Manipulation of American National Interest

Last October (2011), President Obama announced that all American troopers in Iraq would be brought back to the U.S. by the end of 2011. This is according to an agreement by George W. Bush before the end of his term (2008).

Prior to President Obama’s withdrawal being announced, a few high-ranking American politicians traveled to Iraq to pressure the Iraqi government to permit a few thousand American troops to remain in Iraq, but the Iraqi government rejected that request.

Nevertheless, President Obama’s decision to withdraw American troops has been criticized by several Republicans in both the Senate and the House. The rationale used is that such a policy will endanger American national interest in the region. The frequent usage by politicians of the American national interest contributed so much to the confusion of the American public. Politicians always fail to mention what they mean by “American national interest”. If they are referring to oil, then they are misleading the American people as usual. Oil is a natural resource that belongs to states that produce it. It is their main and major natural resource to sell in the world market as an economic commodity. The revenue from the sale of oil is very critical to their survival and they can’t drink it. They pay the price which Wall Street’s influence and can get as much oil as they want.

American politicians should not cave to the demands and pressure applied on them by multinational corporations through their lobbyists that do the dirty work for them. These corporations view their own interests from a narrow angle, focusing on what is in it for them and not on how it will affect American national interest.

The U.S., which keeps advocating free enterprise, should also follow the humanistic approach on a global scale and this will ensure their national interest and provide them with free access to the natural resource of many foreign countries worldwide. Therefore, the use of force is not the answer.

Therefore, using vague concepts such as the American national interest to justify military invasion or occupation is nothing but an act of colonialism. Another rationale that was used by some American politicians is that the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq will open the door to the Iranian government dominating or influencing the Iraqi government’s affairs. Even if such rationale is possible, they should have thought of such a possibility before the invasion in 2003. Also, let me remind the naïve American politicians that Iraq under Saddam Hussein fought a proxy war on the behalf of the U.S. for eight years in the 1980s against Iran after they took more than 400 American hostages during the Carter administration. Furthermore, if American politicians were concerned about the dangers of Iran, then why did the American czar of Iraq, P. Brenner, dismantle the Iraqi army after the invasion in 2003?

Let me put it briefly and cleanly that American foreign policy, since the end of World War II, has been a major destabilizing factor in the Middle East in general and the Arab world in particular.

Nevertheless, Obama’s decision to withdraw all of the American troops from Iraq has been supported by the majority of the American people. According to a survey about the withdrawal of American troops that was conducted by CBS in October, three out of four people support President Obama’s decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq. Also, 77% of the respondents said that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a big mistake and was not worth the deaths of more than 4,450 American soldiers, as well as the financial cost, estimated to be around $2.5 – 3 trillion. Furthermore, 41% of the respondents said that even the removal of Saddam Hussein from power was not worth all of that sacrifice paid by the American people. American politicians in general do not have the courage to say that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was influenced by the lobbyists and supporters of both American oil companies and Israel.

It is also of interest to read in the U.S. press that the American troops leaving Iraq will be transferred into various states in the Gulf region. Negotiations have been taking place between the U.S. and Kuwaiti government to station 4,000 American soldiers in Kuwait. If this plan is implemented, the U.S. military forces in Kuwait will reach 20,000. Remember what President Obama said: all soldiers in Iraq will be back home before the end of 2011.