Monday marked the ninth anniversary of the Iraq war. On 19 March 2003, the United States and United Kingdom led an invasion into Iraq claiming that the Iraqi government, headed by Saddam Hussein, possessed weapons of mass destruction that posed a threat to the national security of their regions.
Nine years later and we all know now there were never any weapons of mass destruction and the invasion was never intended to help the Iraqi people.
While it is difficult to gather precise figures, it is estimated that the invasion has caused the deaths of over one million Iraqis, majority being mothers and children, and 179 British military personnel. There are also millions of other Iraqis who have suffered in some way because of the invasion. Whitehall figures released in June 2010 put the cost of British funding of the Iraq conflict at £9.24bn ($14.32bn), the vast majority of which was for the military but which also included £557m ($861m) in aid.
It is also estimated that more than half of the British population now believe that the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is unwinnable and that invading both countries have done nothing but destroyed Iraq and increased the threat of extremism to Britain.
But who should we point the fingers to be responsible for this? The US government? Tony Blair? Or George W. Bush?
From the soldiers who have agreed to serve in Iraq to the millions of us who sat at home and watched apache helicopters drop bombs onto civilian homes in the middle of the night in Baghdad, we are all to blame for the deaths and destruction caused by this invasion. Everyone is to blame.
Because the truth is, we did nothing. We sat back and let this happen under our names. We allowed the bombs to drop in Iraq, we allowed that Iraqi child to be raised as an orphan, that mother to watch her family murdered, that father to come home and find his family killed by bomb attacks. We let this happen by simply doing nothing.
How many of us wrote to our MPs and demand that they voted against such an invasion? How many of us signed petitions? How many of us attended an anti-war protest? Two million people gathered in London to demand Tony Blair to revoke his decision to enter Iraq. Only 3% of Britons decided to take a stand. The rest of us may have been against the invasion, but sitting at home and watching it unfold on live television makes us agree with it. Ignorance is a form of acceptance in a legal perspective.
What we must realise is that our MPS, prime ministers and those in government work for us. We do not work for them. They can only make decisions with our consent. Can you imagine if 50% of us had occupied Trafalgar Square until the Blair government refused to go to war? Or even if 50% of us had bombarded our MPs office until they demanded that invading Iraq was not to be carried out under Britain's name? Those in government at that time would have certainly thought twice before casting their vote in favour of attacking Iraq.
Nine years on and how many of us re-elected those same politicians who voted for this invasion? Those same politicians whose lack of reliability has caused the death of millions of Iraqi civilians, 179 British personnel and left a country war-torn and savaged for years to come. How many of us have actually pushed for Tony Blair to be indicted for war crimes?
We have destroyed the Iraqi people. We let our government destroy a country that was not a threat to us. The Iraqi people are worse off than before the invasion. Since the invasion, over one million Iraqis have been thrown out of their homes and are now living as refugees. Violence and extremism are prevalent throughout Iraq. A report published by the U.N. Security Council, showed that majority of Iraqi people lack access to basic services such as water, sanitation, health care and education remains limited especially for children.
Traditional systems of physical, social and legal protection have also been severely compromised by the conflict and, as a result, children have become more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Among the threats to children are cluster bomblets and landmines that the U.S. and other combatants have deployed in the country.
We are all partly responsible for this.
I'm in no way excluding myself. I cannot say that I did enough. I don't even remember attending a protest. I sat at home and probably ranted to my friends and family about how I did not agree with war.
We can all learn from this mistake. We can start taking an active role in ensuring that those who made the decision to enter Iraq face the consequences of their action. We can lobby, sign petitions, join anti-war groups and most importantly never let it happen again under our names.
President Obama claimed that America and its allies can now leave Iraq with its head held high. But this is far from the case. How can you leave a country where you created violence and poverty with your head held high?
All I can do now is tell the Iraqi people how sorry I am. Sorry, I wasn't there to help prevent such a catastrophe and make a promise to be active to never allow something like this to happen again under my name.
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If I were to spend time trying to protest against their actions, it would take time from my more important task of helping others understand how living up to Christian standards is the better answer.
Because that was the goal
you didn't really think we were there to help anyone did you?
Look at the money we spent. Most estimates put it in the trillions. Think of what a trillion dollars could have done for Iraq. We literally, not figuratively, could have bought each and every person in the country of Iraq a car and had money to spare
I can understand editorials slanted to manipulate people’s actions and how to think. That was used to promote the war and then reverse their stance once we were at war. I expect an impartial article based on comparative facts.
How much of the ‘trillion $’ went into rebuilding the infrastructure; roads or water supplies, et cetera? That would be research. What were the peoples living conditions prior to the War? How many people were tortured and murdered by Husain while he was in power? That would be research.
How many died during our struggle for freedom? We could have had a peaceful existence, but our ancestors chose independence and democracy. How many died during our Civil War? Was it worth the lost lives?
If Iraq truly wants peace and their form of freedom then they must fight for it as we did. No one can ‘give’ freedom or democracy. People must commit their lives to stay free as we have.
The British parliament spent in the region of 7 hours debating going to war against Iraq and over 700 hours debating a ban on hunting - where is the balance and common sense there? It shows where the politicians priorities lie.... two of the largest demonstrations ever to hit the streets of London were against both the resultant courses of action and both demonstrations were completely ignored - what more can be done to bring politicians to heel - they are our servants after all not our masters.
Personally, having been born in the US I feel shame for the US, but not for myself. The reason: while the 95% of Americans were drinking the kool-aide of the Bush administration and its propaganda outlets Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS, I was getting my news from Deutsche Welle, France 24, NHK, and Al Jazeera. Thus can I attest that only the Americans and the wanna be Americans (the Brits) bought the lies. I was in Germany when the attack started, and can also tell you that the front pages and articles in the newspapers there were decidedly different from those here.
I will stay British and Proud thanks, so keep your silly political rhetoric and silly childish comments, in order to score a few possible laughs and therefore support for your post and keep your point on the real issues here and that is the American attempt to control anything in the world that it does not understand. Wether your a spam or not i dont care, but either way silly phrase to use in an otherwise well thought out post. 3 out of 10, could do better!
The important point here is people find it easy to forget that these evil dictators are for many years supported by Western governments whilst it suits their interests until it isnt useful anymore. Aside from the hypocrisy it condones and legitimises the behaviour of these Dictators.
I cannot sit there and listen to someone call these men heroes when their actions engender division, destruction and war in the name of good morals (read oil, corporate interests and petrodollars). These men have millions of foreign countries people dead on their watch and you stand there calling them heroes.
Get some perspective.
I was horrified to watch the "Shock and Awe" bombing of Baghdad, knowing that civilians were dying, under my name, when there was nothing I could do about it.
Tony Blair forever lost all credibility when he went along with Shrub in this fiasco. I believe they did it for the oil, and Blair was probably promised Iraqi oilfields for British oil companies. I wonder if the promises were kept.