"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
What were you doing 2 years ago today? For most of us it was just another day in the coalmines. Dealing with sick kids. Paying bills. Avoiding that deadline or maybe enjoying a well earned break on your annual leave.
Indeed for many Australians the 17th March 2003 was just another day. Of course quite a few had picked up the morning newspaper or switched on the morning news and read or heard about the troop build up on the borders of Iraq.
We had been told that Iraq was part of a troika of evil. That Saddam Hussain was not only a madman but was also on the verge of climbing the back fence, molesting our women folk and stealing our VCRs.
Saddam was so bad that he had developed "weapons of mass destruction" that were poised, ready to be fired within 45 minutes at targets as far away as Goondiwindi or Colac. These missiles would deliver biological contaminants such as anthrax, botulinum and other nasties.
We were told there would be no escape. Saddam and his henchmen were ready to take over the world and kill, rape and pillage in ways not seen since … well not seen in human history. It was imperative that we, as part of the coalition of the willing, go in and drive him from the face of the earth.
The news headlines screamed at us that unless we surrendered all our critical faculties and believed our elected leaders a calamity would befall us and the outcomes would be on our and our children’s heads. There was no escape. Either we were with them or against them. To dissent was to demonstrate your traitorous heart.
And so it went on. In the US two thirds of those surveyed believed that Saddam had been, if not entirely responsible then to somewhat responsible, for the September 2001 World Trade centre calamity. A similar number, when surveyed in May 2003, believed that going to war with Iraq had been the right thing to do.
So, I suggest that on the 17th March 2003 the vast majority of Australians were eating their wheaties and thinking that the world was being made more safe and that one leg of that three legged stool of evil would soon be removed. Content to allow our political leaders kiss some US arse (to use Latham’s term) we, as a community, allowed the war to begin.
Two years on, what has the war achieved?
Well, its been very successful if you take one measure. In order to do that you must put aside the almost 1200 dead US military personnel and the almost 20,000 wounded US military personnel. If we discount that about 10% of the deaths and injuries to US troops were caused by ‘friendly fire’ incidents we can keep up our faith that the invasion was a success.
The war against Iraq has been a success if we ignore the deaths of over 30 foreign press, almost 200 civilian contractors and over 200 military deaths from non US coalition forces. If we discount the more than 1,000 wounded military personnel from non US coalition forces and the other 20,000 or so soldiers who have fallen ill with non combat related illnesses then I guess we can claim the war has been a success.
Its also possible to claim the war has been a success if we ignore the deaths of 30,000 Iraqi troops who attempted to defend their homeland from the invading forces. If we ignore the estimated ("We don’t do body counts" – Gen Tommy Franks, US Central Command) deaths of 50,000 civilian Iraqis then I guess its possible to claim the invasion was a success.
If we take into consideration that the coalition military is mainly made up of young men under the age of 30 and that 65% of the Iraqi population is under the age of 18, and then discount the fact that the vast number of deaths have occurred within these groups, then, yes, it is possible to claim the invasion was a success.
We can also claim that the war was a success if we discount the estimated ("We don’t do body counts" – Gen Tommy Franks, US Central Command) 100,000 Iraqis who have died because of illness, lack of proper sanitation, malnutrition or other non combat related diseases or injuries caused in the aftermath of the invasion and war. Many of which were easily preventable but untreatable due to the destruction of basic medical infrastructure by the invading forces.
If we toss out the fact that the number of weapons of mass destruction found equals zero and the nuclear weapons programs found also equals zero and the biological weapons programs found was nought and the air strike force planes were, in the main, buried under the sand, then yes, the war and invasion was a success.
If we ignore the fact that we were fed lies, lies and more lies and in the main, chose to accept them without once checking the facts prior to and during the invasion, then yes, the war was a success.
Two years ago most of us were swallowing whole the fabrications fed to the media who were more than willing to regurgitate and embellish the outrageous claims emanating from our houses of parliament.
If we ignore our collective complicity in the acceptance of the lies fed to us then, yes the war on an impoverished and imperilled nation that began two years ago has been a great success. Of course the only measure that accepts this proposition is the one that points out, "well, we got Saddam didn’t we?"
Two years ago there were those whose hearts were heavy, whose eyes were not dry as they contemplated what was going to occur. Two years ago thousands turned out to say no to the invasion. But where are they now? Why have we turned away from the fire in our bellies that made us march through the streets? The fire that compelled us to make a public statement; to risk being seen on the evening news supporting the anti-war coalition; to take part in something that for many was not their usual way of resisting.
The war has been won by many measures. It would seem that our collective hearts and minds have been taken prisoner by the keepers of the memory hole. Down into that fiery abyss they have thrust our ability to reason, to show compassion and solidarity. Why? Why is that so? I can’t answer that question. I don’t think anyone can.
So, what were you doing two years ago? Perhaps a more relevant question is, "what are you doing today?" Then again the most important question is, "what are doing about tomorrow?"
After all, if we believe the lies of two years ago, the actions of our governments have insured us against calamities that would otherwise have befallen us if a war had not been committed in our name.
Let’s not waste the opportunity they have given us to take back what is rightfully ours and, perhaps, allow what is rightfully the Iraqis to be restored to them.