For-Profit Intervention

Recently, many “civilized, Western” countries have been patting themselves on the back for the decision to spend billions of dollars to enable the sodomy and assassination of a world leader – Mohammad Qaddafi.    Their call for a “humanitarian” intervention to save lives has led not only to this despicable act, but as rape, mass murder, and looting continues on a daily basis by the NATO-approved Libyan Transitional Authority, it appears that the now global  Occupy Wall Street, the 99% percent, has once again been left on the sidelines as fat corporations get fatter sucking on Libyan blood and on Libyan soil.  

The October 29 edition of the NYT helps us understand the West’s excitement for the kill (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/world/africa/western-companies-see-libya-as-ripe-at-last-for-business.htm?_r=1).  I certainly hope for the sake of humanity that there are enough decent people out there to prevent the next profitable, "humanitarian" intervention.  These for-profit interventions only highlight Rwanda's case.

October 29, 2011

Western Companies See Prospects for Business in Libya By SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON — The guns in Libya have barely quieted, and NATO’s military assistance to the rebellion that toppled Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi will not end officially until Monday. But a new invasion force is already plotting its own landing on the shores of Tripoli .

Western security, construction and infrastructure companies that see profit-making opportunities receding in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned their sights on Libya , now free of four decades of dictatorship. Entrepreneurs are abuzz about the business potential of a country with huge needs and the oil to pay for them, plus the competitive advantage of Libyan gratitude toward the United States and its NATO partners.

A week before Colonel Qaddafi’s death on Oct. 20, a delegation from 80 French companies arrived in Tripoli to meet officials of the Transitional National Council, the interim government. Last week, the new British defense minister, Philip Hammond, urged British companies to “pack their suitcases” and head to Tripoli .

When Colonel Qaddafi’s body was still on public display, a British venture, Trango Special Projects, pitched its support services to companies looking to cash in. “Whilst speculation continues regarding Qaddafi’s killing,” Trango said on its Web site, “are you and your business ready to return to Libya ?”

The company offered rooms at its Tripoli villa and transport “by our discreet mixed British and Libyan security team.” Its discretion does not come cheaply. The price for a 10-minute ride from the airport, for which the ordinary cab fare is about $5, is listed at 500 British pounds, or about $800.

“There is a gold rush of sorts taking place right now,” said David Hamod, president and chief executive officer of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce. “And the Europeans and Asians are way ahead of us. I’m getting calls daily from members of the business community in Libya . They say, ‘Come back, we don’t want the Americans to lose out.’ ”

Yet there is hesitancy on both sides, and so far the talk greatly exceeds the action. The Transitional National Council, hoping to avoid any echo of the rank corruption of the Qaddafi era, has said no long-term contracts will be signed until an elected government is in place. And with cities still bristling with arms and jobless young men, Libya does not offer anything like a safe business environment — hence the pitches from security providers.

Like France and Britain , the United States may benefit from the Libyan authorities’ appreciation of NATO’s critical air support for the revolution. Whatever the rigor of new rules governing contracts, Western companies hope to have some advantage over, say, China , which was offering to sell arms to Colonel Qaddafi as recently as July.

“Revenge may be too strong a word,” said Phil Dwyer, director of SCN Resources Group, a Virginia contracting company that opened an office in Tripoli two weeks ago to offer “risk management” advice and services to a company he would not name. “But my feeling is those who are in favor” with the transitional council “are going to get the nod from a business point of view.”

The Security Contracting Network, a job service run by Mr. Dwyer’s company, posted on its blog two days after Colonel Qaddafi’s death that there would be plenty of work opening up in Libya .

“There will be an uptick of activity as foreign oil companies scramble to get back to Libya ,” the company said, along with a need for logistics and security personnel as the State Department and nonprofit organizations expand operations. “Keep an eye on who wins related contracts, follow the money, and find your next job,” the post advised.

In Tripoli , there is a wait-and-see atmosphere. At breakfast on Friday in a downtown hotel, a British security contractor pointed out the tables of burly men — hired guns like himself. “Look at it,” he said. “Full of ’em.”

Many are still protecting foreign journalists, but others are hoping to get training contracts with a fledgling government trying to tame its unruly armed forces. Security industry officials say the work here may never match the colossal scale of spending in Iraq and Afghanistan , but with a squeeze coming on European and American government spending, it is a prize nonetheless.

Business opportunities for Western companies began opening in Libya in 2004, when Colonel Qaddafi’s decision to give up his nuclear weapons program ended his country’s pariah status. Mr. Hamod led four American business delegations to Libya between 2004 and 2010 and watched “a gradual thawing of commercial relations,” he said.

Total foreign direct investment in Libya had grown to $3.8 billion in 2010, from an estimated at $145 million in 2002, according to the World Bank. But many deals were skewed by brazen demands from Colonel Qaddafi’s children for a share of the proceeds, and the state of the country was grim after many years of economic sanctions and neglect.

Libya “needed everything,” Mr. Hamod said: banking and financial services, hospitals and medical clinics, roads and bridges, and infrastructure for energy and for the oil industry.

Now, after months of fighting, and with the security situation still fragile, there are huge new requirements, like rebuilding apartment complexes reduced to rubble by shelling, guarding oil installations as they restore or expand production, and training and equipping new armed forces.

Mr. Hamod said American companies are often more hesitant than Chinese or some European companies about operating in a tumultuous environment like that of post-Qaddafi Libya . “There’s reluctance to charge headlong back into Libya ,” he said. “Historically, U.S. companies are interested in the rule of law on the ground and what it might mean for a multimillion-dollar investment.”

At a Group of 8 meeting in Marseille , France , in September, finance ministers pledged $38 billion in new financing, largely loans, to Arab countries between 2011 and 2013. Though Libya is now pumping less than one-third of its prewar oil production of 1.7 million barrels a day, it has Africa ’s largest oil reserves, which eventually should mean a steady supply of cash.

The simultaneous excitement and confusion for people exploring opportunities in Libya are evident in proliferating Libya-themed groups on LinkedIn, the online business-oriented social network.

“Can anyone in the group tell me if there are flights into Tripoli ,” wrote Peter Murphy, an Irish surveyor now working on an offshore wind project, on a LinkedIn discussion page called Anglo Libya Business Group. “Also, what is the situation for business visas for business travelers?”

One answer came from Mabruk Swayah, who identified himself on LinkedIn as a Libyan working in business development. “Hi friends you are all welcome to Libya ,” Mr. Swayah wrote. “Just make sure you go through the proper channels for your work contracts and don’t get involved in bribes, inducements or sweeteners to officials.”

He added, “Remember we have free media now.”

Adam Nossiter and David D. Kirkpatrick contributed reporting from Tripoli , Libya .

The Syria Imperative

The Assad regime in Syria is facing increased scrutiny for its handling of demonstrators.  The Syrian opposition has asked for arms and NATO intervention similar to what was witnessed in Libya.  Washington Hawks such as former presidential candidate and U.S. Senator John McCain have called for military intervention in Syria to “protect civilians.”    The call for the use of military force to “protect”.

Given the demonstrated lack of regard for human life and the aversion to justice (Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.), what lies behind the imperative to intervene in Syria?

The protest movements in Syria started in Daraa -- dubbed the epicenter of the anti-Assad protests.  Daraa, traditionally supportive of Syria's ruling Baath Party, suffered from reduced water supply triggering massive protests against the local administration and the regime for failing to deal with the acute water scarcity in the region.   Water.

Therein lies the crucial motivation behind the support, agitation, and arming of Syrians against their government by those who endorse ‘humanitarian wars’.   It would be naïve to believe that the ‘humanitarian’ interest in Syria comes on the heels of the uprisings in the region given that water has been and continues to be a critical determinant of state security and foreign policy between Israel and Syria (as well as Lebanon) dating back decades.     

It was the 1967 war which resulted in the exponential expansion of Israeli water sources including the  control of the Golan Heights (also referred to as the Syrian Golan).   For decades, Syrian Golan and the return of its control to Syria has posed a major obstacle to the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations.   Israel’s water demands make it virtually impossible to accommodate this process.  In fact, even with full control of the Golan, Israel’s water crisis in 2000 were so acute that it prompted Israel to turn to Turkey for water purchase.   

In addition,  Syria’s  presence in Lebanon since the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 played a crucial role in hindering Israel’s never-ending water demands.   Although the  1955 Johnston Plan (under the auspices of the Eisenhower administration) proposed diverting water from Lebanon’s Litani River into Lake Kinneret, it was not officially formulated, though it remained an attractive prospect.    In  1982, Israeli forces established the frontline of their security zone in Lebanon along the Litani.   Numerous reports alleged that Israel was diverting large quantities of Litani water.  

Syria’s presence in Lebanon and the 1991 Lebanese-Syrian Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination,  was a challenge to Israel and its diversion of water.  When Syria replaced Israel as the dominant power in southern Lebanon in May 2000, Israeli fears grew that Syrian success in controlling the Golan and by extension, Lake Kinneret, would have a devastating effect on Israel. 

Perhaps this helps explain the fact that on  September 13, 2001, while the United States  was recovering from the shock of 9/11,  the influential and powerful JINSA (Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs) had a statement available as to how the U.S. should proceed.    As part of its recommendations, it pointed the finger at not only at Afghanistan and Iraq, but also presented Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, the Palestinian Authority, Libya, Algeria (and eventually Saudi Arabia and Egypt) as danger spots.  Shortly thereafter, in May 2002, the “Axis of Evil” was expanded to include Syria.   

The next logical step was for the United States to pass and implement the Syrian Accountability Act and the Lebanon Sovereignty Restoration Act which in addition to sanctions, called for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.  The troops remained until April 2005.   They were forced to leave  a few short months after the assassination of Prime Minsiter, Rafik Hariri  when Syria was accused of involvement in the murder.   Clearly, Syria was not the beneficiary of the assassination.

Without a Syrian presence, Lebanon was made more vulnerable, facilitating the 2006 Israeli attack and invasion of water-rich Southern Lebanon.   

While Israel lost the public opinion war in Lebanon and Syria remained intact amidst the accusations and chaos,  it became necessary to once again put Syria in the spotlight.   In 2007, Syria stood accused of having a nuclear bomb program.  As a member of the NPT, rather than reporting such suspicions (unfounded) to the IAEA,  Israel, with a green light from the United States, bombed a factory which it alleged was involved in nuclear weapons activities.    

Israel’s attack on Syria on 6 September 2007, remained secret until it was revealed by the former prime minister (1996-1999) and the then opposition leader, Binyamin Netanyahu --  the current Prime Minister of Israel. 

Netanyahu took office in March 2009.  In April 2009, a U.S. funded London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, started broadcasting anti-regime propaganda into Syria.   Barada  TV’s  chief editor, Malik al-Abdeh, is a cofounder of the Syrian exile group Movement for Justice and Development headed by Anas al-Abdah.  It is crucial to note that the pro-Israel Dennis Ross, a former fellow at the AIPAC created Washington Institute for Near East Affairs,  who is currently a senior advisor to Barack Obama,  was present in a 2008 meeting with Anas al-Abdah (see here).  Although the meeting took place in early 2008, the theme of the meeting was: “Syria in-transition”.    

Prophecy or planning, doubtless,  there are many Syrians who do have grievances against their government and demand more rights.  In this sense, their cause is no different than  the many protests we witness on a daily basis around the world – including the United States.   What is tragic about the Syrian situation, is that the imperative for intervention in Syria is not based on a genuine desire to help the people.  The peoples’ grievances is being used as a means to arm them, have them killed, and create the need for an intervention in order to promote Israeli interests.  

The Syria imperative is Israel’s gain paid for with the blood of the Syrian people.

The Setup - The Assassination Plot Thickens

News wires are abuzz with the extraordinary allegation of an Iranian “plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the US”.  In yet another bizarre twist,  according to Haaretz,  a few months ago prior to the “plot”,  Saudi officials told Argentina about a possible plot against Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires.  Curious as this seems, there is reason for this new rumor. 

As many Iran experts dismiss the possibility of such an act,  the tried and tested method of rendering the most fantastic rumor credible is being applied.  For decades, the  British and later Americans knew well that the best way to give rumors credibility was to ensure that such rumors were repeated by various "friendly" countries.   Propaganda became ‘fact’ if repeated by different countries.   This  method of propaganda was a well-known and well played tactic of the Allies against Germany. 

In dealing with Iran, the allegations of a plot take on a new life when repeated by various allies.    In this new scenario, there is an attempt to give these farfetched allegations credibility, not only are the Saudis and Israelis being involved, but also Argentina.    This reference to Argentina is particularly important.  

In the past, Iran had been falsely (and without proof)  accused of the 1994 bombing

of  the Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.    What is revealing about the 1994 bombing and the accusations made against Iran, is the fact that the far more plausible leads were dismissed in order to promote the “Iran guilty” narrative. 

It has been a well-kept secret that an important project being carried out in the Argentine MIA building was a review of previously secret government  files that reportedly reveal how Nazis entered Argentina following World War  II helped by Argentine officials.  Hitler was not without long-term impact in Argentina.  The country's military regime kept secret camps decorated with swastikas.[1] The review of the files had gone on for  two years, but had not been completed at the time of the bombing.  

Speculation centered on the possibility that former Argentine government  and military officials, fearful of exposure, were responsible for the bomb attack.  In this regard, it is hard to dismiss the views of Rabbi Abraham Cooper,  associate director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.   Cooper suggested that government and military figures may have sought to embarrass the Menem government because of its decision to release the files[2].  This crucial lead was buried under the rubbles in order to promote the  foreign policy of Israel – demonize Iran.  

Given the prior cooperation between the Israelis, the Argentines, and US to  promote a foreign policy agenda rather than establish the truth,  it is not surprising that once again the three players are involved with an additional, important new player – the Saudis.  Given the fact that the Saudis had previously agreement to allow Israel to use their airspace to attack Iran had met with condemnation,  this new “plot” would justify the Saudi decision to help Israel and the US wage yet another war on fellow Moslems. 

---

[1] Esther Schrader, President of Argentina Apologizes for Nation's Role as Haven for Nazis. Los Angeles Times. : Jun 14, 2000.  pg. 16

[2] The Christian Century.  Chicago: Jul 27, 1994.  Vol. 111

The Media Deception

Any one interested in the truth, must watch this documentary: "The War You Don't See".   The War You Don't See

The Libya Killing Field

Global Research exposes the truth.

Libya in Pictures: What the Mainstream Media Does Not Tell You

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25630

Why is the heat on Syria?

I have not seen any analysis of the covert wars being waged against Syria, the Western support for it, or the Turkish role in the fight.  4 years ago, I wrote an article which outlined why Syria would be 'invaded'. 

The Devil's Genius

July 17, 2007
The Devil's Genius
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
 
“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root”.               - Henry David Thoreau  

With censorship abound, we must dodge the bullet of stupor and learn to recognize that Dick Cheney, this Yale drop-out who wore the color of cowardice during the Vietnam War, was chosen to be the devil’s instrument in order to influence George Bush on his destructive path. 

 

While the electronic highways are jammed with petitions to impeach Bush and Cheney, we must not fail to hold to account those who have held our highest office hostage and ax the root of evil.  The destructive forces have already made their way into our future and the sparks alone are more threatening that the blaze we are currently engulfed in.

 

A future determined by the enemies of compassion and humanity. The seeds of damnation have been planted in such places as The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS); a Jerusalem-based think tank which spewed out the likes of David Wurmser, the Middle East adviser to Dick Cheney, Douglas Feith, and Richard Perle, the architects of the Iraq war.   They hatched their dastardly schemes among the most ambitious and ruthless of Americans, spreading their lust for hatred, greed, and genocidal wars.  Our collective apathy being the weapon they chose to accept for our submission. 

 

Surely it was no coincidence that David Wurmser found himself at the pro-Israel American Enterprise Institute (AEI) where Lynn Cheney, the Vice President’s wife was a senior fellow (and where she also served on board of directors of Lockheed until 2001.  Lockheed Martin stocks, not surprisingly, soared as a result of the illegal invasion of Iraq).  What good fortune for Wurmser that Lynn’s husband selected him to be his Middle East Security Advisor.  Cheney, the man behind the Iraq war, and the power in the White House.   With a defeated army, he seeks further battles as he turns his lust for another massacre towards Iran[i].   What is the prize of this slaughter?

Eliminating Competition 

Upon taking office, George W. Bush commissioned the Bakers Institute (Rice University) and the Council on Foreign Relations to study the energy trends and requirements of the 21st century.  The comprehensive 99-page report recommended that not only should the administration ease its Iraqi oil-field investment restrictions, but actions and policies should be taken to promote the well-being of the Iraqi people which was being undermined in light of the sanctions and the continuous bombings.  Although the report strongly recommended the enlistment of allies in order to phase out the sanctions with “highly focused and enforced sanctions that target the regime’s ability to maintain and acquire weapons of mass destruction” it stated that the hostilities should be stopped.

 

Furthermore, the joint report favored the Iranian route for the Caspian oil exports which would serve several purposes.  In itself, it would translate into a policy shift towards Tehran, and throw Iran as a counter weight to Iraq.  The transport of oil through Iran versus the prohibitively expensive longer and costly Baku-Ceyhan pipeline would be pf great benefit to the West, and the world, and help build up the drastically low global spare capacity, according to the report.   Another strong contention of the report was that the U.S. ought to move the Caspian region into a zone of cooperation with Russia instead of a zone of competition and confrontation, enabling future cooperation such as jointly countering Islamic militants in the region (Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century, 2001, pp. 38-40,45,)[ii].   Of note, the Kazakh officials had been in favor of the Iran route, as well as the U.S. oil companies such as Chevron, Exxon-Mobil and Conoco[iii]. 

 

There would have been no wars except…. 

 

A.Nesdat Pamir delivered a strategy paper in September 2001 which countered the Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century.   His paper was entitled “Turkey: The Key to Caspian Oil and Gas”.  He woefully cites the Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century paper while in his own strategy paper he argues that since the Persian Gulf is expected to be responsible for almost 80% of the world crude exports between 2000-2020,  the control of this oil is of utmost importance; citing a Turkish source, continues:  “ given that the price of oil have allowed states to invest heavily in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), the primary external of this development, both economically and diplomatically, has been Russia”[iv].   Russia, therefore, is arming the Middle East with WMD and the 80% oil potential should be rescued.   According to him, the lifeline of America would be for it to use the prohibitively expensive Ceyhan –Baku Pipeline [through Turkey and Israel] in order to avoid the anti-American Middle East . 

 

In his paper, Pamir sounds the alarm at the Russian-EU friendship.  It is worthwhile reminding the readers that this report was written three months after George W. Bush invited Vladimir Putin to be his guest having “looked deep into his eyes” and trusting Putin.  Today, there are missiles pointing towards Russia and Russia is aiming missiles at Europe.  Indeed, the devil is a genius; so clever that the report Bush himself had commissioned was tossed aside.  War was chosen over peace.

 

Eleven short days after the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Israeli National Infrastructures Minister, Joseph Paritzky showed his keen interest in running Iraqi oil from Mosul to Haifa; an idea that had been previously discussed in the 80’s with non other than Donald Rumsfeld.[v]   That was just to wet the appetite….

 

Not only does Israel want to be the transit point for Iraq’s oil, but for the whole Caspian region.  According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Oct 21, 2005), Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Israel’s infrastructure minister visited Turkey to discuss a $4 billion, 1,093 project to bring Caspian Sea oil and gas to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast from Azerbaijan via Georgia.   The Israeli interest is to see how this pipeline can serve Israeli interests.   Alternatives discussed were to transport the oil across Israel from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, where it would be loaded onto tankers headed for Asia.  Another option was to use the 158-mile Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline to transport the oil from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.  The pipeline build in 1968 during the Shah’s regime was designed to ferry oil in the opposite direction, from east to west.[vi] 

 

It would seem that the flow of oil through Israel warrants the dropping of bombs on the region.  As IASPS adjunct scholar D.Y. Anaximander said in 2004: “The depths to which we've come … now marked by the convergence of terrorist Islam and Western elites (represented at this moment by the Democrat candidate for president of this country) are such that we must be grateful—it is horrifying to say—that we were attacked by Muslims.” [vii]  But if only oil were the only source of all evils.   A more precious and scarce commodity that is causing this butchery is water. 

 

Policy makers in the Middle East are keenly aware of the fact that climate change, population growth and escalating rates of consumption has made water a critical determinant of foreign policy and national security.  But none have Israel’s leverage given their strategists and implementers in Washington.

 

According to BBC online President Mikhail Gorbachev stated that there have been 21 armed disputes over water in recent history - and 18 of them involved Israel. "It's highly unfair," said Yehezkel Lein, a water expert for Israeli human rights group B'tselem, who help to solve water problems in Palestinian areas. "We are talking about mainly the mountain aquifer and the Jordan River system. Regarding the first one Israel exploits approximately 80% of the renewal water resources, and the Palestinians the remaining 20%.  Regarding the Jordan River system, the Palestinians do not have any access." [viii]  At the rate they are being massacred, Israel will soon have access to 100% of the water.  But that is hardly a drop in the sand for Israel’s insatiable thirst.

 

Israel faced one of its worst droughts in 1990-91.  A second more serious drought in 1998, forced it to turn to water rich Turkey. Years earlier, former Turkish President Turgut Ozal had proposed a “peace pipeline” to sell surplus water from the Seyhan and Ceyhan rivers to parched countries in the region; a costly project, with the daunting challenge of requiring cooperation between nations.  It was time to call in the troops – American troops.

 

In a strategy paper entitled “The Geopolitics of Water” (September 2000 - IASPS) penned by Paul Michael Wihbey and Ilan Berman, the following suggestions were made:

“The region contains two sets of countries, each capable of drawing others to follow them, depending on their success. At one pole are the Baathist dictatorships of Syria and Iraq: when the possibility existed, they were aligned with the Soviet Union against the West. At the other pole are the Israeli and Turkish democracies, allies of the U.S. through thick and thin. On the sidelines, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon have swung to and fro.” They convince our policy makers in Washington that :  “There is little doubt that were Turkey and Israel intent on restoring Lebanon and distributing the area’s water in a rational manner, they would stand a chance of success. A stable strategic grouping capable of deterring the militant Baathist regimes in Syria and Iraq would promote the commencement of large-scale regional water planning and grid systems. Since extensive water planning proposals will necessitate the establishment of pipelines and energy grids stretching across borders, a political and military structure that can ensure the safety and security of the carriers will be the prerequisite to effective water sharing. Already, Turkey and Israel have engaged in serious negotiations starting in May 2000 to import 50 billion cubic meters of fresh water from Turkey using tanker ships. But an effective regional system would require political-military cooperation against Syria”  

Contrary to the devils’ predictions, invasion of sovereign Iraq met with resistance.  Turkey claims that the Manavgat River basin is secure and that all necessary measures will be taken to guarantee the safety and quality of water up to the loading point, but the pipeline would have to go through Syria.  Israel needs troops, American troops in the region to ensure the safe passage of water – and oil. 

 

Our policy makers, possessed, have drowned America’s soul in blood, shame, and infamy.  Once again, ignoring a policy of diplomacy which would lead to peace, we are being led to war.  We owe it to future generations to redeem ourselves.  Not only must Bush and Cheney be impeached, all those who endorse the policy of ‘all options are on the table’ be removed from office, but with awareness and sound values, we must hold to account the hijackers of American policy. “When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion”.  Ethiopian proverb

 

The Empire's Democracy Project Continues......

What awaits the other countries being ravaged by Israeli commanded, American led, NATO:

You promised me democracy,

But look what you have done to me.

You robbed my past,

and future stole,

and a present

left to me,

crushed beyond

a mending hope.

Ten years before invading me,

you broke my dams

and bridges bombed,

and power plants,

and sewage lines,

and water mains,

You fed the plants

with pesticide,

The baby food and medicine

you destroyed;

and the silos

of my grain

you set aflame.

So I may not

make good my loss

nor repair

my water mains,

you shackled me

in sanctions,

and a million kids

you starved to death.

I lived Saddam’s

nightmare through.

I knew what I

must watch out for.

But now I don’t know

where to hide

for death has lost

its pattern now.

He used to kill

and bury us,

friendless in

our unmarked graves;

but our names

he kept on files.

And now that you

are killing us,

we do not even

have a grave,

nor a number

nor a name–

thus in your books

we never lived.

He was your friend

who hurried us,

so many to their

early deaths,

with weapons that you

sold to him,

while you looked

the other way.

He was not

a ‘tyrant’ then,

which of late

he has become.

You merely changed

the label,

so you could come

and liberate,

the wealth that we

are sitting on,

and this you call

our liberation!

You promised me

democracy,

but look what you

have done to me.

With bombs you won

my heart over,

with blows you changed

my mind.

You tore into

my home at night,

and pulverized

my only peace.

And shrieking as

my mother watched,

with frightened children

Gathered ‘round,

you floored my father

in a heap,

with kicks and blows

and rifle butts,

and tore my humble

home apart.

Then you led

our men away,

with tied hands

behind their backs,

and with their eyes folded blind,

into the endless prison night.

And there you tore

my father’s robe.

To cover then

his nakedness,

upon his head

you put the hood,

and leashed him like

a dog on show,

and your dogs

unleashed on him.

You promised me

democracy,

but look what you

have done to me.

You took my youth

in prime away–

you shredded wedding

gatherings.

The little joys

that I had left,

merriment in

a broken life,

now in collateral

damage rest,

rising up

in smoke and flame,

of a mindless

bombing run.

‘Tis peel and husk

I have for food,

and water mixed

with sewage now

is all I have

to slake my thirst.

You even took

my sand away,

polluted by

uranium dust,

so when I have

my children they

shall be deformed,

unlovely and

unkissable–

and so unlike

your lovely kids!

My millions homeless

roam the road,

and orphaned children

beg in streets.

My women raised

in sanctity,

are now the stuff

of ravishment.

My men are slaughtered

out of hand,

and widows search

the morgues for them.

My dawn is dull,

and dusk is blood,

and bombs and blasts,

my afternoons.

My night in hopelessness is sunk,

when peace with me

a refuge takes,

and heaps on me

another dawn–

another search

of bodies lost;

another count

of heaped insults;

another day

to death evade,

call it life,

and celebrate.

So now when I

am fighting back,

my fearlessness

is causing awe.

Unequal,

but unafraid,

when I equalize myself,

and blow my only

life away,

you are shocked,

and label me

a terrorist!

I who want

my honor lost

and country back–

–a terrorist?

And you who came here

for my oil,

on crutches of

a shameless lie,

are and always

shall remain,

the humanist!

I know your type.

I see your greed

and hunger know,

but it is those

I want to know,

whose vote does so

empower you.

Do they not see

what they have done?

They promised me

democracy,

but look what they

have done to me!

(c) 2010 by Saeed Malik