Protest the Bombing of Iraq

Iraq Bombing Protest Photos

"There is one crime against humanity in this last decade of the millennium that exceeds all others in its magnitude, cruelty and portent. It is the U.S.-forced sanctions against the twenty million people of Iraq... If the U.N. participates in such genocidal sanctions backed by the threat of military violence -- and if the people of the world fail to prevent such conduct -- the violence, terror and human misery of the new millennium will exceed anything we have known."

--Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General

by Charles Overbeck
Matrix Editor
easterisle@parascope.com

Saddam Hussein is no sweetheart. A brutal tyrant with Babylonian delusions of grandeur, Saddam has used chemical weapons against his own people and has waged a bloody war of repression against separatist Kurds. Indeed, it is Saddam's diabolical reputation that casts the harshest shadows of hypocrisy on the most recent U.S. assault on Iraq. Lest we forget, before the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein enjoyed the full backing of the United States and was covertly viewed as a key ally in the Middle East.

Now, however, Saddam is the key whipping boy for the New World Order. After Iraq's cataclysmic defeat during the Desert Storm, the nation fell under oppressive U.S./U.N. sanctions. As part of the "agreement," United Nations inspectors would be allowed to have full access to all Iraqi facilities, in order to eliminate Saddam's capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Weapons Inspection Follies

A blistering report issued early this week by chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler accusing Iraq of failing to "cooperate fully with the inspectors" by blocking access to sites and hindering inspections. This report was used as the justification for the U.S. airstrikes.

U.S. officials have hushed the fact that Iraq's most recent "failure to cooperate" occurred when Butler's U.N. inspection squad sought to search through and copy documents from the Iraqi ruling party's political headquarters in Baghdad. Information retrieved from these files would no doubt be of great interest to the CIA in its efforts to destabilize Saddam's regime (in part by sponsoring political opposition groups).

Such an action would not be without precedent; the Los Angeles Times reported on December 17 that "the Pentagon has been accumulating information since the Gulf War that it could use for such an assault. It has a pile of information from the work of the United Nations Special Commission." And the Washington Post reported on December 17 that "U.S. planners benefited immensely from seven years of intelligence gathered by U.N. weapons inspectors." [Emphasis added]

In light of this information, the demand to plunder the files at the Ba'ath Party's headquarters was a highly provocative action -- so provocative, in fact, that Iraq's refusal to allow the intrusion could have easily been predicted by those eager to apply a military solution to the Iraqi "problem." The Butler report provided a conveniently-timed pretext for an all-out attack. (It has now been reported that on the night of December 18, the Ba'ath Party headquarters was targeted and hit by cruise missiles -- a symbolic action, to say the least.)

However, the record of UNSCOM's activities shows a nearly flawless record of cooperation by Iraq. Of the 427 site inspections carried out between November 15 and December 14, 1998, the U.N. team encountered "obstacles" during only five visits. On two occasions, inspectors were denied entry to locations where the entire work force had gone home because it was Friday, a day of rest in Iraq. During another "incident," U.N. inspectors were kept waiting for a total of 45 minutes; and another time, Iraqi officials sought to limit the number of inspectors to four. These incidents were among the cornerstone justifications for the cruise missile barrage.

The man who used to hold Butler's job, former chief U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, accused President Clinton of being on a "Wag the Dog" schedule, saying that U.S. officials created the recent "crisis" by politically manipulating the inspection teams.

A cruise missile is not a solution, though, especially if the purported goal of the assault is to eliminate "weapons of mass destruction." More than 250 cruise missiles have already been launched on Iraq at a cost of more than a million dollars each -- the heaviest bombing since Desert Storm. The 1,000- and 2,000-pound warheads sent streaking into Baghdad would certainly qualify as weapons of mass destruction.

The Clinton administration is trotting out the usual spooks and foreign policy flunkies to blather out the usual half-assed excuses and justifications for this aggression -- the latest development in a long pattern of foreign policy deception lubricated with Iraqi blood (not to mention the risks of these hazardous adventures to U.S. military personnel).

However, each successive attack on Iraq has brought a stronger groundswell of anti-bombing activism throughout the nation and the international community at large. In response to this week's assault, citizens are turning out in droves to protest the government's arrogant, inhumane actions.

Related ParaScope Articles:

The IraqGate Scandal
For years, Saddam Hussein enjoyed the full backing of the U.S. (Documents also available.)

CIA Plots Against Saddam Hussein
A previous CIA effort to unseat Saddam failed. Is this what the latest assault is really about?

High Tech Lies
A scathing GAO report exposes deception regarding "smart" bombs and other Gulf War weapons.

Nukes of the Gulf War
Is there a link between Gulf War Illness and depleted uranium munitions?

Pentagon "Loses" Chemical Incident Logs
Missing logs from the Khamisiyah chemical weapons bunker detonation have led to charges of a Gulf War Illness cover-up.

Gulf War Syndrome
A roundup on the illness that has plagued thousands of veterans with bizarre symptoms.

Related Weblinks:

International Action Center
A comprehensive list of demonstrations and anti-war actions nationwide, updated as news comes in. Find out about rallies in your city.

Federation of American Scientists Page on Desert Fox
An excellent collection of links spanning a variety of sources.

Voices in the Wilderness
This activist group has been targeted recently by the Foreign Assets Control Office, and its members have been threatened with $160,000 in fines for transporting medicine and humanitarian aid to Iraq "without getting a permit." The group has built an online gallery of Iraqi childrens' drawings which is well worth viewing.

Citizens Take to the Streets to Protest the Bombing of Iraq

Demonstrations Held at Federal Buildings Nationwide

Left: Protesters in Eugene, Oregon gather for a third consecutive evening to call for a halt to violence and threats of violence against Iraq.

Update: 12.18.98
6:30 p.m. PST

Iraq Bombing Protests Continue

Protesters took to the streets again today to voice their dissent over the bombing of Iraq. ParaScope was on the scene this afternoon for a third day of demonstrations in front of the Federal Building in Eugene, Oregon. The crowd today was a bit smaller -- around 60 protesters -- but the message rang out loud and clear. It was a mixed group, young and old, with a diverse range of opinions on the situation in Iraq and the best way to protest it. But they were united by a common outrage at the unrestrained violence of the recent air strikes, and the devastating effect of years of economic sanctions.

Passing motorists honked their support and threw up peace signs, with the occasional "fuck Saddam" thrown in for good measure. The local media was out last night to cover the event, but today apparently it was "old news" as far as they were concerned. This bombing, like the ones before, will fade into obscurity -- but it has served to further hone public sentiment against the use of violence to accelerate foreign policy objectives in the New World Order.

Send Us Your Protest Pix!
Please enclose a caption with specific information on the event. Email them to easterisle@parascope.com and we'll post them online with this report. Thanks!

Left: A member of Eugene Peaceworks shares grim statistics on the mortality rate of Iraqi children after sanctions were imposed. [12/17/98]

Across the nation, citizens have taken to the streets to express their outrage at the latest U.S. attack on Iraq, as well as the devastation wreaked on innocent Iraqi civilians since the onset of economic sanctions in 1991. Similar protests are taking place in Britain, Canada, Australia and around the globe.

You won't hear the standard line of CNN propaganda at these gatherings -- for it is understood by all that the use of deadly force, at face value, is unjustified. The miserable excuses offered by Clinton administration officials merely expose the depths of the depravity of this massive military action.

Above: Phil Weaver of Eugene Peaceworks reads the group's statement on the bombing of Iraq.

Above: Conspiracy Newsline editor Hera C. helps hold up a banner at the anti-bombing rally in Eugene, Oregon.

ParaScope personnel were on hand for a demonstration organized by Eugene Peaceworks, which took place in front of the Federal Building in Eugene, Oregon, at 4 p.m. on December 17. About a hundred local activists and citizens came together to vocally express their opposition to the continued brutalization of the Iraqi people.

Reading the group's statement on Iraq to the crowd, Eugene Peaceworks member Phil Weaver said, "This bombing, in addition to being a gross violation of human rights and dignity, is criminally insane -- an action that uses weapons of mass destruction as a punishment for the crime of developing weapons of mass destruction is hypocritical and extremely dangerous."

"We call for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Iraq," Weaver continued. "United Nations reports indicate that over one million Iraqis have already died as a direct result of the sanctions, 60% of them children under the age of five. These sanctions, depriving millions of people of food and medicine for the past seven years, can only be understood as biological warfare against a civilian population."

"Those who suffer death by sanctions see what it is to have the whole world impose death sentences on their children," said another Eugene Peaceworks member. "They are helpless and slowly wasting away."

More than 90,000 Iraqi children have reportedly died every year since 1991 due to malnutrition and lack of medicine caused by the economic embargo -- that's one child dead, every six minutes. The mortality rate for children under 5 years of age rose from 593 deaths per month in 1989 (before sanctions were imposed) to more 6,400 deaths per month in 1997. The magnitude of this atrocity is truly incomprehensible. The idea that all of this could be done to oust a single man from power is offensive to a degree of rankness.

"We know that the U.S. government always creates a pretext, an 'incident,' to justify its military aggression or CIA subversion plans," said Sara Flounders of the International Action Center, a group which has organized many demonstrations to protest the latest bombings. "It seeks to demonize the targets of its aggression. In the case of the Middle East, this has meant a large dose of anti-Arab racism. We oppose this racist war and bombing of Iraq. The Pentagon has said that over 10,000 people will be killed by these type of bombings in heavily populated areas. That's state sponsored terrorism."

Eugene Peaceworks plans to hold another rally at the Federal Building on Friday, December 18, at 4 p.m.; similar protests are scheduled nationwide. And if there isn't one planned for your area, then get together with some friends and organize one yourself.

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