THE US, THE UN AND THE IRAQIS THEMSELVES, V. 7.0

Is there someone getting paid to brainstorm these people out of everything they own?

Quote:

Special Request

An Iraqi exile living in Canada emailed me this week and asked me to cover the story regarding new laws introduced by the Coalition Provisional Authority concerning the patenting of seeds used by Iraqi farmers.

What he is referring to is the favourable treatment given to Monsanto; the US multinational. Many of our readers here will have come across this story before; but for the benefit of those that haven't here is a summary of what has happened.

As part of sweeping "economic restructuring" implemented by the Bush Administration in Iraq, Iraqi farmers will no longer be permitted to save their seeds. Instead, they will be forced to buy seeds from US corporations -- which can include seeds the Iraqis themselves developed over hundreds of years. That is because in recent years, transnational corporations have patented and now own many seed varieties originated or developed by indigenous peoples. In a short time, Iraq will be living under the new American credo: Pay Monsanto, or starve.

When the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) celebrated biodiversity on World Food Day on October 16, Iraqi farmers were mourning its loss.

A new report by GRAIN and Focus on the Global South has found that new legislation in Iraq has been carefully put in place by the US that prevents farmers from saving their seeds and effectively hands over the seed market to transnational corporations. This is a disastrous turn of events for Iraqi farmers, biodiversity and the country's food security. While political sovereignty remains an illusion, food sovereignty for the Iraqi people has been made near impossible by these new regulations.

"The US has been imposing patents on life around the world through trade deals. In this case, they invaded the country first, then imposed their patents. This is both immoral and unacceptable", said Shalini Bhutani, one of the report's authors.

The new law in question heralds the entry into Iraqi law of patents on life forms - this first one affecting plants and seeds. This law fits in neatly into the US vision of Iraqi agriculture in the future - that of an industrial agricultural system dependent on large corporations providing inputs and seeds.

In 2002, FAO estimated that 97 percent of Iraqi farmers used saved seed from their own stocks from last year's harvest or purchased from local markets. When the new law - on plant variety protection (PVP) - is put into effect, seed saving will be illegal and the market will only offer proprietary "PVP-protected" planting material "invented" by transnational agribusiness corporations. The new law totally ignores all the contributions Iraqi farmers have made to development of important crops like wheat, barley, date and pulses. Its consequences are the loss of farmers' freedoms and a grave threat to food sovereignty in Iraq. In this way, the US has declared a new war against the Iraqi farmer.

"If the FAO is celebrating 'Biodiversity for Food Security' this year, it needs to demonstrate some real commitment", says Henk Hobbelink of GRAIN, pointing out that the FAO has recently been cosying up with industry and offering support for genetic engineering. "Most importantly, the FAO must recognise that biodiversity-rich farming and industry-led agriculture are worlds apart, and that industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of the catastrophic decline in agricultural biodiversity that we have witnessed in recent decades. The FAO cannot hope to embrace biodiversity while holding industry's hand", he added.

0 Replies

cicerone imposter wrote:

JW, That's a nice piece, but it's only one person's observations and opinion. Why not get somebody's opinion from Iraq that's against this invasion and occupation?

c.i. - I think the majority of Iraqis share the feelings of the author of my posted article. I think in the coming months you will see more and more that they will be sharing their stories as well.

The people there and here who see the greater picture of what freedom will mean to people in the ME are on the right side of history. In the meantime, the naysayers and voices of doom will ring loudly, as usual. It's been a mere 4-1/2 months since the Iraqi elections. I think everyone here should grow up, show some patience, and realize victory will not and cannot be achieved overnight.

The Iraqi people realize this.

0 Replies

JW, I'm only going by what the media has shared with us during the past two years. I have seen both good and bad reports from citizens of Iraq. If future articles written by the citizens of Iraq is more positive than negative, some of my skepticism might lessen. FYI, some Iraqi's have already criticized their elected officials in the Assembly for their inability to move on their new Constitution.

0 Replies

cicerone imposter wrote:

JW, I'm only going by what the media has shared with us during the past two years. I have seen both good and bad reports from citizens of Iraq. If future articles written by the citizens of Iraq is more positive than negative, some of my skepticism might lessen. FYI, some Iraqi's have already criticized their elected officials in the Assembly for their inability to move on their new Constitution.

c.i. - Of course they've criticized their elected officials. I'm smiling now. Imagine, they actually have the freedom to do that! Just a couple of years ago, it would have been unthinkable and probably sure death for anyone who tried.

0 Replies

YOu are smiling, but many of them are not; that they are able to complain vs the previous regime is comparing apples and oranges. We're talking about one Iraqi report of his opinion per your post vs the 15 or so million of other Iraqis we haven't heard from.

0 Replies

c.i. - I don't take their hardships lightly. I smiled at what you wrote about their "criticizing". You have to admit a couple of years ago nothing like that would have ever occured to them.

I saw a poll in an Arab-language paper a week or so ago. More than 80% of Iraqis approved of our involvement and the results of that involvement. I'll try to find the link again.

The war is over, c.i. Those protesting these days are protesting democracy and reconstruction. God bless the Iraqi people for all they've been through. God bless our soldiers who helped make it possible.

0 Replies

Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

ican wrote

"The honor of which I write is that which, regardless of the risk, one bestows on oneself for honoring the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of all people who honor the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of all people. "

This is complete garbage ican. A circular argument dressed up in verbosity.

1st, This statement you quoted is not an argument.

2nd, This statement you quoted is a specification.

3rd, Your characterization of this specification is irrational.

4th, I wrote about a specific honor that one can bestow on oneself.

5th, One bestows this honor on oneself when one becomes a member of a specified group of people that I label here for my convenience, LLAPOH.

6th, One becomes a member of LLAPOH simply by honoring the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of all the members of LLAPOH, regardless of any risk.

7th, Ideally, LLAPOH will eventually be comprised of all humanity.

8th, It is an honor to be a member of LLAPOH.

Do you want to join LLAPOH?

0 Replies

JW, You're not telling us anything new. We all know what a tyrant Saddam was to his people. No, those protesting these days are not protesting democracy and reconstruction. That's your personal take on it, because your support of Bush doesn't allow for any other reasonable argument against what is happening in Iraq. If you haven't figured it out yet, there was a world-wide demonstration against the war in Iraq yesterday. Try to figure out why.

0 Replies

Quote:

Insurgent Attacks Flare on a Violent Day in Iraq
By EDWARD WONG

Published: March 20, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 20 - Iraqi insurgents ambushed an American military convoy in broad daylight just outside Baghdad today, and American military officials said 24 of the attackers were killed and seven wounded. The unusually bold ambush appeared to be the biggest by insurgents against an American target since the Jan. 30 elections.

<snip>

Details about the Salman Pak ambush were sketchy, but the audacity of the insurgents, on the second anniversary of the American military's campaign that toppled Saddam Hussein, illustrated that the guerrilla war still burns fiercely here, long after President Bush proclaimed major combat operations to be over and despite a high turnout among Iraqis during the Jan. 30 elections.

link

JW forgot to tell them the war's over in Iraq.

0 Replies

c.i. - I read the papers. I know about the protests. I no longer consider them to be "anti-war". The are most definitely "anti-democracy" and "anti-reconstruction".

Tell you what. Let's show some patience (as I've seen you suggest) and meet back here a few years from now. I promise you, I will still be smiling, most likely even more so than now, at the progress made in the ME.

Let freedom ring.-

0 Replies

Yes, ehBeth, I've seen both your posts on today's attacks and even read of them prior to your posting them here.

However, feel free to post it a third time if you're afraid someone missed it.

Of course there will continue to be challenges and hardships and violence. No one ever said there wouldn't be. But the fact is, the tide is turning and it's turning to the side of freedom.

I'm sorry there are those here that continue to be unable to see that, but honestly, I'm not one bit surprised.

0 Replies

I couldn't have known that you'd seen it the first time I posted the link, or that you'd seen it before, since you were saying that the war was over.

Seems an even odder comment now, knowing that you've done the reading.

0 Replies

JW, I'm not sure which media you follow, but the demonstrations this weekend was definitely an 'ANTIWAR' action. That you would label them as ANTI-DEMOCRACY is just as outrageous.
*******************
March 18-20: The World Says End the War!
March 18-20 marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq. At least 765 towns and cities, in all 50 states ( Map) - an unprecedented number - are holding anti-war events, in a reflection of the growing breadth of the anti-war movement. This is more than double the number of anti-war actions on the first anniversary of the war last year.

0 Replies

Well any anti-war protesters these days must be just newly emerged from a cave and without a clue of what is actually happening in the Middle East. Otherwise, I'm with JW. They are anti-democracy, anti-freedom, anti-self deermination protesters because they are in effect protesting to throw away all the progress that has been made.

0 Replies

Gelisgesti wrote:

ican711nm wrote:
Gelisgesti wrote:
Lot of these stories around ..... ther isno honor in whatever we do ... why can't people see that ... cut and run or stay til the last american....

There is no honor in cutting and running.
There is no honor in fighting until the last American soldier is dead.
There is honor in not succumbing but rather rectifying and overcoming our mistakes and winning our objectives.

Why don't you read what is written ....
there is no honor in whatever we do ... why can't people see that
duh

Gelisgesti wrote:

... Read the post again then tell me how your third scenario is different from 'til the last American'? I don't know what that 'succumbing but rather rectifying and overcoming our mistakes' speech was about, are you running for something? ...

1st, if you don't know what my quote

Quote:

not succumbing but rather rectifying and overcoming our mistakes and winning our objectives

was about, then how do you know whether my quote is the same or different than your quote

Quote:

"til the last American

?

2nd, I infer that your quote means to the death of the last or next to last American. If so, then I think that constitutes succumbing.

3rd, my quote means among other things winning our objectives.

4th, I believe we cannot really win our objectives if no one or only one survives that win. I think only one or none surviving would be equivalent to succumbing thereby making winning our objectives (if we in deed did win our objectives in such circumstances) mute.

0 Replies

The war is over in Iraq. The Sunni insurgency is not.

0 Replies

Whooda!!!!! Glad to see you again Smile

Oh, those pesky Sunnis LOL. My feeling on them has always been that if the Dems/Repubs or Greens boycotted an election, they wouldn't get represented until next time. Same (IMO) should be applied to the Sunnis.

They didn't do themselves any favors by listening to Al Qaida on voting day, that's for sure.

0 Replies

What people call an anti-war action and what is in fact an anti-war are not necessarily the same thing.

This Iraq War ended when Saddam's regime was removed and a replacement provisional government was installed.

We now have former members of the Iraqi government and their allies attempting to subvert the efforts of the Iraqi people and their new government to create a democracy of their own design. In short, these subverters are attempting to sabotage and overthrow the current Iraqi government.

Is this attempted sabotage and overthrow part of the war removing Saddam's regime, or is it a new war against Iraqi democracy, or is it an insurrection against the Iraqi government? I say it is an insurrection against the Iraqi government.

Whatever you choose to call it, the US is honor bound to help the Iraqi government win it.

0 Replies

help me out with this ican, just what is a "war against democracy"? seems a bit of a paradox to me.

0 Replies

dyslexia wrote:

help me out with this ican, just what is a "war against democracy"? seems a bit of a paradox to me.

When the Nazis invaded Poland, that was a war against Polish democracy.
When the Nazis invaded France, that was a war against French democracy.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor that was a war against US democracy.
When al Qaeda declared war against the US (1992, 1996, 1998) and then attacked New York and Washington, that was a war against US democracy.
When the former members of Saddam's regime and their allies attacked and are attacking the government of Iraq, that was and is a war against Iraqis democracy.

What's the paradox? Question

0 Replies

THE US, THE UN AND THE IRAQIS THEMSELVES, V. 7.0

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know