Iraq War is Not Far From Africa - Emily

The Post (Lusaka) April 3, 2003 Posted to the web April 4, 2003 Larry Moonze And Brighton Phiri Lusaka

THE Iraq war is not far from Africa, Women for Change (WfC) executive director Emily Sikazwe has warned.

Condemning the United States led war on Iraq, Sikazwe wondered what would stop British Prime Minister Tony Blair from asking for assistance from US President George W. Bush in dealing with the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.

"We must not remain in silence again when women, men, youths and children are being denied the right to life due to selfish motives of George W. Bush and his allies," Sikazwe said. "The war on Iraq is a precedence based on the disregard of the legitimate processes of the international community.

It is clear that USA is a double speaker and playing double standards when it comes to adhering to international covenants on war." Sikazwe said the WfC was in support of a Croatian non-governmental organisation's cancelling of a grant contract which it received from the American government in solidarity with the people that were dying as a result of the uncalled for war. She said that was the spirit needed to show the American government that they were not above other states and the UN.

Sikazwe said the war was merely on economic interests by the American government to control the natural resources of Iraq. She said it was a well known fact that the USA government financed and supported most evil regimes that perpetuated conflict in some countries such as the Taliban (Afghanistan), Jonas Savimbi (Angola), Augusto Pinochet (Chile) and Mobutu Seseseko in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). She said the USA made economic gain from sale of arms at the expense of millions of lives that have been lost as a result of these wars. "The invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies Britain and Australia, without the UN Security Council approval clearly demonstrates that the USA and its allies have contravened and usurped the authority and mandate of the United Nations with impunity believing that money power will buy us all into submission," Sikazwe said. "The world watched in silence when Adolf Hitler of German massacred millions of Jews and watched in silence when there was a genocide in Rwanda." Sikazwe said the British and Australian governments' decision to send troops to Iraq was irresponsible and most unfortunate as it was against the will of the people. "Let us learn to dialogue, war will lead us to no- where," Sikazwe said. "We want no war. The British, American and Australian people have said no to war against Iraq yet the governments of these people went ahead against the wishes of the people." Sikazwe said to understand why Bush was attacking Iraq again, one must know that the main suppliers of oil in the middle east is Saudi Arabia. She said the rapture of their relationship could not be mended because Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian was allegedly involved in the terrorist movement and because the international public opinion was against Saudi Arabia due to lack of respect for human rights. Sikazwe said to find an alternative, the easiest way was war on Iraq because Iraq cannot defend itself, it offered an easy excuse to justify the attack to the international community that knew nothing about oil deposits and until now Iraq did not have the support of a powerful nation that would be in a position to withstand the American threat.

She said in the last three years, a social revolution had taken place in Venezuela, the greatest supplier of oil for USA, following USA government's failed attempt to topple the government. Sikazwe said the Bush administration had to find an alternative supplier to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela hence fell on Iraq.

"We want peace, we say no to war. Our hearts go to the people of Iraq whose children are being slaughtered everyday.

Our hearts go to the young men and women of the allied forces who are being exposed to danger in the name of Bush and his allies," said Sikazwe. And UNIP national secretary for youth affairs Frank Musonda has called on the International Court of Justice and War Crimes Tribunal to cite Bush and Blair for war crimes.

Musonda said Bush and Blair should be held responsible for the loss of life, displacement of people, destruction of Iraq's infrastructure and using weapons of mass destruction on an independent state.

"The UN must be democratised and reformed, equality in relations between member countries must be improved, veto power and double standards must be rejected," he said. Musonda said imperialism was becoming more aggressive with the US and its allies acting as special police who intervened in internal affairs of weaker countries.

He said policies of imperialists had dominated, especially after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and socio-economic and political changes in Eastern European countries. He said it was sad that the UN was now being controlled by the US and its allies.

Musonda said the new world order and implementation of neo-liberal policies had negatively affected the lives of majority of people in the world.