The Fruit Of American Conquest: Civil War!

By James Donahue

The constant intervention of the affairs of Middle Eastern nations by the United States and its allies has only succeeded in destroying social stability and setting the stage for constant civil war. That is because the region has never been composed of larger nations but rather many tribes co-existing under the iron fist of dictatorial power.

We are witnessing civil war in Iraq following the fall of Sadam Hussein. Instead of bringing peace and stability to that country, the decision by President George W. Bush and the U. S. military to attack Iraq in 2003 established a state of war between the Shiite and Sunni Arabs, the Kurds, the Assyrians, Yazidis and Turks that were all co-existing in the region.

The “war” on Iraq all but destroyed that nation’s infrastructure, left an untold number of innocent civilians dead or severely wounded, and caused an estimated 2 million Iraqis to flee to neighboring countries, mostly to Syria and Jordan. Another 1.9 million people have been displaced after their homes were destroyed.

The American assault on Afghanistan, triggered by the 9-11 attack on the United States, has left that nation foundering in what appears to be a constant state of war that cannot be controlled. The tribal groups there include the Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turks and Baloch. The people are divided by over 30 different languages and a complex mixture of religious sects . . . mostly of Islamic origin.

Afghanistan has suffered from an almost constant state of war since 1979 when the tribes collectively fought off Russian invasion, experienced a Taliban instigated civil war in the 1990s and then the US-led military attack in December, 2001.

Even though the United States has imposed the appearance of democratic forms of government and nation-wide elections in both Afghanistan and Iraq, the fires of civil unrest have not been quenched. Tribal loyalties and local power struggles appear to be making it impossible for these different ethnic groups to live together peacefully.

Now with the overthrow of Libya’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi by rebel forces, aided by the United Nations with lots of help from the United States, some analysts fear the stage has been set in that nation for still another civil war. The ethnic groups there are mostly Berber and Arab, with Sunni Muslim standing as the predominant religious faction. One report stated that there are at least twenty-eight distinct tribal groups in existence in that region so the possibility of a power struggle is high.

Sadly it appears that America’s efforts to bring stability to the Middle East and establish a military influence by overthrowing the power figures that were successfully holding the tribes in check by force, is having the opposite effect. We have only succeeded in murdering thousands of innocent people and setting their world on fire. It was all done at great cost to the United States in both lives and finance.