Frequently Asked Questions About Iraq

[dutchdemocrat]

Frequently Asked Questions About Iraq

- What were the reasons given by the United States and the United Kingdom for the invasion of Iraq?

Ostensibly, the war was launched and Iraq invaded to: 1) End the Saddam Hussein regime’s support of terrorist groups, 2) Locate and neutralize Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, thereby putting them beyond the reach of the aforementioned terrorist groups, 3) Liberate the Iraqi people from the oppression of the Baa’th regime.

However, first and foremost, the primary issue was weapons of mass destruction. As Mr. Ari Fleischer put it on April 10, “That is what this war was about.”

- Have the US-UK Occupation Forces succeeded in locating weapons of mass destruction?

Not as of yet, a fact which has led many to comment that both Bush and Blair manipulated public opinion and falsified intelligence in the run up to war, a statement bolstered by several instances of false information being used to bolster the US administration’s case.

As New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof put it “Let's fervently hope that tomorrow we find an Iraqi superdome filled with 500 tons of mustard gas and nerve gas, 25,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 29,984 prohibited munitions capable of delivering chemical agents, several dozen Scud missiles, gas centrifuges to enrich uranium, 18 mobile biological warfare factories, long-range unmanned aerial vehicles to dispense anthrax, and proof of close ties with Al Qaeda. Those are the things that President Bush or his aides suggested Iraq might have, and I don't want to believe that top administration officials tried to win support for the war with a campaign of wholesale deceit.”

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was asked on May 14 about the need to find Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to provide legitimacy for the war. Mr. Straw replied that it was “not crucially important.”

- What is to become of Iraq’s extensive oil wealth?

While both the United States and the United Kingdom repeatedly stressed that they would not touch Iraqi oil, recent developments in the UN have revealed that both are attempting to pass a resolution that would place all Iraqi oil revenue in a “development fund” administered by the US and the UK. The fund would be immune to foreign claims and/or lawsuits, and would exist until such time as a new Iraqi government is formed.

- Why are there allegations that the US military is deliberately targeting journalists?

The allegations have around since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, when US forces bombed both a BBC Bureau and an al-Jazeera compound. US forces insisted that the al-Jazeera compound had “military significance” and that it was being used by Al-Qaida, according to the Guardian.

In Iraq, however, more weight was given to these allegations when US aircraft bombed al-Jazeera’s Baghdad office, killing and wounding two, claiming that US forces were being fired upon from the building, in addition to shelling the Palestine hotel, a base for numerous international journalists, killing a cameraman and wounding several others. It is worth mentioning that al-Jazeera had previously contacted the Pentagon before the war and given them the exact location and coordinates of the station’s office.

The Palestine hotel attack was also justified on the basis of self-defense, with US officials alleging that there was “significant” enemy fire coming from the hotel. However, witnesses on the spot (including various international reporters and journalists) dismissed US claims, affirming that they had heard no firing coming from the hotel prior to the shelling.

- Have the Anglo/American forces liberated Iraq ?

The Anglo/American war on Iraq resulted in the death of hundreds of Iraqi civilians and the overflow of injured in the looted, under equipped Iraqi hospitals.

The US and UK governments argue that they sacrificed the lives of Iraqi civilians, along with the lives of American and British soldiers, with the aim of liberating Iraq and granting freedom to the Iraqis. In fact, the right to life has never been less basic than the right to freedom; and a noble cause – freedom – is not to justify the killing of women and children. Ends do not justify means.

After the war is over, Iraq is being occupied by foreign troops. Rather than enjoying freedom, the Iraqis are facing chaos, hunger, thirst, and diseases, including cholera and dysentery.

[Cocoa]

1. good, but a bit out of date

I'd guess late May or early June.