This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to theechidna.com.au
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We had known for weeks it was coming. All the signs were there. The tough talk. The ultimatums and spurious accusations. The belligerent posturing and the troop buildup. But when it arrived, we were still shocked and awestruck.
First, the missiles rained down. Launched from hundreds of kilometres away, they slammed into government buildings in the heart of the city, lighting up the night sky in a grotesque pyrotechnical display.
The next day the tanks and armoured vehicles rolled over the border, their pennants fluttering in the predawn breeze. The invasion was underway as the world looked on in stunned horror. In many countries, there was disgust that one nation's sovereignty was obliterated by another.
This special military operation was not the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was Operation Iraqi Freedom, launched 20 years by the United States and its Coalition of the Willing, which included Australia.
For those who watched it play out on their TV screens, its imagery is seared into memory. The burning oil fields, the highway of death littered with burnt-out vehicles and scorched corpses, the bitter street fighting in Fallujah, the car bombs, the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. George Bush's triumphant "Mission accomplished" moment in May 2003, even though the war and subsequent insurgency would stretch out for years, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
Also etched in memory is the revelation the reason for the invasion and occupation was utterly false. Iraq was not building an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction as alleged. That accusation had been based on a lie. UN weapons inspector had searched prior to the invasion and found none. After the invasion, the occupying Americans could find none either.
The other objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom was to topple Saddam Hussein, just as Putin's was regime change in Kyiv.
Some argue the Iraq invasion was just as illegal as Putin's. But, worse than that, is that it might just have encouraged him on his course of military adventurism, starting with the seizure of Crimea in 2014 and ending in last year's invasion of Ukraine. If they can do it, why can't I?
There are lessons from the Iraq adventure which seem to have fallen on deaf ears two decades later, especially in Moscow.
Gideon Rose, the former editor of Foreign Affairs, the esteemed journal of international relations, writes in his 2010 book How Wars End: "The Bush team fully expected the war to be quick, cheap, and successful ... But instead of being able to flip its investment quickly for a nice profit, parlaying the proceeds into new ventures elsewhere, the administration found itself trapped in a quagmire, hemorrhaging blood and treasure."
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
The 20th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom has been drowned out somewhat by other pressing issues, like AUKUS, the cost of living, bank failures and the footy season.
But we should not forget it, nor ignore the role our country played. As we deepen our alliance with the two main invaders - the US and the UK - Operation Iraqi Freedom ought to remind us to take everything they say with a healthy dose of salt.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Did you support the US invasion of Iraq? Did you change your mind when it became clear there were no weapons of mass destruction? What lessons should we draw from the Iraq War? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Legislation banning the Nazi salute in Victoria will be fast-tracked in state parliament but a change could still be months away. Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes confirmed the government would expand legislation banning the Nazi swastika to include the salute. It comes after National Socialist Movement members repeatedly performed the salute on the steps of the Victorian parliament on Saturday at an anti-transgender rights rally.
- A former US navy boss says Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines will help protect trade routes and undersea communication cables against Chinese aggression. Former US navy secretary Richard Spencer says western nations need a presence in the area to deter a possible attack.
- A senior Reserve Bank official says Australia's banks are "unquestionably strong" despite financial stability concerns rocking global markets. The comment by Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor for financial markets Christopher Kent comes in the wake of UBS Group's takeover of troubled rival Credit Suisse.
THEY SAID IT: "No one starts a war - or rather no one in his senses ought to do so - without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it." - Carl von Clausewitz
YOU SAID IT: The 15-minute city concept - the latest target of addled conspiracy theorists - and what makes a city liveable.
Gary says: "A liveable city has all the services you require and public transport to get there and back in a reasonable time and cost."
Brad from "the forgotten region of NSW", the South Coast, says: "The short answer to your question would be 'human connection', as your opening scenario clearly described. We are not recovering from lockdown-mindset quickly enough, assuming that online is the new normal and people are to be distrusted. Sydney's primacy (where all roads and services lead to the capital) is still the problem. What did happen to the 3 Cities Development Plan? Fifteen-minute hub-towns with actual public transport connecting further according to need, could be delivered as planned for. Sigh!"
Ian says: "I first heard of the neighbourhood city when Plan Melbourne was released in 2014 by the evil genius known as Denis Napthine. Copies of this document are still circulating if you know where to look (the Planning section of the Victorian government website). Back then Melbourne was going to be divided into 20-minute neighbourhoods, but clearly the noose is being tightened to 15 minutes by Daniel Andrews. That these two social engineers are from both the Liberal and Labor parties just goes to show that they are working to a common hidden agenda. Luckily I escaped the Melbourne suburbs five years ago for regional NSW, where we are well served by a number of fruit loop candidates in the forthcoming state election. I now have the freedom to drive for 40 to 45 minutes to the nearest hospital or shopping centre and it only takes the ambulance an hour to get here."
Susan sings the praises of her hometown: "Armidale is a liveable city of 25,000. Parks, schools, airport, trains, university, conservatorium, sports, art galleries, hospital, theatre, music, new release cinema, cathedrals, cafes, good coffee, creeklands. Fifteen minutes will pretty well do it and we're surrounded by bush, farmlands, waterfalls, etc."
Graeme says: "When I read about the latest 15-minute-city conspiracy theory, I shake my head and wonder how it is possible that three billion years of evolution on earth has led us to this. Thanks, and keep up the good work."
Garry describes his liveable suburb: "I live on the edge of the lake. At the end of my street I turn right, I am in one LGA turn left and I am in another. I turn left and it is 10 minutes to Woolworths and basic shops and doctors etc. I turn right and it's 10 minutes to Coles and the doctors, chemist, etc. If I try for public transport there are four buses a day in total. If I want the rail it is 20 minutes by bus or car. Provided I don't want to leave far from where I am, my basic needs are all met with little vehicle traffic in my 2500-people suburb. It's a quiet but accessible area if you have a vehicle. In new subdivisions, people barely have room to park a car, no public transport and in many cases a 15-minute drive to the nearest main road then the link road then the highly congested highways and toll roads. I say no."
Roger from Ballina says the 15-minute concept has been around for a while: "In Sydney in the 1970s, competent professional engineers and town planners were trying to get the government to change towards those values - instead of developing at the short-term whim of developers. Obviously we got nowhere - as with 'not developing on flood plains'."