It’s been 20 years since the US launched its invasion of Iraq and many of us probably remember the non-stop airstrikes that lit the skies above Iraq in orange from the fire and destruction that ensued. This invasion led to the death of a million people and the displacement of more than 7 million people, the destruction of homes, buildings, and infrastructure, and the significant sectarian strife that extended beyond the borders of Iraq.  

20 years on, the West itself is unable to deny the negative fallout of the US-led invasion and speak about the lessons they need to learn. But we shouldn’t give much attention to their words of regret and remorse as their actions, then and now, reflect their true position on Islam and Muslims. What is more pertinent are the lessons we Muslims can learn from this catastrophic event. 

1. The West invade our lands based on deception and lies  

Some Western commentators claim that George Bush and Tony Blair genuinely believed that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and only after it came to light that there was no WMD that it was a weakness in the intelligence they received. However, the reality was that the Bush administration on numerous occasions exaggerated or outright fabricated conclusions from intelligence in its public statements in order to create a pretext to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein. 

It isn’t the first time, nor the last time, that the West has created a false pretext to invade and interfere in Muslim lands. In fact, it was the 9/11 attacks, an attack orchestrated by the US against its own citizens, which created the initial pretext for the ‘War on Terror’.  This was a launchpad for the invasions of Afghanistan (in 2001) and Iraq (in 2003) and the cultural crackdown on Islam through the ‘de-radicalisation’ programmes of CVE and PREVENT.  

Another example is Operation Odyssey Dawn, which was the code name of the US military intervention in Libya in 2011, which was justified on the basis that Libyan civilians were being killed, displaced, and bombed by Muammar Gaddafi. Like the claim of Saddam having WMD, this claim against Gaddafi was also unsubstantiated. The irony is that it is the US and its allies that killed and displaced the people of Iraq and Libya and left both lands in chaos and destruction following its invasions. 

The moral of this story is that the US will always use lies and deception to intervene in our lands and they themselves will turn out to be the ones guilty for the crimes they accuse of others! 

2. The West is the real terrorists 

On 19^th March 2003, George Bush stated in his address to the nation:  

“My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger.”  

He went on to add, “In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality.”  

America and its allies take the moral high ground when it comes to the invasion of Muslim lands, and act as the international moral police force saving people from the aggression of dictators, many of whom they placed themselves. However, the Iraq war, and many other acts of imperialism, are a testament to the fact that it is America and the West who are the real aggressors and terrorisers that the world needs defending from. 

The Iraq war came to be known for the indiscriminate attacks on a majority civilian population leading to the death of millions, killing sprees carried out by Western soldiers with assurances given by Generals that they would be protected from any ramifications, the Abu Ghraib maximum-security prison in which torture, rape, and execution was a daily occurrence of men, women and children, and the use of chemical weapons and depleted uranium in small villages such as Fallujah. 

This is the legacy of the US and its allies in Iraq. They exclaimed to the world the moral duty of protecting the Iraqi population from a brutal oppressor in Saddam Hussein, but in fact, they were the real aggressors.  

As the CIA Agent who interviewed Saddam Hussein when he was captured put it: 

“I do not wish to imply that Saddam was innocent. He was a ruthless dictator who plunged his region into chaos and bloodshed. But in hindsight, the thought of having an aging and disengaged Saddam in power seems almost comforting in comparison with the wasted effort of our brave men and women in uniform and the rise of Islamic State, not to mention the £2.5 trillion spent to build a new Iraq.” 

3. No accountability for the West 

20 years have passed since the Iraq invasion, but there has been no accountability for the crimes committed by the US and its allies. In fact, the leaders of the nations who led this campaign were rewarded and recognised for their efforts. 

In 2011, George Bush received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from another War Criminal Barrack Obama. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal, to recognise people who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavours.” 

In 2022, Tony Blair was knighted by the Queen as a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George Cross which were not awarded in 2022.  

Whilst there have been public inquiries of the Iraq invasion, such as the Chilcott Inquiry, which found that the case for war was deficient and that Saddam Hussein did not represent a threat to the UK, the outcomes were nothing more than words of regret and “lessons learnt”.  

In recent years, revelations have come to the surface of what really occurred in Iraq, including Blackwater Contractors being held responsible for massacres against civilians, evidence implicating British soldiers in the murder of children and the torture of civilians being covered up by military commanders, and the British army operating rules of engagement in Iraq that allowed soldiers to shoot unarmed civilians. However, these cases and others that are similar have been pardoned or brushed under the carpet by the same states responsible.   

These cases highlight the aggression and warmongering of the West, who invade our lands, kill innocent Muslims and destroy their homes, but face no accountability or consequences for their actions.  

Conclusion 

The Iraq War is one example of many which expose how the West uses deception and lies to create pretexts and justification to invade and interfere in our lands, and that they are the real aggressors in the world who will face no accountability or retribution for their crimes.   

It also exposes the so-called democracy in Western nations. In the UK, up to 2 million people took part in Stop the War Coalition protests against the Iraq war representing the largest protest ever held in Britain, yet the British government under Tony Blair decided to support the US in its invasion of Iraq. So much for democracy and the will of the people!  

Although millions were martyred as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq and we suffered destruction and devastation, the US, despite spending trillions of dollars, failed in its plan to bring democracy and freedom to Iraq, which would arguably have been a greater calamity. This provides some hope and optimism that whilst we can lose our lives and our homes, we will continue to stay firm on Islam. 

The Iraq war and the broader “War on Terror” are conspiracies created by the West to keep us engrossed in our own issues and calamities and can create a sense of despair and despondency. The US was able to commit such heinous crimes in Iraq with no accountability due to its dominant position in the world, where all the so-called “independent” institutions such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) act as its apparatuses in achieving its ambitions. Therefore, Iraq should act as a reminder that only through establishing Islam in the realm of life by re-establishing our State can we withstand the onslaught by the enemies of Allah. 

Allah says: 

“Do not lose heart nor fall into despair! You shall triumph if you are believers.” (Quran 3:139)