The hell we wrought

The latest WikiLeaks document-dump allows us to once again peer into war’s dark, dank abyss. This time the subject deposited is Iraq. The 400,000 secret field reports contain no bombshells. But their stench is pungent. For they reveal, among other things, the systemic use of torture, mainly by Shiites on Sunnis.

Andrew Sullivan writes:

It's horrifying - along the lines of Abu Ghraib and Bagram, but also, in many cases, even worse and cruder. It occurred during US occupation of the country; although most of the torture was perpetrated by Iraqi security forces, and although on occasion American forces prevented torture, some occurred under American control, and there was inevitable enmeshment as they fought alongside.

The forces that conducted these horrific acts are the forces we are handing the country over to. History will harshly judge this war, and those of us who supported it, its long-term strategic effect, and so forth. In particular, it appears, that one of the main actors was Iran, and Iran has emerged as the core winner. But the hell unleashed by the incompetent occupation led to over 100,000 often gruesome civilian deaths in what was a nation-wide bloodbath of almost frenzied proportions.

I think it can be said, now more forcefully than ever, that whatever moral legitimacy this war once had is now gone forever. It was worse than a mistake. It was, in many ways, a crime.

It’s hard to disagree with Sully. However, there is something vaguely naïve about our expectations. Iraq is not post-WWII France. Like all human societies with long histories, Iraq comes with its own unique baggage. Not all of it is good. Is one truly surprised at Iraqi use of torture as evidenced by the WikiLeaks papers? Sadly (and abominably), it is standard operating procedure, albeit unspoken, in many Arab countries. Do we really think a piece of paper stamped “Constitution” will alter dubious jurisprudence and non-democratic behavior overnight?

In 9/11’s wake, an unholy alliance between fanatical neo-conservatives and establishment Republicans fed the raptures for payback. With visions of T.E. Lawrence’s splendid charge into Aqaba, we plunged blindly into the sands of Mesopotamia. It would be a short “cakewalk,” they promised, leading to democracies radiating outward across the windswept deserts from Iraq. It would be “Morning Again” in the Middle East. Besides, to (crudely) paraphrase a famous line in the film Full Metal Jacket, inside every “Haji” there is an American trying to get out. (No offense to anyone intended.)

It was a glorious fantasy, one tragically uniformed by the realities on the ground or Iraqi history. At best, in my view, Iraq will eventually coalesce around a benign strongman friendly and beholden to American interests. He will not be mistaken for John Adams or any Founding Father we’d recognize. He won’t be another monster like Saddam. But he’ll rule in a manner that will sometimes offend our Western sensibilities. True democracy and a moral justice system may come to Iraq in time. And we should nurture it. But we should be wise enough to know it will likely take generations, and perhaps a civil war or two.

Just like it did here in America.