People's Democracy

Iraq Ready To Face The American Challenge

 Yohannan Chemarapally

RECENT statements by senior Bush administration officials have signaled, the imminence of war in the middle east.  The American secretary of state, Colin Powell said in the last week of January that his country was ready to wage war on its own.  It has become clear that only a handful of countries are willing to support the Bush administration’s hand long rush to war.  The western alliance is sharply divided over the issue.  France and Germany have made it absolutely clear that there was no possibility of their armies joining an American led war.

The UN weapons inspectors have not found a “smoking gun” and Hans Blix the chief weapons inspector, has said that he wants at least a year more to conclude the inspections.  The UN Security Council is also in no mood to sanction a war against Iraq. Even Mexico and Bulgaria, close allies of the US, have indicated that they will cast their votes in the Security Council against any attack on Iraq. However, George W Bush seems determined to wage anew war. The Iraqi people and government are determined to once again thwart the aggression.

This was made clear by the visiting speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly, Sadoon Hammadi, in New Delhi, in the last week of January. The high ranking Iraqi dignitary was in the capital to attend the golden jubilee celebrations of the Indian parliament. While refusing to be drawn into a conversation about the inevitability of war, Hammadi stressed that there was no basis for the Bush administration to start another war against his country.  Hammadi pointed out that his country was extending all cooperation to the UN arms inspectors presently in Iraq. French foreign ministry officials had recently praised Baghdad’s cooperation while criticizing the Bush administration’s attempts to accelerate the movement towards war.  However, Hammadi, was critical of the UN weapons inspectors past record in his country.

He said that in the eight years UNSCOM was in Iraq after the Gulf War, 276 inspection teams were deployed. In all 3845 inspectors were employed to look for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In all 3,912 sites were inspected. UNSCOM had also put in place a permanent monitoring system with 138 very sophisticated cameras and sophisticated sensors. Hammadi recalled that it was the UN’s chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler, who withdraw his team in 1998, so that the American administration at that time could launch a massive air attack (Operation Desert Fox), without endangering the lives of the weapons inspectors.

Hammadi reiterated that many of the weapons inspectors at that time, were also acting as spies for the US and Israel.  “We had a very bitter experience before as some of them were doing intelligence work. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has admitted this in an interview to the BBC. Rolf Eckeus, a former UNSCOM head and Scott Ritter, another senior UNSCOM official at that time, have all said the same thing. It is an establishment fact.”

Despite the unpleasant past experiences of the recent past, Iraq had agreed to allow new teams of weapons inspectors to come back in late 2002.  Hammadi said that his country’s acquiescence was due to the wish of the international community.  He said that 230 inspectors are already in the country and around 280 sites have been inspected. “We want them to conduct their work in a professional manner. They should not interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq”, said Hammadi.  In recent weeks, the Iraqi government has signaled its displeasure about the methods being adopted by the weapons inspectors, currently in the country. Many Iraqi’s feel that some of the inspectors are again acting as spies to keep the Americans informed about Iraqi military installations and other relevant details, as war clouds loom on the horizon.

Hammadi stressed that the conflict with the US is not on the question of WMDs . “As far as WMDs are concerned, it is a categoric no. We have not had WMDs for many years. The US has not been able to present any evidence whatsoever to the UN Security Council”. Hammadi said that one of the main reasons for America wanting a war is to obtain full control of the oil resources in the region. Hammadi said that the area has 75 per cent of the proven oil resources. “They control all of it, except the energy resources of Iraq”.

Iraq also has an independent policy towards Israel, unlike most of its neighbours.  “The Jewish lobby is behind the Bush administration. They want to liquidate the Palestinian problem, all Palestinian land and crush the Palestinians”. Hammadi adds that a war will also help Bush win re-election and warned that the US military moves constitute a threat to all the countries in the world. “They want to control all the economies, including that of Europe and Japan”.

Hammadi described the consequence of the economic blockade on Iraq as “catastrophic”. He said that the UN specialized agencies have themselves estimated that1.7 million Iraqis have perished as a result of the 12 year long draconian sanctions. Between 6,600 – 7,000 children die every month because of either malnutrition or lack of medical supplies.

As the UN inspectors continue with their work, American planes have increased their daily bombing runs in the so called “no-fly zones” of Iraq. Hammadi pointed out the UN had clarified as early as on January 7, 1993, that these zones have no legal basis. As per the American dictates, Iraqi planes and helicopters are prohibited from flying in the “no-fly zones” which virtually covers two-thirds of the country.

“It the US wages war, we have no other choice but to stand up and fight.  We are not going to turn the other cheek”, said Hammadi. He said that the spirits of his people are “very high”. The military as well as the civilian administration are well organized. “Every single Iraqi will fight. We will use every method to inflict damage on the enemy. There will be some problems but we are sure that the aggressor will fail”, said Hammadi.