US intervention in the Middle East, whether overt or covert, was supposed to bring peace and stability — even democracy and human rights — to the region. Ten years after the US “liberation” of Iraq and some two years after US intervention on behalf of rebels seeking to overthrow the government in Syria we see these two horrific stories side-by-side. Do not be fooled: both are the direct result of US interventionism. And in both cases, the victims were made victims by the interventionism of the US government. As we ponder the supposedly rising terror threat of a suddenly reinvigorated al-Qaeda, we would do well to consider how the result of US intervention plays out on the ground — particularly as the Obama administration has become full to the brim with “humanitarian interventionists.”
Consider these two juxtaposed pieces from the RT newsfeed today:
Death toll in Iraq’s Tuesday bombings rises to 51 At least 51 people were killed and over 100 others wounded in Iraq on Tuesday, after a series of car bombs exploded in busy markets and on major shopping streets. The figures were updated by local emergency officials after police initially thought that 35 people had been killed. Bombs detonated in the northern, eastern, and southern districts of Baghdad. The attack is the latest in what Iraq’s Interior Ministry has described as an “open war” caused by sectarian violence in recent years. According to figures released by the UN, 1,057 Iraqis were killed in July, making it the most violent month in years.
Powerful car bomb in Syrian capital kills 18 A car bomb in the Jaramana district of Damascus left at least 18 people dead on Tuesday. According to Syrian state news agency SANA, women and children were among those killed by the attack in the south-eastern region of the capital. The explosion reportedly damaged several shops on a crowded street and burned out a bus. Jaramana is home to many of the country’s Druze minority as well as Christians, and is controlled by forces loyal to President Assad.
