Iraq Burning

The American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was part of a larger project to pacify the Middle East by destroying nationalist regimes, initially that of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, that might pose a threat to American dominance. This imperial project was given a cloak of legitimacy by alleging that Iraq harbored ‘weapons of mass destruction’ (WMDs), which it intended to make available to ‘terrorists’ who would attack the US and its allies. Iraq, along with other states opposing American dominance, was targeted for destabilization, occupation, regime change, and destruction of national political and cultural institutions and civil society. The enduring and destructive consequences of this imperial project are documented in several reports issued by international and non-governmental organizations.