As Russia invades Ukraine, Iraqis remember painful war memories
Ukraine’s invasion is a painful reminder for many Iraqis who have lost their hopes and dreams due to conflict.
The air assaults and gunfire on Ukrainian soil following the Russian invasion are stirring up memories barely sealed in Iraq nearly 19 years after the US-led invasion.
The attack ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine is all too familiar for a Middle East nation that was the centre of a geopolitical struggle for decades.
Many Iraqis, from the capital Baghdad to provinces such as Anbar where the fighting was some of the most intense during the US invasion, are watching attentively as Russian troops are closing in on Ukrainian capital Kyiv – and the Ukrainian armed forces, along with armed civilians, are vehemently defending.
The horrific scenes unfolding in Ukraine have also played out in Iraq. To witness attacks in another part of the world for Iraqis is a painful reminder for many here who have lost their hopes and dreams of an end to war.
“Some world leaders seem to have an insatiable greed for invading other countries,” said Samer al-Idreesi, a 47-year-old from the capital Baghdad.
Having lived through Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the United States’ response attack of Iraq in 2003, al-Idreesi told Al Jazeera he believed all warmongers should be punished.
Then American President George W Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, alleging then leader Saddam Hussein was building “weapons of mass destruction” while harbouring operatives from al-Qaeda, the armed group held responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
“Saddam, Bush, and Putin – they are all dogs,” al-Idreesi said. “And if Putin could learn anything from Iraq, that is this will be the beginning of his end.”
‘Where we could go’
Despite some fundamental differences between the war in Iraq and the one in Ukraine, one thing almost always remains true: ordinary pe