Approximately 11,000 people from around the world participated in the BBC’s latest opinion poll on American foreign policy and the war that the US launched against Iraq. Americans also took part in the poll, expressing their opinion of President George W. Bush and the direction he was leading the country.
Results were not really surprising. About a third of those polled said they had a bad impression of Bush and more than half expressed their unhappiness about the war on Iraq. They were of the opinion that the United States had committed a grave mistake in launching war on that unfortunate Arab country.
What is happening today in Iraq is not a good sign. The media broadcasts images of American soldiers, armed to the teeth, roaming Iraqi streets. They also show images of the fighting going on in some of Iraq’s cities. These images make us feel as though we were watching one of the numerous daily clashes between Palestinians and Israelis in the occupied territories. Were it not for the news commentary, we wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the two.
With the second intifada, Ariel Sharon became Israel’s prime minister and Shimon Peres was appointed foreign minister. Clashes between the two sides, Palestinian casualties and the distortion of Israel’s image in world opinion led Peres to ask: “Can’t a single day pass without a Palestinian funeral?” This wasn’t easy for a “man of peace” such as Sharon.
Today not a week goes by without air raids, bombardment of homes and the killing and injuring dozens of Palestinians. Without a doubt, the Israeli side has also suffered losses; however, Israel’s main loss has been the feeling of security. A “stay at home” culture has prevailed because not a single place in Israel can be ruled out as a target. The only people who Israeli citizens feel secure with are close friends. Palestinians seem to emerge from under the ground in various forms and personalities — many of whom represent security for Israelis: Soldiers, rabbis and conservative Jews. Sharon’s policy of fire and steel has brought nothing but death, destruction and fear to Palestinians.
Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi said in one of her articles that it is ordinary Israelis and Palestinians who pay the price and who are, in the end, the real victims of such policies. She added that the Palestinian and Israeli people were the ones who bear the brunt of the violence resulting from years of military occupation and a policy of subjugation and irresponsible intimidation.
These dark doings are no different from what is happening in many Iraqi cities. Killing and arrests of Iraqis have become an almost daily occurrence. On the other hand, not a day goes by without at least one American soldier being killed. The US Army is on the defensive to prevent further losses.
What has brought them to this point? Why are Iraqis organizing protests and calling out to protest the presence of foreign forces on their soil? How far will their anger reach? Will it mean a resort to armed resistance?
The scene is set for such an alarming trend — one which nobody would wish on the injured, exhausted and destitute Iraqis, feeling betrayed by the role America is playing in their country. Weapons are widespread and available to the people. Remnants of the Baath Party, lack of security and a political void — all are factors in hastening the movement toward armed resistance.
The Iraqi nation feels let down. The Bush administration’s promises haven’t become reality. While today no one denies that the Baath regime needed to be removed by any way or means, many Iraqis still await the trial of its butchers for crimes committed against them.
The day that Saddam Hussein’s statue was toppled in the center of Baghdad was a historic moment. However, people’s dreams do not stop at the destruction of statues. Their dreams grow and grow. The Iraqis’ dreams and aspirations are to rebuild their cities on the basis of a free democratic system which protects everyone’s rights. These dreams await a channel to take on a real form. Everyone still hopes for the day in which the Iraqis possess the right to decide their fate. The betrayal of these people through occupation means sowing the seeds of anger and revolt that may crystallize into a bloody resistance. That is the lesson recorded by all independence movements around the world, one of which was the American Revolution.
Lebanese Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah said in an interview: “Let him (Bush) contemplate the Statue of Liberty and know that people do not accept occupation...”
If the US administration doesn’t realize this truth and doesn’t accede to the demands of the Iraqi people — not a day will go by without bodies being laid in coffins, be they Iraqi or American.
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(Wajeha Al-Huwaider holds an MA in Reading Management from George Washington University. She is based in the Eastern Province.)