KATHY CHANGE SPEAKS ON IRAQ

The following was written by Kathy Change shortly before her death in October 1996, subsequent to military actions taken against Iraq by the Clinton administration:

At this time U.S.-Iraq tension has apparently eased since Saddam Hussein has stated that he will temporarily stop firing at U. S. planes enforcing the No Fly Zone. Underscore the word temporarily. Hussein said that his ceasefire was in hopes that a diplomatic solution could come about, but attacks on U.S. jets would resume if they continue to patrol Iraqi skies; thus it seems inevitable that sooner or later Hussein will again strike at the hostile intrusion of U.S. planes into his airspace. At that time, the U.S. will no doubt make its disproportionate attack on Iraq which it promised before Saddam Hussein's conciliatory announcement. They are taking a break here but neither party is backing down. War against Iraq is imminent. The U.S. government is eagerly waiting for Saddam Hussein to give it an excuse to resume its attacks.

The military strikes, threats and buildup in the Persian Gulf this September constituted a crisis of alarming proportions. As the media newscasters gloated that Saddam Hussein had been put back in his box, and the imperturbable apathy of the general public continued unruffled, the Clinton administration displayed its willingness to do a war dance on the shaky shelf that hangs over the terrible abyss of nuclear holocaust.

The No Fly Zones are completely unreasonable. Iraq has a right to fly its airplanes within its own borders. That American airplanes are flying over Iraq in direct provocation is the most shockingly senseless behavior-in keeping with [the US. government's] tradition of military aggression and imperialism. If we start bombing Iraq, again, Saddam Hussein could feel that retaliation would be justifiable. Not just retaliation against the U.S. military in the Persian gulf, but retaliation against the American homeland... [yes, she really used the term "homeland" - ed.]

Government spokesmen bluntly state that their intent is to safeguard America's supply of cheap Arab oil. This is completely preposterous. We do not need that oil. We are supposed to be cutting down on our gasoline usage to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and slow down global warming. The U.S. is a swaggering bankrupt bully trying to compensate for its insolvency with an extra measure of aggressive military display. The U.S. government is parading for TV cameras its most deluxe military hardware, which cost billions of taxpayers' dollars, while public education is in a disgraceful state and people are denied guarantees of health care and human services...

The people should hate to see all this fabulously expensive stuff trotted out to intimidate the petty dictator of a small, already beaten up and crippled nation. This oversized military buildup and the attacks against Iraq are only enhancing Saddam Hussein's prestige in the Arab world, where the U. S. is the Great Satan. Satan's enemy must be a hero is the obvious logic. What glory or honor can there possibly be in this outrageously uneven contest, which is like a mighty lion displaying his most threatening gestures against a wounded terrier? The American people should be boiling mad. But instead the prevailing attitude, amplified by the media, is fat-headed, oblivious arrogance. Conscientious people are cowed into silence.

Clinton seems to think that since all the targets of his missile attacks in the first week of September were military targets, those strikes were ok. Wait a minute. How would the Pentagon feel if American bases on the U. S. mainland had been attacked by missiles of a hostile country? The Pentagon would probably act like it had just been shot in the testicles. Can there be any doubt its response would be war? Military attacks on any target, military or civilian, should not be undertaken lightly. Indeed they should not be undertaken at all...

The average person is essentially well-intentioned, and to such a person it may be inconceivable that his government is motivated by pure evil. But looking at the whole picture, an impartial person must finally conclude that the true objective of the U.S. government is to destroy America and the world.

The U.S. government's policies of the past half century prove that it is malevolent. The U.S. introduced nuclear weapons to the world, refused to join international treaties to ban nuclear weapons, and unilaterally started the nuclear arms race. The wars in Korea and Vietnam were unjustifiable meddling in the internal affairs of those nations. President Bush [the I st one -- ed. j was looking for a pretext for war against Iraq because he viewed Iraq as a threat to U.S. hegemony in the Middle East. A representative of the U.S. Department of State led Hussein to believe that the U.S. would take no action against the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.-George Bush set Saddam Hussein up and then pounced on him. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait could have and should have been resolved diplomatically.

Thanks to its unjustifiable wars, the U.S. has many enemies against whom the Pentagon has been planning its final war in its top-secret black budget doomsday projects. The horrible machinations being seriously plotted out by the Pentagon surpass even Hollywood's wildest imaginings.

Because we are dependent on the U.S. government to regulate our society, give us our checks and maintain the buying power of our dollars, we want to think of Uncle Sam as our powerful benevolent family member. But now we must recognize Uncle Sam as the demon-possessed dangerous criminal that he is, before he gets us into big trouble and causes us the most horrendous harm.

Kathy Change
October 1996