Letter From America
"Desert Fox," Appropriately Named after a Nazi Field Marshal!
In their haste to punish Saddam Hussein, Britain and America allowed a grievous Freudian slip. They named the operation "Desert Fox," the nickname of Nazi Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Rommel, "The Desert Fox," ("Der Wustenfuchs" in German), so named because of his audacious and surprise attacks, was a wily desert strategist who gave the British army fits in North Africa. Recent Anglo-American bombing of Iraq, unauthorized by the UN Security Council, was not much more nobler than the Nazi operations in Europe during World War II. Unfortunately for the attackers, having gone to the well once too often, they are now beginning to come up dry. It is Saddam, not they, who has the world's ear and sympathy now.
Perhaps the Yanks and the Brits have taken Rabindranath's famous words literally, and completely out of context: if no one responds to your call, go it alone. Rabindranath's "go it alone" was a much higher calling than the unauthorized and unilateral bombing of a long vanquished foe. Just as Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent movement exposed British Raj's moral bankruptcy by absorbing their blows without fighting back, Iraq's moral stock is in steep climb, just as the bombers' are in steep decline in the aftermath of the latest bombing. Sooner or later Britain and America has to come to grips with the painful fact that they do not rule the world. They cannot continue to use the UN when it suits them, and ignore it when it does not. If Britain and America can make a mockery of the United Nations Security Council resolutions, why should Iraq punish itself by honouring them. For that matter, neither should any other nation that believes in basic human decency.
There is a fallacy, accepted as the truth, abroad as well as in some quarters here in America, that President Clinton ordered the bombing of Iraq to influence the impeachment hearings against him. Not quite. America is not a dictatorship. The President cannot one fine morning decide to bomb a popular target - and bombing of Iraq remains popular - to divert attention away from his personal woes. The decisions are made at a lower level. Typically, National Security chief Sandy Berger's security apparatus and Defense Secretary William Cohen would meet with the heads of the armed forces and recommend a course of action, which would be forwarded to the President for approval. In this particular case, it was the dictator of UNSCOM, Richard Butler - the one who loves Iraqi blood - who triggered the chain reaction by stating that Iraq was under noncompliance. It is true that President Clinton was too happy to approve the bombing. Still, he knew, as did the whole nation, that was not going to change one single impeachment vote. It did not.
On the positive side, thanks to President Clinton's pre-bombing speech, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan got free publicity in the USA and the rest of the world this year. We had a ready answer to colleague's question: "When does Ramadan start?" "When the bombing stops!", we would reply. President Clinton's speech was educational - that it's wrong to bomb the Muslims during Ramadan; but all right to obliterate them during Shaban and Shawal!
The Iraqis were not amused though. For over eight years they have allowed spies under the UN umbrella to operate freely on the Iraqi soil and air space. All they have got in exchange is "oil for food" programme, with the majority of the proceeds going to those who the UN believe should be "compensated." As the latest air strikes have vividly demonstrated, Iraqis remain vulnerable to the deadly whims of racists like Richard Butler. The Iraqis' message is loud and clear - eight years of inhumanity is enough. Either lift the sanctions, or get out of our land, our air. With the latter in mind, they are beginning to challenge the planes enforcing the "No Fly Zone" which encompasses most of Iraq. Expect the tit for tat to continue ad infinitum.
Saddam Hussein is the West's best friend. In any discussion on Iraq, Saddam, his (ghostly) "weapons of mass destruction" and his (imaginary) "threats to neighbours" dominate conversation. Any mention of UN sanctions-sponsored killing of Iraqi children and civilians draw the ire from those who formulate foreign policy or talk about it. It is astonishing to see the supposedly "free" western Press completely toe the official line when it comes to destroying the people of Iraq.
Iraq should take heart. Eventually, "The Desert Fox" Rommel, "people's marshal" (Volksmarschall) met his match in British Field Marshal Montgomery, at the Battle of Al-'Alamayn in Egypt, in 1942.
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