Iraq, 10 years on

Frankly, I have lost count of the number of Iraqis that I have met over the last 10 years. Sitting before them and listening to their pains and sorrows as a result of the catastrophic invasion by the neo-cons in Washington, I often could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Once, a Sunni man could barely recount his experience of being targeted by a Shiite militia, having been subject to 10 days of torture in a dark chamber. The moment he showed me the wounds on his back, his wife and two young daughters went hysterical. My interview had to be stopped for them to recover.

They once had a stable life in Baghdad and enjoyed cordial relationships in the neighbourhood that was made up of Sunnis, Shiites and even Christians. The wife was also a medical expert at a local hospital and highly articulate. Now, she would not be allowed to work as a professional and must cover her head if she returns to Iraq or risk being abducted by religious extremists, both Sunnis or Shiites alike.

A fanatical form of Islam has gained a firm foothold in an initially secular society, and it now seems virtually impossible to reverse the trend.

The plight of this family indeed epitomises the experiences of the majority of the Iraqi people since March 2003. Instead of becoming a flourishing democracy, Iraq today suffers from widespread sectarian violence, bombings, and killings on a daily basis. More than two million Iraqis fled the country, half of whom first went to the neighbouring Syria, but have started to move to other places since the uprisings against President Bashar Al-Assad began two years ago.

Internally, close to two million Iraqis have been displaced, while hundreds of thousands have met violent deaths. As Seymour M Hersh of New Yorker has rightly said, it was a 'senseless American war fought for reasons that turned out to be not to exist, driven by wrongheaded, cockeyed, and manipulated intelligence'.

And, if I may add, the war was backed by many a world-acclaimed newspaper, including the usually left-leaning Observer in Britain. Many so-called 'strategy analysists' around the world and in Malaysia also rushed to drum up the sentiments for war, helping to manufacture truths and half-truths.

Now that lucrative contracts of oil drilling are safely in the hands of drilling subcontractors linked to the Texas oil industry, these war apologists pitiably share only the crumbs from the neo-con table.

Meanwhile, some Muslim leaders cashed in on the situation in 2003 to shore up their own support by taking an anti-war stance, and no one did so more successfully than Dr Mahathir Mohamad (right).

Ten years on, he continues to speak against war, but his government at the time practically failed to protect Iraqi asylum-seekers in Malaysia. Paying lip service to the cause of the oppressed and downtrodden Muslims is a job that Mahathir has always been very good at.

Why couldn't the invasion be stopped?

As the world commemorates the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq next week, one must ask earnestly as to why, despite the veto by China, France and Russia, they had not been able to stop the US and its poodles from invading.

Most staggeringly, there is now another attempt by the US and Britain to meddle into the internal conflict in Syria, the only difference being the equally enthusiastic France under an ostensibly socialist president Francois Hollande.

Both London and Paris are now openly talking about arming the Syrian rebels, despite warnings by many that a move as such risks a self-fulfilling prophesy - a state dominated by a bunch of religious fanatics with the potential of descending into sectarian violence as is the case of Iraq.

The proposal would also go down well with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the two oil-rich Middle Eastern countries that have been channeling funds into toppling Assad, despite their horrible human rights violations at home.

The world must learn from the painful lesson that any internal conflict can hardly be resolved through military intervention by others. While it is too early to predict the outcome of mediation by Moscow, other countries ought to come together and encourage both sides to talk.

Without appearing to defend the authoritarian regime of Assad, I must also point out that the rebels are responsible for many innocent deaths too, but this has often been overlooked by the international media. Seeking to reach a deal under which Assad would relinquish his post should be made a priority, but negotiations have to start for that to happen. Being jingoistic or saber-rattling would only aggravate the already precarious situation.

What is going on in Syria may look far away from Malaysia, but my experience of speaking to Iraqis face-to-face has taught me a great deal about humanity. The people who are suffering in Iraq and Syria are not faceless, but they are human beings with rage, despair and hope just like you and I. Arming one side in order to increase the chances of war is not only preposterous, but also downright atrocious.

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.