The US Government, faced with massive worldwide opposition, has intensified its propaganda campaign to bolster support for decimating Iraq. Its two central claims regarding a democratic liberation of the Iraqi people and disarming Iraq are blatantly false and belied by historical evidence. While Bush frequently demonizes Hussein now, the truth is that in the 1980s the government fervently backed Hussein militarily and financially and sold him chemical and biological weapons. While much is made of the fact that Hussein “gassed his own people,” what is conveniently forgotten is that these weapons were supplied by the U.S. government, which continued to back him during and after this incident. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld himself was in Iraq meeting with the regime when the UN report detailing this incident was released, but was sure not to let this sour his relations with Hussein. In fact, after the gassing of the Kurds, both the U.S. and U.K. increased aid to Iraq, kindly compensating for the loss of agricultural production caused by the attack. When Hussein broke his leash and invaded Kuwait, threatening U.S. oil supplies, he suddenly went from staunch ally to the “New Hitler.” As George Bush Sr. said of the first Gulf War, “We need the oil, its nice to talk about standing up for freedom, but Kuwait and Saudi Arabia aren’t exactly democracies.” Indeed. At the end of the Gulf War, which killed over 100,000 Iraqis, Iraqis rose up against the weakened regime expecting U.S. support. Instead, the U.S. military allowed Hussein to deploy gunships into the “no-fly zone” to quell the rebellion. A state department official at the time said, “We imagined a post-Saddam regime to be a military one.” Apparently, the U.S. did want Hussein out, but didn’t want democracy in. Then the U.S. and UN imposed on Iraq the most destructive economic sanctions in history, resulting in the deaths of over one million Iraqis, including 500,000 children under the age of five, according to UNICEF. As the aptly named U.S. Brig. General William Looney said following the war, “They know we own their country … 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’s a lot of oil out there we need.” There is no reason to suspect that ‘libration’ will be fundamentally different this time around. The hue and cry over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is also hypocritical, given that the U.S. manufactures and stockpiles more WMD than any other nation – and has used nuclear weapons twice. Moreover, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter says “there is no case for war” as by 1998 his team destroyed 90 – 95 percent of Iraq’s WMD and infrastructure, while the shelf life of possible remaining chemical agents expired years ago. Finally, while the administration has produced endless rhetoric and speculation about Iraq’s hiding or secretly producing WMD, Blix has flatly contradicted these positions and has found no “smoking gun.” It is clear that the proposed war on Iraq has nothing to do with the “libration” of the Iraqi people or “containment” of Saddam Hussein. This war is Imperialist in that it aims to establish US hegemony over the Middle East, ensuring that oil profits flow to US corporations and away from economic competitors. The Bush Administration hopes that the American people will foot the bill for his illegitimate war while he slashes social programs, imprisons immigrants, and gives huge tax cuts to the rich. We proudly join with people all over the U.S. and the world in opposing this war and saying “No Blood for Oil.”

– Matthew Boucher is a middler history major and a member of the International Socialist Organization.

– Mohammad Junaid Alam is a sophomore political science major and a member of NU Campus Against War and Racism.