C H O I C E S
Living Consciously
There Is No Basis for War
There Is No Basis For War: Talking Points on the U.S.-Iraq Crisis
Created for United for Peace and Justice by Phyllis Bennis (author of Understanding
the U.S.-Iraq Crisis: A Primer)
The inspectors have found no evidence of any weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
in Iraq. Not only is there no "smoking gun," there's no gun at all.
Even with some of Washington's intelligence, supposedly proving the presence
of WMD programs, provided to the UN inspectors, they have not found any evidence.
The U.S. refuses to turn over all the intelligence information it claims it
has to the UN.
The Bush administration's favorite claim that aluminum tubes imported by Iraq
"prove" evidence of a nuclear weapons program turns out to be false.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said that the tubes are
much more consistent with a conventional rocket program than with nuclear weapons.
International support for war is lower than ever. Both Britain and France have
asserted that the inspection process is proceeding and is not close to being
finished. Turkey has pulled back from its earlier hints that it would allow
U.S. troops full access to its territory and bases.
Getting support from the UN is more difficult than ever. Security Council members
are still angry over the U.S. seizure of the Iraqi arms declaration, resulting
in only a heavily edited version being made available to the 10 elected members,
and the exclusion of all references to U.S. and allied corporations involved
in supporting Iraq's WMD programs in the past.
It is possible that the U.S. will be unable to get the necessary 9 positive
Security Council votes supporting a war. There could be as many as seven abstentions
(possibly including France, Russia, China, Angola, Chile, Germany, Pakistan),
which would preclude passing a resolution for war.
The North Korea nuclear crisis is one more piece of evidence that this war against
Iraq is not about weapons of mass destruction; if it was, North Korea (which
is much further along with nuclear weapons, is making direct threats against
the U.S., and has thrown out the UN inspectors) would be a much more immediate
target than Iraq (which has NO nuclear weapons or capacity, is not threatening
the U.S. and is welcoming in the UN inspectors).
U.S. military leaders, who went public with their cautions during the spring
and summer but were largely silent since the fall of 2002, have reemerged publicly
with their hesitations. The commanders of the Army and the Marine Corps have
recently stated that war with Iraq will not be an easy victory, and that the
U.S. military will pay a bloody price.
UN humanitarian agencies recently said that 500,000 Iraqis would be injured
in the early stage of a U.S. war, that up to 9.5 million Iraqis would immediately
become dependent on aid agencies for basic food. UN planning anticipates providing
emergency food only to about half of those in need - up to 4.5 million people;
of those in need of food, the UN estimates that about 3 million will face "dire
malnutrition." Less than half the population would retain access to clean
water. The UN describes a U.S. war in Iraq resulting in a crippled nation with
shattered infrastructure, an electricity grid badly damaged, and facing major
damage to the oil industry, with overall civilian damage anticipated at levels
far beyond that of the 1991 Gulf War.
Even if evidence of a WMD program is found, there is no basis for war. We
cannot accept the legitimacy of killing potentially hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis to prevent an unknown speculative future threat. We reject going to war
on spec.
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