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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (419890)	6/28/2003 12:39:04 PM
From: Doug R	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

A thorough housecleaning would be better...Sat June 28, 2003 "The first clear message that we have to take out of here is that this war is not over. I think that is pretty clear to all of us," the senior officer told reporters. The senior U.S. military official attributed the recent attacks to die-hard loyalists of Saddam and militants linked to his outlawed Baath Party Rumsfeld's fantasy: Fri June 27, 2003 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cast doubt on Friday on the notion that attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq were rising to the level of a guerrilla war."I don't know that I would use the word," he said, when asked if the occupation was becoming a guerrilla conflict. In many cases, attackers were common criminals, he said. And since shrub hasn't spoken a word of truth in years, any assertions he makes can be automatically ruled out: President Bush, speaking at length for the first time about the continuing casualties among American troops in Iraq , said today that remnants of the ousted government were trying to "kill and intimidate" American soldiers there. The spin is out of control. Why shouldn't they have expected: As stage-managed media images of the Bush administration's triumphant conquest of Iraq fade into memory, the harsh reality of American occupation is becoming clearer with each passing day. The goodwill expressed toward U.S. troops by some Iraqi citizens, thankful for the overthrow of a brutal dictator, has given way to increasingly vocal demands for sovereignty and self-determination. Street protests organized by diverse sectors of Iraq's religious and ethnic communities have condemned both the fallen regime of Saddam Hussein and the American military, which now occupies their nation. the US occupation of Iraq has come up against serious obstacles -the most important of them all being the emergence of the Shiite community. Hussein had heavily cracked down on them since the start of his government in 1969, depriving it of its political and religious rights. Now, they have experienced a revival, just before the US was even able to consolidate its power. Both in Najaf and Karbala, in Al Kut and Nasiriya, in the suburbs of Basra and Baghdad itself, the Shiite civil leverage is becoming a new political reality -one distinct and independent from the US acting rulers. The pilgrimage staged by the more than 2 million people to the city of Karbala was a clear political and religious demonstration, the most outstanding one so far. The upholding of their religious identity, along with the slogans they raised: 'Down with the occupation', 'Down with Israel', 'Down with the US', plus their demand for the establishment of an Islamic Republic have raised concern among US troops. In this way, the Shiites are making a stance, coming right to the fore of the political scene in Iraq. The failure of the US to correctly appraise the strength of the Shiite aspirations and their underestimation of their ability to get organized, are the main political shortcomings in the postwar agenda. Although we have just seen the onset of their revival and might dissipate in the next few months, if it grows and expands nationwide, it might seriously challenge both the occupation and the state that the US and the UK want to set up in Iraq. This issue is of enormous importance, not only in Iraq but regionally. Washington's ability to gain control on the situation will be a key factor -it will either transform Iraq into a US ally or else its quagmire. It will also impinge on the region's perception as to the strength or the weakness of the US. So far, the Shiites -and also the Kurds in the north- are both taking advantage of the political constraints the US has imposed on itself with the aim of ameliorating the burden of its neo-colonial enterprise. The US is seeking not to appear as an occupation and oppressive power -what in fact is-, but as democratizing and liberating force. It wants to avoid committing atrocities, which have been the rule for all the campaigns of imperialist conquest. So far, things have not reached a point of no turning back. But if the demands of the Shiites are not met, and they are deprived of playing a leading role, their demonstrations might turn overtly hostile to the occupation forces. If there is re-run of incidents like the demonstration of Iraqi citizens demanding an end to the occupation on April 28, which was brutally suppressed by US troops, with a toll of 13 dead and dozens wounded, this might fuel the resentment against the troops among the population. Furthermore, should the US appear to be indecisive or fail to turn its lightning military campaign against the regime into an actual control of the population, the demoralization provoked by the quick demise of Hussein's regime might fuel the alienation of the masses and an increased resistance throughout the region. asia.reuters.com asia.reuters.com story.news.yahoo.com. indybay.org pts.org.ar