This site was built before the war . The domain expired (againstwar.net, which is no longer available) and was put back online October 2004 (with a few corrected links) as a reminder that the original reason for war never held up and I have added a plea that we stay and fix what we broke. Apart from a few editorial comments, mostly in the introduction, this site is mostly attributed quotes.



Update: April 1st, 2005: The intelligence which lead to the war was “Dead Wrong” according to the presidential commission set up by George Bush. washingtonpost.com



Why all the talk of war? Why so little talk of what we are trying to accomplish?

  • Are we trying to kick-start a democracy? How can we do this without alienating the very people we are trying to 'liberate' and 'free'?
  • Are we going for the oil? That's a different story.
  • How about to remove a dictator? Is that the goal? Then we need to question how to do this and also ask why this one- which ones are next? Korea?
  • Is this part of the 'war on terrorism'? Or a distraction?
  • Are we just focusing our efforts away from domestic issues?
  • Is it really because the country refuses to disarm - when did that excuse come in? Why not Korea then?


"With which country?"
President George W. Bush, when asked by the press pool about going to war. As quoted in Newsweek January 13th 2003





war, war on drugs, war on terror, war on poverty, what is it with the US and war?

What's half a day worth? World military spending, per year: 1 trillion. Which is  $ 2,740,000,000 per day. The USA alone spends 47% of this, or $ 1,287,800,000 per day. George Bush promised 'to pledge Africa aid cash' of $674m. That's half a day's military spending, intended to help an entire continent!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4617721.stm -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4613987.stm



Once the administration states the reasons for war clearly, we can begin to discuss how to go about it, always keeping war as an option. I want to make it clear I am not against war on principle. I am against charging into a situation with unclear, un-debated goals just because someone feels like it. Let's not rush rush in all guns blazing until we have thoroughly defined the reason, the goal, the consequences of the immediate war damage, the re-building as well the consequence of inaction.

Violence begets violence. War with Iraq will not be a simple issue of killing a few leaders. It will be bloody. Are we ready for that?

You know, we are all judged on our past performances. Whether we are actors, chefs, politicians or soldiers. When America shows success at supporting the general population in Afghanistan (as the most recent example, Europe's Marshal Plan was a long time ago, even though England for example, is still paying more to the US for that aid now than they are to help Afghanistan), then we can look more positively at Iraq.

 

As this site asked before the war: Sure, America can win the war...

but can America win the peace?

 



update

Added August 2005: Home Secretary Charles Clarke has published a list of grounds for deporting people who foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence.

• New grounds for deporting and excluding people from the UK - including fostering hatred or, advocating and justifying violence to further beliefs.
• Make justifying or glorifying terrorism anywhere an offence
news.bbc.co.uk

Added June 2005: No, there was no plan to win the peace.

Memo: U.S. Lacked Full Postwar Iraq Plan. "In its introduction, the memo "Iraq: Conditions for Military Action" notes that U.S. "military planning for action against Iraq is proceeding apace," but adds that "little thought" has been given to, among other things, "the aftermath and how to shape it.""
washingtonpost.com

Added October 2004: Yes, it was all lies.

How the Bush crowd twisted intelligence: "It's long been obvious that the allegations about Saddam Hussein's dangerous weapons and alliance with Osama bin Laden were false. But as the U.S. presidential election draws closer, the remaining question is to what extent President George W. Bush's team knew the allegations were wrong and used them anyway to persuade Americans to back the invasion of Iraq. A report issued on Thursday by the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin of Michigan, shows that on the question of an Iraqi-Qaeda axis, Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and others offered an indictment that was essentially fabricated in the office of Douglas Feith, the under secretary of defense for policy."
iht.com

Added October 2004: How to win the peace

For the coalition to withdraw now would be a disaster for everyone involved. This site was against the war but does not advocate leaving until order is restored. In short: We've broken Iraq - now it's our responsibility to fix it.

How can we do this? It's quite plain what needs to be done: Massively increase the forces on the ground with a UN mandate and a truly international force to establish order. Enforce rules of engagement designed to win hearts and minds. Reconstruct. Give the Iraqi government real power. We can't leave now. Many liberals want to withdraw soon. The administration has funneled reconstruction money into security.

At this point if we do not stay, invest & rebuild, we will be no better, in fact I would say we'd be morally worse, than Saddam or Al-Quada for that matter.

Added November 2004: The cost & the reality of the current situation

There have been different estimates as to how many people have been killed, including one estimate of 100,000 Iraqis. How dare we be shocked. This is war. This is what happens in war. This is why we should never have gone in, in the first place.

The US has been accused of using napalm. This is another illustration that this is a real war, not a fairy tale where people come out with flowers for the invaders.
libertyforum.org

The media speaks as if Fallujah were populated only by foreign 'insurgents'. What do they think Iraq is, a giant firing range? People actually live there and are not happy to be invaded.

 

Added November 2004: The consequences

In response to:

Subject: " [IP] Cheer up, guys" on 4 Nov 2004, at 9:29 pm,

As a Bush supporter, I'm feeling pretty good right now, so maybe I can't quite appreciate some of the bitter commentary I'm reading here. But I say this sincerely as a fellow American--cut it out. (Full message at http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people)

This reply was posted on behalf of Against-war.net:

Subject: "Re: [IP] Cheer up, guys"

Hiawatha,
these are easy words for you, an American. But as I had to point out to a young conservative American two years ago when he said he wished that him and I could just agree to disagree that all would be well, the problem is this: Under the Bush administration, when America doesn't agree with others, people die, as with 100,000 dead Iraqis.

"So relax. Rent a video. Go to a movie. Play with your kids. This too will pass away."

Not for many families in Iraq. Not for many families in the politically neglected Sudan (invading Iraq makes any real effort in Sudan too much of a military and diplomatic stretch, or Haiti for that matter. Or many other places with much worse political and economic living conditions than Iraq had). Not for the families of Europeans still stuck in Gitmo. Not for the families of British soldiers of the Black Watch recently sent up to cover your backs while you take Fallujah. Not for many families of the failed Bush economic and health plans.

I met you once and I think you're a nice enough guy, but please don't belittle the impact this administration and this president has had on countless lives

Added November 2004: Israel

How can there ever be peace with Israel and America riding roghshood over the lives of 'others'?

Shooting 13 year old girls for 'policy?'
bbc.co.uk/


un-altered text from before the war started:

 
On The Legality

 

 
The war is illegal

Excerpt:  a The Iraq policy currently advocated by the Bush regime would clearly be in violation of U.S. and international law.
i The War Powers Resolution does not authorize the President to take military action against countries not implicated in the terrorist attacks of 9-11.
(A) The War Powers Resolution only authorizes the president to use force against those involved in the September 11 attacks. It clearly states, "The president is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons." So far, no evidence has been presented implicating Iraq in the 9-11 attacks. (cited from Paul 12-21-2001)
Editors note: This one is just to important and long. It is worth following the link below to read the full article.
congress.org

 

 
US/UK continued illegal bombing of Iraq since the Gulf war

"The issue of no fly zones was not raised and therefore not debated: not a word. They offer no legitimacy to countries sending their aircraft to attack Iraq ... They are illegal." -- Dr. Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary General of the United Nations.
Sunday Herald

 

 
On preemptive strike

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose - - and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, to-day, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you 'be silent; I see it, if you don't." Abraham Lincoln
U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd

 

 

 

 
'War' On Terrorism

 

   
War with Iraq detracts from the war on terrorism

Despite successfully dismantling the Taleban regime, the United States and its supporters failed to eliminate the threat from al-Quaeda. Thousands of fighters are scattered worldwide. Destroying this network is the primary strategic challenge we face. Attacking Iraq will detract from our primary mission against al-Qaeda, supercharging anti-American sentiment in the Arab street, boosting al-Qaeda's recruiting, and causing difficulty for moderate Arab regimes.
US General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, August 2002 as quoted in 'War Plan Iraq' by Milan Rai.

"No one ever forgets that American soldiers came into their house and trawled through their women's clothing. Nor do they forgive. Does the US realize that with every one of these operations, their enemy is not decreasing but increasing with fresh, embittered recruits?"
Mullah Mohammad Khaksar in Time, Nov 18th 2002.

 

 

   
War with Iraq detracts from the war on terrorism part 2

[a]n attack on Iraq at this time would seriously jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counter-terrorist campaign we have undertaken. There is a virtual consensus in the world against attacking Iraq at this time.
James Baker, former US Secretary of State under President George Bush Sr. August 2002 as quoted in 'War Plan Iraq' by Milan Rai.

 

 

 

 
Real Reasons

 

  
Oil

Oil is a consideration for nations considering joining in the fight if the United States goes to war in the Persian Gulf, because the day after Saddam is removed, the Iraqi oil industry is up for grabs.

Of all of the reasons offered for removing Saddam, from terrorism to terrible weapons, oil is seldom mentioned. Yet critical to the American agenda is the fear an Iraq armed with nuclear weapons could dominated, or hold hostage a region through which flows an estimated 30 percent of the world's oil and natural gas.
ABC News

 

 
On the new resolution forcing war

...the draft UN resolution which Presidents Bush and Blair insist the UN must pass. Arms inspection teams, it says, "shall have the right to declare for the purposes of this resolution ... ground and air-transit corridors which shall be enforced by UN security forces or by members of the UN [Security] Council".

In other words, Washington can order forces of the US (a Security Council member) to "enforce" these "corridors" through Iraq ­ on the ground ­ when it wants. US troops would thus be in Iraq. It would be invasion without war; the end of Saddam, "regime change", the whole shebang.

No Iraqi government ­ even a Baghdad administration without the odious Saddam ­ could ever accept such a demand.
Robert Fisk: Nato used the same old trick when it made Milosevic an offer he could only refuse.
Independent

 

 

 
On the US economy

Mr. Speaker, we are here now in chapter 11. Members of Congress are official trustees presiding over the greatest reorganization of any Bankrupt entity in world history, the U.S. Government. We are setting forth hopefully, a blueprint for our future. There are some who say it is a coroner's report that will lead to our demise.
whatreallyhappened.com

 

 
Helping the US economy?

A senior US Commerce Department official said on Wednesday that a possible war on Iraq could boost the global economy by eliminating a terrorist threat and releasing fresh oil supplies onto world markets.

The combined effect might actually be positive economically because it would eliminate one of the real sources of terror and one of the real clouds hanging over the world's economy," Grant Aldonas, Under Secretary at the Commerce Department, said in response to a reporter's question on a stop in Warsaw.
Times Of India

 

 
Iraq was on the agenda long before 9/11

SWEENEY: So you are saying that even before this administration came into power, that they were gunning for Iraq?
RITTER:
Removing Saddam Hussein has been the policy of every American president since George Herbert Walker Bush.
CNN.com

 

 
War-Bill hidden agenda

President George Bush did more than create a new counter-terrorism agency last week. Thanks to a last-minute provision slipped into the National Homeland Security bill he signed into law, he also rescued the giant drug manufacturer Eli Lilly from an avalanche of lawsuits by families who believe their children were poisoned by a mercury-based vaccine preservative.
Independent


 

 

 
The Cost Of War

 

 
On the high cost of war in Afghanistan - US Military Deaths

867 US military deaths.

As the counts come only from those that actually found there way into the press, we expect the actually figures to be as much as three times higher that those listed here.

Rena Golden, the executive vice-president and general manager of CNN International said at a Newsworld conference is Asia that US news organizations "censored" their coverage of the US campaign in Afghanistan in order to be in step with public opinion in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks was shaped by the level of public support that existed for US action.

In our first limited distribution of this report a few weeks ago, we received many inquiries from American citizens who questioned how these deaths could be hidden from the public. As one General said "the first casualty of war is the truth" and casualties have been kept from the public in every war since WW1. How? Missing In Action. By the end of the Vietnam war there where some 70,000 MIA's, with only a small portion of those accounted for to this day.

This conclusion that can be drawn from this report is that the deaths of both US and Coalition soldiers are significantly higher than the public is being made aware of and therefore the willingness to continue the America war effort to new theatres such as Iraq is being orchestrated under false pretenses.
jihadunspun.net

 

 
On the high cost of war in Afghanistan - Afghan Civilian Deaths

3,767 civilian deaths in eight and a half weeks.

What causes the documented high level of civilian casualties---3,767 civilian deaths in eight and a half weeks---in the U.S air war upon Afghanistan? The explanation is the apparent willingness of U.S military strategists to fire missiles into and drop bombs upon, heavily populated areas of Afghanistan.
zmag.org/herold.htm and unh.edu

 
The cost of the war on terror in general - At Home

The budget for the Office Of Homeland Security is $2 trillion annually, or less than 2% of the federal budget.
Reuters Business Briefing 04/09/2002 USA: Budget takes a hit for security - Spending buildup worsens U.S. deficit

 
The cost of the war on terror in general - In General

The United States next year could spend nearly $10 billion on a host of programs designed to prevent and deal with the aftermath of a terrorist attack, according to a report released today. That may sound like small potatoes, when compared to the Pentagon's annual budget of $250 billion. But it reflects a significant, 50 percent increase over the estimated $6.7 billion spent on terrorism programs just three years ago, according to data provided in the report, which was prepared by the Monterey Institute of International Studies and published on the Internet.

The Pentagon, by far, will receive most of the money, some $7.4 billion, according to the analysis. Other agencies involved in national security, such as the CIA, could receive billions, too - though confronted with veils of secrecy, the study could not pin down how much. Numerous civilian agencies will also get a piece of the pie: the Treasury and Justice Departments each will spend about $838 million; the FBI $498 million; Energy $648 million; Transportation $304 million; State $524 million; and Health and Human Services, largely at the Centers for Disease Control, $230 million.
ABC News

 
The cost of the sanctions on Iraq in human terms

Denis Halliday, the first of two UN humanitarian coordinators in Iraq to resign the post in protest of the sanctions, has used the term genocide in reference to the sanctions. "It certainly is a valid word in my view when you have a situation where we see thousands of deaths per month, a possible total of 1 million to 1.5 million. If that is not genocide, then I don't know quite what is," said Halliday in a 1999 interview.
Media Monitors

in 1998, The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that each month, 5,000 to 6,000 Iraqi children die because of sanctions.
WHO


 

 
About Iraq

 

 
Attack could trigger terror by Saddam, CIA warns

As the Bush administration pushed Congress for a broad vote to authorize the president to use force against Iraq, a new element was injected into the debate by a CIA assessment that Saddam Hussein, while now stopping short of an attack, could become "much less constrained" if faced with an American-led force.

The judgment was contained in a letter signed by the deputy director of the CIA, John McLaughlin, on behalf of George Tenet, the director of central intelligence. It was alluded to in a hearing of a congressional panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks and then released Tuesday night, after the House of Representative opened its formal debate on Iraq.
International Herald Tribune/The New York Times Thursday, October 10, 2002

 

 
On The threat

President Bush's case against Saddam Hussein, outlined in a televised address to the nation on Monday night, relied on a slanted and sometimes entirely false reading of the available US intelligence, government officials and analysts claimed yesterday.
Guardian Wednesday October 9, 2002

 

 
Iraq does not have an offensive capability

SWEENEY: Well let's not go over that in the very short time we have. Let's ask what you believe the weapons of mass destruction situation is in Iraq at the moment.
RITTER:
Well, look: As of December 1998 we had accounted for 90 to 95 percent of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability -- "we" being the weapons inspectors. We destroyed all the factories, all of the means of production and we couldn't account for some of the weaponry, but chemical weapons have a shelf-life of five years. Biological weapons have a shelf-life of three years. To have weapons today, they would have had to rebuild the factories and start the process of producing these weapons since December 1998.
SWEENEY:
And how do we know that hasn't been happening?
RITTER:
We don't, but we cannot go to war on guesswork, hypothesis and speculation. We go to war on hardened fact. So Tony Blair says he has a dossier; present the dossier. George W. Bush and his administration say they know with certainty; show us how you know.
SWEENEY: How much access did you get to the weapons inspection sites?
RITTER:
One-hundred percent. Every site we wanted to get to, we eventually got to. There was some obstruction, it wasn't pretty, but we got there.
CNN.com

 

 
The Iraq-Al-Qaida connection

Pentagon officials are playing the Iraq/al-Qaeda card again, claiming that top al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab Zarqawi was in Baghdad two months ago. Hold on. Is this the same Abu Musab Zarqawi whom earlier this year US officials claimed was in Iran, with the 'knowledge of the Iranian military and intelligence forces', proving that 'Iran was allowing al-Qaeda terrorists to escape'? Then, US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said 'there's no question that al-Qaeda have found a reasonably hospitable location in Iran'..
spiked-online.com

 

 
The Iraqi Wars

Iraq has started two recent wars.

During the Iran-Iraq war the US and Iraq were on the same side.

Right before the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq was told it was a local matter by US officials.

July 25, 1990, Saddam Hussein summoned U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad April Glaspie. Glaspie stated: "We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America."  She added, "We hope you can solve this problem using any suitable methods via Klibi or via President Mubarak. All that we hope is that these issues are solved quickly."
www.sftt.org

 

 
Iraqi's welcoming the US

From their perch in Washington, President George W. Bush and his advisers seem to have convinced themselves that an invasion will proceed easily because many Iraqis will dance in the streets to welcome American troops.

That looks like a potentially catastrophic misreading of Iraq.
International Herald Tribune/The New York Times October 5, 2002

 

 
On The US

 

 
Bush Lies in serious, mainstream media

Speaking to the nation this month about the need to challenge Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush warned that Iraq has a growing fleet of unmanned aircraft that could be used "for missions targeting the United States."
washingtonpost.com

 Last month, asked if there was new and conclusive evidence of Saddam's nuclear weapons capabilities, Bush cited a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency saying the Iraqis were "six months away from developing a weapon."
commondreams.org

And last week, the president said objections by a labor union to having customs officials wear radiation detectors have the potential to delay the policy "for a long period of time."
iht.com

 
Bush fires O'Neill. And keeps Tenet. Skeletons anyone?

The administration Friday called for the resignations of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill but keeps CIA Director George Tenet. OK, the economy is not doing that great, but not firing CIA Director George Tenet after the biggest intelligence failure in the history of the US, you have to wonder what kind of skeletons in the closet he knows about.

At the end of his evidence Thursday before the Joint Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the U.S. intelligence services' performance leading up to the September 11 terror attacks, CIA Director George Tenet gave this assessment of the current state of the response to the terror threat and his views on the work still to be done. "We have learned an important historic lesson" I am sure O'Neill wishes he could say the same and keep his job.
cnn.com & cnn.com Sat Dec 7 2002

 

 
Hypocrisy & US sponsored terrorism, an abridged list

1951- CIA is involved in a coup to overthrow nationalist Prime minister Dr. Muhammed Mossadeq in Iran.

1961- CIA recruits 1500 Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow the Castro regime.

1963- The CIA have South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem overthrown and assassinated for supporting negotiations with the north.

1963- CIA recruits Iraqi Baath Party (including a young Saddam Hussein) to assassinate the new leader, Abdul-Karim Kassem. After the coup, the CIA gave the Baath a long list of communists and others to liquidate. During the 1980's the CIA would go on to help provide weapons to both Iraq and Iran in a war that would kill over one million people.

1965- CIA provokes a coup that leads to the overthrow of Indonesian leader Sukarno, who is replaced by General Suharto. In the following weeks between 500,000 and one million people are murdered by death squads using lists provided by US State Department.

1973- After interfering in Chilean elections in 1958 and 1964, the CIA begins a campaign of sabotage and terror after leftist Salvadore Allende is elected president in 1970. In 1973, a CIA supported coup overthrew and assassinated Allende and installed fascist General Pinochet, resulting in thousands of murders over the next two decades. This year in France, former U.S. secretary of state, Henry Kissinger was served a (mostly symbolic) warrant for arrest as a war criminal for his role in the coup.

1979- After Nicaraguan dictator Samosa is overthrown in 1979, the CIA helps to train Samosa's National Guard into death squads known as the Contras. The Contras are used to terrorize rural Nicaragua while the US military blockades Nicaragua's harbors with mines. In 1989, after 10,000 deaths, the US is successful in ousting the Sandanista government.

1989- US invades Panama to overthrow and "arrest" Manuel Noriega, who has been on the CIA payroll since 1966 and supported through decades of drug running, political assassination and corrupt elections. After the invasion, which included the fire bombing of an entire urban ghetto, human rights observers uncover mass graves and estimate that over 4,000 died during the invasion.

1991- US and allies (mostly Britain) invade Iraq after U.S./CIA supported Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait. 200,000 Iraqis are killed, including over 400 civilians killed by two U.S. missiles in the Al-Amerya air shelter. Over the next 10 years another 400 tons of explosives will be dropped on Iraq killing another 300 civilians, and hundreds of thousands more starved through U.S. imposed sanctions. The U.S. forces Saudi Arabia to allow thousands of U.S. military to remain indefinitely within its boarders.

1998- Al Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan is bombed without warning by 13 U.S. cruise missiles killing a janitor. The attack deprives Sudan of desperately needed medical drugs and potentially killing tens of thousands of people. The CIA later admits that information linking the plant to Osama bin Laden was probably "incorrect."

Editors note: Additionally, there are the U.S. support of Israeli acts of terror against Palestinians.
theinsurgent.net

 

 
Bush's power grab under the 'war on terrorism' excuse

Since the beginning of the Republic, American presidents have vied with the other branches of government for power. And in times of war and national emergency, presidents have exercised heightened levels of authority ­ in some cases openly sidestepping the Constitution to do what they felt was necessary."

"In the larger battle for power, America's 43rd president, George W. Bush, seems no different."

"What is different, say experts on presidential power, is that the open-ended nature of Mr. Bush's "war on terrorism" is fast creating new realities of executive power, with no firm expiration date. Some question whether the exigencies of preventing future terror attacks are fundamentally and permanently tipping the constitutional balance of power to the president's advantage.
Christian Science Monitor

 

 
Cheney's power grab

Secretary of State Colin Powell has an approval rating that tops the president's. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is a media star through his frequent briefings. Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, is constantly at Bush's side. But, inside the White House, Cheney and his small but powerful staff have emerged as the fulcrum of Bush's foreign policy, according to extensive interviews with officials in and outside the White House, as well as diplomats who deal with the administration.

From the moment hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon last year, Cheney has used his power and authority - unrivaled by that of any vice president in modern times - to help set the course of the administration's war on terrorism.
International Herald Tribune/Washington Post

 

 
Weapons of Mass Destruction and hypocrisy

The former chief weapons inspector in Iraq Richard Butler has lashed out at United States "double standards", saying even educated Americans were deaf to arguments about the hypocrisy of their stance on nuclear weapons.

Mr Butler, an Australian, told a seminar at the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies that Americans did not appreciate they could not claim a right to possess nuclear weapons but deny it to other nations.

"My attempts to have Americans enter into discussions about double standards have been an abject failure - even with highly educated and engaged people," Mr Butler said. "I sometimes felt I was speaking to them in Martian, so deep is their inability to understand."

Mr Butler's comments to the seminar, held on September 21, are reported in the university's latest newsletter.

"What America totally fails to understand is that their weapons of mass destruction are just as much a problem as are those of Iraq," he said, adding that Hollywood storylines fuelled such attitudes.

Mr Butler said the horror of September 11 had only entrenched the idea in Americans that there are 'good weapons of mass destruction and bad ones'.
smh.com.au

 

 
America is the only nation to have used nuclear weapons, and have plans for future use

The Bush administration has reportedly ordered the Pentagon to prepare contingency plans for attacking seven countries with nuclear weapons.

Quoting a secret Pentagon report, the Los Angeles Times newspaper names China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria as potential targets.

Furthermore, the military have apparently been directed to build smaller nuclear weapons for battlefield use.
BBC

 

 
Ally and enemy

Back in the late 70's, Iraq was our ally and the Iranians were the Evil Ones because they gave the Shah the boot and took American hostages. Iraq and Iran fought a war in the 80's over borders and ports, and Iraq used chemical and biological weapons on Iranians. The Iraqi CBW were supplied by the United States, as revealed in Senate hearings about Gulf War Syndrome. The United States exported chemical weapon precursors and biological agents to Iraq, including anthrax, clostridium botulinum, and dozens of other pathogens. These exports continued until 1989, despite reports that Iraq was conducting chemical and biological warfare attacks against Iranians, Shiites and Kurds.
http://www.kaleo.org/

 

 
Cheney & Saddam

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney portray Saddam Hussein as so menacing and terrifying that one might think they have lain awake at night for years worrying about him. But when Cheney was running Halliburton, the oil services firm, it sold more equipment to Iraq than any other company did.

As was first reported by the Financial Times on Nov. 3, 2000, Halliburton subsidiaries submitted $23.8 million worth of contracts with Iraq to the United Nations in 1998 and 1999 for approval by its sanctions committee.

This was legitimate business conducted through joint ventures that had been acquired as part of a larger takeover in September 1998. Zelma Branch, a Halliburton spokeswoman, says the subsidiaries completed their pre-existing Iraq contracts but did not seek new ones.

So this is not evidence of scandalous conduct or egregious misjudgment. But as Americans debate whether to go to war with Iraq, it is a useful reminder of how fashions change in perceptions of rogue states. Public Enemy No. 1 today is a government that Cheney was in effect helping shore up just a couple of years ago.

More broadly, the United States has a long history in which Saddam, although just as monstrous as he is today, was coddled. In the 1980s it provided his army with satellite intelligence so that it could use chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers. When Saddam used nerve gas and mustard gas against Kurds in 1988, the Reagan administration initially tried to blame Iran. The United States shipped seven strains of anthrax to Iraq from 1978 to 1988.
International Herald Tribune/New York Times

 

 
America the aggressor. US history of bombing other countries

Editors note: Since 1945, the US has bombed more countries than any other, including Vietnam, Korea, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada, Libya, Panama, Iraq, Bosnia, Sudan, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

Editors note: Iraq has attacked Iran (with US backing/as ally) and invaded Quwait (with initial US position being that of it being a local issue).

 

 
America the not so free

On September 27, 2002 hundreds of people were "pre-emptively" arrested in downtown Washington DC for having a peaceful gathering at a park to rally against corporate power and war.  This is an inside story of  gross violations of civil rights and brutal treatment of hundreds of innocent people by the police in our nation's capital.
summitfreepress.com

 

 
US propaganda

"This is the purest war propaganda. One video of what may be Osama bin Laden plus a video of a dog being gassed which could have been created anywhere equals the US sinking to new lows trying to manufacture support for a war nobody but the oil companies want. This dog-video reminds me of Hill & Knowlton's much ballyhooed claim that Iraqi troops were stealing incubators from Kuwait hospitals and leaving premature babies to die on the floor. That was a hoax to sell a war. And until proven otherwise, the safest course is to assume this latest "shock video" is just another hoax by the public relations firms which grow rich and fat off of your tax dollars by lying to you for the US Government. Anonymous US officials have declared this to be "unquestionable" evidence that al Qaeda has chemical weapons. I find it very questionable. For one thing, compare the quality of the dog video with that of the famous Osama "confession" tape or even the most recent Osama tape. Why does a dog get much better video quality than the boss?"
whatreallyhappened.com

 

 
Why America is disliked

In 1998 the US had sanctions against 75 countries or 52% of world's population.
 
The US gives 0.1% of GDP as Foreign AID compraed to Denmark which gives 1.01% making it 22nd in league table.

40% of this goes to Israel.

80% of US AID contracts go directly to US firms.
 
US and Iraq are only countries not to have ratified Internation Convention on Rights of the Child 1989.
 
$329bn spent on US Military, set to expand to $400bn, half the world's spending in total on defence.
 
US has 30,000 tons of chemical weapons and half the world's stockpile of smallpox, anthrax and other biological weapons.
Why Do People Hate America?  By Ziauddin Sardar, Merryl Wyn Davies (Link to Amazon)

 

 

 
On The Allies

 

 
Bush making the UN irrelevant

While the diplomatic wrangling continued at the UN and overseas, Mr Bush kept up the pressure back at home, making it clear that America would act alone, if the UN failed to disarm Saddam.
Telegraph

 

 
Bush is not even listening to Blair, his only major ally

Tony Blair's drive for Middle East peace talks has suffered an embarrassing setback at the hands of the US president, George Bush, only days after the prime minister flagged up his plan at the Labour party conference in Blackpool.

Mr Blair is pushing for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks, backed by an international conference, before the end the year. He has told colleagues that, with war looming in Iraq, he regards it as essential to deal with one of the main causes of Arab resentment against the west.

But the Guardian has learnt that Mr Bush has blocked the initiative and has made it clear to Mr Blair that he does not want such talks to be held in the near future.
Guardian

 

 
Bush is pushing UN inspectors around

The Bush administration was last night due to urge Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, to stay away from Iraq until the UN has drawn up a tough new inspections regime.

Mr Blix flew to Washington for a meeting with Colin Powell, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, and Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defence secretary.

Mr Blix, who says that only "loose ends" remain to be tied up in talks with Iraq, will be told that America will thwart any attempt to resume inspections if they are based on old UN guidelines.

Under a 1998 deal between the UN and Iraq, inspectors could not carry out surprise visits to Saddam Hussein's vast "presidential sites", but had to be accompanied by diplomats.
Telegraph

 

 
Going it alone, the German issue

 A top Pentagon adviser is calling for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to resign because he so badly damaged relations with the United States during the German election campaign when he disparaged President Bush's policy on Iraq.

"Never in my life have I seen relations with a close ally damaged so fast and so deeply as during Chancellor Schroeder's election campaign," Richard Perle said in an interview appearing in today's edition of Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper.
Washington Times

 

 
More on going it alone, UK troops do not feel involved

Britain's military chiefs are becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of a plan for their contribution to a possible American assault on Iraq.

Irritated by the daily hostile rhetoric on Iraq from their political masters, they are anxiously awaiting orders at a time of growing pressure on the armed forces.

This anxiety is compounded by their role as cover for firefighters, who are threatening to strike this month.

In stark contrast to the US, which is sending thousands of its soldiers to the Gulf, troops here are receiving "no special training" for action, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Unlike their American counterparts, British soldiers are not learning ways to combat an attack from chemical or biological weapons, defence officials say.
The Guardian

 

 
Going it alone, the Russian front

Russia issued its first response Thursday to the U.S. draft resolution on Iraq, criticizing the document as an unnecessary delay in the return of weapons inspectors. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there was no point sending inspectors without access to Saddam Hussein's palaces.
Moscow Times

 

 
On Other Issues

 

 
Trading Pakistan for Iraq

If America gains friendly governments in Agfhanistan and Iraq, but sees the rise of friendly governments in Pakistan, that will have been an appaling trade.
International Herald Tribune Wed October 16 2002

 

 

 
Unsavory

On the front lines of a shadow war against terror in Pakistan, FBI agents are working undercover with local security forces who have a long history of human rights abuses.

The joint effort is cloaked in secrecy. The U.S. and Pakistani governments will not discuss, officially, exactly how many FBI agents are working in Pakistan, citing security concerns and the political fallout that President Pervez Musharraf could face.

Some Pakistani officials say privately that the number of FBI counterterrorism specialists in Pakistan is in the low hundreds. An FBI official, speaking in Washington on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that "between several dozen and a hundred" FBI agents are in Pakistan at any one time, working closely with local and federal police and intelligence officials.
International Herald Tribune/LA Times

 

 

 
But Sharon is afraid of Iraq

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that Iraq - not the Palestinians - represents Israel's greatest threat. Sharon added that strategic cooperation between Israel and the United States in dealing with Saddam Hussein's regime "has reached unprecedented dimensions." The Prime Minister said that while Israel is not trying to persuade the U.S. to launch an assault on Baghdad, Israel is certainly not opposed to such a move. Yoram Ettinger, Israel's former liaison to the U.S. Congress, told Arutz-7 today that an American attack is a certainty, "possibly even before the upcoming Congressional elections in November."
ourjerusalem.com

 

 

 
Israel and Palestinian deaths (Oct 2002)

More Palestinian civilian deaths were reported Sunday. A 3-year-old boy was killed during an Israeli Army raid in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in which a militant was also killed, and a woman was fatally shot near Jenin in the West Bank when soldiers opened fire on a car, Palestinians said.

The army said it was investigating the fatal shooting Friday of a 60-year-old woman as she sat on the veranda of her house in the West Bank city of Nablus. Her son, who witnessed the shooting, said a soldier in a jeep had fired at the house without provocation.

In other violence Sunday, two Palestinian gunmen who had infiltrated into southern Israel from Egypt were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.

A senior Israeli official said the American message reiterated what had already been said publicly. He cited a White House statement last week that said President George W. Bush was "deeply concerned" by an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis in which 17 people were killed and dozens more wounded.

The 200,000 people in Nablus, the West Bank's most populous city, have been under a curfew for nearly four months, and Israeli troops have lifted it only sporadically, The Associated Press reported from Nablus.

But Palestinians say the punitive measures have made normal life impossible.

Young Palestinians armed with stones have been confronting troops, sometimes leading to bloodshed.

Four youths, ages 10 to 15, have been fatally shot since late September. They were mourned with public funeral processions in defiance of the curfew.
International Herald Tribune/New York Times

 

 
It seems Bush knew about 9/11 beforehand

Editors note: There was no footage of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center availble the first day. However, Bush claims to have seen it live:

'...you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my chief of staff, Andy Card -- actually I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. And I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on, and I use to fly myself, and I said, "There's one terrible pilot." And I said, "It must have been a horrible accident."'
 
'But I was whisked off there -- I didn't have much time to think about it, and I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my chief who was sitting over here walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower. America's under attack."'
CNN.com & whitehouse.gov

Editors note: Additonally, have a look at Bush after he was informed of the first crash and see his reaction to the second, on http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/schoolvideo.html

 

 

 
Israel holds record for ignoring U.N. resolutions

Israel holds the record for ignoring United Nations Security Council resolutions, a study by San Francisco University political science professor Steven Zunes has indicated.
albawaba.com

 

 

 
Too late. The war has started

US jets attacked the international airport at Basra in southern Iraq on Thursday, the third such strike in two weeks, destroying its radar system, Iraq said on Thursday.
10th of October 2002
channelnewsasia.com

And don't forget the severe sanctions. Isn't that pretty much a siege?

 

 

Useful links:

What Really Happened.com antiwar.com US Bombing Watch Iraq Facts & Timeline Top 10 errors of the war on terror Anti-War Rally Video from London 15th of February 2003

 

 



 

site written and designed by Frode Hegland 2003
frode@liquidinformation.org produced & hosted by liquidinformation.org















 "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
President G. W. Bush
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