While the world is consumed with the terrifying coronavirus pandemic, on March 19 the Trump administration will be marking the 17th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq by
ramping up the conflict there. After an Iran-aligned militia allegedly struck a U.S. base near Baghdad on March 11, the U.S. military carried out retaliatory strikes against five of the militia's weapons factories and announced it is sending two more aircraft carriers to the region, as well as new Patriot missile systems and
hundreds more troops to operate them. This contradicts the
January vote of the Iraqi Parliament that called for U.S. troops to leave the country. It also goes against the sentiment of most Americans, who
think the Iraq war was not worth fighting, and against the campaign promise of Donald Trump to end the endless wars.
Seventeen years ago, the U.S. armed forces attacked and invaded Iraq with a force of over
460,000 troops from all its armed services, supported by
46,000 UK troops, 2,000 from Australia and a few hundred from Poland, Spain, Portugal and Denmark. The "shock and awe" aerial bombardment unleashed
29,200 bombs and missiles on Iraq in the first five weeks of the war.
The U.S. invasion was a
crime of aggression under
international law, and was actively opposed by people and countries all over the world, including
30 million people who took to the streets in 60 countries on February 15, 2003, to express their horror that this could really be happening at the dawn of the 21st century. American historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., who was a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, compared the U.S. invasion of Iraq to Japan's preemptive attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941
and wrote,
"Today, it is we Americans who live in infamy."
Comment: Will this news register with the public now that everyone is caught in the coronavirus hoax pandemic? Of course not, which is why this news was perfectly timed.
For a brief history of this case see: