‘US action may lead to civil war in Iraq’

MUMBAI: Bangkok-based Unnikrishnan P.V. has seen disasters in different parts of the world. But the former Oxfam activist who now is a member of the international agency Action Aid and People’s Health Movement said that nothing has moved him as much as the plight and heroism of the Iraqi people.
Mr Unnikrishnan, who was in Iraq just before the US invasion, said that Iraqis live on an equivalent of just three dollars a month.“Yet, they would not allow you to pay for your lunch,’’ he told TNN during his visit to Mumbai. “Such is their humanity and warmth.’’
Even before the war started, Iraq was facing a tough time. Six thousand children died every month because the health- care system had been depleted by the US-inspired sanctions. Mr Unnikrishnan said children now are being drawn into the war. Recently, he saw a report that some Iraqi children had killed US soldiers.
“The Americans may now raise the issue of children being used in war. But, the sole superpower had refused to sign the convention banning child labour,’’ he said.
The US is also opposing the creation of an International War Crimes Tribunal, he added. Demonstrations against the war by millions of people around the world are being followed by a campaign to boycott goods made in the US and the United Kingdom. ‘Drop their shops and stop the war’ is the slogan. “It is only when their economic interests are hurt will the American authorities act,’’ he observed.
He added that one can protest against the war by simply not using their products. Coca Cola and Pepsi have withdrawn their advertisements from news channels showing the war because they do not want to be associated with the violence.
Boycotts sparked by popular anger against the war has led to a Coke bottling plant in southern Thailand being shut down.
The consumers’ anti-war campaign has been endorsed by a large number of mass movements and advocacy groups. “Yet, such is the power of certain brand that even in Iraq I saw bottles of Pepsi and Coca Cola despite the intense anti-American feeling in that country,’’ Mr Unnikrishnan said.
He added that the US invasion is aimed not only at gaining control of Iraqi oil resources, but also at boosting the arms-manufacturing lobby. “The fear now in Iraq is that the American aggression may later lead to a civil war partly because of the rich-poor divide,’’ Mr Unnikrishnan said. “The wounds caused by internal wars are more difficult to heal.’’