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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2002
Our Life and Times
UN paves the way for U.S. invasion of Iraq
by Kevin A. Barry The Bush administration got what it wanted from the United
Nations on Nov. 8, a unanimous vote in the Security Council for a resolution
designed to open the way to a U.S. invasion of Iraq. There were not even any
abstentions, not from Iraq's erstwhile ally, Russia, nor from Syria, the sole
Arab representative on the Council, nor from France, which has often claimed to
distance itself from U.S. imperialism. While France claimed that it had succeeded in watering down
the resolution, the truth is that the world's sole superpower had managed to
cajole or force the smaller powers into giving it an official UN resolution that
will facilitate its war drive. Only one European power, Germany, continues
openly to oppose the war, but the purely verbal nature of that opposition was
shown in the fact that it has no plans to deny the U.S. use of its numerous
military bases in the event of war. A day after the UN resolution passed, half a million people
demonstrated for peace in Florence, Italy. Many marchers had attended an
anti-globalization conference in that city and among them were large numbers of
workers and youth. For its part, the Bush administration did not even deign to
respond to the peace demonstrations, instead continuing its military buildup. It
admits to having already brought 62,000 military personnel into the area
surrounding Iraq, with three more aircraft carriers on the way. Few observers believe that the Saddam Hussein regime can
put up much resistance to a U.S. attack. Twelve years of economic sanctions,
while mainly hurting innocent civilians, have also weakened Iraq's military
infrastructure, despite paranoid claims about weapons of mass destruction from
U.S. experts. It would be hard to find, anywhere in the world, a regime
of greater brutality or with a narrower base of support. Over the years, Saddam
Hussein has committed acts of genocide against the nation's Shi'ite majority and
its Kurdish minority; he has sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its citizens in
wars against its neighbors; he has imprisoned, tortured, raped, and killed
thousands of real or imagined political opponents. This is what makes the task of the anti-imperialist,
anti-capitalist Left so difficult today. So far, neither the broader grassroots
anti-globalization movement nor the more top-down anti-war groups have found a
way to articulate an opposition to all forces of oppression. Here I refer not
only to U.S. imperialism and global capitalism, but also to those whose
opposition to the U.S. is on a reactionary basis, whether Islamic
fundamentalists or nationalist dictators like Saddam Hussein. This failure to present a liberatory alternative has given
U.S. imperialism, in addition to its immense economic and military power, a
major ideological weapon. It has allowed the Bush administration to claim that
it supports both democracy and women's rights in the Middle East and the Muslim
world. This has immeasurably strengthened Bush's hand as he prepares to go into
Iraq. For its part, the Bush administration is under the grand illusion that by militarily defeating Saddam Hussein, it can open a new era of peace on its terms in the entire region. It seems to believe that a victory in Iraq--especially if, as is not unlikely, the people of Baghdad initially welcome U.S. troops as liberators--will so undermine Arab nationalism that the Arab world will make peace with Israel on Sharon's terms. The administration also seems to believe that it would gain a pro-U.S. regime in Iraq, a country whose proven oil reserves are second only to those of Saudi Arabia. |
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