War In Iraq
...raq signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under Security Council Resolution 986, sometimes known as the oil-for-food deal. This was seen as a temporary measure to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. The first oil under the programme was exported in December 1996 and the first shipments of food arrived in March 1997. But Iraq cannot supply enough oil because of destroyed infrastructure and pipelines which continue to be bombed. According to the UN Secretary-General’s report of February 1999, $500 million in humanitarian aid never reached Iraq because of insufficient oil revenues. Percentage allocation of oil revenues under oil for food9 (November 1998 to May 1999) Vital statistics There has been a major increase in the number of deaths, in particular of infants and young children. The infant-mortality rate has risen from 30.5 per 1,000 in 1989 to 97.2 per 1,000 in 1997.6 The maternal-mortality rate has risen from 50 per 100,000 live births in 1989 to 117 in 1997.2 Low birth-weight babies (less than 2.5 kg) rose from 4% in 1990 to around a quarter of registered births in 1997, due mainly to maternal malnutrition. As many as 70% of Iraqi women are suffering from anaemia.7 Total number of deaths due to embargo-related causes8 1 Human Development Report 1998 (UNDP). 2 State of the World’s Children (UNICEF). 3 The World Guide 1999/2000. 4 ‘Middle East Defense News/Mednews’ in Kenneth R Timmerman How the West Armed Iraq (Bantam Books). 5 Website of the International Action Center http://leb.net/IAC. 6 United Nations Report on Current Humanitarian Situation in Iraq, March 1999. 7 Kamil Mahdi Rehabilitation prospects for the Iraqi economy. 8 Government of Iraq (UNICEF’s figures are similar if not worse). 9 Office of the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq. War In Iraq Now after reading that report by the New Internationalist you have to question the reasons for going to war with Iraq after what took place on 9/11, 2001, when clearly it takes years to produce Weapons of Mass Destruction and they didn’t have the means before this report nor after. Having said that and moving on to why we are actually in Iraq, instead of where we need to be, we’ll save that for another day, let’s talk about what the President and his cabinet have to gain by turning attention to Iraq. After selling his first oil company to Spectrum 7, who were later acquired by Harken Energy, Bush made a profit of $600,000 in stock and a $120,000 salary and more important a lot of oil friends in Texas and in the Middle East. Harken Energy went on the make more friends and contracts by mentioning that the President’s son, Bush jr at the time was on their board. As money poured into the Bush/ Cheney campaign from energy companies and the auto industry, it seems that though he was being bought rather than running for office. Considering that he owns portions of General Electric, BP, Duke-Energy, ExxonMobil, Pennzoil, and Tom Brown Inc, which all have times to certain Middle East families and all who have a stake in the oil that les in Iraw. See a picture forming in your head that something is amiss, sure you do, let’s move on to our leaders of this country. Now let’s talk about the man who is really running the United States, Vice President Dick Cheney who also served as secretary of defense for the elder George W Bush Sr. during his tenure in office (Baldi, 2001). Shortly after he left his post as Sec. Of Defense, Cheney landed a job with one of the largest oil services companies in the world, Halliburton. As a Congressman for Wyoming from 1978 to 1989 shows what he stands for and where his personal interests lie. He cosponsored a measure to drill in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and Against a clean Water Act which would require companies to their toxic emissions records. Clearly he does not have the interests of the United States interests at heart and it was even seen during the current war in Iraq situation when his so called former company Halliburton Weapons division made over 18 million in the first few days of the War in Iraq by supplying equipment to the United State Military. Keep in mind that Halliburton has a strong Saudi presence in their company who also have vested interest in the oil in Iraq (Baldi, 2001). Next up, our current secretary of defense Condoleezza Rice, and her oil interest in Iraq. After a decade working for oil giant Chevron Petroleum and already being associated with right wing group The Hoover Institute, Ms Rice has the ear of the President which comes in handy for other right wing groups with interests in foreign policy and security issues. After years working for a giant oil company, where do you think her interests are, Chevron who named a ship after her, or the American people. War in Iraq serves a purpose to her, simple on grounds that it opens up the market for her old associates and herself as well by dictating foreign policy when it comes to Iraq(Baldi, 2001). Spencer Abraham as energy secretary doesn’t have a big stake in the oil industry to date, but does have a strong influence when it comes to the automotive industry which means he has cut corners and put up roadblocks to have safer and cost reducing energy, which could save Americans millions in high oil prices. This must make his friends in the automotive industry happy, we know so because they have been funding his campaign hopes for years now. His interests in Iraq are simple, as long as we control the oil and where it goes and he puts up certain restrictions on other sources of power, his friends are allowed to sell their cars, keeping them very happy and his friends in office keep their pockets full and their friends in the oil industry happy as well (Baldi, 2001). Well Don Evan’s is another case of where do our true interests lie and what is really wrong with our being in Iraq. Having been Bush’s Jr. Campaign manager for the last three years, with heavy donations coming from his oil friends and being former Ceo of the Colorado based oil company Tom Brown Inc, Evans clearly does not have America’s interests at heart in his position of Secretary of Commerce. With also being on the board of Sharp Drilling, where do you think his interests lie? Not with our country, but with the profits that can be made from him being responsible for all Above ground and ocean drilling as far reaching as Iraq which has a strong oil based country (Baldi, 2001). Gale Norton is pretty much the same, with ties to the automotive, and mining industry, she is open to drill in the Artic Wildlife Refuge for oil and would be considered a right wing politician in her job as the Interior Secretary, of them all though she would have less interests in the war in Iraq, but that does not stop her from being out for profit and not having the countries best interests at heart. Considering what all these people stand to gain, is it within reason to say that a war with Iraq has been profitable to them all in someway which to many is wrong, since it is our troops that are there dying fighting a war we shouldn’t even be in, but somehow he has the people’s support but not the media. According to what is being said about the war in Iraq, apparently Bush has the support of the masses of people here in the United States, but the media are the ones that are actually against him (Freddoso, 2003). Now pols were taken near the start of the war and these numbers have changed drastically since this time, but during 2003 Bush rated 72% rating from the United States as a whole and it was reflected by a survey David Freddoso researched from public records and it was in Bush’s favor Bush Up... Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W Bush is handling his job as president? Legend for Chart: B - Approve % C - Disapprove % D - No opinion % A B C D 2003 Mar 29-30 71 26 3 2003 Mar 24-25 69 27 4 2003 Mar 22-23 71 25 4 2003 Mar 14-15 58 38 4 2003 Mar 3-5 57 37 6 2003 Feb 24-26 57 37 6 2003 Feb 17-19 58 37 5 2003 Feb 7-9 61 34 5 2003 Feb 3-6 59 35 6 (Gallup, 1000 adults each, 3% Margin of error.) ...War Up... Would you favor or oppose invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power? Legend for Chart: B - Favor % C - Oppose % D - No opinion % A B C D 2003 Mar 14-15 64 33 3 2003 Mar 3-5 59 37 4 2003 Feb 24-26 59 37 4 2003 Feb 17-19 59 38 3 2003 Feb 7-9 63 34 3 2003 Jan 31-Feb 2 58 38 4 2003 Jan 23-25 52 43 5 (Gallup, 1000 adults each, 3% MOE) Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war with Iraq? Legend for Chart: B - Favor C - Oppose D - Sample Size A B C D Overall 72 25 2,028 Republican 93 5 750 Conservative 84 13 892 Income $30,000 to $49,999 79 19 455 Men 78 20 964 White 78 20 1,673 Reside in West 77 21 441 Some college education 77 21 587 Income $50,000 or greater 77 21 960 Have children under 18 76 22 394 30-49 years old 75 23 844 Suburban 75 22 1,030 Rural 75 22 452 65 years and older 73 25 353 Reside in Midwest 73 24 474 High school education or less 72 26 644 Reside in South 71 26 656 Moderate 70 27 744 No children under 18 70 26 619 50-64 years old 69 27 517 College graduate only 69 28 367 Women 66 32 1,064 18-29 years old 66 32 301 Reside in East 66 32 457 Independent 66 31 667 Other race 63 34 114 Urban 62 36 546 Postgraduate education 60 38 419 Income less than $30,000 58 38 507 Democrat 53 44 584 Liberal 44 54 369 Black 29 68 141 (From two Gallup Polls conducted after the war began. 2,028 adults, March 22-23 and March 24-25, 2003.) ...and Media Down. In general, how would you rate the job the news organizations in this country have done in covering the situation in the Mideast concerning the war with Iraq? Would you say it has been excellent, good, only fair or poor? Legend for Chart: B - Excellent C - Goo...