Bush Administration Planning Invasion of Iraq
Proletarian Era
Organ of Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI)
Vol. 36 No. 2
September 1, 2002
The audacity of the US imperialists knows no limit. The Bush administration is now planning to invade Iraq and install a puppet government there. There has been speculation after the installation of the puppet Hamid Karzai government in Afghanistan that the US will attack Iraq as part of its war on "terrorism". The Afghan war was followed by the declaration of an "axis of evil" comprising Iraq, Iran and North Korea. A few days ago the New York Times disclosed detailed plans drawn by the Pentagon for a physical invasion of Iraq. Subsequent writings in the Times, The Washington Post and some other newspapers confirm the veracity of this news that the Bush administration has made up its mind to launch an air-cum-ground attack from bases in as many as eight neighbouring countries in the beginning of the year 2003. President Bush again declared Iraq as an "enemy until proven otherwise" on August 10 last.
A curious spectacle was on display recently in the US when the Democratic and Republican parties had bipartisan hearings on whether to achieve the US objectives in Iraq through military action. The shameless objective of the US is regime change in Iraq. The US has been pursuing this objective since the last war against Iraq through crippling economic sanction against this country, and that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children as a result of lack of food and medicine. The US has also imposed illegal "no fly" zones in northern and southern Iraq preventing the Iraqi air force from operating in these areas. Washington is now holding talks with the stooge Iraqi opposition groups on how to fill the void after toppling Saddam Hussain. This is a familiar and sinister ploy adopted by the US imperialists in different countries of the world to serve its imperialist interests. The US imperialists want to impose a tyrannical world order such humanity has never known. It is a world order in which the will of the US imperialists alone will prevail. A few days ago Bush had the audacity to declare that the Palestinians could have their state if they replaced Yasser Arafat and elected a new leader and a government willing to kowtow to Israeli demands. Four years ago Slobodan Milosevic was targeted for not toeing the US line. US war-mongers targeted any nationalist leader or any country which refuses to toe the US line.
In its preparation of war against Iraq, the US has embarked upon massive construction of military base in Qatar. In the previous Gulf war the US made use of the military bases in Saudi Arabia, UAE and other countries of the Middle-East. But this time the anti-US sentiment among the people of these countries is so strong that the reactionary rulers of these countries, who always toe the US line are now finding it difficult to allow the US to use their soil as the launching pad of the war against Iraq. The ruling clique of Qatar has also been compelled to express its reservation in allowing the US to use this country in the invasion against Iraq. But the US is confident that it can manage the reactionary rulers of Qatar, virtually a vassal state, by huge bribing or by military means. Again US-Jordan military exercises began on August 12 last in the southern desert part of the country. An undisclosed number of US marines are reported to have landed offshore from two vessels docked at the Red Sea port of Aquaba. The US has started large-scale logistic build up near Iraq. The Pentagon is sending weapons and other supplies to West Asia. The Pentagon has hired two giant cargo ships to carry armoured vehicles and helicopters among other war materials, and eight other cargo ships capable of carrying ammunition, tanks and ambulances. The air force is stockpiling weapons, ammunition and spare parts including airplane engines at depots in the Persian Gulf region. Military officials are reported to have confirmed that arsenals of air force and navy and precision guided missiles are fully replenished. The New York Times quoted senior Pentagon officials that the Pentagon is contracting for a ship to move troop carrying combat vehicles from Europe and the US to the Persian Gulf to join equipment for four armoured brigades already stored there. Another will carry vehicles, helicopters and ammunition to a Red Sea port for a military exercise this year. The Defence Department has also awarded a contract to Macrsk Line to operate 8 ships capable of carrying ammunition at bases. The ships will be stationed near the Indian Ocean Island of Diego Garcia. The US state department sent letter to various charities and non-government organizations inviting tenders to undertake medical care, refugee relief, shelter, water supply, education and sanitation rebuilding that will be necessary after any military campaign.
In its grand imperialist design to dominate the entire world the US has made the UNO its mere rubber stamp. But when even this servile UNO is found to stand as a least hindrance to its imperialist game plan the US completely ignored the organization as we found in the case of attack against Yugoslavia. But in the face of Arab and international opposition to the US threat to Iraq and as the voices which are critical of evil US design and in solidarity with Iraq get stronger, the US imperialists are forced not to cast aside the pretence of abiding by the international norms. The US is justifying the invasion of Iraq on the plea of Iraq's violation of its treaty obligation when Iraq threw out the UN arms inspectors from that country in December 1998. The UN arms inspectors were supposed to supervise the destruction of the capacity of Iraq to produce weapons of mass destruction. But in November 1998 when a diligent search in Saddam palace for the materials that went to the production of such arms yielded nothing, the US and its ever faithful lackey the UK still insisted that the inspection would go on. In reality the US members of the UN team were carrying on spy activities against the national interest of Iraq. The fact is that the leader of the UN team, Scott Ritter, was actually a CIA man as was revealed later. Moreover the US and the UK resorted to large-scale bombing on Iraq to impose the no-fly zone unilaterally dictated by them without any UN sanction. In this situation Iraq asked the arms inspectors to leave that country.
The US which has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and had no qualms in using depleted uranium bombs on Iraq has been accusing Iraq of producing weapons of mass destruction. But that this allegation is only a fig leaf to invade Iraq has been amply proved from the interview of Scott Ritter, the CIA man in BBC on July 17 last. He told the BBC that Iraq rebuilding its capacity of producing weapons of mass destruction was simply not possible as by the time he left Iraq in 1998 all of Iraq's capacity to produce such weapons had been destroyed and it was inconceivable that Iraq had been able to acquire those equipment for producing such weapon under the eyes of a watchful world. He continued that as for materials that went into biological weapons, these had a self-life of three years. So even if some had remained unaccounted for in 1998 as the US had then claimed, it was no longer usable.
So it is clear that the US call for invading Iraq has no leg to stand upon and it has no legal or moral right to invade Iraq despite its pretence of abiding by the international norms. The overriding necessity of the US is to prop up its sagging economy through war. The USA is suffering serious economic crisis. September 11 incident was allowed to happen despite prior knowledge of the Bush administration. It was used as a pretext to pounce upon Afghanistan. After the war against Afghanistan, the US established bases in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The US got access to the oil rich region of the Caspian Sea. It is also in a strategic position to dominate the Arabian Sea. But as the world capitalist economy is in the moribund stage at the present time the hunger for market and the hunger for control of world resources know no bounds. The US got a temporary respite after the war against Afghanistan. But in the present stage of continual crisis the US needs one war after another to survive from the impending doom. Peace is death warrant to the US imperialists. So the neo-conservative intellectuals - the think tank of the US corporate houses with powerful ties with the Bush administration are calculating that war against Iraq would not push up oil prices to such an extent that it will cause severe damage to the US economy. But the war, according to them, would definitely give a big boost to the US economy. These death merchants can go to any extent to inflict death upon tens of thousands of common men and cause destruction to their property including hospitals, schools, residential complexes, communication network and all other essential infrastructure necessary for a civilized living only for ensuring their super-profit.
In this background the role of the BJP-led government is worth noting. The US imperialists are now the best friends of the BJP. The BJP-led government has voiced a luke warm opposition to the US design against Iraq but it is in connivance with the US to become a junior partner of the US in this part of the globe. The BJP-led government is participating in joint military, naval and air exercises. This government has allowed the FBI to open an office in New Delhi and is giving open entry to the US intelligence agency in strategic areas in north eastern India and other places. The BJP is not only dividing the people by engineering communal riots in the interest of the ruling capitalist class but riding roughshod over the glorious anti-imperialist tradition of the Indian people by colluding with the US imperialists.
The redeeming feature is that a growing tide of anti-imperialist and pro-peace movement is sweeping through different countries of the world. A spate of massive demonstrations throughout the advanced capitalist countries, from Seattle to Montreal, from Genoa to Rome, from Berlin to London to Tel Aviv show that there is no room for despondency. The people belonging to the countries of the European Union are boycotting the goods from Israel and workers of many ports of Europe are refusing to load and unload cargo of the Israeli ships. Anti US demonstrations are being held in the Philippines, in Bolivia and in South Korea. The US inspired coup in oil-rich Venezuela was frustrated by the massive people's protest. Impact of the people's protest movement on rulers of the Western capitalist countries is palpable. The European view at this point is marked by a total rejection of the unilateral, contemptuous and arrogant US policy which leads to flagrant interference in the internal affairs of the states and disrespect for international law. German Chancellor flatly refused to go along with Bush. Turkey, a key US ally, expressed grave reservation against the US policy of invading Iraq. Russia adamantly opposes military strike against Iraq. It is reported from the Kremlin that the Russian President Putin spoke over the telephone with the Italian Prime Minister, Berlusconi and they agreed that they had a similar position on this question. The new French government has also expressed its strong opposition to the US policy of invading Iraq. Even in Britain, the closest ally of the US, loud opposition from ministers, MPs and religious leaders are voiced. Japan is also against any attack on Iraq. There is deep disquiet in the traditionally friendly countries in the Arab world. The joint US-Jordan military exercise is irritating to the Jordanian people and so King Abdullah of Jordan is compelled to express his anxiety over the US policy on Iraq. Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt, has repeatedly asked the US to back out from creating further instability in the volatile region. In this background Bush seemed to be backtracking though he has kept his option open. Bush said that he had no time table for deciding whether to use military force to topple Saddam Hussain.
Despite growing opposition abroad and despite his failure to project a semblance of unity which the US somehow managed to project in the previous war against Iraq, and also against Afghanistan, Bush is feeling the compulsion of waging war against Iraq because of the tottering US economy. So Ms Candoleezze Rice, the US National Security Adviser on foreign policy said on August 16 last that Washington did "not have the luxury of doing nothing" and hinted broadly that Iraqi leader would be gone sooner rather than later.
This fresh sabre-rattling in Washington provoked outrage among opponents of war in London. Mr Manzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat spokesman in foreign affairs commented, "there will be no world order if the most powerful states are entitled to remove other governments at will. There is no doctrine of international law which justifies regime change."
Though the growing tide of anti-imperialist and pro-peace movement has played a major role in compelling Bush to tone down his language, the growing contradictions among the imperialist countries are also an important contributory factor. It shows that the imperialist powers of Europe understands that the US objectives in Iraq are not compatible with those of theirs. During the present phase of intense crisis of capitalism, the competition between the imperialist countries to have a greater share in the world market is getting more intense everyday. After the Afghan war the US appropriated all the gains of additional market access. So they do not want to burn their fingers again by supporting the US war efforts on Iraq.
But it is to be borne in mind that intense competitions between the imperialist countries are getting hotter everyday, and present trade war may any day break out in hot war. The only guarantee against the break out of war is the launching of a powerful, militant and united peace movement in different countries of the globe by combining all the anti-war and pro-peace forces with the communists acting as the core.
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