THE WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

© June 2008, The Center For Development

Many people wonder if a United Nations Coalition ought to be fighting overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and perhaps in Iran as well. In this article, I will attempt to avoid taking sides. Instead, I will attempt to look at the situation objectively. I hope I will be given the same courtesy by the reader.

THE ROLE OF OIL WEALTH

The context or background of this conflict is most important to understand. In the first place, this is a war over oil. This is the case, even if we don’t admit it. Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, with help from Kuwait and other nations in the area, supply about one-third of the oil for most of the world each day.

If there were an interruption in the oil flow, even for a day or two, the price of oil would hit $1000 per barrel, or about 9 times its present price. This would wreck havoc with the economies of most developed and even undeveloped nations of the world. We are far too dependent on Arabian oil, and there is no question about it. So we are fighting to keep the supply of oil flowing from this desert region of the world.

There are other sources of oil and alternative fuels, which desperately need to be developed. However, oil is an issue and we cannot truly ignore it. Also, it is an issue for the entire developed world, not just the United States. China, for example, supports us in Iraq, although they would never say so. If we pulled out, their economy would crash, almost overnight, as they, too, are quite oil dependent.

ISLAM AND THE WAR AGAINST THE WEST

However, the war is about more than oil. It is a war of religions, at its most basic level. The Islamic people do not like Westerners, and have not for over a thousand years. This is not, as some claim, a new hatred, but a very old one.

The Islamic faith is a religion that itself states that Western people, or landlords, as they sometimes call the Westerners because of their desire for land, are evil, to put it bluntly. They believe it is their duty to kill them or convert them to Islam. This is the underlying conflict we face in this area.

The fight over oil is forcing the religious issue out into the open more than ever. In other words, it is not our recent “bad behavior” in terms of our foreign policy with Israel, for example, that is at the heart of the matter. The conflict with the West goes back much further than even the twentieth century, now behind us. Arab nations were our enemies from almost the beginning of the Islamic religion almost 1500 years ago. They are, in fact, sworn to destroy Western civilization. This is the problem those in the West face.

FIGHTING AGAINST RELIGION

Religion may have caused more wars than any other force, other than fighting over land. It is worse than fighting for land in that it is totally irrational. This means there is not a logical reason why everyone should worship the same god, but that is the goal. Instead, it is all about doctrine. If one does not believe, one is to be ostracized or killed. That is the end of the discussion.

In fact, one can live in peace with other nations that do not believe as you do, but this is not encouraged or even permitted in most religions, including some Christian sects as well. In the Middle East, for example, one finds huge amounts of empty land, some of which has very rich soil as well. In spite of ample land area, however, leaders of Israel and a Palestinian state fight over a tiny land area, less than the size of a small state in the United States.

They are not even fighting over the best land in some ways. The issue is more about history for them all. The real question we must ask is. When will the Israelis or Palestinians be willing to give up “ancestral lands” in return for peace?

If the answer is yes, then a solution is possible. If not, war will go on for another hundred years or until one side is gone. That, of course, is the hope of both sides, secretly. However, this, too, is irrational. All this is to demonstrate the irrational nature of religious-based conflicts.

This is why I say religious wars are hard to understand and even harder to end. We must keep this in mind when we address our current situation.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Another interesting fact about religious wars is that they totally disrespect human rights, on all sides. I say this because even in Nazi Germany in a token way, human rights were observed. This is due, in part, to the Christian influence that affects all Western nations, but not those of the Middle East, where Christianity had its start, but did not develop as fully as it did in Europe and America, in particular, and other nations as well.

So we have another factor in this conflict. Those who fight us in Iraq, for example, do not regard human life as important at all. Serving Allah is all that matters. This, too, must be considered as we discuss this particular conflict.

This fact makes it very hard on our soldiers, by the way. They are taught the Geneva Convention protocols for the treatment of prisoners of war, for example. They are also forced to obey “rules of engagement” that are quite humane, believe it or not. A very rudimentary example is not to fire unless fired upon. They do their best to run a humane conflict, if that makes sense. There is such a thing as more humane warfare.

In contrast, the other side has no qualms about stripping their male and female prisoners naked, raping them 10 or twenty times, ripping off their head, and then displaying the body for all to see. They also have no qualms about using children as human shields, instead of displaying the courage to fight like men. They also have no qualms in paying families to have one of their children “volunteer” as a homicide bomber to simply kill as many as possible, even other Muslims of the same nationality and even members of the same town as they are.

All this is done to make a point and to frighten and demoralize the other side. This is an important feature of this conflict that must be faced squarely by us, or we will lose to those who have no rules of engagement except to humiliate, discourage, disparage and ruin the other side by killing their own people, if needed.

OTHER ARGUMENTS AGAINST OUR INVOLVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

I know the argument that we should not involve our nation in foreign wars. However, the world is very small today. A missile, a small vile of anthrax or other deadly germ, or many electronic weapons of mass destruction such as an electromagnetic pulse weapon, can easily cause havoc in a nation thousands of miles away.

I honor and respect the US Constitution above all other written documents. However, the founders of the United States had no idea how it would be possible for all the nations of the world to be as interconnected as they are today.

As a result, America is never isolated, and must not pretend to be so. The safety of many nations rests on identifying and alleviating political and economic conditions for all people on the planet. This is a fact. Please do not dispute it unless you are prepared to give examples where having starving, naked people who are at the mercy of dictators and propagandists are better off than well-fed, well-educated populations.

Another fact is that no nation in history has done anywhere near as much to accomplish the goal of bringing up the world’s standard of living as has the United States. We should be proud of this effort, not ashamed and not saying we better get out or that we are losing when it is not true.

ARE WE WANTED IN THE MIDDLE EAST?

Some would have you believe that we are simply invaders and imperialists who have flexed our military muscles around the world to “oppress” other people.

In fact, America was asked to go to Afghanistan and even Iraq by powerful people there who saw the situation and knew they could not solve the crisis of Saddam Hussein by themselves.

The fact is, most Iraqis and most Afghans and delighted with our help, unlike when Soviet Russia invaded Afghanistan.

The fact is, we are there by invitation in many instances. Even other Arab states are happy the US is in Iraq because they don’t like the power of Iran, either.

Imperialism is the cry of many people, however, to describe our Iraq efforts. They do not know what imperialism means. The Romans perfected this strategy of empire and the British refined it somewhat. Conquest was followed by destroying all vestiges of the earlier civilization. Then high taxes were imposed, that made the mother country wealthier, not poorer. Military might supported the empire and this alone.

Is this what America is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan? If so, it is certainly not obvious:

· We have not taken any oil from Iraq, so far.

· We have spent our own money and many of our own lives to rebuild the country economically, politically and even culturally – in a way that is native, not a copy of America.

· We keep troops stationed there to help build a new nation. We could have just leveled the country and then installed our own people in charge. We have not done that.

· We are busy building new local Iraqi police and military forces, giving them weapons and ammunition. This is hardly imperialism and is more like its opposite, to unconditionally help others who are less fortunate.

This is not imperialism, no matter how you define it. Yes, we give some rebuilding jobs to American contractors? We must do this to get the job done. However, we also employ many European contractors and many Middle-East based contractors. They are absolutely needed to rebuild an infrastructure that was destroyed, not by us, mainly, but by a dictator who kept the oil revenue mostly for his palaces, of which we now occupy only one.

In short, we are not imperialists, although that is a popular word thrown around these days. We are also not tyrants, like the Romans or even the British, who looked with disdain on their “subjects” or colonists. We are, in truth, the most humane nation ever seen on this planet in a long, long time, much longer than recorded history.

WE ARE NOT LOSING THE WAR

Some insist we are losing the war on terror. I would say it is not true. People everywhere do not like living in poverty or in an oppressing situation, no matter who they are. They may not know how to govern themselves, and we can teach them.

Everyone wants to be free, prosperous and happy. We are assisting that effort in a huge way, and it is effective. That is the real reason for many calls to get out.

Propaganda machines are at work in America by these nations to derail our efforts, which will unseat these dictatorships. This is undoubtedly true.

America’s actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere as well sets an example for terrified people everywhere that terror will not stop America. It is often their only hope, in fact, as they are not capable of overturning their dictators on their own. Few can see this, but it is the truth. It is difficult for starving, unarmed people to overthrow a well-armed and well-funded military dictator.

THE COST OF THE WAR ON TERROR

What is the cost of a life? We have lost over 4000 men and women in uniform. The Iraqis have lost hundreds of thousands to Saddam Hussein. Iran murders anyone who does not agree with the regime, and the numbers are kept secret.

In fact, the military death rate in Iraq is small compared to the deaths that occur each week on the streets of Chicago, of example. The difference is that Iraq is on the news daily, whereas Chicago makes the news once a month or less. This is why people have got the statistics so mixed up. It is also the only reason for it. At least a lot of good is being done in these other nations, while the carnage on the streets of our cities due to warring drug gangs is usually totally senseless and could be avoided, if law enforcement were better prepared and the police were not so corrupt.

So the war on terror is costly, but nowhere near the human cost of the drug problem, for example, or the death due to vaccines and medical drugs.

Freedom is often costly. The real question is, do you support spending our money in this way? That is the only real issue. Is it better than spending it on a race to the moon, or another project that is also costly?

The Marshall Plan after World War II was much more costly in inflation-adjusted dollars than Iraq, Afghanistan and the other nations in which we stationed troops. Yet it led to a democratic Germany and Japan that have prospered themselves and contributed to world stability.

This is why we are in Iraq as well - to contribute to world stability and prevent a repeat of Nazi Germany, imperial Japan and other holocausts. And it has worked!! So cost must be viewed in these terms, not just in dollars or even in soldiers’ lives, although we hate any loss of life.

THE NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL ISSUE

When Iran has nuclear weapons, they would likely use them to obliterate Israel, as they have bluntly asserted. This we cannot allow. Israel is a strong ally and one of the few modern democratic nations in the middle east, even if you don’t like them.

America does not allow backward dictatorships to bomb modern, democratic nations into oblivion, at least not so far, and hopefully never. Iran with nuclear weapons would also blackmail the Western nations in their quest for oil, and perhaps in many other ways, too. The threat is real and only a fool would ignore it.

The blackmail threat, however, extends far past Israel. Iran could hit any number of European cities as well with a missile, even today. Tis is not an idle threat from Iran.

THE TERRORIST THREAT

Many people in America believe that if we just leave the Arabs alone, they will leave us alone. I understand this sentiment, and I wish it were true. However, I doubt it will happen for a number of good reasons:

First, they hate what we stand for, more than our quest for oil. They hate freedom, they hate women’s equal rights, they hate our material wealth, although the sheiks of Saudi Arabia and the other states in the Persian Gulf have more wealth than anyone in the West.

They also hate our free institutions, such as freedom of speech and most of all, the freedom of religion. Any of these, not just the freedom to worship as one wishes, would severely threaten their theocratic or religious-based states. So they must, by their beliefs, continue to oppose us at all junctures and in every way possible.

Another reason the extreme Islamists will continue to oppose us is they are dependent upon our use of oil. If we can withdraw from Iraq, we will and we are developing our own power sources. This is not hard to do. It just takes time to overcome the inertia and infrastructures we have built around oil use.

However, the Arabs do not want this. They want an oil-based economy, as this is where their revenues lie. They have, in fact, bought up many small alternative energy companies, as they are not stupid and can see the handwriting on the wall.

The fact is, the Islamic terrorists will keep causing chaos wherever they can to slow down our progress in bringing freedom of religion and freedom for women to this world.

For all these reasons, the conflict is not likely to end anytime soon, regardless of our actions in Iraq. We are choosing to fight them on their territory, which is far better in many ways than waiting and having to fight them here in America. Clearly it is also more difficult to win, but as mentioned above, we are winning this one quickly.

We are succeeding in bringing freedom and Western institutions to the Arab world, which the ordinary citizens desperately want, as they all do around the world. We are the beacon of freedom for millions and perhaps even billions of people across the world. I only hope there are enough Americans who realize this.

WHEN SHOULD WE LEAVE?

Some say we must leave Iraq and Afghanistan now or in the near future. I believe this will never happen, no matter who is in charge of America. It would be a first class disaster, not just for the United States, but for Europe and the entire developed world. It would cause the following to occur quickly:

- The price of oil would skyrocket, crippling economies worldwide and likely causing mass starvation and disease as a result.

- Iran would take over Iraq within a week. This would not be like the American forces. The Sunnis would slaughter their opponents wherever they could and take the oil for themselves. It would be imperialism at its worst and ethnic cleansing as well.

- Worst of all, perhaps, it would also send a message to all terror groups around the world that America is sick, weak, does not follow through on commitments and can be defeated quite easily. Just behead enough of their soldiers and they will run.

This scenario will not happen, most likely. However, anything is possible if we just give up and walk away. This is the truth, as I see it. I hope it is yours as well.

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