Weekly Analysis – 3/9/03
War with Iraq
By Kirt R. Poovey
On Friday, February 28th, Mr. Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, proved that the war drums against Iraq have never been about WMD’s, terrorism, compliance with U.N. resolutions, or anything of that sort. It has been about one thing only. Mr. Fleischer explained that disarmament was no longer sufficient and instead talked about the goal of "regime change" in Baghdad.
It has always been about the removal of Saddam Hussein. That is why when the United States demanded access to Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors or else the U.S. would attack Iraq; and Iraq allowed the inspectors in, Bush upped the ante. Next the U.S. demanded a reporting of all of Iraq’s WMD’s etc. or else the U.S. would attack. Iraq finally complied, but Bush said “that’s not good enough.”
Each time the U.S. made a demand, Iraq resisted. Each time, Iraq finally complied (albeit slowly and not completely), and the U.S. demanded something else from Iraq or else we would attack them. Iraq has even started cutting up some of its missiles that purportedly exceed the range set by the U.N.
Is it any wonder that about 90% of the people of Europe oppose this war? Is it any wonder that France and Germany and a growing number of other countries are trying to work through diplomatic channels instead of going to war? Is it any wonder that even under heavy-handed pressure from the United States, Turkey voted not to allow the U.S. the use of their country as a launching pad for a war with Iraq? Is it any wonder why more and more people and more and more countries are beginning to wonder which country and which leader is the true aggressor?
President Bush has staked so much political capital, both internationally and nationally, on this war with Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein that he cannot afford to leave Hussein in power. "I think Bush has come to the conclusion that he cannot really exit the path toward war without severely damaging his own political standing, and I don't think he can go into the next presidential election with Saddam Hussein still in power,” said Lee H. Hamilton, president of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington and for many years chairman of the House committee overseeing foreign affairs.
Saddam Hussein is accused of being intent on attacking his neighbors, exporting terrorism, killing (by gassing) his own people, and having WMD’s; therefore, that’s why he has to go. He has attacked Kuwait and Iran. When he took on Iran the United States supported him wholeheartedly and he was our “good friend” because we didn’t like Iran after they took our people hostage under the Carter administration. If the gassing of his own people (there is a dispute as to whether this was collateral damage during war time) is true, then he is in league with North Korea, China, Russia, and numerous other totalitarian regimes who have murdered their own people en masse.
Cuba has WMD’s, has exported lots of terrorism, and is generally considered to be a “bad guy”, but even though he’s only 90 miles away Castro is considered acceptable. Hussein is not a “nice guy”, but let’s not forget who gave Iraq the WMD’s – the U.S., Russia, and even China.
All in all, this war against Iraq is ill-advised, wrong, dangerous to this country, and really about the U.S. controlling all of that oil in Iraq – and even more. It is also being used to gain greater control over the American populace and the Arab region. President Bush is following the script set before him quite well.
"We will stand, fight, and die to defend our country; but we will not blindly trust it. Even our Founding Fathers distrusted a large, centralized, all-powerful federal government -- so should we. Always be on guard to discern the truth and defend it at all costs."