'Occupation was the name of the game'

Still no sign of the casus belli for war in the Gulf

Wednesday April 23, 2003
The Guardian

Gulf Times Editorial, Qatar, April 20

"With the United States in effective control of the country, [weapons 
of mass destruction] remain as elusive as they were when the United 
Nations' weapons inspectors were trying to discover their whereabouts 
under Saddam Hussein's regime.  

"We understand that Washington is determined to hunt down - if they 
exist - the weapons that were used as the pretext for this war. No doubt 
the injection of a team of 1,000 intelligence experts, scientists and 
military people as an 'Iraq survey group' to find these weapons, which 
was announced on Friday, is a good thing. However, their work should 
be done under the direction of the UN-appointed inspectorate or, at the 
very least, in close cooperation with the UN teams."  

Gulf News Editorial, United Arab Emirates, April 22

"The grotesque reality of the invasion of Iraq by America is slowly 
becoming apparent. Like some obscene dance of the seven veils, one 
by one as each veil drops, it reveals the obvious signs of greed and 
hegemony that inspired the occupation in the first place. Forgotten is 
the need to expose the weapons of mass destruction. What can be 
seen now is a far more obvious ploy, which makes observers in the 
region wonder: what else is there left that the US wants?  

"After the swift invasion of Iraq, it quickly became clear that occupation 
was the name of the game, not liberation, nor freedom."  

Arab News Editorial, Saudi Arabia, April 22

"Forget weapons of mass destruction - as Washington will when they 
are not found. This was, first and foremost, a war to get rid of Saddam, 
a tyrant who was an obvious and easy target. While he remains at 
large, Washington will be seen in a sense to have failed.  

"Realistically, if they get their hands on him, the most the Americans 
could do is hold him and eventually let an Iraqi court deal with him. 
Not that he would tell anyone about weapons of mass destruction or 
anything else. He has his future reputation to consider. He is not 
going to destroy it by telling the truth, let alone cooperating with 
the US. He is now in the business, like Osama bin Laden, of myth-making."  

Melhem Karam La Revue du Liban, Lebanon, April 19-26

"American victory has a bitter taste and the Iraqis will be wondering 
whether Iraq will be restored to them or whether, as Bush put it: 'Free 
Iraq will be stripped of its weapons of mass destruction so it can 
embark on the democratic path.' But that doesn't answer the question of 
whether or not there really are such weapons in Baghdad. This is a 
problematic issue, but the Americans - characteristically - are refusing 
to show their hand.  

"Saddam surrendered the keys to Baghdad after cutting a deal 
guaranteeing his safety and that of his supporters, and the hawks 
of the Bush administration are not far behind. They, too, cut a 
deal to bring them within reach of their goals for the most derisory 
of sums."  

Iran Daily Editorial, April 21

"Saddam is gone. Good riddance to bad rubbish. No weapons of mass 
destruction were used by the Iraqi regime in the three weeks of 
military hostilities nor any found.  

"Hence, two of the main declared objectives of the US-led invasion, 
namely regime change and destruction of the WMDs, have been achieved. 
If the Americans and British do not leave Iraq as soon as possible, 
the view that they were never seeking to destroy WMDs nor bring down 
Saddam's regime, but that their main aim was to find a foothold in 
the region, will make a lot of sense."  

Via BBC Monitoring

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Source: Information Clearinghouse ...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3082.htm


Cheers, Steve..

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