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NEWS & LETTERS, June-July 2006EditorialIraq war drags on amidst chaosThe conditions of life and labor in Iraq continue to spiral downward. Since Sunni fundamentalist insurgents destroyed a revered Shi'a shrine in the city of Samarra in February, each day seems to bring word of sectarian killings that exceed in ferocity those of the day before. The U.S. intervention that brought this situation about limps on without those who are responsible for it showing evidence that they have either an idea about how to extricate themselves from the disaster they have created, or the honesty to admit that they have made an error that will haunt them for years to come. SHRINE ATTACK AN ESCALATION The bombing of the Samarra shrine Feb. 22 was a profoundly symbolic indication of the depths of the sectarian strife to which the country of Iraq has been subjected. The sectarian assassinations and suicide bombings were no secret before the shrine incident, but since then, the violence has taken on a more open and institutionalized form. The Sunnis resent the strength of the Shi'as in the U.S.-backed government, while the Shi'as feel that after years of suffering under the regime of Saddam Hussein and the experience of the violence targeting them after his fall, they are assuming their rightful position in society. The result of this is a country in which fear, suspicion and hopelessness are pervasive. Families in traditionally mixed neighborhoods of Baghdad and other cities are abandoning their homes and moving to places where their religious group is predominant, further factionalizing the country. No official count of internally displaced Iraqis is available, but it is widely recognized to be a substantial number. Many are even choosing to conceal something as personal as their real name if it is one that is thought to be identifiable with one or another religious group. Stories abound of people assuming neutral sounding names in the interest of avoiding being targeted for murder or kidnapping. NATIONAL ELECTIONS, UN-UNIFIED NATION The political climate in which these conditions prevail is a chaotic one. After the last round of national elections in December, a long period of infighting commenced as Iraq’s parties fought over who was to hold the office of prime minister. The incumbent prime minister, Shiite politician Ibrahim al-Jafary, was the target of intense efforts by the Kurdish and Sunni parties, as well as the influential U.S. ambassador Zalmay Kahlilzad, to unseat him. They considered him at the same time ineffectual and too beholden to sectarian interests. While this political maneuvering dragged on, the basic material needs of most Iraqis continued to be unmet. So far there is no evidence that the candidate who in April emerged victorious in this process, another Shiite politician by the name of Nuri al-Maliki, will be distinguished from his predecessor in any way. Nor is there any indication that he will be able to bring about one of the things high on the American wish list--the consolidation of an Iraqi army out of the country’s many sectarian and ethnic militias. Equally unlikely is the possibility that he will be able to improve the day-to-day lives of ordinary Iraqis. The U.S. failed to deliver on almost the entirety of its promises for reconstruction. Billions of dollars were wasted through mismanagement, inefficiency and outright corruption. As a result, basic services such as electricity and sanitation operate at levels far below those that were in place before the invasion. ARMIES OF OCCUPATION The only thing the government is sure to accomplish is to continue to increase the power of the conservative religious forces--regardless of their sect--throughout all levels of Iraqi society. The American and British troops in Iraq become more and more resented by the population as their presence in the country drags on. British soldiers in the south of Iraq are being openly attacked on a regular basis as the Shiite militias there become increasingly bold. American troops continue to be involved in heavy fighting in Anbar province and the towns of the Sunni triangle, areas where the insurgency is strongest. Many of these battles result in deaths of innocent civilias, and with each casualty the already strong sentiment against the U.S. hardens. At the same time, an insurgency is emerging in Afghanistan where we had been told the Taliban had been defeated. This antipathy, combined with the seemingly endless tours of duty many soldiers are subjected to, is having a serious impact on morale in the American forces. The large number of suicides taking place among soldiers has drawn attention to reports of individuals debilitated by traumatic stress being kept on active duty in an attempt to maintain troop levels. As the war and its steady toll of fatalities and seriously wounded soldiers drags on, the ability of the U.S. military to sustain its undertaking in Iraq will become more and more of a challenge. IRREPRESSIBLE OPPOSITION GROWS An even greater challenge will be the Bush administration’s task of continuing to justify the Iraq war to the American public, even as it sets more tools in place to repress domestic opponents, like the NSA’s requisition of phone logs and bank transactions. For much of the time since the invasion, Bush has been able to successfully manage the war’s image to the public. Yet opposition from the Left and from ruling circles is now irrepressible. The staggering financial cost is largely pushed off into the future for Bush’s successors to deal with. The American fatalities, while steadily mounting, have been low enough for the administration to handle and the seriously wounded soldiers shipped out of Iraq are isolated in military hospitals in Europe or at home. Even the price of gasoline was, until recently, relatively low. As the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, Bush’s ability to deal with these factors is sure to decrease. The prospects for Republican Party candidates in the midterm elections are at risk and Bush’s legacy is in jeopardy. As the war drags on and continues to make life for the Iraqi people close to intolerable, those who oppose the war and its authors should continue to look for ways to both solidarize with the Iraqis, the non-fundamentalist opposition to the occupation, women’s liberation organizations, and labor unions. A real fight against the agenda of the U.S. rulers rests on that kind of solidarity. |
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