One of the startling facts about the Gulf War is that since 1991, roughly 10,000 Gulf War veterans have died and hundreds more continue to suffer from "Gulf War Syndrome." Most recently, I have learned that our military is using depleted uranium as ammunition. Depleted uranium is the densest, hardest material known to man. The military loves itÑit breaks through any armor. It is also radioactive with a half-life of 4.5 billion years. I don't like the idea of firing radioactive waste around any landscape, and the health risks seem to be substantial.
The broader scope of U.S. foreign policy with Iraq is even more disturbing. Now that I have studied the issues, I have come to the obvious but too often ignored awareness that the media's agenda has misguided us. Corporate interests, whether media interests or defense contractors, are all dependent on the growth and stability of the Wall Street economy. They report what they want us to know for the good of their economyÑtruth be damned!
Take the present reporting on Iraq. George W. Bush and his cadre of spokespersons and media pundits are framing the conflict with Iraq around the issue of weapons inspections. When you step back and look at the big picture, you can see that the weapons inspections in Iraq are a ruse. They are a way for the U.S. to try to prove there is no way out of this "conflict" except open military force. It is pre-determined that Iraq will be found out of compliance with weapons inspections, or perhaps some other justification for war will emerge. A conflict is exactly what the Bush administration needs to keep our mind off the fact that our 401ks have been looted and the economy in general is in bad shape.
Our government also needs the war because a conquered Iraq will open itself up to U.S. corporations. In a reciprocal arrangement, war justifies a military budget that then lends itself to the domination of regimes that have the resources corporate America covets. Pay attention to U.S. foreign policy (watching the TV news doesn't count) and it is clear that Saddam has been played as an asset by the military industrial complex since the U.S. first used him to oppose Iran in the 1980s. And he became an even greater asset when he invaded Kuwait.
Before Desert Storm, as Iraq massed its troops on the Kuwaiti border, the U.S. government made its formal statement; at a State Department briefing our Defense Department spokesperson publicly stated, "There are no special defense or security commitments to Kuwait." Six days later Saddam attacked Kuwait and the U.S. government seized the opportunity to establish its long coveted military presence in the Middle EastÑby convincing Saudi Arabia and the majority of people in the U.S. (myself included) that Saddam was going to invade them next.
At this point the U.S. massed its own troops and armaments in Saudi Arabia. The extreme concentration of Saudi wealth within the royal family (remember, Osama bin Laden is part of this family) is well-documented. The U.S. governmentÑVice President Cheney and President Bush in particularÑhas had and continues to have close business ties with the Saudi royal family. Our presence in Saudi Arabia keeps that regime in power and keeps our government's business interests protected.
If the U.S. had removed Saddam from power in Desert Storm, they would have been kicked out of Saudi Arabia long ago. The U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia is not popular among Saudis. But by allowing Saddam to stay in power, the U.S. was able to "protect" its assets in unstable Saudi Arabia and maintain an evil figure whose presence would justify more military spending. So by keeping the Middle East unstable and Saddam in power (remember, Iraq is kept impoverished by sanctions) George Bush, Sr. killed two birds with one stone.
It is important to note that the original United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq were ready to sign off on the inspections and leave several times. Each time, however, the weapons inspectors were pre-empted by the U.S. assigning new leadership to the inspection teams, leadership sympathetic to the U.S. interest in convincing the world that Iraq had and continues to have a greater arsenal than the evidence indicates. Military satellite photos have been used to fuel Bush's claims that Iraq is a real threat but those photos are never supplied to the public. Civilian satellites have painted many pictures but none that would support Bush's claim that Iraq is a credible threat.
Since September 11th, Bush and Cheney have set us up for a long and arduous "War on Terror." This war's goals are synonymous with asserting the interests of the Wall Street economy, and in this particular instance, aiding the defense and oil industries. People like me are waking up to the fact that our foreign policy isn't at all about peacekeeping. It is about money and power for people I don't think are fit to have it. Next time CNN trots out some experts on the state of the Iraqi military, don't be afraid to check out who they really are. Since Desert Storm a lot of sand is now radioactive. In the long run its not the safest place to bury your head. I'm getting sick of all the bloodshed.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2003
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited