| 1.
The connection between this war in Iraq and specific acts
of international aggression, past or prospective, has not
been clearly established.
2.
Pre'war the media carried a lot of pro'war rhetoric, ambiguous
photographs and digital cartoon impressions of allegedly
very dangerous vehicles.
3.
American and British leaders expressed anxieties about a
possible future that was certain to happen; including the
rapid deployment of WMDs ' and this anxiety about what might
happen was used to bolster intervention.
4.
The specific WMD evidence used to justify the war has been
shown to lack credibility.
 5.
Most pro'war political leaders seem to have given up on
the WMD argument but said 'Hey WMDs never really mattered.'
6.
The failure to guard the high explosives dump seems to be
a case of 'Whoops, we forgot about the WD argument while
concentrating on the WMD argument.'
7.
The possible negative consequences of this war remain to
be experienced. I wrote that in Sydney University's Honi
Soit in early 2003, but by late 2004 the experience
is all too real. They are not confined to individual casualties,
military and civilian, but affect the morale, esprit and
standing of the countries involved. Negativity is in the
rise.
8.
Invading Iraq has generated a response of vengeance and
fanatical resistance that has no bottom point or constraining
measure and has been a recruiter's dream for the anti'western
terrorists. Vengeance is a bottomless pit of anger that
spreads like a contagion from family to family until it
embraces the whole world.
9.
Witnessing the President of the USA apologise on television
for the misconduct of his nation's soldiers over their inhumanity
in the Iraqi prison remains a major negative consequence
of the conflict.
10.
The image of America as a place and as a people is lower
in the world as a result of the war and may slip lower yet.
I have a higher suspicion level of the government of the
USA than I had before. My suspicion levels remind me of
the years of the Vietnam conflict.
 11.
Present Australian recourse to the symbol or emblem of ANZAC
is a move made in good faith and it is clear that the ANZAC
tradition is now claimed in support of this conflict in
Iraq ' but this has not been argued for but assumed, and
perhaps it is a call on a deposit that is not itself limitless.
ANZAC is 'good' so we can use it to make us feel OK about
Iraq. I am suspicious of this move and how long it can be
sustained.
12.
War entered into before all alternatives have been exhausted
makes it unjust. A search of history indicates that unjust
wars are hard to find while everyone justifies their particular
war as just. When every war is a just war, is every war
just a war? It is ironic that we can hardly find any unjust
war amongst the entire catalogue.
13. Attack without provocation or warning remains hard to
respond to or anticipate. There is a strategic advantage
of a sort for terrorists unrestrained by ethics of normality.
Terrorists can bleed a society.
14.
I do not think that any Australian Prime Minister should
be able to take the nation to an overseas war without
a clear majority in both houses of Parliament and without
a discernible consensus of the people. No major political
party campaigned on the war nor made it the election issue
' to their shame. One Mortgage to rule them all!
.
15. I am not convinced that one can impose democracy on
a people whose traditions have not developed to that point.
16.
War tends to brutalise and corrupt even the just who wage
it for a good cause.
17.
Is there a serious plan in place if the scheduled Iraqi
elections go belly up?
18.
The initial air strikes against Saddam Hussein were described
in most media as 'decapitation strikes'. In hindsight
this remains a disastrous misuse of the English language,
and a gross provocation to literal responses.
 19.
It is not obvious to me, as a mere person in the street,
how the capture of Saddam and his 'pack of cards' has
made the slightest difference to anything, and in fact,
the conflict simply seems to spiral into worse atrocities
and chaos on a daily basis.
20.
Does John Kerry have a viable exit plan? Also ' for himself?
21.
In terms of measurable outcomes, it is possible to regret
the war option on the grounds that it has made things
worse than they otherwise would have been and may yet
'cost the earth' as a flawed strategy engaged in by men
who should have known of better alternatives.
Ivan
Head is the Warden of St Paul's College in the University
of Sydney.
images
courtesy of Geek
Philosopher
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