PPG | Issues

Iraq

Description

Iraq is recognised as one of the oldest inhabited places on earth, with human artefacts going back thousands of years. Because of its strategic location, it also retains the dubious distinction of attracting the worst despot and regimes in human history also. They range from Nebuchadnezzar II and Genghis Khan to the Ottoman and British Empires.

The latter refined the creation of the country with a monarchical constitution in 1921, in order to control the vast oil reserves by installing a favourable King (of the Hashemite family) and adopting the Iraqi Petroleum Company (later British Petroleum or BP) to retain post World War I British interests in the area. Iraq was invited to join the League of Nations in 1932. One of the first attempts, by King Ghazi I, was an attempt to create a Pan Arab non aggression pact in 1936. Iraq: History and Culture

Since 1968, if not before, Saddam Hussein has ruled the country with an authoritarian rule as the "Republic of Fear" would tell us.(Samir al-Khalil: 1990). Unfortunately it does not tell us quite as much about the huge advances Hussein made in his early days in for example education and health. The Ba'ath party however, crushed all internal objectors mercilessly. Externally, Iraq took arms against Iran in the "war of the cities" (1980-88), invaded Kuwait prior to the Gulf War in 1990/91, with some provocation of an oil dispute, and fired SCUD missiles against Hussein's pet hate, Israel during the Gulf War I. The international community has sought to contain Hussein via the United Nations and introducing no-fly zones since 1992 to protect the oil fields of Iraq after Hussein set fire to the Kuwait oil fields in 1991.

The second Gulf War in 2003 for the disputed liberation of WMDs in Iraq Global Security UK Parliament has, for the moment, removed Hussein from power, without the United Nations assent. The predominantly U.S. / U.K. invading forces have left a vacuum of power in which few, if indeed anybody, is currently satisfied with the outcome. A transitional government led by an American, Bremer, is at best unpopular.

Effect on Capitalism

The assets of Iraq were long recognised as being immensely influential in twentieth century global development. Guardian In the 1920's oil was already considered as the commodity of the future following the successful technological use of tanks and planes in World War I for the first time, had demonstrated a military demand as well as the huge industrial development taking place in the West.

The International Energy Economics Association (IAEE) estimates Iraq to have 9.3% of global oil supplies, second only to the the largest reserves of oil on earth in Saudi Arabia holding some 21.8%. IAEE More recent oil discoveries in nearby Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkmenistan dwarf those estimates, with some claiming the new oil finds to be in excess of one quarter of total planet reserves. The proximity of Iraq and threat of Hussein did not go unnoticed for the development of these fields and must be considered. Jean Pierre Favennec, "Petroleum Geopolitics in the 21st Century," P4, IAEE Newsletter, Q3, 2003

Following the first Gulf War in 1991, the UN no longer trusted its sovereign leader - Hussein - to look after the country's own affairs responsibly. Koffi Annan proposed an "oil for food" program which would retain 70% of Iraq's oil revenues, preventing Hussein spending it on weapons and with the intention of the UN purchasing food and medicinal supplies for the people of Iraq.Oil for Food program

Effect on Democracy

In the late 1950's, Communists fought the British supported monarchy. Ba'athists fought them in street by street warfare, later trying to assassinate President Abdel-Karum Qassem in 1959. Saddam Hussein was wounded. By 1963, the Ba'athists succeeded in obtaining power, and then in 1968 the head of the secret service and military; Saddam Hussein reached power with a military coup.

A brutal dictatorship followed the coup, then a declaration of war against Iran (1980-88) in which Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's) were used on the battlefield against the Iranians, SIPRI Factsheet followed in 1988 by use of WMD's against Kurdish civilians at Halabja where 5,000 people died. Amnesty International Others claim the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) shells during the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, was effectively using WMD's also IAC

Other atrocities include the hanging of The Observer journalist Farzad Barzoft (15-3-90) for allegedly spying for Israel, Observer and externally the assassination of the former Iraqi premier Abdul Razzaq al-Nayef in London by the Iraqi secret service, Estikhbarat. CASI

Summary

As one of the oldest cultures on earth, Iraq has a rich resource of history and academia. It's geographical position, verging between Europe and the Middle East, is also peculiarly advantageous. Contribute one of the most desired commodities on earth - oil - and it is little wonder why Iraq has been ruled by despots throughout the ages.

The Trans Caspian pipeline Rigzone would welcome the integration of oil from Iraq to its various outlets, and more importantly access to the Iraqi oil fields for the necessary pipeline grid across the newly formed oil discoveries in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan etc. Western oil companies would never have got Hussein's permission after the 1991 Gulf War, and recent feverish activity to sign contracts with notably Russian and French oil companies were toyed with by Hussein.

The United Nations "oil for food" program failed the Iraqi people dismally, with a later UNICEF report claiming the sanctions imposed on Iraq claimed;

"if the substantial reduction in child mortality throughout Iraq during the 1980s had continued through the 1990s, there would have been half a million fewer deaths of children under-five in the country as a whole during the eight year period 1991 to 1998" Unicef, 12 August 1999. CASI

On the contrary, the UN monitoring team UNSCOM (later UNMOVIC) weapons inspector Scott Ritter claimed all WMD's to have been removed from Iraq by 1997. Ritter 2002. Despite that, the West's demonisation of Saddam Hussein and ignoring alternative solutions PPG 2002 led the U.S. and U.K. forces to rid Iraq of Hussein, raising the question did the West want Iraq or Hussein ? (PPG 2002)

Weapons of Mass Destruction were sold to Iraq to fight against the Western despised Iran, by the U.K., U.S., France, Germany, Italy and Russia. Their hope was the two countries would neutralise each other in a war of attrition using conventional warfare. Now that WMD's had been used on the battlefield by Hussein, against the International Convention at the Hague 1889, and the Geneva Accord 1925, those same supplier countries ran for cover.CASI

Western patience had snapped with Hussein, and when Iraq invaded its non party state neighbour of Kuwait, the British and Americans immediately volunteered for the UN Security Councils resolution PPG 2002 to remove Hussein from Kuwait, in what became known as the Gulf War I in 1991. The 'liberation' of Kuwait allowed the ruling Al Sabah family to retain their kingdom, however, criticism of the decision not to exceed the UN resolution and hunt down Hussein was later affirmed by Hussein's miraculous escape and restoration to power in Iraq.

Recriminations continued in the West as to where Hussein had received such weapons, and in the U.S. Henry Gonzalez's Congressional reports on the Iran Contra, followed by the Riegle Report (Chapter One, Part 2) brought much soul searching amongst its nation, while in the U.K. Prime Minister John Major ordered Sir Richard Scott's "Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual Use Goods to Iraq." Apart from future controls issues, little was done in either country. CAAT

Since George W Bush declared an end to hostilities on May 1st 2003, atrocities have continued unabated in Iraq, with the daily murder of troops reported now exceeding casualties lost in combat on an almost daily basis. Hussein appears to be still at large. Oil pipelines are blown up, and the revenues from oil produced appears to be hidden in a "bank of Iraq" scenario which few appear to trust and some even consider a kleptocracy (Government of thieves). PPG 2002 Back home, western media, politicians and most importantly voters are questioning the wisdom of invading Iraq on the grounds no WMD's appear to have been found. The biggest losers still appear to be the citizens of Iraq.

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