I Have This Uneasy Feeling Over Iraq

Dr. Errington Thompson

by Errington C. Thompson, MD

As many of you know, I love and admire President Barack Obama. What he has accomplished has been truly remarkable. Not only was he elected president, he also took over the helm in truly rocky times.

We have wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With escalating tensions in the Middle East, Iran and North Korea, the world is looking to us for leadership. Africa, South America, and South Asia are in desperate poverty. Our polar ice caps are melting. Here at home, we’re in the middle of the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression, and our political atmosphere is truly toxic.

Through all of this, our president has stood tall and managed to pull together coalitions to get significant legislation passed Congress.

Yet I have an uneasy feeling—nausea, really—over Iraq.

For decades, Iraq and Iran have allowed ethnic, religious, and cultural
differences to grow into mutual hatred. They would like to annihilate
each other, but after fighting a fruitless 10-year war that cost
hundreds of thousands of lives without a clear victor, they grew content
to scowl angrily at each other. The third point in the Middle East
triangle was Israel, which was threatened by, and threatened, both
nations.

Before we invaded Iraq, unwisely and unnecessarily, a balance of power
prevailed in the Middle East. But when we swooped in and took out Saddam
Hussein, we tipped the balance of power. It is really unclear how this
will play out in the long run but for now, Iran seems to be the big
winner: Iraq is weakened, and its Shi’a majority government is subject
to influence from Shi’ite Iran, which can now double-down in its focus
on both defensive and aggressive weapons systems.

Last week President Obama addressed the nation to tell us that combat
operations in Iraq had been completed: our troops were coming home.
Cool. At last! Let’s break out the champagne.

Then, before I was able to get the refrigerator, our president stated,
“A transitional force of U.S. troops remain in Iraq with a different
mission: advising and assisting Iraqi security forces, supporting Iraqi
troops and targeted counterterrorism missions and protecting our
civilians.” What?

Just for a moment, our president seemed to transform into President
George W. Bush as he talked about extremists, terrorists bombings, and
sectarian strife. We’re leaving 50,000 troops in Iraq to do the exact
same job they’ve been doing for the last three years. I was
flabbergasted. I began to feel like Fred Sanford, from Sanford and Son,
and grab my chest.

As soon as President Barack Obama ended his speech with what I thought
was an overly gracious tip of the hat to President George W. Bush, the
Republicans, instead of being grateful, went on the attack. Senate
minority leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner
were two of the first to step up and criticize the president for not
praising the surge and its “decider,” George W. Bush.

Did we just enter the twilight zone? Did the conservatives say that the
surge worked? Let’s review. The surge had six key elements, which were
unveiled to the American public by President George W. Bush himself. Two
of the six elements were to create space for political progress, and
diversify political and economic efforts.

There has been no political progress over the last three years. None.
Elections were held, most recently last April, but no functional
government has been formed. The surge was supposed to create the space
for Iraqis to lead, but functionality simply hasn’t happened. The
Sunnis, Shiites, and the Kurdish Iraqis in the north continue to argue
like school children.

The surge did help decrease sectarian violence, but that was only one
part of the plan, and one out of six—15.5 percent—is an F, isn’t it?

With Republicans giving each other high fives and congratulating
themselves on the surge, I feel uneasy. With President Obama slipping
into a George W. Bush type trance and telling us that combat missions
have ended when they really haven’t, I feel uneasy. This may be my whole
problem with the Middle East—my feeling of uncertainty. I’m not sure
it’s clear who our friends are (with the exception of Israel), and I’m
not sure who our enemies are. We are embracing the Iraqi people as our
friends, but does that include all of the Iraqi people including the
Sunnis (Saddam’s sect)?

I just feel that nobody has any good answers.