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The Road from Fallujah to Amman
“Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way
down to the bone ... I saw the burned bodies of women and children.
Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150
metres is done for.” (Testimony of a former US Marine who fought in Fallujah)
By Yamin Zakaria
11/14/05 "ICH
" -- -- So, where is the outrage? The country that
keeps lecturing about WMDs actually used them in Iraq, and
previously in Japan and Vietnam. Fallujah, the city of Mosques, was
attacked with chemical weapons, around 1000 civilians were murdered
indiscriminately; - the US clearly committed war crimes. Other
credible reports suggested that the US also used Napalm in Baghdad,
during the initial phase of the war.
Regardless of how damming the evidences are, George Bush and his
henchmen will never face a war crimes charge, which is only reserved
for the opponents of the west. International laws are applied
selectively like any apartheid or imperialist system. The rich and
powerful nations make, apply and break those international laws for
their own benefit; the poorer and weaker nations are forced to obey
the laws, if they break it, they pay a heavy fine.
This
recent revelation of using chemical weapons in Fallujah roughly
coincided with the hotel bombings in Amman, killing 57 people. Like
Abu-Ghraib, the world eventually learnt this truth about Fallujah
and the Iraqis knew about this all along being the victims. The
‘embedded’ media was certainly not going to report this even if they
saw it with their own eyes - that is why they are ‘embedded’.
Damming evidence of chemical weapons was composed from: pictures,
eye witness accounts, testimony form Iraqi doctors and the testimony
of a former US soldier who actually took part in the attack on
Fallujah. It was broadcasted in a documentary titled: “Fallujah: the
Hidden Massacre” by RAI, the Italian state broadcaster.
The former US soldier in the documentary also testified that before
they entered Fallujah, they were told anything moving or breathing
is a legitimate target. And given that 100,000 plus civilians have
been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, we still hear claims that the
coalition forces do not target civilians indiscriminately. Similarly
we keep hearing that the US does not torture prisoners, despite
clear evidences from Camp-X-Ray, Abu-Ghraib, Bagram, and other
secret prisons, which we know the US has in various countries around
the world.
In the eyes of the mass media, the monumental hypocrisy of the US
using chemical weapons (WMD) destroying an entire city, killing 100s
of civilians, seems far less worthy of media coverage than the hotel
bombings in Amman where 57 people were killed. You see, this clear
proof that the media does not have to be embedded to function like
the embedded media! Media coverage became so twisted, that you would
think the bombers exclusively targeted the Jordanian wedding party
in the hotel.
All the ‘innocent’ Jordanians and Muslims were genuine collateral
damages as they were clearly not the intended target. If the bombers
target was the ordinary Jordanians, they would have attacked places
like the Mosques and the markets. But what would be the motive?
Those luxury hotels are a symbol of inequity in Jordan, only the
rich elites use them, otherwise they are occupied by Westerners. The
bombers were targeting the mercenaries; those human vultures call
themselves contractors, they are feeding on the blood and oil of
Iraq. Also there are the Zionists, Prostitutes, Iraqi collaborators,
autocratic Arab officials and intelligent officers usually occupying
those types of hotels.
Now contrast the recent media coverage given to wedding party caught
in the Amman bombings, with the many wedding parties in Iraq and
Afghanistan bombed by the US forces. I do not recall seeing one
interview of the survivors, expressing their grief and anger. The
only media coverage given is regurgitating the Pentagon official’s
lines: that the victims were all collateral damages as the US forces
were only hunting the insurgents. Meaning that the US forces could
not tell the difference between unarmed women, children and men in
wedding celebration and the Mujahideen with bullet proof jackets,
RPGS ready for combat!
After the Amman bombings, handful of people started to demonstrate
against the ubiquitous Musab Al-Zarqawi. Clearly, it was not a mass
demonstration of hundreds of thousands; in fact just their
appearance indicated that it was all staged by the Amman
authorities. The demonstrators were carrying pictures of the King
who is hated by most of the ordinary Arab masses; and the
spontaneity of the demonstration suggested that it did not require
the usual approval from the authority. Consider also this - over 90%
of the Jordanians opposed the war in Iraq, but their unelected King
sided with the Americans, so much for building democracy in the
region. This is another clear proof that the Muslim masses are
unrepresented. Hence, the absence of the masses in the demonstration
is understandable as they see the bombings as a direct consequence
of Jordan’s role in the Iraq war.
Amman bombings generated a staged demonstration, where as the
revelation of chemical weapons used in Fallujah, like post
Abu-Ghraib generated a silent anger, ready to explode at some point
in the future. It is now fact, that the only WMDs in Iraq were the
ones used by the US forces. So the US must concede that it too can
be subjected to chemical attacks, similarly the actions of
Camp-X-Ray and Abu-Ghraib, means their citizens taken prisoners can
be tortured, incarcerated and executed.
Hypocrisy is not a problem when “might is right” is the policy, and
drunk with imperial arrogance, none of the Western countries even
blinked at the exposure of this monumental hypocrisy that Iraq was
subjected to chemical weapons. The UN Muppet Kofi Anan took no note,
instead he is busy lecturing Syria and Iran on behalf of US and
Israel, while the US and Israel prepare for an attack and they are
already committing illegal incursion into Syrian and Iranian air
space to intimidate them. Silence of the west is understandable but
why are the Arab/Muslim regimes also silent on the war crimes and
terrorism committed in Fallujah. From Mubarak to Musharraf, they are
mute and the only time they exercise their vocal chords is in
condemning retaliation. This is another stark reminder that the
Muslim masses have no representation at the political level.
The events also coincided with the US Secretary of State Condoleeza
Rice’s visiting the region. She is known to be a democracy-builder.
But she is not interested in hearing the voices of the ordinary
Arabs/Muslims who opposes the war overwhelmingly and she is even
less interested in seeing that they get represented. First step in
building democracy in the region is not to see mass representation,
but mass manipulation, imposing democracy from top down. Condoleeza
Rice is trying to be “whiter than white”, acting like a public
relations officer on behalf of the slave owners, attempting to sell
the idea of slavery to the blacks in Africa, Alabama and
Mississippi; if diplomacy fails, force will be used to shove it down
their throats.
The link between Iraq-war and the bombings in Amman is obvious, as
all the bombers are known to be Iraqis. Indeed, how can you expect
to be secure when you violate the security of others? Jordan, like
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain has been used as a
launching pad for the war. Many of the collaborators are trained to
fight alongside U.S. troops in Jordan. Jordan is also suspected of
providing the US with intelligence and support for the elite forces
of the U.S. to attack cities like Tal Afar, Qaim, Karabila, Haditha
and Husayba, as they had done earlier with Fallujah.
Thus, the Iraqis will naturally attack those centres in those
neighbouring countries that are known to be aiding the war. Also the
onus is on the Jordanians masses to avoid such places frequented by
Americans and Iraqi collaborators. There is a war going on and the
Jordanian government is a party to this war. The masses should be
forcing their government to retreat from supporting the US-led war
in Iraq. The other nations who have aided the US in this war, should
now remember, the road from Fallujah to Amman has been opened, which
in turn can lead to other destinations like Riyadh, Tokyo,
Bucharest, Warsaw, Sofia and Tel Aviv.
Yamin Zakaria. < yaminz@yahoo.co.uk >
Copyright © 2005 by Yamin Zakaria (14th November, 2005)
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