How American Intervention in the Middle East Undermined Foreign Policy Goals: Part 2

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Allegedly in response to the claims the the Iraqi government possessed weapons of mass destruction and partially as a form of retaliation for 9/11 — nevermind that of the 19 hijackers most were from Saudi Arabia — America swooped in to depose Saddam Hussein. But the invasion catastrophically failed in the sense that by the time the last American troops left Iraqi soil in 2014, America had not succeeded in establishing a stable state, as evidenced by the rise of terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.

America’s intervention magnified the level of violence for the five years after the invasion, sparking other conflicts and creating a justification for the increased effort in the Afghanistan War. Although America successfully removed the Taliban from the government, American troops committed several war crimes and increased anti-Western sentiment, leading to the potential of a Taliban resurgence. But the far more devastating impact of the war was that it destabilized the neighboring Pakistan, a nuclear state, by creating a Taliban faction there that threatens the weak government and may have a chance at obtaining nuclear warheads.

In the meantime — in 2011 — the Arab Spring, a series of political uprisings, protests, and revolts, erupted. America, of course, intervened by sending ground troops to Libya in an attempt to protect human rights. But American airstrikes facilitated a massive rebel retaliation which took over the government and led to a state of sectarian violence and infighting among the rebel groups that led to an anarchy still dictates Libya’s political climate today.

Even more, the deadliest result that the Arab Spring led to was the Syrian Civil War. Having killed more than 450,000 Syrians since its inception, protests in Tunisia and Egypt galvanized opposers of the Syrian government to peacefully protest. In response to the protests, Assad killed and incarcerated hundreds of protesters — an act that led to an American declaration of opposition against the Assad government. However, although American involvement was consistently limited — a caution Obama took so as not to disturb the geopolitical balance of power — in the form of airstrikes, American attacks still created even more anti-Western sentiment and have been practically futile in toppling the Assad regime.

The pattern is clear. American involvement in the Middle East has only galvanized terrorist groups and prolonged unnecessary conflicts, leading to a countless loss of lives. Though some policies — like Obama’s of caution — may be admirable, ultimately, all American policies to protect human rights or spread democracy in the Middle East have empirically failed.

Sources:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/syria-civil-war-explained-160505084119966.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/middle-east-egypt-us-policy/409537/

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/08/25/341892606/america-s-middle-east-scorecard-many-interventions-few-successes

https://www.thoughtco.com/us-and-middle-east-since-1945-2353681