The list of such tragic events is virtually endless. But the tragedy is worsened by the failures and self-dealing of those who should have led.

In the year I spent in Iraq, my only preoccupation was doing whatever I could do to address the misfortunes of people in agony. That’s what led me to incur risks and tolerate logistical insanities that made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. For example, the Arab countries, which were so determined that I go immediately to Baghdad, withdrew security protection on the eve of my departure. I was expected to rely on Iraqi security with all of the dangers that would have entailed. The Arabs of the Iraqi government (Shia and Sunni) never lifted a finger to protect or help the representative of the Arab League, an irony that seemed lost on my sponsors. The Kurds were the only ones who did help. I was sent to Iraq without even the most rudimentary protection. Despite uncounted threats and dangers, it took the Arab League seven months to provide an armoured car. A European colleague initiated a security audit on my behalf, which found my conditions almost suicidal. It is telling that the Secretary-General never thought it necessary to give me a single call of support. No international insurance company would cover me. None of those contacted in New York and London by my friend, Ron Bruder, was willing to run the risk of insuring me. The only company that would insure me was in Cairo and it insisted that the policy not cover kidnapping or untimely death. At least, I had the illusion of being insured.

I am satisfied that I succeeded in conducting an open dialogue with all parties in Iraq, save the Al Qaeda, from politicians and religious leaders to tribal leaders, and representatives of civil society. I met with members of the government and the opposition, inside the political process and out. But gaining their respect was not enough. If national reconciliation was ever to be reached, it would only happen with serious investment of political will by all concerned, not least the Arab League and its member-states, who ignored numerous opportunities to make a positive difference. I ran personal risks because ordinary Iraqis desperately needed help. But when it became clear that my sponsors were uninterested, I had to acknowledge reality. For my own sake and that of my family, I had to stop the mission, which I did. I received no thanks from my employers. Despite the Secretary-General’s confidence that he would soon appoint a successor, it is 10 months after my departure and he is still searching.

The invasion of Iraq, launched in certitude, continues in disarray. Has the U.S. government reached the point of no return in Iraq? Has the administration discredited democracy in a region that so desperately needs it? It seems quite unlikely that in the course of the remaining months of the Bush presidency, the President will be able to regain enough moral standing at home and abroad to convince his own country that it still has a constructive role to play and to persuade the people of the region to believe in the integrity of the U.S. policies.

Certain Arab governments have profited from the American nightmare in Iraq to evade the New Middle East Project and its strong pressures to democratise. The Bush administration has had to postpone this project sine die. Meanwhile, Iranian influence is becoming more and more palpable. Iraq has become a winning card in the hands of the theocratic regime of Tehran. As the French saying goes, ‘little by little the bird makes its nest.’

The consequences are worst for ordinary Iraqis. One-third of the Iraqi people have been forced to leave their homes and estimates of the innocent lives lost surpass more than half a million. Meanwhile, the centuries-old social mosaic of Iraq has been destroyed. The tragedy of Iraq’s people seems of little consequence to its phantom government and self-serving elites, to its self-interested neighbours and its uncomprehending occupiers. Unfortunately, spilled water cannot be retrieved from desert sands.

(Mokhtar Lamani is IDRC Senior visiting fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He is the former Arab League Ambassador to Iraq. mlamani@cigionline.org)

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