iraq.htm

Iraq: Invasion, Aftermath, and Historical Background

"George Bush wants to get hold of the Iraqi oil."--Nelson Mandela

The Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

Noam Chomsky Interview: Reasons for the Invasion, Aftermath, and Goals of the Peace Movement, April 13, 2003.

U.S. government Lies About Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction and links to Al-Qeada Congressman Henry Waxman posted an open letter on his website to President Bush, documenting U.S. government lies about Iraq's nuclear capability. Another lie is Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's statement that he had "b ullet-proof evidenc e" of a connection between Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government. Still another example, exposed by the New York Times and other newspapers, is Colin Powell's description of Tony Blair's web-posted fraudulent evidence as "a fine paper " during an address Powell made to the United Nations Security Council. The I nstitute for Public Accuracy has compiled a l ist of Bush administration lies about Iraq with other examples. On April 12, 2003, Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix accused the U.S . of "fabricating" evidence against Iraq. More examples are provided in the article, "Libertarians and War ," and the Times/UK article "America's Weapons Evidence Flawed, Say Spies." For examples of U.S. government lies used to support a disinformation campaign to justify the 1991 Gulf War, see "U.S. Disinformation Campaigns" in Mechanisms of Western Domination: A Short History of Iraq and Kuwait. Aftermath: "WMD Just a Convenient Excuse for War, Admits Wolfowit z" London Independent, May 30, 2003. Further documentation of lies by the Bush administration is provided by John Dean in "Missing Weapons Of Mass Destruction Is Lying About The Reason For War An Impeachable Offense ?," June 6, 2003. U.S. Senator Byrd spoke on the Senate floor on June 24, 2003 and enumerated the lies of the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. On July 7, 2003, the New York Times reported that Bush conceded the inaccuracy of his State of the Union remarks. On July 13, 2003, the lndependent of the UK published the story, "20 Lies About the War." On July 21, 2003, Congressmembers Kucinich, Maloney and Sanders sent a letter to Vice President Cheney containing 10 specific questions about his role in the lying to the American people. Senior Bush administration officials admit that no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or connections to Al-Qaeda exist (Los Angeles Times, January 23. 2004). U.S. Arms inspector and right wing hawk, David Kay, resigns and admits "I don't think they existed," referring to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (Reuters, January 23, 2004).

Civilian casualties Latest Iraqi civilian body count from U.S./U.K. invasion forces via www.iraqbodycount.net; Raw, Devastating Realities That Expose The Truth About Basra by Robert Fisk, March 27, 2003; U.S. missile kills 62 civilians in Baghdad, March 30, 2003 (followup article gives proof, April 2, 2003); U.S. Marines kill ten women and children in a van, March 31, 2003; U.S. bomb kills 20 civilians, including 11 Iraqi children, March 31, 2003; U.S. bombs maternity hospital killing patients, doctor, and wounding 25, April 2, 2003; "We saw that a truck was delivering dozens of totally dismembered dead bodies of women and children," April 4, 2003; Devastation, suffering, and death at Iraqi hospitals, April 8, 2003; Final Proof that War is About the Failure of the Human Spirit, by Robert Fisk, April 10, 2003; The Hell That Once Was a Hospital, April 12, 2003.

Photographs The "Shock and Awe" Photo Gallery, updated daily, from "The March for Justice."

Depleted Uranium, Cluster Bombs, and U.S. War Crimes Remains of Toxic Bullets Litter Iraq, The Christian Science Monitor, May 15, 2003. U.S. Under Fire for Use of Cluster Bombs in Iraq, San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 2003. General Franks accused of War Crimes, April 2003.

Iraq's Antiquities Museum plundered after staff begged U.S. troops to guard it. Treasures dating back thousands of years to the dawn of civilization in Mesopotamia have been lost or destroyed. U.S. troops guarded the Oil Ministry, while looters destroyed museum, despite strenuous warnings to the Pentagon of an impending cultural catastrophe. Priceless documents were lost as the Baghdad Library went up in flames on April 14, 2003. As of May 23, 2003, the New York Times reports that looters continue tearing up Archeological sites, with little response from U.S. forces.

The Oil Connection Did the U.S. invade Iraq because of oil? Anti-war activists say yes, but so do many corporate and political elites, eagerly citing control of oil as a goal of invasion. Read Make Iraq Our New Strategic Oil Reserve, by former U.S. Energy Secretary John S. Herrington, published in the Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2003; In Iraqi War Scenario, Oil Is Key Issue, published in the Washington Post, September 15, 2002; and "Iraq Regime Change Could Weaken OPEC" from the Los Angeles Times Business Section, October 27 2002. See also, The War's Economic Motives Are Obvious by Joseph E. Mulligan, April 4, 2003, Miami Herald. Congressman Henry Waxman posted a letter, dated May 6, 2003, to General Flowers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in which Rep. Waxman writes:

Halliburton

For more information on Halliburton and corporate war profiteering, including activities of Richard Perle, see the May 9, 2003 Guardian/UK article, "Cheney Firm Paid Millions in Bribes to Nigerian Official." Vice President Dick Cheney, who served as CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, continues to receive as much as $1 million a year in deferred compensation while Halliburton executives enjoy a seat at the table during Administration discussions over how to handle post-war oil production in Iraq. The New York Times reported June 23, 2003 that "L. Paul Bremer III, the chief United States administrator in Iraq, vowed today to dismantle that country's state-run economy by selling off government-owned companies and writing new laws to encourage foreign investment."

Background Information on Iraq

RESISTANCE: IN THE EYE OF THE AMERICAN HEGEMON: Special Issue on Iraq, February 2, 2004. This on-line book on Iraq includes historical background and detailed background information by several authors.

Understanding the U.S.-IRAQ Crisis: A Prime r by Phyllis Bennis, A publication of the Institute for Policy Studies, January 2003. Mechanisms of Western Domination: A Short History of Iraq and Kuwait by David Klein, CSUN. See also Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot, by Richard Sale, UPI Intelligence Correspondent, April 4, 2003.

Origins of Regime Change in Iraq, a report from the Carnegie Endowment for Peac e, March 19, 2003. "Long before September 11, before the first inspections in Iraq had started, a small group of influential officials and experts in Washington were calling for regime change in Iraq. Some never wanted to end the 1991 war. Many are now administration officials ...We have assembled on our web site links to the key documents produced since 1992 by this group, usually known as neo-conservatives, and analysis of their efforts."

War Crimes War Crimes: A Report on United States War Crimes Against Iraq to the Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribuna l by Ramsey Clark and Others. I njustice and Iraq : United States Concentration Camp s, by Robert Fisk, July 24, 2003.

More background: Muslims, Islam, and the Iraq Crisis This site includes maps, scholarly histories and analyses, and many other resources. Crisis Over Iraq Websites gives a list of web sites compiled by Professor Daniel Varisco of Hofstra University. A r esource on the Persian Gul f is also available from UCSB.