The Other Face
Of U.S. 'Success'
In Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail
16 November, 2004
Dahrjamailiraq.com
Everyone
saw it coming, only the U.S. forces did not: humanitarian disaster in
Fallujah, and stronger resistance against U.S. and allied occupying
forces all around Iraq.
The real face of
the 'success' of the U.S. military assault in Fallujah is now beginning
to present itself. Thousands of families remain trapped inside Fallujah
with no food, clean water or medical assistance.
No one can say how
many of the 1,200 'rebels' U.S. forces claim to have killed inside Fallujah
are civilians, or whether the death toll is higher.
The Iraqi Red Crescent
Society, which is supported by the Red Cross and the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called the situation in Fallujah a big
disaster.
The Iraqi Red Crescent
has several teams of relief workers and doctors, and truckloads of food
waiting for the authorisation from the U.S.-backed interim government
and the U.S. military, but they have not been allowed in.
The International
Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed grave concern for the
civilians left in the city. All those taking part in the combat
have a responsibility to spare civilians and give access to the wounded,
ICRC spokesman Rana Sidani said in a statement.
U.S. forces have
said they will now carry out 'humanitarian' tasks on their own. It could
be too late, going by the people's voices that are now emerging.
Muna Salim who managed
to flee the city with her sister after the rest of their family was
killed by U.S. bombs, said Fallujah had turned from a battlefield to
a ghost town in recent days.
Most families
stayed inside their houses all the time, she said after reaching
Baghdad. We were always very hungry because we didn't want to
eat our food or drink all of the water. We never knew if we would be
able to get more, so we tried to be careful. She could not bring
herself to talk of the killings.
The Americans
didn't care about us, said a young refugee who gave his name only
as Ahmed. He arrived in Baghdad with most of his family three days back.
All the medical people left the city and the only people in the
city are Fallujans or from Ramadi or other cities who came to try to
help us.
People in Fallujah
had been left helpless, he said. Anyone who left their house would
either be shot by American snipers or recruited by the Mujahideen,
he said. So we stayed inside most of the time and prayed. The
more the bombs exploded the more we prayed and cried.
Ahmed says he did
not expect to survive. Every night we said goodbye to one another
because we expected to die, he said. You could see areas
where all the houses were flattened, there was just nothing left. We
could get water at times, but there was no electricity ever.
U.S. forces had
bombed families in their homes, he said. Even those of us who
do not fight, we are suffering so much because of the U.S. bombs and
tanks. Can't they see this is turning so many people against them?
Iraqi resistance
has taken control of many cities across Iraq following the U.S. siege
of Fallujah. Despite U.S. military claims of being in control of Mosul
in the north, al-Jazeera reported that the U.S. military, Iraqi police
and National Guardsmen have disappeared from the streets and armed men
wearing masks are wandering freely around.
A freelance journalist
in the city told al-Jazeera on telephone from the city: The situation
is very bad, there is no security, only armed resistance groups on the
streets, and it seems there is no government in Mosul. The U.S.
military says it has taken back control of Mosul police stations and
other areas. Iraqi rebels are now also in control of large areas of
Ramadi, Samarra, Haditha, Baquba, Hiyt, Qaim, Latifiyah,Taji and Khaldiyah.
Fighting has been reported also in the Shia holy city Kerbala.
The uprising has
spread across the capital as well. The districts al-Dora, al-Amiriyah,
Abu Ghraib, al-Adhamiya and Khan Dhari are now largely controlled by
resistance fighters.
U.S. military vehicles
have been damaged and destroyed near the city Hiyt. Fighting has spread
to the normally peaceful town Hilla, just south of Baghdad.
The security
situation there has gone from bad to worse, Ali Abdulla, a 35-year-old
carpenter from Hilla said. You can hear the fighting all around
the city now, and the resistance is fighting against the Polish very
fiercely.
Abdulla said this
was the first time there had been fighting between Polish troops and
resistance fighters.