The U.S. military capture of Iraqi president SaddamHussein is being trumpeted by the corporate media andthe Bush administration as simultaneously a greatvictory, the start of a new era, and justification forthe U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The seizure and public display of Saddam Hussein maybe a propaganda victory for imperialism, but itchanges nothing fundamental about the situation inIraq, particularly the reality that the U.S. invasionand occupation of Iraq constitute a blatant and brutalviolation of both international and U.S. law.

While hailing the detention of Saddam Hussein after anintense eight-month search, the current co-dictators ofIraq, L. Paul Bremer and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, areexpressing the hope of the Bush administration as awhole that this development will signal the beginningof the end for the Iraqi resistance.

But intensifying Iraqi resistance to the illegal andcolonial war and occupation has not been primarilybased — according even to the more knowledgeablecorporate media journalists in Iraq — on loyalty toany particular individual. Instead, it is a responseto the negation of Iraq’s sovereignty andindependence, as well as the increasing brutality ofthe occupying army.

Even supporters of Bush’s war such as Sen. JayRockefeller, Vice-Chair of the Senate IntelligenceCommittee, are raising questions: “Given the locationand circumstances of his capture, it makes clear thatSaddam was not managing the insurgency. … That issignificant and disturbing because it means theinsurgents are not fighting for Saddam, they’refighting against the United States.”

There can be no question that the Iraq occupation is acolonial project in every respect. The U.S.-appointed“Iraq Governing Council” is headed by CIA asset AhmedChalabi, whose family was the richest in all of Iraqwhen the British-controlled regime was overthrown in1958. All of Iraq’s assets are being put on theauction block.

The U.S. is setting up colonial-style Iraqi police,intelligence services and paramilitary death squads.It is taking and holding family members hostage,including children and grandparents, to force Iraqisto submit themselves for “interrogation.” U.S. forcesare using Israeli-style collective punishment andviolence against the population as a whole in largeparts of the country.

“With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot ofmoney for projects, I think we can convince thesepeople that we are here to help them,” stated a U.S.battalion commander in Iraq (New York Times, December7, 2003). He was speaking from one of the many Iraqvillages that the U.S. has wrapped in razor wire,holding entire communities prisoner. A sign on thebarbed wire reads, in English only, “This fence ishere for your protection. Do not approach or try tocross, or you will be shot.”

The U.S. government has a long history ofdestabilizing and overthrowing governments andreplacing them with brutal dictatorships. One needonly look at Iran, the Congo, Guatemala and Chile toknow that the democratic or undemocratic character ofthe government targeted by the U.S. has never been themotivation for its actions. In that context the U.S.government has supported the most brutal dictatorshipsand military regimes.

The long-standing demonization of the former Iraqigovernment followed by the invasion and occupation ofIraq is part of a larger global project by the UnitedStates to militarily destroy any government that seeksto maintain even nominal independence from thedictates of Washington and Wall Street. The leadershipof North Korea, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Palestineand others have been selected by the Bushadministration for destruction. This stands infundamental violation of the right of selfdetermination.

Only the Iraqi people have the right todetermine who their leaders will be.

People should keep in mind as they watch theforthcoming carefully packaged documentary of the“crimes” of the former Iraqi government, that the Bushadministration has taken tens of thousands of innocentIraqi lives, has plunged Iraq into chaos and anarchy,and has removed the essential features of sovereigntyfor the Iraqi people who struggled in the past fordecades against colonial rule.

The occupation is taking the lives of Iraqis, U.S. andother “coalition” forces every day. While Halliburton,Bechtel and other U.S. corporations are reapingimmense profits, the people both in the U.S. and Iraq arepaying the price for Bush and his corporate friends’looting spree, in blood and money. According toadministration figures, the cost of the Iraqoccupation is $210 million every day. Theadministration has stated that it need not bother tocount the number of Iraqis that it kills.

A.N.S.W.E.R. will continue and intensify its mobilizing work todemand: “End the occupation. Bring the troops homenow! Money for jobs, health care and education, notfor war and occupation.”