IRAQ: A New Type of Occupation
27 March 2006 1:11 pm by Taylor Marsh
IRAQ: A New Type of Occupation
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| Our tall tale Texan sretching the truth on Tall Afar. photo: Mark Duncan/AP |
What it is, though, like so many places in Iraq now,
is a city increasingly divided along sectarian lines. The neighborhoods we patrolled
were largely Shia; those our reporter found barricaded and dangerous were mostly
Sunni. “I'd say that zero percent of Bush's talk about Tall Afar is true,”
said Ahmed Sami, 45, a Sunni laborer. “They turned Shiite neighborhoods
into havens, and Sunni neighborhoods into hells.” Even in the Shia neighborhoods,
people were far from satisfied. “This is all just an outdoor prison for
us,” said school teacher Abu Muhammed. “We can't even go as far as
the market street up there.” He gestured to the top of his road, where
the Ottoman fortress that dominates the town is located (and which we couldn't
visit due to a security scare, even though it holds the mayor's office). “We
know the American Army and the Iraqi Army are working and doing their best,”
said Bakr Muhammed Bakr, a dressmaker whose shop, like most others on the streets,
was open for business. “But what are they going to do, put a soldier in
front of each Sunni house?” Is
This a Strategy For Success?
President Bush's model good news Iraq story just went up in smoke.
No one is shocked that the story of Tall Afar isn't what was presented.
That's been the case from the start. Bush spins his tall tale of war, freedom
and spreading democracy, while underneath it's all war, anarchy and the spreading
theocracy.
George W. Bush and his administration have put out a hit on the
free press in this country. If you haven't seen Peter
Daou's performance on MSNBC, now's the time. So after the stories today
they should be in full battle mode. Film at five on Fox.
The truth is that it's not a matter of clear, hold and build in
Iraq. Did you notice that's not a slogan for getting out? Because once we clear,
hold and start building, there's got to be a way to hand over the city and move
on. Instead, Iraqi mayor's and citizens want the U.S. military to stay and protect
them. The Sunnis are desperate for our intervention.
We have once again become an occupying force being asked to pick
sides in the war Bush lost.
Is this what we intend to do from now on, stand in between Sunnis
and Shiites, with the Sunnis dreading the day we leave, while the Shiites plan for their moment of rising? Or maybe surprise raids that go south is your idea of helping Iraq move forward.
The U.S. military now occupies Iraq, which
is in the middle of a sectarian skirmish, civil strife, a battle between religious
sects, which pits Iraqis against one another in a civil war where we are currently
occupying the space between the parties.The raid was “planned and executed
by the ISOF [Iraqi Special Operations Forces] and advised by U.S. Special
Operations Forces,” the U.S. statement said. It did not say how many
U.S. or Iraqi soldiers took part.Aides to Sadr, who is backed by one of the country's
largest and most feared militias, said those killed were innocents praying
in the al-Moustafa mosque in the Shaab neighborhood — well north of Adhamiyah,
where the U.S. military said the raid occurred. The Sadr aides said the assault
began at 6 p.m.The killings further inflamed an already volatile political
situation as Iraqi leaders struggle to form a new government in the face of
mounting sectarian violence. An outspoken opponent of the U.S. presence in
Iraq, Sadr has become a potent political force. More than 30 loyalists are
members of Iraq's new parliament.The incident Sunday was one of the deadliest encounters
between his followers and U.S. and Iraqi forces since his Mahdi Army militia
waged two violent uprisings in 2004.“I think we are going to have a firm stance against
the American forces because of this crime,” Salam al-Maliki, Iraq's transportation
minister and a close Sadr ally, said on al-Iraqiya television.
Iraqi
Leaders Denounce Raid on Sadr Loyalists
It's really a wonder how Bush's
predetermination for preemption didn't open out on to an efficient taking
down of the country and Saddam, followed by a quick and rapid action peace roll
out of civilian operatives that could have gotten the country into shape prior
to civil war breaking out. Or maybe what we're now seeing was inevitable, which
is reason enough to wrap this lost war around Bush's throat and choke him with
it.
If we start making matters worse what's the point? If we are now in a new phase of occupation, amidst a sectarian civil war, what role can we safely and morally play? …. Hello? Someone? Anyone out there?
