Conghaileach
27th March 2003, 18:24
[Following is the content of a comment broadcast on 18th March 2003
by the Iraqi Communist Party radio, Voice of the Iraqi People,
based in Iraqi Kurdistan.
http://www.iraqcp.org/framse1/0030322ICPst...(18-3-2003).htm (http://www.iraqcp.org/framse1/0030322ICPstatement(18-3-2003).htm) ]
[see also: "Two articles on the Left in Iraq;" portside post of
March 9, 2003;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portside/message/3870 ]
=======
In his televised speech last night, President Bush has put our
country and our people closer than ever to the catastrophe of war,
something we have always feared and done all we could to avert. For
months the US administration had been mobilizing its huge military
forces and gear, and now its president has declared that they are
about to attack within the coming few days.
The Iraqi people have already suffered two wars, repression after
their uprising in March 1991, the 12-year sanctions ordeal, and the
horrors wrought on them by the regime. This war will add further to
the devastation of the country and the loss of life among its
people.
That is basically why we have been emphasizing time and again that
war is the worst option. The downfall of the current regime and the
establishment of democracy in our country could be achieved by
other means, which would spare the lives of the innocent, if there
is genuine political will.
The Bush administration has opposed any other means but war, in
spite of its huge adverse impact - not only on Iraq and its people
- but on the security and stability of the region, and beyond. The
US has taken the decision to resort to war, in violation of
international legitimacy as represented by the United Nations, and
in disregard to worldwide opposition by governments and peoples.
Having said that, we neither ignore nor deny that present
tyrannical regime is the principal culprit for dragging Iraq
towards a new war, as well as inflicting suffering on our people
and devastation of the country for the past 35 years.
Thus, while George W Bush has signaled that war was imminent,
Saddam Hussein's security troops and the Baath party militias have
been deployed in streets and squares in Baghdad and other cities,
to terrorize the people and break their will, by suppressing any
sign of discontent or resistance, rather than take serious and
genuine measures to avert the war. Any responsible rulers would
have done everything in their power to spare their country and
their people further tragedies, even if this meant stepping. The
call for Saddam and his clique to step down and leave Iraq has not
been made simply because US president set that as a condition to
avert the war. For years our party has struggled to rid the country
of this dictatorship.
In these terrible days, we appeal to our people, caught between the
US hammer and the regime's anvil, to remain steadfast and patient,
ready to defend their life and their rights, to persist in their
endeavor to determine their own destiny themselves, and to
establish the unified democratic federal Iraq we all aspire to.
We appeal to the friends of our people, in the region as well as
the public opinion worldwide, to continue the solidarity with our
people and exert all possible effort, before the breakout of war,
to prevent it and thus spare the Iraqi people the agonies awaiting
them.
(Edited by CiaranB at 6:26 pm on Mar. 27, 2003)
by the Iraqi Communist Party radio, Voice of the Iraqi People,
based in Iraqi Kurdistan.
http://www.iraqcp.org/framse1/0030322ICPst...(18-3-2003).htm (http://www.iraqcp.org/framse1/0030322ICPstatement(18-3-2003).htm) ]
[see also: "Two articles on the Left in Iraq;" portside post of
March 9, 2003;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portside/message/3870 ]
=======
In his televised speech last night, President Bush has put our
country and our people closer than ever to the catastrophe of war,
something we have always feared and done all we could to avert. For
months the US administration had been mobilizing its huge military
forces and gear, and now its president has declared that they are
about to attack within the coming few days.
The Iraqi people have already suffered two wars, repression after
their uprising in March 1991, the 12-year sanctions ordeal, and the
horrors wrought on them by the regime. This war will add further to
the devastation of the country and the loss of life among its
people.
That is basically why we have been emphasizing time and again that
war is the worst option. The downfall of the current regime and the
establishment of democracy in our country could be achieved by
other means, which would spare the lives of the innocent, if there
is genuine political will.
The Bush administration has opposed any other means but war, in
spite of its huge adverse impact - not only on Iraq and its people
- but on the security and stability of the region, and beyond. The
US has taken the decision to resort to war, in violation of
international legitimacy as represented by the United Nations, and
in disregard to worldwide opposition by governments and peoples.
Having said that, we neither ignore nor deny that present
tyrannical regime is the principal culprit for dragging Iraq
towards a new war, as well as inflicting suffering on our people
and devastation of the country for the past 35 years.
Thus, while George W Bush has signaled that war was imminent,
Saddam Hussein's security troops and the Baath party militias have
been deployed in streets and squares in Baghdad and other cities,
to terrorize the people and break their will, by suppressing any
sign of discontent or resistance, rather than take serious and
genuine measures to avert the war. Any responsible rulers would
have done everything in their power to spare their country and
their people further tragedies, even if this meant stepping. The
call for Saddam and his clique to step down and leave Iraq has not
been made simply because US president set that as a condition to
avert the war. For years our party has struggled to rid the country
of this dictatorship.
In these terrible days, we appeal to our people, caught between the
US hammer and the regime's anvil, to remain steadfast and patient,
ready to defend their life and their rights, to persist in their
endeavor to determine their own destiny themselves, and to
establish the unified democratic federal Iraq we all aspire to.
We appeal to the friends of our people, in the region as well as
the public opinion worldwide, to continue the solidarity with our
people and exert all possible effort, before the breakout of war,
to prevent it and thus spare the Iraqi people the agonies awaiting
them.
(Edited by CiaranB at 6:26 pm on Mar. 27, 2003)