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An Iraqi woman carrying her child as a US solider searches her house. Iraqis say that US search methods are intrusive and brutal (AFP photo). |
A
London-based Iraqi businessman who visited Iraq bi-yearly
throughout the thirteen grinding years of UN sanctions,
undertaking the 1,200-kilometer road journey to and from
Baghdad, nearly visited Iraq again last month—but not quite.
The road has become so dangerous and the threats from the
US-backed interim “democratic” government so great to those
who opposed war and sanctions, that he had to meet friends in
Amman, in neighboring Jordan.
Riad
El Taher—who chairs Friendship Across Frontiers, formerly an
anti-embargo organization and now anti-occupation; and whose
patron is Labour MP Tam Dalyell—told IslamOnline.net
first-hand stories from trusted long-time friends, of the
frightening reality of conditions prevailing in occupied Iraq.
“I met a wide spectrum of people, including Kurds, who in
spite of their differing backgrounds and politics were united in
condemnation of the occupation, mistrust of the US-appointed
government, and the horror of continuous loss of Iraqi lives.”
“The
US soldiers,” says El Taher, “are largely adopting their
motto ‘No Worse Enemy,’ consequently creating a cycle of
resentment and hatred. Their search methods are intrusive and
brutal. One UK-educated Christian friend said his home was
raided at five a.m. The situation was largely defused due to his
fluent English—and his offering them beer.” El Taher joked
that he had become a collaborator, but another friend
immediately responded that had he not behaved as he did, his
home would have been trashed and almost certainly belongings and
valuables stolen, a virtually unaccountable norm in US searches.
Claims for their return or for compensation are almost always
unsuccessful, Iraqis and pressure groups say.
Another
UK graduate told El Taher of an incident at a checkpoint. His
hands were visibly on the wheel when his mobile phone rang; he
instinctively tried to reach for it and was almost shot. His
explanation, shouted in English, almost certainly saved him. The
solder said, “I could have killed you and it would have only
taken me five minutes to justify my action.”
Iraqis have become “unpeople” whose lives count for nothing. |
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Iraqis
have become “unpeople” whose lives count for nothing. One of
hundreds of letters to a US Web site comes to mind: Whining
about the stress he was under, a soldier wrote, “I don't like
shooting women and children, it's not my thing.”
“Iraqi
lives are excessively expendable,” El Taher commented,
“unlike those of foreigners. Staying in the same hotel was the
Iraqi women’s tennis team. Between the low-flying,
trigger-happy US helicopters, and the ongoing explosions,
practicing tennis in Iraq had become a life threatening
activity—they had to travel to another country to hone their
skills.”
A
state of fear, uncertainty, and corruption prevails in occupied
Iraq. What is more, a senior official in the interim government
stated that no minister can make a decision without the approval
of the US-allocated minister’s advisor—particularly on
contractual issues and areas of finance. “So much for
sovereignty!” commented El Taher. In fact, there are allegedly
twenty-seven different criminal enquiries ongoing in the US as
to the whereabouts of nearly 18.6 billion dollars allocated to
Iraq under US stewardship, which is reportedly untraceable.
Of
fear and concern is that this is a country now run by
foreigners, including Israelis, whose actions in Palestine seem
to be mirrored here, with house demolitions and random killings
the norm. “The National Guard,” asserts El Taher, “is
largely comprised of the Kurdish militia.” And though mostly
he spoke to abhor the armed resistance and the suicide bombings,
nearly eighteen months of attempts at peaceful actions and
demonstrations have been met with US troops—and now the
National Guard—firing at random into the crowds.
“The
National Guard is largely comprised of the Kurdish
militia.” |
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“The
troops are the problem, not the solution,” says El Taher,
pointing out that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has repeatedly
said (with his US counterparts) that if the “sovereign”
Iraqi government asks them to leave, they will go. “The
survival of the Iraqi government, however, is reliant on the
troops,” El Taher points out. Graffiti throughout Baghdad
warns, “We’ll have your head Allawi,” who is now dubbed
“Iyad Hussein.” But despite this, many Iraqis say that if
Saddam ran for election tomorrow, he would win by a landslide.
El
Taher is further scathing about Chahinaz Rasheed, a non-delegate
allowed to address the Labour Party Conference; begging the
troops not to leave, and expressing her gratitude for the
invasion. “She is wife of a member of the Iraqi Governing
Council who is now minister for irrigation. She, however, whilst
lauding a free Iraq, lives safely in Surrey,” asserts El Taher,
claiming many of those appointed too live largely in London and
Amman—the chaos of Baghdad, the slaughter of Fallujah, and
Iraq’s other ancient cities are for those who have no such
options.
El
Taher has harsh words for prominent people who have done nothing
to highlight the plight of a man who may not have been perfect,
but had the plight of Iraq’s people under sanctions very much
at heart—imprisoned Christian and former deputy prime minister
Tareq Aziz. His family now lives modestly in Jordan and they
cannot even afford the cost of schooling.
Communication
via the Red Cross is sporadic and unhelpful; the last letter
they received is three months old. Tareq Aziz’s son asked
about his conditions and his health, but the Red Cross
representative refused to elaborate. “This is not the conduct
of a humane or impartial organization ... especially when they
remain silent on the conduct of the troops and the new National
Guard, who took a female member of a household hostage when they
failed to find the male family member they were seeking.”
Taking women in the family when the men cannot be found is
common practice. Many are believed to have been transferred by
the Americans to British jails in the south, though since access
by the usual agencies is not allowed—this is unconfirmed.
Ironically,
the only slaughter that was ordered to be investigated in the
bloodbath Iraq has become, is the investigation into the deaths
of 49 National Guards killed in an ambush last month. Not, as
Brian Cloughley writes so aptly in a current CounterPunch,
into the “butchery” of the war on terror: The “terrorist
brides and grooms and terrorist kids rushing round in party
clothes; all the terrorist musicians and the terrorist wedding
guests” One could add, and all those terrorist mourners at
funerals, or terrorist toddlers and mums shot in cars at US
roadblocks.
As
for Tareq Aziz, I have a personal memory of an interview with
him for a Middle East magazine. He has a heart ailment and was
clearly unwell. A doctor was waiting outside, should he be taken
ill. Aziz suddenly broke off and said: “Madam Felicity, when I
was ten years old, I was leafleting in Baghdad, putting fliers
through doors, to stop Britain getting her hands on Iraq’s
oil. I am not about to give up on Iraq now.” He didn’t, but
ill, and like the rest of a sovereign government, illegally
overthrown and imprisoned in an act which will surely render
generations of historians aghast, most of his foreign friends
have moved on and lifted not a finger to help.
Felicity
Arbuthnot is a journalist and activist who has visited
Iraq on numerous occasions since the 1991Gulf War. She has
written and broadcast widely on Iraq, her coverage of which
was nominated for several awards. She was also Senior Researcher
for John
Pilger's award-winning documentary Paying
the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq.
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