Many people in the US still see the Gulf War as a good war. Hitler kind
   of
   guy as the enemy, cool video footage of things getting blown up, topped
   off
   with a nice yellow ribbon (not too many of 'our guys' got killed). In
   spite
   of some whiners, the US administered justice and the world is a better
   place.
   The prevalence of this image can be measured by the soon to be
   inaugurated
   administration, Bush, Cheney and Powell. Ten years after Desert Storm, it
   is
   still a winner. Like any illusion this picture doesn't match reality and
   has
   its negative consequences.

   An essential myth of the Gulf War is its endorsement by the US people.
   From
   the August 2, 1990, Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to January 17 there was a
   raging
   international debate, would this be a "new Vietnam?" Hundreds of
   thousands in
   the US marched against the moves toward war. Fighting a war to defend the

   monarchy of Kuwait or the profits of oil corporations was not very
   popular.
   The mainstream media even gave this movement coverage as a legitimate
   discussion. This tends to be forgotten after the bloodlust of Desert
   Storm.

   But the war on Iraq was not a new Vietnam. US and UN coalition troops did
   not
   meet a highly motivated fighting force in extended combat. The Iraqi army
   had
   just come from a devastating eight-year war against the Iranian
   revolution.
   The Bush administration successfully assembled a UN-endorsed military
   coalition around the violation of Kuwaiti sovereignty. To combat the
   Vietnam
   syndrome at home the "Powell Doctrine" translated the antiwar slogan "No
   Blood for Oil" into a strategy of overwhelming military force that read,
   no US
   blood for oil.

   But there certainly was a lot of blood. The losses of the Iraqi army are
   estimated at over 100,000, while the US suffered 147 dead, 37 of these
   from
   friendly fire. This statistic reveals the essence of Desert Storm: it was
   not
   a battle, this was a slaughter, a turkey-shoot. Massacres of retreating
   Iraqi
   soldiers occurred before and after the US agreed to end hostilities. (See

   Seymour Hersh in the May 22, 2000, New Yorker on the March 2, 1991 attack
   on
   retreating Iraqi troops. http://cryptome.org/mccaffrey-sh.htm)

   On January 17, 1991, the US-led coalition began the attack on Iraq with
   43
   days of constant air bombardment. This campaign is most noted for its
   high
   tech video footage of precision missiles and bombs. The US press marveled
   at
   this new technological warfare and repeated the claim that every effort
   was
   being made to minimize civilian casualties, or "collateral damage."

   Nothing could be further from the truth. The systematic destruction of
   Iraq's
   social infrastructure was part of the battle plan. A rare glimpse at this
   US
   strategy appeared in the June 23, 1991, Washington Post. "Planners now
   say
   their intent was to destroy or damage valuable facilities that Baghdad
   could
   not repair without foreign assistance. Military planners hoped the
   bombing
   would amplify the economic and psychological impact of international
   sanctions on Iraqi society, damage to civilian structures and interests,
   invariably described by briefers during the war as "collateral" and
   unintended, was sometimes neither." When questioned about this bombing
   campaign then Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney said every Iraqi target
   was
   "perfectly legitimate" and added, "If I had to do it over again, I would
   do
   exactly the same thing." We believe you Dick.

   This targeting of economic and social infrastructure, has produced the
   desired result: the mass murder of Iraqis. Before the war Iraq had an
   elaborate water system to control the brackish water from the Gulf,
   irrigate
   crops, and provide clean water for the desert nation. The intentional
   targeting and destruction of this water system resulted in one of the
   deadlier legacies of the Gulf War. UN sanctions prevent Iraq from
   rebuilding
   this system. Agriculture remains ruined in Iraq. Today the greatest
   single
   killer in Iraq is dysentery from contaminated water.

   The US remains in a protracted war with Iraq. US and British warplanes
   regularly bomb Iraq. During the last years of the Clinton Administration
   these attacks have averaged two or three times a week. US Navy ships
   interdict shipping suspected of trading with Iraq in international
   waters.
   The US is the main proponent and executor of the economic siege against
   Iraq.
   The US works through the UN to effectively cripple the war ravaged
   nation.
   UNICEF and World Health Organization reports UN sanctions continue to
   kill
   thousands of Iraqis every month. Multiply this gruesome statistic by
   twelve
   for each of more than ten years and you get genocide.

   This war is the product of a seamless bipartisan cooperation from Bush to

   Clinton, and now back to another Bush. He too intends to "eliminate
   Saddam."
   It took the participation of the US people to force the end to the
   Vietnam
   War. The current complacency toward the abomination in Iraq ensures its
   continuation.

   January 2, 2001
   Bob Allen
   Campaign to End the Sanctions
   endsanctions @cs.com
   5 Awbury Rd.
   Philadelphia Pa 19138
   215 438 4181