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With all of the violence that is happening in Gaza at the
moment, it is easy for many in the West to forget just how violent the wider
western world has been towards the Middle East in the last 20 years or so. This
is not an apologetic for Islam, or a call for pacificism, or anything like
that. This is simply a reminder that the western world has sown much
destruction and death in the Middle East, and this current conflict in Gaza is
simply another expression of that.
Western leaders appear to have only one way of thinking
about how to deal with problems in the Islamic world: war. And this has led to
disaster after disaster for the nations of the Middle East, the surrounding
regions which have had to deal with the influx of refugees some of whom were radicalized, and countless
social and financial problems in the invading nations themselves, which,
especially in the case of the United States, have spent many billions, indeed
trillions of dollars on war and destruction in the region.
Are you aware how many Iraqis were killed in the last Iraq
war? Some of the facts of the conflict are devastating to the West’s
image as a force for good in the world,
“Twenty years have passed
since George W Bush vowed to save the West from Saddam Hussein’s stockpile of
weapons of mass destruction.
Backed by the UK and a coalition of international forces, on 20 March, 2003, the US launched a “shock and awe” bombing campaign which President Bush triumphantly declared as “mission accomplished” just weeks later on 1 May…”[1]
Those were famously mocked words, "mission accomplished". Really those early battles were the beginnings of the violent occupation of Iraq.
What are the costs of the war?
“$1.79 trillion – The total
spent by the US on the wars in Iraq and Syria, according to estimates published
by the Costs of War project. This figure includes Pentagon and State Department
spending, veterans’ care and the interest on debt financing the conflicts.
$2.89 trillion – Total US
spending when including projected veterans’ care through to 2050.”[2]
What was the human costs of the war? They were many, but particularly to Iraqi civilians,
“Iraqi civilian deaths
209,982 – The number of
Iraqi civilians killed between 2003 and 2022, according to figures from Iraq
Body Count (IBC).* In 2006 alone, 29,526 civilians were killed, making it the
bloodiest year for the Iraqi civilian death toll.
600,000 – The medical
journal The Lancet’s estimation of the scale of Iraqi civilian deaths.
20,218 – The number of
civilians killed in 2014 due to Isis attacks as the group seized towns across
the country, resulting in US president Barack Obama announcing air strikes
against the group in Iraq.”[3]
I know that many westerners are not aware of the toll of
these Middle East wars on civilians in the Middle East. The death toll in Gaza
continues to climb, with numerous mass graves
being uncovered showing that our current death toll estimates are well
under the actual numbers. According to the UN more than 34,000 Palestinians
have been killed, though this number does not distinguish between fighters and ordinary civilians.[4] Still its an incredibly high number. This means that the rate
of civilian deaths is probably considerably higher in Gaza than the worst year for
deaths in the Iraq war, 2006, as noted above. However, when it comes to total
deaths, the war in Iraq far supersedes the death and destruction that has
happened so far in Gaza, though the war in Gaza is of course still continuing.
I share this information for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, many parts of the Western world, including here in Australia, are looking to the United States to give leadership on this issue, and restore order and sanity to the region. But the United States has, in recent history, been a major source of destabilization in the Middle East. Remember Iraq did not attack the United States, or any of its allies, and they never found those mythical weapons of mass destruction either. Therefore, this fits the category of unjust war and all those involved should be condemned for their war crimes.
How can we expect such a force for war in the region to be anything
but a continual force for more war? The weapons and support the United States
has already provided to Israel cement this reality, the US is an agent of
destruction in the region.
Secondly, many Israel apologists have been arguing online that Israel is not doing anything in Gaza that the United States has not done in the Middle East. This may be true, in some measure at least. But I suspect many people are not aware of just how many atrocities the United States is responsible for in the region. This is not a vindication of the Israeli position, but a condemnation of it.
This means, though, that the US has no leg to stand on as the force for reason in the region. Who would trust it? Wasn’t Iraq once a US ally? Look what happens when US forces change their mind.
The West has long been a purveyor of death and destruction
in the Middle East, and especially in the last 20 years. These wars have not
made the world a safer place, they have not achieved increased order in the
region, and they certainly have done Christianity no favours in the region
either. This, to me, is one of the worst effects of these wars, alongside the deaths of so many civilians. The Christian population has shrunk rapidly since Bush invaded Iraq in 2003. It is time for the West to withdraw from the region, militarily. The more the West interferes there, the more it stirs up danger in the region and effects world trade in a negative way. For what benefit to western nations? None.
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No, but it benefits the only Westerners who count (to themselves), the super-rich profiteers. I know I'm only stating the obvious.
ReplyDeleteThe world has grown tired of the bully
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