[pjw] FACTS: Remembering the Relentless Bombing of Iraq Since 2003

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello IAG supporters
Below is the text from the fact sheet we handed out at Friday's rally to 
remember 21 years (or 33+years) of war in Iraq.

You can print out a pdf copy by going here:

  https://pjw.info/iraq21ylfacts.pdf

Feel free to share widely.

Thanks
dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group


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Remembering the Relentless Bombing of Iraq Since 2003
March 22, 2024

On March 19, 2003, the US launched a massive invasion and occupation of 
Iraq, based on George W. Bush's false assertions of weapons of mass 
destruction (WMDs) and leading to widespread devastation from a "shock and 
awe" bombing campaign. Though most Americans believe that America has 
withdrawn its service members from Iraq, at least 2500 troops remain there 
today, 21 years later.

In 2011, President Barack Obama withdrew most of the troops. In 2014, 
Obama sent more US military back into Iraq to engage in warfare against 
the Islamic State. In 2017, President Donald Trump stepped up the bombing, 
destroying most of the Iraqi city of Mosul. In 2020, Trump ordered the 
assassination in Iraq of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, leading to a 
vote by the Iraqi Parliament to eject all US troops. In December 2021, 
President Joe Biden decided to leave 2500 American military personnel in 
Iraq despite the Parliamentary vote.

After the Israelis launched retaliatory warfare against Gaza for Hamas' 
incursion on October 7, 2023, US forces in Iraq became the target of over 
55 attacks as of late January. (In the same time frame, the 900 US troops 
in Syria were attacked over 85 times.) These attacks are largely due to 
American support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The US has conducted 
what it says are defensive retaliatory strikes, which Iraq sees as a 
violation of its sovereignty. On February 2, 2024, the US launched 85 
airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for attacks which killed three 
American National Guard members in Jordan. At least 16 people were killed 
in Iraq (Al Jazeera, February 3) and 23 in Syria (Middle East Eye, 
February 2). A few days later, an American drone strike killed a militia 
leader in Baghdad (Associated Press, February 7).

The world seems to respond differently to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and 
Hamas' attack on Israel when compared to Israel's disproportionate 
response and the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan or countless other 
military and economic acts of warfare. Some say the US' disregard for 
international law has opened the proverbial floodgates.

Iraqis have been subject to US interference by war, sanctions and 
occupation since August, 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq's 
infrastructure has never fully recovered from the 1991 "Gulf War," the 
2003 invasion and other American-led actions. Even if the discussions to 
get the US to completely remove its troops succeed, their influence-- and 
the world's largest embassy-- will remain in Baghdad.

US ENDLESS WAR

Every single President starting with George HW Bush launching the "Gulf 
War" in 1991 has bombed Iraq. Bill Clinton continued bombings in so-called 
"no-fly zones" in the north and south and launched massive strikes outside 
those zones in 1997 to distract from his impeachment hearings.

Russia has pointed to the hypocrisy of the US condemning their 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, 2023). 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 the 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).

The 2003 US-led invasion killed tens of thousands of Iraqis, destroyed 
civilian infrastructure and led to destabilization which remains to this 
day. And technically, there is still authorization for American Presidents 
to bomb, since the 1991 authorization of the "Gulf War" and the 2002 
authorization for the Iraq war are still on the books... despite efforts 
by congress to end them.

As with the 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 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 Saudi Arabia, including indirect support for 
its war against Yemen, its terrible human rights record, and the murder of 
American journalist Jamal Kashoggi in 2018.

After Houthi rebels began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea in 
early 2024-- also in response to the US-backed Israeli attacks in Gaza-- 
President Biden began launching airstrikes in Yemen. Members of both 
parties in congress called into question whether these attacks are legal, 
since they are not in self defense (Middle East Eye, February 27).

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 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.

DISCUSSIONS TO END THE OCCUPATION STALLED

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.

Discussions to finally get US troops out of the country began on January 
27, just days before the incident in Jordan led to America's massive 
retaliatory strikes inside Iraq's borders. Efforts to figure out a way for 
the troops to depart were underway as recently as mid-March (UAE National, 
March 19). However, there is speculation that talks will not wrap up until 
after the American election in November (Reuters, March 12).

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.

America also continues to impose sanctions and make military threats 
against Iraq's neighbor, Iran, alleging that Iran is trying to build 
nuclear weapons. As recently as February 2023, the CIA stated that Iran is 
not building nuclear arms (The Cradle, February 26, 2023). 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 (the so-called "pivot to Asia"), 
including sending warships through the strait of Taiwan and into the Black 
Sea, actions seen as provocative.

MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS

The Iraqis are still making efforts to recover from 13 years of strict 
sanctions followed by 21 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-- $886 billion. US 
military spending outstrips the next ten highest spending nations 
combined, including both China and Russia, while people in America 
continue to live in the streets, face environmental disaster, and lack 
health care and education.

CONCLUSION

In the UN General Assembly in 2022, Iraq was one of 35 nations to abstain 
from condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stating: "Iraq has decided 
to abstain because of our historical background and because of our 
sufferings resulting from the continuing wars against our peoples." As the 
world court contemplates whether to hold Israel to account for genocide in 
Gaza, there are many Americans who also need to be brought up on charges 
for what the US has done 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.