His statement came a few days after a "leaked" Pentagon document outlining U.S. war plans was reported as page one news in the big-business media. Washington’s trial balloon to test bourgeois public opinion, and the reaction of wings of the U.S. ruling class and its imperialist rivals, was largely successful.

Articles entitled "The Warpath: pressures build on Iraq," "Iraq-invasion planners weigh ‘midsize’ strategy," and "U.S. considers Jordan as a base for staging attacks on Iraq," as well as talk of a winter or early spring war became commonplace in the major media within days of the release of the supposedly secret document.

British prime minister Anthony Blair weighed in a week later to similarly prepare public opinion in the United Kingdom for a new military adventure in the Mideast. Blair told a parliamentary committee that a "preemptive" military strike against the Iraqi government is needed because the threat of weapons of mass destruction is "growing, not diminishing."

Although he acknowledged there was no connection between Iraq and the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the prime minister said, "What we should learn from that is that if there is a gathering threat or danger, let us deal with it before it materializes rather than afterwards."

British military officials announced five days earlier that they are withdrawing most of their 2,400 troops from Kosova, who are there as part of an imperialist occupation force. London’s Financial Times wrote that the move is "fueling speculation it is preparing to provide support to any US military attack against Iraq."

The Bush administration, with bipartisan backing, has declared the countries of Iran, Iraq, and north Korea to be an "axis of evil" and legitimate targets of "preemptive" military strikes by Washington. All three countries have the technical capacity to build long-range missiles and rudimentary nuclear or biological weapons capable of threatening the United States, and are at odds with U.S. imperialism.  
 
Buildup of U.S. forces
The new plans outline a massive assault by land, air, and sea that would involve up to 250,000 troops and a punishing bombing campaign by U.S. warplanes based in Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, and other countries in the region. "None of the countries identified in the document as possible staging areas have been formally consulted about playing such a role," the New York Times reported. Jordan’s foreign minister told the paper that his government’s "public position is the same as our private position. Jordan will not be used as a launching pad, and we do not have any U.S. forces in Jordan." In the late 1990s U.S. warplanes flew missions out of Jordanian air bases to enforce the "no fly zone" over southern Iraq. This zone, together with another over northern Iraq, has been imposed by Washington and London on that country following the 1990–91 Gulf War.

U.S. deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz met with Turkish government officials in mid-July. Despite the collapse of the coalition government in the country, Wolfowitz said Iraqi president Hussein "presents a danger we cannot live with indefinitely." He emphasized possible trade and investment gains the Turkish rulers might receive if Washington succeeded in toppling the government in Baghdad.

Washington has been building up its military forces in the region and stepping up production of precision-guided bombs depleted during the recent imperialist assault on Afghanistan. It has built a 15,000 foot runway in Qatar, the longest in the Middle East. Some 3,000 troops are stationed there. The U.S. military launched air raids against Afghanistan from that base. A massive set of 27 warehouses contain tanks and other armored vehicles that could be used in a war on Iraq.

A total of 20,000 soldiers are stationed in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait, plus another 5,000 in Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain, the Navy’s Fifth Fleet has a headquarters on a 60-acre complex that houses a U.S. colony of 4,000 sailors, officers, and their families.

In addition to installing a protectorate in Baghdad that could help police the region on behalf of its imperialist masters in Washington, the U.S. rulers sought through its 1990–91 war against Iraq to deal blows to its imperialist rivals in Europe and Japan. This inter-imperialist conflict continues to play out today and is part of what is pushing Washington to use its military force once again.

German, French, and other companies are biting at Washington’s heels by winning business contracts with Iraq and seeking greater economic ties with Iran. The latest example is interest in Iran’s first foreign bond sale since 1979. The prospect of earning between 8 percent and 9 percent on five-year bonds issued by the Iranian government "is attracting interest from Deutsche Bank AG, Pictet & Cie, and other banks outside the United States that are not put off by its place in President George W. Bush’s ‘axis of evil,’" reported Bloomberg News.

In June the European Union foreign ministers "gave the green light to launch formal trade relations with Iran despite heavy pressure from the US and Israel, which lobbied hard to delay negotiations or impose strict conditions," the Financial Times reported. The agreement "could increase European companies’ advantage over their US counterparts once talks are concluded," the paper noted.

And in Iraq, a number of companies outside the United States are quietly dropping financial damage claims against Baghdad in order to sign up for lucrative contracts through the UN’s "food-for-oil" program. DaimlerChrysler dismissed $30 million in damages in order to win six contracts for trucks and spare parts, and put itself in the position for further orders from Iraq. The Austrian construction company Voest-Alpine MCE even sent back earlier claim payments in order to "save our chances for future contracts and for future business relations." Between April and June alone companies forgave $100 million in liability claims against the Iraqi government.  
 
‘Preemptive’ strikes at home
Hand in hand with these war preparations, the U.S. rulers are continuing their assault on workers’ rights and constitutional liberties at home. The U.S. Justice Department asked the Fourth Circuit court to rule that courts are powerless to "second-guess the military’s determination that an individual is an enemy combatant and should be detained as such." The appeal came in the case of Yasser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen being held by federal authorities. A lower court ordered the government to allow a lawyer to meet with Hamdi.

The three judges on the Fourth Circuit court declined to rule on the Justice Department claim, and sent the issue back to the lower court. In their decision the judges wrote that the government claim is "a sweeping proposition--namely that, with no meaningful judicial review, any American citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant could be detained indefinitely without charges or counsel on the government’s say-so."  
 
 
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