Reply #2: Abracadabra, Why Iraq! [View All]

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1016-01.htm
In the USA, the news each night is dominated by the possibility of a war on Iraq. Saddam Hussein is not one of the world’s nobler creatures; he is a thug and a dictator, a man who has used chemical warfare on his own citizens and invaded neighboring countries. But he has been a despot for many years, since long before he lost a desert war to the USA. Why is he now the focus of American ire?

The Bush Administration tells its citizens that he is a great threat, but little seems to have changed, materially, in recent years, other than the terrorism of 11 September 2001. And, try as they might, the officials and agencies of the incumbent Administration have found no credible link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

So why has the rumor of war taken over the front pages? First, there is 11 September. The American psyche was profoundly altered by the events of that day when terrorism became a reality and not just a distant threat. The need to protect the nation against eruptions of violence within its borders, has deep resonance. Yet the unhappy truth for the Bush Administration is that its onslaught against Al-Qaeda has not gone well. After an initial victory over the Taliban — a “lesson” taught that those who harbor terrorists will suffer grave consequences — the war on terrorism has had few triumphs to trumpet. Osama bin Laden has not been caught; his purported worldwide network has not been exposed.

Thus, a war on a recognizable enemy, one that purportedly can be bombed into submission, entices many Americans. The Bush Administration has crassly used the promise of a victory over Iraq to transform, much like a magician with quick fingers, a red silk handkerchief into a rabbit. Quick, presto, the wand is waved, Al-Qaeda disappears, and Iraq is in front of the nation’s eyes.

Then, there is oil. Iraq possesses, after Saudi Arabia, the richest oil reserves of any nation. In a roiled West Asia, with increasing questions in Washington about the links between Saudi money and the funding of Al-Qaeda’s operations, Saudi Arabia is no longer a totally secure source of relatively cheap oil. This petroleum-based Administration — Mr Bush and Dick Cheney were both oilmen — know its importance all too well.