London, Dec 11, IRNA , A senior British columnist has described the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq in 2009 as a “dishonour and the end of the most shameful and disastrous episode in modern British history”.
Seumas Milne, from the Guardian, said on Thursday that the Iraq war was in clear violation of international laws.
Branded only last month by Lord Bingham, until recently Britain’s most senior law lord, as a “serious violation of international law, the aggression against Iraq has not only devastated an entire country and left hundreds of thousands dead – it has also been a political and military humiliation for the invading powers.”
Seumas criticised the British government for accompanying the “extreme and reckless US administration” in the 2003 war on Iraq, saying “the war has been a national disgrace which has damaged the country’s international standing.”
He said British forces will leave behind them an “accumulation of evidence” of prisoner beatings, torture and killings, for which only one low-ranking soldier, Corporal Payne, has so far been singled out for punishment.
“It would be far better both for Britain and Iraq if there were a clean break and a full withdrawal of all British forces in preparation for a comprehensive public inquiry into the Iraq catastrophe.” Referring to the status of forces agreement signed last month between the United States and Iraq, Seumas said it has been hailed by some as an unequivocal deal to end the occupation within three years.
“There’s no doubt that Iraq’s Green Zone government extracted significant concessions from US negotiators to the blanket occupation licence in the original text. The final agreement does indeed stipulate that US forces will withdraw by the end of 2011, that combat troops will leave urban areas by July next year, contractors and off- duty US soldiers will be subject to Iraqi law and that Iraqi territory cannot be used to attack other countries.”
Seumas highlighted the opposition of Iraqi people to the US security pact, saying it reflects the intensity of both Iraqi and American public opposition to the occupation and the continuing Iraqi resistance war of attrition against US forces.
“Even so, the deal was denounced as treason – for legitimising foreign occupation and bases – by the supporters of the popular Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, resistance groups and the influential Association of Muslim Scholars.”
Referring to the challenges faced by Obama, Seumas suggested that he deliver on Iraq, negotiate in Afghanistan and engage with Iran.
“Only in this case, Obama will start to justify the global hopes that have been invested in him. If not, he will lay the ground for a new phase of conflict with the rest of the world.”