President Bush declared a few states as "Axis of Evil Powers". Iraq was one of them - not to name Iran, Syria, Libya and North Korea. The US President off and on accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and harbouring terrorists. US military planners predicted that Iraq will crumble like Afghanistan. At the same time UN inspectors were searching for WMD in Iraq who by then had not discovered any WMD there.
Bye-passing UN and disregarding world opinion, the US, along with its close ally UK, attacked Iraq. The Iraqi defences capitulated within weeks of the invasion. The US/UK air superiority had neutralised the Iraqi air force on Day - I. The Iraqis surrendered major portion of their land to the advancing troops without a fight. They however, put up defences in built up areas. The American objectives were:
-- To completely destroy Iraq's infra-structure by heavy aerial bombing.
-- To reconstruct Iraq with Iraqi oil wealth by giving construction contracts to American and British firms. This would siphon Iraqi petro dollars in the US kitty.
-- To make Iraq a US colony and be present in the area for a long duration.
-- The US presence in Iraq would guarantee Israel's security in the Middle East. This would help US control Arab oil resources.
-- With Iraq as a base US would be able to launch an attack on its next target Iran, which is next on the list. This would enable US to control sixty percent of world oil resources.
The other major world powers were not in favour with US plans for invasion. US military strategists propounded the theory of pre-emptive strike going in without UN approval. France, Germany, Russia and China kept away from US designs of invasion. Iraq capitulated without much resistence. In the process the coalition forces used excessive force and completely destroyed Iraqs infrastructure by carpet and precision bombing. The breakdown in power supplies, water, gas and telephone network left the local population in a state of disarray. The invading forces had no plans to restore/ repair these facilities on priority basis. This caused widespread discontentment and the people came on the streets. The aerial bombardments left many buildings shattered and there were causalities as a result of precision bombings. The destruction of hospitals and schools was contrary to the Geneva Conventions. The American forces, psychologically motivated to destroy indiscriminately, targeted every standing structure that came their way. International rules of fighting war were abandoned. When Iraq surrendered the Americans promised Iraqis freedom from the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussain, democracy and establishment of a government elected by the people, re-construction of Iraq with utmost speed and better life, education, employment and economic growth.
For full one year nothing materialised on the ground. House to house searches, frisking away of Iraqi women by the marines, indiscriminate shooting by the trigger happy Americans and the British troops, non-availability of electricity, water, gas and petrol added to the miseries of the common man. The US/UK high command had no plans for post-war operations to run the country. Saddam Hussain's entire military set-up was disbanded. Civil administration ceased to exist. The end result was a large scale confusion. Unemployment, scarcity of food, electricity and water forced the people to come on the streets. In the demonstrations many were killed including women and children. The civil administrator appointed initially was sacked. The new Administrator Paul Bremer proved no better. The civil administration had collapsed.
The Americans had failed to realise that they could utilise major portion of Saddam Hussain's elite force which was trained and operationally fit with little indoctrination. The US/UK coalition could have got valuable advice from the senior generals and civil officials to govern the state where population was turning hostile to the occupation forces. The coalition miserably failed to appreciate Iraqi culture, religious practices. A greater portion of the army and the civil servants should have been retained especially when they had no back-up force to replace them. The unwanted should have been disbanded with pension benefits. After all they would have been paid from Iraqi wealth. Instead the coalition forces used excessive force to track them down and slaughter them.
The coalition during the war in Iraq and Afghanistan coined words like militants, insurgents, terrorists. The reaction of the allied forces towards the local population was pathetic. It was based on mistrust, devoid of humane treatment and use of excessive force. For these reasons the marines are disliked by the man on the street.
The occupation forces are in a mess - a quagmire of intricate problems like kidnapping, suicidal bombings, ambushing, sneaky attacks that are taking a heavy toll of the lives of the American and British soldiers. Iraq has become the Vietnam for US, so says Senator Kennedy. It is a bleeding wound where 140 dead bodies are shipped to the US on a monthly basis. One can only visualise the state of things if the US decides to attack Iran or North Korea.
Ways out for the US and UK
-- The US must abandon its policy of establishing colonies. Mostly the Muslim states are the target as some of these have been bestowed with oil wealth such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, Libya America needs oil badly and wants control over world oil resources.
-- Fighting global terrorism by force has failed. The world must try other avenues. The root causes leading to terrorism must be identified and tackled. The word terrorism is being wrongly projected by the West and affiliated with Islam. Giving the issue a religious tinge, and garnishing it with Western perceptions has alienated the Muslims, world over. The fact is that terrorism is born as a result of oppressive Western policies against the Muslims, in particular. The magnetic attraction to follow Islam, that gives spiritual satisfaction to non-Muslims, is posing a grave threat in the West. The Palestinian and Kashmir issues have not received due attention. The US is openly and defiantly siding with Israel. Palestine and Kashmir are two hot spots that irk the Muslim Ummah.
-- The US, with the resources at its command, is setting a bad example of destroying the sovereignty of smaller and weaker states. Its ambitions to establish colonies in the present millennium looks like an odd perception. The US perhaps wants to bring back the imperial days of the British. This must be discouraged. The US has frequently adopted discriminatory tactics against the Muslim Ummah by way of sanctions.
-- Some of US allies distrust American friendship which is based primarily on the basis of convenience. When it suits US interests a country is its ally, dumped, when US objectives an achieved.