Iraqi war anniversary celebrated by few

Breeze Reader’s View

As March 20 approaches, so does the anniversary of the beginning of the second Gulf War. A year since its start, Americans now clearly can see the mistakes made by the United States and other countries that supported the war. We have found no weapons of mass destruction. We discovered major flaws in our security agencies' way of going about getting and using evidence.

There were no terrorist links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Reports have come out stating that President George W. Bush may have been planning the war even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But, at least we got rid of Hussein, right? He did break United Nations' sanctions and was responsible for all those horrible crimes against his people. Maybe it was the right decision, or maybe all these reasons for ousting Hussein could be used against the United States.

The United States has broken U.N. sanctions countless times; in fact, we defied the United Nations by starting a war without its support. The United States has a tendency to use the United Nations only when it is good for the United States. The embargo forced upon Iraq by the United States and other countries in 1990 was responsible for an estimated 500,000 children's deaths, far more than Hussein is accused of causing.

And what about preemptive war? That has set a great example for the world to follow — now you don't even need to be attacked to go to war; all you have to do is come up with some false intelligence that states you could be attacked in the distant future and that is reason enough.

At least the Iraqi people have democracy. Not exactly — the war has brought out a separation in the country between the different segments of Iraq's diverse population. There are daily attacks not just against the United States, but also against the Iraqi people.

CIA analysts have warned that civil war is likely. And, meanwhile, the American media has portrayed the formation of a new Iraqi government as progress towards democracy, after the U.S.-selected Iraqi Governing Council approved the U.S.-backed constitution. Nevermind the frequent cases of U.S. troops firing on Iraqi protesters.

So what good has come out of this war? We're keeping jobs in the United States because war means that missiles, guns, planes, ships and all other various assortments of war materials are going to be needed and created.

Plenty of U.S. businesses have found a little niche in Iraq for reconstruction projects and oil ventures. Halliburton, an oil/gas industry service provider formerly headed by Dick Cheney was awarded a $73 million dollar contract from the government. Cheney still receives up to $1 million a year from the company, according corpwatch.org.

It's important not to see Iraq as an isolated incident — something that happens when a conservative extremist steps into office, — it represents a pattern of the type of U.S. imperialism that has been going on for the past 50 years. The U.S. policy has been varied quite a bit; there are cases where economics can be used to dictate a country as frequently is done by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Then, there are cases where the United States can prop up a dictator and have success controlling a country that way. There are cases in which the United States can support militants led by former death squad leaders to overthrow a democratically elected government, as just was seen in Haiti. Then there are cases — such as Iraq — where all other methods fail and the only sure way for control is a U.S.-led invasion.

Yes, war is great for business. First, you destroy a country, which costs taxpayer money, then you pay U.S. corporations to rebuild it with taxpayer. But, there seems to be something missing from this equation.

How about the dead Iraqis and U.S. soldiers and journalists. There are an estimated 10,000 Iraqi civilians dead from the war, according to www.iraqbodycount.net. According to the March 29 issue Nation Magazine, the war in Iraq claimed the lives of 549 U.S. soldiers

There also are countless numbers injured — people who will never walk again, people who will never see again and many other physical ailments that will last a lifetime.

Then, of course, there are those in Iraq who will have to suffer from other things. Despite the United States' almighty technological powers, many areas are still without running water — nevermind electricity. Food is hard to come by, and hospitals are in shambles.

So, when March 20 comes around, there will be people celebrating. They won't be the friends and families of U.S. soldiers. They won't be the Iraqis who barely have enough food and water to make it through a day. They won't be Americans, at least not those with any conscience.

They'll be the chief executive officers, shareholders and employees of companies involved in the production of weapons. They'll be the CEOs, the shareholders and employees of companies involved in the reconstruction of Iraq. Well, happy anniversary … murderers.

Jared Bowie is a junior philosophy major.