The Dilemma of Iraq's People

There is little doubt about the eventual resolution of the war against Iraq. In terms of a comparison of military power, this war is similar to a boxing match between George Foreman and Pee Wee Herman. It is extremely difficult to defeat an enemy which has complete control of the air, as does the United States. The Vietnamese accomplished this feat, but that war was fought in a jungle environment and they were experienced in guerrilla warfare, fighting for a loved and respected leader, Ho Chi Minh.

The Iraqi people are caught in a real dilemma between a colonizing power, interested in control of their oil, and a brutal dictator, installed decades before by the same country now invading their land. They have suffered greatly from both, but the United States has inflicted far more suffering with massive bombing, deliberate destruction of sewage and water systems, the embargo and using Iraq as a dumping ground for tons of radioactive waste.

In my opinion, the use of depleted uranium (some of it contaminated with high level radioactive elements like plutonium) is the greatest crime against humanity. The cancers and birth defects among Iraqi children will last for generations, and the land of Iraq will be radioactive for billions of years. There is no doubt that the Pentagon knows the effects of radiation. The women who once painted radium on watch dials and moistened their brushes with their tongues developed cancers of the mouth. The American GIs who were forced to walk across ground zero after nuclear explosions developed various types of cancers, as did the uranium miners.

It is absolutely ludicrous for the United States to name their invasion of Iraq, "Iraqi Freedom." They care as much for the welfare of Iraqi civilians as the US cavalry did for the welfare of Native Americans. Oh sure, they will conduct public relations stunts like the delivery of food after the conclusion of the war, and many Americans will then conclude that we really are the good guys. They may even initially use a little of the oil revenue to benefit Iraqis, before turning all the profits over to the oil companies. Remember when they dropped the yellow food packets along with the yellow cluster bombs during the bombing of Afghanistan. Now that Afghanistan is out of the spotlight, humanitarian aid has diminished to near nothing.

Will the Iraqi population fight or surrender? I'm sure that those parents who have lost children to the embargo or depleted uranium will be angry enough to fight. I certainly would be under those circumstances. On the other hand, the Shiites and Kurds, who have revolted before against Saddam Hussein and were brutally suppressed, may be willing to surrender.

Will Baghdad become for American forces what Stalingrad was for the Germans? Street to street fighting certainly diminishes the military advantage of the United States. However, the Soviet Union was constantly able to send reinforcements across the Volga into Stalingrad, and they had a huge army across the Volga that eventually conducted a pincers movement north and south of the city that cut off and surrounded the German Sixth Army. There are significant differences, but heavy resistance in Iraqi cities would certainly lead to increased US casualties and an extension of the war.

I have totally mixed feelings about the course of the war. If the United States obtains a very easy victory with few American casualties, these imperialists will be emboldened to attack their next targets, and the completely subservient mass media will as usual provide the necessary excuses. These targets will be countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, which have oil and independence from US hegemony. Countries with economic systems different from capitalism like Cuba and North Korea will also be targets. On the other hand, I have these pictures in my mind of little Iraqi children, whose faces I have seen on the Internet or on videos, and my heart bleeds for them and I fervently desire their safety. I am torn between logic and emotion. One can only imagine what the Iraqi people are feeling.

George W. Bush claims he is fighting a war against terrorism. This "shock and awe" bombing of Baghdad is terrorism of the highest magnitude and he is a lying, vicious hypocrite. It is meant not only to intimidate Iraqis into submission, but also any other countries which might dare to disobey the United States. What the Bush administration and their cronies in the oil and weapons industries are doing is a terrible crime against humanity, and if justice ever prevails on this planet, they will pay a serious price. Sometimes, I dream that an intelligent and compassionate civilization from space, cognizant of the stupidity and violence on Earth, would come and put these fascists in their place with vast technological superiority and save the world from destruction. However, it is only a dream. Neither God nor aliens are going to rescue humanity. It is up to us, folks!