On March 19, 2003, the Bush administration launched
what has become one of the longest-running wars in U.S. history. Now, on
the third anniversary of the start of the war, we are just beginning to
feel the full effects of the greatest catastrophe in American foreign
policy since the Vietnam War. We are all familiar with the staggering costs
of the Iraq War: more than 2,300 Americans killed, more than 16,000 wounded
or maimed; about 30,000 direct Iraqi deaths and more than 100,000
attributable to the war; upward of $300 billion in direct war expenditures
and close to $1 trillion in estimated total costs. We are also painfully aware of the longer-term damage
to U.S. foreign policy and to our standing in the world. The war has bred a
new generation of religious extremists, dangerously heightened sectarian
tensions in the Islamic world, strengthened Iran’s hand in Iraq and
in matters of nuclear diplomacy, and created the most serious threat to the
world’s oil supply since the OPEC embargo — all the while
undermining American authority and straining the U.S. military to the
breaking point. But these facts and figures do not capture the full
tragedy that Iraq has become or the horror that may yet befall that country
and indeed the region. As recent events make clear, Iraq is now on the
verge of a full-scale civil war, which U.S. forces are helpless to prevent
and for which they are increasingly blamed by all sides. The bloodbath
after the bombing of the golden-domed Shiite mosque in Samarra claimed more
than 1,400 lives as angry Shiite mobs attacked Sunni mosques and killed
their Sunni neighbors. This outbreak came after months of low-intensity
ethnic cleansing in many Iraqi neighborhoods and increasing targeting of
Sunnis by Shiite militias. Throughout the three years of the war, the
administration and its supporters have tried to create the illusion of
progress by hyping one democratic “landmark” after another.
Each landmark was just another step toward the violence and misery that now
engulfs ordinary Iraqis. Yet the only democratic landmark that really
matters — establishing a national unity government capable of keeping
order and beginning the reconstruction of the country — eludes our
efforts. Still, the effort to discredit those who would
question American policy in Iraq continues with the usual attacks on the
patriotism and steadfastness of those who argue for a U.S. withdrawal or
even for establishing a timetable for withdrawal. Vice President Dick
Cheney warns about “defeatists” who would have the United
States leave Iraq before finishing the job. Now we are told that if we leave, the civil war will
get worse, and indeed it could. The past few weeks have offered a glimpse
into the future: Sunni fighting Shiite, Shiite fighting Sunni, one Shiite
militia fighting another Shiite militia — many blaming the U.S. for
the violence and all eventually targeting American soldiers. After the
bombing of the Shiite mosque, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and one of the most powerful
Shiites, blamed the U.S. ambassador for giving a green light to terrorist
bombers by insisting that Supreme Council-controlled Shiite militias be
disarmed. Other Shiite leaders offered similar complaints, and, perhaps
more ominous, the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani called for tribal militias to
guard Shiite shrines and personalities, a sign that he wants Shiite
militias to take things into their own hands. Meanwhile, Sunnis quickly
pointed the finger at U.S. troops for not protecting Sunni mosques and
worshipers from Shiite retaliation, even as Sunni insurgents vowed to
continue their attacks on U.S. forces. The occupation has turned both major
sectarian groups against the U.S. At this point, there may be little America can do to
stop the sectarian violence or the momentum toward civil war. The best we can do is remove U.S. forces and seek the
help of other nations to keep the violence from spreading, in the hope that
this will help change the dynamic in Iraq. As much as we would like to fix
what we “broke,” we do not have the legitimacy or the know-how.
The American public, the men and women in uniform and the Iraqis themselves
all seem to recognize this. Only 30 percent of Americans favor the Bush
administration’s handling of Iraq, 72 percent of U.S. troops serving
in Iraq believe U.S. forces should leave in the next year, and, possibly
most revealing of all, 87 percent of all Iraqis want an end to the U.S.
occupation while 47 percent support attacks on our troops. It is time to
get U.S. forces out of the untenable position the Bush administration has
put them in. The question is: When will our “leaders”
in Washington come to accept that same conclusion and at least prevent the
futile loss of more American lives?
Adapted from an editorial in the March 27, 2006,
edition of The Nation.
Copyright © 2006 The
Nation.
This article appears in Mar 16-22, 2006.
