IRAQ

Counterpunch: Get the US Out of Iraq And Its Military Out of Our Mind by Ron Jakobs

So, the US is occupying Iraq. What does that mean? Does it mean that US
marines are shooting into crowds of Iraqis protesting the US presence
and killing some members of the crowd? Does it mean the reappearance of
death by cholera and typhoid in the city of Baghdad because the hospitals in
that city have been bombed, looted and burned and these hospitals don't have
the medicines to combat these diseases and others related to the
destruction wrought by years of US sanctions and days of bombing? Does it mean the
theft of priceless antiquities by organized gangs of criminals while US
marines stood guard at Iraq's oil ministry building? Does it mean the
death by cluster bombs and depleted uranium shell casings of more Iraqi
civilians? Does it mean the denial of entry into Iraq of UN weapons
inspection teams by the United States? Does it mean the construction of
US military bases on Iraqi soil? Bases constructed for the purpose of
maintaining US control of the country and to enable an easy attack on
any other nations or popular movements in the region who refuse to go along
with the US desire for global domination beginning in the Middle East?
Does it mean that anyone challenging the Americans and their plans is
subject to arrest by the US military? Does it mean incredible profiteering off the
Iraqi people's misery by corporations whose connections to the regime
in Washington DC are more than just coincidental? I wish I could
truthfully answer no to all these questions, but I can't. Unfortunately, the
answer to every single one of them is yes.