-Caveat Lector- http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=18702
SAUDI ARABIA'S FIRST ENGLISH DAILY 18 September 2002 / 11 Rajab 1423 Bush intent on war with Iraq, say experts By Barbara Ferguson, Arab News Correspondent WASHINGTON, 18 September � Iraq�s sudden announcement Monday to allow UN weapons inspections to resume caught the world by surprise. And while many are breathing a collective sigh of relief regarding this breakthrough, Arab News spoke to two American professors about the US reaction of Iraq�s announcement, both of whom reacted pessimistically. �When you are dealing a regime like Saddam Hussein�s, a level of healthy skepticism is always necessary. I think the announcement is a very positive sign, and it will be very difficult for Iraq to renege, or obstruct a new inspection team. We should be cautiously optimistic and hopeful about this breakthrough,� said Steven Zunes, an associate professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, California, Middle East editor of the Foreign Policy in Focus Project and author of the article �Seven Reasons to Oppose a US Invasion of Iraq.� Zunes, who has traveled to Iraq and other countries in the Arab world, believes a US invasion will be a calamity. �Like most of the people in the Arab world, I would like to see Saddam Hussein overthrown, but like most people in the Arab world, I do not think that the US should be the sole party to do so. �A unilateral invasion would be a serious violation of international law, and unlike 1991, it would be the US that would be seen as the aggressor, not Iraq.� Zunes said he sees the US focus on Iraq as part of a �bigger picture.� �Elements within the Bush administration want to take advantage of the fear and anger in the America public, after the terrorist attacks of last Sept. 11, to try to remake the world on American terms. And it is these people with extreme foreign policy views who have unprecedented influence in the current administration.� Zunes said these hawkish advisors to the president �are wishing to proclaim America as an empire. �What was once dismissed a paranoid, conspiracy theory by leftists, radicals, and Third World nationals is in fact, is coming to play.� He said the fear and anger and ultra-nationalism that Americans have displayed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 �have created a political climate where these right-wing elements believe they can succeed.� Zunes also criticized the Democrats for not being more organized and influential in their opposition to the administration. �The Democrat party, unfortunately, has been unwilling to become a forceful opposition. And the American media, in large part, has failed to ask some important questions challenging the assumptions of these right-wing elements.� But he denied a conservative right wing and pro-Israel theory. �I think there are certain parallel interests between the right-wing hawks, and the pro-Israeli lobby, but I don�t believe they are working hand-in-hand on this. �The right-wing forces with the Bush administration, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, (chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon), were just as extreme about Central America during the 1980s, and just as adamant about the Soviet Union during the Cold War. So their hard line ideology is certainly not limited to the Middle East. �Before 9/11, these same folks were also taking a hard-line about Communist China,� said Zunes. The professor of politics said he believes the next �key variable� will be �if the international community, and the American public, recognize the danger that this proposed invasion of Iraq will have on the future of world peace and stability, and organize themselves politically to stop it. �If the US is really interested in peace and security in the region, then it needs to press for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, and the enforcement of UN security resolutions throughout the region, and not just single out one regime we dislike,� said Zunes. Robert Jensen, author of the book �Writing Dissent,� and co-author of the recent article �Bush at the UN: �Diplomacy� in the Age of the American Empire,� and an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Arab News that Iraq�s announcement �is heartening news.� But he said that it is �quite clear� the Bush administration wants a war in Iraq. �They�ve made it clear in many ways. So while I�m hopeful that the Iraqi announcement can lead to a peaceful and non-violent solution to this crisis, I�m painfully aware that the Bush administration wants a war. �The US reaction to Iraq�s announcement shows that the Bush administration is not concerned about terrorism in Iraq. And I don�t even think they are much concerned about weapons of mass destruction. What they care about is a war to extend American power in the Middle East,� said Jensen. �Their goal is to replace the regime of Saddam Hussein with an American puppet government, as they have done in Afghanistan. Don�t forget that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world. This is about the control of oil in the region, it has nothing to do with the security of the American public,� said Jensen. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. 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