In war, it is said, the first casualty is truth. In the Iraq-US crisis Baghdad, which seeks peace, has almost certainly not been truthful about its weaponry, while Washington is using fabrications and fictions to prepare public opinion for war. Washington has defined the causa belli in terms of the threat Iraq allegedly poses to "humanity" and to "its neighbours" because of its chemical and biological weapons capabilities. However, Mr Jonathan B. Tucker, a former UN inspector, says Iraq has not been able to weaponise "the stuff" it has made, so that 90 per cent potency would be lost on impact when delivered by Iraq's "crude" missiles.
A legal expert also made the point that "mere possession of lethal weapons. . . does not make a case for attack". None of Iraq's neighbours - Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Syria and the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states - feels threatened by Iraq. Instead they are fearful of the consequences of US military action.
This has not deterred the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, from raising the level of demonisation of the Iraqi President, Mr Saddam Hussein, by affixing to him the ultimate epithet "Hitler", exaggerating beyond all reason both the threat posed by the Iraqi leader and his evil deeds. Washington argues it has a mandate from the Security Council to enforce past resolutions without requesting a new mandate from the council. But another expert in international law said resolutions governing the disarmament of Iraq "do not give a mandate for military action. . . To take military action without a mandate, would amount to aggression under the (UN) Charter".
The US says it has the support of the "international community" for the use of force but this is opposed by Russia, France, China, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, the 22 members of the Arab League, Turkey, Iran, India, Pakistan and other Afro-Asian countries - more than two-thirds of humanity. Washington can count on only Britain to commit troops to battle while Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland have pledged non-combatant staff and Germany, Spain, Portugal and Kuwait have offered airfields as staging areas.
While Washington insists it has the "co-operation" of the Gulf states this amounts only to permission from Oman for five tanker aircraft to use one airfield and from Kuwait to mass forces but not launch strikes from its soil. The GCC has stated that none of its members will participate in attacks.
Although the US claims it is enforcing UN resolutions by exerting maximum pressure on Iraq, Washington does nothing against Israel or Turkey which illegally occupy the territory of others in violation of resolutions.
The US says its limited war aim is the elimination of Iraq's arms of mass destruction but this has been expanded to include the "degradation of conventional forces" and "elements of control" such as the Revolutionary Guard and the ruling Ba'ath Party. Infrastructure targets could include power networks, plants producing vaccines and pharmaceuticals and dual-use facilities, degrading, once again, Iraq's civilian infrastructure.