Sunday, December 1, 2019

Iraqi Protests Are Not What They Seem

The eight year war between  Iran and Iraq of the 1980s, which was fought with chemical warfare, was one of the bloodiest in the history of mankind. Then came the Gulf War, which was more of a rout than a war, but it set the stage for revenge against Saddam Hussein. According to the CIA World Factbook, at the time of the preemptive strike on Iraq in 2003, 70% of the population of Iraq was under 17. The Iraq War resulted in countless deaths--many were fathers fighting to defend their country. Before the war started, Saddam Hussein sent his nuclear scientists to Iran hoping to end any hard feelings, but Iran didn't defend Iraq's sovereignty. After the surge to end the insurgency came the withdrawal of US troops and the rise of ISIS. Iraq was defending itself against a new enemy. Iraqis who were children during the Iraq War and survived the conflicts have grown up in the internet age, but with an education in revenge.

At the time, I wondered why the United States established a parliamentary system of government in Iraq to replace its dictatorship. The United States has promoted democracy around the world, why not give Iraq an opportunity to function on a higher level? The answer is parliamentary governments can be more easily controlled from the outside, and when a government is created and controlled by an outside force, there will always be protests and possible military intervention.

But, as the protests continue, Iran is being blamed, and the Prime Minister of Iraq is resigning. Why?

The Iraq War, with Saddam Hussein gone, there has been the threat of influence by Iran, but what influence have they actually exerted during this era of the rise of authoritarianism around the world? In 2011, Ahmadinejad wrote his letter to President Obama in support of the plan for the creation of an international government, and in 2012, our planning for the creation of the international government was placed online. The first government proposal came about to stop the drive to war and then was amended after the assassination of Saddam Hussein.

The Iraq War devolved as a  genocide, not a war, and genocides are based on weaving an illusion, now no one knows who to trust. It created a schism around the world, separating the entire population into four segments, including those who stand on the  principles, those who are grabbing for power, those whose lives have been affected, and those who function for their own interests. When President Obama responded to Iran, he opened the door to Iran, which led to the JCPOA and a window into Iran's nuclear power program, but also sparked outrage from the people who have been grabbing for power.  Is Iran's nuclear program being used for peaceful purposes, as Iran insisted, or to manufacture weapons to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, as Iran threatened?

Now the United States has a new president that promised his supporters that he would work to undo everything Obama did while in office, and one of his first moves was to withdraw from the JCPOA and to use his policy of Maximum Pressure on Iran by enacting crippling economic sanctions.

Donald Trump faced the Mueller investigation that looked into Trump's involvement in Russian interference in the 2016 elections, and is now facing impeachment as a result of an alleged abuse of power for putting pressure on Ukraine to benefit him personally. In how many other nations has he done the same? In his first trip to the CIA, Trump "coded," or hinted or suggested, to the agents his intent to go back into Iraq to take their oil. Have there been covert actions to do that, and to cast blame on Iran to divert the attention away from him? Is this another example of abuse of his presidential power?  Is Iran actually to blame?

Our original government proposal, An Exit Strategy for Iraq, set into place a way to defend Iraq from Iranian influence. If it had been accepted at the time, the drain on the US economy would have been plugged and the Iraq War would have ended with negotiations with Saddam Hussein-- and the Iraqi people would have lived in an era of world peace. The United States did not accept that proposal. Saddam Hussein is not here to negotiate a resolution to the crisis in a way that benefits everyone. After Saddam Hussein's death, the amended Exit Strategy for Iraq proposal places the entire responsibility for undoing the damage caused by the Iraq War on the shoulders of the United States. That implies that the United States is responsible for paying for rebuilding Iraq. That proposal has also been shoved aside. Now the United States may have gone down deeper into the power games. It appears the US government is once again going into Iraq to take their oil, but this time using covert actions and possibly to benefit only Donald Trump, and to deflect the responsibility onto Iran--who supported the plan for the international government under President Ahmadinejad. This choice could lead to a global war. The proverbial demons are being unleashed.  According to a recent statement by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the former Soviet Union, we could end  up in a  hot war with Russia.

President George W. Bush was considered the most powerful man on the planet by many people, and he and Prime Minister Tony Blair were able to bring together a coalition of nations when they invaded Iraq. They failed. The Iraqis fought back with weapons they manufactured in their kitchens. It was an unlawful war because it went against the intent of the UN Charter. It went against Universal Law, and by taking away the unalienable rights of the Iraqis, Americans are now losing our rights.

This time, the stakes are far different. The US power base has collapsed. We are under the threat of Russian and Chinese interference in our elections. President Trump, a billionaire with no prior government experience, according to Speaker of the House Pelosi is "in way over his head," and under the threat of impeachment for abuse of power. The lies he has told have created a sense of illusion so that no one knows who to trust. Could he draw together a coalition of his fellow Conservatives who have risen to power?

Why did the Prime Minister of Iraq resign? Who will replace him?

In the United States, the Iraq War is fading into history and our children have also grown up in the internet age. Many have been educated in revenge and we are seeing kids lashing out on fellow students in school shootings. How many Americans will answer the call to go back to war with Iraq? Taking Iraq's oil will tear apart the United States.

Each of our government proposals help to end the crisis for a particular nation, and our planning stages address the principles of failed US foreign policy. Each proposal will be addressed in an issue of World Peace newsletter. The first issue focuses on the Exit Strategy for Iraq, but it is a supplement issue. The contingency for the Exit Strategy for Iraq is the US Constitutional Amendment proposal. The first proposal sets the stage for the creation of an international court system based on Universal Law, and the dispute between the Iraq and the United States is the first court case. 

The Prime Minister of Iraq has resigned. Why?