Whose War? What Peace?

154 Pages·1991·1.521 MB·English

by  Khoo Khay Jin

Reflections on the
1
Gulf Conflict
'inc oo eration with
G E ~ A KDA MAI
and1 FORUM
WHOSE WAR? WHAT PEACE?
Reflections on the Gulf Conflict
WHOSE WAR?
WHAT PEACE?
Reflections on the Gulf Conflict
edited and compiled
by
Khoo Khay Jin
Aliran Kesedaran Negara
in cooperation with
Gerak Damai Malaysia
and
Forum
1991
Published by:
Aliran Kesedaran Malaysia
P. 0.B ox 1049
10830 Penang
Gerak Damai Malaysia
Dr Ikmal Said, Secretary
C/O Anthropology & Sociology Department
University of Malaya
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Forum
11 Jalan 11/4E
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Printer:
Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd
56,Ist Floor, Jalan Radin Anum 1,
Bandar Baru Seri Petaling
57000 Kuala Lumpur
ISBN: 967-991 6-21-9
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE GULF CONFLICT: A BRIEF BACKGROUND
3. WHO WAS INTRANSIGENT?
Noam Chomsky, Who Wanted Negotiations?
Pierre Salinger, Arafat's Extra Mile for Peace
John Pilger, Sins of Omission
John Gittings, A Peaceful Settlement was Possible
4. BEHIND THE AMERICAN SHOW OF FORCE
Saddam Hussein, Beware US Control of the Gulf
Saddam Hussein, Oil is Our Wealth
James Schlesinger, Oil and Power in the Nineties
Abdul Amir Al-Anbari, A Hidden Agenda
A WSJ,T otal Capitulation is the Appropriate Goal
Noam Chomsky, US and British Interests in the Gulf
5. THE UN: TOOL OF THE US?
Richard Falk, UN Being Made a Tool of US Foreign Policy
Noam Chomsky, A Stand on Low Moral Ground
M e y n de Silva, The Impotence of the UN
Bhaskar Menon, UN Bent Out of Shape?
Ramses Amer, The Inconsistencies of the UN
6. THE REACTION OF THE MASSES: WHY?
Derek Brown, An Imperialist War
Edward Said, Saddam the Symbol
Noam Chomsky, Arabs Must Not Raise Their Heads
Ang Swee Chi,S abra and Shatila
Chandra Muzaffar, The Gulf War: Muslim Reactions
7. THE WAR
Gilbert Sinden, Thinking the Worst of Arabs
Alexander Cockburn, Moral Bluster
Philip Knightley, Lies, Damned Lies and Military Briefings
John Pilger, Turkey Shoot
Killing Sheep
Discount A-Bomb
Ramsey Clark, Please Do Something
8. A NEW WORLD ORDER OR A NEW COLONIALISM?
Noam Chomsky, The Enemy is the Third World
Richard Gott, The Colonialists Never Give Up
IHT, US ~GnOsP EC?
NST, EEC Joins OPEC?
Stansfield Turner, The Importance of Oil
What About My Share? Who Got What?
Henry Kissinger, The Post-War Agenda
9. MALAYSIA AND THE WAR
Mahathir Mohamad, Why We Supported 678
Chnndra Muzaffar, Why We Shouldn't Have Supported 678
Isidoro Malmierca, Chronicle of a War Foretold
10. AFTERWORD
SUGGESTED READINGS & USEFUL ADDRESSES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgement is made to the following for the use of previously
published material:
American Humanist Society: Excerpt from "Bewildering the Herd by
Rick Szykowny, The Humanist, November/December 1990.
Asian Wall Street Journal: Excerpt from "Marshalling Forces", 10-11
August 1990.
Central American Reporter: Excerpt from 'What Lies Ahead for Central
America" by Noam Chomsky, July 1990.
Christian Science Monitor: Excerpt from "Behind Saddam Hussein" by
Edward Said, 15 August 1990.
National Outlook: Excerpts from: 'Winners and Losers in the Gulf War"
by Gilbert Sinden, November 1990.
New Statesman and Society: Excerpts from: "Lies, Damned Lies and
Military Briefings" by Philip Knightley, 8 February 1991; "Moral
Bluster" by Alexander Cockburn, 8 February 1991; "Sins of Omission"
and 'Turkey Shoot" by John Pilger, 8 February & 15 February 1991.
i
Newsweek: Excerpts from: 'The Post-War Agenda" by Henry Kissinger,
28 January 1991; "Discount A-Bomb", 25 February 1991.
Pluto 'Press: Excerpts from The Fateful Triangle by Noam Chomsky,
London 1983.
The National Interest: Excerpt from "Oil and Power in the Nineties" by
James Schlesinger, Spring 1990.
The Guardian: Excerpts from: "A Stand on Low Moral Ground" by
Noarn Chomsky, 10 January 1991; "UN Being Made a Tool of US
Foreign Policy" by Richard Falk, 27 January 1991; "Faltering Steps in
the Sand" by Pierre Salinger, 4 February 1991; "Saddam was Prepared
to Agree Deal on Kuwait!' by John Gittings, 8 February 1991; 'Third
World Casts Allies as Bully Boys" by Derek Brown, 10 February 1991;
'The Colonialists Never Give Up" by Richard Gott, 10 February 1991.
Times Books International: Excerpt from From Beirut to Jerusalem by
Ang Swee Chai, Singapore, 1989.
Times of India: Excerpts from: "Gulf War Shows Up Impotence of UN",
4 February 1991; "UN Guilty of Omission, Commission" by Bhaskar
Menon, 11 February 1991.
To the people of Iraq,
victims of a "new world order"
1
INTRODUCTION
As we watched the recent display of the West's technology of
destruction and the carnage it wreaked upon the 18.8 million people
of a country one-and-a-half times the size of Malaysia, many of us
wrung our hands in a mixture of sympathy, helplessness, dismay and
anger. We asked and continue to ask ourselves: Why? What had the
Iraqi people done to deserve such death and destruction - the
bombing of their country "back to the 19th century", to borrow a
phrase from the BBC World Service. Even as our minds boggle at the
enormity of what has occurred, and we turn away from it to find some
semblance of sanity in the familiar, we are drawn to asking what
brought things to this horrendous state.
This collection of excerpted articles is intended toehelp readers
arrive at their own answers to the above questions. They provide
information and arguments that have not been given much coverage
by the mainstream media, whether Malaysian or Western. We believe
that the information and arguments contained in them are essential
in order that you, the reader, may be able to come to some judgement
as to where the truth lies, for truth was the very first casualty in this
conflict, indeed even before the first bomb was dropped. We hope
that the excerpts reprinted here will provide the necessary balance to
the bulk of reports with which we are familiar.
The authors of the articles and extracts are people of considerable
reputation. A number are noted academics and intellectuals, others
are well-respected, independent journalists. Some have been senior
officials in previous US governments.