Activism Change

Boston Citizens Speak out Against Occupation of Iraq and Siege of Falluja

Question:

Zinn continued, "The other lie is that American troops are bringing democracy to Iraq. You do not bring democracy by invading a country, by bombing it, by detaining people without trial, by closing down newspapers in Iraq." Human rights investigators in Iraq have reported numerous, consistent violations of basic human rights by American troops. These include detaining people for as long as six months with charges or trial.. It would seem that neither the right to a fair trial nor freedom of speech are part of democracy in the Bush administration’s eyes. Beyond these violations of human rights, the American invasion and occupation have resulted in the deaths of 685 American soldiers and between 8,875 and 10,725 Iraqi civilians (the latter figures are from Iraq Body Count, http://www.iraqbodycount.net/).  "They are creating a peace plan that it is not a peace plan. It is a plan to privatize everything and leave 100,000 American troops in Iraq forever." "Legal protests did not stop the Bush administration form invading Iraq and they will not force it (or a Kerry administration) to pull out from Iraq either. [the writer then goes on to point to what worked to end Washington's assault against Vietnam: not just legal protests, but non-violent Direct Actions in the street -ED] Shakr Mustafa, an Iraqi immigrant and a professor at Boston University, said that based on his conversations with family members in Iraq, "The Iraqis were willing to give the American authorities the benefit of a doubt for months. But when you bomb a major city like Falluja and strafe it with helicopter gunships, you will not win the hearts and minds of Iraqis. Iraqis feel they have been betrayed by the American authorities. This will only perpetuate the cycle of violence. We need to break the cycle of violence. We need the American troops to leave." The American military’s assault on Falluja, a city that had not previously seen much resistance to the American occupation, was triggered by the murder of four American mercenaries (commonly described in the mainstream press by the bizarre euphemism of "civilian contractors"). The resulting attacks have resulted in the deaths of 62 American soldiers and over 600 Iraqis. In the attack on Falluja, even during the supposed ceasefire, American troops have not targeted only the armed resistance, but civilians as well. American peace activists and progressive journalists on the ground in Falluja report indiscriminate bombing of the city and sniper attacks on women, the elderly, children and ambulances. They all also report that it is pretty clear that the resistance fighters are not the isolated extremists the Bush administration claims, but have the support of most of Falluja’s population. =====story: http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/20983/index.php Rally Against the US Occupation of Iraq and the Siege of Falluja by Matthew Williams On Friday, April 16, 2004, in response to the devastating US attack upon the Iraqi city of Falluja, about two hundred people gathered for a protest against the US occupation on the Boston Common from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Speakers emphasized that we repeatedly have not been getting the real story. The various reasons given by the Bush administration for the invasion of Iraq, such as seeking to eliminate the Hussein regime’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or bringing democracy to Iraq, are false, as no WMD have been found and the Occupation authorities engage in anti-democratic actions, such as closing down opposition newspapers and imprisoning people without charges or trial. We have also not been getting the full story on Falluja–the armed resistance does not consist of a few malcontents, but has broad popular support, and the US military has targeted not just the armed fighters, but civilians, even during the supposed ceasefire. Two very different organizing strategies were visible at the protest. The organizers, United for Justice with Peace (UJP), a broad Boston-area coalition, emphasized a message of peace, that showed equal concern for the lives of American troops and the Iraqi people, in an effort to create a movement with broad appeal. Various sectarian groups, in addition to attempting to take over the protest, loudly proclaimed their support for the Iraqi armed resistance, a position that, while certainly politically legitimate, is not likely to do much for building a mass movement. [hold on just a minute. We were not there, but it seems very possible to support the Iraqi resistance by say Iraqi citizens, protecting them, and supporting nonvilent resistance, while wanting to protect US lives...and even as far as Iraqis who shoot back when soldiers shoot at them, we can STILL support the lives of US soldiers, just read the webpage www.BringThemHomeNow.com by those who REALLY Support Our Troops, their families. So there is no cotnradiction. That said, we were not there, and it is certainly possible that a wild-eyed group was being less than practical or responsible. There certainly are splinter groups like that. Their funding from the FBI sure helps them -ED] What neither UJP nor much of the American peace movement seems to have come to grips with though is that we need to move beyond legal protests to nonviolent direct action if we are going to have any substantial impact on the US government’s policy on Iraq. If there was a keynote speaker at the rally, it was renowned leftist historian Howard Zinn. He emphasized that the Bush administration justified this war based on two lies, "lies that are increasingly clear. The first lie is about weapons of mass destruction. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Bush administration didn’t care whether there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is clear they were determined to invade." The testimony of Richard Clarke, a long-time conservative anti-terrorism expert, who served several administrations and recently resigned, paints a picture of an administration dominated by ideologues, determined to invade Iraq from the day they got into office. Many CIA researchers have said they were pressured by senior members of the Bush administration to find a reason to invade Iraq, whether evidence of weapons of mass destruction or a connection with the international terrorist group al-Qeada. Testimony by UN experts now makes it clear that the UN weapons inspectors had eliminated all WMD from Iraq by 1996–seven years before the US invasion. As for a link between Saddam Hussein’s regime and the Islamic fundamentalist group al-Qaeda, this is absurd, for Hussein was a secularist whom al-Qaeda had sworn to overthrow. [and at least once, had tried to kill, in fact -ED] There is also the inconvenient but little reported fact that when Hussein was building his arsenal of chemical and biological weapons and engaging in some of his worst atrocities in the 1980s, he was doing so with the support of the Reagan and first Bush administrations, who saw him as an ally because of his invasion of the Islamic theocracy of Iran. [oh heck, he was on our payroll so that was "ok" by Washington. But his (smaller!) crimes after no longer being Obedient Wind-Up Dictator, somehow seer the soul of these Washington hypocrites -ED] Zinn continued, "The other lie is that American troops are bringing democracy to Iraq. You do not bring democracy by invading a country, by bombing it, by detaining people without trial, by closing down newspapers in Iraq." Human rights investigators in Iraq have reported numerous, consistent violations of basic human rights by American troops. These include detaining people for as long as six months with charges or trial–apparently because bewildered American troops often simply detain anyone who looks suspicious. Much of the current unrest in Iraq can be linked by the decision of the Occupation authorities to shut down a newspaper linked with Moqtada Sadr, a popular Shia cleric and vocal opponent of the American occupation. (The Shia are one of the major denominations of Islam, found predominantly in Iran and southern Iraq.) It would seem that neither the right to a fair trial nor freedom of speech are part of democracy in the Bush administration’s eyes. Beyond these violations of human rights, the American invasion and occupation have resulted in the deaths of 685 American soldiers and between 8,875 and 10,725 Iraqi civilians (the latter figures are from Iraq Body Count, http://www.iraqbodycount.net/). Paul Shannon, an organizer with the American Friends Service Committee, summarized the long-term plans of the Bush administration: "They are creating a peace plan that it is not a peace plan. It is a plan to privatize everything and leave 100,000 American troops in Iraq forever." Under Hussein’s regime, all major industries were theoretically publicly controlled. Instead of giving Iraqis a chance to decide what to with these public resources in a democratic fashion, the Bush administration has been privatizing most of these major industries, selling them off to transnational corporations based in the US and allied countries. In order to protect this order and to maintain control both of Iraq’s vast oil wealth and its strategic location in the Middle East, the Bush administration has plans to build massive US military bases in Iraq, that will remain there indefinitely, even after sovereignty has supposedly been turned over to a government composed of Iraqis. Given the history of US military intervention in Latin America to depose democratic governments whose policies conflicted with the US elite’s interests, it is questionable how much room a supposedly independent Iraqi government would have to make its own policies with 100,000 American troops already stationed there. Shakr Mustafa, an Iraqi immigrant and a professor at Boston University, said that based on his conversations with family members in Iraq, "The Iraqis were willing to give the American authorities … read more »

Response:

Zinn continued, "The other lie is that American troops are bringing democracy to Iraq. You do not bring democracy by invading a country, by bombing it, by detaining people without trial, by closing down newspapers in Iraq."

It worked for Germany. Why not Iraq? —

Response:

Filed under: Peace movement

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