Strike Against Iraq: Why Now?

The most pressing question about the air strike - its motive and its purpose - is, "Why now?"

For the past decade, the U.S. has been roaming Iraqi skies in conjunction with its closest European ally, Great Britain - hitting every now and then in defense of the no-fly zone, so they claim. However, this latest hit was the gravest military mission taken against Iraqi defenses in the last two years - killing two and injuring more than twenty civilians, according to Iraqi estimates.

Pentagon officials declared that the strike was in response to an increasing Iraqi defiance of their forces, which are supposedly keeping an eye on Saddam's military machine and checking him from attacking neighboring oil rich countries and, so they claim, his own people in the North and the South. Officials said that in the past two months, attacks on patrolling planes has been on the rise, so they were sending a response loud and clear.

Does that mean that the Iraqi and American presidents have been testing each other? It is quite possible, but it is also possible that the American president was reinforcing his ties with the two major Arab Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which the strikes are presumably defending.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was the best thing the U.S. could hope for in the turbulent Middle East region - not only did it shatter hopes for Arab unity, but it provided the reason for a real and almost permanent U.S. military existence in the area, welcomed and paid for by two of the richest countries in the region, one of which even holds a religious significance for all Muslims.

However, because the U.S. does not regard Saddam as totally mean - he was once one of its closest allies in the region as he helped keep Iran and other Gulf states on their toes - the operations against him run short of toppling him. U.S. promises of help and aid to the Iraqi opposition disappeared into thin air following the liberation of Kuwait; they were left on their own trying to bring him down. In several instances, the U.S. turned a blind eye on Saddam as his raids against the Kurdish opposition in the North crushed them.

Western allies have used two more procedures to control and monitor future Iraqi movement: the weapons inspection and the economic sanctions.

The inspection program wasted enormous resources, both human and financial, and at the end, appeared to be a big joke. The western countries that backed it assumed that Saddam is building weapons of mass destruction; however, after a decade-long search, they were unable to trace their whereabouts - let alone, fully dismantle them. The only success inspectors had was in getting information from his former son-in-law who defected to Jordan, and then returned to Baghdad to be terminated. That whole situation remains an unsolved mystery by itself.

The economic sanctions, imposed under the illusion that it would drive the Iraqi people to revolt against their president, has only strengthened his fist. They are creating a generation of undernourished innocent civilians, and have resulted in the death of close to a half-million children under the age of five due to lack of medical care and food.

At the end of the twentieth century, Saddam seemed even more defiant and victorious - considering all the effort that had been exerted to defeat him. And additional western nations have broken ranks with the U.S. for continuing to enforce sanctions that are only punishing a whole nation of people.

The second half of last year witnessed an increasing breach of the U.N. sanctions and embargo against Iraq. Several European nations - including Russia, France, and Italy resumed flights to Baghdad; China and most Arab countries - including Syria, its ideological rival - sent more and more flights in solidarity with the Iraqi people. Domestic civilian flights were resumed, and even Iran, Iraq's long-time foe, started talks with Iraqi officials.

The developments within Palestine gave the regime a golden opportunity to get back in good within the Arab and Islamic arenas. Saddam has weakened his isolation through the major financial assistance he has provided to the Intifadah. Amid increasing deterioration in the occupied territories; the stumbling peace process under Barak; and growing resentment in Arab countries toward Sharon as the new Israeli prime Minister because of his role in massacring civilians in Lebanon, the Arab countries are clearly not seeing Saddam as much of a threat.

Regarded as leading a more pragmatic approach to dealing with the mounting international opposition to the sanctions, Secretary of State Collin Powell addressed the U.N. about the situation in Iraq and how the civilians are paying for the sanctions rather than the leadership. His speech was criticized by some within American media for being too soft, and different from the rhetoric of the Bush election campaign during which he promised to stand up to the Middle East villain, according to the media.

The strike, which came just days after Powell's statements and prior to his upcoming initial visit to the Middle East, seemed to serve as a reminder to the U.S.'s Arab friends in the gulf that the U.S. would continue policing the region to protect them from the ruthless dictator.

Its timing serves even better; since it preceded the Arab summit to be held in March, the strike is already creating controversy over Iraq's future role. The special relationship between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the U.S. will naturally impact their position and that of other Gulf countries as well, and put other issues besides the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the summit's agenda.

Despite popular resentment and anger towards the U.S. strike in most Arab countries, those voices will not have much of a say-so in the decision-making processes of these non-democratic countries - particularly those that the U.S. considers to be allies.

The strike could possibly harm the return of Iraq to the fold of Arab countries, and hinder more favorable foreign policy towards the country for some time, but it will also hurt American interests in the long run as it is building greater defiance to its presence in the region.

However, to the American administration, it appeared to be the right timing.