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The NYT Ignores Decades of
US-Inflicted Horrors on Iraq


By Stephen Lendman
stephenlendman.org
7-16-17

 
The curse of oil and US rage for unchallenged global dominance lie at the root of the mass slaughter and destruction inflicted on the country for decades.

The high crime has been ongoing since the Carter administration instigated the 1980s Iran/Iraq War.

From then to now, millions of Iraqi civilians perished from endless conflicts, related violence, genocidal sanctions, untreated diseases, ecocide, America’s deployment of ISIS terrorists to the country, and overall US barbarity - raping and destroying the cradle of civilization.

In the run-up to Bush/Cheney’s 2003 aggression, disgraced reporter Judith Miller operated as a virtual Pentagon press agent, abandoning any semblance of responsible journalism.

On July 15, a Times report on the country disgracefully claimed “(w)hen the United States invaded Iraq 14 years ago to topple Saddam Hussein, it saw Iraq as a potential cornerstone of a democratic and Western-facing Middle East…”

Fact: America is uncompromisingly opposed to democracy at home and abroad.

Fact: Decades of US aggression on Iraq were all about regime change, installing pro-Western puppet rule, destroying the country’s sovereign independence, looting its vast oil and gas resources, and eliminating an Israeli rival.

The Times: Since the 1980s, “Iran (sought) a chance to make a client state of Iraq, a former enemy against which it fought a war in the 1980s so brutal, with chemical weapons and trench warfare, that historians look to World War I for analogies.”

“If it succeeded, Iraq would never again pose a threat, and it could serve as a jumping-off point to spread Iranian influence around the region. In that contest, Iran won, and the United States lost.”

Fact: The Times has a consistent policy of reinventing history. Implying Iranian responsibility for war with Iraq, including use of CWs, is polar opposite what happened.

Fact: Iraq was the aggressor, Iran the victim, CWs used by Saddam, not Tehran.

Fact: Nothing suggests Iran seeks spreading its influence regionally other than wanting good relations with all Middle East and other countries.

Fact: It hasn’t attacked another country in centuries. It’s engaged in no contest with America for regional dominance. It wages peace and stability, polar opposite endless US imperial wars.

The Times: “Over the past three years, Americans have focused on the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq…”

Fact: Washington supports the ISIS scourge it claims to oppose - arming, funding and training its fighters, providing terror-bombing air cover, indiscriminately massacring civilians, causing vast destruction of vital infrastructure, residential neighborhoods and other non-military-related targets - the same thing ongoing in Syria and other US war theaters.

The Times: Iran’s “dominance over Iraq has heightened sectarian tensions around the region, with Sunni states, and American allies, like Saudi Arabia mobilizing to oppose Iranian expansionism.”

“But Iraq is only part of Iran’s expansion project; it has also used soft and hard power to extend its influence in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, and throughout the region.”

Fact: No Iranian dominance scheme exists anywhere regionally, no expansionist aims, no involvement in aggressive wars, no threat to its neighbors or any other countries.

Fact: Its government justifiably supports Syria’s liberating struggle. It opposes Israeli persecution of Palestinians. It’s fundamentally against US imperial aims. It forthrightly supports a nuclear-free Middle East. Israel’s arsenal and America’s presence prevent it.

The Times claiming “truck drivers pump Iranian products…into what has become a vital and captive market” disgracefully distorts normal bilateral trade.

Claiming Tehran ships “illicit drugs” cross-border is a bald-faced lie. No evidence suggests illicit trade of any kind between the countries - nor intent by Iran to influence or manipulate Iraqi parliamentary elections later this year.

No Iranian forces occupy Iran, unlike America’s military presence, responsible for decades of harm to Iraqis, millions of its civilians perishing from US aggression and genocidal sanctions.

The Russian, Syrian, Iranian, Hezbollah alliance is a vital force, countering endless US imperial wars, its support for ISIS and other terrorist groups - devastating Syria, Iraq, and other countries.

US rage for global hegemony is the greatest threat to world peace.

Humanity’s survival depends on countering it effectively - Russia in the lead role, Iran on the side of the angels, not the devil.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
 
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

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