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THE ROVING EYE
Looking askance at
a (very) likely war
By Pepe Escobar
CAIRO - In an exclusive interview to Asia Times
Online, Moshsen Khalil, the Iraqi ambassador to the Arab
League, admitted that war is practically inevitable:
"The prospects are very high, I would say 99.99 percent.
But the remaining 0.01 percent still has a chance."
Khalil will be a key player at the extraordinary
Arab League summit of foreign ministers this Sunday in
Cairo. He is not only one of Iraq's top diplomats but
also a journalist, writing a weekly column for Babel,
the newspaper controlled by Saddam Hussein's son Uday.
The Iraqi embassy in Cairo is in a splendid colonial
house bought during the 1930s near the banks of the
Nile. Right across, also in a splendid colonial house,
is the Saudi Arabian embassy.
As far as the
summit is concerned, where 21 beleaguered members of the
Arab League (Iraq is the 22nd) will try to find some
unity and hammer out a common position for a last chance
to peace, the Iraqi position, says Khalil, is clear: "We
will listen to the opinions of all other Arab countries,
but they should stick to what has been decided in the
Beirut summit [in March 2002] and the ministerial
meeting last November. The most important thing is the
obligation of all Arab countries to reject aggression
against Iraq, which would be considered an aggression
against all Arab countries. The US is clearly bent on
aggression."
Concerning the proposed
Franco-German initiatives at the UN asking for more
inspectors and tougher inspections, with no time limit,
Khalil repeats that "Iraq's position is to prevent an
aggression. I'm waiting for my government's judgment
before expressing my opinion on what France and Germany
propose. Any effort which leads to prevent aggression is
welcome." Concerning an Egyptian-Saudi proposal which
would recommend that Iraq to get rid of any weapons of
mass destruction, and offer amnesty to Iraqi military
officers who would reveal the whereabouts of such
weapons, Khalil's answer is simple: "These weapons do
not exist."
Khalil is sure that "the only thing
that would convince the US not to go to war is that the
international community makes a stand against
aggression. Iraq has dealt freely with the inspectors.
The inspectors have said that Iraq is complying and
fully cooperating. The inspectors have no information on
the existence of prohibited weapons. The inspectors are
the ones who should judge. The US insists on war for
political reasons which have no relation to the
inspections. If the US administration is left to force
its will, it will be forcing it over the whole
international community. Iraq is cooperating with the UN
to demonstrate it is free from these weapons."
Khalil confirms that the leadership in Baghdad
seems to be aware that the US is not bluffing. "The
Iraqi leadership is behaving as if the war is about to
happen any time. They have a very clear picture. They
see the pretexts used by the US and they know the real
objective is not based on facts. America's policy is to
control oil, occupy and reframe the region, and find a
solution for the Palestinian crisis based on the Israeli
point of view."
The widely-rumored possibility
of exile for Saddam Hussein is dismissed by a diplomat
who knows the Iraqi leader very well: "These are
imaginative thoughts, and illegal. Interference in
domestic policy of other states is forbidden by Article
2 of the UN charter. The Iraqi people have a history of
struggling against foreign occupation and will never
accept a foreigner force imposing their will over the
country. People will be part of the resistance." But
how? "Ask the American administration. When the
Americans come to our country, we will fight back and
resist. We are taking everything into consideration in
case of war. We have good experience in this field. We
have been facing aerial combat for the past 12 years."
The Anglo-American bombing, reaffirms Khalil,
never stopped: "US aircraft are bombing cities and
civilians. There are thousands of dead and injured in
cities in all governorates, including Baghdad. Since
December 1998, there have been 9,400 military strikes,
an average of 20 to 40 strikes a day. But the
international media keeps quiet about this." As a
comparison, according to UN data, from 1991 to 1999
there were more than 6,000 Anglo-American strikes,
dropping 1,800 bombs and hitting more than 450 targets.
Khalil also says "1,730,000 people have died due to the
sanctions, the embargo, or effects of bombing by
depleted uranium." UN agencies and a plethora of Western
humanitarian organizations estimate the number of
victims from 500,000 to up to 1 million. Khalil
maintains that "every day these [Iraqi] figures are
announced on newspapers and TV".
Khalil denies
any relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda. "There is a
fundamental difference between our modern and reasonable
regime, which has no link with fundamentalism and
extremism, and al-Qaeda. They will never prove anything
in this respect. Iraq has no relation to al-Qaeda and
has never cooperated or encouraged terrorist
organizations." Osama bin Laden himself confirmed it in
so many words in his latest audio broadcast by Al
Jazeera - which has been spun in all possible
directions. According to bin Laden, under the current
circumstances, "There will be no harm if the interests
of Muslims converge with the interests of the socialists
in the fight against the crusaders, despite our belief
in the infidelity of socialists. The jurisdiction of the
socialists and those rulers has fallen a long time ago.
Socialists are infidels wherever they are, whether they
are in Baghdad or Aden."
Khalil believes there's
only one way to prevent war: "If there is a change in
the beliefs of the American administration. If they
become convinced they are not sure to achieve their
objectives. And if the US public opinion is against
them."
(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd.
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