Despite the enthusiasm of rallyers at the Republican National Convention, nearly everyone acknowledges by now that the war on Iraq that was carried out by the United States, Britain, and its “coalition of the willing” had virtually no shred of justification. It was carried out in violation of international law, and Iraq posed no real imminent threat to the U.S., its coalition, or even its old enemies such as Iran and Kuwait.
Furthermore, there was no connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government, nor were any weapons of mass destruction found. One naturally wonders, why did the U.S. and its allies invade Iraq? A somewhat simple-minded response is that “it was all about oil.” However, it would be eminently reasonable to say that it was largely about oil, but there are a lot of factors that make the answer more complex.
It is also clear what the war wasn’t about, namely winning freedom for the Iraqi people. Of course, some will be sure to counter this claim with a response that goes something like this: “A good deed has been done. Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator who killed his own people. What were we supposed to do, let him stay in power?” However, it would be interesting to hear their response when asked why the “civilized world” continued to support him during the worst of his atrocities, such as the 1988 gassing of his own citizens. As Noam Chomsky has repeatedly pointed out, he did this with our (the U.S. and its allies’) support.
Their response also carries a hidden assumption: the only way to rid Saddam Hussein of his power was an all-out invasion of Iraq. Such an assumption shows nothing but a defeatist attitude and a severe lack of creativity. I will suggest two alternative methods that could have been explored in eliminating Saddam Hussein from power. They are rather simple solutions, simple not because they would require little thought or energy to carry out successfully, but because any twelve-year old would be capable of judging them to be more likely to bring real freedom to Iraqis instead of the façade that exists there now.
One method might have involved removing the murderous sanctions that were cruelly placed on the population there. The sanctions killed half a million Iraqi children alone, a result to which former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright responded “we think the price is worth it.” Removing the sanctions would have alleviated the population’s dependence on Saddam Hussein, and would have served to weaken his suffocating grip on them. This would have freed them to overthrow him from within. One should keep in mind that just after the First Gulf War, there was a strong uprising in Southern Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The rebels asked the United States (and its allies like Canada by extension) for protection from Saddam Hussein and access to captured arms. They were given neither of these things, and the United States and its allies stood by and watched Saddam Hussein massacre the rebels. A Kurdish uprising from the North met a similar fate.
A second method might have been actually joining the U.S. in its invasion to help free the Iraqi people. It would have to have been conditional support, however, the condition being that once the evil dictator is disposed of, both power and resources get turned over to Iraqis. In other words, we would ensure that no foreign nation or company gets control of any of Iraq’s resources, especially its vast amounts of oil. We fight to get rid of Saddam Hussein, we ensure that there is a smooth transition in the post-dictatorial period, and we make sure that Iraq remains well within the clutches of Iraqi citizens, instead of rich American companies.
It is interesting to think about why these or other solutions weren’t attempted or seriously debated, let alone brought up. We must ask why our nation did not do more to protect the Iraqis. Although Canada did not take part in the illegal war, it is to our country’s shame that we have stood by and repeatedly turned our backs on Iraqi citizens. We did it while Saddam Hussein, supported by his good friends in the White House, was gassing his own population, and we have done it now as the U.S. and its coalition have illegally invaded Iraq, stealing its resources and leaving the country in a horrific state of chaos, disorder, and instability.
