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Iraq and Vietnam

By Noam Chomsky at Jun 10, 2004

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Personally, I don't see much useful analogy between Iraq and Vietnam. Vietnam was in a remote corner of the world that no one cared about very much, so the US could pound away at it, devastating four countries, with little international protest, and that little mostly about the bombing of the regions in the northern part of north Vietnam, where bombing might have costly repercussions. And even that protest, in the US too, was long delayed. Iraq, in contrast, is at the heart of the world's major energy reserves, which is why the US invaded in the first place. So anything that happens is likely to have major effects. Some of these likely consequences are much too little discussed. That includes the reasons why the US simply cannot permit authentic sovereignty and democracy in Iraq. One reason, which gets a little attention, is that an independent and democratic Iraq may well move towards accommodation with Iran. And it might stir up movements towards independence in Shi'te parts of Saudi Arabia nearby -- which happen to include most of the world's major oil reserves. That could possibly even lead to a Shi'ite bloc controlling most of the world's energy. The US would never tolerate that. Even more serious, and scarcely discussed to my knowledge, is that a free and independent Iraq would presumably assume its natural role as the leading state in the Arab world: huge resources, educated population, virtually approaching first world standards before the wars and sanctions. As such, it would naturally want to counter the regional superpower, by now almost an offshore military base and high-tech adjunct of the US. That means it would rearm, probably also develop WMD to counter Israel's huge WMD capacities and military force, now being enhanced significantly by the Bush administration. As long as the US and Israel refuse to recognize elementary rights of Palestinians, and persist in vicious repression, the Arab and Muslim worlds will be enflamed, and a free Iraq would become their natural leader. The US will do almost anything to prevent that.

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By Dnw, Danielwidders at Aug 16, 2004 18:05 PM
I am also thoroughly disappointed that our country seemed to ignore the MOTIVE the Iraqi nationals might have had for starting the war. If the WMD were not found even given such detail leading up to the war, why were not people questioning why we let Iraqi nationals lead us into war? Surely even they knew that a "desire for democracy" wouldn't get a plug nickel out of Congress if Chalabi and his crew WANTED war! This does not excuse us for being led astray, for it is certain we had motives for letting it happen, but it is possible the source of the lies resided in Iraq to begin with. This is something I simply do not understand fully.

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