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Iraq: A Twenty-Two Year Genocide by Felicity Arbuthnot

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
London, England
January 17, 2013

“It is the first genocide of the 21th century. Poor Iraq and Iraqis. The silence of the world pushes me to lose faith in humanity.” (Anonymous)

Incredibly it is twenty-two years to the day since the telephone rang in the early hours and a friend said: “They are bombing Baghdad.”

It was not alone Baghdad, of course, Iraq was being systematically destroyed, from ancient southern Basra to haunting, historic Mosul in the north – in the West destruction was such that it was not even noticed by the outside world that about seventy miles of Iraq had been entirely illegally donated to Jordan, the border was simply “moved.” Kuwait, bordering of Iraq’s southern border benefited similarly illegally.

Then Secretary of State James Baker’s vow to: “reduce Iraq to a pre-industrial age” was being minutely executed over what was to become a forty three day blitz, which morphed in to a thirteen year, vicious, murderous, one sided war of attrition and ultimately illegal invasion and occupation.

Of the 17th January 1991 onslaught, Media Lens have pointed out:

“French diplomat Eric Rouleau later observed that Iraqis: “… had difficulty comprehending the Allied rationale for using air power to systematically destroy or cripple Iraqi infrastructure and industry: electric power stations (92% of installed capacity destroyed), refineries (80% of production capacity), petrochemical complexes, telecommunications centers (including 135 telephone networks), bridges (more than 100), roads, highways, railroads, hundreds of locomotives and boxcars full of goods, radio and television broadcasting stations, cement plants, and factories producing aluminum, textiles, electric cables, and medical supplies.”

“Former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark said that: “U.S. planes flew more than 109,000 sorties, raining 88,000 tons of bombs, the equivalent of seven Hiroshimas …”

“Eric Hoskins, a Canadian doctor and coordinator of a Harvard study team on Iraq, reported that the allied bombardment: “… effectively terminated everything vital to human survival in Iraq – electricity, water, sewage systems, agriculture, industry and health care. Food warehouses, hospitals and markets were bombed …” Hoskins’ team asked themselves: “if these children are not the most suffering child population on earth.”

A UN team called the devastation: “near-apocalyptic.”

Invasions are, of course, a tragedy – unless it is the US-EU-NATO’s slaughterfest, then it becomes “The Right to Protect”, “Humanitarian Intervention” and of course “Liberation.” Iraq’s actions towards Kuwait were complex and Saddam Hussein was led to believe his action was US – thus Western – sanctioned. Iraq was, in fact, subject of an epic proportioned, historic, stitch up.

Academic, Dr Gideon Polya, author of “Body Count – Global Avoidable Mortality since 1950”, calls Iraq’s subsequent plight a “Holocaust” and a “Genocide.” He is less than impressed by “liberations” stating in the Preamble that his research: “ … documents the … avoidable death of 1.3 billion people since 1950 on Spaceship Earth, with the First World in control of the flight deck.” That was to 2007.

Dr Polya has now researched attacks on Muslim countries. Given today’s anniversary this is “stolen” wholesale from his Iraq website “dedicated to informing” of the enormity of what has befallen the people of Mesapotamia (note, figures so far, to 2011.)

“The ongoing Iraqi Holocaust (1990-2011) involves 1.7 million violent deaths, 2.9 million non-violent excess deaths, 4.5 million violent and non-violent excess deaths, 2.0 million under-5 infant deaths, 1.8 million avoidable under-5 year old infant deaths and 5-6 million refugees. An Iraqi Genocide according to the UN Genocide Convention definition of: ‘acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.’ “

Dr Polya, who has filed a Formal Complaint with the International Criminal Court, states:

“The Iraqi Genocide – still continuing under Nobel Peace Laureate Obama – is of a similar magnitude to the WW2 Jewish Holocaust (5-6 million killed, 1 in 6 dying from deprivation.)”

On this anniversary of a night of terror and tears which set the stage, the war “theatre” or threat of it – with Muslim countries the target – this is dedicated to the people of Iraq – and their neighbours in Syria, in Iran, to the decimated of Afghanistan and Libya and to the people of Palestine. To all those victims of “Spaceship Earth with the First World in control of the flight deck.”

From the archives:

Five Invasion Plots, Three Continents, Identical Lies by Felicity Arbuthnot

Iraq: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics by Felicity Arbuthnot

The Madeleine Albright Commemoration: Iraq Genocide Memorial Day by Felicity Arbuthnot

The War on Iraq: Five US Presidents, Five British Prime Ministers, Thirty Years of Duplicity, and Counting…. by Felicity Arbuthnot

19 thoughts on “Iraq: A Twenty-Two Year Genocide by Felicity Arbuthnot”

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  2. After World War II, and before the dissolution of the USSR, there were genocides. These were rationalized by me as being conflicts to stop monolithic Communism’s march across the world or as being the result of peoples being rubbed between the cracks of the USSR’s and USA’s spheres of influence. But since December 26, 1991, we have had a unipolar world. In that time, there have been genocides in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Congo. The USA has been the driving force in bringing conflict to Iraq. The rationale for attacking Afghanistan becomes less clear cut in hindsight given the military buildup around Afghanistan before 911.

  3. Per Gideon Polya’s articles I understand that there have been 4.6 million war related Iraqi deaths since 1990 – over 22 years – but, more amazingly, there have been 5.6 million war related Afghanistan deaths in less than twelve years. I don’t know how accurate Gideon Polya’s numbers are but they are vast.

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  14. Look around, recall the legacy of the past. The litany of cruelty is relentless. The sacrificial killing machinery increases its efficiency by the day. The juggernaut of ethnic annihilation grows apace, life diminishes in its wake and shrinks away to insignificance as the banal pragmatism of the inevitable dictates the executioner’s terms, and raises its triumphant voice of murderous privilege.
    The governments of this Earth are bent on destruction. More arms, more money, more threats, more godly powers to pillage the commons, enslave nature and destroy the peasants. To seed “their” Earth with our deaths. The corporate blackmail is perfect and finessed. Free markets folks! We’ll sell you a piece of the action! The root of it all? Fear of tyrant-tradition Fear of failure. Fear of exclusion. Fear of responsibility. Fear of change!
    It is all default cowardice and whimpering poverty of imagination. There is an endemic lack of courage to change the rules of the game forever, to assert the complexity of the right to life; the dignity of ethnic bio-diversity, legitimate self-determination and ecological justice.
    It is these so-called rulers, & “leaders,” the owners, the criminal institutions, the corrupt kings and their pampered harlots and their fake churches and filthy abuse, shielded by pious rhetoric, and creepy lawyers and rituals of control, these are the diseased maniacs who are wanting, who are wasting the life of this precious planet.
    Call their bluff! Arrest their arrogance!
    Be Idle No More!!

  15. Little by Little our nation is LOOSING more bits of its SOUL.

    In human terms that might mean a very small portion, sure hope so. The SOUL is the fundamental natural nature of our entire mortal being.

    For some they lost their natural nature long ago for they sought out war to appease their crafty nature of stealing. Some have said WHY WORK just go about and steal.

    World War I proved out to the Anglo Saxon warriors that men would die if pushed into it for unnatural reasons pushed on them by out ranking others. That has been true since the days of mustard gas and trench warfare. One by one men and some women lost their lives for unnatural reasons. It is totally unnatural to die before ones time.

    The treatise by Felicity is needed and all like treatise are required WHY we must never forget that we are just one spoke in the wheel ——that in some unnatural way moves the USA war machine along.

    While reading her words I tried to reflect on where I was at the time and what I was doing, my memories were unsure as they still are, I think that many are like me they push the bad out of the memory circuitry WHY it is to painful to recall.

    The WICKED WAR MACHINE keeps marching as the USA keeps loosing more bits of its SOUL — So — WHAT is needed WHEN and by WHOM? All sane know WHAT WHEN and WHO but most hang their head hunker over and sadly refuse to even have a voice on STOP the WARS issues.

    WHY? I think many have spilling the blood of the innocent on their hands.

    Last many thousand and maybe millions have the mindset of mercenary.

  16. It’s difficult to understand the enormity of what’s happened, nor how most thinking people could support the wholesale murders of the people of Iraq. What kind of evil minds are behind all this? We don’t want to believe that such evil people exist, that this kind of horrible evil is present in our world today.

    Thank you, Felicity, for bringing the situation in Iraq into proper focus.

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