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BRITISH-IRISH-POETS  1998

BRITISH-IRISH-POETS 1998

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Subject:

Re: Iraq and depression (fwd)

From:

Keston Sutherland <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Keston Sutherland <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 23 Feb 1998 09:48:34 -0500 (EST)

Content-Type:

TEXT/PLAIN

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TEXT/PLAIN (131 lines)



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 22:26:02 EST
From: Rodrigo Toscano <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: UB Poetics discussion group <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Iraq and depression

In response and agreement (and addition) to David Bromige's post.

I, for one, am such an apostate.



 Feb. 23rds headline in Time magazine is appropriate: Wall Street Goes
To War. The article notes: Like Presidential approval ratings, stock prices
tend
to inflate when the U.S. engages in armed conflict. Look no further than the
tireless bull market that we enjoy today. It began in 1991 when the U.S. drove
Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi army out of Kuwait. The first allied air raids
came
on January 17 of that year and sent the Dow Jones industrial average soaring
4.6% in a day. By mid-March the Dow had jumped 20%.
The point is illustrated with a graphic chart which ties the Birth of the Bull
Market to the day the bombing began.
Yes, sir! The generals on Wall Street do love a war, the article continues.
There's nothing like the smell of smart bombs in the morning ‹ as long as
theyre ours ‹ to arouse feelings of invincibility. And what better frame of
mind for dialing ones broker and cheerfully picking up another 100 shares of
Boeing or Lockheed Martin. With Saddam the Sequel possibly only days away
... itıs no shocker that the market has hit new highs for the first time in
six
months.
With the massive collapse of capitalism in Asia reverberating in the board
rooms of stock exchanges and corporate headquarters across the world, talk of
a
severe downturn is commonplace in Barrons, The Financial Times, The Far
Eastern Economic Review, and the Wall Street Journal .
Wall Street is betting heavily on war.
Yes, Time continues, success in the Persian Gulf would vindicate all
those market patriots bidding up share prices. ... stocks of defense
contractors,
oil producers and oil service companies would be good hedges. Remember, those
generals on Wall Street wear suits, not battle fatigues. They don't really
know a
thing about war.
They do know, however, how to profit from it.
The Annual Report called The State of the Union concealed the $6 trillion
of debt in the United States and an arms budget that consumes 70 cents of
every
dollar.
Clintonıs boast of an entire new generation of weapons, the military
arsenal of the 21st century, translates this way: smart weapons must be tested
against a country with no defenses, and with a gross national product less
than 1
percent that of the United States.
Pentagon sources tell Time that U.S. warplanes patrolling the southern
no-fly zone over the past three months have been practicing bombing runs on
targets that top brass figured they might ... have to attack.
Order of battle
Time  has the Order of Battle: The First Wave involves Tomahawk Cruise
Missile attacks by night and attack by Air Force F-117 Nighthawks.
Navy warships and subs armed with hundreds of precision missiles target
sites ... F-117 stealth fighters zip out of Kuwait flying undetected into Iraq
targeting communication centers ... with 2,000 lb. laser-guided bombs.
The Second Wave includes The EA-6B Prowler, EF-111 Raven and the F-
16CJ to jam ... radar .... making it safe for the bombers.
The Third Wave will see Bomb Laden Air Force B-1 Bombers from Bahrain
and missile-loaded B-52s from Diego Garcia aim for high value targets ...
launching weapons from high altitudes. Refueling planes ... rendezvous with
the
B-52s.
Wave Four involves Air Force F-15 Eagles and Navy F-14 Tomcats
patrolling the sky while F/A 18 Hornets, F-16 Falcons and British Tornados
roar
to attack.
Surveillance throughout the battle by ES-3A Shadow Jets ... vacuum up
Iraqi Radio Transmissions. E-2 Hawkeyes  scour the skies and ... direct the
attack.
Bomber squadrons will be launched from Incirlik Air base in Turkey and
from bases in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Germany. AWACS, aerial tankers, and
support aircraft will depart from Saudi Arabia and 42 bomber squadrons from
Kuwaits Al Jaber air base.
The U.S.S. George Washington, U.S.S. Independence, launch destroyers in
the Persian Gulf, bomber squadrons from Bahrain, armored brigades in Qatar,
Air
Refueling Tankers in Oman, and B-52 squadrons in Diego Garcia will amplify
28,000 troops. 300 war planes on naval carriers will coordinate saturation
bombing around the clock for seven days.
On the eve of what is shaping up as the biggest combat operation of his
Presidency ... war is just around the corner. Time reports. No one expects the
operation to be bloodless. The White House has begun preparing Americans for
unpleasant pictures from Baghdad and less-than perfect results from the
battlefield.
There were 40,000 bombing sorties during the Gulf War. More bombs fell
on Iraq than in seven years of World War II.
Massive devastation
Nothing that we have seen or read could quite prepare us for the particular
form of devastation that has befallen this country. The conflict has wrought
near
apocalyptic results upon the economic and social infrastructure. ... Most
means
of modern life support have been destroyed ... and Iraq has been rendered a
country ... in a pre-industrial age.(U.N. Report, 1991.)
 Iraq has been devastated further by the seven-year embargo. UNICEF
estimates one million Iraqi children dead from starvation and the FAO in 1997
reports 1.5 million Iraqis dying from hunger and untreated disease. There are
no
medicines or IV bags, syringes,  insulin, asthma medication, antibiotics,
standard medications, or sterile health facilities.
The claim to be targeting biological weapons facilities in Iraq is absurd.
These can made in a portable lab. Anthrax or bubonic plague bacteria are
housed
in small vials. The largest producer of biochemical weapons in the world,
however, is the United States ‹ which refuses to ban them.
For years, this country supplied biochemical weapons to its client, Saddam
Hussein, to use against Iran. The Israelis, who delivered them to Iran for use
against Iraq, deployed toxic gases causing paralysis, vaginal bleeding, and
catatonia in Palestinian victims during the intifada.
The imminent aerial massacres prepared by U.S. rulers aim to terrorize the
Arab masses, whose profound disaffection threatens U.S. client regimes
throughout the region.
This is the true face of U.S. imperialism.

Rodrigo Toscano



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