From revolution to plunder: Orwell's lesson in Iraq

George Orwell’s Animal Farm examines how revolutions can create a new form of domination. In the novel, slogans and principles gradually turn into power structures and drift from their original purpose. The article argues that a similar process unfolded in Iraq after 2003, when religious rhetoric and language of victimhood were turned into tools of power. It says these ideas were used to legitimize authority rather than protect the values they claimed to defend. It also analyzes how religion, grievance and necessity became instruments of legitimacy, while corruption was managed without condemnation. Orwell’s warning, the article says, is that values can be converted into tools of rule.