On the US Threats against Iraq
Interview with Koorosh Modaresi
The US has threatened to attack Iraq because it says Iraq has
accumulated 'weapons of mass destruction'. It seems an attack on Iraq
is likely in the next phase of the so-called war on terrorism. Why is
Iraq the next target and what are the real reasons behind this attack?
Koorosh Modarresi: The US threat is neither against 'weapons of mass
destruction' nor against terrorism. As we have stated earlier, as
far as weapons of mass destruction are concerned, the US has the biggest
stockpile of nuclear, chemical and biological arsenals and has used
them whenever it has found it suitable. Remember, the US is the only
country which has used nuclear weapons and mass murdered hundreds
of thousands of innocent people. The traces of US chemical and biological
warfare in Vietnam are still obvious both on the Vietnamese and on
the medals its generals wear on their uniforms. Everyday, its ally,
the Israeli government, is committing mass murder in Palestine, let
alone that the Israeli prime minister is a recognised war criminal.
Right now the US is using the most devastating weapon of mass destruction
- i.e. economic sanctions - against the people in Iraq. Saddam Hussein
and the Iraqi government are criminals; there is no doubt about it.
However, if there should be punishment for war criminals and the users
of weapons of mass destruction, the US government cannot and should
not be the judge. They should be seated along with Saddam Hussein
and the Iraqi government in any court of justice. But, this is not
about justice and has never been so. The excuse about 'weapons of
mass destruction' has been invented during the Gulf war to justify
the US' 'new world order' after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
which asserts that the world should be ruled and run based on US interests.
Today, the excuse and reason are still one and the same.
The 'war on terrorism' is a pure joke. The Israeli government is
committing one of the most criminal terrorist atrocities against the
Palestinians everyday. The so-called targeted murder of Palestinians,
bulldozing 'suspected' homes, murdering children who are simply resisting
occupation, Nazi-like mass arrests and line-ups of Palestinians have
all been going on not in secret but, thanks to the US support, shamelessly
in front of our eyes and on our TV screens. If someone wants to talk
about terrorism in the world, they should talk about Israel. The Iraqi
government is a criminal regime like most of the US allies in the
region.
These excuses are simply war propaganda. The aim of the US government
is two-fold. Internally, they need to keep the fire of American jingoism
alive, justify the need for a huge ever-expanding military force and
its expansion and intervention wherever they want, among others. Internationally,
they simply want to keep the world at the beck and call of the interests
of US companies and capital. They want an undisputed rule of their
interests.
However, opposition to the US military adventure in Iraq is worldwide.
Public opinion in Europe is overwhelmingly against this policy; none
of the regional governments dare to get involved in such a blunt provocation,
while the Israeli state's mass terrorism against the Palestinians
is going on. Without regional and European support, the only US option
is the bombardment of military, industrial and economic 'targets'
in Iraq. Such a campaign will undoubtedly harm people in Iraq much
more than the Iraqi government or military, as has previously been
the case. The Iraqi military is a professional force which is capable
of protecting itself. It is the Iraqi people who have been devastated
by years of war and economic sanctions. Future American bombing of
Iraq will undoubtedly act as a provocation, which will give every
excuse to the Iraqi regime to use the most brutal means to suppress
any political protests. If the US wants to overthrow Saddam's regime
then it should end the military stand off, remove economic sanctions
and let the people in Iraq breath and confront this brutal regime.
Terrorising people in Iraq to force them to rise up against the Iraqi
regime is a psychotic policy which should be stopped.
When the USA attacked the Taliban, we did not condemn it (though
we rightly condemned the bombings and the killing of civilians).What
is the Worker-communist Party's stance on a USA attack on Iraq and
why is it different from the stance on the war against the Taliban?
Koorosh Modarresi: Our stance on the US threat and war has been clear
right from the beginning. We want these threats and the war efforts
to be stopped unconditionally, and that the economic sanctions, which
have been going on for a decade, be removed immediately. What the
US has done in Iraq for the last decade is one of the most shameful
events in recent history. Millions of children and innocent people
in Iraq have been devastated and lost their lives because of the economic
sanctions and the constant destruction of the country's infrastructure.
Life simply would be much easier without US intervention. The situation
in Iraq is quite different from the situation in Afghanistan. The
Taliban regime had suspended all aspects of civil and social life
in that country; half the population, women, had been pushed to total
enslavement; education, health services and all aspects of civility
had been suspended. Besides, there existed the possibility of overthrowing
the Taliban with minimum civilian casualties. Any future regime in
Afghanistan would be much better than the Taliban regime.
All these parameters are different in Iraq. This is a country with
a basic civil structure; what the US has up its sleeves for Iraq can
be much worse than what is currently going on. Iraq can completely
slip into anarchy and its social structure can disintegrate.
For those who have US imperialism as the only characteristic in their
minds and see the people and their might as a kind of lateral issue,
then the Afghanistan and Iraqi situations look the same. 'Anti-imperialism'
will lead them to a similar conclusion. If your point of departure
is the might of the people, however, you will reach a different one.