March 1991
Eastern Times

Let Us Not Forget The Holocaust

by Enver Masud

January 16, 1991 marks the beginning of the darkest forty-three days in recent American history.

On this day the United States and its allies began the systematic destruction of a tiny nation. In the next forty-three days the guardians of the "civilized world" would kill a hundred thousand men, women, and children, wound a million more, and destroy $200 billion worth of property in the cradle of civilization.

Their cause was "just." They were after the new Hitler. Never mind that until August 1990, this Hitler was their ally in the war with Iran. Never mind that President Saddam Hussein, by no means admired by many of his own people, was not nearly the worst of his breed.

And, of course, oil and the intractable problems at home had nothing to do with it. President George Bush proclaimed a New World Order. Or was it merely old world colonialism? Divide, conquer, plunder, and keep the natives in their place.

The invasion of Kuwait was wrong. Iraq should have settled its dispute with Kuwait peacefully. But was the nature and scale of the United States' response (sanctioned by a United Nations bullied and bribed into submission) proportionate to the atrocities committed by Iraq?

Having stalemated the United Nations for years, the United States in its newly found zeal, led the western crusade to rid the world of Saddam Hussein.

Never mind that it was silent when Israel bombed Iraq in 1981. Never mind the twenty three years occupation by Israel of the West Bank. Never mind all the other atrocities which Amnesty International has reported year after year. Saddam Hussein became the monster which had to be beheaded.

The vast majority in the western world applauded, as they viewed the real life Nintendo game on their television screens. Never mind that lost in the fog of "precision" laser bombing were thousands of innocent men, women and children.

Never mind that the United Nations resolution called only for removing Iraq from Kuwait. While babies in Iraq went without milk, the armchair Rambos, comfortably ensconced before their television screens, smelled blood. They howled for going all the way to Baghdad.

They were comforted by an American president who assured them that the United States had no gripe with the Iraqi people. They were only after that new Hitler. Tell that to those Iraqi people who will live with the wounds of war for generations to come.

But a brave minority kept alive the flame of freedom and justice. For upholding the right to free speech, and protesting President Bush's relentless rush to war, they were labeled unpatriotic. This minority did not forget the principles of the founding fathers, and the siren song of freedom that brought their forefathers past the Statue of Liberty.

It is this minority that must assure that America realizes the horror it has committed, and vows to use it's might for freedom and justice.

It is this minority which must lead the United States back to greatness. It must awaken America's conscience, so that freedom and justice for all are the principles which guide us in our dealings with nations and people everywhere.

So while we revel in the euphoria of an unprecedented victory, let us not forget the holocaust in Iraq.

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"''US Caused More Deaths in Iraq Than Saddam'," Agence France Presse, June 25, 2005