If Washington's war on Iraq was intended to extend American hegemony across the entire world and demonstrate that no one can oppose the US's will, then the war was a failure. For it has confirmed an altogether different phenomenon, namely the willingness of people around the world to resist this superpower more forcefully than ever before. Popular demonstrations occurred on an unprecedented scale to protest the US attempt to impose its will on the rest of the world through the war. Most governments, too, expressed their opposition to US unilateralism.
This was clearly reflected in the UN Security Council, the EU and NATO. Several countries individually resisted American policy, like Turkey, which persisted in its oppositional stance despite the massive pressure to which it was subject. Similarly, in Iraq, some thought the people's desire to be rid of Saddam's regime would make them condone or at least accept an American presence in the country, and perhaps cooperate with the American forces in forming the new government Washington envisions. Yet no sooner had they recovered from the shock of Saddam's fall than Iraqis began to declare their views openly and unequivocally: demonstrations were staged to announce opposition not only to Saddam but to the Americans as well. It is now clear that the continued presence of American forces in Iraq will give rise to a powerful resistance movement of which we have witnessed only the beginning.
If Washington's war on Iraq was intended to extend American hegemony across the entire world and demonstrate that no one can oppose the US's will, then the war was a failure. For it has confirmed an altogether different phenomenon, namely the willingness of people around the world to resist this superpower more forcefully than ever before. Popular demonstrations occurred on an unprecedented scale to protest the US attempt to impose its will on the rest of the world through the war. Most governments, too, expressed their opposition to US unilateralism.
