War Plan Iraq
by Milan Rai (with a chapter by Noam Chomsky)
Verso Press, 2002

“Give peace a chance and buy this book.” —Mike Davis

War Plan Iraq: Ten Reasons Against War On Iraq is an essential handbook for all activists struggling to stop the Bush/Blair war machine. Written originally for a British audience, the book loses none of its impact for readers here in the heart of the beast. As the author points out, Britain is Bush’s Achilles’ heel. The details of opposition to war in the UK serve to strengthen our own resolve to stop this war.

War Plan provides the statistics, timelines, quotes and even some of the slogans needed to prepare our message of peace and justice for outreach to the general public. It is possible to read this anti-war manual cover to cover, but it is so well organized that you can start anywhere and get the benefit of its thoroughly researched information and solid commitment to justice for the people of Iraq.

The ten reasons against war are each presented with documentation that exposes the official lies flowing from every corporate media outlet here in the US. It is worthwhile to list the ten reasons to get an idea of the scope of the book:

1. The Phantom Menace - No Evidence Iraq Has These Weapons
2. Prague No Show - No Link Between Iraq and 11 September
3. Cloning Saddam - This Is Not About ‘Regime Change’
4. Catastrophe - War Could Trigger A Humanitarian Disaster
5. Unsafe Haven - Endangering The Kurds
6. Crime Time - War Would Be Illegal
7. Ring of Anger - Iraq’s Neighbors Fear Bush, Not Saddam
8. GI Joe Says No - US and British Generals Oppose This War
9. No Mandate - 58% of UK Opposes War
10. It’s The Economy Stupid - War Could Trigger A World Recession

In addition to the ten reasons, War Plan provides a detailed history of how the US manipulated the UN to get its way in Iraq in the first Gulf War. The truth behind Bush’s fairy tale of Iraqi non-compliance is exposed as a story of espionage, media manipulation, and a failed strategy of creating a compliant clone of Saddam Hussein from the ranks of his own tightly knit regime.

Poke holes

Currently, the US is working to twist the new inspection agency, UNMOVIC, to meet the needs of global capital. Demands for anytime, anywhere access are an attempt to divert UNMOVIC from the task of weapons inspection to the more sinister project of tracking Saddam Hussein for the CIA in its assassination and coup preparations. It was the failure of this same spy operation that caused the demise of the first weapons inspections agency, UNSCOM.

Since 1991, the US has been clear that it’s goal for Iraq is not democracy. Having brought Saddam Hussein to power in the first place, the US fully intends to act as the kingmaker for any future regime. War Plan makes no predictions, but does provide enough information on the prospective candidates for dictator to help us poke holes in the administration’s mumblings about bringing democracy to the Iraq people.

War Plan Iraq limits itself to providing the practical information needed to improve our arguments and help us reach a wider audience. Political questions such as the reliability of the UN, the role of the US military in the global capitalist economy, and the meaning of democracy in the Middle East are left unanswered.
These are questions we will debate and answer as the movement goes forward. War Plan Iraq is a tool we should all make use of on the way.