Iraq:

Desperately Seeking An 'Exit Strategy'

THE DAILY images and reports of violence, death and destruction in Iraq are turning people in their millions against the occupation.

A majority in Britain now want the troops to pull out. More than Ł5 billion is being wasted on this war - money that could have been spent on health, on education, on ending low pay or increasing pensions.

And now Blair plans to send even more troops into the chaos of Iraq.

Whichever way Bush and Blair turn, they sink ever deeper into the quicksand that they have created. They are thrashing around for a 'strategy' that will provide them with an ‘exit’ but every proposal is doomed to failure.

If they send in more troops they will only add fuel to the uprising against the occupation and increase the death toll of ordinary Iraqis and coalition forces. US imperialism found to its cost in Vietnam that overwhelming military might cannot guarantee victory against a national resistance movement.

The so-called 'hand-over to sovereignty' on 30 June is a complete sham and will be seen so by most Iraqis. Tens of thousands of troops will remain as occupiers and US imperialism will wield real power over security and hold the purse strings for reconstruction. The violence and chaos will continue. The assassination of the president of the Iraqi Governing Council this week gives an indication of how events will unfold.

'Internationalisation' as proposed by Blair is no solution. Even if the UN becomes involved (which it is reluctant to do) it too will be seen as an occupier. In a recent opinion poll less than a third of Iraqis said that they had confidence in the UN. Not surprising since the UN is dominated by the main imperialist powers and was responsible for imposing ten years of sanctions on the Iraqi people, resulting in the death of one Iraqi child every six minutes.

And to withdraw the troops without having 'pacified' Iraq would massively undermine the authority and prestige of US imperialism internationally.

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In The Socialist 22 May 2004:

Sanctioning Torture From The Top