Recently it seems that not a day goes by without hearing or reading that the majority of America politicians screaming that we should and "need" to attack Iraq. But to my dismay and surprise, not many people are talking about the lives of innocent people that will be lost if and when such action is taken. Whether it is the young American soldiers or innocent Iraqi citizens that will be the victims of this "personal" war that Bush is determined to get us involved in it.
Moreover, such attack might destabilize the Middle East and hurt (socially and financially) the neighboring countries such as: Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan, but that does not seem to bother Bush at all. How many people remember the 600 woman and children that were killed in 1991 while hiding in an underground bunker when one bomb dropped by an America war plane- taking orders from Bush, Sr., one early morning in Baghdad?
One thing that we will never hear Bush tell the American public is that going into Baghdad, with population of over six million, we will surly be sending the young soldiers into the death trap that will be set up by the Iraqi people. Feeling that they must fight to defend them selves, they will fight to the end. Lets not forget that in their minds it is the American government that has caused the death of one and a half million innocent Iraqi due to the embargo that has been placed on them for over eleven years. When Bush, Sr., the war in 1991, it was not because he loved Iraqi people, but rather he knew that the Iraqi government had distributed a great deal of weapons to its citizens in case the Americans would try to invade the Baghdad and Bush did not want to take that chance. This was a fact and my wife, a recent immigrant from Iraq, had witnessed such actions.
She told me that the government of Iraq has found a way to protect its city and people by distributing weapons to each and every home in the city. The Iraqi citizens referred to this possible invasion of the city as: Inzal, meaning: The drop. This was short title used to for the meaning of: whenever the American parachutes down to the city, that the Iraqi citizens would fire at the American soldiers before hitting the ground. That is a very scary scenario and I would not want ONE single young American to experience this possible disaster. And if Bush thinks that he can go house to house fighting the Iraqi people, he has lost the meaning of reality!
And to the notion that the 3.5 million Kurds, which occupy north of Iraq (Kurdistan), would play a role as the northern alliance in Afghanistan, that is totally misleading, untrue and "day dreaming" by Bush. The Kurds after being let down three times in recent years, will never join Bush in his attack against Iraq. The Kurds have absolutely no trust and faith toward this administration. Most often I heard the Kurds referring to Bush as: like father, like son. Bush, Sr. has actually caused more death to Iraqi people than the government of Iraq ever has!
In 1991 when Bush "told" the Kurds in the North to rise against Baghdad and the Arabs in the South, and the American will be right behind them to help them, the Americans never showed up! The result: 183,000 Kurds left dead and that does not include the death toll to the South. Furthermore, Bush caused over two million Kurd to flee their homes and to find refuge in Turkey where they were denied entering Turkey. The whole world knows how much the Turks love the Kurds! They were left out in the open in the cold to die and starve. These memories will never go a way and that is one reason that the Kurds will never trust Bush, Jr., his father.
Even if Bush convince, or blackmail, the Kurdish politicians to join, the Kurdish citizens will not go a long with that. I know as I have visited that area sixteen times in the past five years and each visit lasted two to three months. During my visits, I had the opportunity to interview hundreds, if not thousands, of people from all levels. Last year I wrote a book about the living conditions there and how people managed their daily lives.
It was not difficult for me to get the real picture and the truth from the people I interviewed since I am an Iraqi Kurd by origin and they would tell me how they truly felt. The Kurdish people on the average are not too happy with the fact that Bush wants to attack Iraq and very possibly they will pay the price, once again even if the Kurds don't take part in this "war."
Another thing that Bush will not tell the American public is that Iraq has never attacked or talked about attacking the US. Even the causalities that the military had during the gulf war were all killed by "friendly fire." So why suddenly Bush wants to "free" Iraqi people from their government?
If Bush it truly concerned of the well being of the Iraqi citizens then he should lift the sanctions and let them live. The whole world knows it is the American government that has blocked the lifting of the sanctions and they can easily reverse that. Lift the sanctions and prove to the Iraqi people that you are on there side and I can assure the American public that such action will most definitely gain the trust of the people in Iraq. Bush needs to do ONE thing to prove to the Iraqi citizens that he is truly concerned of their well being.
