Govt cautioned on U.S. motives in Iraq<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
An Indonesian Muslim leader has cautioned the government
\nagainst the U.S. threat to attack Iraq, saying it could be
\nmotivated by a desire to control the world's oil production
\nrather than to combat terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"I'm curious about why the U.S. insists on launching a
\nmilitary operation against Iraq. Furthermore, telling the world
\nthat Iraq is developing a nuclear project is a big mistake for
\nthe U.S.,\" Achmad Sjafi'i Maarif, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the
\ncountry's second largest Muslim organization, told The Jakarta
\nPost on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said the UN had failed to prove the allegation during its
\nlatest inspection in Iraq in 1998.<\/p>\n
Despite Iraq's agreement on Tuesday for the unconditional
\nreturn of UN arms inspectors, the U.S. said the offer would fail
\nto prevent UN action to disarm Baghdad and called for a tough new
\nSecurity Council resolution to deal with Saddam.<\/p>\n
The U.S., which has publicly made its case for regime change
\nin Iraq, further called Iraq's move to readmit inspectors a
\ntactic that would fail.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the situation has been given mixed reactions
\nfrom countries on the Security Council with the right to veto,
\nespecially Russia and China, as the two have yet to decide
\nwhether or not the resolution is required.<\/p>\n
Asked how the government should respond to the U.S policy on
\nIraq, Sjafii said: \"I'm not interested in commenting on what
\n(President) Megawati (Soekarnoputri) has to do. But I am warning
\nyou that unlike the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. has gradually lost
\nsupport from several countries in the Middle East and Europe.\"<\/p>\n
Sjafii also criticized the U.S. for its failure to act as
\nsavior of the world's civilization, a role it should have played
\nfollowing the breakup of its longtime rival, the Soviet Union, in
\n1989. Instead, it had acted more as a \"political cowboy for the
\nsake of certain interests.\"<\/p>\n
\"If the Bush administration has an antipathy against (Iraqi
\nPresident) Saddam Hussein, it should not force (the UN) to impose
\ntough resolutions against Iraq because it will only harm
\ncivilization there.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, has
\nbeen caught in a difficult situation ever since the U.S launched
\nthe war on terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks blamed
\non Osama bin Laden's international terrorist group al-Qaeda.
\nThen, Indonesian Muslims launched protests over what they
\nconsidered to be efforts to discredit Islam.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Riza Sihbudi, an observer on Middle East issues,
\nquestioned the UN's double standards regarding Iraq and Israel,
\ngiven that \"the two countries have reportedly been developing
\nweapons of mass destruction.\"<\/p>\n
\"We need just to have a look at the entire U.S. policy on Iraq
\nto see it is not clear. If the U.S. insists on destroying weapons
\nof mass destruction, I guess Iraq is not the only one because
\nIsrael, too, has the weapons.<\/p>\n
\"If the U.S. insists on imposing stern action against
\ncountries it considers to have violated the resolution (on
\nweapons of mass destruction), how about Israel?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies (ISMES) vice
\npresident Smith Alhadar said the U.S. plan to remove Saddam was
\ntriggered by its ambition to control the world's oil production
\nsources, especially in Iraq, considering that \"Iraq is the only
\nrival of the U.S. among Middle East countries.\"<\/p>\n
\"I hope Megawati will be wise enough to see whether the U.S.
\ncampaign has been motivated by economic reasons instead of
\nsecurity reasons,\" Smith told the Post.<\/p>\n
Iraq, which has the world's second largest oil reserves after
\nSaudi Arabia with an estimated 112 billion barrels, has long been
\nopposed to U.S. policies, and has given both moral and financial
\nsupport to Palestine in its fight against Israel.<\/p>\n
U.S. oil firms have been excluded from Iraq's huge oil
\nreserves since the end of the 1980s when Washington-Baghdad
\nrelations deteriorated.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, AFP reported that companies from a dozen countries,
\nled by Tatneft of Russia and TotalFinaElf of France, had made
\nagreements with Iraq. But many will only start after the end of
\nUN sanctions against Saddam's government.<\/p>\n
Riza doubted whether the U.S. policy was still related to its
\nantiterrorism campaign because it had failed to present evidence
\nthat Iraq harbors international terrorists.<\/p>\n
\"The U.S. recently disclosed that there are 60 countries in
\nthis world that allegedly have links to terrorist groups. Iraq
\nhas never been the only one (with terrorist links),\" Riza told
\nthe Post.<\/p>\n
The U.S. policy on Iraq has also drawn objections from many of
\nIndonesia's Muslim figures. Hasyim Muzadi, of the country's
\nlargest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), noted Muslim
\nscholars Nurcholis Madjid and Azyumardi Azra of the State Islamic
\nInstitute (IAIN) Syarief Hidayatullah are among those opposed to
\nthe U.S. plan to attack Iraq.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-cautioned-on-us-motives-in-iraq-1447893297",
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