On January 18, almost all capitals and major cities the world over reverberated with these simple and direct slogans. Few slogans have ever been chanted by so many million voices in so many languages on one single day.
Twelve years ago, the US led by Bush Senior had invaded Iraq on January 17, 1991 under the pretext of freeing Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Twelve years later, the US led by Chhota Bush is threatening to launch yet another war on beleaguered Iraq.
The American claim that the war is about weapons of mass destructions has long been exposed as a grand piece of lie and deception. After several resolutions and rounds and rounds of inspection all that the UN inspection team has been able to produce are eleven empty warheads. Iraq claims the warheads are old and had been reported to the United Nations. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, while disputing the claim, has nevertheless admitted that ‘there are no chemical weapons inside them’.
America is not bothered about the ‘evidence’ it can muster. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have made it clear that they want war, evidence or no evidence, UN or no UN! The US has already started mobilising its troops for the impending war. The world has also made it clear that it does not believe an iota of the fiction dished out by the White House to explain the so-called inevitability of war. The world has every reason to suspect that the oil oligarchy which currently rules the US is interested in installing a puppet regime in Baghdad so it can control the fabled oil reserves of Iraq.
According to reliable estimates, once an American regime is installed in Baghdad, American oil companies will have access to 112 billion barrels of oil. With unproven reserves, the US might actually end up controlling almost a quarter of the world’s total reserves. It must be remembered that Iraq’s ratio of oil reserves to its current oil production is among the highest in the world 526:1. In comparison, America’s own ratio is abysmally low: 10:1.
To avoid war, some so-called ‘peace-loving’ European powers have suggested that Saddam Hussein should go into exile. The people of Iraq can only have contempt for such a recipe for ‘peace’. Saddam Hussein himself has rightly compared Chhota Bush to the Mongol General Hologu who had captured Baghdad in 1258 A.D. Baghdad’s ruler at the time had surrendered in exchange for his life and that of his family – but Hologu had reneged on the deal and executed him. Saddam has ruled out the possibility of a second surrender of Baghdad, especially to today’s Hologu, instead he has asked the Yankee Hologu to keep his evil away from the mother of civilization!
It is an encouraging sign that the anti-war movement has already gathered such a massive global momentum. What is most heartening is the spread of the campaign right inside the US. Defying sub-zero temperature, the whole of America has risen in protest against the war plans of Chhota Bush and his oil cabal. And the protests have already caused a modest drop in Chhota Bush’s ‘popularity’ rating!
American troops stationed in Pakistan and Afghanistan have already had several occasions to taste the intensity of people’s anger. January 18 has made it clear that like Bush’s ugly war plan, this anger too is not confined to limits of either geography or history.
No Blood for Oil! No US Troops on Foreign Soil!