Hi Hakan >Disturbing facts around the US/UK war in Iraq, as I see them.
Disturbing, yes. A good analysis. Here's a bit more to distuirb you... http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=3148 Donald Rumsfeld And Poison Gas by Stephen Kerr February 27, 2003 "... It may seem strange that the man who demands the complete disarmament of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons would actively plan to use them himself." >Judge by yourself and please give me unemotional arguments and parameters >to change my view, I would be very happy it I could find comfort in the >actions now suggested by US/UK. I cannot mobilize such confidence in >Bush/Blair, that would help me to support a Gulf War II and the situation >disturbs me very much. Please try to be factual, because I will not be >convinced by name calling or non factual arguments and it will not help me. >If I could belive in something that will happen with or without my opinion, >I would sleep and feel better, if I could belive in it and that it is a >cause worth all the lifes that will be taken, innocent and not innocent. > >One very positive thing that is likely to happen, regardless of war or not >war, is a mobilization of resources to produce biofuels. It would give a >tremendous boost for energy saving and alternative energy sources. >Unfortunately or maybe by design, it would also boost utilization of >nuclear and coal. > >Iraq is govern by the elected Baath party and it's elected leader Saddam >Hussein. It is common opinion in the Western world that those elections was >non democratic and that it is in reality a dictatorship. It is also a >common opinion that the regime does not respect human rights and are using >violence to suppress the people. The descriptions of the ruthless regime >are probably very close to reality. Rule by terror might be correct as >description of Iraq and many other nations in the world, including the >current Israeli rule over the Palestinian territories. Some people point at >the lack of consistence in the US policies. > >It is samples of that the regime protected themselves by political >executions and disappearances. The question of the many disappearances of >Kuwaiti citizens is also a very important issue. The same with Iranian >prisoners of war. It can be a very strong case for war crimes against the >Iraqi regime and its brutalities. > >Iraq, because of the war with Iran and the gulf war, is a very crippled >nation. Close to 90% of the population consist of children under 16, women >and elderly. Less than 20% of the population have the rights to vote. > >Iraq have suffered for more than a decade from one of the few effective >blockades in the world history. It is reports from credible international >help organizations, that the blockade have caused substantial death and >reduction of quality of life in Iraq. It's killed hundreds of thousands of children, apart from anything else. However, from my point of view, with a great interest in food security issues, there's been a very interesting response in Iraq to the blockade, that I don't see anybody discussing: "The ration program is regarded by the United Nations as the largest and most efficient food-distribution system of its kind in the world. It has also become what is perhaps Saddam's most strategic tool to maintain popular support over the last decade." >The Guardian Weekly 20-3-0213 > >Washington Post > >Extra rations quell Iraqi discontent > >Saddam spends billions subsidizing cheap food in effort to avoid rebellion > >Rajiv Chandrasekaran in Baghdad > >Once a month, Esther Yawo strolls to a neighborhood market to pick >up groceries for her family of five. She usually returns with 180 >pounds of flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil, white beans, chickpeas >and tea, plus 16 bars of soap. Total price: 60 cents. In a colossal >exercise in public welfare and social control, President Saddam >Hussein's government distributes the same monthly provisions at the >same low price across Iraq, a country of 26 million people. The >handouts have kept food on the table for the Yawos and most other >Iraqi families, who can no longer afford to purchase staples at >market prices because of debilitating U.N. economic sanctions >imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. > >The ration program is regarded by the United Nations as the largest >and most efficient food-distribution system of its kind in the >world. It has also become what is perhaps Saddam's most strategic >tool to maintain popular support over the last decade. > >The United States and other Western nations had hoped the sanctions, >which devastated Iraq's once-prosperous economy, would lead Iraqis >to rebel against their leader or, at the least, compel him to fully >cooperate with U.N. inspectors hunting for weapons of mass >destruction. But Saddam has held firm in large part by using food to >stem discontent with the pain of sanctions, employing a massive >network of trucks, computers, warehouses and neighborhood >distributors to provide sustenance for every Iraqi. > >In some ways, the food program reflects the philosophy of Saddam's >Baath Party government, which promotes modern, technocratic Arab >nationalism and had invested heavily in education and infrastructure >before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. > >But as Iraq prepares for the possibility of another war with the >United States, the ration program also has emerged as a key >component of Saddam's homeland defense strategy. In a bid to build >public confidence in his leadership and staunch panic that could be >capitalized on by opposition groups, the government has been doling >out double rations since October so families can stockpile supplies. >In January, for instance, Yawo received her allotments for April and >May, which were delivered to her house on a wooden pushcart. > >"It makes us feel safer," she said, groaning as she heaved a sack of >rice into her pantry. "Now we know we will at least have food to eat >if the Americans bomb us again." > >Before the Kuwait invasion, Esther Yawo and her husband, Zaia, had >never heard of a ration. "We had enough money," he said with a >nostalgic smile. "We could buy whatever we wanted from the market." > >As a high school English teacher, he made 42 dinars a month - about >$140. In Baghdad, where food, fuel and electricity were subsidized, >it was enough to live in comfort. The couple, members of a small >Christian minority, rented a spacious, two-story house in a >middle-class neighborhood. They traveled around the country during >school holidays. They ate meat every day. > >The cheap fare was the result of Iraq's affluence. Flush from oil >sales, the government imported more than $20 billion of food a year. >Everything from Argentine beef to Indian tea, which arrived by the >shipload, was offered to merchants at cut-rate prices. > >Even then, Saddam was using food to build support. During the >latter part of Iraq's 1980-88 war with neighboring Iran, a conflict >that claimed more than 250,000 Iraqi lives, the government flooded >the market with subsidized luxury imports, including Scotch whiskeys >and French cheeses. > >"You could get as much as you wanted," Zaia said. > >But all that ended after Iraqi tanks rolled into Kuwait on August 2, >1990. By August 6, the U.N. Security Council had slapped a trade >embargo on Iraq. > >Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said he was summoned by Sad dam >four days later and ordered to develop a system to ration the >country's remaining food stockpile. "His excellency was very >worried," Saleh said in an interview. "He did not want the people of >Iraq to go hungry." > >Saleh settled on a system where the government would print ration >books and place large quantities of food at several warehouses >around the country. Fifty thousand merchants were signed up to be >"retailers," requiring them to pick up sacks of food from the >warehouses and dole out portions to people in their neighborhoods in >exchange for a nominal payment from the recipient. > >The system was operational in weeks and it continued during the Gulf >War, making Saleh something of a national hero. "Twelve of our >drivers were martyred in the bombing," he said, using the common >word for those who die in war. "But we refused to let the Americans >stop us." > >After the war, before Iraq accepted a U.N. deal to sell its oil to >buy food, the rations were fairly meager. The 1,275 daily calorie >content was about half of what nutritionists recommended, enough to >keep people from starving but not to prevent malnutrition, >particularly among children. > >"It just barely kept us from starving," Zaia Yawo said. > > In 1996, Saddam reached a deal with the United Nations whereby Iraq >would openly sell some oil on the world market and use the proceeds >to purchase food and medicine. In 1998, the U.N. Security Council >decided to expand the program by allowing Iraq to sell as much oil >as it wanted to fund humanitarian goods. > >Iraq now spends about $3.6 billion a year to buy food under the >oil-for-food program, which amounts to about $11 per person per >month. Although the shipments are just a fraction of the value of >the country's pre-war food imports, they are enough for Iraq to >provide a daily ration that is close to U.N. nutritional guidelines. > >Many Iraqis credit Saddam with keeping them fed under the sanctions, >which have been cast by his government as an American plot to harm >the Iraqi people. > >The U.S. government "hoped the sanctions would lead to hunger, which >would lead to disruption and anger, so the political system could be >changed," said Trade Minister Saleh. "But we proved the failure of >this theory." > >Some here express a dissenting view. "Why should we thank him?" a >retired teacher said. "If he didn't invade Kuwait, there would be no >sanctions and no need for the rations." Regards Keith >Iraq does not have a history of International terrorism, compared with >other Middle East countries. > >Iraq has not been proven to support or have links to International terrorism. > >It is proven that Iraq have supported the Palestine people in their >uprising against the occupying Israel. Especially their financial support >of families of suicide bombers. > >The majority of Iraq's WMD capabilities was delivered by US during the Iraq >- Iran conflict. Very little was a result of stand alone development in Iraq. > >The Iraq - Iran war was very much induced, encouraged and directly >supported by US. Us also assisted in this war by providing military >hardware, material, chemical and biological weapons to Iraq. The war with >Iran is the only undisputable militarily conflict that Iraq had with an >other country. > >All countries and International institutions agree that UN managed to >destroy 95% of all WMDs and WMD programs prior to 1998. At that junction >only 5% remained. The present discussion of WMD in Iraq concerns the >remaining 5% and what they might have produced since 1998. > >Kuwait was never recognized by Iraq as a sovereign state and neighbor, they >regarded them as a renegade province. Even if the world community >recognized Kuwait as a state, it can be some understanding in that Iraq's >position of that Kuwait was an internal matter. > >Iraq have the second largest known oil reserves in the world and it is >believed that they, when fully explored, will have the largest oil reserves >in the world. If US was solely to use it's own oil, the only have known oil >reserves for 10+ years (R/P value) of consumption. US have some hopes for >finding more oil in Alaska, but it is very unlikely that this will solve US >dependence of importing oil. > >It is proven that the Iraqi regime have locked out US and UK oil companies >from participating or getting development contracts regarding the Iraqi oil >reserves. Contracts have been signed and approved by the Iraqi congress >with Russia and China. Contracts with France and Germany are signed and >pending approval. Contracts with Spain and other nations are under >discussions. > >One very dangerous and hostile move by Iraq, was to suggest an oil blockade >to force a solution of the Israeli - Palestine conflict. They even >themselves tried to front it by closing deliveries of oil deliveries under >the food for oil program. It is after this incident that the urgency of >regime change aroused in US. An oil blockade would have disastrous effects >on the world economy and especially the US. With the strategic reserves >only haft full, US is very vulnerable. Probably the most effective WMD that >could be used. > >The argument that Iraq was gassing their own people is based on an incident >during the Iraq - Iran conflict. It is not proven if it was a deliberate >gassing of Iraq or collateral damage caused by Iraq or Iran. It is clear >that it is several question marks around the statement. It is flourishing >several contra dictionary reports from people involved with the incident. > >The highly emotional attempts to link Iraq to the 9/11 is in reality a >hijacking of this event for a very dubious purpose. We have to remember >that over 100 nations lost citizens. It is true that the event took place >in US and that US lost more people than any nation, but to apply this event >to propaganda against Iraq have no proven basis and show a disrespect to >all the citizens of the countries that also died in 9/11. > >Iraq have in the propaganda many times been compared with Nazi Germany and >the fault of dealing with it at an early stage. A fair analysis show very >remote similarities between Iraq and the situation of Nazi Germany before >the hostilities in the 30's. This argument can actually be reversed to >describe todays US with greater parallel accuracy. This with considering >strength, real and constructed risks for terrorist attacks, homeland >security, infiltration of political analysts in FBI, right to preventing >attack, rights for the American way of life, etc. . This comment is done >without taking any position on the issues and only considers historical >similarities and how arguments can be used, it is very unlikely that US >will have a final development into a dictatorship with ambitions of world >domination. It is also very unlikely that Iraq would be allowed or have >possibilities to do that too. > >In the whole flora of arguments, it is difficult to find the imminent >terrorist or military international threat or even a military threat to its >neighbors. It is very strong arguments for a peaceful disarmament process >and a peaceful regime change would probably benefit the region and the >world. It is hard to belive that any problem, other than US oil supply and >US/UK participation in oil development, would be solved with an US >occupation of Iraq against a massive world opinion. Any change of world >opinion after the fact is highly speculative and dangerous. Speculations of >that US would be a welcomed regime in Iraq, by the Iraqis or the neighbors >is also a very speculative and dangerous assumption. > >Hakan > > >At 03:49 AM 3/5/2003 +0900, you wrote: > >http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2799705.stm > >BBC NEWS | World | Americas | > >Wednesday, 26 February, 2003 > >Rumsfeld warns on Iraq arms > >Iraq's neighbours will stay out of a war, Rumsfeld predicted > >Baghdad's chemical and biological weapons capabilities are likely to > >be "more lethal" now than in the 1991 Gulf War, US defence secretary > >Donald Rumsfeld has said. > >[more] > > > >"Governments versus Peoples" > >by Scott Burchill > >February 26, 2003 > >http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=3132 > > > >"... More ominously, according to the report of a 1994 US Senate > >Banking Committee, the "United States provided the government of Iraq > >with 'dual-use' licensed materials which assisted in the development > >of Iraqi chemical, biological and missile-system programs." According > >to the report, this assistance included "chemical warfare-agent > >precursors; chemical warfare-agent production facility plans and > >technical drawings; chemical warfare-filling equipment; biological > >warfare-related materials; missile fabrication equipment and missile > >system guidance equipment." These technologies were sent to Iraq > >until December 1989, 20 months after the gassing of Halabja. > > > >"In February 1989, John Kelly, US Assistant Secretary of State, flew > >to Baghdad to tell Saddam Hussein that "you are a source for > >moderation in the region, and the United States wants to broaden her > >relationship with Iraq." This was eleven months after Halabja..." > >[more] > > > >http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_cr/s092002.html > >Did the U.S. Help Saddam Acquire Biological Weapons? > > > >The Record On U.S. Germ Exports To Iraq > > > >See: > >U.S. Germ Exports To Iraq.pdf > >http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsd/nsd26.pdf > > > >Read what Sen. Robert Byrd, D-WV, put in the Congressional Record > >concerning the United States government's export of biological > >weapons ingredients to Iraq more than a decade ago. When asked by > >Byrd about this history as recounted in a recent Newsweek article, > >the current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who met with Saddam > >Hussein as an envoy for prior administrations, declined to directly > >answer Byrd's questions. > > > >In this now declassified 1989 White House document, read how the > >administration of George Herbert Walker Bush felt Iraq should be > >cultivated as a strategic and political ally -- even though there > >were fears about Saddam using germ warfare weapons. > > > >Congressional Record: September 20, 2002 (Senate) > >Page S8987-S8998 > >[more] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
