{"id":1029640,"date":"2023-03-18T13:34:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T13:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/?p=12723"},"modified":"2023-03-18T13:34:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T13:34:59","slug":"stop-calling-the-iraq-war-a-mistake-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/03\/18\/stop-calling-the-iraq-war-a-mistake-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Calling The Iraq War A \u2018Mistake\u2019: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading by Tim Foley:<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\n\u2756<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Stop calling the Iraq War a “mistake”. When you make a mistake, you make changes to ensure that mistake is not repeated. Nobody responsible for that invasion suffered any consequences of any kind, zero policy changes were made, and the unipolarist ideology which led to it has become more entrenched than ever.<\/p>\n

If the invasion of Iraq was a “mistake”, western government officials would be residing in prison cells at The Hague, countless pundits and journalists would now be working behind cash registers in retail shops, and US foreign policy would have undergone a massive, dramatic overhaul.\u00a0Instead the exact opposite has happened \u2014 the western officials who launched the Iraq War are esteemed members of elite society, the pundits and journalists who manufactured consent for it are at the top of their field, and securing US unipolar hegemony by any means necessary is the accepted status quo norm in mainstream politics.<\/p>\n

This is because the Iraq War was not a “mistake”. It was a cold, calculated decision which had precisely the effects it was intended to have: the advancement of western energy interests, greater geostrategic control, and the expansion of the US war machine in key geostrategic regions.\u00a0Someone who makes a “mistake” doesn’t get everything they always wanted as a result and suffer zero consequences for the damage it caused. That’s what happens to someone who took a deliberate, calculated action in their own interests.<\/p>\n

You can only pretend the Iraq War was a “mistake” if you accept the official reasons for starting it: getting those WMDs, spreading freedom and democracy to those poor Iraqis who we love, and making the Middle East a safer and more peaceful place for everyone. It’s not okay for grown adults in the year 2023 to believe those were the real intentions behind the invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

If the invasion of Iraq was a mistake there would have been changes put in place to make sure nothing like it ever happens again. Those changes were never made because they thoroughly intend to do similar things in the future.<\/p>\n\u2756<\/p>\n

class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\"><\/p>\nImagine writing this line and thinking it's normal. https:\/\/t.co\/Z8ngyNWbiX<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/2WGh8CR2xi<\/a><\/p>\n

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) March 11, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n