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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I don't think that campaigning to remove SH has any place on this list. Pre the invasion of Kuwait it could be argued that SH was the main problem for Iraqis (although it could be argued that the US support for his regime was the bigger problem). Now I would argue that by far the biggest problem is the sanctions which not only prevent rebuilding after the devastating damage caused by the US & UK but cause continuing death and damage to civilians. With the US/UK causing 8000 deaths a month, stunted growth, miserable life opportunities etc any talk of SH repression seems tragically out of place. Consider just one aspect - the provision of electricity and proper drinking water. If the regime had control of its income these would have been restored years ago. The US & UK have resolutely (and genocidally) prevented this. Why? To prevent the development of WMD? No. To protect Iraq's neighbours? No. To weaken the military? No. To unseat SH? No. To prevent repression? No. It all points to the desire to prevent the development of Iraq (having 'returned it to the stone age') and control its resources. This is also achieved through the reparations regime and the boundary fixing (which goes even further along the colonial objective of restricting Iraq's access to the sea). Suckering SH into Kuwait was easy. Getting him out painlessly would have been easy. Kuwait was the excuse to 'do' Iraq. Win-win in loads of ways for the US/UK. The really frightening thing is the amount of power that the US now has (26 million Iraqis under a terrible siege and we don't feel a thing), how few people make the actual decisions and their almost total lack of accountability. Mark Parkinson Bodmin Cornwall _______________________________________________ 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