http://antiwar.com/rep/utley2.html
The Seven Big Lies About Iraq
by Jon Basil Utley
3/9/01
ONE –It’s Saddam’s fault that half a million children died since the
economic blockade, saddam could feed his people if he cared instead of using
his money to buy weapons – "More than one million Iraqis have died- 500,000
of them children-as a direct consequence of economic sanctions... As many as
12% of the children surveyed in Baghdad are wasted, 28% stunted and 29%
underweight." – UN FAO, December 1995. For details see Morbidity and
Mortality Among Iraqi Children 1990-98.
ANSWER – Nearly all oil sales money has been allocated through United Nations
inspectors, subject to nearly 40% reduction for reparations and UN expenses,
and subject to Washington's veto and foot dragging – usually months for even
the simplest decision. Washington has allowed food and medicine imports, but
almost nothing else. For nearly ten years it blockaded chlorine to sanitize
the water and any equipment to rebuild the electricity grid, sanitation and
irrigation facilities. Even pencils for school children were prohibited. (A
New York Times editorial 2/11/01 reports, "currently American diplomats are
holding up billions of dollars of imports needed for civilian transportation,
electric power generation...and even medical treatment"). Finally the
Europeans rebelled at the cruelty and shamed Washington into allowing such
imports, (New York Times 12/6/00). Until oil prices increased last year,
sales ran about $4 billion yearly minus about 35% withheld by UN left 2.6
billion divided by 20 million population = $130 per year per person = 36
cents per day per person for food, medicine. Obviously Iraq needed to rebuild
its agriculture and transport infrastructure to feed itself, but this was
prevented by Washington.
Washington blockaded supplies to rebuild Iraq's bombed oil production and
refining facilities since 10 years, although it went to war supposedly to
assure oil supplies for the world. Iraq is now also getting substantial
monies through sales of smuggled oil, especially since the price of oil went
up and the rest of the world tires of the American blockade. No doubt some of
this goes for weapons purchases.
TWO – If Iraq allowed inspections for wmd (weapons of mass destruction),
Washington would remove the blockade. Iraq iraq must prove that it has no wmd
and that it won't manufacture any in the future.
ANSWER – There's No Connection Between Inspections and Sanctions on Iraq and
consequently no incentive for Iraq to comply. Equally No Nation can "prove" a
negative, that it's not doing something. Biological and chemical weapons can
be made, "in a large closet which is all the space you need to mix deadly
chemical weapons...... Chemical and biological weapons are the great
equalizers against our atomic weapons." (Time "Everyman a Superpower,"
11/24/97).
Re inspections, Reuters reported, 12/13/99, – "The (European) aim was to
prevent the United States and Britain from imposing arms requirements that
Iraq could not meet and thus keeping the sanctions in place for years to
come." And AFP 12/13/99, "French diplomats retorted that by insisting on full
cooperation, the council would give the United States an excuse to refuse to
suspend sanctions on the flimsiest grounds." Madeleine Albright declared in
1997: "We do not agree with the nations who argue that if Iraq complies with
its obligations concerning weapons of mass destruction, sanctions should be
lifted." Clinton went one step further when he said, "sanctions will be there
until the end of time, or as long as he [Saddam] lasts." The Bush
Administration has not repudiated these statements
Scott Ritter, former head of the U.N. arms inspection team in Iraq, on the
NBC Today Show, 12/17/98, explained, "Washington perverted the U.N. weapons
process by using it as a tool to justify military actions, falsely so. ...
The U.S. was using the inspection process as a trigger for war."
THREE – Iraq wouldn't let the UN/US monitors inspect possible wmd production
or storage sites. that's why America started bombing.
ANSWER – Iraq did so from 1991 until 1998, but Washington still wouldn’t
take off the trade blockade. Scott Ritter, the former UNSCOM inspector, told
CNN on 2/18 "In terms of large-scale weapons of mass destruction programs,
these had been fundamentally destroyed or dismantled by the weapons
inspectors as early as 1996, so by 1998 we had under control the situation on
the ground."
Then in 1998 Washington also demanded access to the Iraq's government
personnel files, the basis of the its power structure. Saddam saw that U.S.
demands were just always increased with no hope of sanctions being lifted.
FOUR – It's Iraq's fault that the blockade continues. America has nothing
against Iraq's people, only against its government.
ANSWER – Britain and Washington have introduced a "peace plan"demanding that
Iraq must allow inspections in return for nothing.
Russia and France have introduced a plan (vetoed by Washington) allowing for
immediate lifting of sanctions in return for continued, ongoing WMD
inspections. Washington has already often stated policy of no relief from
blockade no matter what Iraq does, as long as Saddam stays in power. This is
typical Washington policy (denounced by former Pres. Jimmy Carter) of
demanding rulers follow policies to get themselves killed or at least thrown
out of power (and then tried for "war crimes") and then starves the nations'
civilians on and on for years (Pat Buchanan speech) while nothing changes.
(For detailed discussion of resolution see CASI from Cambridge and IAC
detailed analysis of UN Resolution).
LATE NEWS, 3/7 – Secretary of State Powell implied in testimony to Congress
that America might now go along with this option.
FIVE – The United Nations ordered sanctions and Washington is just enforcing
them.
ANSWER – Most nations in the world want them lifted for non-military goods.
It is the U.S. veto that prevents lifting of the sanctions (UPI, 11/1/00)
Imposed in 1990 many nations argue that they were never intended to last for
years and are one of the most brutal sanction regimes in modern history. The
crippling trade embargo is incompatible with the UN charter as well as UN
conventions on human rights and the rights of the child (BBC News Online,
9/30/00). Unilaterally attacking Iraq is totally unconstitutional and illegal
under United Nations Charter and Nuremberg Judgements.
SIX – If we don't bomb Iraq, Saddam will use his WMD against us or his
neighbors or Israel.
ANSWER – Saddam is rational. He had these weapons during the First Gulf War
and didn't because he feared our threats of consequences even when his nation
was being decimated. Israel has some 200 atomic bombs and can well defend
itself. It has already threatened Iraq with their use if Iraq attacks with
WMD. Meanwhile Washington arms all Iraq's neighbors (except Iran), and Turkey
bombs and invades Iraq at will.
SEVEN – Saddam gassed his own people.
ANSWER – Didn’t our government also do that at WACO? The C2 gas used by the
FBI killed children who couldn’t fit into gas masks and then created an
explosive mixture which triggered fire and immolation, (see super
documentary, WACO, nominated for an Academy Award). Remember how often
Americans were lied to in order to get us into wars. (See Subjects, How Hill
and Knowlton Public Relations "sold" the Iraq War). For the First World War,
it was stories that German soldiers ate Belgian babies. For the Iraq war it
was lies about babies being thrown out of incubators, "testified" to a
Congressional Committee by a "mystery" witness who later turned out to be the
daughter of the Kuwaiti sheik’s ruling family who is Ambassador in
Washington. It was all lies. Then we were told there were aerial photographs
of the Iraqi Army massed on Saudi Arabia’s border ready to attack. They were
never released; they apparently were lies too. How do we know we weren't also
lied to about the gassing? See Jude Wanniski report for detailed analysis of
gassing.
CONCLUSION – Look at the above and think how America is now hated. No wonder
many Arabs engage in suicide missions. American military are so unpopular in
Saudi Arabia that the government hides our Airmen away in desert bases to
keep them out of sight from its citizenry. (A CNN reporter from Time magazine
once said that the dream of glory for many young Saudis was to die in battle
killing Americans – and that's among Saudi, or "friends"). How the world sees
us was reported by the Wall Street Journal's European edition editor
(2/24/98) "What came up most were charges of American hypocrisy. The US wants
to bomb Iraq over its violations of UN directives, but won’t take any action
against the Israelis for theirs (e.g. occupation of part of Lebanon and
settlements in Palestine)."
If Washington showed justice and fairness in its policies, then it would not
be creating sworn and desperate enemies who, in former Ambassador Jeane
Kirkpatrick's words, "define themselves as being Enemies of America." The
best security for Americans is not to make so many enemies (see Joseph Sobran
column, How Many Enemies Do We Want?)
ADDENDUM – (Evidence from Kosovo of similar Washington tactics against
civilians).
The Boston Globe (5/16/99) reported:
"In planning the 1991 Persian Gulf War, US officers found a 12 bridges for
the movement of Iraqi troops in and out of Kuwait. US planes bombed those
bridges over and over, with little effect. So they bombed every bridge in
Iraq, 160 in all, about two-thirds of them far from Kuwait. After a while,
all bridges were seen and treated equally. Similarly, now in Belgrade, it
seems, all military agencies are seen and treated as if they were of equal
importance. The Pentagon announced last week that three-quarters of the
targets hit in this air war, 270 out of 380, have been 'strategic targets.'
Only 110 have been directly connected to the soldiers and militias in Kosovo."
