Iraq, The USA & The World
While I am naturally inclined to
doubt pretty much any established government and, having served in the US Army
as a combat medic (3/87th Infantry), have an equal distaste for military action
on foreign soil - I really don't see what all the great debate is about. The
situation in Iraq needs to be resolved. It needs to be resolved now - before the
madman who controls that country through fear and force has the chance to do
something (else) seriously stupid.
All these countries that want to
"give the inspectors more time" are really saying, "we don't like
or trust the American government's motives." Screw them. We don't need them
and, in my humble opinion, we should simply shrug our shoulder's and let them
KNOW that we neither desire nor require their faith or admiration. And then
cease, immediately, all US aid - in any and every form - to those countries.
Pull our bases out (effectively ending the support for those local economies
which rely on US servicemen spending their pay there), cancel all leases of
land, close all but one embassy in the Capital city, and stop sending food,
information, and monetary supports or guarantees to that nation.
Let's see how well Canada, France,
Germany and Russia do without the BILLIONS of dollars and materiel we supply
them each year, in one form or another.
What are these people worried about?
That we are going to occupy Iraq and keep all the oil and sand for ourselves?
There is absolutely no sense to that argument - nor any historical precedent.
The United States Military has "liberated" France, Germany, Japan -
and all those countries initially invaded and overcome by Germany & Japan -
and there is not a single one of these countries that has not BENEFITED from
this action. Do we control any of these countries? Do we keep their resources
for ourselves? Are their people held under our thumb? Are their leaders and
governments "puppets" of the US Government?
Our men and women died for THEIR
freedom. OUR economy, OUR engineers, and OUR technology rebuilt their ravaged
infrastructures - and made them better today than they had ever been before. There
is not a single country in the world that has been "invaded" and had
their repressive governments overthrown by US forces that has not benefited
immeasurably by our action.
So why are all these people
screaming? What motive do they have for hating us so much? Why are they willing
to let the Iraqi people suffer under Saddam Hussein's regime?
I think (aside from the legitimate
concern of mothers and fathers of US military servicemen and women who will be
risking their lives) it's all a matter of jealousy. Political grandstanding and
petty jealousy. And possibly a smidgen of misdirected outrage at their own lack
of ability to do the right thing themselves. They have all been invited to join
us.
In our country there are those who
protest against our servicemen and women, by protesting the coming Iraq action.
That is their right, but I wonder how many of them actually have anything at
stake? I doubt there are very many military families out there protesting. So
their main motive is political - a hatred for Republicans, a hatred for the
military, a hatred for George Bush, or a hatred for governments in general. All
petty arguments when we look at the facts concerning Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and
the Iraqi peoples:
Sanctions were imposed on Iraq by
the international community in the wake of Iraq's brutal invasion of Kuwait.
They are intended to prevent the Iraqi regime access to resources that it would
use to reconstitute weapons of mass destruction. Sanctions are not intended to
harm the people of Iraq. That is why the sanctions regime has always
specifically exempted food and medicine. The Iraqi regime has always been free
to import as much of these goods as possible.
It
refuses to do so, even though it claims it wants to relieve the suffering of the
people of Iraq.
Iraq is actually exporting
food, even though it says its people are
malnourished.
Coalition ships enforcing the UN sanctions against Iraq recently diverted the
ship M/V MINIMARE containing 2,000 metric tons of rice and other material being
exported
from Iraq for hard currency instead of being used to support the
Iraqi people. Baby milk sold to Iraq through the oil-for-food program has been
found in markets throughout the Gulf, demonstrating that
the
Iraqi regime is depriving its people of much-needed goods in order to make an
illicit profit. Kuwaiti authorities recently seized a shipment
coming out of Iraq carrying, among other items, baby powder, baby bottles, and
other nursing materials for resale overseas (see
photo 1).
Sanctions prevent Saddam from
spending money on rearmament, but do not stop him from spending money on food
and medicine for Iraqis. Saddam's priorities are clear: palaces for himself,
prisons for his people, and weapons to destroy Iraq's citizens and its
neighbors. He has built 48 palaces for himself
since the Gulf War! He would not use Iraq's resources to improve the
lives of Iraqis. Saddam Hussein would use them to rearm and threaten the region.
While its repression of the Iraqi people
continues, the Iraqi regime still is far from complying with its obligations
under United Nations Security Council resolutions. It
has not fully complied with a single resolution. It has not fully
declared and destroyed its WMD programs. It has not ceased concealment of its
WMD. It has not responded fully to questions from UNSCOM and the IAEA. (UNSCRs
687, 707, 715, 1051)
It has not returned Kuwaiti and Third Country
POWs and Missing Persons (UNSCRs 686 and 687). 605 Kuwaiti POW/MIAs and 34
Saudis remain unaccounted for. It has not returned all stolen Kuwaiti property (UNSCR
686). In fact, some is still deployed with Iraqi military units. It has not
stopped repressing its civilian population (UNSCR 688).
UNSCR 687 and related resolutions 707, 715, and
1051 stipulate that:
- Iraq must provide full, final and complete
disclosure of all aspects of its nuclear, chemical, biological, and long-range
missile weapons programs;
- allow unconditional inspection access by
international monitors;
- cease any attempt to conceal, move, or destroy
any material or equipment related to these programs;
- and cooperate with UN monitoring of relevant
Iraqi facilities and trade activities.
When these resolutions were passed, it was
expected that compliance would require no more than 90
days. Instead, nine years later, sanctions remain in place because Iraq
has decided to (1) hide weapons and major components of these programs, (2)
secretly destroy older, less-capable weapons and equipment, and (3) give UN
inspectors fraudulent declarations to mask weapons and equipment that are still
hidden.
Iraq began playing hide-and-seek with UN
inspectors in 1991. In 1995, Iraqis who conducted field trials of R-400 bombs
filled with biological agents described the tests to UNSCOM experts in
considerable detail, including the use of many animals. These field trials were
reflected in Iraq's June 1996 biological weapons declaration. Yet, amazingly,
Iraq now denies that any such trials were conducted at all!
In September 1995, Iraq finally declared the
existence of two projects to disseminate biological agents from Mirage F-1 and
MiG-21 aircraft, yet there is no evidence that the prototype weapons and
aircraft were ever destroyed. There is also no evidence that the 12 Iraqi
helicopter-borne aerosol generators for biological weapon delivery were ever
destroyed.
In July 1998, Iraq seized from the hands of
UNSCOM inspectors an Iraqi Air Force document indicating that Iraq had
misrepresented the expenditure of over 6,000 bombs which may have contained over
700 tons of chemical agent. Iraq continues to refuse to provide this document to
the UN.
In December 1998, Saddam stopped all cooperation
with the UN, refusing to let any weapons inspectors into the country.
Iraq continues to deny weaponizing VX nerve
agent, despite the fact that UNSCOM found VX nerve agent residues on Iraqi SCUD
missile warhead fragments. Based on its investigations, international experts
concluded that "Iraq has the know-how and process equipment, and may
possess precursors to manufacture as much as 200 tons of VX ... The retention of
a VX capability by Iraq cannot be excluded by the UNSCOM international expert
team."
Iraq has refused to credibly account for 500 tons
of SCUD propellant, over 40 SCUD biological and conventional warheads, 7
Iraqi-produced SCUDs, and truckloads of SCUD components.
Iraq refuses to allow inspection of thousands of
Ministry of Defense and Military Industries Commission documents relating to
biological and chemical weapons and long-range missiles.
Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979. The list of
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Saddam Hussein and his
regime is a long one. The use of poison gas and other war crimes against Iran
and the Iranian people during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iraq
summarily executed thousands of Iranian prisoners of war as a matter of policy.
The "Anfal" campaign in the late 1980's against the Iraqi Kurds, including
the use of poison gas on cities. In one of the worst single mass killings
in recent history, Iraq dropped chemical weapons on Halabja in 1988, in which as
many as 5,000 people — mostly civilians — were killed. Crimes against
humanity and possibly genocide against Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq. This
includes the destruction of over 3,000 villages. The Iraqi government's campaign
of forced deportations of Kurdish and Turkomen families to southern Iraq has
created approximately 900,000 internally displaced citizens throughout the
country. Crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Marsh Arabs and
Shi'a Arabs in southern Iraq. Entire populations of villages have been forcibly
expelled. Government forces have burned their houses and fields, demolished
houses with bulldozers, and undertaken a deliberate campaign to drain and poison
the marshes. Thousands of civilians have been summarily executed.
Saddam Hussein is bad for Iraq and bad for the
world. Why does anyone believe he should be given any more chances to
behave and how could anyone believe that he could or would change his
spots?
Why is the world demonizing the United States
instead of Saddam Hussein? Do you realize that the United States budget for 2003
foreign aid, world wide, is over 8 Billion dollars? How about we
tell the world to piss-off and use the cash ourselves? Yeah - spend the money on
OUR schools, hospitals and roads, a new source of energy, food production
and drought/flood protection. If the rest of the world hates us so much, let's
take our ball and go home. Let's give them what they want - and let them swallow
that little pill for a few years. Who knows? They might be better off.
'nuff said.
MEG
27 January 2003
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