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"Report From Baghdad" Part Two--Security
This is a part two of the six-part series "Report form Baghdad"
by Pacifica Radio KPFK Los Angeles Reporter Lee Siu Hin's July 2003
trip to U.S. occupied Iraq, to commemorate 6-months commemoration
of U.S. invaison of Iraq (Sep 20), and to understand the future
of Iraq.
July 21, 2003, The Department of Defense announced
today that Sgt. Justin W. Garvey, 23, Townsend, Mass., was killed
on July 20 in Tallifar, Iraq.
Garvey was patrolling in his vehicle when it was ambushed and struck
by rocket propelled grenades. Garvey was assigned to Headquarters,
Headquarters Company, 1-187 Infantry Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
(Department of Defense Press Release, July 21, 2003)
Since last May when President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished"
- the "major combat" in Iraq was over - at least one American
and one British soldier have been killed and many more injured per
day by Iraqi ambush.
The majority of the Iraqis I met - whatever their social background,
political leaning, religion or age - told me that they don't like
U.S. troops in their country. Although many Iraqis are happy that
Saddam is gone, there are many others who still support him. Regardless
of where they stand on their country's former head of state, the
majority of them told me that they want the U.S. troops to leave.
Many even said they would arm themselves and rise up against the
U.S. occupiers if they stay in Iraq any longer.
In numerous interviews, Iraqis told me that U.S. troops had wrongfully
killed members of their family, bombed their place, looted their
houses and stolen their money. Soldiers have arrested many people
they know who have disappeared and haven't been heard from since.
Iraqi's complaints against U.S. troops are echoed in a recent Amnesty
International report, Iraq: Memorandum of Concerns Relating to Law
and Order. They include disappearance, unlawful detention, torture,
ill treatment of prisoners and shooting Iraqi demonstrators. Amnesty
concludes it's "...shameful to still hear of people who are
being detained in inhumane conditions without their family knowing
where they are and with no access to a lawyer or a judge, often
for weeks on end [by U.S. troops]."
During the U.S. invasion in March and early April, the Iraqi Body
Count Project documented the deaths of over 7,000 civilians and
up to 2,300 Iraqi soldiers, in addition to the confinement of thousands
of detainees.
According to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), most
of the detained Iraqis are interned at Baghdad airport (formally
known as Saddam airport), including some high-profile former Ba'ath
party officials such as Tariq Aziz. Most of them, though, are ordinary
Iraqi civilians arrested during house raids by U.S. troops and sent
to detention. They are there without formal charges pending against
them, denied both the right to consult with their lawyers and the
chance to talk to their families. So far the U.S. military has refused
to allow any families of the detainees or journalists to visit the
detention camp, nor will they release the names of the detainees.
ICRC spokesperson Muin Kassis says in order for them to be able
to visit the camp and meet with the detainees, they need to make
deals with U.S. troops, includes not reviewing who they had visit.
Who is the Iraqi Resistance, Anyway?
On July 13th, under heavy U.S. military escort, there was a celebration
of the formation of the 25-member Interim Iraqi Administrative Council.
Most of its members are exiled Iraqis. This would include the members
of the Iraqi National Congress in New York, who were funded by the
United States to run the post-Saddam regime, and who were airlifted
by the U.S. to Baghdad for this occasion, and powerful Iraqi Shi'ite
clerics from Iran, who are not viewed favorably by Americans.
The Council has promised to form a new permanent government, draft
a new constitution and hold free elections soon. Yet the U.S. administrator
- the highest authority in occupied Iraq - holds the ultimate power
to approve or veto the Council's decisions. "This is a U.S.
puppet regime," many Iraqis told me. Just a few hours after
the ceremony, an Iraqi resistance ambush against the U.S. military
resulted in one U.S. soldier dead and six wounded.
The Catch-22 for the United States is that it is the one now blocking
Iraqis from forming a new government. The U.S. wants to install
a pro-western puppet regime, but it doesn't have any credibility
in Iraq to survive, and it doesn't want a new Iraqi government that
won't listen to Americans.
Many people believe if there's a government tomorrow in Iraq truly
run by Iraqis, it'll most likely be run by powerful Shi'ite Muslims
from the south. The majority in Iraq, Shi'ites make up approximately
50 to 70 percent of the population, they are the de facto local
government in southern Iraq after the war replace Saddam's regime.
They oppose Saddam (who is Sunni and persecuted Iraq's Shi'ite for
decades), and welcomed his downfall by the U.S. invasion, but they
are also against American occupation. They openly advocate that
the future Iraqi government should be an Islamic government, and
that America should leave as soon as possible.
Because of the importance of the Iraqi Shi'ite communities, they
are represented in the Interim Council. The most powerful Iraqi
Shi'ite leader, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-al-Hakim, was exiled
to Iran during Saddam's period, and formed an exiled group called
the "Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq"
to oppose Saddam's government. After the invasion and the regime's
fall, he returned to his homeland and enjoys wide support from the
Iraqi Shi'ite community. He is viewed as one of the most likely
future Iraqi leaders, but he was assassinated on August 29th in
the bombing in Najaf, the most important Shi'ite city in Iraq.
Before al-Hakim's assassination, I interviewed Mohammad al-Haiddary,
Imam of al-Khielany Mosque and the leader of Baghdad's Shi'ite community.
Like al-Hakim, he was a member of the exiled group in Iran during
Saddam's period. He recently returned to Baghdad with al-Hakim after
the regime's fall. He said Iraqis don't want Americans to stay in
their country, however, unlike the resistance he claims the Shi'ite
strategy consists of peace actions, "including diplomatic ways.
Just like peaceful protests to demonstrate [our demands] using the
national forces, to talk with the Americans and put pressure on
them for a timetable for their leaving."
Although several Shi'ite religious leaders had openly called for
an uprising against U.S. occupiers, leaders like al-Hakim and his
exiled group refused armed revolt. Many Iraqi Sunnis called them
cowards. al-Haddary defends their strategy, and blames the deadly
attacks against Americans on Saddam's loyalists. "The Americans
understand that Shi'ite leaders [only] do peace actions, and the
attacks that have happened were not done by [Iraqi] Shi'ite nor
Sunni, but by the Ba'athists, based on [certain] information. We
have good relations with Sunni; some of them are in the [Interim]
Council, some of them are not, but none of them has declared a fight
against America. And when I said Ba'athists, that means some are
Sunni and some are Shi'ite."
His claims are only half-true, while many people in Iraq - especially
Iraqi Shi'ites - are against Saddam, and many are even glad that
the U.S. invaded Iraq to oust him. That does not mean, however,
that they support U.S. troops and occupation. On July 22nd, when
U.S. troops killed Saddam's two fearful sons, Udei and Qusay, in
the northern city of Mosul, even hours before the U.S. commander
in Iraq General Schanez's announcement, people in Baghdad already
knew and were firing triumphant gunshots into the air to celebrate
the news. U.S. President George Bush described it as "positive
news" and "further assurance to the Iraqi people that
the regime is gone and won't be back."
Qusay, Saddam's second son, was blamed for organizing what the
U.S. calls the "die-hard" Saddam loyalists to attack U.S.
troops after the invasion. Qusay was one of his father's most trusted
lieutenants and was widely seen as his heir apparent. "This
is very important. This will contribute considerably to reducing
attacks on coalition soldiers," says Ahmad Chalabi, head of
the Iraqi National Congress in New York, one of those airlifted
by the U.S. to Baghdad to become one of the Iraqi Interim Council
members. However, the almost daily attacks against U.S. troops,
and the bombing that killed al-Hakim after Qusay's death, have completely
shattered American and Chalabi's wishful thinking.
Despite American media claims, it's common knowledge in Iraq that
most of Iraq's underground resistance forces are not the so-called
"die-hard" Saddam supporters or foreign groups (such as
al-Qaida); rather, they are mainly organized by the local clans
and religious clerics who have no connection with Saddam's inner
circle. They are the ones who control local politics; even during
Saddam's period, he needed to consult with them to get what he wanted.
One of the example is Fallujah, a town 70 kilometers west of Baghdad,
and the historical Sunni Muslim religious center. It's also become
the center of the Iraqi resistance since the U.S. invasion. Many
people believe if there's a call for "jihad" against Americans,
it will be most likely come from places like Fallujah, so the opinions
of people in this town can indicate the future of Iraq resistance
movements.
Abdul Al-Lah Al-Azez is from Saad bin Abiy Wakas Mosque in Fallujah.
He is a famous Sunni leader in town, and was one of the self-run
city council members last June who negotiated a deal with U.S. troops
after they occupied the city. He opposed Saddam, but is against
American occupation as well, because he said they cannot accept
Christian-based American troops invaded and occupied a Muslim country.
He claims he doesn't know any resistance forces, but fully supports
what they do and is looking for an armed uprising against the U.S.
soon.
To understand whether or not Iraq can possibly organize to oust
U.S. troops from their country in the future, I had a rare opportunity
to interview the former Iraqi army colonel al-Akid Jaf Sadk Hussin
al-Shmary. He was an al-Istikhbarat (military intelligence officer)
in the Iraqi 51st mechanics unit in the al-Basra area during the
beginning of the U.S. invasion in mid-March. He was in charge of
between four to five thousand soldiers, and 400 to 450 tanks and
vehicles. He was based in the al-Zubayr area, the first defense
line against U.S. troops from Kuwait. "We stayed in the Safwan,
al-Rdga, al-Shemlia and al-Barjsia areas. And our job was to defend
Al-Basrah and our base was in Al-Barjasia in al-Zubayr. There were
10 kilometers between us and the American forces," al-Shmary
said.
Al-Shmary was angry the U.S. used brutal force against Iraqi military
and civilians. He says when the U.S. began its invasion of Iraq
on March 20th, during the first few days of fighting, they lost
200 to 250 tanks in battle, and the Iraqis burned the rest of the
tanks. "We lost around six or seven hundred soldiers and officers,
and 1,000 or more became prisoners of war. [Since then], they have
released most of the soldiers, but have still kept the high-ranking
officers." He said after their defensive line was broken, they
retreated to the city of al-Basra.
Al-Shmary blames their loss on traitors from Saddam's inner circle.
He said they sold Iraq out to the U.S. They caused the quick defeat
of the Iraqi army and lost Baghdad within few days. "First
one, General Maher Sufian al-Tikriti," he is Saddam's cousin
and the general of Republican Guard, and "Abdol Kareem Nufos
al-Nada - he's Saddam's cousin - and they're from Saddam's family,
and we can see that Maher Sufian made a deal with the Americans.
He sold the defense plan [to the Americans] for al-Basrah. When
he was in al-Basrah, he took a copy of the plan from our base and
I think he gave this to the Americans," he said. Asked if he
knew where they are right now, he answered, "Ask the Americans;
they know where they are."
Regarding the Iraqi resistance against Americans, al-Shmary denied
he has any connections, but said "I think they are from Islamic
resistance, even from Fedayeen Saddam (Saddam 'Men of Sacrifice').
They went to the Islamic resistance and you can see that in al-Falluja.
If the Iraqi army wants to do something, they will hurt the Americans
a lot and I wish they would do something if the God wants that."
Looking into his crystal ball, al-Shmary predicts future fighting
in Iraq against Americans "will never be from the tank because
we don't have them [anymore], but we could fight as street fighters,
like what you saw in Baghdad, Falluja, Tikrit, Diyala, Mosul, and
Diwaniyeh."
Asked why he came to me and did the interview,
he says, "I don't care for the death, the life will
come to you. I showed something to the media, so if I will die,
I will die once, and the Imam Ali said anyone in this life will
taste the death. I wasn't afraid in battle. Do you want me to be
afraid of some [U.S.] soldier who puts handcuffs on me?"
Sincerely
Lee Siu Hin
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