l = Editorial: US out of the Persian Gulf!
l = US out of the Persian Gulf!
The US government has threatened to launch a military attack on Iraq over a relatively insignificant matter to do with the composition of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) force monitoring Iraqi weapon destruction. On October 29, Iraq had announced that US citizens should not be part of UNSCOM, but that weapons inspections could still continue.
The weapons destruction imposed on Iraq after the 1990-91 Gulf War has been enforced by a UN Security Council resolution prohibiting Iraq from selling oil — 95% of its export earnings before the war. The result has been mass starvation, and deaths from diseases requiring treatment with drugs previously purchased with oil earnings.
Meanwhile, 30,000 Turkish troops with tanks have invaded up to 200 kilometres into northern Iraq in recent weeks, to support one faction in the fighting between two Kurdish parties based there. Turkey has invaded northern Iraq at least three times since 1991.
There has been no threat of war, or even mild sanctions, against Turkey.
Iraq has now allowed the US members of the UNSCOM force back into the country, deflating the most immediate crisis, after Russia promised to help lift the murderous sanctions.
But the crisis is not over yet. The US continues a massive military build-up in the Persian Gulf. There are two aircraft carriers, 200 war planes — F-117A stealth fighters, B-1 and B-52 bombers — and 10,000 US troops in the area.
Iraq disobeyed a UN Security Council resolution. The Security Council is an undemocratic body, with only five powerful countries as permanent members, able to veto resolutions. It tends to operate as a cover for western imperialism, particularly US foreign policy.
The US's chief ally in the region, Israel, has for many years flouted Security Council resolutions calling on it to leave the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, and to respect Palestinians' rights to return to their land.
Since its 1978 invasion of Lebanon, Israel has thumbed its nose at resolutions to withdraw completely. The US has watered down or vetoed resolutions embarrassing Israel, such as a recent one condemning its settlement expansions in the occupied territories.
The US has ignored UN General Assembly resolutions against its own invasions of Panama and Grenada, and its war against Nicaragua.
The media propaganda machine is being cranked up to full speed. Time magazine has written about Saddam Hussein having "bared his fangs", posed the question "Should [Saddam] just be killed?" and described the US as "America the vulnerable".
Earlier on, Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi deputy prime minister, had said that Iraq would allow US weapons inspectors to return to Iraq provided that the other four permanent members of the Security Council — France, Russia, China and Britain — had equal representation. The US government, spoiling for a fight, refused.
Why is the US so belligerent? It wants to control oil and make super-profits for its big corporations. About one quarter of all US profits in Third World countries comes from oil.
This is why the US backs puppet governments in the Middle East. US imperialism hates Saddam Hussein not because he is a dictator — like the leaders of US allies Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — but because he can not be controlled.
The US military build-up is not about democracy, nor UN resolutions, but about oil and profits. US forces must leave the gulf now, and the sanctions should be lifted immediately.