In 2003 George W. Bush stood in all his military regalia and with
that daft Hollywood salute proudly stated, “Mission accomplished”,
which was his announcement telling the world that the war in Iraq was
over and they had won. Here we are in 2011 and Obama has announced
that the US troops are leaving Iraq, the war is over and they have
won, "Mission accomplished", again. Well it is now true, they have won, they have won the oil and
that was what it was all about, the rest is of no consequence to our corporate world. What price have the people of Iraq
had to pay for this Western oil adventure? What sort of country is
Iraq now, after the West has “liberated” them? Saddam was no
angel, but who is that rules over a country? Under his rule there was
a considerable movement to get more women to participate in the
affairs of society. His government was a secular government and
didn't tolerate religious fundamentalists. From 1970 to 1980 the
Iraqi economy grow by 11.7%, this after they finally nationalised the
oil, which was the real problem with the West, they don't allow
nationalised oil. The economic growth all came to an end with the
Iraq/Iran war, aided and abetted by the US. The first Gulf war and
the 10 years of sanctions imposed by the West, all but destroyed the
country. The death toll from the sanctions varies form 500,000
upwards. One comment made about two years ago by a young Iraqi tells
us something of what they might be thinking, "When the
Americans started this whole war issue, we started to see the light
at the end of the tunnel, and we walked toward it. But when the war
happened, that light was the American train coming the other way that
ran us over."
What has more than 8 years of occupation
cost? In cash terms it has cost the USA over $1 trillion, roughly
about $5,000 a second. In coalition deaths, over 5,000, and in
injured approaching 40,000. One other figure that doesn't seem to get
much headlines is the fact that 30% of US troops suffer some form of
mental illness within 3 to 4 months of going home. No matter what it
cost those troops of the coalition it fades when compared to what the
Iraqi people have suffered and they didn't ask to be “liberated”.
Estimates, and that is all we can get as nobody seemed to be
interested in recording the true numbers, of Iraqi civilian deaths
vary from 600,000 to 1 million. Those Iraqis displaced but remaining
in Iraq number approximately 3 million, those displaced to Syria and
Jordan approximately 3 million. Those Iraqis injured, the number is
just not available and would dwarf any of the figures already given.
We
could say the war is over so everything is fine, but unemployment is
running about 60%, child chronic malnutrition approximately 30%. The
number of hours that the average Iraqi has electricity to their homes
(Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador to Iraq 2007) 1 to 2 hours. The number
of Iraqi homes connected to sewer system 37%.
Another tragedy of this war is that
just prior to the war Iraq had 34,000 physicians, today it is less
than 12,000, though the need today is far greater than ever. One
poll shows that 82% of Iraqis are “strongly opposed to the presence
of the coalition troops. Only 1% believe that the coalition forces
are responsible for any improvements in security. 67% feel less
secure because of the occupation and 72% have no confidence in the
coalition forces.
In
your own analysis, do these figures look like a success story, does
it look like the “liberation” of a people? Or does it look like
the decimation of a country and its people for the sole reason of
getting our hands on that nationalised oil?
