American Lies about the Iraq War Once Again Expose Its Hegemony

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 28 July 2016
by Wang Dehua (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Yuzhi Yang. Edited by Shelby Stillwell.
Thirteen years ago, America and Britain used the excuses of “eliminating Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction” and “stopping a dictator from turning the Middle East into hell on earth” to circumvent the United Nations and outrageously start the Iraq War. The recently released Iraq war inquiry report from Britain shows that the evidence about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction are “lies, all lies,” generating frenzied global public opinion.

Iraq was once called the “largest virgin land on an oil well,” so Saddam was deluded into thinking he could prove his innocence. Hong Kong journalist Susanna Chui-yung Cheung wrote in her book “On the Scene in the Middle East” that “to America, weapons with real killing power are undoubtedly oil,” and “reasons for starting the war could not be more apparent; what could be more satisfying to the elite than building American military bases on a virgin oil field?” Using democracy to violate democracy and using human rights to trample human rights is the real nature of the so-called American democracy and American human rights. There are unspeakable secrets behind its grandiose slogans.

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, supposedly took all the blame for invading Iraq. However, it is nothing but a hypocritical official line. The riverbanks of the Tigris and the Euphrates once grew milky leaves; now the rivers are soaked in blood. The ancient cultures have been reduced to ruins, they are breeding terrorism around the world, and have become the headquarters for the Islamic State. How exactly would Tony Blair take responsibility for all of this?

America once declared to the world that Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction was an absolute certainty. Compared to Blair’s statement that making the decision to start the Iraq War was the most painful, solemn, and difficult decision he made in his 10 years as prime minister, George W. Bush has never shown any inclination to apologize; he has said the world was better without Saddam. Is the world better without Saddam? Overthrowing one Saddam led to the rise of a thousand more Saddams. Since America and Britain freed the genie of terrorism from the bottle, the sound of gunfire and artillery has not stopped in the Middle East and Europe; when will the bloody days end?

A group of bad men waved their weapons, charged into a sovereign country, plucking away their leader like a baby chick, sentencing him with a trumped-up charge and hanging him. In international politics, might is everything. Taking total responsibility equals taking no responsibility at all. In fact, some families of fallen British soldiers have called Tony Blair a “terrorist.”

The many lies about the Iraq War have thoroughly exposed American hegemony and its nature of aggression. The Iraq inquiry report may have signaled the end of a dark chapter in British politics, but in the South Sea, the American hegemony that is built on lies is still everywhere. Its dominating behavior still has not changed. From the American politicians’ verbal threats, to the repeated military exercises, to the constant media onslaught, to the multiple rounds of secret diplomatic battles... there is never a peaceful moment in the South Sea. American logic seems to be, since navigational freedom in the South Sea is seemingly threatened, there needs to be a greater U.S. military presence in the South Sea, so it is pressuring China with its battleships. However, there is absolutely no issue with safe or free navigation in the area, nor is China militarizing the area. American logic is built on lies; its real goal is to curb China’s development.

The bouquets and cheers at the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting could not pacify the tumultuous tides in the South Sea. While the joint statement by ASEAN foreign ministers and China did not mention a single word about the South Sea arbitration, America, Japan, and Australia released a joint statement insisting that the arbitration be legally binding. No matter what cover-up they choose to use, the nature of their hegemony cannot be concealed.

China is not another Iraq. The so-called need for “navigational freedom” is built on lies, and it is really about America’s freedom to rampage. America cannot shake the Chinese people’s firm determination to defend its sovereignty in the South Sea. When Chinese Naval Commander Wu Shengli met John Richardson, the American chief of naval operations, he said, “We will absolutely not” five times in a row. This is the voice of the highest level of Chinese government, the voice of all Chinese troops, and the voice of all 1.3 billion Chinese people.

The author is a special contributor to youth.cn.


13年前,美英以“解除萨达姆的大规模杀伤性武器”“防止暴君把中东变成人间地狱”为由,绕开联合国,悍然发动伊拉克战争。但不久前,英国公布《伊拉克战争调查报告》却揭露出,关于萨达姆的大规模杀伤性武器的证据,“谎言,全是谎言”。一时全球舆论沸腾。

  伊拉克被称为“漂浮在油海上的最大处女地”。萨达姆幻想自证清白。香港记者张翠容在《中东现场》一书中称,“真正的杀伤性武器,对美国而言不是别的,就是石油”,“开战理由再明显不过,有什么能比在石油处地女上建立美军基地,更能让达官贵人感到无比得意的呢?”以民主为幌子侵犯民主,人权为幌子践踏人权,这就是所谓“美式民主”“美式人权”的真面目,冠冕堂皇的旗号背后有着最不可告人的秘密。

英国前首相布莱尔所谓的为侵略伊拉克“承担全部责任”,只是一种虚伪的官方辞令。上千年来两河流域牧草尖上都流着白色的奶汁,如今的底格里斯河和幼发拉底河河水,流淌的都是血;曾经文明古国几乎被夷为废墟,如今成为全球恐怖主义的温床,还成了“伊斯兰国”的大本营。这样的责任,布莱尔拿什么去承担?

  当年美国曾向全世界宣布,“伊拉克有大杀器这事儿板上钉钉的”。与布莱尔“做出伊战的决定是他10年首相生涯中最痛苦、沉重和艰难的决定”相比,美国前总统小布什至今没有道歉的意思;说什么至少“没有萨达姆,世界更美好了”。世界是否更美好呢?“推翻一个萨达姆,一千个萨达姆站了起来”;美英把恐怖主义的魔鬼从瓶子放出来,中东和欧洲枪炮声此起彼伏,血淋淋何日是尽头?

  一群恶棍挥舞着刀枪冲进一个主权国家,像抓小鸡一样抓走他们的领导人,然后以“莫须有”的罪名审判并绞死了。国际政治中实力决定一切。“承担全部责任”等于不负任何责任。一些英国阵亡士兵的家属称布莱尔为“恐怖分子”。

  伊拉克战争中种种谎言彻底暴露了美国的霸权主义和侵略本质。《伊拉克战争调查报告》也许标志着英国政治中黑暗的一章翻过去了。然而在南海,建立在谎言基础上的美国强权身影却不断闪现,霸权行径至今并没有改变。从美国政客的言语恫吓,到军事行动的轮番上演,到媒体的密集火力,再到外交的多轮“暗战”,南海“树欲静而风不止”。美国的逻辑是,因为南海的“自由航行”受到威胁,所以美军要加强在南海的军事存在,用炮舰政策对中国施压。但南海根本就不存在航行不安全和航行不自由的问题,中国更没有在那里搞“军事化”。美国的逻辑是建立在谎言基础上,真正的目的是为了遏制中国发展。

  东亚合作系列外长会的鲜花和掌声,抹不平南海的汹涌波涛。尽管东盟外长公报和中国东盟联合声明,只字未提南海仲裁案,但是美日澳还是发表联合声明一口咬定“仲裁就是仲裁,是具有法律约束力的”。无论打着什么幌子,掩盖不了他们的霸权本质。

  中国不是另一个伊拉克。建立在谎言基础上的所谓南海“航行自由”实质是横行自由,动摇不了中国人民维护南海主权的坚强决心。海军司令员吴胜利会见理查德森时,连说了五个“我们绝不会”。这是中央最高决策层的声音,是全军将士的声音,更是全国十三亿人民的声音。(中国青年网特约评论员 王德华)
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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1 COMMENT

  1. As a democratic socialist I am well aware of my country’s history of imperial arrogance. The American working class has no interest whatsoever in a war with China over islands in the South China Sea.
    Russia’s Vladimir Putin is right to fear ” Hillary the Hawk ” – more than Republican rebel Donald Trump – as the real face of World War III.
    In just a few weeks – since the sabotage of the Bernie Sanders campaign- the Hillary Democrats have evolved into a neo-con War Party, the kind ridiculed by anti-imperialist author Mark Twain more than a century ago.
    U.S. imperialism covers up its predatory nature with ” democratic ” phrase mongering. President Wilson got us into the Great War with patriotic blather.
    We won’t be fooled again.
    [ http://radicalrons.blogspot.com ]