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Iraq next ?
By Bob Allen
The withdrawal of Taliban forces from
Kabul opens up for Washington war strategists the question of a second US
front against Iraq. The Bush Administration has often stressed the need to
extend the "war on terrorism" beyond Afghanistan.
Washington has assembled an international strategic alliance around the
"war on terrorism." Currently Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey have pledged military
support for the war on Afghanistan. On the other hand the Arab League much
to the displeasure of Washington, reiterated its conditional support for
the "war on terrorism". In a thinly veiled threat to the Arab
world President Bush has warned nations against impeding Washington's war
efforts. "Over time, it's going to be important for nations to know
they will be held accountable for inactivity," President Bush said,
"You are either with us or you're against us in the war on
terrorism." The Arab nations continue to insist that 1) the US
recommit itself to settling the Palestinian question, and 2) that the war
on terrorism would not target an Arab country. The Arab nation they are
talking about is Iraq. Here we have the most pro-US regimes in the Middle
East telling Washington in polite diplomatic language: the US "war on
terrorism" should not be used as a springboard for escalating the war
on Iraq.
In the US we hear an increasingly loud chorus of pundits and politicians
of both parties calling for war on Iraq. Anything short of an all out
attack on Iraq is portrayed as a cowardly accommodation to Arab
sentiments. Mark Bowden's article entitled Righteous Fury in the Sunday
edition of the November 12 Philadelphia Inquirer typifies this trend,
"We should be gearing up to crush the regime of Saddam Hussein once
and for all. We can deal with the wounded sensibilities of the region
later." We should remember "proof' has not been required for
numerous US/British attacks in the past ten years of war on Iraq.
Political stability in the Arab and Muslim world is an illusion with the
region now consumed by three wars, Palestine vs. Israel/US, Iraq vs.
US/Britain, and Afghanistan vs. US/Allies. A pervasive regional
consciousness of these brutal imperial wars is the most powerful social
force that currently limits the US war drive. q |
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