People's Democracy

Bush Declares War on Iraq

Prakash Karat

THERE is no doubt left that a military attack on Iraq by the United States is imminent. President Bush has virtually made a declaration of aggression in his State of the Union address to the US Congress on January 28. In a speech laced with blatant falsehoods and half-truths, Bush has once again peddled the arguments for invading and occupying Iraq.  The United Nations Security Council has been put on notice. A meeting is being convened at the US’s request on February 5 where Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State will present the American case for action against Iraq and demand that the Security Council endorse the US military action.

The script for the war on Iraq was written long before. By mid-February 150,000 US troops would have been mobilised and the military build-up would be sufficient for a full-scale invasion. Tony Blair, the loyal servitor of the Americans has also sent 30,000 British troops and naval forces to the Gulf to join Bush’s war.

Bush in his speech had nothing new to say about Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The same old charges were trotted out. After 12 years of rigorous sanctions and continuous UN inspections, Bush wants the American people and the world to believe that Saddam Hussein has managed to store huge amounts of chemical and biological weapons. Going against the International Atomic Energy Agency’s recent report to the Security Council, Bush continues to harp on the mythical nuclear weapons programme Iraq is supposed to be engaged in. As for the al Qaeda, Bush stretched credulity by claiming that Saddam Hussein “aids and protects terrorists including members of the al Qaeda and could provide his hidden weapons to the terrorists.”

Bush in his speech declared that whether the United Nations or his European allies support his moves or not, he is prepared to go ahead with the act of aggression. He arrogantly declared that the course America would adopt “does not depend on the decisions of others”

The real aim of the war was also revealed in the speech when Bush stated that Saddam Hussein was being targeted as he is a brutal dictator who “with great potential wealth will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States”.  This is in keeping with the Bush doctrine that preemptive military action will be taken against any power which threatens America’s global interests. Iraq with the world’s second largest reserves of oil and under a government which refuses to bend to the US will become a prime target. Iraq is the only country in the region which has the potential to challenge the American-Israeli axis and hence it has to be destroyed.

Finally, Bush with nauseating hypocrisy claimed that the war is to liberate the Iraqi people and promised that as in Afghanistan “we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies and freedom”. This from a country which has perpetrated the worst crimes on the Iraqi people leading to the death of half a million children because of the 12 years of sanctions.

A day before Bush’s speech, on January 27, the report of the UN inspectors was presented to the Security Council.  Hans Blix, the Chief Weapons Inspector and Mohammed El Baradei head of the International Atomic Energy Agency reported the progress made in the sixty days of the ongoing inspections. Their report showed no evidence whatsoever of Iraq having any weapons of mass destruction or facilities to produce them. Iraq was fully cooperating on access to sites and material. Baradei categorically stated that there is no evidence of Iraq reviving its nuclear programme and dismissed reports that documents found in an Iraqi scientist’s house had anything to do with a weapons programme.  The overall conclusion was that more time is required for the inspection process to go ahead.

The convening of the Security Council meeting on February 5 is meant to undercut the implementation of the Security Council Resolution No. 1441 and sabotage any effort to settle the problem through the United Nations forum

With America set to unleash its military machine, utter devastation awaits Iraq. According to a confidential United Nations contingency planning report called “Likely Humanitarian Scenario” as many as 500,000 people can suffer injuries and require medical treatment if a full-fledged war is launched. For a country already subjected to continuous bombardment and sanctions for the past decade, the war will be an unmitigated disaster. With two-third of Iraqi air space declared “no-fly zones” in 2002 alone, there were 78 US and British air strikes on Iraqi targets.

The US has made plans for the occupation of Iraq after the war. According to the New York Times the Pentagon plans for atleast a year and a half of “intense military control”. A civilian administration would be appointed. The experience of the American occupation of Philippines after the Spanish-American civil war in the 19th century and of Japan after the Second World War have been studied. What is being prepared for is a US governed protectorate which can be later handed over to a pliant regime Afghanistan-style.

The United States will conduct this war in the face of widespread opposition not only from the people of various countries but some of its key allies such as France and Germany. A special responsibility lies with the three permanent members of the Security Council France, Russia and China to block the American effort to get United Nations approval for the illegal war. The repercussions of this war will not spare the United States too.  With such a war it will be America standing against the rest of the world and the flames of the war will eventually singe the United States and its people.

The January 18 worldwide demonstrations showed the gathering storm of protests against the war preparations. In Washington, half a million marched to protest the war. Day by day popular opinion in the US is turning against any unilateral act of aggression on Iraq. In India too the anti-war mobilisation should be stepped up. In the short time left, it is imperative that all forces are mobilised to oppose and fight back this criminal act of aggression. What is at stake is the future of the civilised world threatened by imperialist barbarity.