President George W. Bush is not involved in an epic struggle with terrorism in Iraq, as he claimed in his State of the Union Address. His battle is with reality and it is not one he is going to win. Almost four years after he invaded Iraq because of a lie, every element of his White House policy has been proven misjudged, ill-conceived and just plain wrong. He was, however, right about one thing on Tuesday night. He said if US forces withdrew, the Iraqi government would be beset by Shiite extremists backed by Iranian and Sunni extremists aided by Al-Qaeda and die-hard Baathists “A contagion of violence could spill out across the country, and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.” What he did not say is that his own US-led invasion is directly responsible for this catastrophic situation.
Had there been a plan to stabilize and restore Iraq the minute the fighting stopped, things might have been different. But the administration was too busy basking in its “victory” and awarding fat contracts to US firms such as Vice President Cheney’s former company Halliburton to rebuild what US war planes and cruise missiles had blown apart. It ignored what would happen in the vacuum when Iraqi policemen and soldiers were all fired without pay and when the inhabitants of Baghdad were forced to survive without water and electricity. US war planners knew precisely what damage they were going to cause. There were, on the other hand, no “peace planners” to bring in thousands of generators and water purification plants to replace the utilities that were destroyed. And worse, the anarchy began from the very first day of the occupation, as Iraqis prowled the unpoliced streets, plundering and looting whatever they wanted. It is ironic now to remember that in those days the biggest international concern was that the priceless exhibits in Baghdad’s museums were being pillaged. What was really happening was that Iraq was already sliding down the slope of lawlessness and anarchy at the bottom of which terrorism and sectarian violence have since flourished.
Americans once backed their triumphant commander in chief. This includes nearly all the now congressionally dominant Democrats. But they all now want out of Iraq. Bush has the lowest poll ratings of any president in 50 years. His commitment of 21,500 more troops is the final throw of a gambler who has almost run out of credit. Unfortunately US public opinion is not informed by an understanding of what has been done to the Iraqi people by their bungling president. What concerns them is the damage done to America’s international reputation and the steady flow of body bags and injured soldiers arriving in at home.
It is already clear that US politicians, especially Democrats, are gearing up to blame the Iraqis for the tragedy that is unfolding in their country. In that it is often Iraqis killing Iraqis, they are right. They must also realize that such things would not be happening had their president and their government not have been so ignorant and arrogant.
