"The Seeds Have Been Sown"
weblog entry by Dahr Jamail, NewStandard Weblogs
http://blog.newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches/archives/000423.html
Haditha, May 21 - "Iraq is sitting atop a volcano," says a school teacher in
Haditha. "The Americans are aggravating people here, trying to get a
reaction. Everyone in this province is against them now!"
Most Iraqis I speak with nowadays are seething with rage towards the
occupiers of their country. With their mosques being raided, damaged or
destroyed on what has become a nearly daily basis, they have had enough.
Then, as if the unremitting stream of horrendous photographs documenting the
widespread torturing of Iraqis within Abu Ghraib prison (among other
detention facilities throughout Iraq) are not enough, the recent wedding
party massacre has brought the fury to an entirely new level.
The continuing cultural insensitivity and unwillingness to take
responsibility for the slaughter by the U.S. military is not helping ebb the
rage felt by Iraqis about the incident.
While Arabic media has shown footage of the mangled bodies of the 25 women
and children killed by U.S. helicopters, Marine General James Mattis in
Fallujah responded:
"Ten miles from Syrian border and 80 miles from nearest city and a wedding
party? Don't be naïve. Plus they had 30 males of military age with them. How
many people go to the middle of the desert to have a wedding party?"
Someone should inform General Mattis that most of Iraq just happens to be
located in a desert, and that celebrations of all kinds in the desert are
not uncommon here.
On the banks of the Euphrates River inside a humble home in Haditha, Mr.
Tahrir, a manager of one of the local schools, is unable to contain his
anger while discussing the countless atrocities committed by the U.S. and
British militaries as of late.
"So a few soldiers get court-martialed for abusing Iraqis. They get a fair
trial, then maybe a year in jail. Is this fair? Iraqi civil rights lawyers,
human rights organizations, and released detainees who were tortured werent
even allowed inside of the show trial!"
Mr. Tahrir, and all of the other men and women I am drinking tea with, is
unable to accept the incongruity of justice as applied to soldiers vs.
detained Iraqis. Most detained Iraqis have never been charged with anything,
have no access to a lawyer or their families, no phone calls, and as we can
see every day now, are being treated horrendously.
How would people in the US react if shown pictures of Americans imprisoned
by a foreign military that showed the detainees being forced to simulate
degrading sex acts, being covered in feces, ridden like animals, handcuffed
to their beds with underwear on their heads and being attacked by guard
dogs?
The signs of continued violent resistance to the occupation are obvious even
as one drives out of the quiet town of Haditha, beautifully set amidst palm
trees, green fields of vegetable crops and the mighty Euphrates flowing
past. For the road just outside of the city has huge craters along the
sides, blasted by Improvised Explosive Devices detonated while U.S. convoys
passed.
Iraqis arent the only people suffering. Just in the last two days, five
more U.S. soldiers have been killed, and at least twice that number wounded.
Heavy fighting rages throughout southern Iraq, which of course is claiming
even more civilian casualties than fighters on either side.
Driving back to Baghdad finds the usual delays from military convoys and
checkpoints. Iraqis are not getting used to being delayed by the foreign
militaries in their country, as cars honk and tempers rise with each passing
minute. In Baghdad, according to General Kimmitt, currently 76 roads are
blocked for "security reasons." Snarled traffic in the capital is a daily
fact of life, people sitting in their cars, their anger rising along with
the 100 degree temperatures.
West of Fallujah on the main highway, while racing towards Baghdad alongside
the setting sun, there are countless military vehicles sitting sporadically
along the sides of the road.
We pass a few small cemeteries, which oddly enough have Humvees and soldiers
sitting beside them. Not good PR with the Iraqis.
Even though the military claims that an "attacker fired on the patrol from a
cemetery" north of Baghdad in Miqdadiya recently, most Iraqis are unaware of
this; only seeing Humvees parked atop the bodies of their dead; Humvees from
the same military that is regularly damaging and raiding mosques in Baghdad
and southern Iraq. Humvees from the same military which just slaughtered 40
people at a wedding celebration.
Shortly after passing these, Fallujah is on our right -- along with the
token US checkpoint on the main street that enters the city from the
highway. While members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps actually operate the
checkpoint, a few Humvees are parked off to the side under camouflage
netting, discreetly incognito.
The checkpoint maintains the US military illusion of control over the one
truly liberated city in occupied Iraq, as their patrols no longer enter
inside.
Recently Mr. Bush said, "And I believe the Iraqi people don't want to be
dominated by anybody. They want the United States to be a friend, but the
United States to not dominate."
His quote reminds me of something Mr. Tahrir told me earlier in Haditha
whilst speaking of the US occupation of his country. "They promised
prosperity, yet they have destroyed everything. They said theyd bring real
freedom; but we see our people in prison, tortured, looted and homes
raided."
Tassin Awad, sitting nearby, nodded in agreement and added, "I would like to
see Mr. Bush and tell him that Saddam is better than he is."
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Dahr Jamail is Baghdad correspondent for The NewStandard. He is an Alaskan devoted to covering the untold stories from occupied Iraq. You can help Dahr continue his crucial work in Iraq by making donations. For more information or to donate to Dahr, visit http://newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches .