Shock and war: Iraq twenty years later
By BBC Radio 4, presented by Gordon Corera
Podcast, 2023
In his new podcast series ‘Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years On’, BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera attempts to answer a question that politicians, journalists and concerned citizens have been pondering for the past two decades: how exactly has Britain found itself embroiled in such a widely hated and largely unsuccessful conflict in Iraq? Although Corera does not find an easy answer, the journey, as the platitude goes, is more interesting. And in this regard, Corera does not disappoint. Over the course of ten twenty-minute episodes, he covers an impressive amount of ground, deftly navigating the listener between Anglo-American relations, the intelligence (or lack thereof) regarding Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the aftermath of the invasion on the ground in Iraq, and the domestic political consequences of becoming involved in a deeply unpopular and illegal war. It is produced by the BBC and can be heard online or over the airwaves on Radio 4 (upcoming times can be found here).
Those who tune in can expect a diverse and distinguished line-up of guests. The podcast itself is built around a mass of interviews conducted by Corera, which are woven together to form a historical narrative that takes the listener through the key events surrounding Britain’s involvement in the war, as told by those who were there. The illustrious guest list includes former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Luis Rueda, head of the CIA’s Iraq operations, Hans Blix, former head of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate UNMOVIC, and historian and member of the Chilcot inquiry Sir Lawrence Freedman. Some of the most powerful moments, however, come not from the big names, but appropriately from the Iraqis themselves. Salman Khairalla, Faiza Al-Araji and Marwah Abdulqader provide heartbreaking stories of a country enduring despotism, invasion and painful attempts at reconstruction, serving as an important reminder that the real impact of the war was not felt in Birmingham or Bristol, but rather in Baghdad and Basra.
Nevertheless, the British experience remains steadfastly at the forefront. The common thread throughout the series is a fascinating, lengthy interview with the man at the center of Britain’s involvement in Iraq: then Prime Minister Tony Blair. While each expert gives his view on what was really going on, Blair is repeatedly brought back to provide reasoning, justification and in some cases regret for the actions taken and their impact in both Britain and Iraq. It is not often that a politician subjects himself to questioning about the most heavily criticized and unpopular decisions of his political career, and Corera is making the most of this opportunity. In a remarkably tense moment in the third episode, entitled “The Spies,” Corera and Blair wrestle over the extent to which the intelligence services have failed to provide an accurate analysis of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction program — an analysis that was ultimately used, according to Corera. , as the main public justification for the war. Within the broader format, Blair’s interviews are particularly striking. The cacophony of voices, each offering their own fervent view of what was right and wrong, perhaps reflects the atmosphere in the corridors of Downing Street in the weeks and months leading up to the invasion. Politics, as so often happens, gets in the way of best practices.
It’s this focus on politics that is simultaneously one of the podcast’s greatest strengths, but also its most critical weakness. The legality of the war is often referenced in the series, but never fully addressed. Corera draws on the issue of the legal basis for the war through discussions in the UN Security Council and the search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. However, this is the extent of the coverage. As a result, most listeners know – in the absence of specialist knowledge – that the legality of the war was important, but not why that is the case, nor why the invasion of Iraq is widely regarded as illegal. This deficit also means that Corera misses the opportunity to delve into the feasibility of the British argument for war, which was variously based on humanism, preventive self-defense based on Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, and UN resolutions Security Council dating back to the Iraqi war. invasion of Kuwait in 1990 (for further discussion of the legal justifications of the war, see Bellamy 2003 or Simpson 2005). The war in Iraq is a perfect example of the Janus-oriented application of law when it comes to armed conflict. As in the current Russo-Ukrainian war, international law is fervently invoked to justify the invasion, but in a way that co-opts the principles of law to excuse behavior that is outright illegal. This dissonance between rhetoric and behavior is a trend that Corera notes throughout the podcast, but unfortunately misses the most glaring example by choosing to raise the legal argument only when it is relevant to political maneuvering.
That said, “Shock and War” is not a podcast about international law. The lack of attention to the legal side of the conflict does not undermine the quality of analysis that Corera provides throughout, but rather represents a missed opportunity to expand it further. Overall, the podcast provides a fascinating and important reflection on Britain’s role in the Iraq War twenty years on. In the closing moments of the final episode, Corera once again chooses to focus on those whose lives were forever changed by the decision to go to war in Iraq. Their words provide a crucial foundation for the series as a whole, reminding the listener that while the British continue to go about their daily lives in relative safety, Iraqis are still feeling the aftershocks of the war twenty years later. As Faiza Al-Araji said: “After twenty years, nothing shines anymore, you see? It’s still dark.”
References
Bellamy, Alex J. (2003) ‘International Law and the War with Iraq’, Melbourne Journal of International Law4:2.
Simpson, Gerry (2005) ‘The Iraq War and International Law’, Melbourne Journal of International Law6:1.
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