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[The despicable trollop has finally - though with rare rapidity - dispensed with hypocrisy, the 'tribute that vice pays to virtue' (LaRochefoucauld) and has, after his ringing endorsement of total war against the civilian infrastructure - and the civilians themselves - of Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, now played his trump card: The tormented and deprived people of Iraq are to be given the ultimatum issued to the populations of the World War II fascist Axis powers - surrender or die, or embrace the post-war satraps we've chosen for you or die yet sooner. Hitchens, as you'll see, would reject the characterization of the 'people of Iraq' in favor of the 'peoples of Iraq,' as it's apparently dawned on him of late that the secular (since the end of World War I) nation of Iraq is somewhat diverse, that it may consist of both Sunni and Shiite Muslim, as well as Christian, Arabs; of Kurds, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians, Persians, Yadizis, Turkomans, Jacobites, Monophysites and scores of other ethnic, religious and tribal distinctions. Actually, all of this is lost on Mr. Hitchens, who sees Iraq tidily trifurcated into Baathis, Kurds and Shiites. The ruling regime in Turkey, which is implicated in the killings of some 30,000 Kurds, including many hunted down and murderded in the 'free fly zone' of Northern Iraq, "would help guarantee the semi-autonomous Kurdish zone," with what sanguinary results no sensible person can doubt. And Hitchens is despondent over the claim that the so-called Iraqi National Congress, entirely a creation of the U.S. State Department and CIA, without a tincture of credibility among the real opposition abroad, is allegedly being spurned by its masters. "Iraqis and Kurds," writes Hitchens, though never "Turks and Kurds." Interesting. Of course an - yet another - all-out war against the besieged and famished, terrorized and impoverished, Iraqi people is to be enthusiastically endorsed, intones Hitchens; his sole reservation appears to be that "we" make it explicit the precise nature of the occupation regime that is to follow. "Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair." Rightly so. He's also a regular columnist for The Nation and contributor to the Guardian.] The Mirror July 15, 2002 HAS BUSH ALREADY CHOSEN SADDAM'S SUCCESSOR? Christopher Hitchens � THE volume and density of the leaks, to say nothing of their frequency, seem to point unfailingly in one direction. The decision to invade Iraq and to remove Saddam Hussein appears already to have been taken. Iraqi dissident sources in Washington have told me that they expect an American-led attack before this year's mid-term elections; in other words before November. But this was not because they had been confided in by the Bush administration, which has been keeping the Iraqi opposition at arm's length. And it was before the recent meltdown of confidence in Wall Street and the American corporate culture, which might prompt cynics to charge that the President was going to war in order to divert attention from domestic woes. (Perhaps the phrase for this would be "weapons of mass distraction"?) The key roles would be taken by American, British and Turkish forces, landing hard on Iraqi strongpoints. American forces would attack principally from bases in the Gulf States, though perhaps not from the airfields in Saudi Arabia, whose monarchy remains on the fence for reasons which will appear later. In addition, we have learned of an American approach to the Jordanian government, asking for the right to station troops and missiles in Jordan and thus to anticipate and thwart any Iraqi counter-attack directed at Israel. Meanwhile, forces based in Turkey would help guarantee the semi-autonomous Kurdish zone, carved out of northern Iraq and removed from Saddam Hussein's jurisdiction at the end of the last Gulf War. In addition, Mr Bush has stated publicly and repeatedly that he does not intend to coexist with Saddam Hussein much longer, and the President has sought additional authority for the CIA to undertake destabilising activities within Iraq itself. This puts us, the voters and taxpayers, in an almost unprecedent- ed position. The military strategy is known in advance. Saddam Hussein has been given ample notice of what is in store for him. There are, in effect, no secrets. Except one. Neither from Washington nor London is there the smallest willingness to discuss what sort of regime is intended to replace the present one. This is not the case in the other current instance of American-sponsored "regime change" in the region. The Palestinians have been told that they may get a "provisional state" (whatever that is, or might look like) if they opt for a pluralistic and parliamentary system based on civilian rule and the principles of free enterprise. And they have been told to have an election, and also told which candidate must not be permitted to win it. At least this is plain enough. The long-suffering peoples of Iraq, by contrast, have been told nothing of what is in store for them. (I say "peoples" because Iraq is made up of a large Kurdish minority, a large and ruling Sunni Muslim Arab minority, and a Shi'a Muslim Arab majority.) The Kurdish leadership, for example, recently went public with a series of misgivings. THEY live within the range of Saddam Hussein's planes, helicopters and tanks, and have vivid memories of what these can do. They have also, in the past, been given Western promises and assurances that turned out to be false. They are not inclined to risk their existing partial independence, or their fighting men, for a new Baghdad regime which does not explicitly recognise Kurdish rights. And, given the repression of the Kurds in neighbouring Turkey, they are not completely happy about the increased weight given to the Turkish army by current planning, either. Meanwhile, the largest democratic opposition group in Iraq, the Iraqi National Congress, has been effectively frozen out of discussions in Washington. There is even a standing order that no United States government employee is allowed to meet with INC representatives. At a recent gathering in Washington, where many foreign-policy and national-security types were present, I tried to introduce some INC members informally. The effect was that of Moses on the Red Sea. It was like trying to get them to press flesh with Osama bin Laden. This is bizarre, and it is bound to raise a suspicion. Does the Bush administration already have a bought-and-paid-for client, presumably a military man since coups are what the US does best? And if so, what has he been promised? And what will he promise in return? The principal interest of the international community concerns the concealed weapons of mass destruction which Saddam Hussein either has acquired or is acquiring, and which he might either use himself or lend to "deniable" non-state terrorist forces. There are serious United Nations resolutions which cover this topic. But there has also been a great deal of official talk about the use of chemical weapons on Iraqis and Kurds, and about the tyranny inflicted on the inhabitants of the country itself. In other words, the aim of a military operation is not merely to neutralise Saddam Hussein's arsenal, but also to emancipate his people, who are paying their own price for his rule by suffering under economic sanctions. Would it not be decent to demand that some sort of manifesto be issued, as it was to the civilians of the Axis nations, telling them what alternatives are in their future? It is more than high time that Mr Blair and Mr Straw, who have been involved in the most intricate levels of the planning now under way, give Parliament some answers to these questions. Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair � � __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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