” both our life at home and foreign policies abroad. The situation is very precarious for all of us to think and strive hard to save the country from utter ruination. God save America.

Shamim A Siddiqi

September 8. 2003