In the words of former US attorney-general Ramsey
Clark, "American technology smashed the cradle of
civilization, leaving it crippled, and George Bush
called it liberation." By the end of US Gulf War II,
more than 250,000 Iraqis, mostly civilian men,
women and children had died as a direct result of the
murderous assault. Deliberate and methodical
destruction of the entire infrastructure was meant to
destroy civilian life, and continuing sanctions ensured
that it would not be resurrected any time soon.
Recently, Denis Halliday was asked if he thought
sanctions were ever meant as a method of bringing
Iraq back into the international fold, the former UN
official who resigned in protest of sanctions against
Iraq, told al-Ahram: "No, I think the Gulf War, the
invasion of Kuwait - which was supported by the
United States and encouraged by the United States -
was all part of a plan to crush Saddam Hussein, and
crush Iraq - perhaps the only country showing
leadership potential in the Arab world. They built on
the destruction of the war - the use of depleted
uranium, the bombing of civilian targets, the
destruction of water systems and electrical power. It
was horrific back in 1991, and, I think, we have all
deliberately been genocidal in our endeavors since
then until today".
Addressing the Cairo international conference,
Halliday denounced the US administration's war
plans as "obscene." " It's criminal," he said, "and I
believe it's indictable." Asked if US policy was solely
determined by oil, he said: "Well, it's certainly not
about weapons, because there is no threat from Iraq.
We know that in this neighbourhood, and the
Americans know it perfectly well. It's a game being
played by Bush, a very dangerous, nasty game... So
it's about oil. But it is also about oil and Israel,
Israel's position, Israel's representation of American
interests in the Middle East... it's also about this
desire for influence and power and presence
throughout the world, including the Middle East...
And it gets back again and again to the need to
control oil reserves, which are of such importance to
the survival of the economy of the United States.
"And I think that Washington is very insecure in its
relationship with Saudi Arabia; they are not at all
sure what's going to happen in the years ahead, and
they want a reserve tank. And the reserve tank,
unfortunately, is called Iraq. It's sitting on a 120
billion barrels, its cheap and easy to obtain, and all it
needs is a friendly regime in Baghdad that will kow-
tow to American interests and American demands,
and I think that's the name of the game of the attack,
the war, the bombing, the invasion (and) the
occupation of Iraq that Bush clearly has in mind. It's
part of a strategy to dominate world globalization that
is designed to support and enhance the lifestyle of
Americans."
Thanks to US manipulation of UN committees, out of
the $60 billion in oil sales, Iraq has so far received
less than $20 billion, while the other $40 of its money
has been "embezzled" to pay compensation to Kuwait
and western firms and to finance UN inspections and
other operations. Iraq is allowed to spend about 49
cent per day on sustaining the life of its citizens for
one year, less than half the daily per capita income
of Haiti, the poorest country in the western
hemisphere, and far below the amount the UN
spends on food for dogs used in de-mining
operations in northern Iraq.
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