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An Unconvincing Pantomime: The Liberation of Iraq

ZeroZero | 10.04.2003 10:04

Comment on the supposed 'liberation' of Iraq, and scenes of rejoicing in the streets.

So we see scenes of joy in the streets on the BBC: just what Blair needed to save his neck. Will this moment of euphoria last, or was it a temporary coup, a brief moment of triumph similar to that experienced by the anti-war movement on February 15th?

Its claimed that those celebrating the invasion were mostly Kurds; some question whether incentives were handed to the crowd. What seems most likely is that a small minority joined what amounted to little more than a staged publicity stunt, and found it highly exciting. After all, who wouldn't? Regardless, the crowd didn't number into the tens of thousands in a city of 5 million. And those people in the North of Baghdad who were celebrating - they were chanting that "Saddam was the Enemy of God"....Bin Laden must be laughing out loud.

The most likely situation is that Iraqi's are simply relieved and excited that the constant bombing has now largely ended. Unless of course, they ended up dead, maimed, or missing loved ones. Others may rejoice that Saddam's regime has finally ended. But the fact of the matter is that the regime has only just started, and this time its leaders aren't even Iraqis.

The basis for the occupation will soon appear through the dust and debris of the invasion. People will start to question the motives of the invasion itself. A feeling of humiliation may creep in, seeing that a small minority of civilians (backed and encouraged by imperialist aggressors) have given some credence to the idea that Iraqi people wanted liberating through death, bombing, eventual exploitation. And all that after ten years of sanctions that ended up killing thousands and impoverishing the entire country. They will feel ashamed of these traitors, and many will feel ashamed of themselves. Britain and the United States helped install Saddam, and then they came and bombed the country to remove him. Even to the least politically conscious individual, the contradictions and hypocrisy of the actions of Blair and Bush will become impossible to ignore.

Even if some Iraqis are keen on the invaders - perhaps they were persecuted by his regime, or wanted power for themselves, and couldn't with the iron grip of Saddam prevening them - they will soon start asking some serious questions: Why has the US decided to impose the Dollar on the country? Why has the US ignored the war crimes and criminal regime of the Israeli Government? When will the Brits and Yanks get out of the country? Why are the US and UK working with Saddam's former henchmen, putting them back in power (like they did ex-Nazi's after WW2 in Eastern Europe); aren't they accessories to the enemy? Why are all the contracts for rebuilding going to companies from the invading countries? How many people died, and how many are going to die from unexploded munitions, jittery occupiers and Depleted Uranium? What kind of criminal system is going to be imposed when the US talks of executing Saddam in the States, and shipping countless freedom fighters to Camp X-Ray where they get tied up, drugged and psychologically tortured? Is the US level of incarceration (2 million in prison) going to be applied to this Middle-Eastern country as well? How about US and UK levels of inequality? Why the constant reference to installing a 'free market' - didn't supporters of the war laugh when anyone mentioned the word "imperialism"?

These people aren't stupid and they will soon start resisting the occupation, just as the Palestians do to the ethnic cleansing, apartheid and massacres carried out by the Israeli government and its supporters. This honeymoon period - if we can even call it that - won't last long.

Blair and Bush must be brought to account, and the Iraqi people must rise up against their occupiers, throw them out, and create a grass-roots self-government, not another dictatorship that for the time being, is friendly to the West. The fact that Bush and Blair have no interest in seeing a real democracy in Iraq will quickly become apparent. After all, if we had real 'democracy'in the 'UK' we wouldn't have gone to war in the first place.

ZeroZero
- Homepage: http://www.pcworks.demon.co.uk

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