4 — Wednesday, April 10, 1991 —- North Shore News The Gulf is in ruins, but the machine remains intac BACK BEFORE the Amer- icans, Mulroney and the coalition of Arab dictator- ships and industrialized Western countries decided to unfeash their forces against Saddam Hussein, | was one of the ‘“‘wimps”* who argued against resor- ting to force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. STRICTLY PERSONAL The argument against the use of force came down to a couple of major factors. First, the embargo then in place showed every sign of being the most effective ever ap- plied. Trade with the outside world had been nearly completely choked off. People who do not believe in sanctions should look closely at the situation in South Africa where, despite a far less effective trade embargo matched with a far more highly industrialized base, the pressure applied by the inter- national community has finally had an effect. Apartheid, while not quite dead, is obviously on its way out. The simple reason is ("at even ar- rogant South African whites have had to face the economic facts of life. Grudgingly, they have begun to turn away from their racist policies, and they are doing so even though the black majority is seriously divided and unable, as yet, 10 present a unified opposi- dion. Nobody knows how long it would have taken to squeeze the Iraqis out of Kuwait, It might have taken a couple of years. In the meantime, Saddam Hus- sein’s army wasn’t going any fur- ther, and, as we have seen, scare stories about his ability to mount a nuclear offensive, or even a chemical offensive, were vastly exaggerated. The other critical part of the argument against force was the fact that Hussein was known to have mined the oil wells in Kuwait, and with his record, was understood by everyone concerned to be perfectly capable of setting them ablaze. Which he did. On top of that he set loose a tide of oi! in the Persian Gulf that is not only en- dangering an untold number of birds, fish and sea mammals, in- cluding several already-endangered species, but is also befouling the marine eco-system so badly that it will take decades —- some say hundreds of years (if ever} —- to recover. The holocaust in Kuwait is there to be seen on your television screen any time you care to look. The worst-case scenarios sug- gested that the plumes of oily smoke could rise high enough into the atmosphere to affect a cooling teend around a wide band of the entire planet. . So tar, that hasn't materialized, but the impact of the fires, which are expected (o burn for at least two y2ars before they cun be cap- ped, have already towered temperatures in the region, and rendered the air so unfit to breathe that the entire Kuwaiti population is at risk. And itis not just the Kuwaitis who are suffering. The whole region faces pollu- uon and degradation of farming capability on an incredible scale. The mess has been described by responsible scientists as the single worst man-made environmental disaster in history. The cost in terms of ac- celerating the greenhouse effect has not even begun to be calculated, but we can be sure that our children and grandchildren will be living with the conse- quences, guaranteed to be disastrous, whether they take the form of places like Surrey and Richmond being flooded by rising oceans, deserts spreading across the Prairies, or forests burning from one end of the country to the other thanks to higher temperatures. {n the meantime, the Interna- tional Red Cross reports that as many as 14 million people may starve to death in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa this year, thanks to famine. The resources that were poured into the Gulf War all come out of common coffers which have been depleted. Witness Canada’s own slashing of foreign aid projects. The starving millions in Africa have simply been ignored while the generals played with their fan- , cy new toys of desiruction and the politicians sought glory through the ancient device of military vic- tory. In the wake of the war we see that the Kurds and Shiites in Iraq have been betrayed by the West. Told to rise up against Hus- sein’s tyranny, they were left without arms or supplies. Hussein’s fixed-wing fighter planes have not been allowed to go after them, but all the other hardware — helicopter gunships. tanks and heavy armor — has been turned loose against peasant rebels. : The carnage is unspeakable. Millions of refugees are now be- ing ground under the boots of Hussein’s largely still-intact army. In Kuwait, where the coalition forces went in officially to save people from torture and murder, torture and murder continue, only this time it is the Kuwaitis doing unto the local Palestinians what the Tragis had been doing unto the Kuwaitis. Does any partner in the noble crusade that was mustered against Hussein suggest going in after the Emir of Kuwait’s own cutthroats and butchers? Of course not. Western oil sup- plies in the Mideast have been secured. That’s what mattered. {f true humanitarian impulses had been at work, the coalition would be slapping the Kuwaitis Wolo Full Scale Sale Flyer Appearing Apr. 10, 1991 Page 37 — Mini 5-speed Drill Press with 1.5 H.P motor should read 1/5 H.P. motor. There is no such press with 1.5. Page 36 — Wet/Dry Shop Vac reads 10 H.P motor. Copy should read 1 H.P motor. Woolco is sorry for any in- convenence this may have caused iis Customers. down and intervening on behalf of the Kurds and Shiites in Iraq. But no. We find legal reasons for twiddling our thumbs. The awful immorality, ecological stupidity and raw polit- ical power plays that some of us perceived as being the driving forces behind the decision to go to war with Saddam Hussein have proved themselves indeed to have been the case. Not all the yellow ribbons, Stars and Stripes and crowing speeches from Mulroney can hide the fact thar Kuwait has been physically destroyed, its peopte still live under a dictato: ship «namely the Emir’s), millio.is of Iraqi rebels have been handec over tc Saddam Hussein on a platter, the Gulf is ruined, and on top of everything else, Saddam remains firmly in power. Who won? You tell me. Sculpiure Design Acid etched phass polished brass finish tine Antique Design White narsette ghtss On bisque, fist fice stburne Company. 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