[pjw] FACTS: 20 Years Later, the US is Still in Iraq

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello Iraq Affinity Group suporters

As promised, below is the text of the fact sheet we made for Friday's 
rally and march.

I didn't find any write-ups but there are a number of videos from the UNAC 
march on Washington on their twitter page here, including a set of caskets 
that were delivered to the White House to symbolize those killed by US 
policies.

  https://twitter.com/UNAC1

As noted yesterday the fact sheet can be found as a printable PDF at:

https://pjw.info/iraq20ylfacts.pdf

Feel free to share widely!
dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

20 Years Later, the US is Still in Iraq
March 17, 2023

While the world continues to grapple with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 
many are contemplating the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, 
which took place on March 19, 2003. In short, the US invasion took place 
less than two years after 9/11, based on false accusations that Iraq was 
somehow involved in the actions of that day and was building weapons of 
mass destruction (WMDs). The US invaded, using overwhelming military power 
with Western allies in a campaign dubbed "shock and awe." The invasion 
killed tens of thousands of Iraqis, destroyed civilian infrastructure and 
led to destabilization which remains to this day: Iraq has not had a fully 
functional government since October 2021. On March 16, the Senate voted 
68-27 to move forward a bill to end the authorization for both the 2003 
war and the 1991 US attack on Iraq; the vote is expected on the week of 
March 20 (NPR, March 16). It is important to remember that President 
Biden, as a Senator in 2002, voted to authorize the war in Iraq.

HISTORY AND HYPOCRISY

The US has a long and ongoing history of warfare against Iraq. Starting 
with the "Gulf War" in 1991, every US President has bombed Iraq: George HW 
Bush, Bill Clinton, GW Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. 
After Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani 
in an airstrike on Iraq's soil in 2020, the Iraqi parliament voted for the 
US leave their country. The vote was advisory, and rather than withdraw at 
the end of 2021 as promised, Biden recategorized the 2500 military 
personnel in Iraq as "advisors." They remain there to this day. Iraq's 
Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani stated in January that he supports their 
continued presence indefinitely (Wall Street Journal, January 15).

Russia has pointed to the American hypocrisy of condemning the invasion of 
Ukraine by pointing not only to the 2003 Iraq war, but also the US 
interventions in Yugoslavia in 1999, Afghanistan in 2001 and Libya in 2011 
(Fox News, March 3). In a way it is ironic that the "Gulf War" was 
prompted by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. at the time, the response 
to Iraq complaining that the Kuwaitis had been slant-drilling for oil 
under their border was US Ambassador April Glaspie saying the US had "no 
opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts." Many took this as a green light for 
Iraq to invade. America's fierce response to Iraq in 1991 is considered by 
many a message to the world (and to Russia): following the fall of the 
Berlin Wall, the US can do what it wants militarily. Hundreds of thousands 
of Iraqis died as a result of war and sanctions. Regarding the deadly 
sanctions, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Leslie Stahl 
of 60 Minutes that the death of half a million children was "worth the 
price" (May 12, 1996).

As with the 2003 war on Iraq, there was also a false pretext for the US 
invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The US said the government there was 
harboring the Al Qaeda members who plotted the events of 9/11. Even if 
that were true, no Afghans attacked the US, so the war can't be seen as 
self-defense as defined in the UN Charter. The majority of people engaged 
in the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC were from Saudi Arabia. 
The US continues to support that country, including indirect support for 
its war against Yemen, despite the Saudis' toll on Yemenis in that 
conflict, its terrible human rights record, and the murder of American 
journalist Jamal Kashoggi in 2018.

In early 2022, the US speculated the Russians would engage in a "false 
flag" operation to justify invading Ukraine. Looking at history, America 
lied about one of its warships coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin 
in 1964, then used that as an excuse to enter the war in Viet Nam. As part 
of the build-up to the "Gulf War," the US shared a false story about 
Iraqis dashing Kuwaiti babies in incubators to the ground. In February, 
2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations in February 
2003 there were WMDs in Iraq to gain support for the US war. So, the US 
suspected Russia of subterfuge because that is how America makes war.

WAR AND "TERRORISM"

Following 9/11, the US engaged in a global "war on terror," using drones 
and conventional aircraft to bomb Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. In 
2014, the US also began bombing Syria, later sending in ground troops 
without that country's permission. Roughly 900 US troops remain in Syria 
today, at several bases including one named for Conoco, a company whose 
oil wells are under US protection (The Hill, February 15).

War is the way the United States seeks to control oil and other resources 
in the region. After the invasion of Iraq, the US built the world's 
largest embassy in Baghdad, even though Iraq is the 36th largest country 
by population and 58th largest in size. They also continue to impose 
sanctions and make military threats against Iraq's neighbor, Iran, 
alleging that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapons. As recently as 
February 2023, the CIA stated that Iran is not building nuclear arms (The 
Cradle, February 26). American ally Israel has occupied the West Bank, 
Gaza and the Golan Heights since 1967 and itself has dozens of undeclared 
nuclear weapons. The US has also chosen to move many of its military 
assets in order to confront China and Russia rather than the Middle East, 
including sending warships through the strait of Taiwan and into the Black 
Sea, actions seen as provocative.

While there are still remnants of the Islamic State in Iraq, their 
government has described their work to contain the militant group as more 
of a law enforcement issue than a military effort (Yahoo News, January 26, 
2022). Perhaps if the US had taken that approach after 9/11, the countries 
of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya would not be in shambles.

MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS

The Iraqis are still making efforts to recover from 13 years of strict 
sanctions followed by 20 years of war and occupation. The country would 
have had more of its own money to rebuild if not for the United Nations 
making them pay reparations to Kuwait for the invasion, a process that 
only ended in February 2022-- thirty one and a half years later. Iraq's 
water, sewage and electrical plants were destroyed by the US in both 1991 
and 2003 and there are still issues providing those services to all 
Iraqis.

The US recently passed its largest military budget ever-- $847 billion, 
while people continue to live in the streets, face environmental disaster, 
and lack health care and education. President Biden revealed his proposed 
budget for next year at $886 billion for "defense." Rather than pushing 
back, Republicans responded by saying the increase is not enough (Military 
Times, March 10). While some Republicans and a larger number of Democrats 
have called to reduce the military budget, the momentum seems to be to 
feed military contractors, not the people.

Meanwhile the US continues to promote the manufacture of F-35 warplanes, 
which in the words of a letter signed by 200 organizations in October 
2022,* should be abandoned due to "harm caused abroad, cost of the program 
to the taxpayer, inefficiencies and failures, the environmental impact of 
F-35s, and the effects training has on local communities." F-35s use 30% 
more fuel than F-16s. The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.7 
trillion.

CONCLUSION

In the UN General Assembly in 2022, Iraq was one of 35 nations to abstain 
from condemning Russia, stating: "Iraq has decided to abstain because of 
our historical background and because of our sufferings resulting from the 
continuing wars against our peoples." If the Russians' attack on Ukrainian 
civilian targets is prosecuted as a war crime, there are many Americans 
who also need to be brought up on charges for what the US did to Iraq. The 
Iraqis have not been free from US interference by war, sanctions and other 
means since August of 1990. The US must end its attempts to undermine 
Iraq's sovereignty once and for all.

*- Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group is a signatory to this 
letter which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/NoF35s2022.

This flyer was prepared in March, 2023 by the
Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group
PO Box 42456           iraq at pjw.info
Portland, OR 97242    www.pjw.info/Iraq.html
(503) 236-3065      Contact us about our meetings !
Meetings usually 2nd Tuesdays, 7 PM; next one is April 11.

The March 17 event is being held as part of the weekly Friday Rally for 
Peace and Justice, ongoing since November, 2001, now hosted by the IAG.

The United National Atiwar Coalition is marching on Washington, DC on 
March 18 to use the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war to demand "No War in 
Ukraine! No to NATO!" and more; see unacpeace.org for information about 
the full week of action.