On November 22 U.S. and British aircraft fired at a communications facility near Al Amarah, 165 miles southeast of Baghdad, in the sixth day of bombardments in a week. The attacks take place in the southern region of the country, where since the 1990–91 Gulf war, Washington--together with its junior British partner--has declared its prerogative to control Iraqi airspace, barring flights by Iraqi military aircraft and bombing any defense facility it sees fit. Imperialist forces have imposed a similar "no-fly" zone in the northern region of Iraq.

The Iraqi News Agency reported that the aircraft flew 59 sorties, dropping their ordnance on civilian and service facilities. As usual, the U.S. Central Command claimed the assault was in self-defense, asserting it was in response to Iraq’s movement of mobile radar equipment into the "no-fly" zone.

Over the preceding days, U.S. planes bombed eight different targets. Twelve planes dropped 20 bombs on three separate communications facilities used by the Iraqi Integrated Air Defense network. These included targets near Ash Shuaybah, southeast of the capital city of Baghdad.  
 
‘Inspectors’ begin provocations
The UN "inspection" operation has been organized to provide a ready-made justification for launching a U.S.-led military attack on Iraq in the name of carrying out a U.S.-crafted UN resolution. The "inspectors" have declared their intention of entering any site at any time. On the list of targets are a wide variety of industrial plants, agricultural sites, medical laboratories, research centers, and government offices. One way of targeting industrial plants as a source of "weapons of mass destruction" is by calling them "dual-use" facilities. For example, any fertilizer plant could be deemed a source of "biological weapons."

In a November 15 interview with the French daily Le Monde, chief inspector Hans Blix, a Swedish official, said that even a delay of 30 minutes in granting the inspection agents access to any site would be considered a "violation."

The Iraqi government is supposed to submit by December 8 a list of all its weapons sites and "dual-use installations" as defined by Washington and its imperialist allies. U.S. and British officials have made it clear that the contents of the report could be used as a basis for a military attack on Iraq. "Should it be found that that declaration was dishonest, then that most certainly would be a material breach," stated British prime minister Anthony Blair.

Speaking November 20 in Prague, the Czech capital, before a NATO meeting, U.S. president George Bush stated, "Should he [Iraqi president Saddam Hussein] choose not to disarm, the United States will lead a coalition of the willing to disarm him." U.S. officials have shifted their language from demanding Iraq eliminate"weapons of mass destruction" to demanding it "disarm."

Representatives of the 19 member governments of NATO, the imperialist military alliance, endorsed Bush’s call for the "verifiable" disarmament of Iraq and vowed to take "effective action" to secure "full and immediate compliance" with this demand.

They also approved a U.S. proposal to establish, over the next four years, a NATO rapid reaction force with the ability to swiftly intervene around the world.

The NATO representatives stopped short of endorsing military action against Iraq because of opposition expressed by Berlin. While maintaining a general position that its forces will not take part in military action against Iraq, the German government--a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens--has made clear it will intervene under certain conditions, for example, if Iraqi forces undertake action against U.S. military bases in Kuwait, where German troops are also stationed. Under current treaties, Berlin will also allow Washington to use bases there for an assault on Iraq.  
 
Military buildup
In addition to 10,000 U.S. soldiers in Kuwait, there are another 2,000 to 3,000 in Qatar--where the U.S. military command is based--and 2,000 in Oman, which is providing use of a major air base. The Pentagon also maintains 4,000 troops in Saudi Arabia involved in the air raids in southern Iraq, as well as 2,500 to 3,000 in Bahrain, where the U.S. Navy’s regional headquarters is located.

"What you are talking about is basically a rolling start," said a Pentagon official in describing Washington’s plans to rapidly boost U.S. troop strength to about 250,000 within 30 days after the president gives the order. A large amount of U.S. military equipment is already in place in the Arab-Persian Gulf, with more on the way.

Since September, Washington has been conducting military exercises, code-named Desert Spring, in Kuwait with 3,800 members of the Second Brigade of the Third Infantry Division. Kuwait has virtually been divided into two regions: a civilian area near the coast, and an area covering 750 miles--one quarter of the country--turned over to U.S. forces for military operations.

Another brigade from the same division is practicing desert maneuvers at the National Training Center in California.  
 
U.S. military exercises in Djibouti
Since mid-November some 1,500 marines, together with another 1,500 Navy sailors and pilots, have been conducting exercises in the Horn of Africa off the coast of Djibouti. The exercises involve maneuvers from the Suez Canal to an amphibious assault on the beaches of northern Djibouti.

"We are getting heavy weapons ashore and firing," stated Col. John Mills, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. New York Times reporter Michael Gordon described the scene. "Marine howitzers lobbed shells six miles, Harrier jets dropped 500 pound bombs, and Super Cobra helicopter gunships raked the ground with fire. M-1 tanks and other armored vehicles blasted their targets," he wrote.

In preparation for the U.S. war in the region, the government of Turkey is taking steps to prevent Iraqi Kurds from crossing the border into their country. "Turkish officials are preparing to send troops up to 60 miles into northern Iraq on what they say is a mission to prevent an influx of refugees," stated a Reuters report. The Turkish military already maintains a large troop presence at a military base inside northern Iraq as part of their ongoing attacks against Kurdish rebels fighting for self-determination.

Turkish officials said their plan would establish 18 camps--12 of them in Iraq--designed to hold about 275,000 refugees. Those trying to enter Turkey before the first 12 camps were filled would be turned back, they said.

Seeking to take advantage of their open-ended inspections operations in Iraq, the U.S. rulers are also setting their sights on Iran, another one of Washington’s "axis of evil" targets.

In a November 20 Newsday article titled "Worries About Iran; Officials: Nuclear weapons program more advanced than Iraq’s," Knut Royce and Earl Lane wrote, "Iran’s nuclear weapons program has in recent months begun to appear more worrisome than Iraq’s, according to U.S. intelligence....

"With no fanfare, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency--now in Baghdad to begin the search for Saddam Hussein’s alleged nuclear weapons facilities--plans a trip soon to look at nuclear sites in Iran."

U.S. officials claim their concern is with Iran’s "fuel cycle program" as part of the country’s nuclear power plant facility. ElBaradei said Iranian officials "assured me that whatever they are building there will be declared" to his agency and placed under an "inspection regime," Newsday reported. "Our program is for energy and peaceful aims only," said Morteza Ranandi, press attache at Iran’s UN mission in New York in response to this development.  
 
 
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