U.S. persecuting Iraq

Ever since the end of the Gulf War, the United States has put sanctions on Iraq to limit the spread of chemical and biological weapons. Furthermore, the United States says that the reason for the no-fly zones in Northern Iraq and Southern Iraq is solely for the purpose of protecting the Shia Muslims in the south, and the Kurds in the north.

Only a stupid idiot will believe that Iraq is actually being punished for its actions.

Here is where the hypocrisy starts. Turkey is an ally of the United States. The region between Iraq and Turkey is Kurdestan. The land, language and culture is purely Kurdish. Arabs and Turks alike have ruled over this region for thousands of years. So basically the Kurds are trying to have their own country. If Iraq attacks Kurdish forces, the U.S. punishes Iraq. If the Turkish army attacks the Kurds, the U.S. does nothing. The northern no-fly zone is not meant to protect the Kurds but rather to keep Iraq's sovereignty weak!

Along with the sanctions and the people dying in Iraq, and the Kurdish rebel forces attacking the Iraqi towns in the north freely, the people of Iraq have slowly given up hope. They are with Saddam Hussein now more than ever. The total opposite happened of what George Bush had in mind when he was president. He couldn't save his own country from recession and he thought it would be cool to give Iraq an 8-year contract of producing dead children's graves.

Bill Clinton added a little insult to injury by killing a few more civilian lives during Operation Desert Fox. It was all a diversion - Wag the Dog - attitude he took. At the time, when Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries were about to send food aid in the Spirit of the Holy Month of Ramadan, the U.S. thought it would give its own gift. More than 4000 children have died in Baghdad alone since Desert Fox since the food aid was blocked.

Okay what Bill Clinton does under his Oval Office desk is his problem, but what happens to the Iraqi people under the shadow of a B-2 bomber is a problem for a people of all faiths!

A good analogy for this would be a person being treated for brain tumor. Instead of removing the tumor the surgeons are amputating the arms and the legs of the patient. The surgeon also pours a little acid in the veins of the patient to kill the tumor but rather destroys all internal organs.

And to give extra treatment, they also pull the eyes out of the patients without anesthesia.

The patient is in comparison to the people of Iraq. The brain tumor is Saddam Hussein. The arms and legs are the million children who died in the past eight years.

The acid represent the people being funded to overthrow Saddam Hussein, UNSCOM inspectors, and, well, Intelligence folks who are trying to demoralize the country. The Surgeon is representing the United Nations and United States - what's the difference between the two.

Both the U.S. and Saddam Hussein are partners in killing the people of Iraq. What a beautiful foreign policy.

Not to make you all go through a guilt trip. But keep in mind, all of you get a one-sided information of the truth. All I know is that the health of Iraqi kids has nothing to do with U.S. national security. There must be a better plan!

Ahmad Saad Nasim
President, Muslim Students Association
Molecular and cellular biology junior