March 23, 2006
George Bush spoke again (sigh!) yesterday, repeating his recent (and frequent)
lie about Iraq (known by its first name, "Saddam") having refused to
"disclose" and "disarm" (although he temporarily dropped the one about
"denying" the inspectors). But he added another one, one of the
traditional American big lies: "He also was firing on our aircraft.
They were enforcing a no-fly zone, United Nations no-fly zone, the
world had spoken, and he had taken shots at British and U.S. pilots."
Now I know, and you probably know, that the "no-fly zones" were imposed by the United States (and its junior flunkies across the "pond"), not by the United Nations. U.N. Resolution 688,
passed in 1991, condemns Iraqi repression of the Kurds (and unnamed
others) and demands that it end. But not only is there no language in
the resolution authorizing any military action against Iraq whatsoever,
including no-fly zones, this statement appears as one of the "whereas"
clauses: "Reaffirming the commitment of all Member
States to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
independence of Iraq and of all States in the region," It certainly sounds to me like the no-fly zones were not only not authorized by Resolution 688, but they were in violation of it.
And,
lest we forget, these unauthorized activities were not benign. While
British and U.S. aircraft were allegedly shot at (no proof has ever
been offered as far as I know; certainly none were ever hit), an estimated 300 Iraqis
at a minimum, 200 of them "innocent civilians" (and the others equally
innocent members of the Iraqi military) were killed by U.S. and U.K.
bombs and missiles during that period. One of them was Omran Harbi
Jawair: Omran Harbi Jawair, 13, was squatting on his
haunches at the time, watching the family sheep as they nosed the hard,
flat ground in search of grass. He wore a white robe but was bareheaded
in spite of an unforgiving sun. Omran, who liked to kick a soccer ball
around this dusty village, had just finished fifth grade at the little
school a 15-minute walk from his mud-brick home. A shepherd boy's
summer vacation lay ahead.
That is when the missile landed.
Without
warning, according to several youths standing nearby, the device came
crashing down in an open field 200 yards from the dozen houses of Toq
al-Ghazalat. A deafening explosion cracked across the silent land.
Shrapnel flew in every direction. Four shepherds were wounded. And
Omran, the others recalled, lay dead in the dirt, most of his head torn
off, the white of his robe stained red. The date? June 16, 2000. President at the time? Bill Clinton.
And, just as with the lies the other day, a check of the media reveals no evidence that any of them mentioned the latest Bush lie. Not one.
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