AND IT rained bombs in Baghdad. Just as millions of people all over
the world feared, the US pursued its attack on Iraq even without a
UN resolution. Such deplorable and barbaric act resulted to the death
of Iraqi citizens and injuries to hundreds of women and children.
A popular adage says that all is fair in love and war. In reality,
a war of aggression is never fair, as manifested in this case. The
bombing blitz on Baghdad "shocked and awed" not only the
Iraqi citizens but the millions of people all over the world who,
thanks to cable television, watched the most lopsided war in history.
So where are the weapons of mass destruction, actually sold by the
US and Britain to Iraq, that started it all? Lest we forget, it was
the Americans who used Agent Orange in Vietnam and atomic bombs in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the effects on women and children are
still felt.
Realizing that the task of conquering Iraq is not as easy as they
thought, the Allied forces stepped up its propaganda attack. Only
in a few rare instances do we see the situation of the Iraqi victims
in the hospitals. In much rarer instances, we get a glimpse of Iraqi
civilians, even women, who fiercely defend their sovereignty against
the invasion.
Like a vulture waiting for the dead, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
is elated by President Bush's assurance of jobs for Filipinos after
the war.
In the homefront, grenades and bullets rain in Mindanao. Many of
the displaced women and children have not returned to their homes,
succumbing to hunger and diseases in cramped evacuation centers. Besides
the military attack, the Arroyo government has launched its own propaganda
attack to hype up the terrorism hysteria not only in Mindanao but
in Metro Manila, putting all suspicions and blame to the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front. After declaring its support to the US war, Mrs.
Arroyo's government continuously puts forward the possibilities of
sympathy attacks. Like the bomb-sniffing dogs, Mrs. Arroyo is all
over Metro Manila, checking for security lapses and berating her own
government officials to shame.
As all these happens, women are enraged by the barbarism and callousness
of President Bush who seems to have designated himself as President
of the Universe. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the
brazen imperialist invasion of Iraq and the barbaric assault on its
citizens by the US. We are equally affronted by the temerity of Mrs.
Arroyo in continuing to drag the crisis-stricken country to the war
we have never supported.
GABRIELA calls on all Filipino women to stand firm against the ruthless
war of invasion by the US and against the Arroyo government that rabidly
supports such war against humanity.
---------------
Emmi de Jesus is the Deputy Secretary General of GABRIELA.
