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CounterPunch
November
11, 2002
The UN Security
Council Vote
Why Don't I Feel Any More Secure?
by RON JACOBS
The inspections recently voted on by the United
Nations Security Council are not what they are advertised to
be. Instead of being a step towards peaceful disarmament, they
are a pretext for war. Plainly and simply, they create a scenario
where Iraq not only has to prove that it has destroyed all of
its weapons of mass destruction (WMD), it also has to prove that
it never possessed certain WMD. It is the latter condition that
makes the resolution a sham. After all, if Iraq never possessed
said WMD, how can it prove that it never possessed them? That
would be like a police officer asking you to prove you didn't
own a Panasonic CD player when you never did. How would you prove
that you never owned that CD player? You couldn't. Even if Iraq
somehow managed to convince the inspectors that they had never
possessed certain WMD, the United States (or any other member
of the Security Council) could merely say that they didn't believe
Iraq and use their disbelief as a reason to launch an attack
on the Iraqi people. If Iraq couldn't prove that they never possessed
those WMD, that, too, would be a pretext for war.
More fundamentally, the recent resolution
goes further to substantiate that the UN Security Council is
not a body composed of independent minded nations. For starters,
this resolution recognizes the "no-fly" zones created
without any legal grounds by the US and Great Britain back in
1991. It accomplishes this by making any Iraqi military defense
of its territory in these zones (say by firing at the US/UK aircraft)
an excuse for an all-out attack on Iraq by US and British forces.
These zones have never been recognized by any other nations besides
Britain and the United States until now. Their recognition by
the Security Council provides the US and Britain with the legal
grounds for their existence and "defense." In addition,
the haggling and tradeoffs that had to occur to get this resolution
(especially in light of Russia and France's early opposition
to any resolution which called for force) gives credence to those
who insist that the Security Council is merely a tool of the
United States government. Time and time again, from Korea to
Iraq, the Security Council has provided a cover for Washington's
war plans, even when such plans defy internationally accepted
norms and laws. Also, time and time again, the Security Council
has allowed resolutions that oppose Washington's designs for
the planet (especially as regards Israel) to fade into memory
without any serious attempt to enforce those resolutions.
In short, the UN Security Council on
Iraq that was passed November 8, 2002 changes nothing. It still
allows the US and UK to wage war on the Iraqi people EVEN if
the Iraqis meet all of the resolution's demands. Should this
happen, all the US has to do is state it does not believe Iraq
or the inspectors and begin an attack anyway. Those of us who
oppose war on Iraq must continue to do so and reach out to the
millions of Americans and others who are still on the fence over
this question. It is essential that people around the world understand
that this resolution is not a means toward a peaceful solution,
but is, in reality, another step in Washington's march towards
war.
Does this mean that we oppose the elimination
of weapons of mass destruction? No!. Not only do we support the
elimination of WMD in Iraq, we support their elimination around
the world. Not only should Iraq be subject to arms inspections,
so should every other country that possesses such weapons, beginning
with the United States, Great Britain, and Israel.
Ron Jacobs
lives in Burlington, VT. He can be reached at: rjacobs@zoo.uvm.edu
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