On the fifth anniversary of a dark stain
Five years ago, the majority of the American public believed Bush's portfolio of lies used to justify the invasion of Iraq. Five years and 4,000 dead American soldiers later, the lies remain unpunished and the occupation continues to be a disaster.
Hans Blix, the head of UN weapons inspections in Iraq at the time, had this to say on those lies:
By [March 2003], [UN weapons] inspectors had carried out some 700 inspections at 500 sites without finding prohibited weapons. The contract that George Bush held up before Congress to show that Iraq was purchasing uranium oxide was proved to be a forgery. The allied powers were on thin ice, but they preferred to replace question marks with exclamation marks.
They could not succeed in eliminating WMDs because they did not exist. Nor could they succeed in the declared aim to eliminate al-Qaida operators, because they were not in Iraq. They came later, attracted by the occupants. A third declared aim was to bring democracy to Iraq, hopefully becoming an example for the region. Let us hope for the future; but five years of occupation has clearly brought more anarchy than democracy.
Even if Bush's lies can be forgiven by some, the legacy of this catastrophic endeavor will resonate for many years to come. Blix puts it this way:
True, the 2003 Iraq invasion is not the only case in which armed force has been used in disregard of the [UN] charter. However, from the most powerful member of the UN it is a dangerous signal. If preventive war is accepted for one, it is accepted for all.
That is the point supporters of the Iraq invasion refuse to see; the disastrous philosophy of the neo-cons has made the world substantially more dangerous than it was before March 2003. We will have George W. Bush to thank for establishing the precedent of unprovoked war, where ever it may happen.