Pains anti. GainsPains The Iraq War is dragging into its fourth year. While peace remains

Pains anti. Gains

Pains

The Iraq War is dragging into its fourth year. While peace remains uncertain in Iraq, opinion polls in the United States have shown that support for the war is falling down. However, U.S. President George W. Bush has outwardly expressed his confidence on more than one occasion. "I'm optimistic we'll succeed. If not, I'd pull our troops out," he said at a recent press conference.

When he ordered troops into Iraq on March 20, 2003, George W. Bush probably would not have imagined that the country would be plunged into such a chaotic situation three years later.

Despite its victorious offensives, U.S. forces have not been able to clear anti-U. S. resistance, which in effect has seen a drastic restoration recently. Although the U.S. dominated democratic process has largely been completed, and Washington continues to increase economic assistance, Iraq has made little progress in its reconstruction, leaving Iraqi people with severe water and power shortages. In particular, ever since the bombing of a famous Shiite shrine (什叶派教徒的圣地) on February 22, the feud between the Sunnis(逊尼派教徒) and the Shiites, Iraq's two major religious sects, has degenerated to the edge of a complete loss of control.

At present, the United States can neither come up with a quick answer to the Iraq problem, nor rid itself of the heavy burden easily. Behind the "Iraq syndrome" are the huge costs on the part of the United States: over 2,300 troops killed and $ 200 250 billion spent.

Gains

As a matter of fact, the United States has reaped remarkable benefits from the war in spite of its vast costs.

Geopolitical Priority

The geopolitical situation has been made more favorable to the United States. One of the underlying reasons why the United States seeks a transformation of Iraq is to smash Arab nationalism so as to keep a firm grip on Arab countries. If their advantages in population, natural resources and geographic position are integrated and they speak with one voice, let alone establish a unified Arab country, the 22- nation Arab world will be capable of resisting intervention by big powers. Unity means power and provides the best screen against the interference of Western superpowers. Arab nationalism, championed by former Egyptian Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser, was at its height in the 1950s to 1960s. In 1956, Nasser successfully defended the military aggression waged by Britain, France and Israel. In the Fourth Middle East War, or the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Arab countries effectively protected their dignity and interests by using the oil weapon. Although Arab nationalism gradually declined after that, with conflicts emerging among the various nations, the basis for political integration still exists. For the United States, the Arab world is, of course, too large.

Iraq is at the core of the Arab world. Its former leader Saddam Hussein had been going out of his way to revive Arab nationalism by taking advantage of the anti-U. S. sentiments popular in the Middle East, something inauspicious for Washington. It is for these reasons that the United States set about changing the nature of Iraq through the Iraq War, the post-war democratic transformation, and especially supporting the Kurds (库尔德人). In the new Iraqi Constitution, the country is no longer labeled an "Arab country".

The United States has therefore succeeded in breaking the Arab world from within, preventing the revival of Arab nationalism and getting rid of the biggest threat for it to control the oil and strategic zones in the Middle East. In the meantime, as Iraq is turned into a dependent, pro U. S. (支持美国的) country, the United States will be able to establish a new strategic base in the heart of the Middle East. A curve link

A．Y

B．N

C．NG