War in Iraq will result in huge destructions: Experts
New Delhi, Feb 8, IRNA -- Experts here in India felt that any US
military attack on Iraq will result in widespread destruction,
including mass killing of the people in that country.
Pointing to the mass exodus of Iraqi refugees towards neighboring
countries, two defense experts told IRNA in exclusive interviews,
Saturday, that America will try to pressurize the countries giving
shelter to the refugees by framing some allegations against them and
making claims after the war.
Lt. Col. (rtd) Anil Bhat said as a result of war in Iraq the
infrastructure including the non-military assets like residential
buildings, manufacturing complexes which have no military value but
were of the developmental value to Iraq would be destroyed.
Referring to the 1991 Persian Gulf war Bhat said, "We have to
remember that already Iraq is a country which has suffered very
heavily after the war and due to the kind of sanctions which is being
imposed by the United Nations.
"In that war a lot of civilians along with military personnel were
either killed or incurred huge losses," he added.
Pointing to the military mistakes committed by the American forces
in the past despite their advanced weapons, he said, that one of the
complexes which was heavily bombed by the American missiles for
allegedly to be place for producing the weapons of mass destructions
later on turned out to be a factory for producing baby food.
This former spokesman of the Indian Defense Ministry also referred
to US war in Afghanistan against Taliban and Al-Qaeda and said, "In
that war also a lot of civilians were killed because of the heavy
bombardments by the US forces."
Anil Bhat further said that in addition to the heavy casualties
and economic loss, one of the fallouts of the eventual war which
should be a matter of concern for all is the problem of refugees.
Bhat who has also held the position of spokesperson of the Indian
Army earlier, added that reports reaching here say that Iraqi people
have already started moving from their residents towards the safe and
secure places in fear of war and with the sheer desire of survival.
The refugee problem will create serious difficulties for
neighboring countries, he said.
He added that it should also not be forgotten that America can
pressurize the countries giving shelter to the refugees alleging that
people from the government of Saddam Hussein are among the refugees.
Refuting the American allegations regarding the links between
al-Qaeda network and Iraqi government he said that it is baseless and
can be a political ploy.
"It is possible that some individuals from the al-Qaeda network
may have entered into Iraqi territory but this is no proof for links
between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government," he added.
P. R. Chari, Director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict
Studies, New Delhi and expert in the field of defense also said that
US military attack on Iraq will be very disastrous for the region and
even for the whole world.
He felt that military attack on Iraq will result into heavy human
casualties specially among the civilians.
Before the war in Afghanistan, it was being said that it was
against Taliban and al-Qaeda but it is known to everybody that a lot
of Afghan civilians have also been killed because of the heavy
bombarding by the American and its allies forces.
Referring to the available statistics that a large number of Iraqi
people specially children are dying daily due to scarcity of food and
lack of medicine, he said that if the war broke out in the region and
lasted longer, then no doubt the toll will extensively increase.
This former high ranking official of India's Ministry of Defense
while pointing to huge imbalance between the American and Iraqi
forces, he said that if the war breaks out then it will be a totally
one-sided affair and one cannot specify the number of civilian
casualties.
The bigger problem which will arise as a result of the possible
war is that a large population of Iraqi people will be rendered
homeless, he added.
But the former director of the Institute for Defense Studies and
Analyses, New Delhi, felt that the time was still not running out and
there is a hope for solving the crisis peacefully.
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