Brigid Amor
Note: Written in early April of 2003 for a history class I was taking. I’m still angry about this.
"War does not determine who is right- only who is left" (Bertrand Russell) Throughout the course of history, humanity has solved its problems through outright violence. Instead of working out issues in a calm and rational manner that excludes the use of force, they continue to destroy each other over relatively trivial matters such as insults, arranged marriages or, even more trivial, for no clear reason at all. An example of such is the current war between Iraq and the United States, in which there is no justification for any military action currently due to the lack of cause, lack of evidence regarding the "weapons of mass distruction" Iraq may have, and the impact on the United Nations and Iraq.
The "War on Iraq" or "War on Terrorism" as the current war has been branded, is a war based on retaliation, control, greed and imperialism. The United States claims it is "saving" the Iraqi people from the demon that is, by western standards, Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party. The United States is considered to be a democratic state worldwide but instead of acting upon the wishes of its people, the Bush administration has chosen to ignore the enormous outcry against war with Iraq. Slightly prior to the first bombings of Iraq, polls of the American people revealed that 64% of those polled were against a war. To add insult to injury, the views of the citizens of the United States are not the only views that have been discounted. The views of many of the members of the Republican party, including former Gulf War General Colin Powell, have been pushed aside in order to fulfill the unknown agenda of one George Bush. If many of the American people, the Republican party, the citizens of the world and the United Nations cannot be given adequate reason for military action against Iraq military action cannot be justified under any means. Sanction adjustments that are both tighter and more responsible and pressure from other Middle Eastern states for Hussein’s removal were possible as an alternative to use of force but unfortunately have lost possibility and probability due to recent events.
In recent times, since the Gulf war, Iraq has been a relatively quiet nation insofar as relations with the world community. However, recently Iraq has been blamed for harboring terrorists and helping to cause the events of September 11th, 2002 but there is no realistic proof nor any evidence that ties the terrorists that were involved in September 11th to the Iraqi government. In fact, contrary to popular belief, the terrorists were not Iraqi but Saudi Arabian, with the exception of one individual. The further irony of the situation, is the claim that Iraq has "weapons of mass distruction." Iraq "may" have weapons of mass distruction, whereas North Korea has annouced repeatedly that they have many weapons of mass distruction stocked, which the United States chooses to ignore. The government of the United States of America claims Iraq may have "up to 500 tons of nerve and mustard agents, and 30,000 munitions capable of delivering them; materials to produce 25,000 liters of anthrax and 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; and mobile or underground laboratories to make germ weapons." However, after many inspections by the United Nations, very few weapons of mass distruction have come to light and certainly nothing that could be used outside of Iraq for military means. Further more, the weapons that Iraq may have are not weapons it designed and created by their own means- they were obtained from the United States previously to enable Iraq to defend itself against the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 after the Shah of Iran was overthrown.
Military action is never without consequence to the world in the form of ecological concerns, humanitarian concerns and rifts in the political structure of the world. A war with Iraq threatens not only the people of Iraq but the people of the United States and many of the inhabitants of countries which both do and do not support the actions of the United States. One of the strongest effects the war will have is to possibly destroy the United Nations or force it under the control of the government of the United States. The United Nations is based upon the idea of a multilateral approach to world events, which the United States claims it is using by including countries such as Great Britain and Australia in its efforts but in fact is acting unilaterally to the almost complete exclusion of the countries it claims to have formed alliances with. By disallowing the United Nations Security Council to function as it was intended and ignoring the use of multilateral efforts, the Bush administration has discredited the organization and will ultimately cause the demise of the U.N. as support is lost and it looses its sphere of influence within the world community. Alternatively, if the United Nations comes under the control of the United States, all wars and humanitarian concerns will be strongly influenced by the capitalistic and ethnocentric agenda of the United States instead of being resolved in a manner that is beneficial to all.
Most importantly is the impact of war on Iraq and the rest of the Middle Eastern world. In order to justify its efforts the Bush administration claims that the costs of not "assisting" the Iraqi people would be higher than the costs of waging war upon the country. This statement however is incorrect. The Iraqi government is both corrupt and brutal in its domestic policy but it is grossly overshadowed by the devastation that will be left by a war. The United Nations currently predicts over "100 000 deaths, 500 000 casualties, and 1 000 000 refugees" out of the 5 000 000 people that inhabit Iraq. 65% of the population of Iraq is under the age of 15 years old and not only will they be subjected to the effects of the aforementioned losses of war, they will be affected by the devastation that is left. The already starving Iraqi people will lose resources that could be used in productive post-war trade, access to clean water, electricity and food. Due to the weapons the U.S military would use which are uranium-238 tipped missiles they must also look forward to being plagued with health issues for posterity. When uranium-238 is ignited, it becomes a substance called "ceramic uranium" which immediately enters into the air, water supply and food chain. It is retained in the bone, kidneys, spleen and blood and causes risk of cancer to rise 1000-fold after exposure. To add to the cost, not only will millions of current and future lives be lost, Iraq will lose the rich history it retains. The archeological sites that hold clues to historical sites such as the first human civilization Ur, Babylon, and Nineveh will be lost at a great cost to Iraq and the world. It is also possible that the Shiite shrines at Karbala, Najafur and Kudhurman will be lost which could be compared to the prospect of the destruction of St. Peter’s Basilica. In short, the Iraqi people will lose everything they hold dear.
In conclusion, war on Iraq cannot be justified. There is no realistic cause, the claims of Iraqi weapons of mass distruction cannot be supported and the cost to the United Nations and the Iraqi people are too high. War never an option except as a last resort when all other peaceful options for resolution have been exhausted. Peace and balance in the world can never be gained by the use of military force. "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." (John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
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