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Michael from Oxford, UK, has contributed the below article. The same article, as a letter, has been set to numerous international newspapers.

Most people must surely realise by now that the illegal invasion of Iraq was all about oil, in reality it also the reason why the USA will not leave Iraq for many years to come, 14 expensive “enduring bases”, each the size of a small town, bear witness to this fact.

The US Government on the other hand tries to give the impression that their continued occupation of Iraq is necessary to stop inter-sect violence, but thanks to Sara an Iraqi refugee, I believe I have evidence to suggest that the inter-sect violence is in fact the deliberate result of American policy which started in October 2003.

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From 1991 to the outbreak of war in March 2003, due to the illegal invasion, Iraq was the victim of harsh UN Sanctions. Within a few years, humanitarian organisations quickly realised that these sanctions, combined with the deliberate destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure under cover of the illegal “no fly zones”, were causing a massive death toll through malnutrition and disease, an estimated 1.5 million Iraqis died the majority of which were children and there were calls for the sanctions to be lifted.

It was the USA alone as a member of the UN Iraqi Sanctions Committee that refused all calls for a lifting of sanctions, indeed the USA in controlling the “Oil for food” account and control over transactions, vetoed over 5,000 quite genuine and legitimate food or medicine contracts.

However during this period, the Iraqi Government distributed what food and medicine was still available totally free of charge to the population, although it was mostly Iraqi produce, flour, oil and dates. Now according to Sara this continued up to 7 months after the illegal invasion at which time the occupying forces stopped the practise.

Now according to Sara, inter Shiite/Sunni violence was an extremely rare event during Saddam’s time but within 7 months of the illegal invasion the Iraqis were faced with a total breakdown of society, no food, 70% unemployed, hardly any electricity, polluted drinking water, hospitals without adequate drug supplies, crime increasing.

Now all these matters could have been addressed by the occupying forces, indeed under the Geneva Convention they were under an obligation to do so, instead as we now know, funds meant for the reconstruction of Iraq were in the main embezzled or wasted in paying expensive Western contractors whilst a local Iraqi one could have accomplished the work for a tenth of the price. Even $8 billion remaining in the oil for food account (Iraqi money) was wasted.

Now it seems that oil revenue, so necessary for the reconstruction of Iraq, is being fraudulently used. After nearly 4 years of occupation there are still no meters on the pipelines filling up tankers, meaning no record of how much oil is being sold and therefore no record of how much is being paid.

If the USA really wanted to go home and for the violence to stop in Iraq, it would be best accomplished by bringing Iraqis back into work instead of expensive Western employees being brought in, free food and medicines for those that remain un-employed and the provision of clean water and electricity.

You won’t see it happen of course because that would mean the USA had no excuse for not leaving.

Would you like to reply in detail or contribute? Drop me an email with your submission or idea.