A statement by March Forward! an organization of anti-war veterans and active duty service members. Click here to see more statements by March Forward!
On March 19, 2003, U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in an attempt to
force the oil-rich country to accept imperialist rule. “National
defense” and “building democracy” were simply lies to mask the real aim
of the war: the de-nationalization of Iraq’s oil. Eight years later,
over 1 million Iraqis are dead, millions are refugees and living
conditions have deteriorated to the point that last year Baghdad was
rated the least livable city in the world.
Although the invasion
began in 2003, Iraq has been the target of U.S. aggression since 1991,
when tens of thousands of civilians died in the “Gulf War.” This was
followed by genocidal sanctions that led to 1.5 million deaths,
including half a million children under the age of 5.
This
brutality, however, did not succeed in forcing the Iraqi people to
surrender their sovereignty. Starting in 2002, the Bush administration
began a racist, fear-mongering campaign to drum up support for an
outright invasion. The claim that Iraq was harboring terrorists or
developing weapons of mass destruction were obvious lies, but
nevertheless politicians from both the Republican and Democratic parties
overwhelmingly voted to authorize the war.
Although Baghdad
fell just a few weeks after the invasion, popular Iraqi resistance
bogged down occupation forces and challenged the U.S.-backed regime. The
fighting escalated and in 2007 the Bush administration announced the
“surge,” involving increased troop levels and cash payments to buy off
the formerly anti-occupation Awakening Movement. Violence declined but
the Iraqi people never fully accepted foreign rule.
The war
continues today, by virtue of both the physical presence of U.S. forces
and the economic and social devastation caused by nearly a decade of
occupation. Although combat operations have officially been declared
“over,” 50,000 U.S. troops remain in the country.
While the
withdrawal from Iraq is supposed to be completed by the end of 2011,
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has strongly hinted that the deadline
will be ignored. Rep. Adam Smith, a high-ranking member of the Armed
Services Committee, said that the number of troops still in Iraq after
the end of this year “could be 20,000.” Permanent U.S. bases and
compounds are set to remain.
Occupation brings death and suffering
The
Iraq war has led to a staggering number of deaths. According to the
results of a 2008 study by the UK-based Opinion Research Business,
1,033,000 people have died as a result of the war. This is consistent
with the findings of a study conducted by The Lancet, one of the oldest
and most respected scientific journals in the world.
But even
this figure does not truly convey the magnitude of the human suffering
caused by the invasion and occupation. According to the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, 4.7 million Iraqis, about 15 percent of
the population, have been forced to flee their homes. 2.7 million are
internally displaced and 2 million have left the country entirely; 5
million Iraqi children are orphans.
Corruption is rampant at all
levels of the illegitimate Iraqi government. A 2009 document issued by
the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity reported 5,031 complaints of
corruption the previous year. However, out of over 3,000 cases sent to
courts, only 97 officials, less than 3 percent, were convicted. Iraq was
ranked the fourth most corrupt country in the world in 2010.
Excluding
Baghdad, about 30 percent of the population does not have access to
potable water. In the capital the figure is slightly lower, around 25
percent, but much higher in some rural areas, at roughly 50 percent.
Iraq is only capable of producing slightly more than half of the
electricity it needs, leaving most Iraqis without power on a regular
basis.
Outright unemployment stands at 15 percent, but rises to
43 percent if the underemployed are included. Young people are
especially affected by joblessness and 23 percent of the population
lives on less than $2.20 a day.
Iraq is now poisoned with the
remnants of depleted uranium and chemical weapons. Staggering levels of
birth defects, cancer, and infant mortality has labeled parts of Iraq
with a fallout “worse than Hiroshima”—or, worse than the worst fallout
in history.
Those who fantasized that somehow U.S. intervention
would create a better life for the Iraqi people than under the
government of Saddam Hussein are left looking at the biggest
humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and civilian casualties at
genocidal proportions.
The people fight back
Far
from being helpless victims, the tenacity of Iraqi popular resistance
caught the arrogant politicians and the Pentagon brass totally off
guard. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously predicted
that the war would last “six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.” Their
hopes for a quick war and the installation of a stable puppet regime
were shattered by the Iraqi people’s determination to defend their
independence. Iraqis from all walks of life—teachers, doctors, farmers,
students—took up arms in a popular uprising against the invading
superpower.
Nearly 5000 U.S. troops came home in coffins. Tens of
thousands endured life-changing injuries. Hundreds of thousands were
psychologically traumatized, then abused and neglected by the U.S.
military, leading to the current suicide epidemic. More soldiers now
kill themselves than are killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those
who don’t take their own lives are sent over and over back to combat,
drugged up by deadly cocktails of sedatives and anti-depressants.
Although
the armed struggle has subsided in recent years, daily violence is
still a constant reality. Everyday there is fighting between the Iraqi
people and the U.S.-backed Iraqi military forces. Even though U.S.
troops have been able to retreat back to fortified bases, there are
dozens of attacks on U.S. forces on a daily basis. U.S. troops are still
killed and wounded.
Mass demonstrations have recently swept Iraq
as part of the wave of uprisings in the Arab world. On Feb. 16,
thousands of protesters in the city of Kut stormed government buildings,
burning some down. Demonstrations then spread to the northern Kurdish
region, where people faced deadly repression.
On Feb. 25,
thousands took to the streets in major cities throughout Iraq as part of
a “day of rage.” Several provincial governors resigned. In Iraq’s new
“democracy,” police and mercenaries killed at least 29 peaceful
demonstrators. Journalists were arrested and tortured. Offices of
protest organizers were shut down by the government and leaders were
arrested.
Far from unanimously supporting the actions of the
U.S. government, the people of the United States have participated in
huge outpourings of solidarity with the people of Iraq. On Feb. 15,
2003, millions around the globe turned out for the largest coordinated
anti-war demonstrations in history. Recognizing that the war would be
devastating not only to Iraqis but to the working class domestically,
hundreds of thousands took part across the United States. Over the
years, thousands of U.S. troops and Iraq war veterans have also joined
the anti-war movement, refusing their orders to deploy, speaking out
about their experiences and organizing mass actions against the wars.
The movement against imperialism continues today. On March 19, thousands will take part in protests
in dozens of cities to demand an end to the Iraq war and the
increasingly brutal war in Afghanistan. Through determined struggle, the
people can end the imperialist occupation and restore full sovereignty
to Iraq.
