While the Americans Stay, Iraq’s on a Downward Spiral

by Linda S. Heard, Arab News

CAIRO - It seems that Bush and Blair inhabit the same cloud cuckoo land...or pretend to. On July 20, Blair told Parliament to rejoice in the liberation of the Iraqi people while Bush is on the campaign trail saying there are no more "torture chambers or rape rooms or mass graves in Iraq". They both insist the situation in Iraq is getting better.

Syndicated columnist Oliver North of Iran-Contra infamy, now camping out with the Marines in Iraq apparently agrees. He recently wrote: "When I spoke to the commandant, he showed great pride in his Marines. Their job, he said ’is difficult. But, are they making a difference? Are they helping the Iraqis to help themselves? Absolutely’, he said. ’And, if you call that winning, then we probably are’."

On the other hand, Robert Fisk, a reporter and columnist with The Independent, currently on the ground in Iraq, paints a more somber picture. In his August 1 column, he writes: "For just as, before the war, our governments warned us of threats that did not exist, now they hide from us threats that do exist. Much of Iraq has fallen outside the control of America’s puppet government in Baghdad but we are not told. Hundreds of attacks are made against US troops every month. But unless an American dies, we are not told. This month’s death toll of Iraqis in Baghdad alone has now reached 700 - the worst month since the invasion ended. But we are not told."

For the public, assessing the truth isn’t easy for it’s partly in the eye of the beholder. If you happen to believe Bush and Blair are stand up guys in the mould of George Washington who couldn’t "tell a lie", then you will probably go along with the Oliver North/Fox News perspectives. But those in the US and Britain who eschew fake patriotism, set aside political sloganeering and look beyond the gagged and compliant mainstream media, will see another reality. It’s reality of which most Arabs are only too aware.

For example, an article by Ahmed Janabi on the Al-Jazeera website quotes an Iraqi political group as alleging "more than 37,000 Iraqi civilians were killed between the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003 and October" of that same year. That may or may not be true, but oddly the coalition hasn’t even bothered to find out and frowns on anyone else attempting to do so. Other groups have estimated the toll at between 15 and 20,000. What does this say about Bush’s claim: "No more mass graves"? And as for "no more rape rooms" what does America’s commander in chief think was going on at Abu Ghraib?

The US government’s thought police would have us believe the Iraqis are all happy bunnies awaiting the delights of democracy set to be imposed next January when a glance at the daily headlines will hurtle us back to reality with a crash: "Bomb blasts rock Iraqi churches", "Qaeda-linked group gives Italy 15 days to leave Iraq", "Police gunned down in restaurant", "Insurgents cripple Iraq’s economy", "Car bombing in Mosul kills at least 4, wounds 34", "Ancient Babylon ruined by foreign troops: Iraqi minister". And those appeared on Aug. 2...on just one day.

A country where kidnappings, beheadings, car bombs, attacks with missiles and rocket launchers are frequent occurrences is not "getting better".

But deep down the US and Britain know this only too well. This is why they are virtually begging the international community to help out with troops and cash. "Think of the Iraqi people" is their clarion call when most of the world’s nations take the view: You broke it. You fix it. Indeed, Colin Powell is quoted as warning Bush of the dangers inherent in invading Iraq, saying: "If you break it, you own it".

The problem now is this. Bush wants his cake and he wants to eat it at the same time. In other words, he wants to own Iraq by keeping a large contingent of American troops permanently on Iraqi soil along with spies and politicians safe behind the walls of the world’s biggest US Embassy. At the same time, he doesn’t want it to appear so. He would like nothing more than for the US military in Iraq to be able to keep a low profile, while troops from Arab and Muslim nations put on a smiley public relations face to the world.

Wouldn’t that be lovely! Arabs and Muslims would end up as cannon fodder, their governments tainted as occupation collaborators, while the Americans could retire to their barracks and play pool.

For a while last week, it looked as though this just might happen. That is until Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal held talks with Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa, and issued this statement: "The dispatching of Muslim troops to Iraq needs a number of requirements to be met, (including) that these troops would be replacing the coalition forces, currently there, not supplementing them." He added such troops should be sent only at the request of the Iraqi government under the auspices of the United Nations. This wasn’t what Colin Powell had in mind at all.

There is, however, a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. At last White House contender John Kerry has indicated he does not anticipate sending more American troops to Iraq and hopes to bring "significant numbers" home during his first term. That’s a good sign and could well translate into a complete withdrawal once he gets his feet through the West Wing door and no longer has to play to the gung-ho flag wavers.

Once Iraq waves goodbye to the Americans (and the British) for good, the insurgents’ cause will, hopefully, be carried off with them. And we may just be surprised at how many countries will come forward in a spirit of friendship to help the fledgling new and entirely independent Iraqi state stand firmly and legitimately on its feet.

– Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback at solitairemedia@yahoo.co.uk

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=49322&d=3&m=8&y=2004