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Iraq: Seven Years of Occupation
On April 9, 2003, exactly seven years ago, Baghdad fell under the US-led occupation. Baghdad did not fall in 21 days, though; it fell after 13 years of wars, bombings and economic sanctions. Millions of Iraqis, including myself, watched our country die slowly before our eyes in those 13 years. So, when the invasion started in March of 2003, everyone knew it was the straw that would break the camel's back.
I still remember the day of the fall of Baghdad very clearly, as if it happened yesterday. My family and I had fled to my uncle's home in southern Baghdad because our neighborhood, located near Baghdad's airport, was bombarded by US airplanes in the days before. I remember the first US tank rolling down the street with a US soldier, wearing black gloves, waving his hand and some people waving back. That was one of the sadist day of my life, not only because Baghdad fell under a foreign occupation, but also because I knew it would be the beginning of another disastrous chapter in Iraq's history. Now, when I look back at all that happened under the occupation, I find that I was, unfortunately, right.
In the last seven years, one million Iraqis have been killed and millions more injured and displaced from their homes. The country's infrastructure was destroyed and Iraq's civil society has been severely damaged. A video posted this week by WikiLeaks is not an exception to how the US occupation operated in Iraq all along, but rather an example of it. While the video is shocking and disturbing to the US public, from an Iraqi perspective it just tells a story of an average day under the occupation. But even from the Pentagon's perspective, that attack was nothing exceptional. Reuters demanded an investigation into this particular attack because two of its employees were killed in it, and the Pentagon has already conducted an investigation that cleared all soldiers who took part of the attack of any wrongdoing. The video does not show an operation that went wrong, or where "rules of engagement" were not followed. It is simply how the US military has been doing business in Iraq for seven years now.
What is equally disturbing is the mainstream media coverage of the event. For example, in a piece published the day of the attack, The New York Times reported that two Iraqi Journalists were killed "as US forces clash with Militias." The New York Times' piece confirmed "American forces battled insurgents in the area" and covered the following statement from the US military:
The American military said in a statement late Thursday that 11 people had been killed: nine insurgents and two civilians. According to the statement, American troops were conducting a raid when they were hit by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The American troops called in reinforcements and attack helicopters. In the ensuing fight, the statement said, the two Reuters employees and nine insurgents were killed. ''There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force,'' said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a spokesman for the multinational forces in Baghdad.
Now, after the video was leaked, we know that none of this is true. Iraqis killed in the attack were not "insurgents." US troops were not "hit by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," the attack helicopters were not "called in" in response to hostilities and there was no "ensuing fight" that caused the massacre. In fact, after watching the video, there is no question that the US forces were clearly NOT engaged in combat operations against a hostile force. In addition to making the entire story up, the Pentagon has very conveniently omitted the part about the two children being injured.
This story is similar to hundreds of other stories printed by The New York Times and other mainstream media during the last seven years. Imagine how many tens of thousands of Iraqis who were labeled as "insurgents" and "militias" were killed and injured the same way. Imagine how many Iraqi children were killed and injured without a mention by the Pentagon or mainstream media. A number of international organizations, including Amnesty International, are now calling for an independent and impartial investigation into the July 12, 2007, helicopter attack shown in the leaked video. But I think this leaked video tells a bigger story than the attack itself. It tells a story of systemic, cold-blooded murder, and the shameful cover up by mainstream media and silence by international organizations.
Remembering the last seven years and conducting investigations is important, but what is more important and urgent is to end this occupation. This month marks both the seventh year of occupation and the beginning of the combat forces withdrawal in accordance with President Obama's plan. The current plan for US withdrawal is based on two sets of time-based deadlines. Obama's own plan to withdraw combat forces between April and August 31, 2010, and the bilateral security agreement's deadline for the withdrawal of all troops and contractors and shutting down all US bases by December 31, 2011.
While the Bush administration adopted a conditions-based withdrawal plan based on the mantra "as Iraqis stand up, we will stand down," the withdrawal doctrine under Obama has been time-based, not linked to conditions on the ground. The main problem with a condition-based withdrawal plans is that it creates an equation where deteriorating conditions lead to an extension of the military occupation. Unfortunately, many groups would like to see the US occupation of Iraq continue. Some groups, such as the Iraqi ruling parties or the military industrial complex in the United States, believe the occupation is in their self-interest. Others, such as al-Qaeda, hope to cripple the United States by keeping it engaged in a conflict that is taking an enormous toll on human lives, money and global reputation. And still others, such as Iran and other regional players, fear the re-emergence of a strong independent and united Iraq that would change the power balance in the Middle East.
The conditions on the ground are rapidly deteriorating in Iraq. After last month's general election, there is a dramatic spike in violence and growing threats to the security and political stability of the country. This week alone, hundreds of Iraqis were killed and injured because of car bombs, assassinations, and other armed attacks. Meanwhile, the Iraqi political establishment is struggling to form the new government. The US war machine is already trying to use this deterioration as an excuse to delay or cancel the withdrawal plan, or at least link it to conditions on the ground.
Going back to a condition-based plan will cost the US hundreds of billions more, will result in the deaths of countless more US soldiers and Iraqi civilians and, most importantly, will not bring Iraq closer to being a stable and prosperous country. The US occupation has never been a part of the solution and it will never be. Delaying or canceling the US withdrawal will only diminish what's left of US credibility and will add another layer of complications to the war-torn country. Many national US organizations, including Peace Action, are calling for a national day of action today to ask Congress and the White House to stick to the time-based withdrawal plan and bring the US combat forces as promised before the end of August.
The US has been engaged in military hostilities with Iraq and Iraqis since 1991. Even when Obama abides by the security agreement and ends the occupation next year, the US responsibility to compensate and help Iraqis help themselves will not be over. Our responsibility starts by ending the 20-year war, but it doesn't end there.
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20 Comments so far
Show AllYou mistake, Jaed. The USA oil corporation own all the oil in your nation. I know you did not know this, but it is true. All the oil in the known world belongs to USA oil corporations.
If the people of any nation don't understand and appreciate this fact, it will be attacked and occupied.
Get it?
PS: I am happy you like Mr. Obamageddon so much; I know you do.
Absurd, over-the-top overstatements like the first one below me only discredit this once far more valuable comment section!
No comment by any individual discredits the practice of commenting and the threads produced by that practice. To say the contrary is not unlike claiming that some people's saying outrageous things in free forums somehow discredits the activity of speaking freely.
The activity of speaking one's mind on the part of a diversity of individuals is one thing, and the content of what these individuals say is another thing altogether. To say that some contents disparage or discredit the activity of speaking freely is to want to control those contents.
If there was nothing untowards about the manner in which the 12 Iraqis killed by the US Apache Helicopter, then why did they not release the TRUTH of the event rather then lie about it?
When someone LIES it tends to be because they are covering up a wrong or a crime. The initial press report as transcribed by the NYT from the US Military is an utter and complete fabrication.
GW Bush and crew LIED about the reasons for going into Iraq. They lied about WMDS and of ties to AL Qaeda. They did so in order to cover up a crime. From the very beginning this has been ongoing. The US Government and its Military DARE not tell the truth because it will expose them for the Criminals that they are.
If what they were doing was RIGHT then they would not have to LIE.
Ah, but you are being much to rational, GwNorth.
According to "Bush's Brain" for Rove and the rest of the mob, the "Ends" justify the "Means". Thus, they are simply 'withholding' unfortunate facts (what most would identify as LIES) in order to create their own reality (what to them, is RIGHT).
What is the goal of the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war and our 725 military installations around the world? Perhaps protection of oil routes and other resources over our empire?
Our national debt is now 14 trillion dollars and growing. Where will the payment come from?
Obama said that whether we withdrawal from Iraq or not depends on "the conditions on the ground". That's his convenient little excuse to continue the war there.
I've never trusted him or the Democratic Party to support any anti-war policies. Much like their Republican peers, the Democrats are hell bent on preserving our system of power projection and geopolitical wars of aggression.
Hence why writing them letters or voting for them is pointless: Democrats will always listen to corporations and lobbying groups first. They're career politicians who have a vested interest in the status quo. Their "responses" are canned and typed up by their staff.
The occupation will not end just because Obama says it's over.
The fact that tens of thousands of U.S. troops and multiple U.S. bases still exist---and the indepedent, U.S. government paid contractors--- means the occupation will continue.
Hello Raed,
It is really sad to sit here in Canada and watch as our neighbour the United States destroyed your country, allowed Iraq's national treasures to be looted and ransacked while they stood by and watched and as they killed over a million of your countrymen. In my 57 years I can't remember all of the countries that the US has destabalized, bombed, or waged either a covert or an overt war against. The one thing that amazes me is the way the bulk of the American people support this armed robbery and murderous behaviour carried out by their government. They are so easily manipulated. As you pointed out in your article the mainstream media is complicit in withholding the truth from their readers. They don't both reporting what is going on which makes them a party to the crime since, supposedly, the reason for having a media with foreign correspondents is to report the facts to its readers and viewers. The American media by and large is so pathetic and so cheer leaderish that real journalists like Robert Fisk just laugh at them. They are a joke. Rather that being journalists they are propagandists. They tow the government line. When President Eisenhower made his famous speech warning to beware of the military industrialist complex it is clear that his warning went unheeded. It was prophetic. The US is a nation run by pirates. The set out on the seven seas and spread their greed tentacles everywhere sweeping up natural resources and leaving behind death and pollution. In Equador, Texaco took oil from the Amazon and left behind and huge mess and an epidemic of liver cancer. Their high priced lawyers deny it all. See the film, "Crude". In Iraq the US destroyed the infrastructure, many of the people and stole the oil and build Colonial military bases from which to rule their new colony. They have military bases all over Asia. For some reason this seems normal to them although they would go nuts if another country set up a military base on US soil or in another foreign country. Imagine if China or Russia had a military base in Mexico yet the US has bases all around Russia and China. The US even sent Paul Bremmer, a civilian, to Iraq to set up a new Iraqi constitution. How arrogant is that. For a 200 year old country like the US run by a moron like George Bush who can hardly read to send a flunky to Iraq to write a constitution for a several thousand year old civilization with clauses which all favor the American colonizer to the detriment of Iraq. It is so totally absurd and ridiculous but Americans think it is normal. Good luck and I hope that one day you get to have your country back.
Hello Raed,
It is really sad to sit here in Canada and watch as our neighbour the United States destroyed your country, allowed Iraq's national treasures to be looted and ransacked while they stood by and watched and as they killed over a million of your countrymen. In my 57 years I can't remember all of the countries that the US has destabalized, bombed, or waged either a covert or an overt war against. The one thing that amazes me is the way the bulk of the American people support this armed robbery and murderous behaviour carried out by their government. They are so easily manipulated. As you pointed out in your article the mainstream media is complicit in withholding the truth from their readers. They don't both reporting what is going on which makes them a party to the crime since, supposedly, the reason for having a media with foreign correspondents is to report the facts to its readers and viewers. The American media by and large is so pathetic and so cheer leaderish that real journalists like Robert Fisk just laugh at them. They are a joke. Rather that being journalists they are propagandists. They tow the government line. When President Eisenhower made his famous speech warning to beware of the military industrialist complex it is clear that his warning went unheeded. It was prophetic. The US is a nation run by pirates. The set out on the seven seas and spread their greed tentacles everywhere sweeping up natural resources and leaving behind death and pollution. In Equador, Texaco took oil from the Amazon and left behind and huge mess and an epidemic of liver cancer. Their high priced lawyers deny it all. See the film, "Crude". In Iraq the US destroyed the infrastructure, many of the people and stole the oil and build Colonial military bases from which to rule their new colony. They have military bases all over Asia. For some reason this seems normal to them although they would go nuts if another country set up a military base on US soil or in another foreign country. Imagine if China or Russia had a military base in Mexico yet the US has bases all around Russia and China. The US even sent Paul Bremmer, a civilian, to Iraq to set up a new Iraqi constitution. How arrogant is that. For a 200 year old country like the US run by a moron like George Bush who can hardly read to send a flunky to Iraq to write a constitution for a several thousand year old civilization with clauses which all favor the American colonizer to the detriment of Iraq. It is so totally absurd and ridiculous but Americans think it is normal. Good luck and I hope that one day you get to have your country back.
Well, I don't think we'll get our country back until its resources are completely plundered, and by then it will be too late. Many Americans don't agree with what's happening but those that do are in the minority, and they just don't quite know what to do about. Just writing or talking about it is not enough any more. You can't even vote them out because the two parties have a stranglehold on Washington. It is extremely difficult to get other parties even on the ballot because of signature requirements. Requirements the Democrats and Republicans don't worry about. I voted for the best choice I had in the primaries, and that was Kucinich. And it is next to impossible to get media time for third parties. Americans need to go to Washington and beseige the city with demands, and may have to get rough and force the US government to retaliate against its own citizens. But most Americans are just tring to live, to pay thousands of dollars a year to pay for their healthcare bills;they are too busy to run to Washington. And that's just how the powers that be want it. They want Americans exhausted, harried and too busy to do anything and be diverted with selfish hedonism rather than with cooperation, unity and a lot of spare time. American lives are controled by credit scores.
I couldn't agree more with this article. The US must get out now, asap. America has been hounding the Iraqis for over 20 years, and it is sickening. Yet somehow the powers that be continue to get away with it.
The US government even participated in a state execution by handing Hussein over to his enemies. Just 10 ten years ago, I wouldn't have believed that this government could do that so openly and get hardly a whimper of criticism. Hussein may have been an evil man in many ways, but Iraq was better under him than with the US. Iraq would probably be better off under Attila the Hun than under US control.
The US is already morally bankrupt, but there is going to hell to pay someday when this country is finally financially bankrupted. And it will be the everyday American who suffers. All the Dick Cheneys and George Bushes will be long gone with all the loot they plundered.
Perhaps somebody at Common Dreams can organize a Washington rally. Try to get all the progressive organizations, Mother Jones, The Nation and the Huffington Post, together and have a march on Washington. Have a bunch of speeches. Hold up signs like "get our asses out of Iraq" Yell at congressman, turn over a few police cars, throw some rotton vegetables at congressman. Kick some Tea Party ass. Just have good time.
Ask the Indigenous person of this continent how occupation and then reparation worked out for them? We are still suffering. Try 70-80% unemployment. It is an absolute travesty.
For all humanity and all that is in the Universe
The Pentagram and it's Corporate Partners never intend to leave occupied Iraq - this is part of their long conquest of the middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe...
I remember that day too, and the toppling of the statue of Saddam and thinking, oh shit they're actually getting away with this hideous charade.
I apologize from the bottom of my heart for what my country did to yours. May justice someday prevail.
The problem in America is that the general public will not believe a word of what people like Mr.Raed Jarrar are trying to say. Instead they will keep on worshiping their military leaders.
While the drumbeat to war can be irresistable, there's nothing like a resounding defeat to sour the public not just on war, but on the entire macho military apparatus. For example the defeat of Argentina in the 1982 Falkland Islands War, after which its fascist military dictatorship not only fell from power, its leading figures were put on trial and sentenced to prison. True, this didn't happen here in America after that unforgettable morning on the 30th of April '75 when the last helicopter took off from the rooftop of the American Embassy. Still that defeat has been credited with having forestalled (the so-called Vietnam Syndrome) all out war on our part, at least until the '91 Gulf War. What's more a defeat now by rag-tag here one day-gone the next freedom-fighters in Afghanistan might completely shatter the heroic image that the Armed Forces has in the popular imagination. And then what sort of world? Empowered by our having struggled together to end these f------ wars, wouldn't it be up to us?
CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines-The U.S. closed one of its largest overseas bases ending a nearly century-long military presence because it was buried by volcanic ash. Maybe we can get a giant volcano to erupt.
Raed Jarrar, I thank you for this excellent article and wish you luck and success for your diligent quest for justice for the people of Iraq. I am sure you know that not all Americans supported the governments aggression against the people of Iraq. Some of us worked hard to prevent Desert Storm, the economic sanctions and the preemptive strike against the Iraqi people. I am sorry that we were not successful. Some of us are also involved in working to free Iraqi born U.S. citizen, physician, Rafil Dhafir, who has been sentenced to 22 years as a terrorist, although he never had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge of terrorism connections. He founded a Muslim charity to help the Iraqi victims of the economic sanctions and the government wrote a memo to the judge after his trial for white collar crimes, to enhance his sentence because violating economic sanctions was a national security concern,The government officials also suggested enhancing his sentence because the government's witnesses against Dhafir all said they still trusted him.