US Seeks to Maintain its Military Hegemony in the Middle East
London, UK, June 5th 2008 – Details are emerging about attempts to force through a security ‘agreement’ in Iraq that would strengthen the US-led military occupation. The agreement would replace the current UN mandate which expires at the end of this year and would effectively establish Iraq as a giant military base for the United States. The Bush administration hopes to secure a deal with the proxy-regime in Baghdad by the 31st July 2008 but there is significant opposition within Iraq and recent demonstrations attracted tens of thousands of people.
Leaks in the UK newspaper, The Independent, suggest that the Americans would retain long-term use of more than 50 bases in Iraq; US troops and contractors would enjoy immunity from Iraqi law; the US would control Iraqi airspace below 29,000ft and retain the right to pursue its ‘war on terror’ in Iraq, having the authority to arrest anybody it wants and to launch military campaigns without consultation with the Baghdad government.
Taji Mustafa, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain said, “The Bush administration’s attempt to force through this agreement before its term expires is shameless colonialism to further secure its military foothold in the region, so that western control can continue. It bears remarkable similarity to the agreement signed between a colonial proxy-regime in Iraq in 1930 and the British government. This agreement, taken with current US bases in Kuwait and Qatar, shows that little has changed since US bases in Saudi Arabia were dismantled.”
“The west must realise that it cannot continue to try to obstruct the Muslim world choosing its own political destiny and continue treating the region like its own personal petrol station, forever competing with each other for control of the lion’s share of the region’s oil.”
"Muslims across the world should join the growing call for the Khilafah (Caliphate) state across the Muslim world to replace this current hegemony. This Islamic system would bring liberation from foreign occupation, an end to economic exploitation and an end to political domination, and polls show increasing support for such a change. This would replace the current dictators and tyrants who serve western corporate interests, British or American, that seeks to establish secular values and a capitalist system across the region. In contrast, the Khilafah state will be an accountable government, ruling for the wellbeing of all its citizens, according to Islamic values and systems."
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