"A hated occupier is powerless even with all the firepower in the world,''"
Friends of U.S. Policy in Iraq Have Doubts
Sunday April 11, 2004 8:31 PM
By HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. campaign to uproot Sunni insurgents in Fallujah and Shiite militiamen in southern Iraq is carrying a heavy political cost, with some of Washington's closest Iraqi allies angry at the bloodshed and surprised at what they see as U.S. mistakes.
The Fallujah offensive has become an anti-American rallying cry across Iraq, with mosques on Sunday urging the faithful in Baghdad to donate food, blood, medicine - and white coffin shrouds - for the turbulent city.
Some members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council blame a series of bad calls by American officials in Iraq for the situation, by far the lowest point of the 1-year-old occupation of Iraq.
Critics say the military has used excessive force in moving to put down this past week's Shiite and Sunni uprisings and U.S. administrators have underestimated the depth of Iraqis' suspicion of American intentions.
U.S. handling, they say, has played into the hands of U.S. opponents in Iraq, raising the profile of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as well as the insurgents at a time when the focus should have been on the scheduled June 30 transfer of power to Iraqis.
``Everything points to the failure of the Americans' security policy in Iraq,'' said Mahmoud Othman, an outspoken member of the U.S.-backed Governing Council. ``The Americans cannot solve the problems of Iraq because of their ignorance of the language, customs and traditions.''
``It did not come as a big surprise to me that they are trying to settle problems with more than one party through military means,'' Othman, a Sunni Kurd, said Sunday.
U.S. occupation authorities say they had no choice but to act decisively to eliminate what they say was a threat to future Iraqi democracy - Sunni insurgents, who killed and mutilated four American civilians in Fallujah on March 31, and al-Sadr, who has repeatedly challenged the authority of the Americans and their Iraqi allies.
``What is the risk of not acting? What is the risk of turning our head and just ignoring the trouble?'' said Dan Senor, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.
``If we do not address these elements and these individuals and these organizations now, we will rue the day because these organizations, these militia will rise up again another day and it is better to deal with them now than after June 30,'' he said.
But some Iraqi politicians have condemned U.S. military tactics in Fallujah in unusually strong language.
``It was not right to punish all the people of Fallujah, and we consider these operations by the Americans unacceptable and illegal,'' said senior Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi, one of the United States' closest allies in Iraq.
Even the Governing Council, whose 25 members are often dismissed by many Iraqis as American puppets, was sharply critical, complaining in a weekend statement of being sidelined by the Americans on security issues and calling for a stop to the military's ``collective punishment.''
Images of the Fallujah siege and the plight of its inhabitants - including footage of wounded children and rows of fresh graves - have been beamed nightly to Iraqi homes by Arab satellite TV channels, outraging many Iraqis already seething under what they perceive as the failures of the American occupation.
More than 600 Iraqis have been killed in fighting in Fallujah since Marines began the siege against insurgents in the city a week ago, the head of the city's hospital told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Relief convoys carrying donations from Iraqis, including Shiites, have been arriving at the mainly Sunni city, reflecting a broadening sympathy for the insurgents and the city's inhabitants.
``No Iraqi likes to see an imperial power like the United States beating up on people who are essentially their cousins,'' said Juan R. Cole, a University of Michigan lecturer and a prominent expert on Iraqi affairs. ``There is a danger that the vindictive attitude of the Americans ... will push the whole country to hate them. A hated occupier is powerless even with all the firepower in the world,'' he said.
The fallout from Fallujah also has led to stepped-up violence in Baghdad.
Parts of the capital have seen pitched street battles that had been rare in the past. Gunmen attacked U.S. troops on at least three occasions since Monday in Azamiyah, a Sunni neighborhood and a bastion of anti-U.S. sentiments. Gunmen have repeatedly attacked convoys at Baghdad's western entrance, killing at least three Americans and kidnaping another.
``We certainly woke up a lot of people,'' boasted Ibrahim al-Janabi, a senior official of the al-Sadr movement, whose militia fought U.S. and other coalition troops in Baghdad and at least six cities across central and southern Iraq in the past week.
The militia remains in control in three southern cities, while coalition forces appear to have tamed his uprising in other cities.
The events of the past week seem to have weakened the U.S. grip on Iraq ahead of November presidential elections in the United States with Present Bush seeking a second 4-year term.
A Newsweek poll released Saturday said nearly two-thirds of Americans are concerned Iraq could become another Vietnam in which the United States fails to accomplish its goals despite many years of military involvement. It also found 40 percent are ``very concerned'' and an additional 24 percent are ``somewhat concerned'' that Iraq could become another Vietnam.
guardian.co.uk |
