The Guardian: Britain still suffers from the invasion of Iraq after 20 years
The British newspaper “The Guardian” published an article in which the author believes that the American invasion of Iraq still casts a shadow over the political scene in Britain, which is a US ally that participated in the invasion, despite
the passage of 20 years since its events
In his article in the newspaper, British journalist John Harris highlighted that the events of the Iraq invasion, which began on March 20, 2003, contributed to breaking the British people’s trust in their government. He said that the 20th anniversary of the invasion, which falls next Monday, is not only a reminder of Blair’s and others’ responsibility for the UK’s biggest political and humanitarian catastrophe since World War II, but also the moment when the supposed center of political gravity in Britain began to wobble dangerously and catastrophically
Harris reminded that the Conservative Party and the vast majority of the British press supported the Iraq invasion at the time. Therefore, the anniversary of that destructive war is a vivid example of the dangers of collective thinking and the bleak consequences that result from simplifying complex facts into simplistic narratives
He pointed out that people in Iraq, who suffer from deep wounds and live in successive crises, as well as in the region as a whole, continue to suffer daily as a result of the repercussions of that war. Meanwhile, some in Britain and the West in general have the luxury of thinking that the war was a distant event that has faded over time
He also noted that a columnist in the Financial Times said last week that “the Iraq War has had little impact on the Western world,” and that the invasion “did not shake Western policies”
popular anger
Harris emphasizes that an event of this magnitude inevitably leaves deep effects on the United Kingdom, due to the catastrophic course of the war and the pretext upon which Britain justified its participation in the invasion, which quickly turned out to be unfounded. This has produced a crisis of trust in the government among the British people that has worsened over time
The article, published under the title “After 20 years, memories of the Iraq war may have faded, but they shaped today’s diminished Britain,” points out that a quick return to the reports issued during the invasion makes one realize the deep gap that those events have created between the authorities and their policies on the one hand, and the British public on the other
And Harris concluded that the deceptions through which the government participated in the Iraq War may have faded, but their effects continue. He said that the Iraq War tarnished the political record of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and destroyed the Labour Party’s vision of Britain as a young and confident state. He also referred to the illusions of “liberal intervention” that turned to ashes and deepened the popular anger and anxiety that eventually led to Britain’s exit from the European Union