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Journalism of Courage
A story, no matter how apocryphal, has long been in circulation. It seeks to account for US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld’s first hours upon hearing of airplanes crashing into New York City and Washington, DC landmarks that September 11 morning in 2001. Even as he was being evacuated out of the Pentagon, he was jotting his response: ‘‘Best info fast. Judge whether good enough to hit S.H. at the same time. Not only UBL. Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not.’’ In the days, weeks and years ahead, the Bush administration repeatedly dipped into a deep well of post-9/11 global goodwill and support to squeeze out a case for the invasion of Iraq. Today, now that the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks has indicated that there is no evidence of any link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, America’s case for war on Iraq stands drastically discredited. And, pending the return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, this demands a clear and detailed statement from Washington about its commitment to the reconstruction and normalisation process in Iraq.
In any case, the Saddam-Al-Qaeda link has throughout appeared rather tenuous. Even in the prelude to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, a blur of justifications was proffered. Saddam Hussein, it was said, was harbouring weapons of mass destruction. Hindsight is not always 20:20 — and now that US-led occupying forces have failed to locate any WMDs, it is admittedly a little difficult to capture the fear the possibility of WMDs induced. The Al-Qaeda and 9/11 angle, even if one discounts reports of the Rumsfeld note, inspired no conviction. Already key Bush aides like Richard Clarke, his former anti-terrorism advisor, have broken ranks and cast grave doubts about any intelligence support for that theory. However, through their vehement assertions about the “clear and present” dangers posed by Saddam, it was hard to forget the neocon obsession with Iraq during their wilderness years when Bill Clinton was in power. Intervention in Iraq, they determined, was important to announce US power to the world.
Today, America’s power is not in doubt. Instead, the manner in which it deploys its power and the ends to which it commits its resources and military are in question. Iraq will test the depth of “American values”.
