They were right those millions who went out into the streets worldwide to say “No War for Oilâ€. Some were simply against war in general. Their logic is that wars don’t bring solutions but rather destruction and suffering and create more problems than they try to solve. All are losers in war. Others were against illegal wars, for it was evident that the reasons offered by the US and UK to wage a pre-emptive war against Iraq was part of a public relations campaign based on propaganda that convinced no one. They were utter lies. Some who were more informed knew that this war was an attempt to seize Iraqi oil for the benefit of US-led Western imperialism. Even covering up the real aims of the war by declaring that the war would bring democracy to Iraq didn’t convince anyone — only those who wanted to be convinced. Democracy, as all know, is built on the base of citizens who constitute a people, not by an occupation that depends on religious fascists and ethnic separatist militias and warlords. Democracy is a unifying process, not a process of dividing a united Iraq into conflicting confederations. This partition was planned and imposed through Bremer’s Orders and the Transitional Administrative Law and later adopted and integrated in the constitution of the so-called Political Process. They were right those millions, but neither the US nor the UK governments heard them. On the contrary, the Bush administration and the Blair government, faced with the rejection of the war and occupation and faced by a sustained resistance, sank more and more into genocidal policies to achieve “victory†on the Iraqi people. They destroyed every positive aspect that existed in Iraq: the security forces, the health system, the education system, the judiciary system, the archives, municipal services, the state apparatus, and they caused a financial, moral and political suicide and military defeat for themselves. The result for Iraq is five million refugees, more than one million deaths, the complete destruction of infrastructure, generalized corruption, insecurity, diseases and pollution and non-functional administrations. They were right those millions of protesters: after seven years of violence in Iraq, events prove them right. The only thing the occupier has achieved is to illegally put its hands on Iraqi oil and to illegally tie Iraq to a treaty while still under occupation. Even the “political process†imposed on Iraq to legalize the occupation is a fiasco. It could not even legalize the plunder of Iraqi oil via the parliament it created. Instead of ending the occupation, handing Iraq to its people and punishing those responsible for this tragedy, instead of listening to the Iraqi people’s rights and demands, the Obama administration adopted the same strategy as Bush: trying to create a client state in Iraq by depending on the same corrupted backward forces that supported the occupation against the Iraqi people. The only difference is that it tries to change the faces of its puppet government. The plunder, the corruption, the repression and the attempts to divide Iraq continue as before. Following one year of the Obama administration no change has taken place, despite the declarations and promises. In reality, since the Baker-Hamilton report, all governmental and non-governmental institutions say they are trying to find a way to save Iraq from the disaster and tragedy that the Bush administration created, by involving the US, the EU, the UN and neighboring countries. Their approach is to amend the political process, hoping that a stable and democratic state can be built in Iraq. They are either dreaming or lying. The current “political process†led by conflicting warlords and ethnic and religious political groups, each with their own militia and agenda, has produced the most corrupt, repressive and failed state in the world. Even if the intentions of the international community were sincere, it is impossible to improve this political process. Neither those in power accept the change, nor can the Iraqi people believe these intentions of change. Without a real rupture from this political process, Iraq will sink deeper and deeper in its tragedy. The Iraqi people try to achieve this rupture in various ways. The Iraqi resistance and its sympathizers are the first political force in Iraq. Even those who don’t support it directly adopt its program and slogans. The propaganda and lies of the political process don’t influence the Iraqi people anymore. This was evident lately, during the recent horrible explosions against innocent civilians and on the occasion of Iran’s occupation of the Fakka oil well. We, me and my Iraqi and non-Iraqi friends, think that a new approach to save Iraq, whose stability is essential for the region and the world, is necessary. We appeal to governments, international institutions, civil society associations and leaders to recognize the Iraqi resistance, to negotiate with Iraqi anti-occupation forces in order to put an end to the occupation, establish a transitional government supported by the anti-occupation forces and the international community, whose task, in full respect of international law, international humanitarian law and Iraq’s national sovereignty, is to rebuild the state apparatus, especially the armed forces, and to begin a national democratic process and organize elections to build a real democratic state. We think this is the only way to end the violence and the suffering in Iraq and to realize peace, justice and stability. Whether for justice or by interest, the international community should stand behind the Iraqi people to build a peaceful, independent, democratic and stable united Iraq. **From the BRussels Tribunal BM
