Preamble.
1. Saddam Hussein had ruled the whole of Iraq with an iron hand. A military dictator, brought up by the USA, finally had gotten too big for his boots, brutally crushed any opposition and had marched his forces into Kuwait, thumbing his nose at his very own masters who'd aided him! He'd to go and the invasion of the country was but a natural progression for his slighted masters and the combined western forces with their superior armoury accomplished the 'regime change' that they'd wanted.
2. But the dichotomy had just begun. The allied forces have not been able to find a suitable successor to take over the reins of government as none of the available ones, including the present dispensation, neither has the wherewithal nor the leadership qualities to get every section of the Iraqi society together. And sadly, they've their jurisdiction only within the city of Baghdad without control over even the outlying areas of the city. Consequently, the various factions of the society are vying with one another to usurp control of the country. In other words, Iraq is never gonna be the single entity that we're familiar with up till now and one has to be optimistic in abundant measure that it would be achievable in the long run!
Where the Strategy of Intervention always fails.
3. The strategy of intervention, as history is replete with incidents, has never been successful and the factors are many. Let me try to put down a few:-
(a) The external forces enter the fray with great hopes and succeed in their immediate tactical objective.
They take on governing their new 'fiefdom' with the initial enthusiasm and try to introduce many of
the practices of their country in the annexed territory. This is the hunky dory stage!
(b) And much to their surprise, they find that the people aren't enthusiastic about their ideas. It's this
aspect that deflates their patience over a period of time and begin to realise that 'whatever they
did was not going to be taken by the locals because they're old fashioned and do not know(?)
what's good for them. What they forget is that it's their ignorance of the local culture and aspirations
that have brought them to the point of impasse. This is the disillusionment stage!
(c) They've reached the stage when they want to hand over the responsibility to someone who catches
their fancy and conveniently get back to their homeland, forthwith. The people to whom they hand
over power are never accepted by the locals as they've labelled them as the foreigners' stooges
and are on a losing wicket from day one and the interventionists don't care. The ultimate, escapist
stage!
The Aftermath.
4. The newly propped up leadership sink without any trace by the weight of their own contradictions. The vacuum of power is cherished by many and in the ensuing melee between the groups, a civil war breaks out with violence careening out of control. Iraq is in this stage today and how the people redeem themselves from this unholy mess, not of their choice or creation, is what the world is watching with bated breath! Many more innocent lives are gonna perish in the bargain. God, save Iraq! Please!!
Tailpiece.
I won't be surprised if the elements of Saddam Hussein's band of thugs muscle their way to power yet again. And that would be the ultimate paradox!
1. Saddam Hussein had ruled the whole of Iraq with an iron hand. A military dictator, brought up by the USA, finally had gotten too big for his boots, brutally crushed any opposition and had marched his forces into Kuwait, thumbing his nose at his very own masters who'd aided him! He'd to go and the invasion of the country was but a natural progression for his slighted masters and the combined western forces with their superior armoury accomplished the 'regime change' that they'd wanted.
2. But the dichotomy had just begun. The allied forces have not been able to find a suitable successor to take over the reins of government as none of the available ones, including the present dispensation, neither has the wherewithal nor the leadership qualities to get every section of the Iraqi society together. And sadly, they've their jurisdiction only within the city of Baghdad without control over even the outlying areas of the city. Consequently, the various factions of the society are vying with one another to usurp control of the country. In other words, Iraq is never gonna be the single entity that we're familiar with up till now and one has to be optimistic in abundant measure that it would be achievable in the long run!
Where the Strategy of Intervention always fails.
3. The strategy of intervention, as history is replete with incidents, has never been successful and the factors are many. Let me try to put down a few:-
(a) The external forces enter the fray with great hopes and succeed in their immediate tactical objective.
They take on governing their new 'fiefdom' with the initial enthusiasm and try to introduce many of
the practices of their country in the annexed territory. This is the hunky dory stage!
(b) And much to their surprise, they find that the people aren't enthusiastic about their ideas. It's this
aspect that deflates their patience over a period of time and begin to realise that 'whatever they
did was not going to be taken by the locals because they're old fashioned and do not know(?)
what's good for them. What they forget is that it's their ignorance of the local culture and aspirations
that have brought them to the point of impasse. This is the disillusionment stage!
(c) They've reached the stage when they want to hand over the responsibility to someone who catches
their fancy and conveniently get back to their homeland, forthwith. The people to whom they hand
over power are never accepted by the locals as they've labelled them as the foreigners' stooges
and are on a losing wicket from day one and the interventionists don't care. The ultimate, escapist
stage!
The Aftermath.
4. The newly propped up leadership sink without any trace by the weight of their own contradictions. The vacuum of power is cherished by many and in the ensuing melee between the groups, a civil war breaks out with violence careening out of control. Iraq is in this stage today and how the people redeem themselves from this unholy mess, not of their choice or creation, is what the world is watching with bated breath! Many more innocent lives are gonna perish in the bargain. God, save Iraq! Please!!
Tailpiece.
I won't be surprised if the elements of Saddam Hussein's band of thugs muscle their way to power yet again. And that would be the ultimate paradox!
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