On Iraq anniversary, the end isn’t all that near
Seven years ago, America invaded Iraq. We know how that went, so I’ll spare you an anniversary post. Just want to point out one tiny thing. For the U.S., the Iraq war is actually ending. Americans are no longer dying there in large numbers, and it looks like most will be coming home by the end of the summer.
Not so for Iraq. For Iraqis. the war is not ending, nor will it end anytime soon. The country seems like it’s poised to face years more of violence and conflict, albeit not on the same scale as it experienced during the worst periods of the war. As a reminder, the nasty individuals who make up the Sunni insurgent/terrorist group, Islamic State of Iraq, sent out a message today.
From Reuters:
An al Qaeda-linked militant group that claimed responsibility for recent bombings in Baghdad has declared a new military campaign against Iraqi political parties, according to a group that monitors insurgents’ communications…”With grace and success from Allah, a coordinated military campaign was started in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, to break the idol of democracy and its resulting polytheist elections,” the ISI message said, according to a translation from SITE.
The sad thing is that the vast majority of Iraqis want peace. The trouble is, it doesn’t take too many insurgents to ensure that peace remains a distant, and unlikely, possibility.
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“Each war, it is said, produces its own literary classics. All Quiet on the Western Front for WWI, Catch-22 for WWII, Dispatches for the Vietnam War. So where is the masterpiece from the current Iraq War? The outstanding book by Michael Hastings…is certainly a candidate.”
[...] On Iraq anniversary, the end isn’t all that near – Michael Hastings – The Hastings… [...]
Michael,
It’s a shame that so few can effect so many. My heart goes out to the families who only want to live in peace. The children who have been born in the past 8 long years and know only war and uncertainty.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to have children in harms way everyday, no made what you do. It is just heart breaking.
I would be interested to know how may Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of the liberation and subsequent occupation by Coalition (US) forces. It would also be interesting to know how many Iraqis were killed By Saddam and his regime prior to his ouster. A dead family member, friend, neighbor, colleague is still dead regardless of who the perpetrator happened to be. I understand that Iraqis do not refer to the last 7 years as The Liberation, rather as The Collapse.