America’s ruinous more-than-a-decade war and invasion of Iraq led to civilian deaths of upwards of half a million people (about the size of the entire population of Washington DC), though conservative, documented figures would put the civilian death toll to anywhere between 182,000 to 206, 000. American troops died in their thousands too (including contractors), as well as Iraqi soldiers and paramilitary troops. All for what? To massage and boost President George Bush Jr’s injured ego and to promote America’s hegemonic geo-political and economic agenda (control of Iraqi oil).
Do remember too, that the war against Iraq was launched under absolutely fabulously false pretenses and fabricated intelligence reports. Parts of the offspring of the war are the so-called Islamic State terrorist group and the war in Syria.
While the previous Barak Obama administration endeavoured to downscale and end the Iraqi war, it made irreparable mistakes in leaving a vacuum that was quickly filled by extremists which became a thorn in the flesh of the administration.
In order to further reduce tension and moderate stability in the Middle East, the Obama administration with other world powers which included the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Germany, France and the European Union got Iran to the table to sign an agreement or treaty (called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) to forgo nuclear enrichment while allowing UN observers and monitors to have unbridled access to ensure that Iran was fulfilling their own part of the deal. In return, some age-long sanctions against Iran were lifted.
Only a few years before the breakthrough treaty was signed, America-Iran relations were rocky and completely strained such that businessman Donald Trump (as at that time) accused President Obama of ineptitude in negotiating a deal with Iran and that Obama wanted to start a war with Iran so as to increase his chances of re-election. That was in 2011.
Let’s fast-forward to Trump’s presidency now. The moment Trump became president, he tore the Iran nuclear deal or treaty to pieces under the guise that it was a stupid deal, and that he, the Deal Maker, would create a better deal. (Three years into his presidency, he hasn’t created any.) He threatened Iran, insulted the country’s leaders, and refused to listen to the other global partners that enacted the 2015 nuclear deal, that is, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the EU, China and Russia. Trump believes he has a monopoly of wisdom. He doesn’t believe that in a multitude of counselors, there’s wisdom. But the point is, all along, he had his game plan rapped up under the sheets till his own re-election year.
And now, again, what he projected on and accused Obama of (wanting to start a war with Iran in order to whip up sentiments to help his re-election, but which Obama never did) is exactly what he’s trying to do.
When in December 2019 the House of Representatives impeached him on serious charges of crimes, he knew he must fight for his political survival in 2020, being an election year. Hence, the same intelligence agencies that he has impugned, insulted and derided, claiming that they couldn’t be trusted and that they were inefficient in the discharge of their duties, suddenly became credible in their intelligence reportage, which he claimed to be the basis of terminating Quasem Soleimani, the Iran Revolutionary Guards top general accused of planning attacks on Americans. And by the way, in any war scenario, someone is always planning to eliminate or attack the other, and if you don’t want to be eliminated or attacked, then don’t go to war.
Leave the war zone.
Here is it: General Quasem Soleimani was a casualty of a much bigger game, a game bigger than him and his antics, and a game bigger than Iran itself. Sympathies for him would have skyrocketed to the heavens across board globally but for his tainted history of years of direct and indirect involvement in funnelling funds to terrorist groups and instigating and supporting proxy wars of Shia supremacy and terrorist attacks in the Middle East and elsewhere.
But did the Bush and Obama administrations know of the activities of General Soleimani? Of course, they knew. The point is, world powers take steps to eliminate people to score political points and balance their policy agenda, at any point in time. Trump has already known of the Iranian army general’s activities since he came to power through intelligence briefings. But he kept mute. By eliminating Soleimani now, Trump’s gamble was to score a political point — or a political goal, as in the game of soccer — and thereby try to overshadow the cloud of impeachment hovering over him.
That, he has successfully done, at least, temporarily. Even though, he might not realise what the implications of his blind march to war would do to an American economy that is already having the highest levels of budget deficits and cracks in recent decades under his watch. But you know, ego and inordinate ambition both have a way of blinding one from seeing common sense.
Iran, rattled and shaken, has now announced withdrawal entirely from the celebrated 2015 nuclear deal and launched attacks on US military bases in Iraq in retaliation, even if it’s only for symbolic purposes. The military bases are said to have been mostly deserted and it’s controversial if there are casualties — Iran claims there are and America claims there aren’t. My advice to Iran is to not escalate the drums of war so as not to play into Trump’s ultimate notorious and inordinate game plan.
And the only way to stop Mr Trump from sinking the American ship into another war of attrition and wastage borne out of ego (and who knows, maybe falsified intelligence reports!) is for Congress to curtail his war powers.
With Republican control of the Senate, Trump has so much going for him, might even win a re-election if he plays his cards right (with the rancour and disorganisation among Democrats right now), and he should concentrate on fixing his country’s economy by reducing its gargantuan budget deficits, instead of trying to behave like the tough guy by starting a war that will waste hundreds of thousands of human lives — unnecessarily — and that will make America inevitably waste hundreds of billions of dollars of war spending, again.
The American people deserve better than another useless and vain war.
#SayNoToWar
#RememberRecentHistory
#LetThereBeNoMoreEscalation
#WarIsNotPretty
