A KNOWING VOICE ON IRAQ

By Mumia Abu-Jamal

[Col. Writ. 9/28/02]

In this day and time, when it seems like the U.S. media is a virtual echo chamber urging Americans into war (once again) it may be quite difficult to find someone willing to provide an opposing yet informed view on the looming threat of war.

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter is that someone. New York-based publisher Context Books is putting out a timely instant book featuring an indepth interview with the conservative ex-Marine that explodes many of the popular and misleading myths supporting the war. The book is entitled, "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know," by William Rivers Pitt, with Scott Ritter.

For many Americans, the book features a short, but informative history of Modern Iraq. Check this out: Does the U.S. really want "democracy" in Iraq? Most folks will say, "yeah, sure." But do they know that the vast majority of Iraqis, some 60%, are followers of Shi'a Islamic faith, like Iran? What about weapons of mass destruction (WPM) of a chemical, biological or nuclear nature?

Let me quote from William Pitt's "War on Iraq" on that:

The case for war against Iraq has not been made. This is a fact. It is doubtful in the extreme that Saddam Hussein has retained any functional aspect of the chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons programs so thoroughly dismantled by the United Nations weapons inspectors who worked tirelessly in Iraq for seven years. This is also a fact. The idea that Hussein has connections to fundamentalist Islamic terrorists is laughable-- he is a secular leader who has worked for years to crush fundamentalist Islam within Iraq, and if he were to give weapons of any kind to Al Qaeda, they would use those weapons on him first. [p. 10]

Think about this the next time you hear media reports about Iraq working with Al Qaeda. They know that the ruling clique in Iraq is rooted in the socialist Ba'ath party, and they hate him and his cronies almost as much as they hate the Americans. Further, as the administration strains to justify their Iraq adventure, with a cowed Congress and a complicit media, it will be harder and harder for such voices as these to be heard, or found. Pray that the prediction in the Pitt/Ritter book doesn't come true:

An attack on Iraq could bring about a wider world war America cannot afford, and that a vast majority of Americans do not desire. [p. 10]

At less than 100 pages "War on Iraq" is an easy read. Before Armageddon is unleashed, it's hoped that many Americans study this issue soon.