Why The U.S. is in Iraq

As we know, the reasons given for the occupation of Iraq were numerous and kept changing. The initial motivation, we were told, was to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. It has now become clear that the evidence for the existence of such weapons in Iraq was based on a tissue of falsehoods and mis-information. The President and his administration refused to listen to the UN inspectors who advised that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

When it became obvious that this rationale was being viewed as dubious in nature, the Administration changed its explanation for aggression against a sovereign state to one that included the idea of spreading democracy and ridding the world of a tyrant. This is the explanation it has stuck with ever since.

The real reason for the occupation directly relates to old style colonialism. As we all know, Iraq sits upon a very large untapped oil reserve. Also, the nature of American styled unfettered capitalism requires the expansion of existing markets and the creation of new ones. The usual method for spreading and sustaining American economic hegemony has been through the machinations of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). These organizations are now finding resistance to their policies in many countries of the so-called undeveloped world.

The real motivation for the occupation of Iraq can be readily found in the orders promulgated by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) under the aegis of Paul Bremmer. I would like to focus on two such orders: Order No. 39 and Order No. 81.

Order No. 39 effectively voided significant portions of the Iraqi constitution and allowed for the 100% purchase of state assets by foreign investors, and allowed these foreign owners to move 100% of the profits outside the country. This order effectively allowed for the foreign (i.e. American) ownership of vast portions of the Iraqi economy.

Order No. 81 forbids Iraqi farmers from using their own seeds for cultivation. They will be forced to purchase seed from essentially American agribusiness conglomerates such as Monsanto and Dow Chemical.

These orders have been foisted on the Iraqi people without their consent. Is this what America perceives as the hallmarks of democracy? The content of these orders are readily available and are public knowledge. These orders tell the real story regarding the unwarranted aggression against Iraq and the subsequent occupation.