RW ONLINE: War in Iraq: Not In Our Name\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWar in Iraq: Not In Our Name\r\n<\/p>
Revolutionary Worker #1187, February 16, 2003<\/i>, posted at rwor.org<\/p>\r\n<\/i>
\"We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of \r\nsafety. We say NOT IN OUR NAME. We refuse to be party to these wars and we \r\nrepudiate any inference that they are being waged in our name or for our \r\nwelfare. We extend a hand to those around the world suffering from these \r\npolicies; we will show our solidarity in word and deed.\"<\/p>\r\n<\/i>
These words from the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience ring more \r\nurgently than ever in these critical days of February 2003--when the heads of \r\nthe most powerful country in the world are rushing madly toward a new war in the \r\nMiddle East...when the government has issued a \"high terror alert,\" whipping up \r\na climate of fear to justify more repression of immigrants and suppression of \r\ndissent...when Bush & Co. claim they are acting in the name of the American \r\npeople and to protect their safety and freedom.<\/p>\r\n
Colin Powell has spoken before the UN to present the Bush White House's case \r\nfor preemptive war on Iraq. He purported to show decisive \"evidence\" that this \r\nbattered country poses such grave and immediate danger that military action is \r\nrequired.<\/p>\r\n
The mainstream U.S. media and British premier Tony Blair gushed that Powell's \r\npresentation was \"compelling.\" But anyone with any integrity and grasp of facts \r\nshould be able to see through the hype: the so-called evidence amounts to \r\nmanipulated data and outright lies -- a pretext for war.<\/p>\r\n
It was an ominous sign that a reproduction of Guernica <\/i>, the famous \r\nanti-war painting by Pablo Picasso that hangs at the entrance to the Security \r\nCouncil, had been covered up as Powell spoke.<\/p>\r\n
The myth of the \"reluctant\" Powell -- a supposedly \"moderating\" influence on \r\nhawks like Rumsfeld and Cheney -- lies exposed. He has all along been a leading \r\nfigure in Bush's \"war party\" -- an advocate of aggressive U.S. moves around the \r\nworld from the days when he was part of Bush I's inner circle.<\/p>\r\n
As Powell spoke of \"weapons of mass destruction\" that Iraq might \r\n<\/i>possess, the U.S. stepped up actual buildup for invasion and \r\noccupation--surrounding this small country with tanks, warships, bombers, and \r\ncombat troops. As Powell accused Iraq of threatening its neighbors, Bush \r\nofficials firmed up plans with the Turkish government to position tens of \r\nthousands of U.S. invasion troops at bases in Turkey and to allow the Turkish \r\nmilitary to occupy parts of Kurdish areas in northern Iraq.<\/p>\r\n
What will this war mean to the people of Iraq? U.S. war planners talk of \r\ndropping 800 cruise missiles in just the <\/i>first two days <\/i>of the war \r\non Iraq. They warn that \"no one in Baghdad will be safe.\" GIs in the Kuwaiti \r\ndesert are training for house-to-house urban warfare in the streets of Baghdad \r\nand other Iraqi cities.<\/p>\r\n
In the 1991 Gulf War, a single cruise missile hitting the Amiriya air raid \r\nshelter in Baghdad incinerated hundreds of civilians. How many Amiriyas would be \r\ncreated by the thousands of cruise missiles--all \"made in the USA\"--fired on \r\nIraq in a new war?<\/p>\r\n
Five thousand Iraqi children have been dying each month for the past 11 years \r\nas a result of U.S.-led sanctions. How many more young lives would be ripped \r\naway by the massive bombing attack that U.S. war planners have dubbed \"Shock and \r\nAwe\"?<\/p>\r\n
It's no wonder that Guernica <\/i>was covered up. Picasso's powerful and \r\ndisturbing images depict the 1937 bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by the \r\nfascist Franco military that killed hundreds. The shameful and hypocritical \r\n\"leaders of the world\" did not want to see pictures of Powell standing in front \r\nof this powerful painting showing the carnage of unjust war.<\/p>\r\n
****<\/b><\/p>\r\n<\/b>
On February 15 and 16, people are marching against the war in New York \r\nCity, San Francisco, and other cities across the U.S.--joining with protests \r\nacross Europe throughout the week. Not In Our Name and others are preparing for \r\na major day of resistance in the coming weeks.<\/p>\r\n
These are indeed times that demand massive, determined resistance. And these \r\ntimes also demand clarity--about what Bush & Co. are up to and about what \r\nthe people must do to stop <\/i>the U.S. war machine.*<\/p>\r\n
Some still hope that the UN and\/or a power like \r\nFrance will be able to check the U.S. war drive. Some have said that to build \r\nbroad support, the antiwar movement must accept the goal of \"disarming Saddam \r\nHussein\" as valid, while arguing that preemptive war is the wrong way and that \r\nwe should instead \"let the UN inspectors finish their jobs.\"<\/p>\r\n
From the start, the UN inspections have been an outrageous violation of \r\nIraq's rights as a sovereign state. But as Bush declares that military action is \r\nthe only option because \"inspections have failed,\" it's become even clearer that \r\nthese inspections have never been an alternative <\/i>to war. Instead, they \r\nhave been one way for the U.S. to legitimize <\/i>its war and recruit allies. \r\nIndian author Arundhati Roy recently observed, \"The charade with weapons \r\ninspectors is the U.S. government's offensive, insulting concession to some \r\ntwisted form of international etiquette. It's like leaving the `doggie door' \r\nopen for last minute `allies' or maybe the United Nations to crawl through.\"<\/p>\r\n
The monstrous lies coming out of Bush's mouth need to be countered with \r\nthe truth <\/i>. There is only one government in the world that wields more \r\n\"weapons of mass destruction\" than all other countries combined. There is one \r\ngovernment on this planet that has actually dropped <\/i>nuclear weapons on \r\ncities, killing hundreds of thousands. There is one government that openly \r\nclaims the right to strike first with nuclear weapons against any country that \r\nthreatens its interests. One government that threatens to use nuclear weapons in \r\na new war in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\r\n
That government is the United States.<\/p>\r\n
As the U.S. power structure moves closer to war, they are turning the volume \r\nlouder on the claim that they want to \"liberate\" the people of Iraq from the \r\noppression and evil of Saddam Hussein. They will promote Iraqis who \"welcome\" \r\nthe U.S. invaders as \"liberators\"--or perhaps engineer a pro-U.S. coup that \r\n\"invites\" U.S. troops to occupy Iraq.<\/p>\r\n
This, too, must be countered with the truth. It's complete hypocrisy for the \r\nU.S. to suddenly discover the \"tyranny\" of Saddam Hussein--when it was the U.S. \r\nthat helped to bring his Ba'athist Party to power. They pretend to be horrified \r\nat Saddam Hussein \"gassing his own people\" in the 1980s--but the U.S. was \r\nbacking his regime with billions of dollars in a war against Iran.<\/p>\r\n
How can the U.S. government dare to say they \"care\" for the Iraqi \r\npeople--when the record shows that the U.S. has brought only death and misery to \r\nthat country? In the 1991 war, U.S. and allied planes pounded Iraq with 88,000 \r\npounds of bombs, destroying not only military targets but homes, electrical \r\nlines, and water and sewage systems. Overall, 100,000 to 200,000 Iraqis were \r\nkilled in that war. And the U.S.-imposed sanctions have caused the deaths of \r\nover half a million children from disease and malnutrition.<\/p>\r\n
Now the U.S. war plans call for even more massive bombings of Iraq--followed \r\nby a massive invasion and years <\/i>of occupation. No good can come out of \r\nany of this.<\/i><\/p>\r\n
The U.S. government is on a predatory <\/i>mission. U.S. troops are being \r\ndispatched to kill and die so that the U.S. power structure can impose their \r\npolitical will and control over the people and resources of Iraq---and use that \r\ncontrol as a springboard to recast the Middle East and create more favorable \r\nconditions for exploiting the people and resources of the whole world.<\/p>\r\n
This mission is completely unjust, immoral, and illegitimate.<\/p>\r\n
Across this country and throughout the world, millions have expressed their \r\nanger and opposition to the U.S. war. We don't want this war--and we must \r\nstop it! <\/b>If Bush & Co. go ahead and launch their war in the face of this \r\nglobal opposition, this will reveal even more clearly the true nature of these \r\nimperialist aggressors and their agenda. And we must be even more determined to \r\nstop the unjust war.<\/p>\r\n
The coming weeks and months will be deeply challenging for the movement of \r\nresistance. The call to \"support our troops\" will influence many, even those \r\nwith deep questions about the war. The official machinery of repression will be \r\ncranked up into higher gear. How can the movement of opposition to war and \r\nrepression confront these challenges and build even more powerful resistance?**<\/p>\r\n
As we have emphasized in these pages, the \r\npolitics of Not In Our Name--concentrated in the Statement of Conscience--can \r\nspeak to and rally millions. The platform it provides is durable <\/i>: it can \r\ngive people the backbone to stand up to the pressure and intimidation that will \r\ncome with war; the intellectual tools to cut through the lies and excuses and \r\nappeals to narrow interests; and the strength from which to aggressively rally \r\nthe American people to make common cause with the people of the world.<\/p>\r\n
The war now being planned and prepared is NOT in the interests of the \r\npeople of Iraq, it is NOT in the interests of the people of the world, and it is \r\nNOT in the interests of the majority of people in the United States.<\/b><\/i> \r\nThis fundamental fact enables the movement of opposition to reach out and speak \r\nto and mobilize millions--including many who will at first go along with the \r\ngovernment.<\/p>\r\n
It is only by standing up and drawing a clear line between themselves and the \r\ninjustices that are being carried out by their govenrment, in their \r\n<\/i>name--only by casting their lot with the people of the world--that the \r\nmajority of people in America can have a future worth fighting for. These are \r\ncrucial days: act as if your future is at stake, because it is.<\/p>\r\n
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______________________<\/p>\r\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\r\n
* In \"Dissecting the Bush Doctrine\" on \r\npage 8, Raymond Lotta discusses U.S. imperialism's global ambitions--the real \r\nreason behind the war in Iraq. [Return \r\nto article]<\/p>\r\n
** Bob Avakian addresses these important \r\nquestions in \"Lessons from the 1991 Gulf War\" on page 7. [Return \r\nto article]<\/p>\r\n
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This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker \r\nOnline
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