Resistance And Liberation
By Ghali Hassan
28 September, 2006
Countercurrents.orgLet us be very straight. The promotion of “al-Qaeda” as the face of the Iraqi legitimate Resistance is a fraud. Nor was the U.S. invaded Iraq to “liberate” the Iraqi people and “build democracy” true. Equally fraud is the argument that U.S. troops are in Iraq to “prevent civil war” and fight “terrorism”. The U.S. invaded Iraq to control its natural resources, destroy Iraq’s independence, and serve Israel-U.S. Zionist ideology. The U.S. is not fighting “terrorism” in Iraq; the U.S. is fighting legitimate national Resistance.
Iraqis were far better off under Saddam Hussein’s government than under a violent imperialist Occupation, supplemented with Gestapo-like force of death squads and criminal militias, and a U.S.-imposed puppet government of jackals. Iraq was a sovereign state with a sovereign government capable of protecting its citizens and investing heavily in health, education and social programs which contributed to the improvement of the well-being of Iraqi society at large. Foreign military ‘Occupation is the highest form of dictatorship’; it is Fascism. The overwhelming majority of the Iraqi population are against the Occupation.
The Bush Administration (supported by the pro-Israel U.S. Congress) used the event of 9/11 to fabricate pretexts to justify the illegal invasion of Iraq and Occupation of Iraq in flagrant violation of international law, and against the U.S. and world interests. Iraq had “nothing to do with 9/11” (Bush’s own statement) and Iraq had “no link to al-Qaeda” (U.S. Senate report). It is well-acknowledged that Iraq never posed a threat to the U.S. or other nations.
We now know that the invasion and the destruction of Iraq were planed long before the event of 9/11. The Bush Administration and its allies (Australia and Britain) continue to exploit the tragedy of 9/11 to justify domestic repressive laws (restricting civil liberties and changing people’s way of life) and waging war of aggression against defenceless nations. “This grotesque inflation of the power of al-Qaeda, like the White House’s warnings about ‘mushroom clouds’ in the aftermath of 9/11, would be cartoonish if it did not serve to mask the authoritarian aims of the state. This is a dangerous game, fuelling existential hatreds: the pluralist culture of Islam is reduced to a single amorphous mass, alien, barbarian and hostile. The ‘clash of civilisations’ is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy”, writes Philip Golub of the University of Paris VIII. The West’s deliberate association of terrorism with Islam suggests a propaganda effort to wage a long war on those Muslim nations whose governments are not subservient to U.S.-Israel agenda.
To justify the fraudulent “war on terror” to dominate Muslim nations (Iraqi and Afghanistan), the media and most Western governments have followed the U.S.-Israel agenda of inciting fear and anti-Muslims racial hatred, and in the process mobilising the public for war against other Muslim nations (Iran and Syria). From the blasphemous Danish cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed as a “terrorist” to the daily attacks on Islam by Western political and religious leaders, including Christian fundamentalists, evangelists and Pope Benedict XVI deliberate and misleading insult of Islam, it is a well-orchestrated campaign to associate Islam with violence, and shift the burden of Western terrorism and violence on Muslims themselves.
Pope Benedict is a religious scholar and knew very well that Muslims did not spread their faith by the sword. The Qur’an forbade the use of force to spread Islam, and there is no record in history of forced conversions to Islam. Those who pretend that Christianity is based on reason and the logic of God’s actions should be reminded that today’s Christianity is the result of over five centuries of violence, genocides, colonial conquest, forced conversions and oppression of defenceless people, including women. Today, it is Muslims who are at the receiving end of Western (Christian) violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are fighting for liberation and striving to live free of Western colonial oppression, terrorism and racism.
This well-orchestrated campaign is part of the West’s tendency to project and incite more violence against Muslims and Arabs by purposefully linking Islam to violence and terrorism. As a result, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism in the West have increased dramatically (up by 30 per cent) and continue to increase every 9/11 anniversary and a fabricated “al-Qaeda statement”.
It is well-documented that al-Qaeda has denied any role in the 9/11 attack, and its alleged involvement remains unproved. The official story of 9/11 has been carefully analysed and refuted. [1] Indeed, over 36 per cent of Americans are unconvinced of the official story. In 2001, the Afghan government at the time offered to arrest Osama bin Laden and his followers and hand them to the U.S. authorities had the U.S. provided the evidence of bin Laden’s involvement in 9/11 attacks. The U.S. refused the offer and instead attacked and invaded Afghanistan, despite the fact that Afghanistan had nothing to do with 9/11.
Al-Qaeda (the base) was created, financed and its recruits trained by the U.S. and U.S allies as a proxy army of mercenaries (”freedom fighters”, not an “Islamic terror network”) against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. It constituted of Muslims (including Arabs) and non-Muslims, such as Richard Reed (England), John Walker Lindh (U.S.), Adam Gadahn (born Adam Pearlman, a wealthy Jew from California), and David Hicks (Australia) and so on. After the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan, al-Qaeda recruits were airlifted to the former Yugoslavia and used by the West in the war against the Serbian forces in the Balkans. During the invasion of Afghanistan, al-Qaeda fractionated, and many of its recruits were killed, fled or captured. It is possible that some al-Qaeda recruits continue serving the U.S. and U.S. allies.
The ongoing promotion of al-Qaeda and Al-Zawahiri-bin Laden axis by the media, including Al-Jazeera is misleading propaganda that pops up on special occasions. It is the best tool to instil fear and fuel the fraudulent “war on terror”. We do not know if bin Laden still alive. There is no evidence to prove that he is. It is most likely he is dead. However, bin Laden is more useful alive to U.S.-Israel agenda than he is dead. His presence provides instant propaganda to distort the images of Arabs/Muslims and justifies ongoing occupation, war and destruction.
Since the illegal war on Iraq and after nearly four years of violent Occupation and collective punishment enforced by U.S. forces and their collaborators, Iraqis still have no electricity, no drinking water and no fuel. The living conditions for all Iraqis have deteriorated. No modern nation can function without electricity and drinking water. The only construction project in Iraq – which employs imported Asian workers – is the largest CIA station (aka U.S. Embassy). The 15-years long U.S.-Britain-directed economic terrorism and war of aggression to destroy Iraq and subdue the Iraqi people to U.S.-Israel Zionist and criminal agenda have failed. Iraqis are well-aware of the U.S. objective, and continue their defiance and resistance to U.S terror.
The U.S. main objectives are to: (1) localise and encourage violence among Iraqi Arab community; (2) weaken the anti-Occupation Resistance, including the armed resistance; (3) divert world attention from the Occupation’s crimes – of rapes and massacres of innocent civilians – and absolve the U.S. from criminal responsibilities; and (4) justify a long-term Occupation of Iraq. It is clear that the propaganda to portray the violence as “sectarian violence” is designed to mislead the public about the presence of legitimate Resistance to the Occupation. Moreover, by portraying the national Resistance as “insurgency” and “terrorists”, and associating the Resistance with terrorism, the U.S. and its allies are also diverting public attention from the illegal Occupation and legitimate Resistance to it.
The ongoing Occupation of Iraq has no legal justification and has been rejected by the vast majority of the Iraqi people and the vast majority of civilised nations. The Occupation is the foundation of the violence and terrorism. No matter how successful the U.S. and its allies in demonising the Resistance, people everywhere have an inalienable right to resist foreign Occupation of their lands and free themselves. There is no hard evidence to prove that al-Qaeda operates in Iraq or has any affiliation with the Iraqi Resistance. Even if al-Qaeda is in Iraq – brought in by the Occupation –, it has been denounced and rejected by the Resistance and the Iraqi people.
The Iraqi national Resistance movement (armed and peaceful) constitutes of Iraqi nationalists, former Iraqi soldiers, politicians and ordinary Iraqis. The Resistance to U.S. Occupation has more public support today than at any time since the illegal invasion, and is increasing as long as the Occupation of Iraq continues.
The vast majority of Iraqis are demanding the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces and mercenaries from Iraq. It is shameful that their demands are ignored by the “anti-war” movement and the so-called “progressive Left” in the West. It is the determined and fierce Iraqi Resistance that is breaking the back of the U.S., not the West “progressive Left”.
The U.S. war and Occupation have caused the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians (mostly women and children) at the hands of U.S. forces and their collaborators. Further, U.S. forces are routinely bombing and shelling population centres killing large number of civilians and reducing towns and cities to uninhabited rubbles. The entire modern nation of Iraq has been destroyed and looted. Why?
According to a report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI); “Human rights violations, particularly against the right to life and personal integrity, [have] continued to occur at an alarming daily rate in Iraq.” In other words, torture and abuse of Iraqis are widespread and worse under the U.S. Occupation than under Saddam Hussein’s government. While the U.S. unashamedly rejected the report, the White House and the Senate have just agreed on legislation that sanctions secret CIA prisons and legalise torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions and other international and domestic anti-torture statutes. [2]
Violence against Iraqi civilians has increased, not decreased. According to the Iraqi “Health Ministry”, 3,250 innocent Iraqi civilians were killed in July alone. The highest number of deaths in any month since the U.S. Occupation began in April 2003. The UN estimated nearly 7,000 Iraqi Civilians Killed in July and August. The real death toll is likely to be higher and is rising. The victims showed signs of severe abuse and torture before they were murdered execution style. This genocide of Iraqis is taking place in full view of the so-called “international community”. Why can’t the UN Security Council take any steps to stop this genocide?
In addition, tens of thousands of innocent civilians are illegally imprisoned and are enduring torture, rape, and abuses at the hands of U.S. forces and their allies in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention and international law. Most of the prisoners – estimated by the UN to be 35,000 prisoners, although the unofficial number is much higher – are held incommunicado and under appalling conditions in countless prisons throughout Iraq. On September 02, 2006, U.S. occupying forces turned over Abu Ghraib prison to the puppet government – as a propaganda coup –, it was empty but its 3,000 Iraqi prisoners moved to the new Abu Ghraib U.S.-run prison at Camp Cropper. More than half a million of Iraqis are displaced refugees and hundreds of thousands have fled their country.
The fact remains that the U.S. has enough forces and resources to prevent these crimes against Iraqis, which are committed in areas around Baghdad controlled by U.S. forces and their Iraqi collaborators. One thing the U.S. forces in Iraq can do is to dissolve the militias. However, the U.S. is continue to be divisive and hindering any reconciliation between Iraqis to resolve their internal conflicts and move forward. The U.S. “focus on ethnic and sectarian identity has sharpened as a result of Iraq’s political process, while nationalism and a sense of Iraqi identity have weakened”, wrote Phebe Marr of the United States Institute for Peace.
The ongoing bloodshed and mayhem in Iraq is one of the Occupation many tools to provoke civil war and break the unity of Iraq – which was the U.S. plan before the invasion. There is a deliberate effort to heighten insecurity, magnify and promote divisions within the Iraqi society in order to incite civil war. The U.S., Israel and Britain see division as the very antithesis to Resistance, and continue to fuel it with perpetual violence. There is enough evidence substantiating the role of U.S., Israel and British forces in acts of terrorism in Iraq.
Contrary to the media disinformation, the Resistance have restricted their attacks to Occupation forces, and their collaborators, including the U.S.-controlled militias, police and army recruits. Resistance to the Occupation have not only doubled but is fiercer than ever. At least 90 per cent of Resistance attacks targeted at the U.S. forces and their collaborators. Only 10 per cent of Resistance attacks caused civilian casualties. This suggests deliberate efforts by Western media and the Occupation forces to distort the images of the Resistance, absolve the U.S. of any responsibility, and cover-up the crimes of the Occupation against the civilian population.
Liberation
A recent report by the chief intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq revealed that the U.S. use of violence and destruction to hold and control cities in the Resistance’s heartland (Fallujah, Ramadi, Haditha, Hit, Habaniyah, and al-Qaim, Abu Ghraib, al-Najaf, Kut and Baquba) and the upper Euphrates valley has failed. In other words, a large part of Iraq is now liberated and controlled by the resistance.
Furthermore, Resistance have now spread all over Iraq, and the U.S. and its collaborators hold no ground in Iraq except inside fortified and isolated camps. Therefore, the U.S.-Britain promotion of chaos and “sectarian violence” between the pro-Occupation forces (militias, death squads) and the anti-Occupation forces (the Resistance) designed to stall liberation. The target is the Iraqi population at large. The crimes against one section of the Iraqi community (“Sunnis”) are blamed on the other (“Shiites”) and vice versa. It is part of the well-orchestrated reign of terror to intimidate and coerce the population to abandon their overwhelming support for the Resistance.
The same is true for Afghanistan. The Afghan Resistance is spreading throughout the country. The Resistance is advancing steadily and has forced the most powerful war machine in the world (U.S.-NATO) to plead for troop reinforcements. The Afghans are “fighting harder and more coherently, tenaciously and in bigger numbers than they expected”, said one NATO officer. The destructive war on Afghanistan and five years Occupation by Western powers had failed to carry out the promised “reconstruction” plan and build a “democratic” system because Afghanistan was chosen to serve U.S. geopolitical agenda at the expense of the Afghan people. Like in Iraq, the U.S.-NATO armies are not fighting “terrorism” in Afghanistan. They are fighting the Afghan Resistance, a diverse national Resistance movement supported by the people of Afghanistan. Its aim is to free Afghanistan from foreign Occupation and violence.
Even Hamid Karzai, the imported CEO of the U.S. installed puppet government in Kabul criticised the unnecessary killing of large number of Afghan civilians. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed by U.S.-NATO forces and indiscriminate bombings. The Karzai government which has very little support outside Kabul is on the verge of collapse. The ongoing occupation continues to inflict misery, lawlessness and starvation on the Afghan people. Thousands of Afghans are illegally imprisoned and tortured in contravention of Geneva Convention and international law. In addition, millions of Afghans are displaced refugees living in refugee camps, with no help from relief agencies. Further, the cultivation of opium for Western markets and the rise in narcotics trafficking have risen markedly and are enriching the U.S.-installed warlords and keeping Western addicts happy.
Finally, it was clear from the outset of the illegal and criminal invasion of Iraq that the goal of the U.S Government was not “liberty” and “democracy” but to subjugate the people of Iraq to a hegemonic ideology. It failed in the face of people’s defiance, courage and sustained Resistance.
The U.S. is not fighting “terrorism” in Iraq; the U.S. is the perpetrator of naked international terrorism. Resistance is the legitimate right of people struggling under foreign occupation.
Ghali Hassan lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Notes:[1] [2] For an excellent analysis of the event of 9/11, see Paul Zarembka, Ed. (2006). The Hidden History of 9-11-2001, Research in Political Economy, Vol. 23, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
[2] UN Assistant Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Human Rights Report, 01 July-31 August, 2006. (Full Report PDF).
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