The Looming War against Iraq

THE LOOMING WAR AGAINST IRAQ
A National Bayaan

All praise is due to Allâh The King of all kings - He Bestows power to whomsoever He wills and He withdraws power and authority as He wills. May His choicest salutations continue to shower upon our Master who freed the world from injustice and oppression. The Holy Qur’ân states: “Be patient – your patience is with Allâh. Do not be grieved by them and do not be constricted by the plots they hatch. Allâh is with those who have taqwa and with those who are good doers” (16:127/8)

Respected Brothers and Elders in Islâm!

Iraq is country with a rich history. It was on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates - the two great rivers of ancient times - that the earliest known civilisations arose. The lands that make up modern Iraq, formerly known as Mesopotamia - the 'Land between the Rivers' – which is between present-day Basra and Baghdad – that gave birth to the first urban civilisation more than 5000 years ago. It is the birth -place of the father of all religions – Ibrahim Alayhis Salâm. The Iraqis invented the irrigation system, they founded modern mathematics and astronomy, and developed the first known written language.

Iraq was formerly part of the Ottoman Empire , which gained its independence in 1932. Ever since the country has been ruled by military strongmen the latest being Saddam Hussein. It has a total population of 24 million, made up of 65% Shi’ite Muslims, 32% Sunni Muslims and 3% of Christian or people of other faiths.

Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, which provides for 95% of its income. Currently 28% of Iraq 's export revenues under the oil for food programme are deducted to meet UN Compensation Fund and UN administrative expenses. Under Security Council Resolution 986 - the 'oil-for-food' deal - the UN allows Iraq to sell 5.26 billion dollars worth of oil every six months to purchase food and medicines. However, Iraq is unable to pump more than 3 billion dollars worth of oil due to the deterioration of oil field equipment under sanctions. Once allocations have been taken out for Gulf War reparations and UN administrative costs, only 40 per cent of the proceeds are left for humanitarian purposes. The quantity of food and medicines "allowed" in to Iraq by the UN Sanctions Committee amounts to about a third of what was imported by Iraq during the pre-sanctions era.

Iraq had also paid a heavy price for its invasion of Kuwait . It has lost a great deal, including part of its own soil. At the end of the Gulf War, the UN decided to redraw Iraq 's border with Kuwait , giving Kuwait 400 sq miles of Iraqi territory, including Iraqi oil fields (from which it now reportedly extracts some 14,000 barrels of oil a day). The new boundary goes through the middle of Iraq 's only remaining sea- port, virtually land-locking the country.

Economic sanctions were imposed on Iraq in August 1990, within hours of its invasion of Kuwait . Their effects have been devastating. According to the UN's own agencies (UNICEF, WHO,) over 600,000 children under the age of five have died since sanctions were imposed. UNICEF reports that 6,000-7,000 children are dying each month, in Iraq , because of malnutrition (virtually unheard of before the sanctions) and curable diseases for which they have no treatment. The death rate for Iraqi children age five and under has almost tripled since sanctions were imposed in 1990, mainly due to diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition. Less than a decade ago Iraq had a health care system comparable to the West, the most advanced and efficient in the region. Today that health care system is near total collapse. Before the trade embargo, the Iraqi Ministry of Health spent more than 500 million dollars on drugs and medical supplies; that budget has now been reduced by 90-95 per cent. Eight years of economic warfare have caused the deaths of 1.5 million Iraqi civilians. This is a crime against humanity. This is genocide. "Our quarrel is not with the Iraqi people", say those responsible, but it is the Iraqi people who are suffering.

The USA would have us believe that Iraq is a dangerous and powerful military threat, needing to be permanently 'kept in check' by means of crippling sanctions and regular bombardment. The reality is however very different, Iraq is a devastated country with a shattered infrastructure, a health system near collapse and a destroyed economy. How can a small country which has been battered and pounded so heavily, which, at the height of its military might, and over a period of eight long years, was unable to defeat its neighbour Iran ? How can such a country seriously and realistically be considered a "threat" to its neighbours, much less the entire world?

We are told that war is necessary because Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. But we are not told that the United States alone has 9,000 nuclear warheads, as does Russia , while Britain , France and China have another 950 between them. Israel , has over 200 nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Saddam Hussein is not the only world leader with weapons of mass destruction. There are plenty of countries with even more lethal nuclear weapons including the U.S. , Russian, the Ukraine , China , France , Britain , India , and Pakistan . UN resolutions on disarmament and human rights will only work if they are applied equally, without fear or favour. Why has Iraq been singled out for war in the absence of evidence and not North Korea which has publicly acknowledged that it has weapons of mass destruction?

Consider the following:

· Iraq , according to the CIA, has not supported al-Qaeda.

· Iraq has never threatened the U.S. Its defense budget is less than one
percent of the U.S. defense budget.

· Iraq has, for the most part, complied with weapons inspectors sent there
under UN Security Council Resolution 687. The weapons inspectors were pulled out of Iraq when the U.S. announced it would attack Iraq .

· Israel , on the other hand, has not even been asked--leave alone forced--to
comply with this resolution. Article 14 of Resolution 687 has the "goal of
establishing in the Middle East a zone free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery and the objective of a global ban on chemical weapons."

· What Iraq is guilty of is refusing to surrender to U.S. hegemony, and for
this it is to be sacrificed as an example to others.

· This escalation may or may not hurt President Saddam Hussein, but it will kill many thousands, perhaps millions, of ordinary Iraqis.

This war is not about Iraq 's weapons of mass destruction, which former weapons inspector Scott Ritter says have been "rendered harmless". To dispel the myth of Iraq having such weapons, Scott Ritter a former UN weapons inspector said: "As of December 1998 when weapons inspectors left Iraq , we had fundamentally disarmed Iraq ." He added: "We conducted the most intrusive, on-site arms inspection regime in the history of disarmament." There is talk about 'evidence' but it is simply a public relations stunt to justify war. US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld recently paraphrased Winston Churchill: "Sometimes the truth is so precious it must be accompanied by a bodyguard of lies."

The war against Iraq is illegal, unprovoked, unjustified and a one-sided assault carried out by government-hired professional killers who will never be held to justice for their crimes, against a country unable to defend itself. It is an act of state-sponsored terrorism, unbefitting the two great nations that pride themselves as being 'civilised'.

The war against Iraq is supposedly part of the “war against terrorism” Remember: there is absolutely no connection between Iraq and the September 11th ‘terrorists’.

The so-called "containment" plan amounts to no more than maintaining a huge military presence in the Persian Gulf, continuing the oil embargo, a never-ending weapons inspection process, maintaining never-ending "no-fly zones" over the north and south of the country, interspersed with periodic bombings.

Why is America so determined to go to war? The key country in the Middle East , as far as the Americans are concerned is Saudi Arabia - the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, the country that has been prepared to calm the oil markets, producing more when prices are too high and less when there is a glut. The Saudi royal family has been rewarded with best friend status by the west for its cooperation. With American support it has been believed that the regime can be protected and will do what is necessary to secure a supply of oil to the west at reasonably stable prices. Since September 11, however, it has become increasingly apparent to the US administration that the Saudi regime is vulnerable. Both on the streets and in the leading families, including the royal family, there are increasingly anti-western voices. Osama bin Laden is just one prominent example. The love affair with America is ending. Reports of the removal of billions of dollars of Saudi investment from the United States may be difficult to quantify, but they are true. The possibility of the world's largest oil reserves falling into the hands of an anti-American, militant Islâmist government is becoming ever more likely - and this is unacceptable.

The Americans know they cannot stop such a revolution. They must therefore hope that they can control the Saudi oil fields, if not the government. And what better way to do that than to have a large military force in the field at the time of such disruption. In the name of saving the west, these vital assets could be seized and controlled. No longer would the US have to depend on an unpopular royal family to keep it supplied with cheap oil. If there is chaos in the region, the US armed forces could be seen as a global saviour. Under cover of the ‘war on terrorism’, the war to secure oil supplies could be waged.

Iraqi mothers sit quietly in cancer wards in shanty hospitals, hoping beyond all hope that their children will recover without proper medical supplies, as poverty eats away at their lives and war clouds gather.
The Holy Qur’ân states: “Be patient – your patience is with Allâh. Do not be grieved by them and do not be constricted by the plots they hatch. Allâh is with those who have taqwa and with those who are good doers” (16:127-8)

The challenge facing us as the Muslim Ummah is not to feel helpless or hopeless. Allâh is on the side of those who believe, those who preserve and place their implicit faith in His might and power. No might or force can challenge the power of Allâh, events will unfold according to the wisdom of Allâh even though we fail to understand them. It is time for introspection, a time to look within and see how we fare in the practical application of our faith. These events set the stage for the greater signs of Qiyamâh. Are we really prepared to make amends and commit ourselves to the propagation of His Dîn?