With
Donkeys For Transport,
All Is Well
By Ali al-Fadhily
07 September, 2007
Inter Press Service
FALLUJAH, Sep 5 (IPS)
- A brave new attempt is under way to project that all is well
now with Fallujah. Residents know better -- or worse.
Former Iraqi minister of
state for foreign affairs Rafi al-Issawi visited Fallujah, 60 km west
of Baghdad, Aug. 22. Issawi, who resigned Aug. 1 when the Sunni Iraqi
Accord Front withdrew from the government, visited the city with other
members of the Sunni Accordance Bloc, al-Tawafuq.
The group toured the city
and met with senior officials and community leaders in a show of conversion
of the city from the most violent to the most peaceful in Iraq.
The Iraqi Islamic Party's
TV channel, al-Baghdad, accompanied Issawi on his tour and broadcast
some of the scenes from inside Fallujah. The footage exposed the painful
truth of the real situation here. The streets were deserted, shops were
closed, and people appeared with sullen faces.
"Of course we are happy
to have our city peaceful, but not this way," lawyer Ahmed Hammad
told IPS. "The local police guided and supported by the American
Army have prevented car movement for nearly three months now. They should
not be proud of having the city quiet in a way that kills everybody
with hunger and disease."
Hammad referred to the vehicle
ban which was imposed by the U.S. military in Fallujah in May.
Some residents in Fallujah
praised the police, others described policemen as savages.
"Those who are not Fallujah
citizens in the force must be expelled and replaced by our own men,"
Nassir al-Dulaymi, a former police officer, told IPS. "They swear
at people in the street and arrest people as they please, and of course
there is no real government to hold them accountable for their crimes.
Probably they would be rewarded for their savage acts."
An article titled 'Fallujah
Catches Its Breath' in the independent Salon.com magazine Aug. 21 described
the improving situation in Fallujah.
"Fallujah, once the
symbol of everything gone wrong with the American mission in Iraq, seems
to be breathing again," wrote David Morris, a former Marine who
works as an embedded reporter with U.S. forces in Iraq. "About
half the shops are open. Groups of children wave heartily at American
convoys driving by."
A journalist who lives in
Fallujah told IPS that several local journalists had been detained and
warned of trouble for them if they reported anything other than "good
news" about Fallujah.
"The media in the west
are lying about Fallujah by saying everything is well," said the
journalist. "What is so good about a city that lives with no electricity,
no water, no fuel, very expensive life necessities, and most important,
with no vehicles? Moreover the unemployment is incredibly high."
Others said members of the
Sunni Iraqi Islamic party and the Sunni Accordance Bloc are weak and
self-interested politicians.
"The Islamic Party and
its allies convinced us that the situation would be much improved after
the elections, and we fell for it," 60-year-old shopkeeper Sulayman
Mahmood told IPS. "All they did was give cover to the sectarian
government as well as getting rich, and having thousands of bodyguards."
A tour of the city on foot
gives the impression of the dark ages. People are back to riding donkeys.
Everyone IPS spoke with complained
of the extremely high price of basic goods, and a lack of work that
could raise money to meet those needs.
"A cylinder of cooking
gas costs 22 dollars, and it is less than half full," said Um Ali
from the Shurta district west of the city. "Groceries are too expensive,
and we do not know what to eat, especially since the food ration is
practically nothing. Our sons are either unemployed or in jail."
A report released by Oxfam
International Jul. 30 said eight million Iraqis (in a population of
24 million) are in need of emergency aid.
"Iraqis are suffering
from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare,
education, and employment," the report said. "Of the four
million Iraqis who are dependent on food assistance, only 60 percent
currently have access to rations through the government-run Public Distribution
System (PDS), down from 96 percent in 2004."
The report said 43 percent
of Iraqis suffer from "absolute poverty", and over half the
population are unemployed.
The city has also been affected
by the U.S. and Iraqi authorities' dependence on tribes in Fallujah
and throughout Iraq's western al-Anbar province. Sheikhs are the real
leaders now.
"They are taking us
back to the British occupation period when the British gave power to
ignorant sheikhs of tribes instead of politicians and academics,"
Shakir Ahmed, a historian in Fallujah told IPS. "This is a terrible
conception that will take us back to the dark ages instead of the promised
progress and prosperity. These men are highly respected for being what
they are, but never to lead a city, a province and a country."
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