Occupation in Iraq PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 03 September 2009 19:30
The people of Iraq have been betrayed by the West. Saddam Hussein was given full support when he was committing his worst crimes in the 1980s. Suddenly when he stepped out of line he invaded Kuwait in 1990. The US launched its largest deployment of troops since WWII, resulting in 200 000 Iraqi deaths, but only a couple of hundred of Western troops. After the war, the US decided that it would be best to leave a weakened Hussein in power. He was allowed to ruthlessly crush an uprising which had popular support from many Iraqis. The US continued to punish the majority of the Iraqi population in the 90s, with economic sanctions resulting in the death of up hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
In 2003, Bush decided it was time to 'liberate' Iraq. However no weapons of mass destruction has been found. Now the invasion is now described as 'humanitarian intervention'. This overlooks the brutality at Abu Ghraib, and the 1 000 000 Iraqis who have died since the invasion. It is no wonder that the majority of Iraqis want all foreign troops out immediately. While Obama claims to be against the Iraqi war, he will keep over 100 000 US troops in Iraq until the end of 2011, not to mention thousands of contractors. What will the future hold for the Iraqi people? Is there an alternative to Western domination?
 
Thursday 3 September, 7.30pm. Otago Room, Clubs and Societies building
All Welcome