Military Deployment to Iraq? Step by step, New Zealand appears to be being drawn into contributing military forces to fight in Iraq. This is happening before the issue has been properly debated and without a full and open analysis of the consequences of New Zealand becoming involved. What ISIS is doing is unacceptable. But so too are the actions of Boko Haram in West Africa, unwarranted executions in Saudi Arabia, the slaughter of kids in Gaza, murders by Shia militias in Baghdad and so on. Why is action by us against ISIS more important than action against other evils in the world including the spread of Ebola? My specific concern with Western-led military action against ISIS is that it may be exactly what ISIS seeks to provoke us into doing. What better way for ISIS to attract more jihadis from around the world and consolidate local Sunni support for its cause? Western interventions in the region have generally ended in unintended consequences and disaster. Support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980s contributed to the rise of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The US supported Saddam Hussein in his war with Iran until the invasion of Kuwait. Invasion of Iraq to dispose of Saddam cost hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and led to the current disaster in Iraq. Western air strikes in Libya in 2011 created an even worse situation of conflict, terror and lawlessness in that country. Have we considered the lessons of history and learned from our mistakes? Maybe we should look to other countries alongside New Zealand at the meeting with President Obama yesterday to be the first to take the initiative against ISIS. ISIS gets its funding and weaponry from within Saudi Arabia, an American ally. Turkey, a NATO ally, has supported ISIS against al Assad in Syria. President Obama warned that the conflict with ISIS will be a long one. What grounds are there for believing that New Zealand’s investment in lives and money through military action against ISIS will achieve the objective of defeating it? Will Western action isolate ISIS or attract more support for it? Is there an exit strategy? What are the risks to New Zealand service personnel and New Zealand civilians in the region and are they acceptable? Until John Key can answer those questions we should be wary about where he seems to be leading us.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 03:58:35 +0000
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