By Yu Zhixiao, Xinhua
Beijing : High Iraqi civilian casualties over the past five years after the U.S.-led coalition forces toppled the Saddam Hussein regime have tarnished the U.S.-imposed democracy in the volatile country, analysts say.
The coalition troops started an invasion into Iraq by bombarding the Iraqi capital Baghdad on March 20, 2003, and swiftly brought down the administration of Saddam Hussein, who was earmarked as a cruel dictator by the United States and some other Western countries.
Just after the regime’s collapse, Iraqis and many people across the world were seemingly confident Iraq would quickly become a stable and democratic country.
Many Iraqis even regarded the U.S. government as their savior, which could ensure them a promising and bright future.
The Bush administration, by skirting the United Nations, launched the war on the pretext that Saddam owned stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, which U.S. President George W. Bush said may be used to carry out terrorist attacks against his country. But such weapons never have been found.
Then Bush defended the Iraq war by saying his country shoulder responsibilities to bring democracy to the once dictatorial country.
Yes, Iraq held general elections early 2005. Yes, Iraq adopted a new constitution in October, 2005. And yes, Western-style democracy has been established in Iraq, which has a long history and an admirable civilization. Moreover, Saddam was captured in December, 2003, and hanged one year later.
However, a bright future and a better life, which were highly expected by Iraqis five years ago, have not materialized.
On the contrary, suicide bombings, ethnic clashes, and high civilian casualties have become part of Iraqis’ daily life, critically overshadowing the U.S.-imposed democracy in Iraq.
It is absolutely unconvincing to say the U.S-imposed democracy in Iraq is a big success despite huge casualties and endless violence there, observers say.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed and millions displaced over the past five years. In a latest incident, a suicide bombing on Monday killed 43 people and injured 70 others in a busy coffee shop in Iraq’s Shiite holy city of Karbala.
Ethic distrust and resentment are seemingly still spreading in the country. On Tuesday, a conference to reconcile Iraq’s rival political parties fell apart almost as soon as it began in Baghdad, with influential Sunni and Shiite blocs pulling out in protest.
The Iraq war also has caused huge losses to the United States. Nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq, and the U.S. government has paid some 500 billion U.S. dollars for the war.
And the voices of opposing the war have never died out.
Anti-war activists will carry out a series of protests across the United States on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Hundreds of protests, rallies and marches will be staged in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and other cities to demand a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and to mourn those killed during the war.
On Monday, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outlined her plan to withdraw troops from Iraq and renewed her criticism of President Bush’s war policy in Iraq.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month showed that 63 percent of Americans felt the war was not worth fighting.