What we’ve just witnessed wasn’t a war; it was a
massacre.
Iraq is a nation starved by years of war and economic sanctions.
It was hardly a battle among equals. This past year the United
States spent about $400 billion on its military, while Iraq spent
about $3 billion on theirs.
Over 1,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in this
“war.” These were men, women, and children whose lives
were just as important as any of those who were killed in the World
Trade Center. Twelve-year-old Ali Ismail Abbas Hamza was a victim
of this war. He lost his mother, father, brother and seven other
family members, as well as both his arms, when a U.S. missile
exploded near his house. The military calls this “collateral
damage.”
What exactly was the United States fighting for again? For
almost a year President George W. Bush told us it was to disarm
Saddam Hussein of his “weapons of mass destruction.”
However, when the war started, we found out that the mission was
not “Operation Disarm Iraq” but “Operation Iraqi
Freedom.” According to the government, the mission has been
accomplished.
Yes, Hussein is no longer in power. Yes, that’s a good
thing. However, we must remember that the United States supported
Hussein throughout the 1980s, giving him billions of dollars in
economic and military aid. The United States then proceeded to
starve the population throughout the 1990s by inflicting brutal
economic sanctions which killed half a million children. If it
wasn’t for these sanctions, the Iraqi people would have
overthrown Saddam a long time ago.
Leslie Stahl asked Madeline Albright about these sanctions on
“60 Minutes.” “We have heard that a half million
children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in
Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?” asked
Stahl. Albright made no attempt to dispute the figure. She merely
responded, “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price
““ we think the price is worth it.”
Today, the United States claims Iraq is “free.” Yet
the United States doesn’t seem to be getting ready to leave
Iraq anytime soon. In fact, it seems like they’re getting
kind of comfortable over there. We’ve all heard that the goal
is to bring “democracy” to Iraq. Somebody should inform
the U.S. government that occupying a country and putting a retired
U.S. general in charge isn’t very democratic. But then again,
colonial powers always claim that they’re
“liberating” the people.
What we’ve just witnessed was an old-fashioned colonial
war with 21st-century weapons. Iraq has the second-largest proven
reserves of crude oil in the world ““ 112 billion barrels to
be exact. Guess who is in charge of that oil right now? I’ll
give you a hint; it’s not the Iraqi people. No, according to
Reuters, the United States plans to take control of Iraqi oil
“for a while.” The United States is considering
“putting in place an advisory board of former U.S. oil
industry executives to help run Iraq’s oil industry.”
The story also states, “It is uncertain how long the United
States would operate Iraq’s oil industry, the country’s
main source of revenue.” Isn’t democracy beautiful?
Since the fall of Hussein, we’ve witnessed mass looting
throughout Iraq. Hospitals, museums and government buildings have
been stripped bare. Luckily, the United States managed to protect
the Ministry of Oil with its important information about
Iraq’s oil fields. And while priceless artifacts from the
Baghdad museum were being destroyed, the U.S. military carefully
guarded the 1,000 oil wells it now controls in Iraq. The
electricity is still not working, water is still not flowing, a
humanitarian disaster looms, but at least the oil is secure.
So, let’s get this straight. The United States went to war
to bring the Iraqi people democracy, but launched the war from
Kuwait, which is a monarchy. No, I’m wrong; forgive me. The
war was about dictators with weapons of mass destruction, right?
Yes, that explains why the United States gave the dictator of
Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf (who possesses nuclear weapons), $1
billion in aid two weeks ago.
The United States’ appetite for war has not ceased. Now
we’re told that Iraq’s “weapons of mass
destruction” may have been moved to Syria. A few months from
now we may hear that Syria has moved the weapons to Iran. Maybe
after that, Iran will ship them off to Libya.
There is one truth buried within all of the lies. The United
States definitely liberated a whole lot of oil, which is now free
to be owned by American and British oil companies.
So, here we are in the year 2003. War is peace. Occupation is
liberation. And CNN is truth.
However, if you’re one of those who feel differently or
would like to investigate the world a little bit further, I suggest
you go to teach-ins. These days, it’s more important than
ever to be informed.
Schwartz is an alumnus and a former Daily Bruin Viewpoint
columnist.