November 2, 2000

Bye, Bye Sanctions

Iraq now has room to maneuver between the American distraction with the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and the Arab panic. Day by day Jordan is eroding the UN sanctions, which are now wanted only by the USA and its client state, Britain. Washington and London are increasingly more isolated, while Saddam takes advantage of the distraction provided by the American election and the Palestinian crisis, which obliges the Arab countries to put a distance between themselves and the USA. Baghdad has in its hands the heavy weapon of oil. They now want to be paid in the Euro, and threaten to cut off the 2-3 million barrels per day allowed by the Oil-for- Food program and can use the propaganda bonus of their catastrophic situation provoked by the ten years of sanctions, which in ten years, have left a stronger and more solid Saddam, and killed 1.5 million people mostly children.

Therefor there are more and more countries which violate the embargo and send airplanes and delegations to Baghdad. The airport has recently been reopened. Russia, China, France and Arab and African countries are arriving. A few days ago, Baghdad announced the resumption of flights to the so-called no-fly zones( Basura in the south, Mosul in the north). Will the Anglo-American planes whoot down civilian aircraft?

The annual fair in Baghdad wa s inaugurated yesterday, November 1, 2000. Between Tuesday and yesterday at least ten airplanes have landed, full of foreign ministers and businessmen - from Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, from Turkey, Syria, Iran and from all the Arab countries with the exception of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and the Arab emirates. Western countries are now running to Iraq because they do no want to be cut off from the tremendous 'after sanctions" Iraqi potential; the Arab because they must demonstrate solidarity with the massacred Palestinians to calm their populations who are always more furious. The first minister of Jordan, Ali-Abu-al Ragheb, arrived yesterday with an airplane full of ministers, senators, congressmen and businessmen. It is the highest level delegation to arrivein Baghdad in ten years.

Young King Abdullah has good reason: the population of Jordan is 50% Palestinian, many refugees from Israel. Jordan is the only Arab country, along with Egypt, to have signed a formal peace accord with Israel, in 1994- but it has got no tangible economic result from that - Jordan is on the most subordinate of the Arab countries to the USA and Israel, and even so, it is on its knees economically. It depends for its oil, totally depends on Iraq. In 1999 Iraq donated 300 million dollars to Jordan and it is selling oil to them at $19 per barrel [as opposed to the current price of $30-$35]. Iraq is the most important importer of Jordanian merchandise $350 million in 1999]. The two countries need each other.