The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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The continuing debate on the case for/against Iraqi regime seems to me at its heart to be very confused. Though there have been many issues under discussion the one central issue seems to be an augment over the correct balance between supporting the Iraqi people and not Iraqi regime. Some correspondents seem to feel that some CASI members are supporting the Iraqi people but are also, through ignorance or looking the other way, helping or disguising the regimes crimes in some way. They seem to feel that some members do not have a full understanding of the regimes brutalities to their own people. Perhaps they have a point, perhaps not. However what many of these 'topple Hussein by any means' (I.e. US) advocates fail to engage with is that from a socialist perspective there is a very strong political foundation from which the support for a peoples struggle for their political or social aspirations (as well the immediate struggle for their children's physical & mental development under sanctions) can and MUST go hand in hand with the defence of any nations people against IMPERIALIST forces. Whether the regime remains protected by such efforts is not and never has been the point. Beyond the basic principle of national sovereignty & international law, in the first instance it is very obviously the civilian population who will suffer the agonies of any war brought to bear on Iraq. Secondly no government installed after a US attack would have any political legitimacy.All socialist parties or voices who are crushed under the present regime would be similarly crushed under a US puppet government. No socialist/communist who speaks out against Hussein now could accept or encourage an imposed capitalist government put their by US to once again allow the unfettered access to Iraq's natural resources, namely oil at the expense of its peoples share. Those who call for a regime change in Iraq, who are presently in bed with the US government may truly be on their peoples side. But by working side by side with Imperialist governments they have conceded any fight for social justice within Iraq. The US will not allow the formation of a state which allows human rights, carries out land reform, wealth distribution, workers owned companies,WORKERS OWNED OIL. Look at the regimes installed in Latin America & the other Arab dictatorships for reference???? The re-establishment of a capitalist order if Hussein was removed is guaranteed. Further it would be a virtual (US) military dictatorship which would not allow any political freedoms which threatened its survival as it seeked to maintain 'stability' for its US masters. In other words HUSSEIN'S ENEMY'S NOW ARE THE US ENEMY'S TOMORROW. Only the 'million man army' of Iraq as the west once called them can truly democratise Iraq. Although the Islamic revolution was not eventually consolidated by workers & students who brought it about but by private interests it still stands as example of what the people of a nation are capable of. THAT is why Iraq uses such brutal measures against internal dissidents, because it fears its own PEOPLE MORE THAN THE US and perversely this is also what the US fears most. The US war drive to redominate the Middle-East by force is a direct challenge to the revolutionary forces within the Islamic world which are and WILL become the greatest threat to the US the world have ever seen. Before the US has its eyes gored out by such events it seeks to reposition itself at the table by force. It failed in 1990 to achieve its long term political goals, now the illegitimate president,number two in the Bush monarchy, seeks to achieve them by crushing the aspirations of a whole people. THAT IS THE ENEMY BUSH WANTS TO DESTROY 200 MILLION ARABS, 1 BILLION MUSLIMS. Hussein is just a stumbling block, Bush's real plan is to try and smash the democratising forces which have been bubbling in the Mideast for years & now threaten to engulf the region. Bush will fail of course as Sharon has found to his displeasure, may he choke on it. Any socialist who in some way supports the Iraqi regime and encourages its survival should be very wary of doing so. I doubt that anyone on this mailing list does, I have certainly never heard those views expressed. The Bathist regime is not a revolutionary party is the progressive sense. Its conflict with the west did not grow from an anti-imperialist course quite the opposite it had acted to strengthen its ties with all the major imperialist regimes during and up to the invasion of Kuwait. Iraq's attack on the Iranian revolution was an attack on ALL revolutionary forces worldwide. It was carried out in COLLABORATION with west. Saddam Hussein and his party are an enemy of all socialists. His nationlist and anti-imperialist rhetoric is just that, an attempt to rationalize his own violence and strengthen Iraq when expedient. I therefore believe that it is the duty of all people who believe in social justice to support the people of Iraq as fellow workers in a worldwide struggle against ALL capitalist rulers - be it Iraq, Israel, Germany, Italy, UK, or the US. We must encourage revolutionary forces worldwide. We should not support or collaborate with the aims of the most powerful capitalist regime in the world to topple another capitalist aggressor. They are one and the same enemy, their victims are one and the same. The struggle between the 'oppressed' & the 'oppressors' continues. That is, I believe, the context in which the conflict within & without Iraq should be viewed. M ----- Original Message ----- From: IRAQI <baghdad@easy.com> To: <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 5:11 PM Subject: [casi] Freedom of expression > Dear CASI members, > > I received very encouraging feedback from > members on this list about my last message. > And I decided to continue :) > As I said in my last email, all media in Iraq is > owned and run by the government. And the > government makes every possible effort to make > sure that Iraqis don't get access to any other > sort of media. Satellite dishes are banned in > Iraq. If they discover that you have a satellite > system, the equipments will be confiscated, you > will be fined double the cost of the equipment, > and the head of the family will be locked in > humiliating detention center. One of my > neighbors had the honor of getting into one of > these centers. People are kept in large concrete > halls, with 70-80 people in each one. They are > not allowed to ever leave the place. (The toilet > is a barrel at each corner of the hall). > If you are lucky, you will be released after 6 > months. (Absolutely no one gets out before 6 > months) > Recently, the government has offered Internet > access from home (to the people who can afford > it). It is unmetered but a bit restricted when > it comes to what websites you can access. > Basically you are allowed to visit a website > called (URUKLINK www.uruklink.net) and another > one called (IRAQ2000 www.iraq2000.com) and > that's about it!! > If you want an email address, you fill the paper > work (which includes all sorts of questions > about you, your family, and any relatives living > abroad), pay the processing fee, and you get an > email address which is always @uruklink.net so > they can monitor every word that you send or > receive. (Just like what the western governments > do, right felicity?) > Another way to get access to non-government > media is to leave the country (if you are so > desperate). But again, leaving the country is > not as easy as you might think. You need an exit > visa (yeah, that was not a printing mistake, you > need a visa to get out of Iraq!!) The processing > fee of that visa is around $200 dollars. Tens of > thousands of people won't be allowed to get one. > They are banned from travel. > People who can't leave the country find > themselves in a big prison called "IRAQ". > Sometimes they get fed up and speak out. If > someone makes the biggest mistake of all > and "insults" the "great leader", he will be > arrested, disappear for months, and the body > might be returned to the family but with a bill > to pay, the cost of the bullets used to execute > their son. This is not a scene from a horror > movie, this is happening every day in Iraq. It > is happening as we speak. > If you were a bit more careful, and criticized > the policy of "the government" and did not > mention Saddam, the authorities there have a > unique way of dealing with you. After they > arrest you, you will be locked in one of the AMN > centers, tortured day and night, and when they > have a group of similar cases, you will be taken > to a football field, crowds from the streets > will be brought in to watch, and you get your > tongue cut off. I want everyone in this list to > imagine him or herself being an Iraqi living in > Iraq and going through all this. > Cutting parts off bodies of Iraqis is not very > uncommon in Saddam's Iraq. Members of the > military forces who fail to report to their > units for one month or more, will have their > ears cut off. A doctor who refuses to cut an ear > will be executed. > Sanctions are evil, but they are not the only > thing Iraqis are suffering from. > > > IRAQI > > > Sent by Mail at easy.com, an easyGroup company. > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk