[Peace] "The smell of war" by Uri Avnery

[Dubya Peacechild]

This is not a war about terrorism. This is not a war about weapons of mass destruction. This is not a war about democracy in Iraq. This is a war about something else.

As for terrorism: Saddam Hussein is a cruel dictator, but the idea that he might be connected with Osama bin Laden is ridiculous. Saddam heads the Iraqi section of al-Baath, a very secular party. Bin Laden is an Islamic fundamentalist, and al-Qaida aims at the destruction of all secular regimes in our region. The official who invented this particular lie is either an ignoramus or a cynic who believes that one can fool all the people at least some of the time.

As for weapons of mass destruction: the USA supported Saddam when he used deadly poison gas against the Iranians (and their Kurdish allies in Iraq). At the time, America was interested in stopping the Iranians. Today there are chemical and biological weapons in most of the countries of this region, including Egypt, Syria and Israel, and one of them has nuclear arms.

As for democracy: Americans don't give a damn. Some of their best friends in the Islamic world are dictators, some more, some less cruel then Saddam. As the old American adage goes: "He is a son-of-a-bitch, but he is our son-of-a-bitch."

If so, what is the war about? In one word: oil.

There is a strong smell of oil in the air. Without smelling it, one cannot understand what is going on. But once one grasps what it is all about, the actions of Bush & Co., while cynical and hypocritical, are utterly logical.

These, then, are the American war aims:

   To take over the immense oil reserves of Iraq, among the world's biggest. 
   To ensure American control of the nearby huge Caspian Sea oil reserves 
   To reinforce indirect American control of the oil in all the Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran. 

Control of most of the worlds oil reserves will free the Americans, at long last, from the whims of the oil market. Their hand, and theirs alone, will be on the tab. They, and they alone, will fix the prices of oil all over the world. If they will want prices to rise, they will rise. If they will want them to go down, they will go down. With one single movement of the hand, they will be able to deal a crushing blow to the economies of Germany, France and Japan. No country in the world will be able to stand up to them in any matter. No wonder that Germany and France oppose the war. It is directed against them. 

It follows that the Americans do not intend to enter Iraq, establish democracy and leave. The very idea is ridiculous.

The US enters Iraq in order to stay there, for years and decades. Its physical presence in the Arab and Muslim world will create a new geopolitical reality.

Of course, this is not the first time that a great empire uses its military power to promote its economic dominance. History is full of examples. Indeed, one could say that all of history is an example. But there has never been a superpower like the US, with no rival left, using its immense military might in order to ensure its domination of the world economy for generations to come.