IRAQ WAR: A CONTEMPT OF MANKIND t’s difficult to be futuristic in this world of ours.
One may not be able to conjecture what will happen tomorrow or for that matter the very next moment. But one thing is sure to happen on January 20, 2008.For the uninitiated, on that day Geroge W Bush will relinquish the office of the President of United States of America, leaving behind a bloody mess which would require generations to clear. What happened on September 11, 2001 is going to be blot on humanity for eternity, but its aftermath has been no lesser a catastrophe.Starting with the attack on Afghanistan, the Global War has covered a lot of terrain - presently stuck in Iraq. Taliban were uprooted from Afghanistan, but neither Osama Bin Laden nor Mullah Omar has been captured. The job in Afghanistan has been an unfinished one, and we hear that the Taliban are regrouping.The US attack on Iraq has been an outright invasion of not mere a country, but an invasion of the very fundamentals of civilization. There is no arguing that Saddam Hussain was a wicked dictator, but notwithstanding his limitations he held the nation together. At no point in time was Saddam Hussain a threat to world security and peace to the extent present day Iraq is.There is no appropriates word in English dictionary or for that matter human expression to describe the chaos in Iraq. The country is amidst a civil war and some believe that the worst humanitarian crisis in the history of mankind is underway.The invasion started in March 2003 and by each passing day the quagmire in Iraq gets deepened. People have lost count of the number of civilians killed. Even the most pessimistic of estimates would leave us gasping with horror. According to iraqbodycount.com, anywhere between fifty to fifty-five thousand Iraqi people have perished in the war. Ironically this war was meant to liberate the very same people it has been consuming.A binge of sectarian violence has engulfed Iraq. The coalition forces stationed there neither have neither the resources nor the inclination to control these. As such the violence keeps on perpetuating and threatens to spill over neighboring countries.Another problem that has taken gigantic proportion is that or Iraqi refugees. It is estimated around 3000 people are leaving Iraq everyday. Close to 20 million people have become refugees, fleeing to neighouring countries of Jordan and Syria. There is no end to the plight of these people, as they are living in inhuman conditions and fear of persecution.United State’s illegal occupation of Iraq costs it around $250 million ( approx Rs.1200 crores) daily. But this amount pales into insignificance when compared with its cost to the world economy. The uncertainties associated with the Iraq war set in motion the spiraling of crude oil prices. From $25 in March 2003, the price which world today pays is above $50. The actual effect of war on oil prices would be difficult to quantify, but in any case the effect in no case should be below $5 per barrel. Considering that the daily world consumption of oil is approx. 84 crore barrels per day- the cost to world economy comes to $420 crores or Rs 21000 crores daily- an amount sufficient to wipe all kinds of poverty in all parts of the world.However, it would be preposterous to assume that the United States is paying the amount of Rs 1200 crores mentioned above from its own pocket. We all know that the US enjoys over lordship over the Iraqi oil- a resource, sufficient to cover their expenses in Iraq many times over.The US occupation of Iraq is outrightly illegal, immoral, inhuman, illogical and egregious. Forget man made sanctions (such as UN Conventions- which the US refused to comply), the War would have never fetched sanction even with the `purest human discretion’.The United States today is fighting a lost cause in Iraq. It is forlorn and embittered but is reluctant to admit its folly. Its erstwhile allies Britain, Japan, Italy, Poland etc are fast deserting it. America would probably be the last to exit, but not before turning the country into a graveyard.Saddam Hussain is waiting to be executed, being convicted of genocide. The attack on WTC was perpetuated by insane people. But the Iraqi War is a misdemeanor of perfectly sane people- led by George W Bush. In which case Bush is as much guilty of genocide as Saddam is.The WTC attack made the US paranoid. The global war of terrorism in not akin to putting the cart before the horse- for there is no cart and no horse here. Wars, far from solving the problems of world, have created many more.The Global War on terrorism is turning out to be no different.Terrorism is no natural calamity. It’s man made in all its dimensions and manifestations. It’s event like the Iraq War which are precursor to Terrorism. God only knows what form the consequence of Iraqi war would take in the future. At this moment, again, there is no in appropriate word in the English lexicon to describe crime of George W Bush. As for human expression- watch yourself in the mirror.- KKKNEELFAIR@YAHOO.COM