Caught
Between The U.S.
And Al-Qaeda
By Ahmed Ali
20 August, 2007
Inter Press Service
BAQUBA, Aug 20 (IPS)
- The major U.S. military operation in Baquba city north of Baghdad
has ended, but it has left continuing suffering for residents in its
wake.
The U.S. military launched Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Baquba, 50
km northeast of Baghdad, on Jun. 18. Baquba is the capital city of Iraq's
Diyala province.
The stated goal of the operation
was to eradicate al-Qaeda from the city and other areas in the province.
The region has seen some of the highest number of attacks on U.S. troops.
Shortly after launching the
operation, the U.S. military admitted that nearly 80 percent of al-Qaeda
militants had fled the area.
Residents had been looking
for an end to raids and abductions by criminal gangs and sectarian death
squads, but the U.S. military operation brought no relief.
"People here feel afraid
because the coalition forces always push al-Qaeda out of the cities,
but unfortunately they return when the troops retreat," resident
Mohammed Hulail told IPS. "So the coalition forces can provide
no solution."
A Baquba city official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, told IPS that al-Qaeda militants had already
returned to parts of the city. "We are now sure that Iraqi police
and army cannot defeat al-Qaeda who are well fortified in the streets
and buildings."
Residents have learnt to
fear enemies on all sides. "People are the victims of this war
because they are in the middle point between the American forces and
the fighters of al-Qaeda," Jabbar Ibrahim, a secondary school teacher
in the city told IPS. "The fighters of al-Qaeda came to control
the city, but when the U.S. troops came to fight them, they ran away,
leaving civilians to face the shells and the bombs."
Many residents complain of
indiscriminate arrests through the U.S. forces' search for al-Qaeda
suspects. "Arrests are sometimes made wrongly; simple people who
have nothing to do with fighting and violence were arrested, and those
who were the real fighters ran away," a resident who declined to
give his name told IPS.
The Iraqi Islamic Party has
accused the Multi-National Forces operating in the area of killing many
people in Baquba in the early weeks of the operation.
"The operations led
by the U.S. forces in western Baquba led to the death of more than 350
people, most of whom are still under the rubble," the party said
in a statement.
Many residents in this city
of 300,000 say that operation Arrowhead Ripper has made living conditions
worse. "We spent 12 days without water, electricity and food,"
Hamid Shaaban, a 51-year-old retired city official told IPS, "And
U.S. forces were of little help."
"I have seven children,"
said Shaaban. "I went to ask U.S. troops for food and water."
All he got, he said, was some bottled water. He was then sent away.
The shortage of water hit
the city at the worst time of the year. "The temperature was between
45 and 51 degrees C," an elderly woman said. "We have had
very long days, it has been terrible."
Most residents IPS spoke
to said they would leave if they could, but they either lacked funds
or simply did not know where to go.
"We do not have another
place to go in order to leave this miserable place," resident Kamil
Abid told IPS. "All places are the same, and we have no money to
start again."
The U.S. military has often
detained people who have stayed home during the attacks and searches.
Several residents say a decision to stay on was often seen as a gesture
of defiance.
Now almost everyone seems
fed up with the violence and intimidation from all sides. "What
people want is security in order to get back again to their jobs to
earn their living," said the owner of a local food store. "Providing
this is the responsibility of the coalition forces and the Iraqi government."
Suspicions abound that the
U.S. forces do not really want to solve the problem. "U.S. governments
always tend to create an enemy, and then fight him in order to show
weak governments, like this one in Iraq, that they cannot do without
the support of U.S. power," said a retired army officer.
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