Written by Washington Peace Center   

By Raed Jarrar

Baghdad did not fall in three weeks, as the U.S. public was made to believe. Baghdad fell after 13 years of wars, air strikes, and economic sanctions. While we think of March 19, 2003 as the day that marks the beginning of the Iraq war, Iraqis believe the war began in January of 1991 – and never stopped.

In Iraq during the 1990s, I remember my father coming home some nights with a black plastic bag, acting suspicious, because he brought us “illegal items.” These items varied, but they included some Iraqi sweets, homemade Coca-Cola, and sometimes white bread - items that were outlawed under the ruthless economic sanctions of the 1990s. A strict rationing system was required to ensure there was enough sugar and flour for everyone. Another consequence of the sanctions was the collapsing infra-structure of Iraqi cities. Our schools were falling apart without windows to replace the broken ones, or desks to accommodate new students. The first bombs that were dropped on Baghdad in March 2003 woke me up. I knew it was the last straw - Baghdad would fall in the next few weeks. Baghdad fell under the U.S.-led military occupation on April 9, a date that is commemorated with an annual protest by hundreds of thousands of Iraqis demanding a complete withdrawal of the U.S. armed forces.

This year, protests in Iraq were more intense since the Iraqi public wants and expects the U.S. to withdraw before the end of the year, in accordance with the bilateral security agreement that was signed in 2008. The agreement included a clear plan with two deadlines for a complete U.S. military departure. The first required all U.S. combat forces to withdraw from Iraqi cities, towns, and villages by June 30, 2009. The second deadline, which Iraqis are watching very closely, requires the complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops (combat and non-combat) and shutdown of all U.S. military bases before December 31, 2011.For Iraqis, a recent visit by Secretary Gates and other top military officials to Iraq was seen as an attempt to delay or cancel the December 31 deadline. This sparked massive demonstrations, including threats to resort to violence if the U.S. stayed longer. Muqtada Al-Sadr, the prominent nationalist Shia cleric, encouraged his followers to take up armed resistance if U.S. forces stayed after the end of the year. Harith Ad-Dhari, from the nationalist Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, demanded that the U.S. stick to the current deadline for withdrawal.

The U.S. military occupation has been causing death and destruction, destabilizing Iraq, and delegitimizing its government. Extending the occupation will discredit President Obama after his repeated promises to abide by the deadline, and will destroy what is left of Obama's political capital in the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Repairing the damage done to the U.S.-Iraq relationship will take a lot of work. Iraq set an example for the U.S. to follow in its actions following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 – paying compensation to Kuwait and its citizens, through a United Nations program, without restrictions or interfering in the country’s domestic issues. The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) is still working to compensate Kuwait for the crimes committed against them during the Iraqi invasion and military occupation. More information on the commission's work can be found at www.UNCC.ch. In addition, citizens from the U.S. and Iraq should engage in a serious dialogue to discuss the damage that has been done to American-Iraqi relations, and should determine ways to work on bilateral reconciliation. As an Iraqi-American, I know that people from both sides want to rebuild the bridges that were burned in the last two decades, and I know that we can do it with the efforts of ordinary Iraqis and Americans. Once we manage to end the military occupation, I am full of hope and faith that the next two decades will be a time of peace and reconciliation between the two countries.

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Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi-American blogger and political advocate based in Washington, D.C.