Dear Tony, Your Apology Is Not Enough!

Omar EL MOUZ is a high school teacher of English. He Got his BA from the department of  English at Ibno Zohr university, Agadir. He is interested in writing articles and stories, translating written works from English to Arabic or Arabic to English.

Safi,Morocco

Whenever we say or do something wrong against others or even against ourselves, there comes a feeling of regret, and sometimes an apology is needed.  We feel sorry for what we have done. We seek repentance with the hope of restoring things to their normal order. We often try to strengthen the broken relationships to help them to remain strong. This fact is a feature of any human being who possesses some sense of true feelings and a willingness to confess the wrong deeds. However, there are cases in which an apology can no longer be accepted and therefore is rejected.

As I was surfing the net as usual, one of the famous British newspaper’s headlines stated the following:  Tony Blair makes qualified apology for Iraq war. I read the statement and reread it again. Not until after I had finished did I make a flashback to the severe days of the Iraq invasion led by the United States and its allies, including Britain. I paused first to contemplate the face of the person in question and secondly to remember my high school days when we boycotted studies for the sake of demonstrating at school. I quickly restored my mind back to the slogans we were repeating all together full of inner pain because of what the TV channels used to broadcast. Only horror pictures similar to those of Hollywood occupied the screen. Air strikes using different newly discovered and sophisticatedly constructed weapons and heavy arms were seen to demolish people of different origins, cultures, and races. Many villages were dramatically destroyed and completely demolished, and a great deal of historical heritage was eradicated or stolen with no chance to restore it. Since then, a feeling of hate and abhorrence has grown within our hearts towards the West in general and to the U.S. and the U.K. in particular.

 I then proceeded to read what came next though I knew in advance my predictions would be right. I came across many false excuses the man in question gave to prove their intervention in Iraq. He built them on the assumption that his country’s Intelligences along with the allies’ mistook the reality of Saddam’s regime. They may have been misled by the power the state leader used to show and the strong speeches he used to deliver. As a matter of fact, Saddam was so charismatic. His determination for showing no kind of submission or obedience to the West made the latter eager to take action and avenge its reputation by resorting to power against a free unified state. Their claims about the aforementioned regime to be a threat were proved later to be daydream conclusions. The rumor spread at that time that Saddam could invent weapons of mass destruction in less than an hour span was later discovered to be no more than madness, hallucinations, and heresy.

Throughout history, it has become a common feature of colonizing countries to drift and shift both in word and in actions whenever the situation requires so. For the U.K., the same thing applies. The massive call for retreating troops from Iraq in recent years made the country’s leadership eager to repent for its wrong deeds. It applied the same strategy it had adopted in many parts of the world including India, China and some other countries in Africa decades ago. Faith and disbelief cannot coexist in one’s heart. Similarly, war and peace can’t live together in one country. Bloodlust and greed for war crimes have become primary traits of all colonizing countries without exception. This can be witnessed with the Jewish occupation of Palestine. The aforementioned example is one proof that the U.K. should feel ashamed rather than giving a simple apology.

I scanned the text for some details that could rectify or strengthen my beliefs about the issue. I came across the idea that ISIL was one of the aftermaths of the Iraq invasion. The spread of a very sophisticated war arsenal in Iraq and Levant nowadays is one feature of the dead end of the invasion. This, as the ex-British prime minister confessed, led the whole region to get involved in a continuous turmoil and an everlasting tension. I can hardly believe why the West still maintains the tool to deceive other settlers of the globe. It keeps spreading the illusion of good will to restore happiness to the broken hearts of Iraq and other colonized countries. I also wonder about the right time for an apology to be made if any can be accepted.

I would just tell Mr. Blair that his words and deeds cannot be cleared with a simple apology. His leadership witnessed one of the most dramatic events by killing millions of citizens of a free state because of a small mistake from the part of the Intelligence Agency. The results of his ally with the U.S. are evident. He should never try to deceive humanity by his claims that ISIL was one of the consequences of the war. In fact, it is but with total help and support from the West in general and from the U.K. and the U.S. in particular.