Politics: 4 years of hell in IRAQ

(Photo: Kevin Smith, VICE magazine #4, Belgium)

In March 2003, vice-president Cheney ensured that the conflict would last weeks, not months. By then seven Americans out of ten supported George W. Bush in going to war in Iraq. Now that has changed and they are only one out of three supporting this war. Yesterday the Congress has voted a budget for the troops in Iraq, but setting 2008 for withdrawal of American troops. Of course, G. W. Bush has said he’d veto that resolution, when he receives it. In the meantime, since 2003, the actions of Halliburton, company managed until 2002 by the same Cheney, principal supplier of the US army, has multiplied by three (and they’ve made huge profits)! But that’s just an example. In March 2003, Dixie Chicks, a group of country music, were some of the few who dared oppose publicly the American intervention in Iraq. Their records were then prohibited of going in the air in most radios, even sometimes destroyed in the streets. Now, only a few weeks ago, they won the five Grammy Awards for which they had been nominated and their last record is top of sales. A few years ago, it was considered anti-patriotic to be against the Bush administration and against war in Iraq, "Today, more than any demonstration, the opposition to the war is made by the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, in talk-shows, in blogs, etc, where the official lies are demystified. In the meantime there is a full civil-war in Iraq (there is no discussion anymore of whether it is a civil-war or not, like one year ago), some 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, there are some 1,8 million refugees inside the country, between 60,000 and 360,000 civil Iraqi have died (depending on the calculations… but if one calculates an average of 150 killed each day one gets 219,000 already…) and some 3,500 or more foreign soldiers have died… And living conditions are not better nowadays than they were before invasion. In a recent survey some 25% Iraqis considered life was better before the war.

And today, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón proposes to take Bush and other responsible of the war to justice. As he has said to Spanish newspaper El Pais:

"Four years ago, the United States and Great Britain, with the support of Spain, among other countries, initiated one of the most squalid and unjustifiable episodes of the recent history of Humanity. Breaking all international laws, and under the pretext of leading a fight against terrorism, the US developed, since 2003, a demolishing war against the State of right and the own essence of the International Community. In the way, falling to pieces, were left institutions like United Nations, which hasn’t yet been able to recover." (...) "I believe that the moment has come to make a serious and long reflection on what has happened and is still happening in Iraq, in two ways. On the one hand, we should investigate the possible criminal responsibility of those who are or were responsible for this war and if enough proof and elements exist to demand their responsibility. Some may consider it a mere political responsibility, but many legal actions have already been launched in the U.S.A., as was demonstrated with the condemnation of one of the collaborators of vice-president Cheney. 650,000 deaths seem to be a sufficient argument so that this investigation is undertaken without further delay. On the other hand, and independently of the responsibility of those in charge at the beginning of this years of horror and terror, we must focus our analysis in an undeniable fact, recognized by everyone today: the North American war operation and what has followed, has determined or at least has contributed to the creation, development and consolidation of the greatest fields of training of terrorists in the world, with the sufficient space, time and means to prepare the most experienced terrorists."