Over the last few weeks President George Bush and his counterpart Tony Blair have repeatedly made calls for war on Iraq . This is after a year's "war on terrorism" sparked by bombings in the United States on September 11 2001 . In this article, Woody Aroun tries to uncover the hidden agenda behind all the war talk.
"War on Iraq !" screamed the headlines as the first anniversary of 2001 September 11 bombings slowly came to pass. President Bush was at it again. And so was Britain 's Tony Blair. Calling on the international community to support the United States (US) in its campaign against terrorism, Bush wasted no time in rounding up the usual suspects. This time Iraq .
Condemning Iraq and President Saddam Hussein as a threat to world peace, Bush reminded the world that Iraq had once dismissed United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors and was continuing to build weapons of mass destruction – a story that has been told once too often by the mainstream media.
The call for war on Iraq follows hot on the heels of the US invasion and bombings of Afghanistan . Invade Iraq . Remove Saddam. Install a new regime. Afghanistan all over again!
The international community greeted Bush's arrogance and provocative language with a variety of responses. In South Africa , Nelson Mandela blasted the Bush administration for its aggressive foreign policy and total disregard for the UN and international rule of law.
The former president referred to Bush as a bully and called on the international community to condemn any such action against Iraq by the US , stating that the war would only benefit the US arms and oil industries.
Afghanistan – a year later
After September 11 the United States and its allies bombed Afghanistan to bits. This was ostensibly to punish those responsible for September bombings and to track down Osama bin Laden who it was alleged was hiding in Afghanistan mountains and caves.
The fall of Kabul , Jalalabad, Mazaar-al-Shareef and Kandahar – areas of strategic importance in Afghanistan , came about quickly. All that now remains are shattered and dilapidated towns. As with all wars the cost of life has been great. On several occasions leading newspapers of the world
Top Ten Annual Defence Budgets Dollars in Billions 1-USA $270 6-Britain $36 2-Russia $60 7-Germany $32 3-France $40 8-Italy $23 4-China $38 9-Saudi Arabia $21 5-Japan $37 10-Brazil $18
carried stories of bombings of innocent civilians. Indiscriminate bombings! Women and children were listed amongst the casualties. While the world lit candles for the victims of September 11, not a word was said about the innocent victims of Afghanistan . Amidst the shadows of UN troops (US and allied forces), a new government of national unity has been imposed on the people of Afghanistan . Leaders of the Northern Alliance faction and an exiled monarch teamed up to form a new government of national unity. For now the new Afghanistan government has pledged its allegiance to the US .
The proof that bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible for the September 11 attacks was never made public. Osama bin Laden has never been found. Alleged members of al Qaeda captured during the war have yet to stand trial. So what was the real motive behind the war?
Behind the war manoeuvres against Afghanistan
Several political commentators have expressed a view that US 's intervention in Afghanistan is about business and making more business. According to Ted Rall, a US press cartoonist, the United Oil Company of California (Unocal) pipeline project connecting the oil fields of Kazakhstan to the port city of Karachi in Pakistan requires that the pipeline run through Afghanistan .
Rall shows that several other options proved to be either too costly or risky. Some options were abandoned for political reasons. The shortest route runs through Iran , but Kazakhstan is afraid of damaging relations with the US by dealing with Iran . The option of China was ruled out because the pipeline would be too long and expensive. The Russian
option of pumping oil through Turkmenistan was also rejected because Turkmenistan doesn't trust Russia – they feel that the Russians would divert the oil without paying for it.
The US had to cut a deal with the ruling Taliban regime to ensure that the pipeline project remains intact. Although denied by the United Oil Company of California (Unocal), the Taliban's association with Osama Bin Laden soon ended this cozy relationship and the attacks of September 11 gave the Bush administration the perfect excuse to attack Afghanistan
The War By the Numbers
845,441 number of structures (covering 30 million acres) controlled by the Department of Defense, the world's largest landlord
$396 billion Bush's 2003 military budget
$289 billion 2000 military budget (before Bush)
50.5% Proportion of the total 2002 U.S. discretionary budget devoted to military
and install another puppet regime.
The war's other beneficiaries
According to some defence analysts "the United States has been the biggest defence spender on the planet since 1944. Currently, a third of global military spending comes from American tax payers".
Writing for a US magazine, Corporate Watch, Pratap Chatterjee, a freelance journalist from California also commented on the business of war. In what he called "The War on
Terrorism's Gravy Train" Chatterjee uncovers some of the big players in the war industry. One such company – Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) is a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corporation in Dallas Texas , a company formerly controlled by Vice President Dick Cheney.
According to Chatterjee, KBR was awarded lucrative contracts by the Pentagon to provide logistical support services in Afghanistan . But the story doesn't stop here. KBR is also involved in building cells for detainees captured during the Afghan incursion. So companies are raking in billions from the war effort.
Oil and defence interest behind the war against Iraq
A war with Iraq means big business for many companies in America . It also gives America access to the world's second largest oil reserves. The following table shows Crude Oil Reserves at the end of 2001:
CRUDE OIL, AT END 2001 Reserves bn barrels Saudi Arabia
261.8
Iraq 112.5 United Emirates 97.8 Kuwait 96.5 Iran 89.7 Venezuela 77.7 Russia
48.6
United States 30.4 Libya 29.5 Mexico 26.9
(Source: Business Times September 15 2002 )
United Nations sanctions against Iraq have taken its toll. In spite of the Oil -for-food agreement reached through the United Nations in 1996, the Iraqi people have suffered as a result of international sanctions. Limited aid through the Oil-for-food programme depended heavily on the price of oil. If the oil price soared then it meant that Iraq could have access to more food supplies. But if the oil price fell, then the country was severely restricted in its purchases of food and medicine.
In spite of a decade of sanctions, the US and Britain claim that Iraq still has the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction. These claims have been challenged and the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) is presently inspecting Iraq 's weapons. This may delay the US and Britain walking in and cleaning up what they started ten years ago. Only time will tell!
Further reading:
Rall T, The New Great Game: Oil Politics in Central Asia Oct 11 2001 , AlterNet: www.alternet.org CorpWatch May 2 2002 : www.corpwatch.org www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Annual.asp
Source
Numsa News