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Leaving aside the manufactured justifications, the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to reassert U.S. power in the Middle East and reduce the influence of Iran. It wasnt terrorism or yellow cake or even Saddam Husseins appalling human rights abuses that motivated one of the most tragic of U.S. foreign policy blunders.

It was geopolitics, stupid.

According to the fevered imaginations of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and their neocon compatriots, Saddam would be the first domino to fall, followed by other autocrats (Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Muammar Qaddafi in Libya) until, boom, democracy upended the ayatollahs in Iran as well. They even imagined, by the mere inclusion of it in an axis of evil, that North Korea too would soon experience a Pyongyang Spring.

Saddam did indeed fall. And then Iraq fell apart, thanks to the failure of the Bush administration to develop a coherent post-war reconstruction plan.

But democracy did not take hold in the region, much less in North Korea. Some autocrats have squeaked by, in the case of Assad by ruthlessly suppressing a civil uprising, while others have emerged like Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt and Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Algeria. And several putative democrats, like Kais Saied in Tunisia and Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, have moved solidly into the illiberal camp.

Heres akoanfor the neocons: whats the sound of one domino falling?

The ayatollahs, meanwhile, havent gone anywhere. Iran, by all estimates, increased its regional standing after 2003, becoming a major player in post-war Iraq, growing its influence in Lebanon and Syria, raising its profile among Palestinians through support of Hamas in Gaza, and backing a Shiite faction in Yemen.

So, the invasion of Iraq produced the exact opposite results than intended, despite the loss ofover 4,400 U.S. soldiersand the outlay ofas much as $2 trillionto fight the war and repair the broken country. Iraqis, of course, have suffered even more:around 300,000 deathsand a statecurrently hobbledby corruption and in-fighting.

Okay, Saddam is gone. But Iran and terrorist entities like the Islamic State have filled the regional vacuum, not the United States or democracy.

U.S. declining influence in the region was on display in the recent agreement that Iran inked with Saudi Arabia. The two perennially adversarial powersagreed this monthto restore diplomatic relations, and the king of Saudi Arabia even invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh. This extraordinary development, between two countries that have fought through proxies in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon, has the potential to remap the region.

The United States, the most powerful country in the world and the post-World War II hegemon in the Middle East, had nothing to do with the rapprochement.

It was China that brokered the agreement, a country with a single overseas military base and little history of involvement in the Middle East.

On the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the United States has discovered once again how the mighty can be brought low by their hubris.

The United States has lost a large measure of its global influence, thanks to its fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan. Have subsequent administrations learned the lessons of these misbegotten incursions?

Barack Obama famously tried to pivot from Iraq to winning the war in Afghanistan. Today, the Taliban once again rule that country.

Donald Trumppretendedas if hed never supported the Iraq War as part of a half-assed attempt to paint himself as a critic of U.S. military interventions. In fact, it was only because of the concerted efforts of marginally more sensible members of his administration that Trump didnt plunge the United States into warwith IranorVenezuela.

Biden seems to have partially learned the lessons of Iraq. He followed through on the pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and he has resisted sending U.S. troops to Ukraine. On the other hand, he has pushed the U.S. military budget ever higher and doubled down on containing China.

But the person who has truly not learned the lessons of Iraq comes from a different country altogether: Vladimir Putin.

Last year, Putin did a credible impersonation of George W. Bush by launching a shock and awe attack on Ukraine that he thought would be such a cakewalk that it wouldnt even needproper preparationlike updated maps or food enough to feed the invading troops. The limits of military force that hasbecome a catchphraseamong U.S. policymakers and pundits obviously never penetrated the walls of the Kremlin or the nationalist mindset of the Russian leader.

Strangely, pundits in the West have been slow to draw this obvious parallel. InThe Guardian, Jonathan Steelenotesthat in spite of the resurgence of US power in Europe as a result of the war in Ukraine, the era of US supremacy in the rest of the world may soon be over. Well, the erosion of U.S. power been a long time in the making. But what about the end of Russian supremacy in its own sphere of influence? Wouldnt that be a more apt comparison between the Iraq and Ukraine wars? The Biden administration has learned at least some lessons from the dreadful blunder. The same cant be said for Putin, and Russia will inevitably suffer the same geopolitical consequences.

Ishaan Tharoor, inThe Washington Post,musesthat the United States is unable to build a more effective global coalition against Russia because of its hypocrisy going back to the Iraq War. True, but much of the world is skeptical of U.S. intentions because of U.S. foreign policy misadventures going back a century or moreand also because Russia still has some influence in important countries like China, India, and South Africa. And it is Russian hypocrisyPutinsridiculous claimsthat he is upholding sovereignty rather than violating itthats the more salient feature of the current war. Imperialism is never having to say youre sorry (or make sense, for that matter).

And in theBoston Globe,Andrew Bacevichmakesthe off-base argument that Biden appears to believe that the Ukraine war provides a venue whereby the United States can overcome the legacy of Iraq, enabling him to make good on his repeated assertion that America is back.

Really?!

The war in Ukraine has less to do with the United States than with Vladimir Putins quest for power and imperial might. The United States is not the only superpower whose reach exceeds its grasp. Moreover, the Biden administration has responded with arms and support for Ukraine not out of any effort to overcome the legacy of Iraq butto come to the defense of a democracy that has been invaded.

These arguments are all part of an obsessively U.S.-focused whataboutism that has permeated the U.S. lefts discourse in particular around Ukraine. Instead of focusing on Russian actions, the anti-war critics will say what about the U.S. invasion of Iraq? as if there can only be one badly behaved country in the world and only one touchstone of evil.

Bacevich, again, has tried to make a virtue out of this rhetorical irresponsibility Giving Whataboutism a Chanceby concluding that however grotesque, Putins ambitions in Ukraine seem almost modest by comparison to the U.S. crimes in Iraq. Though Bacevich agrees that Putins actions have been those of a vile criminal, he is effectively arguing that the stakes in Ukraine are somehow not so great as to justify providing the country with sufficient means to defend itself.

The fact that the United States, among others, have failed to do the right thing in the pastor in other parts of the world todayshould in no way diminish the importance of doing the right thing right now in Ukraine. Would Bacevich argue that the Biden administration shouldnt pursue major carbon reductions at home because the United States pumped so much carbon into the atmosphere in the past or is failing to help, for instance, India from kicking the fossil fuel habit today? At its heart, whataboutism provides an intellectual veneer for a paralyzing passivity in the face of evil.

Even as they note the declining global influence of the United States, some analysts nevertheless believe that Washington can somehow wave a magic wand to end the war in Ukraine.

Take George Beebe, inResponsible Statecraft, who makesthe problematic assertionthat this summer Ukraine might well have less bargaining leverage, as its battlefield position stagnates and its confidence in enduring American support erodes. Thus, the Biden administration should press

the accelerator pedal on negotiations with Russia. For example, signaling discreetly to Moscow that we are prepared to discuss the thorny issue of Ukraines membership in NATO an issue Putin regards as central to the war, but which Biden has so far refused to discuss might help to change these dynamics and reshape Russias attitude toward a settlement.

This assertion is based on several faulty assumptions. Beebe urges the Biden administration to act now because of somethinga battlefield stalematethatmighthappen this summer and would be more likely to happen if Biden listens to Beebe (talk about self-fulfilling arguments).

Sure, Washington could signal that it will talk about NATO membership with Russia. But Putin actually doesnt care that much about NATOper se. What the Russian leader wants is to fully incorporate as much of Ukraine into Russia as possible. Barring the installation of a Kremlin-friendly administration in Kyiv, hell settle for a structurally weakened country that will never pose any kind of threatmilitary, economic, politicalto Russia.

Finally, what Beebe doesnt say but rather implies is that the Biden administration should exercise its influence by leaning on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, particularly if it doesnt feel compelled to do so by circumstances on the ground.

Yes, of course, the Biden administration could seriously weaken the Ukrainian military by cutting off military supplies.Proponents of this viewbelieve that this will somehow produce a negotiated settlement. The more likely scenario would be a redoubled Russian military assault accompanied by war crimes on a scale that would dwarf the horrors of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Therecent indictmentof Putin by the International Criminal Court focused on the forced relocation of Ukrainian children. But thats just a small part of what Putin has wrought:executionsof prisoners of war,slaughterof civilians,bombingof civilian infrastructure. Full-scale war against a weakened opponent will bring full-scale war crimes.

All of which suggests that the pro-peace critics of Bidens policy toward Ukrainefrom theleftand therightare really the ones who have not internalized the lessons of the Iraq War. The refusal of the United States to make any serious post-invasion plans, the effort to occupy Iraq and dictate its political and economic future, the implicit belief that the invasion would solidify U.S. standing in the regionthese all plunged Iraq into years and years of civil war. Anything short of drastically reducing Russian influence in Ukraine will condemn the country to the same.

The U.S. left continuously called for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Only those who have failed to learn the lessons of the Iraq War would fail to make the same demand of Russia as a prerequisite for a just peace today.

John Feffer is the director of Foreign Policy In Focus. His latest book isRight Across the World: The Global Networking of the Far-Right and the Left Response.

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Ukraine And The Lessons Of The Iraq War OpEd - Eurasia Review

BAGHDAD, Iraq The Iraqi capital in 2023 is far different from Baghdad in 2003. Ramadi and Fallujah, once the hotbed of insurgency, are not only peaceful but also booming with construction and commerce. Sectarianism is, at least among the 50% of the population born after the war, in the rearview mirror. The parking lots of Baghdads malls and shopping centers are full of cars from Iraqi Kurdistan, predominantly Shi'ite southern Iraq, and largely Sunni al Anbar province. Baghdadis from across the religious and ethnic spectrum flock to the new cafes and restaurants that open on a daily basis.

On the 20th anniversary of the war, I visited a new complex developed by the mayor of Baghdad. Hijab-wearing Iraqi women and old men sat next to young boys and girls dressed in the latest Western fashions to smoke shishas and watch soccer games on huge flat-screen televisions. Every hour, they would watch an hourly light and water show on the Tigris with fountains set to Celine Dions "My Heart Will Go On" or Giacomo Puccinis famous aria "Nessun Dorma."

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Corruption throttles Iraqs potential. Political parties across Iraq no longer openly fight for turf, but they act as mafias who drain Iraqs economy and the aspirations of the youth. Many of the same political power brokers whom Americans engaged during the occupation remain paramount influences today. Time matters, though. Ayad Allawi, the one-time darling of the Central Intelligence Agency whom the United States installed as Iraqs caretaker prime minister prior to the countrys 2005 elections, is nearly 80 years old and is in ill health. Former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is only in his early 70s but is ailing. Masoud Barzani, whose family dominates Kurdish business, security forces, and politics, is also in his late 70s and in poor health.

STATE DEPARTMENT DOES IRAQ A DISSERVICE WITH ENERGY SCHEMES

Time matters. Few, if any, of Iraqs top warlords or political bosses will be alive to mark the 30th anniversary of the war, let alone the 25th. The question then becomes what impact their deaths will have on Iraqs political environment. Outside Iraqi Kurdistan, where Masoud has appointed his eldest son Masrour heir apparent and where Patriotic Union of Kurdistan founder Jalal Talabanis sons have already taken over from their late father, it is not likely that sons will succeed fathers or that political machines will stay alive.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al Sudani marks a generational change in Iraqs political leadership. He is the first post-war prime minister who was never in exile and who rose up through layers of bureaucracy from a low position. This pedigree undermines the populist appeal of Muqtada al Sadr, the volatile cleric who has long sought to cloak himself in Iraqi nationalism by juxtaposing his presence in Saddams Iraq with those who escaped to London, Damascus, or Tehran. Muqtada, however, is young: just 48. He will remain a force, though perhaps not as potent as in recent months. His own actions belie his anti-corruption rhetoric, and Iraqis resent his followers violence. His constituency is also soft. The fight against the Islamic State created new heroes, none of whom came from a Sadrist background. While Iraqis venerate his late father, the passage of time loosens Muqtadas claim to their loyalty.

Qais Khazali, a U.S.-designated terrorist, former prisoner, and current political leader, is also under 50 and a growing force. While he once killed Americans as head of Irans Special Groups in Iraq, he now signals a desire to work with the United States. While Washington has rebuffed his outreach, he will be important for a generation.

Washington need not rehabilitate Qais but as Iraq begins its third post-war decade, the Biden administration must focus more on the future than the past. It should stop puffing up aging warlords like Barzani, who holds no position but whom Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin nevertheless met, or believing would-be warlords like Muqtada are messiahs. It is time to end the era of personality-based diplomacy behind it, stop seeing Iraq only through the lens of Iran, and respect rather than undermine Iraqs democracy at this time of generational change.

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Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971) is a contributor to theWashington Examiner'sBeltway Confidential. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Iraq in 2023 is a very different place to 2003 Iraq - Washington Examiner

Babylon, Iraq Mohammed Hakim climbs the marble staircase, looks at the Euphrates River flowing by a veritable oasis of palm trees that stretches as far as the eye can see and snaps a selfie.

He sure knows how to pick a good spot, he jokingly said, referring to former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein. The expansive building that he is standing in is one of the palaces that belonged to the deposed leader.

Overlooking the ruins of ancient Babylon, the multistorey palace is a manifestation of the mighty empire that Saddam imagined: spectacular staircases sweep up from a majestic foyer to gigantic rooms that open to a view of the river.

The stately, golden-walled palace is about an hour south of Baghdad, sitting on a man-made hill built on the ruins of the village of Qawarish, which was demolished to free up the strongmans chosen location.

Twenty years ago, before tanks belonging to a United States-led coalition rolled into the capital, Baghdad, and sent Saddam fleeing, stepping on this land was beyond anyones wildest imagination.

The notorious leader was toppled on March 20, 2003, when the coalition invaded the country. After he fell, there was a fleeting moment when Iraq dreamed big: The removal of Saddam could maybe bring long-waited peace and prosperity.

Instead, the invasion set off nearly two decades of violence and conflict that plunged the entire nation into chaos and stripped generations of Iraqis of the aspiration to live a normal life.

The palace in Babylon, now reclaimed by the public, has borne witness to the troubled recent history of a country widely known as the Cradle of Civilisation.

Apart from that, the palace bears nearly no trace of the former splendour, with its shattered windows, walls covered in graffiti and doves nesting in the beams.

But for Hakim, a 22-year-old college student, entering the previously forbidden premises as an Iraqi citizen is cause for celebration.

Its surreal, Hakim told Al Jazeera, standing among many others who had come to the site to revel in the enchanting view. You dont need security or bodyguards to escort you to a place that used to belong to Saddam, and I think thats amazing.

Another young man, about the same age, chimed in: When I enter the palace, I can just imagine that guy [Saddam] sipping his coffee here, he pointed his finger at the entrance of the grand palace. He would probably be waving his weapons around, too.

Now that the large-scale violence has ebbed, Iraqs younger generation is again dreaming, hoping to build a future that looks beyond the turbulence that shaped their upbringing.

Iraqs youths are collectively reclaiming the places that either were previously forbidden under Saddams rule or were too dangerous in the period of conflict.

In Baghdads Adhamiyah district, part of a former palace belonging to Saddam has been transformed into an upscale shopping centre where restaurants with impressive views of the Tigris River host Iraqis late into the night.

By the citys Jadriyah Bridge, around sunset, youngsters gather in a square with their motorbikes, showing off their drifting skills. Families take their children for picnics to Abu Nuwas Park where entertainment facilities have been built. Young couples stroll along the Tigris, occasionally holding hands.

However, generations of Iraqis have seen only violence and conflict unfolding in their country.

The roaring rocket attacks on Baghdad that marked the beginning of the invasion, the looting that unfolded almost instantly after the fall of Saddam, the subsequent rebellion against the occupation, the sectarian conflict that escalated into a full-blown civil war in 2006, and the continuous violence that gave rise to the ISIL (ISIS) armed group these defined many Iraqis memories of their country.

We didnt have a normal childhood because no one should experience even 1 percent of what we experienced, Zainab al-Shamari, a 21-year-old student at the University of Baghdad, said. She lost her brother in 2006, and her father in 2011.

They suspected al-Qaeda was behind the killing; the armed group used Dora as their playground, al-Shamari described. She and her family moved to Basra, Iraqs second-biggest city.

My entire childhood was just fear, she told Al Jazeera while walking on Baghdads busy Inner Karada street, three years after returning to Baghdad with her family. Fear of killing, fear of displacement, fear of this and fear of that.

Al-Shamaris story is not uncommon in Iraq. Accurate data on civilian casualties in the past 20 years are hard to come by, but according to the Iraq Body Count project, roughly 200,000 civilians have been killed since the 2003 invasion. Nearly everyone has a story to tell about a lost family member or friend.

In October 2019, droves of people, mostly young Iraqis, took to the streets as part of the Tishreen movement to demand an overhaul of Iraqs political system. But members of that movement blame the countrys political elites, often backed by strong militias, for cracking down on the protests and ignoring the demands for change.

We were hopeful but soon we realised that the militias and political mafias will fight to deaths to keep their interest, Omar al-Hamadi, a 25-year-old engineer who participated in the 2019 protests, told Al Jazeera on the phone. He left Iraq for Istanbul weeks after militias opened fire on protesters and killed two of his friends in November 2019.

I will never forgive them, and I dont think any of my friends will either, al-Hamadi said.

But even for those who were spared the bloodshed on the streets, corruption and shaky governance in the past years have denied the countrys youth a sustainable future.

According to former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, in the past two decades, more than $600bn has been lost to corruption. The all-pervasive corruption has all but paralysed the young generations ability to carve out a future in the country.

The political elite have consistently failed to anticipate or tackle the long-term socioeconomic and environmental challenges likely to be inherited by todays youth, said Hayder al-Shakeri, a research associate at London-based Chatham Houses Middle East and North Africa programme.

For young Iraqis, the price is painfully high. There is no facility and there is no service in this country because all the money goes to the corrupt officials, al-Hamadi said.

Those who have means, like me, are leaving or have already left, and those who cannot leave are continuing to suffer.

Even if there are no car bombs any more in Baghdad, the country is killing young people every day.

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After the Iraq War, Saddams legendary palaces are open to all - Al Jazeera English

As we observe the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War, which claimed more than 4,600 American lives and countless Iraqis, we must make an honest assessment of the war. The war cost the U.S. trillions, upended Middle East stability, and ultimately benefited Irans aggressive and expansionist agenda by capturing much of the political and military institutions in Baghdad and Damascus. Despite its tremendous cost, the war weakened Americas geostrategic position and damaged our national credibility.

What can be learned from this calamity? As authors of the U.S. governments definitive study on the Iraq War, two somewhat conflicting central points stand out. First, the war should never have occurred. Second, once the war began, it should not have been abandoned without leaving behind a stable Iraq, even if that meant staying for years.

Invading Iraq in 2003 was strategic folly and one of the worst foreign policy decisions in the history of the Republic. Tainted and inaccurate intelligence provided justification for disarming Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction that didnt exist. Pretending that Iraq could be the hearth for democracy in the Middle East or that it was abetting Al Qaeda terrorists were similar delusions. But the decision to invade defied an even larger truth, one that was clear even before the war. Iraq provided a physical and practical buffer to Iran, a country that few disputed had an active weapons of mass destruction program in 2003 and which has consistently demonstrated the intent to use such a capability alongside its terrorist objectives.

Iran, which regularly calls for the destruction of the U.S. and actively supports our enemies, was the larger and clearer threat to our interests both then and now. Regime change in Iraq destroyed a status quo that, by extension, benefitted the U.S. In essence, Iraqs geostrategic position in 2003 helped regional security by focusing Irans attention and resources next door. In addition to this geopolitical damage, the preemptive invasion, conducted without U.N. Security Council authorization and on the basis of dubious intelligence, squandered our international standing and goodwill, which was abundant in the wake of 9/11.

Read More: There Were Many Ways to Die in Baghdad

Once the invasion occurred and Iraqs security forces evaporated those same considerations should have driven U.S. policy to restore the countrys stability, vis--vis Iran. The region represents a vital strategic interest for the U.S., as does blocking the expansion of Iranian influence. Unfortunately, the U.S. chose to ignore this reality and when politically expedient, withdrew from Iraq and hoped for the best. Beyond the error of the initial invasion, withdrawing was nearly as significant a strategic error, placing Iraqs future into the hands of a corrupt and sectarian Prime Minister who was intent to establish Shia domination and Iranian alignment. While Iraqs condition had improved significantly since 2003, sufficient signs existed in 2011 that progress was fragile. Prime Minister Nouri al Malikis sectarianism and authoritarianism, toxic components that would lead to further destruction of Iraq, had been on full display and reported to Washington. Iraq, shattered by decades of war, sanctions, and corruption, needed longer to heal and needed American help to prevent an Iranian takeover.

Although we had decided that we were done with Iraq and all its associated challenges, Iraq wasnt done with us. American strategic myopia enabled Malikis government to kill or disenfranchise Sunnis and financially isolate the Kurds, paving the way for the rise of ISIS and a return of U.S. forces. We are still in Iraq today, and still without a status of forces agreement that was used for political cover to end our military presence in 2011. But todays Iraq looks very different. Iranian-backed militias, on the Iraqi payroll, now outnumber the Iraqi Army. The Ministry of Defense now includes officers and generals who are designated terrorists. Iranian aligned militias have captured state resources through political representation in Parliament and by controlling key posts in lucrative ministries. Irans influence now waxes in an uninterrupted arc from Tehran to the Mediterranean, traipsing across Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

Retaining U.S. forces in Iraq would have been a difficult decision for a war weary America. But a residual force that was closely tied to key political objectives and aimed at reducing Iranian influence could have prevented the treacherous strategic situation we face today: Iraq as a broken and devastated nation, serving as a base and transit point for Iranian forces. Luckily, the U.S. retains some tools to steer Iraq to a more constructive and stable future. The U.S. can impose high economic costs on the Iraqi military and government to remove Iran-backed terrorists from its payroll, withhold U.S. banknote transfers that inexplicably continue despite their laundering by Iran, and remove sanctions waivers so Iraq can free itself from an artificial energy dependence on Iran. And perhaps most importantly, the U.S. must militarily deter Iran so that it retracts rather than expands its regional aggression. Only these measures are likely to reverse the tailspin of Iraqs perilous future, a future that we set in motion twenty years ago.

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How Iran Won the Iraq War | Time - TIME

The banana smells so good, can you please buy me one, I want to taste it, I asked my father at the market when I was in the third grade in the 1990s, and when Iraq was under economic sanctions. Oh, my dear, those are fake, look, it even has stickers on them, my Baba responded. His response brought on my dilemma. I know my Baba doesnt lie, but those bananas smelled too real to be fake. I only wonder how hard it must have been for my father not to be able to buy me that banana.

My family had to be creative to survive in Iraq in the 1990s as the sanctions crippled the economy. I remember my family sewing our school bags out of rice bags or old jeans and buying one pencil for me and my two siblings to use at school. This wasnt really a choice, but a necessity as sanctions (hesar) made buying ordinary things difficult. But who should I blame? Saddam Hussein, who dragged Iraq into many wars, or US administrations that sanctioned Iraq heavily in the 1990s in an attempt to topple Saddam by starving his own people?

Everything was blamed on hesar. Children dying, lack of food and medicines, unemployment, absence of quality education, and the lines on peoples faces growing deeper and deeper day by day. This was all the hesars fault. Yet, this suffering apparently wasnt enough.

On Mar. 16, 2003, President George W. Bush gave Saddam and his two sons, Uday and Qusay, 48 hours to leave Iraq or face war.

WAITING FOR THE WAR

My parents could read the writing on the wall, as Americans say. After Bushs announcement, they decided to go to my grandparents house since it was safer. Even though their house was also in Baghdad, it was away from the places that could be targeted by the US-led coalition of the willing.

The weather was hot and dry as we drove through Baghdad, the world outside sparse and quiet. People seemed to be going through the paces of their normal life. A donkey pulled a cart carrying recyclable goods. A woman walked on the side of the road wearing her long black abaya, carrying a plastic grocery bag in her hand. A couple of kids played soccer in the street. Heading toward the highway, I saw the plumed flame from the Daura oil refinery like a candle. I gazed at the beautiful mosques standing tall under the shafts of the sun while birds flew in groups around the minarets where the imams recited the call for prayers; Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Listening to the athan five times a day from the speakers minarets at any place in Iraq was comforting.

Our arrival at my grandparents house was not filled with the usual excitement but instead was focused on one thing: survival. There we were on the verge of yet another war with the United States.

Has your country ever been invaded? Do you know the sounds? The way you can feel them in your body when it happens in your city?

The adults were all very stressed. As we settled down, the men started talking about the current situation and shared their thoughts. My grandfather stated, The Iraqi streets are in a state of denial. Many people dont believe that the war is coming. My uncle protested, This time its going to happen, but Saddam is now threatening that he is going to use weapons of mass destruction, WMD, which could have a big impact on millions of people. My grandfather explained that he had heard that Saddam was actually going to use weapons of mass destruction if he felt that he was going to lose the fight. My grandfather recalled a rumor about Saddam saying, Alaia w ala aadaie which means he would use it against his enemy and himself rather than losing the war. Essentially, the scorched earth strategy.

We all sat in the garden during Asr time (the time after noon and sunset) for what seemed like one last time before Iraq changed forever. My grandfather held the radio close to his ear, listening to Radio Monte Carlo. My grandmother brought out the cardamom tea with her freshly baked bread that she used to make regularly while my aunt laid down the plastic mat, the hasira, which every Iraqi house possessed, to sit on. My uncle brought out a couple of mahfas, handmade fans made of palm fronds, which are now becoming increasingly hard to find.

I volunteered to spray the trees with water from the long hose that ran from the main faucet. As I started to spray, the fresh smell of jasmine filled the garden. I then joined everyone and sat on the hasira to have bread and tea, which was something that we usually ate as kids during sanctions. We could hear kids playing soccer outside, a man calling out for his son, and the birds flying in the clear sky. I remember being filled with a strange feeling. Is this what they mean when they say the calm before the storm?

Since this wasnt our first war, we were very experienced in things like what types of food to stock up on. So, each family member did their job. My grandmother made sure that she bought extra potatoes, dry beans, flour, rice, and oil. My aunt and my mother boxed up the plates from the china cabinet. Meanwhile, my uncles helped each other tape the windows with X-shapes to mitigate the shattering of glass in case of an explosion. They also hung blankets on the windows, especially in the bedrooms and living rooms, since thats where we spent most of our time. They bought candles and extra kerosene lamps to use during power outages. My grandfather had been filling up the big blue plastic tanks with water and placing them in the bathroom and under the stairs, in case the water was cut and the war went long. But filling up the water tanks and having kerosene lamps was part of our daily life since we regularly experienced power and water shortages.

According to Bushs deadline, the invasion was hours away. Thinking of it now, what a strange word deadline is to use to start an actual invasion that would upend millions of lives. My sister, brother, and I went to pick up the thin mattresses, blankets, and pillows from the baytoona upstairs, a room where our house stuff was stored, to put them on the ground in the bedroom and sleep. We were told to sleep in the room with the fewest windows to be safe from the shelling.

As I prepared to go to sleep that first night, waiting for Bushs deadline, I observed how tired the adults faces were. I realized how each and every war in Iraq had stolen years of our lives. How they had always lived under the strain of the unknown. I remember my grandfather smoking furiously while pacing the kitchen in his white dishdasha (traditional Iraqi menswear that is a long white shirt). He often flipped his shmagh (the red and white mens scarf) that he wore around his neck as he paced with the radio plastered to one ear to hear any news. My uncles were sitting in the living room discussing possibilities and sharing updates. Their voices peppered the night like birds.

What did the United States bring to Iraq? Certainly not accountability or justice or stability or democracy. Instead, millions of Iraqis were and remain displaced.

We lay on our mattresses while my mother and aunt lay beside us, sharing worries. The power was on, but the lights were off, and the door almost shut except for a faint glow penetrating the rooms darkness. That night wasnt like any Id ever experienced before. Every minute passed slowly, like molasses. Lizards darted furtively around the room, as if they, too, were standing guard. One in particular had set up shop near our clock and constantly poked his head out from behind the numbers to check on us. It was so strange, and the world was so quiet except for a stray dog barking outside and the clock ticking. It seemed like even the clock showing the time to be 1:05 am was afraid of the future, moving heavily in hopes of delaying the war. I thought of my friends and wondered if they were safe. Then I thought of possibly being hit by a missile.

Would I still be able to attend school after the war? Would I see my friends again? Would Baghdad be very different after this war? It seemed like there were no clear answers to any of my questions. In fact, no one in Iraq knew exactly what would happen next. I looked back at the golden shiny clock. It was only 1:10 am. No one wanted this war, but how long can we delay it? I stayed up all night, thinking and unable to fall asleep.

In the very early hours of the morning, my grandfather pushed the bedroom door wide open and announced with a stressful and loud voice, Get up, the war has started.

THE SOUNDS OF WAR

Has your country ever been invaded? Do you know the sounds? The way you can feel them in your body when it happens in your city?

We heard explosions that werent yet close. We watched our windows, but they remained intact. Iraqis had expected the war to never start, but it did. Not much happened the first day, though, and later, my mother blamed my grandfather for waking us all up. Like it was nothing, after all.

But the tension in the house grew day by day. We heard sirens all the time. The news reported that the provinces in the south were fighting the Americans and that they hadnt fallen yet. On the other hand, the news my grandfather heard on the radio was different. His station said the provinces in the south were indeed surrendering, and the US-led coalition was approaching Baghdad. We heard that Saddams palaces were bombed. The explosions seemed to be coming closer to us, and the house began to shake.

The Iraqi TV channels were broadcasting the news stating that the war was going just fine and Saddams officials held numerous news conferences telling us that Iraq would not yield to the Americans. And artists played their parts as well. The famous singer, Qasim Al Sultan, stood wearing his grey dishdasha, white and black scarves wrapping his head. He held his weapon in his hand while standing in the middle of an army of men who were also holding guns, carrying Saddams pictures and the Iraqi flags, praising Saddam and the Iraqi army. Just go forward to the war and leave it to your men to fight, sang Al Sultan.

Also, just as Iraqis thought that Saddam was dead during one of the air raids, he appeared in the Adhamiya area, a Sunni-dominated area in Baghdad in the middle of the crowd waving his hands and smiling. Baba Saddam, or father Saddam as he liked Iraqi kids to call him, looked different. There was a rumor circulating that his surgeon had performed plastic surgery on many other men to create his double look-a-likes that would enable him to be in several places at once. This man looked like he could be Saddams double, but no one was sure of anything anymore.

This was the nature of war: the terror and uncertainty, the daily mystery of sounds and faces.

BAGHDADS FALL

The Americans were dropping bombs everywhere. In the third week of the war, we heard that many members of the Iraqi army who lived nearby had returned. They said that everything had been destroyed, and there was nothing left to fight for. For us, everything indicated that Iraq had lost the war, and we had two options: die by Saddams weapons of mass destruction (which many Iraqis believed that Iraq had even though evidence eventually indicated that this was not true) or look toward a sanctions-free future. Opposite ends of an odd spectrum indeed, but one that every Iraqi would be familiar with.

During the last days before the fall of Baghdad, we heard a rumor that Udays palace in Radhwaniya area was hit in an air raid. A couple of hours later, my grandfather came running to check the front doors. When he discovered that the kitchen door, which led to the main big house gate, was unlocked, he was furious at everyone for not noticing. He stated, Dont you know that Udays big lions that he trained to eat humans are now set free? Human-eating lions set loose in Baghdad may seem like a fantasy but the war was making anything possible.

US forces arrived in Baghdad in the beginning of April 2003. We heard the coalition tried to control the airport and that it wasnt an easy fight. The news told us the Americans had used weapons that made a whole tank and human dissolve and disappear. On the other hand, the Iraqi military used flour to make it look like they used weapons of mass destruction. According to the returning soldiers, the airport did fall. Yet, the Minister of Information Muhammed Said Al Sahaf reported, Today we slaughtered them in the airport. They are out of Saddam International Airport and The force that was in the airport, this force was destroyed.

On Apr. 9, 2003, Baghdad fell. In his last appearance, Al Sahaf stood on a bridge in Baghdad and stated, The Americans are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks. They will surrender, it is they who will surrender. But in the broadcast, we could see an American tank parked a couple of meters away from him. His claims were so outlandish that he was nicknamed Baghdad Bob.

Al Sahaf constantly used the word uluj, which is a worm that attaches itself to a body and sucks blood, to describe the US forces that overtook Baghdad and the whole country. For some, those forces were heroes and marked the beginning of Iraqs post-Saddam era and democracy, while for others, they were merely invaders.

IRAQ NOW

On May 1, 2003, Bush announced that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. People were happy that Saddam was overthrown after 30 years of dictatorship, while others didnt express any feelings. I just wondered about my friends and whether they had survived the war or not.

With Saddam gone, I thought this meant no more sanctions. I couldnt wait to see my father buying us bananas, the real ones. The Americans and their allies promised us Iraqis a better country. I imagined a better school system and buildings where one didnt suffer from the cold in the winter or the heat in the summer. I wanted to go to school in a building that looked like the ones in America, the ones we saw on television. But, of course, those were false promises.

What did the United States bring to Iraq? Certainly not accountability or justice or stability or democracy. Instead, millions of Iraqis were and remain displaced. My family was forced to leave Iraq in 2006 when sectarian violence was at its peak. Shia and Sunni, two terms that we rarely used, were now part of our daily conversations. Radical groups targeted my Sunni father and Shia mother. After my dads cousin was kidnapped, drilled to death, and found in the trash in Baghdad, my parents decided it was not safe to stay there anymore, so we fled.

Our displacement journey is just one story out of thousands, even millions, as 9.2 million Iraqis are refugees worldwide or internally displaced. We left for Syria, where we lived for two years. I finished high school, and my family was granted refugee status in the United States in 2008.

In 2018, I visited Iraq for the first time since I fled to work on a documentary project on life under ISIS in Mosul in northern Iraq. The city has been liberated a few months before I arrived. As I tried to film the reality of Iraq while walking through Mosul, it seemed as if everything had been reduced to rubble. And the smell of death filled the air. My Iraq was not any better than when I had left it 12 years ago at that time.

I returned once again in January 2023. Baghdad is full of life, and every part speaks to a certain time in history. I remembered the Baghdad of the 1990s and reflected on those days in 2003, when the war started. I alsovisited the National Museum, took a boat ride on the Tigris river, and walked on Al Mutanabi street, a famous street where Iraqis gather to talk, socialize, sing, and, most importantly, buy books.

I didnt have the courage to enter my school. I stood at the gate, staring at the hallway that leads to the schools backyard. I knew if I crossed this hallway, it would distort the beautiful memories I had of my friends, our laughter and carefree times. The promise of returning to school still haunt me. I stood right where Raghdad, my best friend, was shot and killed by coalition forces in 2003. And a few feet away from where I stood, our school guard Haris was shot in 2004 by an unidentified radical group.

I also returned to my grandparents house. The garden was neglected; there were no more jasmine plants to water, and the swing was rusty. Everything had changed except the stain of those X marks on the windows made by the tape my uncles had put up all those years ago as we had waited for Bushs deadline back in 2003. My grandfather still follows the news closely.

At my grandparents house in Baghdad in January 2023 with my little one. Photo by Noor Ghazi.

These memories stay with me wherever I go. They are a part of me. And I know my fellow Iraqis hold similar memories, a mix of nostalgia and longing.

Twenty years after the invasion, it seems the world has forgotten and even abandoned Iraq. Conversations about the US-led coalition on Iraq are always centered on the lessons learned from the Iraq war, but it seems to me that the main lesson not to wage a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion remains unlearned.

Noor Ghazi is an international peace activist born in Baghdad, Iraq. She was featured in Women and the Iraq War, 20 Years Later report, where she shared her recommendations for improving womens rights in Iraq.

Link:
Waiting for the US to Invade My Iraq - Inkstick