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.

[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [casi] We Went Into Iraq Because We Knew We Could



Dear list members,
                            I urge you to read this article, especially the last two paragraphs. I 
feel it vindicates my pre-war prognosis as shown in my analysis at the time.
Regards,
              Muhamad
>>> "AS-ILAS" <AS-ILAS@gmx.de> 06/06 7:30 am >>>
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/mktplace/re.aspx?reIDx=3115465B-AD86-49AD-8852
-127EE1E4D23C

We Went Into Iraq Because We Knew We Could

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published on 6/5/2003

The failure of the Bush team to produce any weapons of mass destruction
(WMDs) in Iraq is becoming a big, big story. But is it the real story we
should be concerned with? No. It was the wrong issue before the war, and
it's the wrong issue now.

Why? Because there were actually four reasons for this war: the real reason,
the right reason, the moral reason and the stated reason.

The ôreal reasonö for this war, which was never stated, was that after 9/11
America needed to hit someone in the Arab-Muslim world. Afghanistan wasn't
enough. Because a terrorism bubble had built up over there, one that posed a
real threat to the open societies of the West and needed to be punctured.
This terrorism bubble said that plowing airplanes into the World Trade
Center was OK, having Muslim preachers say it was OK was OK, having
state-run newspapers call people who did such things ômartyrsö was OK and
allowing Muslim charities to raise money for such ômartyrsö was OK. Not only
was all this seen as OK, there was a feeling among radical Muslims that
suicide bombing would level the balance of power between the Arab world and
the West, because we had gone soft and their activists were ready to die.

The only way to puncture that bubble was for American soldiers, men and
women, to go into the heart of the Arab-Muslim world, house to house, and
make clear that we are ready to kill, and to die, to prevent our open
society from being undermined by this terrorism bubble. Smashing Saudi
Arabia or Syria would have been fine. But we hit Saddam for one simple
reason: because we could, and because he deserved it and because he was
right in the heart of that world. And don't believe the nonsense that this
had no effect. Every neighboring government ù and 98 percent of terrorism is
about what governments let happen ù got the message. If you talk to U.S. sol
diers in Iraq they will tell you this is what the war was about.

The ôright reasonö for this war was the need to partner with Iraqis,
post-Saddam, to build a progressive Arab regime. Because the real weapons of
mass destruction that threaten us were never Saddam's missiles. The real
weapons that threaten us are the growing number of angry, humiliated young
Arabs and Muslims, who are produced by failed or failing Arab states ù young
people who hate America more than they love life. Helping to build a decent
Iraq as a model for others and solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are
the necessary steps for defusing the ideas of mass destruction, which are
what really threaten us.

The ômoral reasonö for the war was that Saddam's regime was an engine of
mass destruction and genocide that had killed thousands of his own people,
and neighbors, and needed to be stopped.

But because the Bush team never dared to spell out the real reason for the
war, and (wrongly) felt that it could never win public or world support for
the right reasons and the moral reasons, it opted for the ôstated reasonö:
the notion that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction that posed an
immediate threat to America. I argued before the war that Saddam posed no
such threat to America, and had no links with al-Qaida, and that we couldn't
take the nation to war ôon the wings of a lie.ö I argued that Bush should
fight this war for the right reasons and the moral reasons. But he stuck
with this WMD argument for P.R. reasons.

Once the war was over and I saw the mass graves and the true extent of
Saddam's genocidal evil, my view was that Bush did not need to find any WMDs
to justify the war for me. I still feel that way. But I have to admit that
I've always been fighting my own war in Iraq. Bush took the country into his
war. And if it turns out that he fabricated the evidence for his war (which
I wouldn't conclude yet), that would badly damage America and be a very
serious matter.

Finding Iraq's WMDs is necessary to preserve the credibility of the Bush
team, the neocons, Tony Blair and the CIA. But rebuilding Iraq is necessary
to win the war. I won't feel one whit more secure if we find Saddam's WMDs,
because I never felt he would use them on us. But I will feel terribly
insecure if we fail to put Iraq onto a progressive path. If that doesn't
happen, the terrorism bubble will reinflate and bad things will follow.
America's future, and the future of the Mideast, rides on our building a
different Iraq.

Thomas Friedman writes for The New York Times.

And here is my article,
IRAQ: WAR OR DICTATORSHIP
By: M T Ali
It is said that war is simply diplomacy by other means. Dictatorship is the highest form of the 
absence of democracy. Iraq is the manifestation of both war and dictatorship, unless and until one 
defeats the other. Saddam Hussein's dictatorship unleashed internal wars on the Iraqi people first, 
then waged external wars on the neighbouring countries, Iran first and then Kuwait, theGulf War. Is 
a third such war inevitable and if so, will it be the finale that topples the dictatorship that 
caused all these wars? Is there an alternative means to achieve this? Or, will the dictatorship 
prevail and prolong its life span. These are the sixty-four thousand-Dollar questions! War and 
sanctions
Like the other emotive topic of sanctions, war divides the world public opinion, peoples, 
organizations and governments, into two opposing camps, each of which contains many strange 
bedfellows,whilst former comrades-in-arms split their ranks, ending up in different camps. Western 
imperialism, its agents and warmongers champion the pro-sanctions and pro-war camp.But it mustbe 
stressed; not everyone in this camp is necessarily an agent of imperialism or a warmonger. As there 
are contingents of the international solidarity with the Iraqi people, such as CARDRI (Committee 
Against Repression and for Democratic Rights in Iraq) and INDICT (the campaign to indict Iraqi war 
criminals) in theUK, post-Kuwait Iraqi opposition and the Iraqi masses themselves. There is 
agreement that the end justifies the means, whilst they harbourdiffering intentions, agendas and 
expectations. On the other hand, world peace movements, humanitarian organizations and apologists 
of the Iraqi regime as infiltrators champion the anti-sanctions and anti-war camp. But, it must be 
stressed her that not everyone in this camp is necessarily an apologist of the Iraqi regimeas here 
are contingents of the international solidarity with the Iraqi people, such as Liberation in the 
UK, the historical Iraqi opposition and Iraqi communities in the Diaspora.
Generic IraqWhat complicates the already complex Iraqi issue in debates is the cryptic use of the 
words 'Iraq', 'sanctions' and 'war' without any further qualification or modification. The Iraqi 
peopleand Iraqi regime are not synonymous, rather they are antonymous. Economic sanctions on the 
Iraqi people are vastly different from non-economic, i.e. military, political and diplomatic 
sanctions.This simple distinction has enabled the formulation of the appropriate slogan" lift the 
economic sanctions on the Iraqi people, but maintain, or rather strengthen the non-economic 
sanctions on the Iraqi regime". This is now adopted by consensus, if not unanimously, by the Iraqi 
people, their patriotic opposition and world solidarity with its cause. So much for sanctions.As 
for war, it must be identified as on whom. War on the unarmed Iraqi civilians, victims of the 
regime? No. War on the Iraqi army conscripts, who were subjected to the 'Turkeyshoot' when 
retreating from Kuwait to Basra? Ney. War on the remaining Iraqi infrastructure, as was the case in 
Afghanistanlast year?,Never. No, Ney, Never. No, Ney, Never, No more !
Even within the Iraqi armed forces, we must differentiate between the regular army on the one hand, 
and the Republican Guards, Special Forces and Military Intelligence, on the other. Similarly, 
between the popular militia and Saddam's fidaiyean, and so on and so forth. It must be stressed 
here that this analysis is intended for helping to make an informed opinion aboutthe Iraqi issue.It 
is not an invitation or justification for invading Iraq. Our preferable option, if we have any say 
in the matter that is, up to the last minute, is the peaceful diplomatic resolution. To this end, 
there is a consensus of world public opinion, peoples, organizations and governments, that : Any 
external involvement, political or otherwise, in the affairs of a country, such as Iraq currently, 
must comply with international law. That is to say, the United Nations is the only world 
organisation, which has the legitimate authority to pass such a resolution, implement it and 
subsequently monitor it. In the case of Iraq, sooner or later, there will be the need for UN 
involvement, if only to avert the outbreak of chaos and even civil war in the aftermath of the 
downfall of the repressive regime.
Embarrassment
Embarrassment is the reason behind the anti-war and anti-sanctions stance of the Iraqi and world 
left movements. On principle, it opposes any measure, initiative or campaign by American 
imperialism because of its history of foreign policy adventures, evoking the memory of Vietnam. 
But, this school of thought ignores the basic facts that Iraq is not like Vietnam, the Iraqi regime 
is not the former Allende government of Chile and Saddam Hussein is not a popular leader, like 
Fidel Castro of CubaAlso, it does not recall the history preceding the liberation of many peoples 
of the East. During the Second World War, the Soviet Union was in alliance with world imperialism, 
fighting fascism. Was that a strategic error? Definitely, no. Imagine what the alternative 
scenarios would have ended up in. But no sooner had the war ended with the victory of the allies 
over fascism than the Cold War started between the capitalist and socialist camps. And the rest is 
history until the self-destruction of the latter elevated the former, which attributes it to the 
superiority of its economic, political and cultural philosophy. Thus, the United States of  America 
has imposed itself as the unrivalled world superpower accountable to no other. If the American 
current stance on the Iraqi regime, which so happens to coincide with our permanent stance, is 
embarrassing to us, then coincidence with that of the regime is even more embarrassing. That is if 
we regard the state of human rights of the people concerned as our yardstick. Furthermore, it would 
completely contradict the stance from armed struggle by the historical Iraqi opposition, which has 
been resorting to it for the past four decades. The same cannot be said for the recent Iraqi 
opposition. Interestingly, the instances of the adoption of this ideological stance and feeling of 
embarrassment are directly proportional to their distance from the epicentre of the event, Baghdad. 
Accordingly, it is higher among Western than Eastern organisations and among Iraqi communities 
abroad  than those at home, and higher among those in liberated Kurdistan than those under 
government control. This phenomenon may be attributed to the differences in the lifestyles of an 
ivory tower abroad and that of humiliation inside the country. Ironically, when it comes to the 
likelihood of the Iraqi people rising to topple the regime single-handed, the expectations of those 
living thousands of miles away are much higher than of those stuck at home. A Kurdish proverb 
states that those away from the battlefield boast about their swords. In English, something like 
the phrase armchair generals comes to mind.

Objectivity
Yet another objective factor missing from the left's stance on American foreign policy is that of 
the internationalisation of the state of human rights in the countries concerned. Whereas America 
plays the role of defender of human rights because it coincides with its economic interests, the 
left sticks to its principles of opposing America even to the detriment of the aspirations of the 
people concerned. Recent examples are the republics of former federal Yugoslavia, Kosovo, East 
Timor (Indonesia) and Afghanistan. And may be Iraq subsequently !. External American interventions 
in these countries were crowned with the collapse of their dictatorships and bringing them to 
justice, such as Slobodan Milosovich of Serbia now in The Hague. Is it likely to substitute 
Kurdistan for Kosovo, Iraq for Yugoslavia and Saddam Hussein for Slobodan Milosovich? Just a 
thought ! The Iraqi issue has already been internationalised ever since the Iraqi regime's invasion 
of the state of Kuwait on 2nd August,1990.
The collapse of the socialist camp during the last decade of the twentieth century was the gravest 
event in world politics since the Second World War. That is until 11th September 2001, when it 
polarised around the foreign policy of America as the biggest victim of international terrorism to 
date. There was also a qualitative change in the priorities of American foreign policy. Whereas it 
created and supported Islamic fundamentalist militias to fight the Soviet-backed Afghan government, 
it then swapped sides by fighting its former friend with the help of its former foe. Obviously, its 
priority now is fighting world terrorism and not  former or current socialist states. The Afghan 
experience is the most highly embarrassing event to the international left movement. Whereas the 
Soviet Red Army was perceived as the occupying army, the American Green Berets are perceived as the 
liberating army. That is in contrast to the historical experiences of other countries of the world, 
such as Vietnam. Who is responsible for this embarrassment? The world left movement conveniently 
forgets this fact - instead it puts another valid argument forward. That is the double standards of 
American foreign policy towards these countries as opposed to Israel, its client state, which 
ignores many UN resolutions. Furthermore, it takes the opportunity to suppress the Arab people in 
Occupied Palestine under the pretext of fighting terrorism. States, including Israel, have been the 
biggest terrorists in human history. Regionally, only the governments of Iraq and Turkey in their 
mistreatment of their respective citizens compare with Israel.
As well as ignoring the external objective factor referred to earlier, some peace campaigners even 
disregard the internal objective factor. This is the improbability of toppling the Iraqi regime by 
the Iraqis themselves without outside help. Therefore, the external factor is imperative and 
decisive,  but it does not guarantee the replacement of the dictatorship with the democratic 
alternative, as aspired by the Iraqi people. So much for objective factors.
 Subjectivity
As for subjective factors, the imperative and decisive one is the popular mood of the Iraqi people, 
which is being ignored in the considerations of the impending regime change in their own country. 
This mood is a direct result of the internal objective factor. It places its wish, the toppling of 
the regime, above all other considerations, including war and peace. In other words, the end 
justifies the means.  The intensity of this mood is directly proportional to the distance from the 
epicentre, Baghdad. By the time it reaches the Diaspora, the picture is inverted as avoiding the 
war prevails over all other considerations, including the need for regime change.
Geopolitics have changed so much since 11th September 2001 that the world public opinion's 
perception of it is that it is dictated by a few despots and mad mullas in the mystic east and a 
few crazy cowboys in the wild west.
 Human and material losses
 Advocates of the latter, the anti-war campaign, justify their stance by citing the recent 
experience in Afghanistan. As a consequence of the aerial, sea and land bombardment, the remaining 
infrastructure of Iraq will be pulverised. Moreover, thousands of innocent civilians will perish 
during a short period of time. These concerns and anxieties are justifiable and indisputable. 
Equally justifiable is the other view that a similar number of casualties will be suffered 
gradually if the dictatorship is let off the hook. But if you consider the mood of the Iraqi people 
at home, they would much prefer a quick death as collateral damage to a slow death under torture by 
the regime's infamous security agents. This view is shared even by the Iraqi exiles, who oppose the 
war. At least, they can verify it through conversations with their friends and relations, who have 
recently travelled to liberated Iraqi Kurdistan or outside  Iraq altogether. Some of them, be it 
anonymously, have expressed their views to foreign journalists and organisations during interviews 
conducted inside Iraq.
Intentions v Outcomes
In its analysis of international external involvement, the left recalls the history of world 
imperialism. It cites that America's ulterior motives are purely economic control of Iraq's oil 
reserves, the second largest in the world behind Saudi Arabia, and not its declared concerns about 
human rights, democracy in Iraq and world peace by fighting international terrorism.
 If oil and economic interests were the real motives, how come imperialist powers and NATO allies 
intervened in Kosovo, other former Yugoslavia republics, East Timor (Indonesia) and Afghanistan? 
Even assuming the validity of the left's argument, does that necessarily mean that the outcomes in 
these countries were accordingly bad for their respective peoples? Assuming they were, will it 
necessarily be bad for the Iraqi people? Will the toppling of the ruling dictatorship, regardless 
of its replacement, adversely affect the Iraqi people's aspirations to peace, stability and 
democracy? Assuming the replacement will also be bad, can it realistically be worse? Will it be any 
harder to oppose than the existing regime? No.
In the event of foreign occupation, the state of the human rights of the Iraqi people cannot get 
worse, only better. The degree of improvement is directly proportional to the distance of the 
source of the occupier from the epicentre, Baghdad, as is the ease of expelling them, should they 
overstay their welcome.
As for the intentions of some contingents of the Iraqi opposition, the international solidarity 
with the Iraqi people and the anti-imperialist, anti-war campaigners, they are undoubtedly 
honourable. But will the outcome necessarily be beneficial to the Iraqi people? Averting war may be 
necessary, but it is not sufficient for the interests of the Iraqi people, which are in ending 
dictatorship. Ending dictatorship is. Averting war on Iraq prolongs the life span of the regime, 
which has long passed its sell-by-date. It will eventually lead to its rehabilitation and the 
lifting of all sanctions. In due course, it will be in a position to buy the services of 
individuals, organisations and governments, including some who are currently shedding crocodile's 
tears for the Iraqi victims of the impending war. The campaigns opposing American imperialism, war 
and sanctions, whether we like it or not, are offering a free service to the ruling Iraqi regime's 
propaganda. Therefore, the outcomes of the opposing camps on the Iraqi  issue are not directly 
proportional to their respective intentions. Rather, they are inversely proportional.
 Weapons of mass destruction
 The United Nations Security Council passed a series of resolutions on Iraq for its invasion of 
Kuwait on 2nd August 1990. On military sanctions, UNSCR 687 was being implemented most vigorously 
in contrast with others, such as UNSCR 688, which is about upholding the human rights of the Iraqi 
people.  The former was complemented by UNSCR 1441 in 2002, specifically to deal with Iraq's 
weapons of mass destruction (WMD). America regards these weapons in the hands of Saddam as 
threatening its national security and its interests in the region. The world left, on the other 
hand, regards these resolutions as unfair on Iraq, selective in implementation and as yet another 
example of the double standards of both America and the UN Security Council. It evokes indisputable 
statements of facts about similar resolutions passed by the same world organisation on Israel in 
Palestine and Turkey in Cyprus, which it has conveniently ignored. But these same people at other 
times criticise America and the United Nations for not mediating between Israel and the Palestinian 
administration and between Turkey and its satellite in the north of Cyprus on the one hand and the 
Greek Cypriot government and Greece on the other. Thus, double standards, selectivity and hypocrisy 
in politics are not the distinguishing marks of some governments, organisations and individuals but 
rather vice features of all those engaged in it.
As for the Iraqi opposition and international solidarity with the Iraqi people, their stance is 
that the source of threat is not so much the type of weapons as who has them. The Iraqi regime did 
not use WMD when it invaded Kuwait in August 1990 although it obviously possessed them. when it 
invaded Iran in September 1980, it did not have them at the time. But as soon as it acquired them, 
it used them against Iranian soldiers in the battlefield and against the Iraqi partisans in 
Kurdistan, such as in the town of Helebje in March 1988. In other words,
Even conventional  heavy weapons in the hands of Saddam pose a danger to regional countries.
Even conventional light weapons in the hands of Saddam pose a danger to the Iraqi partisans.
Even knives, needles and matches in the hands of Saddam pose a danger to the Iraqi people.
 Double standards
During our discourse so far, I referred to several examples of double standards used in the 
implementation of international politics, which the world left movement cites in its opposition to 
war and sanctions on Iraq. Being statements of well-known facts, there is no point in arguing 
against them. On the contrary, we can supplement them with further instances, such as the lack of 
enthusiasm by the UNSC in the implementation of its resolution No 688, which deals with respecting 
the human rights of the Iraqi people, compared with No 687, which deals with eliminating WMD, as 
superseded by No 1441. On the other hand, we can rebut the left's citing of America's refusal to 
sign up to international treaties, which are to the benefit of humankind. For instance, the Kyoto 
Agreement on the Environment and the International Criminal Court and so on.
We can counter argue with the question: And what will your stance be if America signed up to these 
international agreements? Will you condemn it? Will you suggest withdrawal from them? Or What ? 
Opponents of international interventions in Iraq invoke the universal principles of national 
sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Iraqi regime's right to defend itself against outside 
aggression. Once more, these are indisputable statements of noble principles but their 
implementation is selective, subject to the individuals' opinions and that country's national 
interests, varying with time and place. Why did not they invoke these noble principles when the 
Iraqi regime was the outside aggressor in Kuwait in 1990 and in Iran in 1980? Why did not they  
oppose American imperialism  that vigorously when it was supporting the Iraqi regime in its 
external war against Iran and internal war on the Kurdish people, using chemical weapons?
 Dogmatism v pragmatism
The world left's stance emanates from its dogmatic support for the socialist movement in its 
struggle against imperialist powers. Accordingly, it supports the struggle of the peoples, states 
and governments in former colonies against the hegemony of world imperialism. Some of them believe 
that these governments are  patriotic, defending the interests of their countries and would not 
conceivably violate the human rights of its own citizens. And even if they did, they justify 
ignoring them during critical political stages of confronting external enemies, such as in Iraq now.
  In the past and hitherto, each people side with their own state and government in the event of  
political or military clash with  another, regardless of the justice or otherwise of its cause. 
Lately, the left movement in the capitalist countries has taken principled stances in solidarity 
with the former colonies of their own countries, whose foreign policy they defy.  Thereby, the 
political scene is inverted. The Western leftist, raising the banner of 'no war on Iraq' appears to 
be defending Saddam's regime. The Iraqi opposition, holding the banner of 'no to dictatorship', 
appears to be defending the American administration. Whilst these two different stances do not 
contradict one another, they do cause political confusion among many sections of the respective 
peoples.
As for pragmatism, it acknowledges the actual balance of powers and regards the state of the human 
rights in the respective countries as the yardstick above all other considerations, including 
political embarrassment, noble principles and good intentions. We thank the world left for their 
anxiety about the fate of the Iraqi people and acknowledge the role being played by their 
governments to realise our people's lifelong wish. But, we have justifiable concerns about the way 
it is being conducted, the means to the end and the replacement subsequently.
Conclusion
The Iraqi issue is so complex, sensitive and emotive that it requires careful diplomatic management 
of international relations and not taking dogmatic positions in advance.
At last, Saddam Hussein has met his come-uppance. Or, as they say in classical Arabic, every 
Pharaoh meets his Moses.
There are also many appropriate slogans in colloquial Arabic of Iraq, which express the feelings of 
the Iraqi people.
It is not in the interests of the Iraqi people to be perceived as "Anti-American", "Anti-British" 
or "Anti-Anybody". They are only "Anti-Saddam" and that is not by choice as, ironically, they are 
historically very patriotic and anti-occupiers. But their sufferings at the hands of Saadam far 
exceed that of all occupiers of their homeland, Mesopotamia, throughout the centuries. Neither an 
agent of nor an anti-American be on the Iraq issue. Be pro-Iraqi people, anti-war and 
anti-dictatorship in equal measure.
 What the Iraqi people need desperately are some semblance of a civil society, a helping of 
liberalism, a modicum of human rights and a dose of democracy. The prerequisite for all these is 
the removal of the dictatorship, lock, stock and barrel, which trampled on their dignity. A once 
proud and industrious people of the cradle of civilisation have been reduced by their rulers to 
paupers with the cap in one hand and the begging bowl in the other. Let u s restore dignity to the 
Iraqi people
 The Iraqi people are chronic patients of an epidemic of Saddamitis.
War may be a bitter pill to swallow, but will cure them of the dictatorship.
The threat of war will ease their pain and may cure them of the dictatorship.
 The latter should prevail over the former and in turn should give way to diplomacy to resolve the 
issue once and for all in the interests of the Iraqi people, regional stability and world peace. It 
can be done.
 January 2003.

_______________________________________________
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


London Borough of Hackney may exercise its right to intercept any communication which you send to, 
or receive from, any employees or agents of the Council using its telephony/data networks.  By so 
communicating you give your consent to London Borough of Hackney monitoring and recording any use 
of these networks.

The Data Protection Officer, London Borough of Hackney, Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London E8 
1EA datapro@hackney.gov.uk

Please contact the sender if you have received this e-mail in error.


_______________________________________________
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


[Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]