Mohammad Ali Shafiee, researcher in the field of American Studies
After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the US government, led by George W. Bush, decided to invade Iraq. Claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s ties to terrorist groups were presented as the main reasons for this invasion. However, after US forces entered Iraq and overthrew Saddam’s regime, no WMDs were found in the country. It was officially announced that these claims were false, and it was revealed that the evidence had been fabricated by US officials as well as intelligence and security agencies. Additionally, no concrete evidence of Saddam’s connections to terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaeda, was proven.
US ulterior motives
The primary goal of the US in invading Iraq was not merely to topple Saddam’s regime but to establish control over the country through American forces or, ultimately, to create a government aligned with Western interests. As a first step toward this objective, General Jay Garner was appointed as the military ruler of Iraq, officially titled the Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq. However, placing a military figure in this position and his militaristic approach drew negative reactions both internationally and within Iraq. This led the Americans to replace him with an experienced diplomat named Paul Bremer, choosing him to lead Iraq during the post-war period.
A political figure representing the United States and positioned above any Iraqi individual, Bremer was officially the country’s ruler. It was during his tenure that decisions such as the mass dismissal of Iraqi armed forces were made, which drew criticism, including from the UN’s senior humanitarian representative in Iraq. In 2003, Mr. Ramiro da Silva, the highest-ranking UN official for humanitarian affairs in Iraq, warned that the dismissal of 400,000 Iraqi military personnel without any plan for their replacement would lead to a power vacuum and instability in the country.
He also stated that the United Nations opposed some decisions made by the US and its appointed rulers in Baghdad. However, his remarks were ultimately ignored. According to the UN, the United States openly excluded the organization — a Western-trusted international body after all — from the decision-making process during the post-war period. This exclusion should be viewed alongside the fact that the US had acted unilaterally in deciding to invade Iraq, bypassing the UN and the Security Council despite significant opposition.
Iraqi people’s reaction and formation of Iraqi government
The Iraqi people’s reaction to the US occupation and to the way the Americans ruled in this country reached a point where US officials were eventually forced to accept an Iraqi-led government. During this process, they made considerable effort to ensure that someone took over the Iraqi government who would remain under maximum US control and authority, effectively continuing the path charted by Paul Bremer. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, as the will of the Iraqi people ultimately prevailed over that of US rulers. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution noted in a speech:
The one who was the cause behind this second person [Paul Bremer] being removed and through a difficult, complex, lengthy process allowed Iraq to be taken over by the Iraqis themselves so that they could choose their own rulers was Martyr Soleimani with the actions he took at that pivotal moment. He initiated a hybrid war, which included a cultural war, a military war, a war of getting information out, and a political war. Haj Qasem did these things at that time.
In essence, one can argue that Martyr General Qasem Soleimani’s role during that period was to support the newly emerging resistance cores and strive to raise public awareness among the Iraqi people about the US’s role and the atrocities it committed in Iraq. Ultimately, it was the Iraqi people who compelled the Americans to accept an Iraqi-led government in their country.
Creation of Daesh and US role
After the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq in 2011, the power vacuum and instability in the country persisted. In this environment, the Daesh terrorist group, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, emerged and rapidly grew. Regarding the formation of Daesh, some experts have presented differing analyses, such that by putting together the pieces of the puzzle, the truth can be uncovered.
Some experts argue that the power vacuum in Iraq led to the emergence of Daesh in the country. Their reasoning is supported by the admission of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who mentioned in an interview that the formation of Daesh was the result of wrong US policies in the region. These experts claim that the United States did not intentionally create this terrorist group, but the outcomes of its decisions led to this development.
But on the other hand, there are two points that must be viewed together. At the time of the mass dismissal of Iraqi military personnel, the UN representative warned that this action could lead to instability in the country and spark conflicts in various parts of Iraq and outside the capital. This warning, issued in 2003 by Ramiro da Silva, shows that the Americans and international institutions were aware of the consequences of such actions. Therefore, it cannot be said that the emergence of a phenomenon like Daesh was merely the result of the American’s wrong decisions in Iraq.
In another interview, US President Donald Trump also mentioned that Daesh was created by the Obama administration. This acknowledgment by one US president regarding the actions of another can be interpreted as confirmation of the deliberate creation of Daesh by the Americans to destabilize Iraq.
By piecing together the abovementioned points, one can understand the Leader’s remarks, where he stated: “When the US realized their direct involvement in Iraq and other areas of the region wasn’t to their benefit, they created the DAESH. The US has admitted this itself that they created DAESH.”
From the points raised above, and Hillary Clinton’s admission, it can be concluded that the Americans, seeing their foothold in Iraq as shaky, by fostering a power vacuum across Iraq, exacerbating sectarian and tribal divisions, and gathering susceptible individuals together in prisons that later became known as “universities of extremism,” deliberately created conditions for the emergence of terrorist groups like Daesh, enabling them to recruit and further radicalize their forces — a move whose ominous fruit they intended to reap in the following years in Iraq and the entire West Asian region.
(The views expressed in this interview are interviewee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Khamenei.ir.)
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