Reasons to Invade Iraq
| The absence of evidence, means, of course, that one cannot have confidence that there do not remain weapons of mass destruction. - Hans Blix, Head UN Inspector, Dec 19 2002 |
With this masterpiece of double-negative doublespeak, the UN announced its capitulation to the war pigs of the US Administration. The defendants have failed to prove their innocence - occupying their country is the only option.
The USA's reasons for invading Iraq make a lot more sense than the invasion of Afghanistan or the rest of its recent foreign policy. For once, the obvious reasons are probably the real ones. Oil is the main issue.
It is not a question of physically grabbing Iraq's oil reserves. It is a matter of ensuring US military access to as much oil as it needs, by showing all political forces in the region that America rules the Middle East. World War Two showed that guaranteeing fuel supplies is crucial to remaining the top power. Both Germany and Japan were sure to lose once the bulk of their oil supplies were cut off. The US armed forces permanently stationed in the Middle East right on top of one of the biggest oilfields with a puppet government on a leash will guarantee they never run out of gas.
It also means that, should forces unfriendly to the USA take over any of the countries in the Middle East, that country will be invaded too. The first people to realize this will be the rulers of Iran and Saudi Arabia. The next recipients of Bush's crude but effective message will be the recalcitrant ex-powers Russia, Germany and France, which have been shamelessly conducting their own foreign policies recently. They have parked in Uncle Sam's gas station, and they are about to get towed.
For the working class, it hardly needs saying that things are bad and getting worse. The Palestinians are in desperate straits, the Iraqis are about to get massacred again, and there is not much happening to help them. Middle Eastern countries employ people from all over the world, but instead of turning into a seething vortex of internationalism, or something like that, the ruling class has succeeded in keeping the workers divided by nationality.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to make predictions, especially regarding the future. There is always some resistance. In Wildcat 17 we explained how the proletariat of Somalia was able to force the stormtroopers of the New World Order to retreat (the movie Blackhawk Down is an attempt to cover up this story). So it would not be surprising if uprisings occured in unexpected quarters.
Holocaust survivors: Iraqi children
Here is
an article arguing against crude oil reductionism.
and A useful history of the oil industry.