No, but during the Iran-Iraq war, the US government was not an occupying power in either country. Both in international law (Cf. <http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/law/2003/0415bell.htm>) and public opinions (of Iraqis, Americans, and the rest of the world), the belligerent occupier (which the USG is in Iraq) is responsible for the maintenance of law and order and the care of the civilian population, among other things.
At 2:05 AM -0400 7/8/03, JBrown72073 at cs.com wrote:
>is chaos really a problem for them?
There is a chance that we can _make it a problem for them_. Soldiers want to go home, their families and friends want them home, and they are saying so in public, writing letters to Congress, going on record in the major media. Iraqis want them out of their country, and they are saying so in words and deeds, speaking to Western reporters, holding demonstrations, sabotaging economic infrastructure, attacking the army of occupation. We have a window of opportunity now, before the USG increases the size of the army of occupation, diversifies its composition, and escalates counter-insurgency warfare. Hence the importance of getting a campaign to Bring Them Home Now started ASAP. It will be difficult to do so, however, as no major anti-war coalition is currently focused on it, squandering time on the missing WMD issue and the like.
At 2:05 AM -0400 7/8/03, JBrown72073 at cs.com wrote:
>it seems quite likely that destroying any potent regional
>competitors was the goal, not peace or even stability in Iraq
After the Gulf War, the Oslo "Peace Process." After the invasion of Iraq, the "regime change" in the Palestinian National Authority and the "Road Map." A defeat of Iraq is a defeat of Palestinians. Bush & Sharon won a battle on the Palestinian front, but it ain't over till it's over. -- Yoshie
* Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>