By Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
Asia Times
"RAMADI, Iraq - US forces are taking to collective punishment of civilians in several cities across al-Anbar province west of Baghdad, residents and officials say.
"Ramadi, the capital of al-Anbar province, is still living with the daily terror of its people getting killed by snipers and its infrastructure being destroyed," said Ahmad, a local doctor who withheld his last name for security purposes. "This city has been facing the worst of the American terror and destruction for more than two years now, and the world is silent."
Destroying infrastructure and cutting water and electricity "for days and even weeks is routine reaction to the resistance", he said. "Guys of the resistance do not need water and electricity, it's the families that are being harmed, and their lives which are at stake."
This month, a classified report written by the chief of intelligence for the US Marine Corps in Iraq concluded that the United States had lost control of Anbar, at least politically.
Inter Press Service (IPS) reported on September 5 that the US military was bulldozing entire blocks of buildings near the governorate to dampen resistance attacks on government offices. Such US action seems most severe in Anbar province, where resistance is strongest, and which has seen the highest US casualties.
While Baghdad is not in Anbar province, occupation forces have used similar tactics there. In January 2005, IPS reported that the military used bulldozers to level palm groves, cut electricity, destroy a fuel station and block access roads in response to attacks from resistance fighters."
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