By Kareem Ziaudin
Ten years passed and Iraq is still at war—with itself now. United States and British governments under the banner of ‘coalition of the willing’ launched war over Iraq although the UN Security Council did not agree on a military operation in Iraq.
US said Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). As they’ve been never found, the main justification for the invasion is lacking. Iraq war brought more terrorism and planted seeds for so-called “Clash of Civilisations”. Sometime people of Iraq feel that war was brought just to confirm the theory of “Clash of Civilisations” but when theory did not work, more wars were brought to Muslims—- Libya for example.
This thinking is stupid because war was launched to Iraq because US and UK had no wars in the world to enjoy What Iraqis got in exchange for “a very repressive regime” could hardly be called a better and safer life. In fact it has been ten years of bloodshed, which is not over yet. Baghdad is seeing explosions in its streets almost on a daily basis.
At least 134,000 civilians in Iraq have lost their lives following the US-led invasion and according to a report by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University the overall number of casualties could be 4 times higher. Around 5,000 coalition soldiers died according to estimates by iCasaualties.org. UN High Commission for Refugees says more than 2 million people were displaced in the conflict.
The number of Americans, thinking the military campaign in Iraq wasn’t worth it has been growing. Ten years ago a Gallup poll showed 75% were for and 23% against the invasion. According to the same poll, conducted on the eve of the 10th anniversary, 42% still support the move while 53% of Americans consider it a mistake. At least some of the decision makers have joined those 53 percent and acknowledge they were wrong. “In anyone’s candid moments, they will tell you were it not for the WMD, we wouldn’t have authorized use of force there,” said Senator Jeff Flake in an interview with USA Today. Flake, who as a member of the House voted in support of the joint resolution that led to the Iraq invasion, went on to say: “I don’t attribute any nefarious motives to President Bush or those involved. I think we were just wrong. Sometimes, you’re wrong.”
