The Legacy of the War in Iraq

A lot of attention is being given to the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War.  Such a landmark offers an opportunity to help our friends and colleagues and congregations hear some of the less visible stories. Here are a few that are also of vital importance if we are to avoid Iraq's mistakes in Iran and elsewhere.  They appeared in a variety of publications and assembled by our friends at Foreign Policy in Focus, and offer some concise, crucial lessons from the war:

America's Other Dark Legacy In Iraq by Joy Gordon -- Putting aside even Iraq's horrifying descent into sectarian violence, the United States did a spectacularly poor job of governing the country.

Way Worse Than a Dumb War: Iraq Ten Years Later by Phyllis Bennis and others (Nation magazine) -- It didn't take long for the world to recognize that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq was a big mistake. But "dumb war" wasn't the half of it.

Visions: America after Hegemony by Cole Harrison -- The peace movement needs to make it clear not only what we are against, but what we are for.

As Iraq Anniversary Fades, “Strategic Narcissism” Stands Out by Jim Lobe -- Virtually none of the retrospectives or assessments of the war in major U.S. publications have been written by Iraqis. The inability of both voters and policymakers to imagine the world from any perspective other than their own has left tremendous wreckage in its wake. 

Ten Years Later, U.S. Has Left Iraq with Mass Displacement & Epidemic of Birth Defects, Cancers by Democracy Now! How the U.S. invasion of Iraq has left behind a legacy of cancer and birth defects suspected of being caused by the U.S. military’s extensive use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus.

See also LPF resources on Iraq