Doomed to Repeat

Blogswarm against the war - 5 years and counting

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it

As of tomorrow we are entering year 6 of a war that has no end in sight. Monday (or in this case Thursday) morning quarterbacking shows the world that George W. Bush’s 5-year invasion of Iraq was set in motion without even a cursory look back at the 5 thousand year history of the region. Any person can easily open a junior high school textbook and see the long-term history of Iraq is teeming with ethnic conflict, religious hatred, deep-rooted enmity, and endless occupations. And it doesn’t take a whole lot of in-depth investigation to learn that the short-term history of Iraq since World War I is even more revealing. An eighth grade student could tell you that the roots of modern day Iraq all but assured that this incursion would be foolhardy and doomed from the beginning. While overwhelming military might and the dramatic pictures of a statue being torn down make for a great backdrop in declaring “Mission Accomplished,” we have quickly (and tragically) learned that perception is not reality when it comes to anything the Bush Administration claims. Five years, 4,000 American deaths and a trillion dollars later, it is quite obvious that the invasion of Iraq was blunder of epic proportions that should have and could have been avoided.

If only the immature sentiments, obsessive arrogance and reactive emotions from a juvenile George W. Bush, an enabling Congress, a complacent press and a fear-laden American populace were replaced with some simple rational thought and basic history lessons, the Earth of 2008 would be a very different (and better and more peaceful) planet.

A quick look at Pre-1918 Iraq

As every junior high school student is taught Mesopotamia (which is Greek for “between the rivers” – the Tigris and Euphrates) was home to the first know civilization – the Sumerians. The Sumerians were the first society to develop written language and discovered some of the basic principles of science and math. The Sumerians also established laws to govern their population. Mesopotamia is known as the “Cradle of Civilization.”

The Sumerian culture rose around 5300 BC and lasted almost 2700 years. From that point onward, the fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers became a focal point for invasion after invasion. Some of the groups and tribes that established working societies in Mesopotamia are the Akkadians (who expanded the borders to current-day Lebanon). Then the Babylonians (no they were not from Babylon, Long Island) battled their way into the region. One of the more famous Babylonian rulers of Mesopotamia was King Hammurabi. Hammurabi was one of the first monarchs to establish a code of law – known as (drum roll) Hammurabi’s code. (He had a big ego).Of course the Babylonians didn’t hang around all that long – the next group to invade were the Assyrians. Then the Chaldeans. Even the victors never found a lasting peace, as all these groups continued warring with each other and the local tribes (are we detecting a pattern?). In 586 BC Nebuchadnezzar II ruled over Babylon. Nebuchy the Deuce was quite the conqueror – he took Judea (Israel) and destroyed Solomon’s Temple (the first Temple) in Jerusalem. Nebuchy the Deuce also built the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Over the next centuries invaders dropped in like cockroaches. Remember none of the invading hordes had smart bombs or aircraft carriers. The Persians (modern day Iran) ruled for a long time and became a huge cultural influence. In 331 BC the Greeks (or Macedonians) under Brad Pitt Alexander the Great took control for two centuries. Then the Parthians had their turn, followed by the Sassanid Persians for nine hundred years until the 7th century AD – when the Arabs Muslims gained a foothold.

The first wars between the Arabs Muslims and Persians were in 634 AD. After initial defeats, the Arabs found military victory under Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas took control of the Persian-controlled province of Khvarvārān in 638 AD. This opened the floodgates for Muslims from all over the region to pour into Mesopotamia, centering in Babylon and Basra. The Khvarvārān province was incorporated into the Muslim Caliphate and became to be known as Iraq. (Iraq is derived from Ērāk "lower Iran"). Iraq was not a political entity, but a geographic region with undefined boundaries.

Under Arab rule, the city of Baghdad is built in the 8th century as the capital of the caliphate and becomes the center of Muslim learning and culture for hundreds of years. Its population peaks at 1,000,000. Of course the outside world continued to desire a piece of Mesopotamia – thereby instigating centuries of more invasions and more wars. Despite the lack of peace, the Muslim and Arab culture became entrenched. In 1257, the Mongols from Asia invaded the Caliphate and destroyed Baghdad. Of course that didn’t end the violence, as more and more groups and tribes invade, conquer, vanquish and ultimately leave. By the 1500’s, endless war and violence had become SOP in Mesopotamia. (Again are we seeing some sort of pattern emerge?) In 1533 the Ottoman Empire (headquartered in Turkey) took the reigns. They rebuilt Baghdad and used it as the seat of government. Even the Ottomans couldn’t stop the outside world as the Persians, the Georgians and other tribal groups tried to take Iraq during Ottoman rule, to little or no avail. In 1831, the Ottomans tightened their grip and ruled Mesopotamia with an iron fist and ruled until 1918.

Modern Day Iraq

The Ottoman Empire had the unfortunate luck of siding with Germany in World War I. Britain invaded Iraq and captured Baghdad in 1917. The Ottomans were tossed out on their asses. The League of Nations (the predecessor to the U.N., which the US never joined) mandated in 1920 that the “State of Iraq” would be formed under British control (France was given Lebanon and Syria). The political entity of Iraq was born.

The British immediately discovered they were not welcome in the region. A refugee crisis developed when the Assyrians from Turkey began to pour over the border. The British were not able to get control of Kurdistan region of Iraq. And for the first time ever, the Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims joined forces to form an insurgency against the British. In 1920 a revolt began which only ended when the Royal Air Force began bombing Sunni and Shi’ite targets. During this revolt the British even used white phosophorus bombs against the Kurds. (Do you think this gave someone an idea?) The British (in their infinite wisdom) then imposed the Hashemite monarchy on Iraq in 1921 and drew up territorial borders without taking into account any of the religious, ethnic and cultural differences of all the groups that lived in Mesopotamia. In other words the British version of Iraq was really a Mess-o-pot-amia. The Hashemite King Faisal, who traced his roots to Mohammed was ‘elected’ king with 96% of the vote in a plebiscite in 1921. Recognizing that his monarchy depended on British support Faisal maintained a moderate approach in dealing with Britain. A twenty-year treaty was ratified in October 1922, stating that the king would heed British advice on all matters affecting British interests and on fiscal policy as long as Iraq owed Britain money. British officials would be appointed to specified posts in eighteen departments to act as advisers and inspectors. A subsequent financial agreement, which significantly increased the financial burden on Iraq, required Iraq to pay half the cost of supporting British resident officials, among other expenses. In essence, this treaty ensured that Iraq would remain politically and economically dependent on Britain. As a final blow, the military was reorganized in 1922 and put under control of the minority Sunnis.

The British obviously favored the Sunnis. Because Iraq's newly established political institutions were the creation of the British with zero consideration of religious factions, and because the concept of democratic government had no precedent in Iraqi history, the government of the newly independent Iraq lacked legitimacy and never developed deeply rooted constituencies. Thus, despite a constitution and an elected assembly, Iraqi politics was more a shifting alliance of important personalities and cliques (again are we detecting some patterns?).

In 1927 large petroleum fields were discovered in Iraq and the British via their majority interest in the IPC (Iraq Petroleum Company) took control of the oil. The British demand and win certain rights and percentages of the oil that is pumped in Iraq. The United Kingdom grants full independence to Iraq in 1932. Britain is giving the use of airbases in Basra and the right to move troops into the country (again, is history repeating itself?). Faisal dies in 1933 and is succeeded by his son Ghazi. Ghazi claims sovereignty over Kuwait (which was under British control) but before he can do anything, he dies in 1939. His son, Faisal II, who was 4 years old at the time, succeeds him. During WWII, Britain invades Iraq in 1941 to protect the oil lines since the Iraqi government had leanings towards the Nazis. In 1945 the Kurds rebel and are quashed. The Brits leave in 1947 and the monarchy is restored. Iraq joins its Arab neighbors and fights a war against Israel in 1948, and then never signs the 1949 cease-fire. Palestinian refugees from the war flood Iraq, while at the same time over 80,000 Jews flee Iraq.

In 1958 the military overthrows the monarchy and executes Faisal II. A republic is declared. In 1961 Kuwait is granted independence from Britain and Iraq sends troops to the border. In 1963 Iraq backs off and recognizes Kuwait. In 1968, the Ba’ath Party took control. Saddam Hussein is Secretary-General of the Party.

The seeds of disaster have been set. And not one fucking neocon bothered to check the garden