This War has Barely Begun

Letter to Cambridge Evening News, 19th April 2003: 6.

The war has barely begun

From Nick Megoran, Fellow, Sidney Sussex College.

THE comparison of the toppling of Saddam's statue by U.S. marines with the breaching of the Berlin Wall by mass non-violent citizen protest is grossly misplaced.

The only citizens' uprisings to have occurred over the Iraq war were the massive worldwide demonstrations against the invasion, which Mr Blair ignored.

A better comparison is with 1930s Europe.

When Hitler and Mussolini'sforces "liberated" Czechoslovakia and Albania in pre-emptive "regime changes", they were greeted by cheering crowds.

In sharp contrast, when U.S. and British forces "liberated" Baghdad and Basra, small crowds turned out to cheer and large crowds to loot.

And what next?

When U.S. forces entered Lebanon and British forces Northern Ireland they were welcomed with more enthusiasm than they have so far encountered in Iraq, yet in both cases this quickly turned to resentment and violent resistance.

Even in the early stage in Iraq we saw vocal protests and violent attacks by citizens on the occupying forces.

Far from being over, I fear that this illegal and immoral war has barely even begun.