"They know we own their country.  We own their airspace...We dictate the
              way they live and talk.  And that’s what’s great about America right now.  It’s
              a good thing, especially when there is a lot of oil out there we need."

              (Air Force Brigadier General William Looney, head of the US Central
              Command’s Airborne Expeditionary Force, which directs operations keeping
              Saddam Hussein’s troops from flying south of the 32nd parallel)
 

              The above quote prefaced a November 1998 edition of an anarchist
              publication called Eat the State (11-18-98) We wonder, did General
              Looney’s troubling arrogance at least offer insight into the basic dictates which
              the US and Britain have for the people of Iraq?  Distilled from recent state
              department remarks and a massive PR campaign surrounding passage of
              Resolution 1284, the message reads something like this:

              "It’s fine for the UN to call for a weapon free zone, but we’ll ensure that
              the only steps toward achieving that goal which are implemented are
              those that ensure that Iraq is to be a weapons free zone.  We have no
              intention of stopping weapons sales to our allies in the region.  We will
              have you surrounded with weapons of mass destruction, but you will
              have none.  We’ll be happy to take your oil, but we will have final
              control over how the revenue from your oil is spent.  This is your
              punishment for having invaded Kuwait, despite the fact that it was only
              recently part of Iraq."

              Iraqis hear this message from two countries, the US and the UK, which, for
              hundreds of years, have repeatedly invaded countries all over the world that
              were never part of their territory.

              If the Iraqi government agrees to UN Resolution 1284, they must envision
              becoming subject to long term domination by the US and Britain which can
              use their voting powers in the UN Security Council to form an economic and
              military protectorate over the government of Iraq.

              If Iraq’s government yields to military domination, it will be allowed to have
              sanctions lifted, but it’s clear that they’ll have to yield the way Japan and
              Germany did after WWII, giving up sovereignty absolutely in the military
              domain.

              Small wonder that the government of Iraq, still an independent country, rejects
              that neocolonial formula for domination.  Quite likely, the US and Britain
              designed Resolution 1284 anticipating Iraq would never accept it.

              Who or what can jar General Looney and others from believing that since the
              US is the worlds’ sole superpower, any ultimatum it issues must be accepted?
              Ironically, Ms. Albright herself offers words of wisdom as regards what
              happens when, as a means toward an end, innocents are killed.  But once
              again, she speaks with an overbearing arrogance that seems to occasion
              ethical blindness.  Here are her remarks to leaders of the American Muslim
              community, December 21,1999, at a special Iftaar Dinner hosted by the State
              Department:  "Killing the innocent does not defeat terror; it feeds terror. You
              are making new enemies when what you need are friends."

              Ms. Albright’s remarks epitomize the State Department’s profoundly flawed
              habit of emphasizing perceived or actual harms to US national interests while
              completely ignoring ways in which US policies harm and kill people in, for
              example, Iraq.

              Both Ms. Albright and General Looney appear hell-bent on antagonizing other
              cultures and countries. We ask, might they and their advisers ever develop a
              fresh perspective as regards peacemaking in the Middle East, one that
              emphasizes fair play, equitable trade exchanges, and advocacy for
              disarmament by all parties to conflicts in the Middle East?  Will we ever see
              serious moves toward US disarmament, with acknowledgment that as long as
              weapon sales to Middle Eastern countries prop up the US economy, US calls
              for disarmament by Iraq sound mighty hollow?  Will they ever hear these
              words as an admonishment for the US:  "Killing the innocent does not defeat
              terror; it feeds terror.  You are making new enemies when what you need are
              friends."

              Kathy Kelly is a founder of Voices in the WIlderness which openly
              advocates lifting the sanctions on Iraq and has openly violated the
              sanctions regime. Please email her at kkelly@igc.org