Exactly 20 years ago this week, the statue of Saddam Hussein in the heart of Baghdad was torn down and destroyed, a symbol of the might of the mightiest army on the planet, the United States military.
There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein was a bloodthirsty dictator, a real bastard. But “freeing” the Iraqis from its yoke was the slogan on the front page of the American propaganda plan to justify the invasion of Iraq.
The heart of the propaganda plan was to neutralize Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction, a supposed existential threat to the free world. Remember: the United States had evidence that the Iraqi dictator was secretly manufacturing chemical, bacteriological and nuclear weapons, to be used once morest America, out of sheer malice…
George W. Bush, two days before the invasion, March 17, 2003: “The people of the United States and their friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of lethal mass destruction. We are going to confront this threat with our army, air force, navy, coast guard and marines so that we don’t have to confront it later with armies of firefighters, policemen and doctors in the streets of our cities. »
Two days later, the invasion began with a bombardment intended to sow shock and astonishment in Iraq. The Iraqi army, said to be the fourth largest in the world, collapsed like an Eiffel Tower made of popsicle sticks knocked over by a tractor-trailer.
But there have never been weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was a fabrication, a scarecrow.
American intelligence agencies that dared to tell the Bush administration were put on the back burner, thanks to politicized and biased intelligence.
And the voices of common sense from countries allied with the United States – like Canada – which refused to embark on the Iraqi adventure, pleading the lack of evidence, were ignored by the United States.
It was 20 years ago. The Iraqi debacle of the Americans was beginning, under the guise of military triumph. We know what happened next: the United States swallowed up billions, killed thousands of Iraqis, sacrificed the lives of thousands of its soldiers who were killed, crippled or traumatized in an adventure that destabilized the region and led to the creation of the Islamic State… Among other disasters.
From Iraq to Ukraine, there are disturbing similarities. The United States is not Russia, the first country is a democracy and Russia is a dictatorship. But from Bush to Putin, it is disturbing how the recipe for lies has been so easily concocted in the pot of patriotism to justify the unjustifiable.
There were no weapons of mass destruction in 2003 in Iraq just as there is no Nazi regime in Ukraine in 2023.
But in the United States in 2003 as in Russia in 2022, invasions in the name of state security had the good fortune to rally the population. It’s strong, patriotism, it’s strong, the fear of the designated enemy.
Thus, at the start of the Iraq war, in March 2003, more than 70% of Americans supported the invasion.
Russian support for the “special military operation” in Ukraine, in February 2022: 70%.
All in all, reluctantly, of course, I prefer a world where the United States occupies a preponderant place. The other scenarios are worse: China and Russia, for example, are bloodthirsty dictatorships which, without the United States, would behave even worse.
But it is still fascinating to watch Americans denounce Russian lies to justify the invasion of Ukraine. They were doing pretty much the same thing 20 years ago.
For the unwarranted invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and his henchmen will forever be pariahs, confined to stay in Russia or face arrest. Putin is already the subject of an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Too bad for him.
The support of the United States for Ukraine is invaluable and justified, but the expression “double standards” comes to mind when, from time to time, we hear touching news from Texas regarding the great passion of George W. Bush, since the end of his political career: painting.
