On the Occupation’s Third Anniversary: What did Iraqis Gain from the ‘Liberation’? Mohammed Ali

March 31, 2006

These days see the third year since the beginning of the tragedy of the catastrophe of the invasion-turned-occupation by the world’s most aggressive countries. The Iraqi people have never experienced such a catastrophe over the course of their ancient and modern history. The invasion, its subsequent occupation and installation of a puppet regime in Iraq is a by-product of the wanton intentions of the colonialist powers and their disrespect to recognised international law. These colonial powers invaded and now occupy Iraq in order to force their control and influence on the region as whole by first subjugating the Iraqi people first.

Let’s take a quick look at occupied Iraq today. Occupied Iraq is downed in the occupation’s catastrophe resulting in total collapse of security. It seems that everyone in the world is shocked at the collapse of security, other than the Iraqis themselves. They believe the occupation is behind the security collapse because everyday they witness at first hand the occupation is terrorising the people of Iraq away from supporting the insurgency. In addition, no one in Iraq believes that the current occupation’s government for Iraqis will survive if the occupation ends and its troops withdrew from their country. Thus, the Iraqis are not really surprised anymore to wake up everyday to the discovery of their brethrens’ bodies murdered by either the occupation forces in collaboration with the ’Iraqi government’ forces or the ’Iraqi government’ own death squads, who were brought in to Iraq by the occupation.

Indeed, the Iraqis have never experienced such dire life in which the economy lies in total ruins; the scientific, literary administrative and technical cadre has all but escaped for their lives and the process of liquidation of the military/security cadre is on-going along with the respected social and political personalities carried out in accordance with the victim’s national identity card. Killing, kidnapping, arresting, torture, deformation of victims’ bodies which are subsequently thrown in the streets is common. The arrest of tens of thousands of innocent ordinary Iraqis with no accusation or charges and for periods ranging between two to three years is a mandated government policy, so it seems. The forever worsening in human rights has now reached its lowest ever in the history of Iraq (according to the International Organisation for Human Rights published in March 2006), so much for ’liberating Iraq from tyranny’. Social services are non-existent, the electricity shortage is the lowest it has ever reached including during the criminal sanction imposed upon the Iraq people for more than 13 years by the same powers which now occupy Iraq. Drinking water is in a life-threatening deficiency and so is the health services, Iraq’s most envied social service once upon a time; and even rubbish collection has been hit hard if not completely ceased and now leading to the spread of serious disease.

It seems ironic that a country which is known to be one of the world’s richest countries in oil cannot support local demand for domestic fuel used for heating and cooking; and transport fuel. Indeed, Iraq now imports oil from outside. What adds insult to injury is that Iraq was able to meet its local demands for fuel during that murderous sanction regime imposed and sustained for 13 years by the same powers which now occupy Iraq.

Industry has suffered too. The new Iraq imports everything, including the simplest of commodity which can be made locally like vinegar. That is in addition to the fact that the local market lacks the simplest of food products, which were available in abundance prior to the invasion.

On May 1st, 2003, President Bush declared from the USS Abraham Lincoln that ’major combat operations in Iraq have ended’. What he did not speak of is what his government was bringing to the Iraqi people.

No security, no economy, no public services, no nothing; the new Iraq is indeed torn between crimes committed by the occupation and crimes committed by the government’s own militias.

:: Article nr. 22152 sent on 01-apr-2006 15:44 ECT

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