Twenty years after the invasion of Iraq, the United States still has not shut down the "war machine"!

On March 3, 20, then-US President George W. Bush officially declared war on Iraq, and a week after the war began, then US Major General David Petraeus threw a question to an American reporter: "Tell me how this will end." ”

Twenty years later, the answer to that question still seems to be unrevealed. Because the United States has neither reflected on its hegemonic behavior nor shut down the "war machine" ...

"The Lie of War That Cannot Be Erased"

According to the BBC, in the early morning of March 2003, 3, 20,29 United States and allied soldiers crossed the Iraq-Kuwait border to invade Iraq, launching the so-called "Iraq Freedom" operation under the banner of destroying Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction".

On February 2003, 2, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held up a test tube in the United Nations Security Council as evidence alleging the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Less than a month later, U.S. forces invaded Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. In the same year, Saddam's regime was overthrown, and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by the US military.

To date, however, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.

Peter Hain, a former British official, said the invasion was based on flawed intelligence and that "we went to war amid lies."

Dr. Carlin von Hipper, chancellor of the Royal United Services Institute of Defence, believes that the United States has lost a lot of credibility in this war: "Twenty years later, you still hear people saying: Why should we trust American intelligence? ”

According to the "Cost of War" project at Brown University, an estimated 2003,2019 Iraqis died from 30 to 8000, and more than 1,8 U.S. military personnel died, and the United States has spent nearly $<>.<> trillion in this war.

Data map: 2013-year-old Hussein stands in Fieldus Square in Baghdad, Iraq, March 3, 14, holding a photo taken at the same location on April 3, 2003, of the US military toppling the statue of Saddam.

"War scars that cannot heal"

"I lost four children because of what happened after 2003, and it's still a scar in my heart that won't heal." Haji Mohammed Kasalli, 89, told Al Jazeera that his children and grandchildren were killed in a car bomb attack in 2007.

The United States launched the war in Iraq, causing a terrible humanitarian disaster in Iraq.

During the war, the U.S. military used large numbers of depleted uranium munitions, banned by international law, which caused a surge in the number of people suffering from birth defects, cancer and other diseases in much of Iraq.

Photos of the US military abusing Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison have pushed the anger of the local people to a new peak.

According to statistics from the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in the United States, in the past 20 years, 18,5 to 20,8 Iraqi civilians have been killed by the war, and countless Iraqi families and people have been affected by the war.

At the same time, Iraq's original political ecology has been destroyed, contradictions between various parties and sects have intensified, and Iraq has gradually entered chaos.

Data map: On December 2011, 12, local time, the last group of US troops stationed in Iraq withdrew from Iraq and returned to the United States.

BBC analysis shows that after the fall of Saddam's regime, there was a power vacuum in Iraq, and violence swept everywhere. After the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, the anti-terrorist mess left by the US military gave birth to the rise of the extremist group "Islamic State", forming a new active zone of terrorist organizations between Iraq and Syria. In 2014, the Islamic State seized large swathes of western and northern Iraq, and the United States once again increased its troops in Iraq.

Twenty years later, the war in Iraq is still raging, and people are still angry.

Montadar Zeedi, an Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at George W. Bush in 2008, still said in an interview after 15 years that he did not regret his "shoe throwing" behavior.

Mr. Zeidy said it was George W. Bush who made the mistake and "changed the whole region, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria." ”

"A war machine that cannot be shut down"

Although the latest Ipsos poll shows that on the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, 61 percent of Americans believe the U.S. launched the Iraq War was wrong. Most believe this makes the United States less secure. But it seems difficult for the U.S. government to "reflect" on its mistakes.

Former FBI agent Raleigh wrote an open letter to the then FBI director in March 2003 warning that the invasion of Iraq would lead to a "rampant terrorism," but 3 years later, no one is responsible for the fatal mistakes of the U.S. government. The Guardian said George W. Bush and then-Vice President Dick Cheney were not held accountable by any form of commission or tribunal.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, American anti-war activists gathered in Lafayette Square near the White House to urge the U.S. government to reflect on the Iraq War. The rally held anti-war slogans such as "Say No to the Endless War of the United States" and "Stop the War Appropriations", calling on the United States to shut down the "war machine."

On March 3, local time, hundreds of people held an anti-war rally in Lafayette Square near the White House, and some carried "coffins" covered with the flags of Ukraine, Iraq, Syria and other countries Image source: Russian "Izvestia" video screenshot

There are even people carrying "coffins" covered with the flags of Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and other countries to refer to the "victims" of US foreign policy.

Lombardo, coordinator of the National Anti-War League (UNAC), told RIA Novosti that the United States had not learned from the invasion of Iraq, but had changed its tactics and relied more on sanctions and proxy wars, "The United States has not changed, it has doubled its aggressiveness." ”

Foreign Affairs magazine referred to the "Iraq syndrome," in which Americans fear casualties and only support military action if the loss of American lives is minimal. Therefore, U.S. policymakers who wish to use force must "fight as bloodlessly as possible."

Infographic: U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin.

During a March 2023 visit to Iraq, U.S. Defense Secretary Austin said the last U.S. commander in Iraq before withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq was prepared to "remain in Iraq" and vowed to "provide advice and assistance in non-combat operations in support of the Iraqi-led fight against terrorism."

The Jerusalem Post believes that the United States seems to remain "at the invitation of the Iraqi government", but in fact it is sending a reminder that the United States will continue to play a role in Iraq.

Reuters said Austin's trip sought to curb Iran's influence in the region, while Iraq feared becoming a "playground for conflict between the United States and Iran." (End)