iraqwar

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Remove root cause of destruction of Iraqi peace and life!
Akahata editorial

March 20 marked the third anniversary of the launch of the U.S.-British war against Iraq. It is increasingly clear that the preemptive war against Iraq without a U.N. Security Council resolution is a war of aggression that destroys the world order for peace based on the U.N. Charter.

Most Iraqis are demanding the swift withdrawal of U.S. forces for the sake of their safety. The task now is to get the U.S. forces out in order to eliminate the cause of the deteriorating situation in Iraq.

The Japanese government should immediately withdraw its Self-Defense Forces that have assisted the illegal U.S. war in Iraq in violation of the Constitution.

Consequences of invasion

All pretexts used to justify the Iraq War have been found groundless. The U.S. governmentﾕs allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that the Saddam Hussein regime had connections with the international terrorist group al-Qaeda were denied by the U.S. governmentﾕs own nuclear weapons inspection team.

What the morally groundless war has brought about to Iraq are terrors that have deprived many Iraqis of their lives and destroyed their land. As the U.S. ambassador to Iraq admitted that it had ﾒopened a Pandoraﾕs box,ﾓ the U.S. war and subsequent occupation of Iraq only intensified rifts within the country and even deepened the ﾒcrisis of impending civil war.ﾓ

Late last year, Iraq held a general election under the new Constitution. The U.S. forces, however, launched the largest ever military operation using gunships and combat vehicles on March 16, the day when Iraqﾕs first national assembly was held. Iraq is still in a state of war.

The number of Iraqis killed in the war is estimated to be over one hundred thousand. There was a month in which more than 1,000 bodies were transferred to Baghdadﾕs temporary morgues.

Still worse, many more Iraqis have been injured, unjustifiably arrested, or tortured. Their families and relatives are suffering immeasurably. And the Iraq war continues to inflict heavy casualties.

The U.S. forcesﾕ savagery has increased Iraqi peopleﾕs indignation and resistance. According to a Zogby International survey, more than two thirds of U.S. soldiers in Iraq believe that resistance will continue in Iraq even without foreign ﾔterroristﾕ groups.

In waging the Iraq war, the U.S. Bush administration stressed that if the dictator Hussein is removed, Iraq will become democratic and stabilized. But on the ground, public safety and living conditions are deteriorating.

Electric power supply reaches no more than 20% of Iraqﾕs households, and under10% in Baghdad and in central Iraq. A stable water supply is available to only 50~60 % of households. The unemployment rate among young people between 15-24 years of age is 20% or so, according to the 2004 United Nations Development Program report. Thus, living conditions and security are worsening in many parts of Iraq.

Many people were concerned that launching a war would cause divisions in Iraq. The U.S. must be blamed for causing the civil war in Iraq. The unjust U.S. war has dragged Iraq into division, rifts, and sectarian rivalries.

Changing world and U.S. public opinion

During the past three years, the international community has seen public movements growing in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq, calling for the peaceful settlement of the conflict through talks with the United Nations at the center.

In the U.S., a greater number of citizens are saying that the Iraq war was a mistake and that Iraqﾕs stalemate cannot be settled by continuing the war.

The need now is for the movement for peace to grow even stronger in Japan and throughout in the world. This is essential for the peaceful future in Iraq.
- Akahata, March 19, 2006