The Hindu : National : "More than oil at stake in Iraq"

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Saturday, Mar 19, 2005

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National

"More than oil at stake in Iraq"

By Our Special Correspondent

Osama M. Hussien

MUMBAI, MARCH 18. "There are more things than oil at stake in Iraq. The U.S. has imperialist designs on the region, using Iraq as a base and invading it was the first step. A lot of reasons bring the American to our country," said Osama M. Hussien of the National Foundation Congress, Iraq. The Congress, a broad network which is peacefully resisting the U.S. invasion, has been demanding a complete withdrawal of U.S. and U.K. forces from Iraq.

Mr. Hussien, who has been invited by the Forum against War, will lead an anti-war rally here tomorrow, on the second anniversary of the U.S. war on Iraq. He told reporters here that the Congress, which was formed last year to peacefully resist the U.S. invasion, was a broad network of political parties. It consisted of Christian, Kurdish, Shia and Sunni groups and professionals from all walks of life. An engineer by profession, Mr. Hussien and his wife, Ibtihal, will address meetings in several cities in India, including Bhopal and New Delhi. "There is a low security level in Iraq today, two years after the U.S. invasion. There are explosions, kidnappings and all kinds of crimes. There are no jobs and no petrol," he said.

Imprisoned for three months in 1996 for opposing Saddam Hussein's reign, Mr. Hussien said that his resisting the U.S. invasion did not mean that he supported Saddam. Mr. Hussien made Damascus his base, but now alternates between Baghdad and the Syrian capital. "Saddam's regime was spreading evil but the price of that is not to give our country away to the British and American forces, just to get rid of one dictator," he said.

`Iraqis can unite'

The current situation in Iraq was worse than the first few months after the war, and was worsening still, he added. "The only solution is the freedom of Iraq. Iraqis can unite and rule ourselves — we don't need someone to teach us to make a state," he said. Iraq was united before the war, now it was being divided. This was the result of imperialist politics. The elections that were held in the country were illegal, Mr. Hussien said, asking how could it be held when armed forces favoured some parties over the others. "This election can lead to a lot of problems and might result in Iraq being separated into a few parts," he said.

Most of the 1.25 million Iraqi refugees living abroad also did not vote for the election. Even though they enjoy relative peace and security outside Iraq, only 14 per cent of them voted, Mr. Hussien said. The confinement of the press to a few areas meant a full picture of the elections never emerged. While the Congress supported resistance in any form, it was against violence on innocent civilians, he said. The Congress hoped that other countries would put pressure on the U.S. to leave Iraq, he added. There was a lot of opposition to the U.S. invasion, but with the media being tightly controlled, not much news emerges from Iraq.

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