On
the same week that American aid worker, Kayla Mueller, was
confirmed dead in
Syria, President Obama sent a request to Congress to authorize the use of force
against the so-called Islamic State (IS), something that was actually initiated
more than six months ago, without specific authorization.
The
tragedies unfolding throughout the Middle East at the moment are largely the
direct result of past U.S. interventions and aggression, including the illegal
2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Now, Congress seems nearly certain to authorize
further U.S. war-making in the region, for at least the next three years,
likely longer, as there seems to be no end to this so-called Long War.
Peaceworks
stands unequivocally opposed to attempts to bomb the region into peace or to
train and arm proxy armies. As has been the case with every American military
intervention in the region, Obama’s war on IS will undoubtedly bring more death
and destruction. The likely outcome will be more, not fewer, enemies and
greater regional instability. It will be very costly in every sense of the
word.
We
are, of course, moved by tragic loss of life, including the death of Mueller
and the immolation of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh.
We also recognize that those who seek to expand and extend the seemingly
perpetual war, are taking advantage of this, playing on our compassionate,
caring impulses.
While
Peaceworks condemns, without any qualification, the brutality of groups like IS,
we oppose the new war on IS. Further, we recognize that the current situation must
be understood in context.
Part
of this is recognizing the responsibility the U.S. holds for the very existence
of the IS. When the U.S. launched its Iraq invasion there was no Al Qaeda in
Iraq (the group that has since morphed into IS). The U.S. invasion led directly
to the very tragic loss of many hundreds of thousands of lives, the dislocation
of 5 million people from their homes and, in the process, created a climate that
allowed an extremist group like IS to rally a portion of the population to
their banner.
Rarely
do American media focus on the impact of the U.S. invasion and the subsequent
counter-insurgency war on individual Iraqis or families. There are innumerable
dead Iraqis every bit as innocent, idealistic and even photogenic as Ms.
Mueller. Never seeing their faces; never hearing their stories; we are rarely
moved in the fashion that an event like Mueller’s death—given the maximum media
attention it’s received—has moved American public opinion.
Some
seek to use the deaths of American captives, like Kayla Mueller, or the
beheaded western journalists to rally support of an expanded war, or, in some
cases, for encouraging fear and loathing of Muslims in general. They are
clearly opportunists. Most others are just caught up in the emotional frenzy.
Yet they are being played by those who prefer war to peace, larger military
budgets to a Peace Economy, and empire over a cooperative world order.
While
these atrocities, which have stoked many Americans’ fears, are being used to
justify U.S. attacks in Iraq and Syria, the states of Libya and Yemen—both
sites of U.S. military intervention—have been disintegrating. And, while feudal
Saudi Arabia is embroiled in succession, Lebanon and Jordan totter on the
brink, and Europe is reeling from Islamist militant attacks, anti-Muslim
demonstrations and more.
Does
any sane observer really believe that a new Congressional resolution
authorizing continued or expanded war will improve upon this situation? Really?
