WHO PUT SADDAM IN POWER?
In light of the
most recent events in Iraq, it is important to analyze the problems leading
up to the most recent air strikes against this decimated country. This
once-bustling and promising country fell under the control of a dictator
who (in the name of Islam) abused and marginalized his people in order
to solidify his power base. But let us question the rise to power that
led to his subsequent abuses of authority. How is it that Saddam Hussein,
a common street thug before his assuming the role of dictator in Iraq,
became the figurehead that he is? To answer this question, one must simply
look to the United States and its questionable foreign policy toward "Muslim"
countries.
The United States installed Hussein as a puppet in order to curtail
the increasing fervor of Islamic revolutionaries. How can one forget the
gassings of the Iran/Iraq war? Or the killing of Hussein's own people in
Kurdish territories of Iraq? The list goes on. The US uses these events
to cast aspersions not only on the character of Hussein and his constituents
but on the nation of Iraq as a whole. It is important to note, however,
that these events did not go unnoticed by the United States. In fact, these
events took place when Hussein was an ally of the West; one must then question
who the true instigators of these and other atrocities truly are. It is
important to identify the origins of oppression, and in this case, Hussein
seems to be a secondary character in the game of international politics.
Additionally, the US has taken advantage of the opportunity to assert its
dominance in the region by blasting Iraq back to the Stone Age via attacks
in both '91 and in Dec. of '98. Iraq, a country with the potential to be
one of the most prominent sovereignties in its respective area (due to
both water and oil reserves), is now a smouldering wasteland of radiation
and childhood deformity (as a result of depleted Uranium bullets and the
"strategic" Western-sponsored bombing of chemical/biological
weapons sites). In the meantime, the United States can use Hussein's questionable
policies to maintain a looming presence in the Gulf.
From a sociohistorical standpoint, it is important to understand Western
policy in the Middle East. It is incumbent upon Western society (and its
European contemporaries) to curtail any form of resistance and/or insurrection
that may rear its proverbial head. The West has learned this lesson from
the threat that the once-dominant Ottoman Empire posed to its worldwide
authority. To remedy this situation, the Middle East was partitioned and
denigrated to the point of ridicule following World War I. This is a policy,
by the way, that is in effect even to this day - much to the detriment
of the innocent peoples of these countries. Unfortunately, Hussein is simply
one of many puppet meglomaniacs who contributes to the marginalization
and opppression of a people who are subject to the authority of a much
more dangerous landlord...
J. Adam
Brockwell
|