Iraq: The Real Story
By Shoilee Khan
We, as Canadians pride ourselves on being part of a country that is free, moral and just. We like to think of ourselves as people who always seek and act according to the truth. But what if “the truth” isn’t clear? What if we don’t know the truth? What if we’re all ignorant of the truth? And if we are ignorant, are we truly free?
Download Today, we are creating history. Future generations will flip through their history books—what will they see? Will they read words that taint our generation forever? Will they read about a privileged population that supported a war against a nation of poverty? Or, will they glow in pride as they read about a generation that stood up for the truth, that stood in defiance against a war they knew was wrong? Our decisions, our actions will affect the lives of millions of people we don’t even know. Our ignorance however, will diminish their freedom as well as our own.
Why War?
Why it’s the Weapons of Mass Destruction of course! Well that’s the story from Bush and his gang. That’s the story in the news, in Parliament and on the streets—if Iraq has WMD’s—it’s war. If Iraq doesn’t have WMD’s but Bush and the gang are sure they do—it’s war. The Bush administration has adopted a new tactic in their ongoing effort to create a “peaceful” world: Preventative War. Bush claims that to ensure that Saddam Hussein doesn’t wreak havoc on America, they will invade Iraq. In simpler terms, America will wreak havoc on Iraq, so it cannot wreak havoc on America.
The Case Against Iraq
Noted in simple terms below are several reasons that the Bush administration is using to justify a war against Iraq. Supposedly…
- Iraq has an active nuclear weapons program in violation of UN resolutions
- Iraq will attack United States, given the chance
- The people of Iraq hate Saddam Hussein and want the Americans to “liberate” them and turn Iraq into a democracy
Rebuttal Against U.S. Claims
- What nuclear weapons? To this date, UN weapons inspectors have not reported any sign of any nuclear weapons in Iraq. America has violated UN Security Council resolution 1441 of November 8th by refusing to hand over it’s anti-Iraq evidence to UN weapons inspectors. The Bush administration says they know where the weapons are - so why aren’t they telling the rest of us? Even more, why aren’t they telling the UN weapons inspectors so they can inspect and prove them right?
- Claims that America will be attacked by Iraq are pure speculation: Evidence? So far, none. Bush has delivered nothing but rhetoric and padded speculation labelling Iraq as a rogue nation that will attack America at any moment. If so, how does Bush know? Does he have a hunch? Will we send our citizens to kill Iraqi citizens based solely on Bush’s intuition? On that token, Bush has publicly announced that he is willing and ready to attack Iraq - we know America may attack Iraq, so can Iraq launch a “preventative” war of their own?
- Democracy—Liberating Iraq: This notion of “liberating” the people of Iraq is a people friendly way of justifying the war. Haroon Siddiqui of the Toronto Star notes that, “regime change in Baghdad is not part of any U.N. directive.” We should ask ourselves, what right do we have to rip apart a country so we can establish a form of government that we like? We cannot assume that the people of Iraq are on their knees begging for us to bring them democracy. The people of Iraq could rise up on their own against Saddam Hussein - if they didn’t have UN Sanctions starving them. They are trapped in a vicious cycle and the blood of their children is too high a price to pay to simply bring ease to our own conscience.
Powell’s Presentation: A Case for War?
Definitely not.
- Satellite Images: Computer manipulation of satellite images is not difficult. What evidence did Powell provide to prove that the objects in the satellite images were actually what he said they were? The current “Orange Alert” is seen as “smoke screen” to cover up the fraudulent data presented to the United Nations.
- Phone Conversations: Tape recorded messages are an outdated, unreliable and problematic form of evidence: Anyone can produce or manipulate a tape recording—what reason do we have to believe that Powell’s tape was legitimate? None.
- Powell’s Entire Case: According to the Toronto Star and others, the British Intelligence dossier Powell cited had (with approval) been copied from published articles and a Ph.D. thesis by a student who is now against the war. Furthermore, the information from these sources is considered “obsolete”.
The Real Reasons for War
- Oil: According to the Independent Media Centre (accessible online at http://www.indymedia.org) “it is an oil CURRENCY war. The real reason for this upcoming war is this administration[al] goal of preventing further OPEC momentum towards the euro as an oil transaction currency standard. However, in order to pre-empt OPEC, they need to gain geo-strategic control of Iraq along with its 2nd largest proven oil reserves.”
Points to Consider
- Why Iraq only?
- Kim Jong II has openly admitted to having an active nuclear weapons program, yet Bush has decided to work things out “diplomatically” with North Korea—why is American diplomacy selective?
- If this war is really about countries possessing weapons of mass destruction— Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, India and many other countries would face a war with the U.S.
Links and Resources
For more information visit:
Toronto Star Archives (available online) – articles by Haroon Siddiqui, Linda McQuaig, and Antonia Zerbisias provide clear, unbiased and in-depth information on current events.
What you can do to help
- Show support for the MP’s that are against the war in Iraq. Contact your local MP and voice your concern about the War. For list of MPs please visit the following the site: http://canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html
- Write to your local and national media agencies. A good idea is to divide up the different newspapers among friends to keep watch over.
- Stay informed of important issues concerning Iraq. Be aware of decisions that are made that may impact and affect the possibility of war.
- Support financially the organizations that are reaching out to the Iraqi people.
http://www.lifeusa.org/ [Life for Relief and Development]
http://www.irw.org/ [Islamic Relief] - Educate your peers. Promote awareness. Show your genuine concern for the human race.
- Finally, Pray for those who are confronted with adversity.
