------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Dec. 13, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
HAWKS AND VULTURES: DANGER OF U.S. WAR AGAINST IRAQ GROWS By John Catalinotto The Bush administration is closer to moving aggressively against Iraq, according to many reports. The anti-war movement here needs to be alert to the danger of a new war against Iraq. Such a war would undoubtedly involve large numbers of U.S. ground forces and the potential for heavy U.S. casualties, which could arouse strong anti-war sentiment in this country. And even if Washington failed in its objective to overthrow the Baghdad government and replace it with a client regime, such a war would inflict additional horrors on the already suffering Iraqi people. The latest round of Iraq baiting began Nov. 26, when President George W. Bush told reporters, "Afghanistan is still just the beginning." He demanded that Iraq allow "inspectors" into the country--or else. The last time these inspectors were inside Iraq they conducted military spying for the United States. Former inspection leader Scott Ritter has publicly admitted this many times. Bush could point to no connection between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks. Nor could he tie Iraq to the anthrax threat. But none of that mattered. The president said, "If you develop weapons of mass destruction that you want to terrorize the world, you'll be held accountable." U.S. imperialists--who wield the mightiest weapons of mass destruction on the planet-- use the phrase "weapons of mass destruction" to make it seem as though Iraq is the oppressor, not the Pentagon. HAWKS AND VULTURES The Dec. 3 New York Times reported that a grouping "inside and outside the administration" is leading the drive toward war with Iraq. They include old Cold War figures like Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, retired Gen. Wayne Downing--the president's counter-terrorism chief--and I. Lewis Libby, the vice president's chief of staff. This group wants to use U.S. force to put a puppet Iraqi grouping in power. Also included in the grouping are Henry Kissinger, former Vice President Dan Quayle and former CIA head James Woolsey-- all part of the 18-member Defense Policy Board. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is part of this gang. As far as Gingrich is concerned, "the 'Saddam is evil and dangerous' side seems to be winning." In other words, Gingrich thinks his more aggressive grouping has the initiative. The opponents of this group are not exactly doves. Secretary of State Colin Powell and retired Gen. Anthony Zinni are among them. They are for aggressively pursuing the war against Afghanistan. However, they believe that Washington and the Pentagon will overreach themselves if they try to take on a new war against Iraq at this time. WILL U.S. BE ISOLATED? They also know that this war has little support among many of the forces in Europe that support the United States in Afghanistan, and that Washington may find itself fighting Iraq alone. The real debate about whether to wage war on Iraq is carried out behind closed doors, with no pretense of an open discussion that includes the mass of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, both sides of this ruling-class debate try to keep the country on a war footing. Many British newspapers report that French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and even British Prime Minister Tony Blair have let Washington know they oppose an attack on Iraq at this time. Whether this will turn into real resistance to U.S. plans, however, is doubtful. During NATO's war against Yugoslavia, for example, the United States was able to impose its strategy of bombing civilian targets in Serbia despite some objections from its European imperialist allies. EUROPEANS SEE SHIFT IN U.S. POLICY The Dec. 2 issue of the British newspaper The Observer was headlined "Secret U.S. Plan for Iraq War." The paper reported that the United States "intends to depose Saddam Hussein by giving armed support to Iraqi opposition forces across the country." According to this article, the U.S. plan "envisages a combined operation with U.S. bombers targeting key military installations while U.S. forces assist opposition groups in the North and South of the country in a stage-managed uprising. One version of the plan would have U.S. forces fighting on the ground." While this scenario is still in the planning stage, people like Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponek--both former heads of the United Nations-run "Oil for Peace" program for Iraq-- take the threat to Iraq seriously. Halliday and von Sponek wrote an article in the Nov. 29 issue of the British newspaper The Guardian that began: "A major shift is occurring in U.S. policy on Iraq. It is obvious that Washington wants to end 11 years of a self- serving policy of containment of the Iraqi regime and change to a policy of replacing, by force, Saddam Hussein and his government. "The current policy of economic sanctions has destroyed society in Iraq and caused the death of thousands, young and old. There is evidence of that daily in reports from reputable international organizations such as Caritas, Unicef and Save the Children. A change to a policy of replacement by force will increase that suffering." The two also noted that "the U.S. Defense Department, and Richard Butler, former head of the UN arms inspection team in Baghdad, would prefer Iraq to have been behind the anthrax scare. But they had to recognize that it had its origin within the U.S." They added, "British and U.S. intelligence agencies know well that Iraq is qualitatively disarmed," thereby answering Bush's charge of "weapons of mass destruction" as an excuse for waging aggressive war on Iraq. If the administration makes up its mind to go to war, however, it will manufacture the excuse. The anti-war movement here will have to be on guard to expose the lies and stop the imperialist war. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
