As the sun set on March 19th, 2003, Baghdad braced for the onslaught that was about to befall it. The bustling city, once a vibrant metropolis, resembled a desolate wasteland, as the sounds of war echoed through the air like the mournful wail of a banshee. The night sky, once adorned with the twinkling stars, was now illuminated by the fierce blaze of bombs exploding in the distance, as if the heavens themselves were being torn asunder. Coalition forces had begun shelling the city, marking the start of a war that would be remembered for decades to come. Twenty years later, the question still remains: why has no one been held accountable for the war crimes committed during the Iraq War?
In the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2003, the world was told a lie. The claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction was a fabrication, a falsehood that was eagerly embraced by politicians and the media alike. It was a lie that would have catastrophic consequences, leading to a war that would claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, destabilize the entire region, and forever stain the reputation of those who perpetrated it. In this article, we will explore the lies that were told, the motivations behind them, and the lessons that we can learn from this tragic episode in human history.
The tragedy that befell innocent Iraqis on the eve of March 19, 2003, at the hands of the United States and coalition forces was a heinous crime against humanity, an unspeakable act of violence that shook the foundations of morality itself. The nature of this evil, senseless war was that of a merciless beast, driven by an insatiable thirst for power and dominance. It devoured the lives of countless innocent souls, leaving in its wake a trail of destruction and devastation that will haunt the world for generations to come.
And yet, despite the overwhelming evidence of war crimes committed during the conflict, no one has been held accountable. The architects of the war, men like George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and Donald Rumsfeld, remain free and unrepentant, while the victims of their crimes continue to suffer.
It is a tragedy beyond measure that the International Criminal Court, which was established to bring justice to the victims of war crimes, has been unable to hold those responsible for the Iraq War accountable. The ICC has been hamstrung by politics, with powerful nations like the United States refusing to recognize its authority or cooperate with its investigations.
The stunning hypocrisy of the international community is on full display when we consider the selective approach to justice for war crimes. The likes of Bush, Blair, and Obama, responsible for countless deaths and destruction in Iraq, Libya, and beyond, are free men, while leaders from non-Western countries are hauled before the ICC.
Meanwhile, the US and its allies have the audacity to call for Putin’s arrest for his alleged role in the Ukraine war. Where is the justice in this? The fact that those who bear the greatest responsibility for the horrors of the Iraq war continue to evade accountability is a travesty, a betrayal of the very principles that the ICC was created to uphold.
But the failure of the ICC is only one part of the problem. The larger issue is that the world has yet to reckon with the legacy of the Iraq War, and the profound damage that it has done to the global order. The war was a product of a particular moment in history, a time when the United States and its allies believed that they could reshape the world through force of arms. That moment has passed, but the consequences of that hubris are still with us.
Today, the lessons of the Iraq War are more relevant than ever. We live in a world where the use of force is still seen as a legitimate tool of statecraft, where powerful nations are still able to act with impunity, and where the victims of war crimes continue to be denied justice.
It is high time that the international community wakes up to this reality and demands that justice be done, regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality or geopolitical clout. Anything less is a shameful perpetuation of the double standards that have plagued the international justice system for far too long.
It is only by holding all those responsible for war crimes accountable that we can begin to heal the wounds of the past and build a more just and peaceful world for future generations.
If we are to move forward, we must confront these realities head-on. We must demand accountability for the war crimes committed during the Iraq War, and we must work to strengthen the institutions that are meant to prevent such crimes from occurring in the future. We must recognize that the legacy of the Iraq War is a stain on our collective conscience, and that we can only begin to wash it away by acknowledging the truth of what happened, and by taking meaningful steps to ensure that such horrors are never repeated.
