Iraq: Adakah Vietnam ke Dua Amerika

Gambar: http://www.hdnews.net/
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We’ll protect our people in every way necessary, and we will carry on the campaign against global terror until we achieve our goal: The peace that comes from victory.
- President George W Bush [1]
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Menurut lapuran Associated Press ketika menemuramah General Peter Schoomaker[2], Ketua Staff Tentera Darat Amerika, beliau mendedahkan bahawa pihak Amerika bercadang untuk bertapak di bumi Iraq untuk empat tahun lagi.[3] Pendapat beliau di sokong oleh Ketua Panglima Tertinggi Angkatan Tentera AS, iaitu President George W Bush, beliau dipetik sebagai berkata;

Our troops know that they’re fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to protect their fellow Americans from a savage enemy.[4]

Walaupun berdepan dengan kecaman dari rakyatnya sendiri dan masyarakat antarabangsa, Bush dengan angkuh masih berkeras untuk mengekalkan tentera – tenteranya di Iraq. Like previous wars we have waged to protect our freedom, the war on terror requires great sacrifice from Americans. [5] Menurut lapuran Bloomberg, pihak tentera AS mempunyai 138,000 orang tentera di Iraq dan 18,000 di Afghanistan. [6]

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Walaupun berdepan dengan kecaman dari rakyatnya sendiri dan masyarakat antarabangsa, Bush dengan angkuh masih berkeras untuk mengekalkan tentera – tenteranya di Iraq.

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Menurut Carl von Clausewitz, dalam bukunya On War, …the aim of all war is to disarm the enemy …[7] pendekatan itu diambil oleh President Bush, beliau menjelaskan, para tenteranya perlu berkorban kerana musuh mereka di sana adalah pihak pengganas, satu lapuran yang dibentangkan oleh Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) (bio) di Dewan Congress Amerika bertarikh July 19, 2005 bertentangan dengan hujah Bush itu. Rep. Kaptur telah membacakan satu surat yang ditulis oleh Army sergeant John Bruhns yang pernah berkhidmat di Iraq. Antara lain Sgt. Bruhns menulis;

I was engaged actively in urban combat in the Abu Ghraib area, west of Baghdad. Many of the people who were attacking me were the poor people of Iraq. They were definitely not members of Al – Qaeda or leftover Ba’ath Party members, and they were not former members of Saddam’s regime. They were just your average Iraqi civilians who wanted us out of their country. [8]

Selain itu, warga AS turut bimbang dengan kadar kematian pihak tentera AS di Iraq. Menjelang 20 Ogos 2005, seramai 1,865 orang anggota tentera AS telah terkorban, yang mana 1,447 daripadanya terbunuh akibat serangan pihak bersenjata di sana.[9] Pecahan kematian itu seperti berikut:

Combat Operations (19 March 03 – 30 Apr 03) - 139 death
Post Combat Ops (1 May thru present) - 1717 death
US DoD civilian Casualties - 5 death

Total Death - 1861 death

Akhirnya, cuba kita renung kata – kata Sergeant Bruhns ini;

…I ask that we never forget why this war started. The Bush administration cried weapons of mass destruction and a link to Al – Qaeda. We know that was false, and the Bush administration concedes it as well. As a soldier who fought in that war, I feel mislead. I feel that I was sent off to fight for a cause that never existed.[10]

Kata – kata bekas Setiausaha Negara Amerika, Collins Powell juga patut kita teliti dengan cermat, katanya;

…American soldiers must know the reason for their sacrifices. Our GIs are not vassals or mercenaries. They are nation’s son and daughters. We put their lives at risk only for worthy objectives. If the duty of the soldier is to risk his life, the responsibility on his leaders is not to spend that life in vain. [11]

Adakah konflik di Iraq ini akan menjadi Vietnam ke dua bagi Negara Amerika? Kekaburan objektif yang digariskan dalam kempen – kempen mereka sekarang semakin ketara. Apabila Major General (retired) Douglas Kinnard melakukan kaji selidik ke atas semua jeneral – jeneral Amerika yang pernah berkhidmat di Vietnam, 90% dari respon mereka mengatakan mereka tidak mempunyai satu gambaran jelas apakah objektif dan sasaran pasukan tentera mereka ketika itu. [12]
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Adakah konflik di Iraq ini akan menjadi Vietnam ke dua bagi Negara Amerika? Kekaburan objektif yang digariskan dalam kempen – kempen mereka sekarang semakin ketara.

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Sebegitu juga kini, pihak tentera Amerika nyata tidak mempunyai satu alasan, sasaran dan objektif yang kukuh untuk mereka menjajah lebih lama lagi di Iraq. Sepatutnya mereka menjadikan Vietnam satu pengajaran bagi mereka, kerana …the army cannot successfully fight a war which is not supported by public opinion. [13]


Foot Note
[1] Bush: No Limit for Security Budget, Associated Press, January 26, 2002
[2] General Schoomaker merupakan Ketua Staff Tentera Darat US yang ke 35. Dilantik ke jawatan tersebut pada 1 Ogos 2003. Jawatan terakhir beliau sebelum menjawat jawatan ini ialah Komander, US Army Special Operation Command, Fort Bragg, NC. Sumber: http://www.army.mil./leaders/leaders/csa/biography.html
[3] Burns, Robert. Army planning for 4 More Years in Iraq. Associated Press August 20, 2005. Internet: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050821/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_chief_interview_7
[4] Pickler, Nedra. Bush Begins 5 – Day Push to defend Iraq War. Associated Press August 20, 2005. Internet: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1055324&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
[5] Newton – Small, Jay. Bush Says US must Honor Troops’ Sacrifice, Finish Job in Iraq. Bloomberg August 20, 2005. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=afEzqvzSLzws&refer=top_world_news
[6] Ibid
[7] Von Clausewitz, Carl. On War London: Penguin Books, 1982. p 104
[8] Bruhns, John, sergeant. What I witnessed was the total opposite of what President Bush told the American People. Harakah 16 – 31 August 2005. p 16 - 17
[9] Daily Look at US Military Death in Iraq. Internet: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
[10] Bruhns, John, sergeant. What I witnessed was the total opposite of what President Bush told the American People. Harakah 16 – 31 August 2005. p 16 - 17
[11] Powell, Collins, and, Joseph E. Persico. My American Journey New York: Ballantine Books, 1995. p 40 - 41
[12] Lane, C Dennison, M Weisenbloom, and, D Liu. Ed. Chinese Military Modernization London: Kegan Paul International, 1996. p 57
[13] Ibid

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