Hussein's words

[ladykaty@mail.utexas.edu]

In this excerpt from the New York Times, Hussein's words to the UN General
Assembly are revealed to show his belief that the US is only interested in Oil.
 This is something thst Prof. Henry has suggested in class already.  I believe
that it is a good thing that Hussein went before the General Assembly.  He may
not be telling the entire truth when it comes to his countries nuclear and
biological status, but at least he is trying to bring the US economic incentives
and their possible implications to the public attention.  I think that too few
people in the US really take the time to look at all the possibilities,
especially when they have fear motivating them, which is a particular problem
post 9/11.

M. Eakin


From the NYT:


In Saddam Hussein's Words: It's for Oil

[F] ollowing are excerpts from a letter to the United Nations General Assembly
from President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, as presented orally yesterday and
recorded by The New York Times:

. . . It is a good sign that the United States has resorted, for the first time
after the end of the cold war, to the General Assembly to put forward one of its
problems, after years of disregard to the weight, effect and opinion of others.
. . .

Nevertheless, the U.S. president revealed his basic purpose when he jumped to
the issue of Iraq. . . . He portrayed this issue as if it were the most
dangerous situation, not only for the life, security and future of the United
States, but for the life, future and security of the whole world.
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Among his generalizations, which implied deliberate insinuations, he presented
the utmost distoritions on the nuclear, biological and chemical threats, so as
to make American citizens believe the deliberate insinuation that Iraq was
linked to the American people's tragedy of Sept. 11. . . . The U.S. president
talked about the importance of applying democracy by the government of Iraq. He
pretended to care for the people of Iraq, after he and other presidents before
him have killed by the use of weapons, including depleted uranium, and by the
blockade, which is now more than 12 years old, more than 1.7 million innocent
Iraqis, out of a population of 25 million citizens. . . .

Now that Iraq has accepted the return of the U.N. inspectors, we will all be
able to see how they work. In our past experience (1991-1998) with them, Iraq
used to ask the inspection teams to do their job in accordance with the declared
goals of the Security Council, but some of the inspectors went on doing
intelligence and espionage work that had nothing to do with the official mandate
of the inspection teams. Some of those inspectors have publicly admitted this;
some, including an American, are still publicly talking about it. . . .

In targeting Iraq, the United States administration is acting on behalf of
Zionism, which has been killing the heroic people of Palestine, destroying their
property, murdering their children and seeking to impose their domination on the
whole world, not only militarily, but also economically and politically.

The U.S. administration wants to destroy Iraq in order to control the Middle
East oil, and consequently control the politics as well as the oil and economic
policies of the whole world. If it succeeded in that, God forbid, it would
dictate on you what each country needs for its economic development, what
quantities of oil it is allowed to buy, and at what prices, along with other
conditions. . . .

Iraq has not rejected relevant resolutions of the Security Council, even though
what relates to Iraq in them is unjust and at odds with the U.N. Charter and
international law.

Iraq, rather, calls on members of the Security Council, and on the U.S.
administration in particular, to respect their own obligations under the
Charter, international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions. . . .

I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons. If there are any one amongst you who might still worry that
the fabrications announced by American officials about Iraq may possibly be
true, our country is ready to receive any scientific experts accompanied by
politicians you choose to represent any one of your countries to tell us which
places and scientific and industrial installations they would wish to see,
particularly those about which the American officials have been fabricating
false stories. . .