Comrade Marcel
17th October 2002, 10:18
From: The Marxist-Leninist Daily (http://www.cpcml.ca/tmld/D32156.htm#1) published by: Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (http://cpcml.ca)
It is a dangerous situation indeed when government officials and major media in the United States and Canada make themselves instruments of the U.S. disinformation campaign, repeating outright lies as if they were facts. One of the blatant lies is to repeat the U.S. and British suggestion that the "no-fly zones" over northern and southern Iraq were established by the United Nations. The impression created is that when Iraq defends its sovereignty by taking defensive action against the American and British aircraft patrolling the "no-fly zones," it is a violation of UN resolutions. Iraq is portrayed as the aggressor, while the U.S. and Britain are portrayed as the saviours of civilization and its values.
In his speech on Monday night, one of the "proofs" of the criminal nature of the Iraqi government offered by George W. Bush was precisely over the issue of the "no-fly zones." "The world has tried no-fly zones to keep Saddam from terrorizing his own people -- and in the last year alone, the Iraqi military has fired upon American and British pilots more than 750 times," Bush said. According to Bush, U.S. and British acts of aggression are a matter of defending high ideals against a tyrant "terrorizing his own people." The actions are thus not to be questioned because their motivation is allegedly above reproach. Similarly, when Iraq defends its sovereignty, then it is a matter of a tyrant using "the Iraqi military" to fire on "American and British pilots." Here we see the juxtaposition of a "military" which it has already been established is a "murderous machine" because it belongs to an individual who "terrorizes his own people," and "American and British pilots" who it has already beenestablished are acting with the blessing of "the world" for the highest ideals. In this scenario, we don't visualize menacing images of American F15 Strike Eagles and RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft invading the sovereign air space of an independent country, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure according to plans hidden from view. All of this is designed to discredit one's enemies, evoke moral outrage and justify the present plan of "regime change."
The fact remains that these "no-fly zones" were established unilaterally by the U.S., Britain and France after the 1991 Gulf War (France has since withdrawn). They were never sanctioned by the United Nations and even if they had been, they have no legitimacy under international law. It is a black mark on the United Nations and its Security Council that no action has been taken against this British and American aggression. Since December 17, 1998 alone, it is reported that 42,930 sorties have been carried out. Today, these "sorties" are one of the main means the U.S. and Britain are using to prepare the ground for their planned aggression against Iraq. If the Security Council were really concerned about peace in the Middle East, measures would be taken to make it clear that these "no-fly zones" are illegal and that the activity the Americans and British carry out under their aegis is aggressive.
(Edited by Comrade Marcel at 10:19 am on Oct. 17, 2002)
It is a dangerous situation indeed when government officials and major media in the United States and Canada make themselves instruments of the U.S. disinformation campaign, repeating outright lies as if they were facts. One of the blatant lies is to repeat the U.S. and British suggestion that the "no-fly zones" over northern and southern Iraq were established by the United Nations. The impression created is that when Iraq defends its sovereignty by taking defensive action against the American and British aircraft patrolling the "no-fly zones," it is a violation of UN resolutions. Iraq is portrayed as the aggressor, while the U.S. and Britain are portrayed as the saviours of civilization and its values.
In his speech on Monday night, one of the "proofs" of the criminal nature of the Iraqi government offered by George W. Bush was precisely over the issue of the "no-fly zones." "The world has tried no-fly zones to keep Saddam from terrorizing his own people -- and in the last year alone, the Iraqi military has fired upon American and British pilots more than 750 times," Bush said. According to Bush, U.S. and British acts of aggression are a matter of defending high ideals against a tyrant "terrorizing his own people." The actions are thus not to be questioned because their motivation is allegedly above reproach. Similarly, when Iraq defends its sovereignty, then it is a matter of a tyrant using "the Iraqi military" to fire on "American and British pilots." Here we see the juxtaposition of a "military" which it has already been established is a "murderous machine" because it belongs to an individual who "terrorizes his own people," and "American and British pilots" who it has already beenestablished are acting with the blessing of "the world" for the highest ideals. In this scenario, we don't visualize menacing images of American F15 Strike Eagles and RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft invading the sovereign air space of an independent country, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure according to plans hidden from view. All of this is designed to discredit one's enemies, evoke moral outrage and justify the present plan of "regime change."
The fact remains that these "no-fly zones" were established unilaterally by the U.S., Britain and France after the 1991 Gulf War (France has since withdrawn). They were never sanctioned by the United Nations and even if they had been, they have no legitimacy under international law. It is a black mark on the United Nations and its Security Council that no action has been taken against this British and American aggression. Since December 17, 1998 alone, it is reported that 42,930 sorties have been carried out. Today, these "sorties" are one of the main means the U.S. and Britain are using to prepare the ground for their planned aggression against Iraq. If the Security Council were really concerned about peace in the Middle East, measures would be taken to make it clear that these "no-fly zones" are illegal and that the activity the Americans and British carry out under their aegis is aggressive.
(Edited by Comrade Marcel at 10:19 am on Oct. 17, 2002)