Apology For The Iraq War: The Disrespect, Humiliation And Dishonor Of War

By Mary Hamer, Countercurrents.org

*DISRESPECT: I am going to take a new approach to War & discuss the Disrespect, Humiliation & Dishonor of the Iraq War. I will discuss how War causes not only physical injuries, but war causes mental injuries such as disrespect for & humiliation of the people. Guns & bombs cause physical injuries, but disrespect & humiliation cause spiritual wounds. Why do people including governments & the media usually talk about the Weapons & noises of war & Yet not many people talk about the disrespect of war? You can see & hear & smell & taste the Hard violence of guns & exploding bombs; But disrespect is Soft, silent violence; You can not see or hear or touch disrespect – But you can Feel it’s negative, destructive force. Gun violence kills the physical body. But disrespect kills the mind & the spirit. In this paper I will discuss the Disrespect, Humiliation & Dishonor of the Iraq War that has occurred quietly in between the gunshots & the bomb explosions.

*HUMILIATION & WAR: How relevant is Humiliation to War? “An increasing number of scholars see humiliation as the number one cause of violence & suffering around the world. According to humiliation scholar Evelin Lindner, the power of humiliation to destroy everyone & everything in it’s path makes it ‘the nuclear bomb of the emotions’”. (1) How does the Soft violence of Humiliation compare to the Hard violence of War? An old Somali proverb states: “Humiliation is worse than death; In times of war, words of humiliation hurt more than bullets”. (2)

*DANGEROUS INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES of HUMILIATION:

*JIHAD: “Thomas Freeman … pinpoints ‘Humiliation’ & ‘Dignity’ as being the issue in the Middle East & the driving force behind Jihad”. (3)

*REVENGE: “Humiliation without hope leads to despair & to the nurturing of a yearning for revenge that can easily turn into an impulse toward destruction”. (4)

*TERRORISM: Jessica Stern has studied people who join terrorist groups & she has observed that “They start out feeling humiliated, enraged that they are viewed by some Other as second class”. Stern explains regarding the causes of terrorism: “The variable that came up most frequently was not poverty or human rights abuses but perceived humiliation”. (5) (6)

PURPOSE: This essay on the Iraq war is Not about Criminalizing those responsible for the 2003 invasion & occupation of Iraq; Rather this paper Is about acknowledging the Ethical issues, the Human rights violations & the Negative Outcome of the Iraq war including: the Pain & suffering and the Disrespect of this aggressive act. This article is Not about indicting people for War Crimes or conducting a Nuremberg trial; Rather this essay is about acknowledging the failures of this Tragic historical event. This article is Not about judging U.S. troops – I highly respect the American troops; Rather this essay Is about the failures in leadership. Ultimately, this paper is an Apology for the Iraq War.

The Key Sections to this paper are: I. Definition of Humiliation & Disrespect. II. Illegal War of Aggression. III. Shock & Awe in Iraq. IV. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Deaths & Other Costs of War. V. Depleted Uranium. VI. Abu Ghraib. VII. The Iraq War: Facts –vs- Fiction. VIII. The Status of Iraq circa 2010. IX. The Saddam Hussein Hanging. X. Final Comments.

I. DISRESPECT & HUMILIATION:

*DEFINITION of DISRESPECT: The definition of Disrespect includes: A rude expression intended to offend or hurt, language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate, communication that belittles, to hold in contempt (the attitude or feeling of a person towards a person or thing that he considers worthless or despicable, the state of being despised or dishonored), to violate (to treat irreverently), to offend (to cause displeasure, anger, resentment or wounded feelings in). (7)

*DEFINITION of HUMILIATION:

*LINDNER: Lindner defines Humiliation as: “The enforced lowering of a person or group, a process of subjugation that damages or strips away their pride, honor or dignity”. “Humiliation means to be placed against one’s will in a situation where one is made to feel inferior”. (8) Lindner states: To be humiliated is to be placed against your will & often in a deeply hurtful way … It often involves acts of force. At it’s heart is the idea of pinning down, putting down or holding to the ground … Made helpless”. (9)

*The Emotional Competency website includes the following definitions & forms of humiliation: To “Fail to recognize the dignity of another”, “Loss of honor & induce(d) shame”, “Assault, attack or injury”, “Denigration of a person’s values, beliefs, heritage, race”, “Being forced to submit” to a dominant force, “Violating … human rights”, “Diminished competency” resulting from being disabled” etc., “Diminished resources” resulting from being defrauded” etc., “Having safety or security reduced”, “Dismissing, discounting or silencing your story”, etc.. (10)

*”Humiliations are always communicative acts; They communicate the radical disrespect of an actor towards the addressee” (11)

*”Humiliation is the emotional response of people to their perception that they have been unfairly lowered, debased, degraded, ‘dised’ or reduced to inferior positions in situations in which they feel powerless”. (12)

*HUMILIATION & OPPRESSION: “Humiliation of one person (over) another is often used as a way of asserting power over them & (it) is a common form of oppression (e.g.) bullying or abuse used in a police, military or prison context during legal interrogations or illegal torture sessions”. Humiliation “Can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment … or by embarrassment”. (13) ”Humiliation involves … unequal power in a relationship” where a person is treated inferiorly. “People in power use humiliation as a form of social control; It is a common tool of oppression.” (14)

*CONSEQUENCES: The personal consequences of humiliation include: “Academic failure, low self-esteem, social isolation, underachievement, delinquency, abuse, depression, etc.. (15) Hartling states “It appears that the social pain induced by humiliation makes individuals more likely to engage in aggressive behavior or (it makes them) more vulnerable to depression”. (16)

*RESPECT –vs- DISRESPECT & HUMILIATION: “The opposite of humiliation is respect”. “Treating people with respect is key to conflict transformation. When they are denied respect, people tend to react negatively, creating conflicts or escalating existing ones.” (17)

*MISSION STATEMENT: I will now analyze the Iraq War in terms of these definitions of Disrespect & Humiliation. Note: I will use the terms humiliation & disrespect interchangeably in this essay – Since there is some overlap in their meaning. (18) Also, while the Hard crimes of war including killing are tragic, it is the Soft crimes of disrespect & humiliation that are the hidden, core element of War. It is humiliation & disrespect that form the fractal units of violence that by the butterfly effect manifest themselves in the more visible forms of aggression such as: guns, bombs, killing & war.

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