The US invasion of Iraq is a “genocidal war” and a”crime against humanity”

“US invasion of Iraq was genocidal war”

The US invasion of Iraq was a “genocidal war” and a”crime against humanity” perpetrated by the administration of George W. Bush to expand US imperialism, an anti-war activist in California says.

Former US vice president Dick Cheney‘s recent remarks that he was right to support the invasion of Iraq under Bush is based on fabricated lies that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, Ralph Schoenman told Press TV on Thursday.

“At least two million people were killed by this genocidal war of Cheney and imperialism and the basis of it was a protracted lie,” schoenman said.

“The human cost of this is unspeakable because the so-called shock and awe saturation bombing that was inflicted upon Iraq destroyed a modern society and devastated the entire city of Baghdad and indeed created a pandemic of birth defects from the nature of weaponry that was used by the United States on the people of Iraq,” he added.

During an interview with Fox New on Wednesday, Cheney defended the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

“Well if people say, Dick Cheney was wrong about Iraq, why should they listen to you on Iran [nuclear program]?” asked Juan Williams, a commentator for Fox News and columnist for The Hill newspaper.

“Because I was right about Iraq,” Cheney responded.

“Our objective was to take down Saddam Hussein. We did it. The world’s a much better place without him,” he added.

Schoenman said Saddam Hussein was a “creature” of US intelligence agencies and used as a pretext to attack Iraq. “He was an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency, he was their man in Baghdad for 27 years.”

In 2003, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq under the pretext that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. In October 2004, however, a CIA report revealed that Saddam did not have any active WMD program at the time of the invasion.

Cheney, one of the key architects of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, has increased his criticism of the Obama administration’s foreign policy in recent months. White House officials have shrugged off Cheney’s criticism and have faulted him for misjudgments on the Iraq war.