13/01/2007 17:20 - (SA)
US’s amazing trickery
Khatu Mamaila
I HAVE a confession to make. I am a secret admirer of America. Its ability to get away with murder is nothing short of a miracle. The US administration has an art for fooling many people most of the time.
They said they invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and establish democracy. A lie.
The other “reason” for the invasion was that Saddam had developed weapons of mass destruction. Another lie.
They said there was a link between the terror attacks of September 11 2001 in New York and Saddam. A fallacy.
There are real reasons for the war. One principal reason Saddam had to be toppled is the US administration’s objective of preventing the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) from adopting the euro as the currency standard for oil transactions instead of the dollar.
The reduction of the dollar’s hegemony in the world economy could not be allowed.
And for this to be done, the US had to extend its influence and control of Opec. Iraq, as the country with the second-biggest oil reserves, had to be conquered. So, Saddam had to go. And he went.
Many have been fooled again. The focus has shifted to the exposure of his brutal hanging on television. Fact is Saddam is dead.
The power that made him, the US, will never be made to account for making Saddam.
This week, the world waited with bated breath as US President George Bush was to announce his new plan on Iraq.
Some, especially Americans whose taxes were used to foot the more than R2,1 trillion bill, were wishing for an exit plan.
It was not to be. Instead, Bush committed more than 20 000 troops to Iraq, bringing to 150 000 the number of US soldiers in that country.
The expectation of a US withdrawal might have something to do with the fact that more than 3 000 US soldiers have been killed there since March 2003.
While this is a huge number, somehow the world seems to have forgotten about the 80 000 Iraqi people who have been murdered since the US-led illegal invasion.
There is another reason why the Bush administration does not want to withdraw from Iraq. The war is big business for the US defence industry.
According to an article by Naomi Spencer, pay levels of defence and energy chief executives soared after September 11 2001.
“According to the Institute for Policy Studies, CEOs of the top 34 defence contractors saw their average compensation double, from $3.6 million in 2002 to $7.2 million in 2005. Since September 11, these 34 executives have pocketed a combined total of nearly a billion dollars . . .
“The sharp rise in executive pay is directly tied to Pentagon budget increases.”
Given the symbiotic relationship between the defence industry and the Pentagon, it would take more for Bush to withdraw his troops from Iraq.
But even if they were to withdraw, the fighting is unlikely to stop because the US has set up a puppet regime in Baghdad which does not enjoy popular support.
Somehow, the US has an image of a country that promotes human rights. What about Guantanamo Bay? It has been five years that suspects held for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities have been kept in the camp under inhumane conditions without being charged. There is no action against this gross violations of human rights.
And here lies the problem. It really does not matter what evidence one gathers against the US. It is an imperialist power that is above international law. Untouchable.
The newly-appointed United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has a king-size task in ensuring the UN does not become an international desk of the US.
If he succeeds, the world will be closer to finding effective conflict- resolution mechanisms that have a semblance of fairness.
If he fails, resistance to the US’s self-appointed status as international policeman will continue to breed instability and wars.
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