http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/growing-up-with-iraq-8542599.html
AT the close of the Iraq War, Tony Blair visited troops on
active service and declared that the supposed triumph in the Middle East was a
momentous part of our generation’s history. “When people look back on this
time, and look back on this conflict, I honestly believe that they will see
this as one of the finer moments of our century” he said with confidence.
Riding high on the wave of a euphoric sense of victory, the Prime Minister
believed that he had proved doubters of the Iraq War wrong: his deliberately
obstinate stance in the face of record protesters in the months preceding the
war had apparently paid off. But not all victories should be measured by the
physical change.
A decade after the conflict began, we are still living with
its legacy, and feel the force of threat even more every day. A younger
generation are now becoming part of the electorate; a generation for whom the
Iraq War was their first engagement with pressing and current world issues. For
those in their late teens and early 20s, this is their first memory of war.
Far from the prescribed school curriculum of World War II
and the great British and Allied victories of the twentieth century, here was a
confusing and confounding picture of modern warfare. Two of my clearest
childhood memories revolve around the ‘war on terror’: the attacks of 9/11, and
the opening bombardment on Baghdad some ten years ago. The former event I did
not fully appreciate at the time, but remember my mother frantically trying to
find a channel with children’s shows to distract our attention whilst she
watched upstairs. The later seemed a rite of passage: I watched the images aged
just ten, with my parents alongside.
Barrage
The picture was bewildering. How were we the good guys if we
were launching such a massive barrage of destruction on this weaker nation? As
a child in primary school, it was too much to comprehend.
Intervening years of destruction, violence and chaos
followed, and I found myself questioning Blair’s resounding sentiment of
success. Did we feel any safer in this modern world? Alongside dwindling
support for the Iraq War grew increasing resentment and discontent. I came to
the belief that this had been an exercise in vanity and massaging the egos of
world superpowers.
As a country, we have never felt less safe as a result of
British action abroad. A recent YouGov poll, carried out to coincide with the
ten year anniversary of the Iraq invasion, reveals that a majority (56 per
cent) of the public share this believe that the war has increased the risk
of a terrorist attack on the UK, while less than a tenth of participants (7 per
cent) believed it had decreased the risk of attack. It is a similar story in
the US, where almost half (48 per cent) of people believe the conflict has
not contributed to the long term security of the country.
In his ‘Discouraging Citizenship?’ paper, Stephen
Cushion identified that “the 10–14 year old age group were the most anti-war
(62 per cent opposing it), followed by the 19–22 group (47 per cent).” back in
2003. The massive 62 per cent against war are now feeling the impact of an
oblivious government in which they had no say.
Apathy
When an estimated two million people marched on Westminster
in 2003, placards of the mass anti-war demonstration read “Not in My Name”. The
current distrust of young adults is easy to explain. This war we knew little about
was waged in our name, and now we are the generation that have to deal with the
consequences in a supposedly more threatening world.
Disengagement with politics does not stem from youth apathy
as many assume, it sprouts from this cultural moment of war, a major milestone
in public consciousness and disillusionment with the political monopoly. As the
first people to grow up absorbing information from the TV, internet websites
and social media, our fears and feelings, our misconceptions and misunderstandings
of war are reinforced through every medium. For all the supposed benefits, we
still feel less and less safe.
In his inauguration speech for his second term of office at
the White House, Barack Obama announced that “a decade of war is now
ending.” Withdrawing troops is not the end of the war however. While
Western democracies may believe they have won a battle, the war on terror
continues for those who are forced to live in the aftermath. Even if you are
too young to remember the demonstrations in London, or the initial invasion,
the cynicism is likely to have seeped in from reports of terrorist threats, 7/7
and elder siblings. Far from the glory of Tony Blair’s victory speech, this war
will perhaps now be remembered as the finest example of the century’s
incompetence and its legacy now overshadows the young.
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