U.S.
Military Adopts Desperate Tactics
By Dahr Jamail &
Ali al-Fadhily
03 November, 2006
Inter
Press Service
FALLUJAH, Oct 31 (IPS) - Increased violence is being
countered by harsh new measures across the Sunni-dominated al-Anabar
province west of Baghdad, residents say.
"Thousands have been
killed here by the Multi-National Forces (MNF) and Iraqi allies, and
the situation is getting worse every day," a member of the Fallujah
city council speaking on condition of anonymity told IPS. "We have
no role to play because the Americans always prefer violent solutions
that have led from one disaster to another."
The violence appears to be
affecting the civilian population far more than it is stifling the resistance.
The suffering of people in Fallujah increases by the day, and the number
of resistance snipers appears to be increasing in response to the U.S.
use of snipers against civilians.
"In fact it is many
more snipers now, considering the number of incidents that have taken
place," Sebri Ahmed from the local police told IPS. "Our men
are terrified, and the majority of them have quit after serious threats
of getting killed, like our three main leaders."
General Hudhairi Abbas, former
deputy police chief of Fallujah was killed two months ago. Colonel Ahmed
Dirii was killed soon after, and last week the police leader of al-Anbar,
General Shaaban al-Janabi, was assassinated in front of his family house
in Fallujah.
There are now no police patrols
on the streets of Fallujah, and the only policemen around remain inside
their main station.
"How come those three
Fallujan born officers were killed while the Fallujah police leader
General Salah Aati was hiding behind concrete barriers," a police
officer said. Aati lives in the green zone of Baghdad, a highly barricaded
government area.
Meanwhile, attacks against
occupation forces have increased in frequency and severity. On Eid recently,
four U.S. Humvees in a convoy were destroyed by roadside bombs.
The military responded by
closing all the checkpoints in the city. Thousands had to spend the
night, the first of the holidays, outside of the city. The main roads
inside the city were also closed.
"Four firemen were killed
by the U.S. army because they were late to get to the four burning hummers,"
a young man who witnessed the attack told IPS. "They were not killed
by mistake, they were killed in front of many people."
The U.S. military has admitted
that it killed three firemen by mistake because they were suspected
to be militants.
Hundreds of residents later
attended the burial of the firemen together with five other men killed
by occupation forces the same day.
"The Americans brought
five dead civilians whom they shot in the city streets in revenge for
their casualties," a man at the former football field now called
Martyrs Graveyard told IPS. "We are going to need another graveyard,
this one is going to be full soon." All semblance of normal living
in the province is disappearing. Saif al-Juboori, a student at the University
of al-Anbar in Ramadi says this will be a wasted year for thousands
of students.
"The whole university
is now under siege, and there is a checkpoint at the main gate,"
Juboori told IPS. "The students or teachers who approach must lift
their shirts from 50 metres away and listen to nasty comments of arrogant
soldiers who give body checks before admitting people in. Most will
no longer accept such humiliation, and so there will be no college this
year."
Ramadi has been facing electricity
and water cuts for about two weeks now. Most residents believe this
is punishment for the popular support for Iraqi resistance.
"We would rather starve
to death than accept this occupation and its Iranian allies," a
20-year-old student told IPS. "We will not let the blood of our
brother martyrs go unpunished."
Despite the punishing tactics
of the occupation forces, people appear unwilling to cooperate with
local officials or the U.S. military against local fighters.
"Iraqis believe firmly
that U.S. ambassador (Zalmay) Khalilzad is the actual ruler of the occupied
country despite the repeated comedy of transfers of sovereignty to Iyad
Allawi, Ibrahim al-Jaafari and now Noori al-Maliki's governments,"
a senior leader of the Arab National Movement in Iraq, speaking on condition
of anonymity, told IPS.
"Yet, that does not
mean that the U.S. embassy has real control, as long as there are resistance
fighters who are firmly holding the Iraqi streets in Sunni areas, and
militias with their death squads controlling the rest of the country
as well as the huge oil market." Resistance fighters recently came
out to show their strength in Ramadi, the capital city of al-Anbar province.
Dozens of cars loaded with armed men went around the city.
Immediately after that, power
and water supply were cut, and raids carried out in civilian areas.
Several were killed by U.S. snipers, residents said.
The police did nothing, they
have a hard time protecting themselves. Gunmen have attacked Iraqi police
stations in Samarra, Beji and Mosul.
"We are back to point
zero," a senior officer in the Ministry of Interior told IPS. "Our
forces are either loyal to militias and political parties or too powerless
to do their duties."
"Every one who fights
the American occupation has our full support," Yassin Hussein,
a 30-year-old teacher in Ramadi told IPS. "They lied to us all
the time, and it is time for them to admit their terrible failure and
leave. Let them go rebuild New Orleans."
Hussein said resistance fighters
are the only force able to keep local peace and keep criminal gangs
in check. "The Americans are too busy trying to take care of their
own security to care about Iraqis."
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