Break out the champers. Kill the beast (or pick an artichoke). Ring the bells and sing some songs. Iraq is free and soveriegn. Well, actually, its been free since last May when George the Conqueror flew his steel bird onto the deck of a fighting ship and declared the war was over and the Iraqi people were liberated.
Phew. I don’t think I've ever had such a high moment of excitement since, well, when Nan had a run in with the Simpson. But really, don’t you think its great that you and I had a small, but democratic hand in creating the new, liberated, sovereign and just Iraq? Don’t you think its great to know that you and I had a small hand in the excitement that now fills the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people every waking moment of their lives? Don’t you think its great that you and I had such an impact on the Iraqi people and the new Iraqi ‘leadership’ that they had to have a semi-secret hand over of sovereignty? And don’t you think its great that we had a small part in killing god knows how many innocent men, women and children over the last year or so.
Of course we don’t take into account the hundreds of thousands killed as a result of our sanctions for the preceding 10 years. Sure we can rationalise that it was not us but our government (of both colors). Sure, we can say, ‘Well, I do my bit. I turn up at the rallies, I go to all the meetings, I help fold the flyers and even set up an email group to send information around on’. To that I say "So what"? Unless we are prepared to enter into the suffering of the ones we oppress we will always remain separate from them and they the oppressed. We are like those cynical politicians and business leaders who decide to ‘sleep rough’ for a night in order to raise money for the homeless or like the cynical pseudo-bourgeoisie who always make sure they give away a percentage of their income to tax deductible charities so they can claim the amount back at the end of the year.
The farce that is Iraq is a global scale atrocity that reflects back on us the shallow, callousness that envelopes our so called ‘civilised’ societies as we recline on our soft sofas watching Big Brother or The Nanny or Home Makeover programs. The fanatics are right, the West is soft. Our hands are manicured by the smooth salve of cash. Sure, some of us are doing it ‘tough’. Sure, some of us are suffering but I argue that we are not doing it as tough as the bulk of families in Iraq or Afghanistan or Chad or The Congo or a raft of other non-welfare able states.
Just on Afghanistan for a moment. Did you hear the Mayor of Kabul, Hamid Karsai’s plea to the G8 in Istanbul the other day? What a ‘revelation’ that was. He actually spoke the truth to the world and told it as it is – bad and getting worse. They call poor old Hamid ‘the Mayor of Kabul’ because like most of the international forces there he can’t leave the city for fear of being killed by one of the warring tribes. If I strain my memory enough I think I can hear the strains of an American President saying that Afghanistan was now free of the tyranny of tyrants. Mmm, or maybe its just my imagination playing tricks again.
And so we return to the undoubted celebrations that are taking place across Iraq as we chat. The fact that the hand over was moved forward two days and that it was carried out in semi-secrecy and in the so-called "Green Zone" of the occupying US headquarters, suggests that the farce is far more serious than is being discussed in public. Of course, Saddam is to be put on a show trial at some undetermined time in the future – preferably after the US elections (can’t have an old mate embarrassing Bush and his mob can we now?). All the while the lilting strains of a Mesopotamian song of freedom floats through the ether and wafts around the troops and they enjoy the fragrant smell of the pomegranate, the tulip and the frangipani as they blossom in some of the oldest gardens in the world.
Oh, to be in the land of freedom. Perhaps, if the rhetoric is to be believed (which it isn’t of course) this land and Baghdad in particular, will become the beacon on the hill, shining the light of democracy and freedom throughout the dark heart of the Middle East. Well, that’s what they want us to believe and of course the lie is built on the false assumption that the Arab civilisations are in some way a "dark heart" of something.
What does interest me of late is the number of ‘experts’ from all sides of politics who are saying that Iraq is not the real problem to watch – the war there is already in motion – but that attention should be turned to Saudi Arabia. The privations of the people under the rule of the house of Saud are quite well known but until the last couple of weeks there was very little mainstream coverage of the smoldering discontent and potential for a real civil war there. But enough of this darkness and gloom.
Let’s return to the fanfare and cheers for Iraq – the most newest, free-est, liberated nation on earth, thanks to us. But we have nothing to cheer for. Ask yourself, does this multi trillion-dollar debacle assist the poor in anyway? Think of hundreds of Iraqi tradesmen put out of work while international "aid" workers earn tens of thousands of dollars a month to drive trucks, repair broken pipelines, and construct new plant and equipment (to keep the coalition forces in fresh, potable water and power). Think of the thousands of Iraqi women who are no longer able to circulate freely within their communities either for fear of being killed or worse, or because their husbands have once more descended into fundamentalist dogmas. Finally, think of the Iraqi children who have seen their fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts debased in front of their eyes at the hands of the invaders. Think of the scars left behind as a little girl or boy watches their father dragged out of the car and shoved to the ground because she or he didn’t understand the gibberish coming out of the mouth the young man – or women- with the uniform and gun.
Unless we enter into the suffering that we allowed to happen then this Iraq is nothing more than a continuation of the long line of Iraqs that have come before it and will, no doubt, follow on after it.