MIM Notes 152       DECEMBER 15, 1997

IMPERIALISTS MILITARIZE GULF TO FEED AMERIKAN PARASITISM

by MC53 and MC44
MC45 contributed to this article
written 27 November 1997

***In what the bourgeoisie and its media has called a 
provocation for war, Iraq ordered all Amerikans working for 
the United Nations arms inspection team out of the country 
within one week of October 29,1997. Since that date, the 
United States of Imperialism has militarized the Persian 
gulf and worked diligently to build support for another 
invasion of Iraq. As MIM Notes #152 goes to press, the 
United Snakes is preparing yet another U-2 spy mission 
thereby pushing military conflict and the Iraqi people are 
preparing to defend their nation.***

Following a u.s.-led UN resolution which threatened further 
penalties and sanction against Iraq, Iraq's Parliament 
recommended on October 27 that Iraq suspend its cooperation 
with the United Nations Special Commission (Unscom) until 
the UN set a clear timetable for the lifting of the deadly 
economic sanctions.(1)

The embargo against Iraq reportedly will only be lifted 
after the imperialist's weapons inspectors state that Iraq 
has relinquished all of its long-range missiles and 
destroyed any facilities that could produce chemical, 
biological or nuclear weapons as well as destroy any of 
these weapons currently existing.(2)

The government of Iraq initially demanded that Amerika halt 
all U-2 flight spy missions. The flights were temporarily 
suspended during the first week of November. The u$ 
officially reports that it spends $26.6 billion annually on 
spying to ensure Amerikan hegemony. In part, this spying 
continues the war against the Iraq people and is an attempt 
to stop the people from arming and defending themselves from 
imperialist attack.(3)

On November 4, Iraq stated that any flights which took place 
over Iraqi territory would be attacked. Despite this 
declaration, the United Snakes responded by saying that it 
would not even temporarily halt the spy missions, knowing 
full well that if shot down, the U$ could easily justify its 
desire to attack. The U$ insists that Iraq's ability to 
successfully shooting down a U-2 is very low. Out of its 
other mouth, the u.s. uses Iraq's threat in propaganda to 
build the myth that Iraq is a severe enemy and needs to be 
stopped militarily.

The United $tates has increased its military presence in the 
Persian Gulf to emphasize to Iraq and UN imperialists that 
Amerika is prepared to use military force to protect its 
interests. Before even allowing Iraq to diplomatically 
address the Security Council, the U$ placed a formidable 
arsenal in the Persian Gulf including 20,000 troops, two 
aircraft carriers, "dozens of warships capable of launching 
cruise missiles into Iraq, two cruisers, four destroyers, 
three frigates and an attack submarine. There are also more 
than 200 fighter aircraft stationed aboard the Nimitz or at 
bases in Saudi Arabia."(4) In addition, the US has sent more 
F-16s to Turkey to militarize the north territory.

On October 30 and November 2, Iraq barred the entrance of 
additional Amerikan inspectors. Sent by the UN, a delegation 
then went to push Hussein to permit Amerikan involvement in 
Unscom inspections. The UN delegation explicitly emphasized 
imperialist demands and pushed for 100% compliance from 
Iraq. Democrat and Republican leaders of the House and 
Senate said they supported an invasion of Iraq before the 
negotiating team even landed on Iraqi soil, yet Amerika 
portrays Iraq as the warmongering nation. The Amerikan 
imperialists wanted to push the UN Security Council to agree 
that Iraq was in a "material breach" of the 1991 cease-fire 
because that declaration is a green light for military 
action.

The UN envoys returned without the concessions they had 
wanted. Instead Iraq sent a letter back saying that Iraq 
should be allowed to have talks with the security council. 
Iraq attempted to use the standoff as a chance to address 
the UN directly. If the imperialists truly wanted to deal 
with the problem peacefully as they claim, they would allow 
Iraq to participate. Instead the imperialists only wanted to 
back Iraq down to the situation prior to October 29. In that 
situation, Iraq had little leverage to defend its nation and 
people.

On November 12, the UN voted to stiffen economic sanctions 
against Iraq. Seeing that the UN, led by Amerikan 
imperialism, sought no peaceful resolution and had no 
intentions of talks to end sanctions against Iraq, Iraq 
expelled the Amerikan members of Unscom on November 13. The 
UN then halted remaining Unscom activities in a gesture of 
loyalty to Amerikan domination. Following the expulsion, 
Amerikan imperialism bolstered support for military attack 
and claimed that Iraq was in the process of creating more 
weapons while Unscom activities were halted.

Amerika even used the Iraqi people's preparation for defense 
against attack as propaganda to further dirty the image of 
Hussein. The military of Iraq placed all units on maximum 
state of alert and prepared the troops to defend against an 
attack. Massive anti-imperialist demonstrations were held by 
the Iraqi people. Yet Amerikan reporters said these 
demonstrations were staged and that Hussein was "hiding 
behind the skirts of wimmin and children." What imperialism 
mocks will lead to its demise:  anti-imperialism will be 
fought successfully because of the power of the people 
despite the massive imperialist war machine.

After three weeks of potential imperialist attack, on 
November 22, Amerikan weapons inspectors/spies returned and 
Unscom resumed documentation of Iraq's defense capabilities. 
The resumed investigations came after Russia negotiated with 
Iraq to advocate that the UN declare Iraq nuclear free and 
closer to meeting weapons restrictions. "But the United 
States is expected to oppose any certification that Iraq has 
met the requirements to have sanctions lifted, and it has 
the power to veto action by the Security Council." (5)

The United Snakes of Imperialism plans to go back to square 
one, saying that more monitoring is needed because of the 
possibility that Iraq created more weapons during the halted 
inspections. It is similar speculation which the United 
Snakes used to justify stronger sanctions against Iraq back 
in October. These sanctions lead to the death of Iraq 
masses.


MASSES SUFFER FROM CRUEL U.$. SANCTIONS


Earlier in 1997, Iraq was allowed by the imperialists to 
start trading only $2billion every six months for food and 
medicine for civilians. The bourgeois press reported that 
this "only whetted Baghdad's appetite for larger oil 
sales."(2) MIM argues that it is important to look at the 
toll ravaged against the masses of Iraq to see that Iraq's 
demand to end economic sanctions is a necessity as sanctions 
are a form of economic warfare targeted at the poorest 
classes of Iraq by the imperialists. Iraq is merely fighting 
to regain control of its economic power which has been 
choked by Amerikan imperialism. The press of the 
imperialists portray the struggle to end economic sanctions 
as an Iraqi maneuver to unleash a dangerous animal. MIM sees 
the demand to end economic sanctions as a just call to help 
end the suffering of the people. In addition, we would like 
to see the development of Maoist revolutionary economic 
strategies which would better enable the Iraqi people meet 
their own needs.

Current estimates of the direct death toll from sanctions 
imposed on Iraq after the 1990 war, resulting in a severe 
lack of medicine and food, run as high as 1.5 million people 
-- the majority of whom are children under five years 
old.(6) "According to UNICEF, about 4,500 Iraqi children 
have been dying each month from a variety of illnesses, 
compared with 600 a month before the Gulf War." (7)

Since the impositions of the economic embargo against Iraq, 
"health experts report 4 fold increases in some types of 
cancer, and the reappearance of diseases eradicated 30 years 
ago [by a relatively advanced government-run health care 
system sustained by the once-healthy oil economy]. 
Malnutrition effects most of the population and water born 
infections are rampant. This is happening at the same time 
that medicines are unavailable." (8)

As has historically been the case with third world countries 
ravaged by imperialism (Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua, e.g.) 
-- the aggressors claim that the Third World leaders are 
responsible for the peoples' suffering. In November, the 
U.N. Commission on Human Rights had the audacity to report 
that "despite some improvement in Iraqi citizens' access to 
food and health care, human rights abuses have continued in 
Iraq over the past year." (9) Particularly hypocritical is 
the U $ - U.N. claim that the Iraqi criminal justice system 
is "arbitrary." MIM knows that the United Snakes couldn't 
care less about arbitrary imprisonment -- it leads the world 
in incarceration and police, prosecutorial and judicial 
brutality.


IRAQI ECONOMY & U.$. IMPERIALISM


According the the CIA, oil exports, which used to account 
for 95% of the foreign exchange earnings in Iraq, are now at 
less than 5% of their pre-1990 levels. "Consumer prices more 
than doubled in both 1994 and 1995 because of the economic 
embargo."(10)

"Iraq's national oil company (INOC) ranked second in the 
world in oil reserves in 1995. ... 'INOC (Iraq) appears to 
have 350 years of oil the ground. [compared to Kuwait's 120 
year supply]'"(11) With U.$. imperialists invested in Saudi 
Arabia and Kuwait -- including a joint venture between Exxon 
and the Kuwaiti state oil company -- they are interested in 
destroying the Iraqi government and economy in order to take 
it, and its oil supply, over.

Although the U.$. only imports about 10% of its oil from the 
Persian Gulf,(12) Iraq's oil industry, the U.$. imperialists 
argue, if it were allowed to fully function, would seriously 
affect the world market price for oil, and the U.$. needs to 
protect its investments in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.


IMPERIALISTS PROTECT PARASITIC INTERESTS IN IRAQ


During the middle of November a CNN poll reported that over 
half of Amerikans agreed with attacking if Iraq decided to 
shoot down Amerikan spy planes which are in themselves an 
attack and invasion of Iraq. In the same poll, over 40% of 
Amerikans supported an Amerikan invasion even before  Iraq 
took any actions against Amerikan spy missions.

Amerikan public opinion supports imperialist domination over 
the people of Iraq because of material economic interests. 
Yet the material interests are disguised as concern that 
Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction. If the 
imperialists and the Amerikan majority were truly concerned 
with weapons of mass destruction, they would be talking 
about the death toll inflicted against the Iraqi people in 
1991 and since.

Through perpetuating the mythological threat posed by Iraq, 
Amerika hides the fact that more than 200,000 Iraqis were 
murdered during the Gulf War by the Amerikan led death 
machine, of which the Red Crescent Society of Jordan 
estimated that 60% were children. In addition, approximately 
10-20,000 residential dwellings and thousands of vehicles 
were destroyed and 80% of oil refineries, 26,000 facilities 
and vast sections of the Iraqi infrastructure were 
demolished. (13)

The forty-two day military bombardment during 1991, almost 
seven years of death-causing economic sanctions, continued 
imperialist intervention and spying and now increased 
militarization of the Persian Gulf are all part of 
imperialism's war to increase imperialist nation profits and 
imperialist and labor aristocrat standard of living.

The majority of the people in the world are dominated by 
imperialist nation economic, political and military control. 
This contradiction becomes more acute and closer to its end 
as the majority of the world's people organize for national 
liberation and socialism. MIM looks forward to the day when 
the Iraqi people take up the study of Mao and build a 
revolutionary, Maoist anti-imperialist struggle. Until that 
day, MIM supports the Iraqi people in their struggle against 
imperialism, principally u.s. imperialism.

We organize in the United Snakes of Amerika to expose the 
atrocities committed by the illegitimate white settler 
nation government and build public support in favor of anti-
imperialist struggle. This is a formidable task considering 
that the majority of Amerikans support the massive 
imperialist death machine. Join us to expose and oppose the 
murder of the masses by the guns of a few.


NOTES:
1. The New York Times 28 October 1997, p.A5.
2. The New York Times 30 October 1997, pp. A1 & A9.
3. The New York Times 16 October 1997, p. A17.
4. The New York Times 8 November 1997, p. A1.
5. The New York Times 22 November 1997, p. A6.
6. "Behind the U.S. War Threats Against Iraq: Who Gets Rich, 
Who Dies?" International Action Center, November 17, 1997.
7. Associated Press, August 1, 1996.
8. "Health Care May Be Up For Sale in Iraq," http://www.al-
bushra.org/iraq/health.html
9. "Iraq human rights situation still unacceptable, 
Rapporteur says," US Information Agency (USIA), November 12, 
1997 http://www.reliefweb.int
10. CIA World Fact Book For 1996, 
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/factbook /iz.htm
11. www.shell.com
12. "In Focus: U.S. Oil Policy in the Middle East," 
http://www.zianet.com/infocus/mideoil.html
13. For more information on Amerika's crimes against Iraq, 
see War Crimes:  A Report on United States War Crimes 
Against Iraq by Ramsey Clark et al Maisonneuve Press: 1992. 
Also, ask MIM for back issues of MIM Notes during 1990 and 
1991, $1 each.