The War on Iraq is Not Over – Don’t Believe the Lies! - Afghanistan : ten Years of Death, Destruction, and War

IRAK

The War on Iraq is Not Over – Don’t Believe the Lies!

December 19th, 2011

Last week President Obama announced the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, after nine years of war and occupation of that country. Obama went on and on about the freedom and liberation which American military intervention brought to Iraq. During his speech, announcing the withdrawal of troops, Obama said, “Unlike the old empires, we don’t make these sacrifices for territory or for resources. We do it because it’s right.” But to anyone who really looks at the reality on the ground in Iraq, these words sound like a sick joke. Iraq has been torn to shreds by a decades-long policy of imperial domination by the US and Obama has every intention of continuing this domination.

US intervention in Iraq began over 40 years ago. In the 1960s and 70s, Iraq was a modern society with living standards approaching Europe or the US. The Ba’ath Party regime under Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictatorship, but the oil of Iraq was used to develop schools, hospitals, and sanitation.

Not only did the US oil companies want access to that oil wealth, the US imperial strategy in the world could not allow a country like Iraq to use its own resources to raise the living standards of its people. An example like that would threaten US imperial domination of other countries, not just in the Middle East but throughout the world.

So, by the 1990′s, every opportunity was used to bleed the people of Iraq. From sanctions, which cut off supplies, to military aid to Iraq’s enemies, and starting in 1991, invasion by the US military.

In 1991, the US invaded Iraq under Bush Sr. but stopped short of occupying the country. The war continued in another form under President Clinton. Under US pressure, the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq which denied food and medicine imports. Over a million people, including 500,000 children, died from the sanctions.

Even before the 2003 occupation of Iraq by the US military, Iraq was a shell of what it had been. The schools, hospitals, and infrastructure built in the 1960s and 1970s were ripped apart. Iraq was reduced to a barely-functioning wreck of a society.

With Iraq in ruins, the only thing left to do was to change the regime to one which would sell the oil-fields to US companies.
The invasion of 2003 was a devastating assault on the people of Iraq, which resulted in the death of millions. The invasion began with attacks on the civilian infrastructure to cripple Iraqi society. The US military bombed sewage treatment facilities, roads, electrical power stations. Thousands died in these attacks but the deadliest result was the destruction of the whole infrastructure. Since 2003, over a million Iraqis have been killed by disease and malnutrition in addition to direct violence.

And the weapons used by the US military are still killing people even after the invasion. The military used tons of depleted uranium rounds, shells manufactured from radioactive uranium. After being fired, they get into the water supply and the air, poisoning the population. Iraq has seen an epidemic of babies born deformed and missing body parts due to uranium poisoning of their parents. The depleted uranium in Iraq’s environment will remain radioactive for billions of years.

So what did the US get out of all this death and destruction? The regime of Saddam Hussein was replaced by a puppet government which now allows US companies to exploit Iraqi oil, and for the US to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq. The cost? Millions of Iraqis dead, not to mention 4,500 US soldiers and over $1 trillion US tax dollars.

There can be no mistake. The war on the people of Iraq perpetrated by the US was an imperial war to strengthen US oil companies and US domination.

The Obama administration and the media pundits are lying about ending this war. The US is withdrawing troops but is also maintaining 130,000 private contractors including armed mercenaries. It will maintain a so-called embassy, actually an armed fortress the size of a large city. US diplomats will still dictate policy to the Iraqi government. Does that sound like withdrawal?

No one should believe these lies. This is a war for oil and domination, and it is far from over.

Speak Out Now!

AFGHANSTAN

Ten Years of Death, Destruction, and War

October 3rd, 2011

October 7th marks ten years of war on the people of Afghanistan. In 2001, the US government used the attacks of September 11th to wage war on Afghanistan, with practically unanimous support from Democratic and Republican politicians. The politicians told us that the people of the US were in danger from terrorists, and that war was the only way to make the US safe.

Now ten years later, the sheer brutality of this war and the devastation it has caused is in plain sight. All of the reasons ever given for the war on Afghanistan have been demonstrated to be either complete lies or just plain false. The majority of the US population as well as the people of Afghanistan have remained opposed to this war since the beginning – and yet it has continued, for ten years. The war has not only continued but has expanded into Pakistan, and the US military plans to remain in both countries until as late as 2020.

Devastation has been the only outcome of this so-called “war on terror”, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq. In Afghanistan, villages, households, families, wedding parties, farmlands – these are the targets of US bombs and gunfire. The US military doesn’t keep public records of the death toll but many organizations estimate that over 100,000 Afghans have been killed. Over two million Afghans have had to flee their villages and become refugees. More than 70 percent of Afghans are currently suffering from or on the brink of hunger. One out five children die every year in Afghanistan. This is a war of brutality against an entire population.

In Iraq, the balance sheet of war has been the same: devastation and brutality. Over 2.3 million Iraqis have been killed. About six million Iraqis have been driven from their homes due to this war. The infrastructure of entire cities – roads, bridges, water treatment facilities, farmlands, schools – have been completely destroyed. Now more than half the population is unemployed. Over 70 percent of the population has no access to clean water. The people of Iraq have had their lives ripped apart.

At the same time, these wars have brought nothing but devastation to the people in the US as well. Over 7,100 soldiers have died from these wars and more than 100,000 soldiers have returned maimed, disabled, or wounded. Thousands of families have been devastated by these tragedies.

For the soldiers who do return from war, over 15 percent of them are unemployed, and at least 10,000 are currently homeless. For many soldiers, returning home doesn’t mean being able to leave the war behind them. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers return with PTSD, having a difficult time carrying on. Life has become so valueless for so many vets that an estimated 18 veterans commit suicide every single day. Soldiers have been used up and tossed aside by these wars as if their lives don’t matter.

And finally, these wars have cost staggering amounts of money. A new study from Brown University estimates the current costs of these wars at more than $4 trillion. That’s an average of about $333 billion spent every single month.

The reality is that these are not just wars of death and destruction, but of domination – the domination of a small class of bankers and bosses of multinational corporations, weapons manufacturers and energy companies, supported by the politicians of both Democratic and Republican parties. Their interests are to dominate the entire region from Iraq to Afghanistan to as much of the globe as possible. They are the only beneficiaries from these wars.

And the same class that is carrying out these wars abroad is waging a war on working people here in the US. Through layoffs, foreclosures, budget cuts, bailouts tax breaks, and other attacks, a war is being waged against the working people in the US. The goal of this war is to take as much away from working people as possible and hand it over to the ruling rich. So far these wars have been a slaughter. Another year of these wars is too much – it’s time for working people to come together, and show that enough is enough.

Some of the Costs of Ten Years of War
October 3rd, 2011

These so-called wars for democracy are in reality wars of terror on the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. Both countries are in ruin. Many areas are without access to electricity, water, education and medical care. This war has only killed millions and destroyed the lives of countless others. In addition to the destruction, these wars have cost trillions of dollars and taken the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers. As the politicians say cuts are necessary to public services, Social Security, Medicare, education, as much as 4 trillion dollars have been spent on these wars. These wars don’t benefit the people of Iraq, Afghanistan or the U.S., but only serve the interests of the private corporations, war contractors and big banks who run this system.

Afghanistan

100,000 Afghans have been killed.
One in five Afghan children die before the age of five
40% of Afghans are unemployed
Violent incidents (roadside bombings, armed clashes) are up 39% from last year.
As of May 2011, 3.3 million people have been internally displaced or are refugees.

Iraq

An estimated 2.3 million Iraqis have been killed since March 2003 through either direct violence or lack of access to resources.
About six million Iraqis, or 15% of the population have been driven from their homes as refugees.
60% of Iraqis are unemployed.
28% of Iraqi children are malnourished.
70% of Iraqis have no clean water.

U.S.

Over 7,100 soldiers have been killed.
Over 100,000 soldiers have been maimed or wounded.
On average 18 veterans commit suicide per day.
Spending on Iraq and Afghanistan wars so far: $1,256,201,231,440 (as of 9/26/11)
This year’s spending on the war in Afghanistan would more than pay every state’s deficit, instead of deep social cuts