From the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the genocidal war in Vietnam and carpet-bombing of Cambodia, to the slaughter of tens of thousands of fleeing Iraqi civilians and soldiers in the 1991 Gulf War, Washington has been the biggest user of weapons of mass destruction in human history.

Opponents of U.S. war moves should also remind their coworkers, fellow students and others that the "deal" United Nations secretary general Kofi Anan struck with Baghdad last February in fact legitimized Washington's use of military force against those who don't "follow the rules" the U.S. rulers decree. That agreement, signed in the name of preventing the massive bombing of Iraq by U.S. forces, made it more likely that another deadly confrontation can quickly develop. The Clinton administration has made clear its stance that any declared "violation" of the agreement can be used as justification for unilateral military action by Washington.

In the name of patrolling for biological and chemical weapons, the U.S. rulers seek to gain greater dominance in the Arab-Persian Gulf region. Along with their moves to expand the NATO military alliance eastward, deepen intervention in the Balkans, and play a greater military and economic role in the Caspian Sea area, Washington's war moves against Iraq are increasingly aimed at tightening the imperialist noose around Russia, in preparation for an eventual attempt to restore the domination of capitalism there by military force. In the process, the U.S. rulers strive to gain a further edge over their capitalist allies, who are also rivals, in the oil-rich region.

Today's propaganda against Iraq goes hand-in-hand with political campaigns against "terrorism" and "Islamic fundamentalism," which serve to justify both imperialist military assaults and attacks on democratic rights inside the United States and other countries. These charges will be and are used to smear many who stand up and fight - the Palestinian people struggling for self-determination, fighters for Irish freedom and Quebec independence, Albanians in Kosovo demanding their national rights, and others throughout the Mideast and along the Silk Road who resist the impact of the crisis of the world market system today.

Working people the world over should join now in calling for an immediate end to the "weapons inspections" that violate Iraqi sovereignty, for the lifting of all UN sanctions, and for all U.S. and UN inspectors and troops to get out of the Mideast!  
 
 
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