Volume 5, No. 7, July 2004

 Suman

After the first anniversary of the occupation of Iraq by the US and its allies, the resistance against the Coalition forces has increased in its wideness and its intensity. The arrests of thousands of Baath Party officials and cadre, the killing of sons of the Saddam, the capture of Saddam on April 9th last year, did not have any effect on the resistance to the occupation. The continuing resistance took a qualitative turn at the end of March this year. In April alone 120 causalities occurred to the US and its allied forces. Fighters took virtual control of many towns though temporarily. The fighters seized the Offices, took jails into their control, released prisoners. Initially the US roared that the fighters should surrender with arms, especially in Falluja and Nazaf, then only there would be a ceasefire. But, seeing that the situation had changed the US had to accede to a ceasefire. So far it could not go for a hunt for the Shia rebel leader Al-Sadar. Even when the situation is becoming worse for the occupation forces, Tony Blair chose to see a ray of hope in the war. Writing in the Observer on April 10th, he says, "This is not a ‘civil war’, though the purpose of the terrorism is undoubtedly to try to provoke one. The current upsurge in violence has not spread throughout Iraq." The ground reality is some thing else.

From the beginning of April the civil war intensified. From Kirkuk in the north, where US troops shot Iraqi demonstrators and rebels gunned down policemen, to Basra in the south, where municipal offices were occupied and oil pipelines blown up, Iraq has been in the thick of a rebellion. An AH-64 Apache military helicopter was shot down in Baghdad in April. Three US sailors died when suicide bombers launched three coordinated boat attacks near Basra Oil terminal.

Three cities — Kut, Kufa completely and Nazaf partially — came under control of the Mahadi Army. The shia’s rebel army fought US troops in Baquoba, north east of Baghdad — the farthest town the shia’s revolt reached. In many towns Police Stations were raided, weapons seized and then distributed among the people.

General Kimmitt, Deputy Director of Operations for the US army, had to admit that the average number of attacks had risen to 28 since March this year, raising the level of rebellion to new heights. Even Jack Straw, the usually sanguine Foreign Secretary, was forced to admit: ‘the lid has come off the pressure cooker’. Significantly he admitted that the resistance was led by the Iraqis themselves, not "foreign elements". Bush too had to admit on April 11th that the occupation had gone through a "tough week".

British and US officials say the incidents are isolated. But the whole country was touched by the turmoil. In Baghdad, clashes killed several Iraqis and soldiers as armed fighters staked claims to large areas of the suburbs. On the outskirts of Baghdad there was heavy fighting with air strikes and a US fuel convoy ambushed and burned. On 10th April a police station was attacked in the capital and fierce fighting raged in Baquba to the north. The central city of Kut was in the hands of the Shia militia for two days after they forced out Ukrainian troops. Large parts of the country are unsafe zones for the coalition forces with thousands of smaller but umpteen incidents - sniping, bomb attacks, raids, seizure of government properties. The central towns of Najaf and Kufa are still out of the coalition’s control. There are regular clashes in Karbala.

A retired senior British officer had to admit: "It is true that there are 20-odd million people in Iraq and only very few proportionately are involved in the violence. But there is no doubt that sympathy for the insurgents has increased massively in recent months."

New tactics have emerged. Taking hostage. At least 30 people, have been taken hostage. Some, like a group of South Korean missionaries, have been released. Three Japanese were taken hostage demanding the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Iraq. Later they were released unharmed. Some hostages had been killed. The aim of the kidnappers was to put pressure on the coalition by breaking the will of junior partners and the tactic may be effective. The Japanese government is adamant, but other members of the coalition, such as Thailand, indicated they might pull out if the situation worsened.

Rumsfeld, the hawkish US Defence Secretary, confirmed that troop numbers in Iraq were to be boosted by another 25,000. Comparisons with Vietnam have started with Senator Teddy Kennedy branding Iraq ‘Bush’s Vietnam’. Where are the forces to be sent from? That is the hottest question debated in the Pentagon. No other coalition force is ready to increase the force. No new country is joining the coalition. NATO is ruled out. Rumsfeld is mooting the idea to deploy US forces that are currently deployed in the de-military zone in South Korea.

Visits by leaders of the coalition forces have not helped the situation for the occupation forces who are considering that the situation is becoming more and more dangerous. According to a Pentagon survey 52% troops reported low or very low morale and 72 % of the army units suffered low morale. Most damaging for the US army was that soldiers had little faith on the commanding officers. Suicidal deaths are increasing. So far around 30 such cases have been reported due to Psychological stress due to war conditions. An Easter visit by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier, did not do much to help boost the sagging morale of the coalition forces. The Italian PM said to troops in the southern town of Nassiriya: "I am proud of you. I bring a big hug from Italy." The secret visit by Rumsfeld in the wake of the exposures of atrocities on Iraqi prisoners, too can not do any magic on the soldiers. The two month old intensified fighting shook the US and its allies. That is the reality. The extent of the fighting is such that no one dare count the casualties. Around 150 American and allied soldiers have been killed taking the total US casualities since the beginning of the occupation to 727 and at least 500 injured, in the current conflict, many seriously. Dozens of mercenaries, Iraqi police or civilian contractors working with coalition troops have also been killed or injured. One of the most worrying aspects of the rebellion for Paul Bremer and his masters has been the evaporation of the newly formed Iraqi security forces when conf-ronted by Iraqi fighters. Many have gone over to the rebel side. It is truly a nightmare scenario for the Occupation force.

Falluja, from the inception, had become the focal point of the rebellion. The US forces brutally massacred .. people of Falluja last April. The anger against the occupation, the humiliation of arrests, tortures was reflected in the struggle at Falluja.

On March 31st, four civilian contractors, working for Blackwater Security Consulting which was hired by the Pentagon to provide security to the convoys that delivered food to the troops, were killed. The guerrillas attacked the two cars with grenades in which the four were traveling. The car entered Falluja from a nearby US army base. Then people wrecked the cars. One of the bodies were dragged through the streets showing their anger against the US. The other bodies were hacked with poles and farm tools. Five US soldiers too were killed by a road side bomb in Habbaniya, 15 km. West of Falluja.

To retaliate these deaths, On April 4th 1300 US marines first time came to this area. The third US force to attempt to control the rebellious Falluja. The Marines began their tenure with a series of arrests and raids after Falluja had been surrounded and curfew imposed. The fighting from the Iraqi guerillas is so intense, that even a couple of days after, the Marines had still only managed to secure less than a quarter of the town. A fortnight of struggle followed. The Marines used helicopters and airborne gunships to attack rows of houses indiscriminately. A mosque was bombed by F16 planes killing 40 people. The marines desperately tried to take control of the city. There were pitched battles running on for hours. 50 US soldiers were killed. The Iraqi Police Force, supposed to assist the US marines, simply vanished in support of the fighters. On April 12th a battalion of new army forces of the 620 Local Iraqis was sent to Falluja. They were shot at in a shia locality by the guerrillas. The battalion came back to the battalion base in Taji, in northern Iraq.

In all in this battle, the US forces brutally killed 600 civilians and injured around 1250. It was the one of the bloodiest days since the occupation of Iraq. Falluja became the icon of resistance the occupation forces. There was wide spread condemnation of the brutal military tactics of the US.

Bremer, reacting to the killings of the four Private armed personnel, said: "military will show them we mean business", meaning indiscriminate killings. Army said that they would teach a lesson to the "rag tag forces". But both of them had put their foot in their mouth calling for a cease-fire, and retreating the US marines to the rural areas vacating Falluja. ‘Operation Iron Resolve’ ended in Operation great retreat for the US forces.

The Falluja struggle had a great impact on Iraq. It brought unprecedented unity between Sunnis and Shias. This is a growing new pehenomenon despite many a provocation by the occupation forces. Sunni and Shias fought together in an action in Baghdad where three American soldiers were killed. US military sources confirmed ‘low level’ tactical co-ordination. Around 1000 people, mostly Shias, went in march to Falluja followed by cars full of food and medicines. "No sunnies.. No Shias.. yes for Islamic unity.. we are sunni and shia brothers and will never sell our country". That was the the battle cry of the people.

Abdul Razzaq al-Zorbaie, an Iraqi journalist, who lives in Falluja, says: There is street fighting everywhere. There have been men carrying rocket- propelled grena-des, Kalashkinovs and machine guns in the street. "Everyone became a fighter.." That is the spirit of the resistance of Iraq now.

Yet Falluja was only less than half the problem. Operation Iron Resolve came at a time when another front had been opened. The coalition had decided the moment was ripe for a showdown with a 30-year-old firebrand Shia Muslim preacher : Moqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr is the son of a popular religious leader, killed by Saddam Hussein four years ago. Last year he built a militia — the al-Mahdi army — of several thousand fighters.

Paul Bremer, the American administrator in Iraq, had a close aide of al-Sadr arrested and shut down the cleric’s rabble-rousing newspaper. Bremer also branded al-Sadr an ‘outlaw’, alleging his involvement in last year’s murder of a moderate Shia priest who was close to Washington. In response, al-Sadr called his supporters on to the streets, attacking American troops in Baghdad, seizing several cities in the south and centre of Iraq. He is now in Najaf, surrounded by hundreds of armed fighters, and is still in open defiance, demanding US forces leave Iraq, saying they now faced ‘a civil revolt.’ He gave a call to arms. ‘The occupation’s promises are evil’. ‘Do not be scared by the sound of warplanes. Remain steadfast.’ There were bloodiest battles in Nazaf and Kufa. In a single attack in Nazaf, the US killed 57 fighters by airborne gunships. In Kufa they killed 67 militiamen.

The showdown has been postponed fearing a largescale back lash. The US tried to use the good offices of Iran to prevail on al-Sadr. Also they tried to tame him through the moderate leadership. Al- Sadr led an unprecendented mass upsurge against the US and allied forces in the South. It was a night -marish experience for the Bulgarain, Polish, Spaniards, Ukranians and the US forces with this mililtia.

A chaotic political situation has already set in. No one is clear who will inherit power from Bremer when he is supposed to leave after July 30th .

Completely reversing its earlier policy of keeping the Baath remnants at arms’ length, Bush is planning to recruit Baath officials into the army and political structures to control the present situation. From De- Baathification to Re-Baathification!!

The composition of the government that will run the country, heavily influenced by Washington via the giant American embassy (proposed 3000 embassy staff that is being built) has yet to be decided. Senators and commentators in the US are now asking whether the handover should be postponed. If done, that would imperil Bush’s already sagging chances of re-election in November.

‘The potential is there for a total debacle,’ said John Mueller, an authority on war and public opinion at the Ohio State University. ‘If Iraq is not turned around quickly it could turn out to be one of the great foreign policy disasters in American and British history.’

The battle at Falluja is being seen as a litmus test of the Bush approach. "They could have seen this coming," said Chuck Pena, a defence analyst at the Cato Institute. "The US reacted emotionally [to the deaths of the security men in Falluja], made it personal, and used disproportionate force. That was exactly the wrong response. If there were any Iraqis who were tolerant of the US occupation, I would gather they are now against us. We are eyes wide shut."

For America, the recent rebellions shattered one of the last surviving justifications offered by Bush in the run-up to the war: that US forces would be seen as liberators. More than 700 US troops have now died and more than 8,000 been wounded. Now, polls say, 49 per cent of Americans believe military action in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism. Only 28 per cent say the threat is reduced.

Few share optimistic assessments. ‘We’re at a tipping point in Iraq, with a real danger of losing control of the situation,’ said Sandy Berger, who was national security adviser to President Clinton. On Capitol Hill there are growing calls for a clear exit plan. Robert Byrd, a Democrat senator, said he watched events with ‘mounting dread’. ‘Surely I am not the only one who hears echoes of Vietnam,’ he said.

Even if comparisons to Vietnam are still contentious, the perception that the US is losing control in Iraq has begun to affect Bush’s support.

The greatest criticism of the White House’s Iraq policy has come from right-leaning commentators and political leaders. Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News commentator and once a vocal supporter of the war, warned that Iraq might cost Bush the election.

Pat Buchanan, the conservative politician, said bluntly, "We have gotten ourselves bogged down in what is clearly a quagmire. What Falluja and the Shia attacks on Sunday tell us is that failure is now an option."

Bush had announced in May 2003 that major combat was over. In fact, the major combat just started after that. If the casualities to US and Britain was just a hundred from March 20th to the date of seizure of Baghdad are little over hundred, over 700 US and Britain forces died since then. No day passes without any casuality on the part of coalition forces. The Iraqi fighters’ main target being the occupying forces and next comes their collaborators. A month back the head of the Iraqi National Council was killed. Paul Bremer, is never safe. The company that supplies mercenaries, Black Water’s, main task is to see Paul Bremer alive. The occupation army is thoroughly demoralized. The June 30th dead line to transfer full sovereignty has become a joke. Even the UN is not ready to take up the responsibility "if" US and its allies want to leave after June 30th. No other ally wants to send any force to supplement the 20,000 odd forces that was slated to be replaced a month ago. The US call to India, Pakistan, France and other countries to send some forces to protect the UN offices in Iraq had no response. No country which sent forces to Iraq faced serious opposition in their countries. Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Italy, Britain. In Spain, the past government was defeated in the election mainly because of its Iraq policy. Blair might taste the same when the time comes. His popularity is nose diving and reaching perhaps its nadir. American forces are deserting, though at present their number is quite low. Regular forces are reluctant to join. The Pentagon is so pressed for troops that it is sending back the wounded soldiers without adequate rest, which doctors are advising against. The exposure of white lies by the White House and 10, Downing Street, about the non existing WMD, the growing causalities, the photo graphic exposure of atrocities on the Iraqi prisoners in Abu Graib prison, the thoroughly discredited Iraqi Governing Council, the latest revolt by Ahmed Chalabi, the no.1 puppet of the US in Iraq, who started chanting " nothing but full sovereignty" are all pointers to the tragic fate of the "operation Iraqi Freedom" by the Bush-Blair Inc.

The US believed that their armies would be welcomed as liberators. The US believed that with arrests of Baath officials and Saddam, Iraq will be under its control. Now it is the question of entrusting sovereignty. It has become a farce. The US is saying that full sovereignty will be given with limited powers to the Iraqi government. Will the US and allied armies continue their stay or not? Every one is silent. What kind of sovereignty with the presence of the US army and limited powers to the Iraqi govet?

The continuing resistance portends to the utter humiliations to the US and its allies and victories to the Iraqi people. The victory of the Iraqi resistance is not only for the Iraqi people, but a victory for the people throughout the world.

May 25, 04

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