The Legacy of the Iraq War

Another invasion of a sovereign nation by a foreign power — but this was us

This month sees the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by American forces backed up by British. Of course, it is no time to put out the bunting. Tony Blair said at the time, the removal of Saddam Hussein would make the world a safer place. And it’s true, not many people lament his passing. He was a brutal dictator. But the idea that the events of 2003 has created a safer world is laughable. The very opposite has occurred.

The invasion was triggered by the horrific terrorist attack on the US on 11th September 2001. First it was Afghanistan where the head honcho behind the attack, Bin Laden, was hiding out. What should have been an international police action became an all out military invasion. With Bin Laden still at large, somewhere in an inaccessible mountain range, the US turned its gaze on Iraq. Saddam Hussein was unfinished business, bogey man of the first Gulf War courtesy of senior Bush, and already subject to an array of sanctions, he was presented as a global threat to peace and security. A menace that had to be dealt with.

The UK Labour government joined forces with Washington’s neoconservative administration to…