Iraq 11-20-2006

20, November 2006           Iraq

I call upon all South Asians to vigorously oppose the insane and immoral Iraq war. Every reason advanced by the godless neocons has proved to be utterly false. No weapons of mass destruction (formerly sold to Iraq by the US, Europeans, China and Russia – who now express moral outrage – such hypocrisy!), no role in 9/11 (the Bush mantra notwithstanding), no al-Qaeda connection; and no jalebees and gulab jaman greeted the invaders! It is incumbent for us to remember the dark days of the British Raj when our nation was forced to endure the indignities of British imperialism. We need to identify ourselves with nations yearning to be free from the horrors of undue US influence. The entire infrastructure of Iraq has been crippled by the grotesque ‘shock and awe’ invasion. US corporations swooped down and plundered the wealth of Iraq, uncaring and oblivious to the appalling suffering of the Iraqis. Heavy censorship prevented the horrors of the killings from being beamed into our living rooms. Over 650,000 Iraqis have died and many times that number seriously injured. Over 1,000,000 Iraqis have been displaced. Hundreds of intellectuals have been killed and others have fled leaving Iraq weak and fragile. The old strategy of ‘divide and rule’ has turned Iraq into a bloodbath of sectarian violence. The sinister influence of Israel in promoting the invasion and serving as military advisors, have been well documented by Robert Fisk (London Independent) and other reputable reporters. Medieval torture has been used to exact ‘confessions’ from hapless detainees making a complete mockery of our claim to be a law abiding nation. 

Cheap labor from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is being exploited by private contractors to service the occupation forces. Earning a small percentage of their white colonial masters (about $300 per month) they work under extremely dangerous and hazardless conditions. 
Meanwhile, on the home front, our civil liberties have been severely curtailed and hate crimes have escalated. I urge Indo-Americans of all stripes to voice their opposition to the anti-democratic, imperial designs of our misguided administration. We need to hold the new crops of Democrats ‘feet to the fire’ and ensure they root out corruption and malfeasance and demand that the war profiteers return their ill-gotten gains to the US Treasury. Our elected officials must chart a new foreign policy based on peace and justice and not on advancing US corporate needs to the detriment of the poor and disenfranchised people of the world.