The Osterley Times: Iraq three years on: Don't look away

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Iraq three years on: Don't look away

I have long argued that Iraq will not survive our intervention. The whole notion of Iraq was a British construct; crudely drawn lines on a map that took no interest in loyalties or ethnicticity, and that the only way the whole thing was held together was through the iron fisted policies of people like Saddam.

Indeed, even the much heralded Iraqi constitution seems, to me, to be a recipe for the future disintegration of the nation; allowing the Kurds and Shias to develop any future oil discoveries on their own and cutting the Sunnis out of the equation.

The ramifications of our invasion in this country will be felt for years to come and, I honestly believe, will be remembered as our worst ever foreign policy intervention. Worse, even, than Suez.

Patrick Cockburn has an interesting peice in today's Independent:

A cruel and bloody civil war has started in Iraq, a country which Bush and Blair promised to free from fear and establish democracy. I have been visiting Iraq since 1978, but for the first time, I am becoming convinced that the country will not survive.
Three years ago, when the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled, Iraqis were promised their lives would get better. Instead, Iraq has become the most dangerous place in the world.