Ajit Randeniya

The primary technique through which America maintains its shaky neo-colonialist influence on the developing world is by affecting ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”regime changeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ at the slightest sign of challenge to the system, usually through subservient or corrupt local collaborators (think Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sarath Fonseka).

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the stakes are higher however, if a strong Arab leader appears on the radar for example, posing a serious challenge to Israel, the Zionist machine resorts to more extreme measures and elaborate conspiracies to achieve regime change.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Iraqi invasion of 2003 was one such case where the primary objective was to achieve regime change through invasion, planned for more than a decade. The preparation came in the form of UN sanctions aimed at weakening Saddam HusseinƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s regime and the Iraqi military prior to the 1991 Gulf War, and continued until well past 2003.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The crucial component of the conspiracy however, was the long-term, extensive collaborations the Zionists developed with many exiled enemies of Saddam Hussein, three in particular: Ayed Alllawi, Nouri al-Maliki and Ahmad Challabi, exiled in the UK, Syria and US respectively.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Following the invasion America used the primary collaborators as figureheads in occupied Iraq in order to gain some legitimacy, and to achieve their long term strategic aim of permanently destabilising Iraq. The Americans used the three selfish, power hungry and corrupt collaborators cunningly by playing them against each other to achieve such objectives as limiting IranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s influence in Iraq, to suppress Iraqi resistance to occupation and to gain long term control over untapped oil reserves for US oil companies.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The collaborators

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The backgrounds and profiles of the three collaborates are typical of the type US normally targets for recruitment: wealthy, corrupt local elite who have vested interests in regime change due to their greed for power or political desperation, or to escape culpability under domestic law.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nouri al-Maliki, the incumbent Prime Minister of Iraq was a Shia dissident to Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1970s. He fled to Syria and became a senior leader of the Dawa party, the rival of SaddamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Baath party, while in exile. He also coordinated anti-Saddam guerrilla activities with Iranian and Syrian support.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ayad Allawi, the British trained neurologist, is a former associate of Saddam Hussein. He escaped to Britain in 1978 following a leadership battle with Saddam and returned to Iraq in 2003 after the US invasion. Allawi claims he survived an assassination attempt by SaddamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s agents in 1987 in London. Though he is a Shia, Allawi secures the support of the Sunni minority due to his past links with the secular Baath party.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ahamad Chalabi, described by his biographer Aram Roston as, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Man Who Pushed America to WarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ is the worst criminal of the trio; Chalabi left Iraq in 1956. During decades of exile in London, he is supposed to have become a billionaire through controversial banking and real estate deals. He was convicted of bank fraud of $200 million, in absentia, in Jordan in 1992.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Seeking to topple Saddam Hussein in order to escape pending fraud charges in Iraq, Chalabi made a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”roguesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ allianceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ with neocon war mongers Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle. Using their official positions, Wolfowitz and Perle established a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”special analytical unitƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ at the Pentagon to coordinate ChalabiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”intelligenceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ input which they knew fully well was ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”rubbishƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢; the operation was paid for by the clueless US tax payer through the State Department.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the aftermath of the Iraqi occupation and failure of the US to find any Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the Pentagon had acted on bogus ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”intelligenceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ provided by Chalabi; the sort of revelation that deserves the Homer Simpson catch phrase, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”D’ohƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Chalabi was discarded by the Americans following this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”revelationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, and also because he was not useful in Iraq due to most Iraqis not knowing who this impostor was. Later he was arrested by the US Army due to his attempts to get close to Iran in order to bargain with the Americans. He used his wealth to contest in the first parliamentary election in 2005, winning just 30,000 of the 12 million votes!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The story of Iraqi invasion is also the story of American ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”exploitationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of these three collaborators to achieve key milestones of the occupation such as the destruction of the Baath Party and the murder of Saddam Hussein, exploiting their intense hatred in respective areas.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Allawi was appointed a member of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Interim Governing CouncilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ established by the Americans following the invasion. He was nominated Iraq’s first head of government by Paul Bremmer, the Henry Kissinger associate who became ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”dictator of IraqƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ following the invasion, and later Allawi was appointed Prime Minister of the Interim Government.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Allawi used the opportunity to personally execute his former enemies; in July 2004, the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Sydney Morning HeraldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ journalist Paul McGeough broke the news that Allawi summarily executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, in the presence of police officers. Allawi reportedly said that the execution was to “send a clear message to the police on how to deal with insurgents”. The allegations went largely unreported by mainstream American media. AllawiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s term as Prime Minister ended in April 2005 when he lost the first ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”realƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ elections to the Islamic Dawa Party leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the case of al-Maliki, his obvious hatred towards the Baath party earned him the post of deputy leader of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Supreme National De-baathification CommissionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, formed to purge Saddam era Baath Party officials from the military and government positions. He was elected to the transitional National Assembly in 2005, and was made Prime Minister in 2006 due to Americans finding the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”electedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Prime Minister al-Jafari too ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”pro-IranianƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to their liking!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On December 30, 2006, (the first day of the feast of Eid ul-Adha), al-Maliki signed the death warrant of Saddam Hussein and declined a stay of execution, saying: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ In 2008, al-Maliki ordered an offensive against the young Shia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr’s powerful Mahdi Army in Baghdad and Basra.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Al-MalikiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s falling out with the occupiers

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Despite being ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”thick as thievesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ with the Americans during the planning of the invasion and the murder of Saddam Hussein, al-MalikiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s relationship with them ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”hit the rocksƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ when American aims began to contradict his personal objectives.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ American gripes with al-Maliki arose mainly from his alleged reluctance to tackle Shia militias, a duty he was expected to perform diligently as a true American catƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s paw, despite the militia coming from his Shia power base!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In return, al-Maliki criticised the so-called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”coalitionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ forces for deliberate killings of Iraqi civilians, saying: “this is a phenomenon that has become common. No respect for civilians, killing them on a hunch. It’s unacceptable.” He complained about American raids on Shia militia leaders without his approval.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Al-Maliki probably committed the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”cardinal sinƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ when in June 2008 he demanded, albeit on bended knee, withdrawal of US troops from the country ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”in about 16 monthsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Later he said the US government has been reluctant to agree to a timetable “because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Maliki hit back at Hilary ClintonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s not-so-subtle calls for his removal by alleging that the Americans were acting as if Iraq was ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”their propertyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and that they should ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”come to their sensesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”respect democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Such remarks and Al-MalikiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s position on key issues involving the occupation made him a target for regime change by the Zionists; past contributions do not count in such situations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Allawi on the other hand, played his cards right. The US surely did not want to leave an Iranian sympathiser in power in Iraq following their scheduled troop withdrawal next year, and Allawi has been highly critical of Iran for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”meddlingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Iraq and supporting Shia militia. He also paid a visit to Saudi Arabia before the election for currying favours with the royal family, who are with Americans and against Iran.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is the reason why the Zionists carefully engineered a regime change in occupied Iraq, once again, through a rigged election, presented as the paragon of democracy: the electoral process the Americans put in place in Iraq, and the conduct of the March 7 elections were carefully designed to yield the result they were after.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The first defilement of the election process was to confine the contest to the parties led by US collaborators: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition, Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya Party and Ahmad ChallabiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Iraqi National Congress.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Independent High Electoral Council (IHEC) approved 6172 candidates to compete for 325 seats. Candidates with even the remotest past link to Baath Party were weeded out by a committee headed by Ahmad Chalabi, a candidate, and one other member. Nearly 500 candidates including the Sunni Muslim leaders Dhafir al-Ani and Saleh al-Mutlaq, were disqualified, disenfranchising Sunni Iraqis. The disqualified candidates complained that they held no memory of the Baath party or Saddam Hussein!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The extremely controversial, opaque, vote counting process showed that the US was prepared to fully control the process to achieve the regime change they were after. During the counting the lead switched several times between Allawi’s coalition and al-Maliki’s alliance; with 95 per cent of the votes counted, al-Maliki led Allawi by a few thousand votes.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ During the counting al-Maliki’s party insisted that the vote counting has been marred by ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”stuffingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ ballots boxes by Allawi’s supporters, and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”unknownƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ hackers tampering with computer votes. The IHEC rejected MalikiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s calls for a manual recount, prompting his supporters to announce the IHEC as corrupt.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ According to the official results declared on 27 March, 19 days after the election, AllawiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Iraqiya party apparently won 91 of the 325 seats in IraqƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Council of Representatives, with Nouri al-MalikiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s State of the Law party winning 89 seats. The overall difference in the number of votes between the winner and the looser was as little as 9,000 votes (of 12 million registered voters)!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Al-Maliki immediately announced he would not accept the results alleging electoral fraud, and renewed his calls for a recount. He claimed that the results remained ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”preliminaryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”not finalƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. In Baghdad his supporters protested waving banners that read ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”No, to fraud!ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Where have our voices gone?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But endorsements of the results came thick and past from the usual suspects who expect their word to be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”finalƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ on matters involving elections anywhere in the world: the US hailed elections as ‘a significant milestone’. Tellingly, US Ambassador Christopher Hill and Gen. Ray Odierno, the American military commander in Iraq, praised ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the overall integrity of the electionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and called on leaders to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”refrain from inflammatory rhetoric or actionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢; if there ever was an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”implicit threatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, this was it!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The UN representative in Iraq, the former Dutch politician Ad Melkert also declared that the results ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”credibleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and urged all sides to accept them. Western ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”observersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ also said they saw no signs of widespread fraud.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Allawi, obviously happy with the latest turn of events, pledged to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”work with all sidesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to form the next government; but his chances do not look good.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A coalition of disillusioned politicians and their constituents assisting al-Maliki against Allawi seems possible, with leaders of other political parties supporting al-Maliki’s call for a re-count: President Jalal Talabani of the Kurdistan Alliance (who has his own ulterior motive to annex the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan) prefers al-Maliki over Allawi. Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani who leads the Iraqi Unity Alliance, believes that the Americans inflated voter registration numbers by about 12 per cent.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Also, there is the distinct possibility that al-Maliki may opt for more radical options in order “to prevent the slipping of the security situation in the country and the resurgence of violence that was defeated only after efforts, sufferings, and bloodshed” as he pointed out during his calls for a recount.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Installing democracy in Iraq was never the US mission or objective in Iraq (why should it be?); it simply served as an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”excuseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for the invasion, following the exposure of lies about WMD.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now they have achieved the long term aim of destabilising Iraq permanently.