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The Case For Iraqi Genocide
Iraq War
By Ghali Hassan
Peak Oil
27 October, 2006
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For nearly sixteen years, U.S. and British forces have been Top
killing Iraqis with impunity. The number of Iraqis killed is
Communalism increasing rapidly and could easily reach 3 millions if the U.S.  
refuses to end the Occupation. Iraq is an example of how the
Gender/Feminism West uses the word genocide selectively. Genocide is used to  
describe the internal conflict in Sudan (Darfur region), but not
Dalit the mass killing of innocent Iraqis where the U.S. and Britain
 
are the main perpetrators of violence and destruction. What is
Globalisation happening in Iraq today is genocide, as clearly described by
the Genocide Convention.
Humanrights
Western violence against Iraqis started in 1990. The so-called  
Economy “Gulf war” and economic sanctions were a deliberate and
calculated destruction of an entire nation accompanied by Search Our
India-pakistan massacre of innocent Iraqi civilians and retreating conscripts. Archive
The war was followed by more than a decade-long genocidal
Kashmir sanction that killed more than two million Iraqis, a third of them
infant under the age of five.
Environment
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In 1995, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
Gujarat Pogrom estimated that over a million Iraqis, including 567,000 children
had died as a direct result of the sanctions, which targeted vital i Our Site
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WSF goods such as medical supplies and water-treatment
technology, including chlorine, to purify clean water for drinking j Web
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Arts/Culture in contravention of the Geneva Conventions. According to
UNICEF, 4,500 children were dying each month and 825,000
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Iraqi children were at risk of acute malnutrition and possibly
death.
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Substantial evidence supports a deliberate policy by the U.S.

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and Britain to destroy Iraq and empty Iraq of its human
Submission Policy
resources. Former assistant secretary general of the United
Nations, Dennis Halliday, resigned in protest in 1998 as the
Contact Us UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. He described the
sanctions as “genocidal”. “I’ve been using the word ‘genocide’
Fill out your
because this is a deliberate policy to destroy the people of
e-mail address Iraq. I’m afraid I have no other view,” said Halliday. The
to receive our “sanctions of mass destruction” killed more innocent Iraqi
newsletter! civilians than were killed by all weapons of mass destruction in
  history. It was arguably the greatest genocide since World War
II. [See article by this author here. – Ed]
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After studying several documents declassified by the Defence
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m Intelligence Agency (DIA), Thomas Nagy revealed that the
Submit documents suggest “a plan for the deliberate massacre of the
Iraqi population by judicious use of economic sanctions, and
through the deliberate targeting of Iraq’s water supply” [1]. It is
possible that the U.S. and British government were
deliberately embarking on systematic depopulation of Iraq.

In a short essay in Harper’s magazine, Professor Joy Gordon

of Fairfield University in Connecticut, described the sanctions
as; a “legitimized act of mass slaughter" of innocent Iraqi
civilians. Gordon noted: . . . epidemic suffering needlessly
visited on Iraqis via U.S. fiat inside the United Nations Security
Council. Within that body, the United States has consistently
thwarted Iraq from satisfying its most basic humanitarian
needs, using sanctions as nothing less than a deadly weapon,
and, despite recent reforms, continuing to do so[2].

To avoid mass starvation of Iraqis and the collapse of the Iraqi

state, the Saddam Hussein government was able to break the
sanctions by bribing and corrupting many governments,
including Australia, Greece, Italy and Arab governments. In
2002, Iraq showed signs of recovery before the leaders of the
U.S. and Britain committed another ‘supreme international
crime’ by attacking Iraq unprovoked and in violation of the UN
Charter.

The March 2003 illegal invasion and subsequent violent

Occupation were planned in advance to destroy Iraq and
control its wealth. The people of Iraq did not invite Bush and
Blair to invade and occupy their country. They are rightly and
legitimately resisting the invasion and occupation of their
country. The invasion was justified by lies fabricated in London
and Washington, and filtered through the Zionist mainstream
media to demonise the Iraqi people in order to manipulate
public opinion.

A new study published in the most respected and peer-

reviewed British journal The Lancet estimates that 655,000 –
the midpoint between 426,369 and 793,663 people – Iraqis
have been killed as a result of the invasion and occupation of
Iraq [3]. In other words, at least 2.5 per cent of Iraq’s total
population have been killed as a result of U.S.-led murderous
invasion and occupation. “Deaths are occurring in IraqTop of
Form now at a rate more than three times that from before the
invasion of March 2003," said Dr. Gilbert Burnham of the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the
lead author of the study. With 95 per cent of accuracy, the
study is the most credible so far. The larger sample validates
and confirms the Lancet earlier study released in October
2004 that found an estimate of more that 100,000 Iraqi
civilians killed by U.S. force

The “cluster sampling” method is the best method of

measuring mortality in times of war and disaster and is used
widely, even by the U.S. government. The methodology used
by the authors has long been standard practice in estimating
mortality in populations affected by war. It was developed by
the U.S. centres for disease control and endorsed by the
World Health Organisations. The Statistical Assessment
Service (STATS) at George Mason University found the study
to be methodically sound and accurate. “The scientific
community is in agreement over the statistical methods used
to collect the data and the validity of the conclusions drawn by
the researchers conducting the study”, writes Rebecca Goldin
of STATS.

President George Bush and his lackeys (Tony Blair and John
Howard) quickly rejected the study findings and disputed the
number of Iraqis killed as a result of their unprovoked
international crimes. Their comment is insulting not only to
Iraqis, but also to scientists. Can you imagine Bush’s response
if anyone disputed the number of people who died in 9/11
attacks? Iraqis do not count as people. Bush alleged that Iraqis
“tolerate violence”. To the contrary, Iraqis do not tolerate
violence. The majority of Iraqis, including a large number of
“parliamentarians” in the U.S.-imposed government, are in
favour of an immediate end to the Occupation, and are
overwhelmingly rejecting Bush’s agenda.

From the outset of the Occupation, the Anglo-American

strategy was the creation of chaos, characterised by looting,
corruption, violence and mayhem. The disbanding of the Iraqi
Army and Police, and the creation, financing and arming of
militias and death squads to murder Iraqi prominent
politicians, members of the Ba’ath Party and professionals
(‘de-Ba’athification’), were the preludes to the current chaos.
Iraqis continue to be killed in larger numbers than they ever
did. Most of the crimes are perpetuated either by the
occupying forces or under the radar screen of the occupying
forces. Furthermore, the intent to “kill all military-age males” is
designed to completely pacify Iraq and make communities’
survival difficult in a society where men are considered the
‘breadwinners’.

Prior to the U.S. invasion and occupation, Iraq was a country

characterised by extensive social programs, including the
protection of women’s right, education system and health care
services that made Iraq the envy of the region. In today’s Iraq,
most Iraqis are deprived of security, education and health
services, adequate employment and sufficient food. Since the
invasion, Iraqis lack adequate electricity and drinking water
supplies. The Iraqi standard of living has deteriorated. “Nearly
5.6 millions Iraqis are living below the poverty line, according
to our most recent studies. At least 40 per cent of this number
is living in absolute and desperate deteriorated conditions,”
said Sinan Youssef, an official in the Ministry of Labour and
Social Affairs. The number of people living in “absolute and
desperate deteriorated conditions” has increased by 35 per
cent since the U.S.-led invasion. The unemployment rate is
estimated to be over 60 per cent, while food prices have
increased dramatically.

The U.S.-imposed undemocratic system and its puppet

government of expatriates have failed to provide for Iraqis and
create a safe living environment. The purpose of the puppet
government is to legitimise the Occupation and looting of
Iraq’s wealth by U.S. corporations. The illegal building of U.S.
military bases throughout Iraq and the construction of a
monstrous U.S. embassy in the heart of Baghdad are flagrant
violations of Iraqi sovereignty and independence.

Furthermore, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is estimating

1.5 million people are now displaced, driven by ongoing
military raids and militia violence. UNHCR spokesman Ron
Redmond said: “Our staffs [are] seeing about 2,000 people a
day coming across [to Syria], so it’s more than 40,000 people
a month just into Syria”. Most of the refugees have not
registered with the UNHCR, in what the UNHCR calls a “silent
exodus”. Many more Iraqis have moved on to Turkey, Lebanon,
Egypt and Europe. It is not just a violent Occupation; it is a
calculated ethnic cleansing. Those minorities who remained
become increasingly vulnerable.

In addition, the Iraqi brain drain is the worst in history, and is

destroying Iraq’s capabilities. According to the UK-based
charity group, Medact; “A quarter of Iraq’s 18,000 physicians
have fled the country since 2003, and doctors and other health
workers are being attacked, threatened or kidnapped daily”.
An estimated 250 of those who remained in Iraq had been
kidnapped and, in 2005 alone, 65 killed. The deliberate
destruction of Iraq’s health service is increasing the death
rates and suffering of Iraqis, particularly children.

The Western media, particularly in the U.S., are deliberately

ignoring the genocide in Iraq. Instead the media continue with
a campaign of disinformation, portraying the violence as
“sectarian violence”, “civil war” or “violent insurgency”,
removing the Occupation as the generator of the violence.
Indeed, the word Occupation, like the word Resistance, has
been completely removed from the media’s vocabulary.

There is overwhelming evidence that the U.S. and Britain are

directly responsible for the current “sectarian violence” in Iraq.
For example, the recent violence in Balad and Amara was
deliberately provoked to counter the growing demand for an
immediate end to the Occupation. The violence is used as a
propaganda tool to demonise Iraqis and to justify ongoing
Occupation. The media portray the U.S. as mediator (not
occupiers) trying to help the Iraqis. It is important to remember
that until the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq, the Iraqi people
had lived and intermarried peacefully for generation.

In addition to this media disinformation, the so-called

“progressive Left” and the “socialists” in the West are more
concerned with Iraq becoming “a catastrophe for U.S.
imperialism”, and that “Communities all over America are
paying a bitter price for [the Bush Administration] program of
militarism” (WSWS, 17/10/2006). The aim is to blame Iraqis
for everything. The destruction of Iraq is irrelevant and Iraqis
are ‘not’ paying a “bitter price”. This deliberate and deep
ignorance represents a conscious choice to obfuscate reality
and cover up war crimes perpetuated by Western leaders
against defenceless Iraqi population.

A recent report by the Program on International Policy

Attitudes found that the “overwhelming majority of Iraqis
believes that the U.S. military presence in Iraq is provoking
more conflict than it is preventing. More broadly, most feel the
U.S. is having a predominantly negative influence in Iraq and
have little or no confidence in the U.S. military”. In fact, the
head of the British army, Sir Richard Dannatt admitted recently
that the presence of foreign troops (U.S. and British) in Iraq is
“exacerbating” the violence.

Meanwhile, while a genocide is being perpetuated in Iraq,

President Saddam Hussein is on a U.S.-staged illegal trial
accused of allegedly ordering the execution of 140 people
found guilty of conspiring in July 1982 to assassinate Saddam
as president of Iraq, and of allegedly ordering the removal of
Kurdish families (to southern Iraq) associated with the Kurdish
insurgency.

Under international law as stipulated in The Judgment of the

Nuremberg Trials; “To initiate a war of aggression, therefore,
is not only an international crime; it is the ‘supreme
international crime’ differing only from other war crimes in that
it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole”... It
follows that the war on Iraq is considered the ‘international
supreme crime’, therefore, all those who are responsible must
be held accountable.

A report prepared by Consumers for Peace.org with the

advice of Karen Parker, a distinguished lawyer in human rights
and humanitarian law, found that there is ample evidence for
full investigations of war crimes committed by “individual
military U.S. [and British] officers in Iraq and on up the whole
chain of command”. In other words, U.S. leaders and their
allies (Blair and Howard) bear full responsibility for the ongoing
genocide and destruction in Iraq.

The number of Iraqis killed since 1991 could easily reach 3

millions if this modern day genocide is not stopped. The Bush
administration and their Western allies described the Darfur
internal conflict as “ongoing genocide”, contradicting accurate
reports and using the Darfur crisis to divert media and world
attentions from an actual genocide in Iraq. If the death of few
thousands of people in Darfur is considered genocide – by
Bush and allies – why the death of millions Iraqis is not?

It is morally reprehensible playing a double standard,

condemning the crimes in Darfur while ignoring the far greater
crimes in Iraq. More than 150 countries, including the 15
members UN Security Council, are bound to stop the Iraqi
genocide and demand an immediate and full withdrawal of
foreign forces from Iraq.

Ghali Hassan lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Footnotes:

[1] Nagy, Thomas (2001). The Secret behind the Sanctions,

How the US Intentionally Destroyed Iraq’s Water Supply.
The Progressive.

[2] Joy Gordon (2002). Cool War, Harper’s Magazine,

November, 2002.

[3] Burnham, G., Lafta, R., Doocy, S. & Roberts, L. (2006).

Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional
cluster sample survey. The Lancet, published online 12
October, 2006.

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