On April 16, President George W. Bush gave his reasons for war in Iraq as television cameras brought us pictures of toppling statues, jubilant crowds filled with shouts of "thank you George Bush" and "USA." Yet also emerging from the streets of Baghdad came crowds looting and pillaging everything in sight. Marines and Army troops became a reluctant police force. They employed the Iraqi National Police who only days before had been part of Saddam Hussien's oppressive regime to once again restore order in Baghdad. Order had to be maintained again in Baghdad through violence.
As President Bush spoke from the Boeing plant where the United States constructs its F-18 "Hornet" fighter planes, he stated that "we defend our security, we value the lives and liberty of the Iraqi people," and that "we are committed to helping Iraq build a future of freedom and dignity and peace." Yet when Colin Powell spoke only a month ago to the United Nations Security Council, strangely, these were not listed as rational for a preemptive strike. It seems our government has engaged in the old political trick of moving the goalposts whenever it appears that they will have to concede a goal.
Secretary Powell stated that Iraq was targeted because they had weapons of mass destruction, Iraq had harbored, aided, and abetted members of Al-Qaida, not because it was a brutal dictatorship ruled by a human rights abusing tyrant. Making an argument on human rights and dictatorships in front of the UN questions why our largest trading partner is China, why we gave Israel and Jordan military aid when during the past year both cracked down against dissidents, why we support Kuwait when they still refuse women's suffrage, or why Iraq itself was targeted when so many other egregious violators rule nations around the globe. The only constant throughout the entire conflict has been that the requirement's goalposts have continued to move.
Originally Iraq became part of the axis of evil because of possible nuclear weapons, but when this proved a false trail, the more general threat to national security became an issue. Iraq was a rough state. They threatened our allies. At the same time, so did North Korea. They threatened the second largest economy in the world, over 50,000 American troops, and had the possibility to destabilize the entire Pacific Rim sending it back into another economic crisis. We also know their leader is a couple sandwiches short of a picnic basket. But that isn't an issue any more; now, the issue changed to weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). But, as that began to loose steam in the UN, and Hans Blix continued to find no physical evidence, totalitarian dictatorship became the rallying cry.Unfortunately, for the people of the Middle East dictatorships are something that we, and the other fabulous member of the Coalition of the Willing, Great Britain, helped to install and maintain in the Middle East. After all, who gave Saddam all his weapons in the 1980s? But after that became an international faux paus (damn the French but we don't have any other expression) because there are a lot of other dictators around the world and on the Security Council. Iraqi freedom became the "true" cause. How long, though, will this be sufficient?
The point of this article does not go to undermine the desire of Iraqis or the sacrifice laid down by our men and women in uniform, but instead to question the real motives of our government. We have been trying to put a square peg into a round hole for almost year and instead of examining the peg we were using, we kept changing boxes till we had one that fit. Political double speak does not assist the people of Iraq. It does nothing to improve our world standing. Moving the goalposts in our international debates undermines our credibility. And it insults Americans who put their lives on the line when their leadership refused to do so when it was their turn. But, nevertheless, actions will always speak louder than words.
Last week the Museum of History in Baghdad was looted of 5000 years of history as Coalition forces watched. Last week we liberated the last remaining oil wells in Iraq. Iraq just lost 5000 of its history and has been asked to forget the past 20 odd years of a dictatorship that we used to support in favor of democracy they've never experienced. If America is committed to take the path that we have chosen in forming a "New American Century" then the United States must commit itself to all forms of Iraqi freedom, not just the freedom that is in our interest.
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