Hammering the Iraqis
Press Action
Thursday, November 20, 2003
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/spinoza11202003/
By Abu Spinoza
Statements about “Operation Iron Hammer” and about current U.S. operations against the Iraqi resistance by U.S. military officials, as reported by Agence France Press, are quite revealing.
Brigadier General Martin Dempsey, Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division, said (without any intended irony it seems):
“Throughout this operation we are communicating with the Iraqi people to let them know that these combat operations are being executed on their behalf, for it is only in a safe and secure environment that they can achieve the kind of life they deserve.”
What kind of message is being communicated to the Iraq people and their resistance? Major General Charles Swannack of 82nd Airborne Division said:
“Now it’s no holds barred. We use whatever weapons that are necessary to take the fight to the enemy.”
The Associated Press reported: “The U.S. Air Force used some of the largest weapons in its inventory to attack targets in central Iraq in an escalating crackdown on suspected guerrilla strongholds.”
With the departure of international humanitarian relief and assistance agencies, one wonders how much more suffering the Iraqis need to endure after years and years of wars and sanctions that has devastated their country. As Anglo-American occupiers fight their “enemy” in Iraq, people around the world must organize their own resistance to imperial powers in solidarity with the Iraqis.
© 2003 Abu Spinoza.
Abu Spinoza is a columnist for Press Action.