Corruption on a massive scale can now be added to the list of crimes and disasters to have been inflicted upon the people of Iraq by the US occupation.

According to Christian Aid, at least $20 billion in oil revenues and other funds intended for use to rebuild Iraq have disappeared from banks administered by the now defunct US puppet CPA (interim government).

A report from the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction has also revealed that $8.8 billion of funds under the control of the CPA have also disappeared in widespread corruption. Examples of this corruption include the CPA paying salaries to 74,000 security guards who could not be accounted for, and in one specific case wages were paid to 8,206 guards but only 602 real individuals could be verified.

But the corruption and theft goes much further. Halliburton (US multinational linked to Vice-President Dick Cheney) has been awarded $8.2 billion in contracts to provide support services to US troops such as meals, shelter, laundry and internet connections.

Halliburton is at the centre of a scandal surrounding massive overcharging for services, goods and oil. Oil, which by the way it imported into Iraq at hugely inflated prices to the country with the second biggest oil reserves on the planet!

The Bush administration is up to its neck in this corruption and the organised theft of Iraq's public services and wealth. According to Iraq Revenue Watch, there are hundreds of US "experts and advisors" working in all of Iraq's 29 ministries. These "advisors" come from US "market institutions" or to put it another way they are representatives of US multinational finance capitalism welding massive power at the very heart of the so-called Iraqi administration. It is no wonder that Iraq is fast becoming the most privatised nation on earth and that its massive oil reserves are being carved up between the big oil conglomerates.

Negotiations to form an Iraqi government are still ongoing but the outcome will mean that for the first time in 1,400 years, the Arab world will have a Shia dominated government. The make up of this new government remains uncertain but what is clear that it will be another puppet regime of US imperialism dependant on 180,000 occupying troops to maintain it in power. The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Al Sistani supported Shia alliance, the biggest group in the new government, has dropped its demand to negotiate the departure of US troops. Some of the leaders of this alliance are very close to the Bush administration. For example, the current finance minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, a former Maoist and Ba'asthist turned neo-liberal is reported to be "very close to members of the White House's National Security Council".

Mahdi is tipped to become Iraq's next president. Other leading positions are likely to go to former CIA agent and premier Allawi, who is known as "Saddam without a moustache," and Chalabi, former ally of the CIA who has been implicated in fraud and corruption scandals. The Shia leader, Muqtada Al Sadr, has already attacked these pro-US leaders in waiting, "The Iraqi people want a pullout timetable, security, job opportunities and social services. We will obey the new elected government if it serves the best interests of the Iraqi people. If not, we will be its arch enemies."

The elections which Bush and Blair proclaimed would solve the problems of Iraq have in fact resolved nothing and instead have complicated the situation further. They have deepened sectarian and ethnic divisions and intensified the process towards civil war and the prospect of the "Balkanisation" of Iraq. Hundreds have been killed since the elections in attacks on government officials, occupation forces and in sectarian attacks.

The Socialist Party fully supports the right of the Iraqi people to defend themselves with arms against the occupation forces and to fight for the removal of the imperialist armies from Iraq and also to prevent sectarian attacks. However, we do not support all of the actions of the resistance movement. It is wrong to speak of one resistance movement as it is made up of many diverse groups who have different aims and ideologies. We do not support those sections of the resistance who are based on right-wing reactionary political Islam and whose aim is to create a fundamentalist state similar to that of the Taliban or Iran's Ayatollahs. Nor do we support groups who carry out sectarian attacks and are trying to provoke communal violence and even civil war. The Socialist Party supports the formation of a non-sectarian, armed militia which unites Shia, Sunni, Turkmen and Kurdish workers and poor in a struggle against the occupation and also against sectarian attacks. This militia should conduct its struggle under the democratic control of elected committees of the Iraqi people.

The longer the occupation of Iraq continues the clearer it becomes that capitalism, whether under the guise of US imperialism or the various pro-capitalist Iraqi elites, offers no future for the people of Iraq. A future free from colonial domination, poverty and oppression can only be guaranteed by socialism, which would ensure that the vast wealth of Iraq would be used for the benefit of all of the Iraqi people.

Abu-Ghraib prison, Fallujah and Najaf. Two years ago the names of these places meant very little to most people. Now they have come to symbolise the sheer brutality of the past two years of colonial war and plunder in Iraq.

In those two years, the minimal infrastructure that existed in pre-war Iraq has been destroyed, 100,000 Iraqis have been left dead and the number of US and foreign soldiers that have been killed has gone over 1,500. Why has this happened? The emergence of the mass anti-war movement in 2003 showed that the majority of people were not convinced by Bush and Blair's rhetoric and lies about democracy and weapons of mass destruction.

The fact that these war criminals would like us to forget that no WMD's have been found, confirms what working class and young people believed to be the case from the start, that this was a war for oil and profit. Iraq has been looted and ransacked by multinationals like US Vice-President Dick Cheney's Halliburton to the point where it is now the most privatised economy in the world.

Here in Ireland, the Fianna Fail/PD government continue to quietly assist US imperialism by allowing the use of Shannon Airport by US warplanes. 300,000 US troops have passed through Shannon Airport in the past two years. This same government is responsible for an economy where young workers can be paid less than Û5 an hour to help their friends in big business and are more than willing to assist in an occupation to rob the resources of Iraq.

There is another aspect to this war that makes it even more disgusting and criminal. In the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami that left a 250,000 dead, Bush reluctantly pledged $350 million to the disaster relief effort. Yet he certainly has not been shy when it comes to forking out $300 billion of US taxpayers' money to maintain the occupation.

On 19 March, Socialist Youth and the Socialist Party will be intervening into the anti-war demonstrations in Dublin, Shannon and Belfast. Many young people will be disgusted and repulsed by what has happened and is happening in Iraq. If you are one of them, then our message is clear. The events of the past two years are as good a case as any as to why we need to oppose the capitalist system we live under. The amount of wastage in terms of human life and money spent, all for pursuit of profit is beyond belief. It is the continuation of the pro-capitalist policies at home and abroad that leaves 2.4 billion people in absolute poverty.

We are asking you to join with us in the struggle for a socialist society. To join us in the struggle for a society that can meet the needs of all humanity and put an end to the wars waged for the interests of a few.

Socialist Youth are now gearing up for the anti war demonstration in Belfast on 19 March.

Despite the propaganda of the big business media in the West, it is clear that the recent elections in Iraq have done nothing to stabilise the country.

According to the media, the elections were a "momentous" and "joyous" occasion for the people of Iraq. However, the emptied streets, closed borders, restricted movement and martial law of the previous two days suggested the occupying forces and their Iraqi stooges were getting ready for a battle, not a celebration.

The UN recognised that the way in which the election was carried out was "highly irregular". There were many reports of voters having armed guards standing over their shoulders and "reminding them" who they should vote for. Failure to comply led to serious physical assault in a number of cases.

We have seen a renewed wave attacks from the Iraqi resistance after the elections. The vast majority, including many who voted, have no faith in the occupiers and want an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops.

The Belfast demo on 19 March is part of the international day of action against the occupation. It will begin at 2pm at the Arts College on York Street. Afterwards, Socialist Youth will be holding a public meeting under the title "How Can Imperialism be Defeated?"

For more details on these events or to get involved with Socialist Youth, tel: 07821058319.