“Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone … I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 metres is done for.” (Testimony of a former US Marine who fought in Fallujah)
So, where is the outrage? The country that keeps lecturing about WMDs actually used them in Iraq, and previously in Japan and Vietnam. Fallujah, the city of Mosques, was attacked with chemical weapons, around 1000 civilians were murdered indiscriminately; – the US clearly committed war crimes. Other credible reports suggested that the US also used Napalm in Baghdad, during the initial phase of the war.
Regardless of how damming the evidence, George Bush and his henchmen will never face a war crimes charge, which is only reserved for the opponents of the west. International laws are applied selectively like any apartheid or imperialist system. The rich and powerful nations make, apply and break those international laws for their own benefit; the poorer and weaker nations are forced to obey the laws, if they break it, they pay a heavy fine.
This recent revelation of using chemical weapons in Fallujah roughly coincided with the hotel bombings in Amman, killing 57 people. Like Abu-Ghraib, the world eventually learnt the truth about Fallujah and the Iraqis knew about this all along being the victims. The ‘embedded’ media was certainly not going to report this even if they saw it with their own eyes – that is why they are ‘embedded’. Damming evidence of chemical weapons was composed from: pictures, eye witness accounts, testimony form Iraqi doctors and the testimony of a former US soldier who actually took part in the attack on Fallujah. It was broadcasted in a documentary titled: “Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre” by RAI, the Italian state broadcaster.
The former US soldier in the RAI documentary also testified that before they entered Fallujah, they were told anything moving or breathing is a legitimate target. And given that 100,000 plus civilians have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, we still hear claims that the coalition forces do not target civilians indiscriminately. Similarly we keep hearing that the US does not torture prisoners, despite clear evidences from Camp-X-Ray, Abu-Ghraib, Bagram, and other secret prisons, which we know the US has in various countries around the world.
In the eyes of the mass media, the monumental hypocrisy of the US using chemical weapons (WMD) destroying an entire city, killing 100s of civilians, seems far less worthy of media coverage than the hotel bombings in Amman where 57 people were killed. You see, this clear proof that the media does not have to be embedded to function like the embedded media! Media coverage became so twisted, that you would think the bombers exclusively targeted the Jordanian wedding party in the hotel.
All the ‘innocent’ Jordanians and Muslims were genuine collateral damages as they were clearly not the intended target. If the bombers target was the ordinary Jordanians, they would have attacked places like the Mosques and the markets. But what would be the motive? Those luxury hotels are a symbol of inequity in Jordan, only the rich elites use them, otherwise they are occupied by Westerners. The bombers were targeting the mercenaries; those human vultures call themselves contractors, they are feeding on the blood and oil of Iraq. Also there are the Zionists, Prostitutes, Iraqi collaborators, autocratic Arab officials and intelligent officers usually occupying those types of hotels.
Now contrast the recent media coverage given to wedding party caught in the Amman bombings, with the many wedding parties in Iraq and Afghanistan bombed by the US forces. I do not recall seeing one interview of the survivors, expressing their grief and anger. The only media coverage given is regurgitating the Pentagon official’s lines: that the victims were all collateral damages as the US forces were only hunting the insurgents. Meaning that the US forces could not tell the difference between unarmed women, children and men in wedding celebration and the Mujahideen with bullet proof jackets, RPGS ready for combat!
After the Amman bombings, a handful of people started to demonstrate against the ubiquitous Musab Al-Zarqawi. Clearly, it was not a mass demonstration of hundreds of thousands; in fact just their appearance indicated that it was all staged by the Amman authorities. The demonstrators were carrying pictures of the King who is hated by most of the ordinary Arab masses; and the spontaneity of the demonstration suggested that it did not require the usual approval from the authority. Consider also this – over 90% of the Jordanians opposed the war in Iraq, but their unelected King sided with the Americans, so much for building democracy in the region. This is another clear proof that the Muslim masses are unrepresented. Hence, the absence of the masses in the demonstration is understandable as they see the bombings as a direct consequence of Jordan’s role in the Iraq war.
The Amman bombings generated a staged demonstration, where as the revelation of chemical weapons used in Fallujah, like post Abu-Ghraib generated a silent anger, ready to explode at some point in the future. It is now fact, that the only WMDs in Iraq were the ones used by the US forces. So the US must concede that it too can be subjected to chemical attacks, similarly the actions of Camp-X-Ray and Abu-Ghraib, means their citizens taken prisoners can be tortured, incarcerated and executed.
Hypocrisy is not a problem when “might is right” is the policy, and drunk with imperial arrogance, none of the Western countries even blinked at the exposure of this monumental hypocrisy that Iraq was subjected to chemical weapons. The UN Muppet Kofi Anan took no note, instead he is busy lecturing Syria and Iran on behalf of US and Israel, while the US and Israel prepare for an attack and they are already committing illegal incursion into Syrian and Iranian air space to intimidate them. Silence of the west is understandable but why are the Arab/Muslim regimes also silent on the war crimes and terrorism committed in Fallujah. From Mubarak to Musharraf, they are mute and the only time they exercise their vocal chords is in condemning retaliation. This is another stark reminder that the Muslim masses have no representation at the political level.
The events also coincided with the US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s visiting the region. She is known to be a democracy-builder. But she is not interested in hearing the voices of the ordinary Arabs/Muslims who opposes the war overwhelmingly and she is even less interested in seeing that they get represented. First step in building democracy in the region is not to see mass representation, but mass manipulation, imposing democracy from top down. Condoleeza Rice is trying to be “whiter than white”, acting like a public relations officer on behalf of the slave owners, attempting to sell the idea of slavery to the blacks in Africa, Alabama and Mississippi; if diplomacy fails, force will be used to shove it down their throats.
The link between Iraq-war and the bombings in Amman is obvious, as all the bombers are known to be Iraqis. Indeed, how can you expect to be secure when you violate the security of others? Jordan, like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain has been used as a launching pad for the war. Many of the collaborators are trained to fight alongside U.S. troops in Jordan. Jordan is also suspected of providing the US with intelligence and support for the elite forces of the U.S. to attack cities like Tal Afar, Qaim, Karabila, Haditha and Husayba, as they had done earlier with Fallujah.
Thus, the Iraqis will naturally attack those centres in those neighbouring countries that are known to be aiding the war. Also the onus is on the Jordanians masses to avoid such places frequented by Americans and Iraqi collaborators. There is a war going on and the Jordanian government is a party to this war. The masses should be forcing their government to retreat from supporting the US-led war in Iraq. The other nations who have aided the US in this war, should now remember, the road from Fallujah to Amman has been opened, which in turn can lead to other destinations like Riyadh, Tokyo, Bucharest, Warsaw, Sofia and Tel Aviv.
Yamin Zakaria (www.iiop.org), London, UK
