US platitudes on Iraq

The US government's statements on Iraq are far away from the population's daily experience of violence and lack of security

by Haifa Zangana
The Guardian

"....For Iraqis who are long forgotten by the US and British governments, since they are often seen as terrorists' facilitators, the security gains mean pre-dawn house raid, arbitrary arrests, kidnapping, killing by mercenaries called security employees and car bombs in crowded markets. Blasts have occurred in Baghdad, Salah ad Din, Anbar and Ninevah. The historic city of Mosul, north of Iraq, is under siege by occupation troops for the third week.

To minimise the US casualties, during the surge, Iraqis have been subjected to collective punishment, Israeli style. The list of our dead as a result of indiscriminate US air strikes is long. Here are but a few....

It is worth pausing here to clarify the much-trumpeted successes of the return of some of refugees and the establishment of al Sahwa - the US-funded tribal Sunni militia. The first is just another information operation at a time of military failure to obscure the fact that most of the refugees had fled the country during the "success of the surge", in addition to the 2 million displaced inside Iraq (to get a sense of proportion, this is equivalent to 10 million British or 50 million US citizens).

The return of some refugees is not related to the success of the surge, the establishment of security or a reduction in "sectarian violence", the euphemism for death squads that have infiltrated the security services and local militias. The savings of most refugees have run out, and they face real poverty since they cannot compete for the few jobs available in countries that have historically been poorer than Iraq....

On the other hand, Iraqis suffering from the lack of basic services continue to call the Maliki government; "the government of the sectarian militias" with the highest record of corruption permeating in every aspect of its body. Democracy, transparency and human rights are terms often used as jokes."