Editorial

U.S. and British Troops - Out of Iraq!

The Bush administration launched its illegal invasion of Iraq despite the massive opposition of the world's people, the vast majority of countries and a majority of the members of the United Nations Security Council. It was counting on a rapid victory to quiet the opposition voices and the discovery of caches of chemical and biological weapons to justify its war. Unfortunately for the Americans and their British allies, none of their hopes have materialized. The Iraqi people has shown that they will defend their national sovereignty and will not meekly accept the U.S. dictate. This has the potential to create an entirely new situation, not only in Iraq, but throughout the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Americans are already dividing up the spoils of war between various corporations, many of which have representatives within the Bush administration. Various "post-Saddam" scenarios are being discussed, including the theft of Iraqi oil by the U.S. to pay for the cost of its war. However, these plans for the post-war occupation of Iraq appear to be somewhat premature.

Regardless of the eventual military outcome of this war, the Iraqi people have already won a political and moral victory. They have demonstrated that the American war machine is not invincible and their resistance serves as an example for the entire people of the Middle East. Already, massive demonstrations are rocking Egypt, Jordan, Syria and other countries in the region, as the people of those countries demand to know why their leaders refuse to stand up to the American imperialists. The seeds of a new wave of national liberation struggles are being sown and are threatening the reactionary regimes throughout the region.

Faced with the realization that they may have bitten off more than they can chew, the U.S. imperialists are becoming more bellicose and irrational. Rather than admitting they made a mistake and reassessing the wisdom of this war, they are actually threatening Syria and Iran. Claiming that the Syrian government is turning a blind eye to the smuggling of military supplies to the Iraqi army, the U.S. has threatened severe consequences if it does not stop. Meanwhile, several U.S. cruise missiles have already been launched against industrial targets inside Iran and U.S. war planes are entering Iranian airspace in order to test Iranian defensive responses. In addition, Israeli fighter planes are stationed in Turkey in preparation for a pre-emptive attack against Iranian nuclear facilities, and Donald Rumsfeld has threatened Iran with unnamed consequences if it fails to stop Iraqi refugees living in Iran from returning to Iraq to fight against the Americans.

The vaunted American army has been fought to a standstill by the Iraqi militia and civilian fighters. Rumsfeld would be wise to think twice about inviting Syria and Iran to join the battle. However, the one consistent thing about Rumsfeld is that he has never shown the slightest sign of wisdom.

The Bush administration gave two reasons to justify its military aggression against Iraq: to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and to bring freedom and democracy ot the Iraqi people. To date, absolutely no evidence of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons has been uncovered by the American forces, while the Iraqi people have made it very clear that they do not want to be liberated by the Americans and British. With no legal and no moral justification for their war, the U.S. and Britain must immediately end their aggression and get out of Iraq.