Aftermath
The world held its breath as coalition forces began operations in Iraq to remove a dying regime,
which they previously had courted, supported and helped raise to power, and to replace it with a
regime more palatable to western sensibilities. The European stance was in their own self-interests,
they realized that the fallout from the war would be to polarize the Muslim masses that, luckily for
America, they would have to deal with. Afterwards the world rather reluctantly exhaled, hoping that
their (feeble) stand against America would be justified – the jury is still out on that because we
have moved on, as one social commentator said "Iraq? That is so last month"
Back To Square One
America, quite expertly, had the forethought to realize that after Iraq they could turn their
attention back to "The War on Terror" because the tangible reasons (i.e. WMD, links to Al-Qaeda etc)
were not forthcoming from the Iraq campaign, but the campaign itself would get the terrorists out of
the woodwork - like a moth to a flame. Right on cue we have the bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia
(and Turkey?) that unlike Iraq has provided America with the necessary ammunition to protract this
ubiquitous war. Turning our attention back to Iraq we see that now many people are questioning just
what the reason was for actually going to war:
Sen. Robert Byrd accused the Bush administration of using "false premises" to get Americans to accept
what he said was an illegal and unprovoked attack on Saddam Hussein's government.
Associated Press
Perhaps this is just the party line of the Democrats to capitalize on what they see as an "opportunity
that has presented itself" from the neo-conservatives and one can simply put it down to political
mud-slinging, nothing more. The CIA also ran an assessment on the pre-war intelligence and had this
to say:
Intelligence officials who go unnamed...said questions have been raised over the quality of the
intelligence concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its alleged links to the al-Qaeda
terrorist organization.
New York Times
It strikes me as highly suspicious when the quality of intelligence is assessed after a war has
ended. I suppose this will be just another learning exercise from which the intelligence apparatus of
America and her allies (which is dwindling in number) will infinitely benefit. It is a shame that so
many lives had to be lost for it.
It is also worrying that this same agency is heading the investigation in the recent bombings in
Riyadh:
American FBI and CIA agents joined the hunt for masterminds behind the suicide bombings in Riyadh...
Reuters
Perhaps, just perhaps, we live in a world were justification is no longer required and that the might
is right mentality shall prevail. Maybe this is the first step in a long line of conquests where a
country will be attacked under the pretext of WMD/Al-Qaeda and then when the campaign is over a
flurry of bombings will divert the attention of the people of the world from the suffering of others
to the (potential) suffering of their own.
Where To Next?
Pulling her bases from a largely resentful Saudi, America will expand her influence in Iraq and the
neighboring states (namely Iran and Syria). Already the Gulf States have been funding many
initiatives to bring them into the American vision for the 21st century:
Qataris voted overwhelmingly in a referendum in favour of plans to give the gas-rich monarchy a
written constitution and usher in a Gulf-style democracy.
Agence France-Presse
In an historic national referendum on 14-15 February, the people of Bahrain voted overwhelmingly in
favour of a National Charter which will bring democracy to the country.
Amnesty International
Compared with most Arab states, Kuwait is a relatively free society. Citizens criticize their
government without fear of reprisal. Newspapers carry many viewpoints. Abdullah believes liberation
caused the country to open up - "Not open enough, I want it to be more open, but it is open."
Washington Post
The Sultan of Oman has extended voting rights to all citizens over the age of 21, in a move that is
seen as a step towards political reform in the Gulf state.
BBC
There is a role for strong government. But there is a need for greater empowerment within government.
While some delegates agreed with the push for democracy, others pointed out that democracy isn't
perfect and moves toward democracy have failed-for instance, in Algeria.
Al-Watan
The Washington-based National Democratic Institute, which monitored the
election, said the polling had flaws, including ballot buying, underage voting
and inappropriate behavior by security forces. Nonetheless, it called the
election "another significant step forward on Yemen's path toward democracy," a
view that was also echoed by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Agence France-Presse
The next place where America will places under her eyes is Syria and Iran, whilst simultaneously
watching that the Gulf-Democracy plan doesn’t lose momentum by making sure that Al-Qaeda blows a few
bombs up here and there. Basher Al-Assad isn’t a man who is resolute nor one who possesses the
political will to do anything so he will fall in line with American demands and as for Iran, well
before the Iraq conflict began she had already opened up to inspection teams from the UN. Coupled
with new insistence that Hezbollah is autonomous and not funded by Iran and to make things crystal
clear an Iraqi exile (Ayatollah Al-Hakim of SCIRI) that was a guest of Iran has recently called for
democracy in Iraq.
With Saudi the case is simpler, Fahd will be dead in a few years and as such Abdullah will be King.
He has already shown where his loyalties lie and with people like Al-Waleed bin Al-Talal the future
is going to unfold according to American dictates.
The Muslims have been brutalized since the loss of our own political authority and as such now have
no voice. It is this lack of voice that America wishes to exploit to make
Muslims bow to her
suzerainty.
Solution?
The solution is as stated by the "terrorists" leave the Muslims to decide for themselves what is in
their best interests. They do not need "political forums" which so vehemently push for the grand
vision of America's vision for 21st Century and nor do they need the west to prop up the dictators,
which the west publicly denounce yet underhandedly help. Honesty, candidness and transparency - from
both sides - is what is going to get everyone out of this mess.
The writer is a Political Commentator. He contributed above article to Media Monitors Network (MMN) from the United Kingdom.
