Middle East: getting involved may inflame the crisis: Megan Stack and The Lieutenant
(When using external quotes and examples be sure to include the correct names and references.)
“The governments of the US, Britain and Australia are hypocritical, selectively blind”, Dr Thafer, a dentist turned fighter in the service of Iraq’s Hezbollah Brigades said. “They created IS to serve as a bogeyman to scare the countries of this region.” Many in the brigade believe that IS is winning and the Iraq army failing because it is an American godless entity.
Many political commentators also criticise the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq from a similar perspective of Graham Greene’s and Megan Stack’s – that the wars were poorly planned by foreign powers who, in this case, did not sufficiently account for sectarian differences. Specifically, Abudullah Muhsin, the London based representative of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions states “but this is not a failure of democracy per se. It is a failure of the way it was organised and the arrogance of the decision-makers who thought they could impose their will on the world.”
Many political and social commentators (like Megan Stack) believe that Western allies display hypocritical attitudes and behaviour towards countries in the Middle East. Many believe that the West only seeks to further their own interests and selectively chooses its partners and its objectives.
Currently, the world is aghast at the beheadings and atrocities waged by IS in swathes of Iraq and Syria. Whilst the western allies rally together to bomb ISIS, they are once again supporting groups with sceptical credentials. The Iraqi government has alliances with groups that are waging their own militia-style campaigns against the Sunnis in Iraq which are just as atrocious as IS. Amnesty International released a document, “Absolute Impunity: Militia Rule in Iraq” which chronicles murders and abductions and human rights abuses by groups such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous) . They, too, run their own brutal regime of extra-judicial revenge killings, rounding up Sunnis and haling them away for mass executions. As one doctor said, “Sunnis are the minority in Baghdad, but they’re the majority in our morgue”.
For this reason, political commentators believe that the “coalition of the willing” should not have gone to war against Iraq in 2003. They question George Bush’s motives, and his revenge agenda, owing to his father’s failed previous campaign, and question their intentions. They suggest that oil is a main priority. There are valid criticisms that we have been quick to stage a humanitarian defence of the Yezudis in Iraq but our response to Ebola in West Africa has been short-sighted.
Double dealing and hypocrisy: According to Ramzy Baroud the Managing Editor of Middle East Eye, the threat of a new civil war in Iraq led by ISIL (Sunni Muslims with links to al-Qaeda) is a US creation. ”When Bush led his war on Iraq in order to fight al-Qaeda, the group simply didn’t exist in that country; the war however, brought al-Qaeda to Iraq. A mix of hubris and ignorance of the facts – and lack of understanding of Iraq’s history – allowed the Bush administration to sustain that horrible war.” Even more shocking, Mr Baroud believes “ISIL was born in the dungeon of a US prison in Iraq.”
Many soldiers soon become disillusioned with the fact that the western allies appear to have double standards. Many become aware that fighting “terror” is a selective agenda. They realise that this involves a great deal of suffering on behalf of the victims.
Using Shakespearean terms, The Age reporter, Mark Kenny writes, “if history is written by the winners, then the story of recent US-led adventures in the M E certainly qualifies as a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing”.
They left Iraq in 2003 to a corrupt sectarian government – a failing disintegrated state with moral authority in short supply (cf Atwar Bahjat). In 2009: “We’re trying to bed down democracy in Afghanistan, the then Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said. He soon scaled down dreams realising that creating a western style liberal democracy in Afghanistan was a pipe-dream. “The idea of having a western style democracy in Afghanistan is pretty ambitious”
Many soldiers, like Chelsea Bradley Manning, become alarmed at the indiscriminate violence waged by the allies. Manning exposed the Apache helicopter tragedy which claimed the lives of 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007 including two journalists. (cf Place de Garnier) Likewise, in 2009, Australian special forces mistakenly killed five children among several civilians in a firefight with insurgents in Oruzgan province that went wrong.
Whether we do or don’t get involved, we should all remember the famous poem by Martin Niemoller, the prominent Protestant pastor, who emerged as an outspoken public enemy of Adolf Hitler.
First they came for the (Communists) Socialists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Socialist. …. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.
It is important to face conflict from a compassionate perspective: Tim Costello, the chief executive of World Vision of Australia, discusses the ability of Rwandan citizens to forgive and heal the terrible scars caused by the genocide in 1994. The survivors and perpetrators held 100 days of national mourning to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the killings. Costello writes: “But I believe that the extraordinary progress Rwanda has made is equally due to the extraordinary decision that Rwandans have made to forgive each other and themselves. You don’t have to have been in the country very long before you realise that this is the choice that virtually every Rwandan has made – whether they are survivors, perpetrators or their descendants. Gaspard was only 19 when he lost his parents and 10 siblings in the genocide. He chose to forgive his Hutu school friend who had savagely killed some of his siblings. He remembers, but there is no trace of bitterness and he has embraced his family’s attackers. Gaspard, says Costello, like most Rwandans, has taken to heart Desmond Tutu’s admonition: ‘‘There is no future without forgiveness”.”
Jerusalem-based psychiatrist Samah Jabr reminds us that accidental misfortunes and natural disasters are tragic, but they are impersonal; the horrors of war are deeply personal. She states, an earthquake does not “triumph”, but in war one party aims to triumph over and humiliate the other. The “feelings evoked, the sense of helplessness and impotent rage, are more painful”.
People’s reactions in times of conflict: Ms Jabr points out: “Faced with the immediate atrocity of war, people commonly experience a state of hyper-arousal in which they feel capable of fighting against or fleeing from danger; but they can also feel frozen in a state of helplessness. In years to come, they may be haunted by memories, nightmares and flashbacks of traumatic events.”
Consequences of and coping with conflict: Jabr believes that recent war in the Gaza Strip between 7 July and 25 August 2014, which caused 2,133 deaths (including 577 children) and over 11,000 injuries, will have a profound effect on the mental health of the population.
For example: Miriam lost her little sister years ago, when soldiers shot at the family’s car on the way to school. Even now, every time Miriam encounters a soldier, she relieves the shooting and the bitter taste of loss. She is stuck with that traumatic memory and it is taking over her life.
A nice story to finish
In 2005, as a 15 year old girl, Laxmi Nagar was vivacious and attractive. She was pursued by the 32-year old friend of her brother. After she refused an invitation of marriage, rejected, and full of hatred, he followed her one day through the streets, tapped her on the shoulder, and threw acid on her face and neck. After several operations later, Laxmi, has spent her life campaigning for women’s rights and supporting other acid victims who are seeking awareness for their plight.
Although Laxmi, will forever be burdened by pain, skin infections and self-doubts, she at least won a small victory against her attacker, who will never face charges. Rejected men are able to buy acid from the grocery store for 30 rupees. Laxmi filed a public interest petition in India’s highest court to demand that the government restrict the sale of acid. She won a landmark judgement in 2013. Now, acid is only sold if one has a special permit. She has become the face of the Stop Acid Attacks campaign which seeks to give financial and moral support to victims around the world.
Laxmi’s courage is clear. Overcoming physical and psychological scars Laxmi was determined to draw attention to the plight of victims who suffer because of men’s arrogance and their vulnerable egos. As her partner says, “I fell in love with her because of her bravery. I love people like her who are so alive and want to change the world and not just live their own life. She fought for justice despite her own ordeal.
See other stories of soldiers from our war effort.
Return to Conflict: Summary Page