Why were the ministries looted? Why were thousands of filed burned? Why were power and water stations destroyed? Undoubtedly, most of those acts were deliberate as the document published by Al-Hayat newspaper clearly reveal.

The events were planned down to the smallest detail, and the tasks pre-assigned to each department. Signed by the director of public intelligence the document states: “In the event that God forbid the Iraqi leadership is toppled by the Zionist Anglo-American forces, members of the abovementioned departments must carry out the following instructions: Loot and burn all government institutions connected to our bureau as well as other departments. Change locations from time to time. Destroy the power and water stations. Arm dependable elements and get them into mosques. Buy up stolen weapons from citizens. Get closer to those returning into the country,” etc.

It is inexplicable how the Americans, considering that toppling Saddam was their project, overlooked the possibility of such confrontations, and more specifically the need to protect government institutions. The institutions retained valuable information in all the fields that could have helped the allied forces understand how the regime worked in the last few years and assist them in dealing with conditions in Iraq.

The Americans entered Iraq with a single military plan: Victory. This they succeeded at; witness the Iraqi leadership running away a few hours after the foreign forces surrounded the city. Their next concern was safeguarding their positions in the city — and they abandoned the government institutions along with their wealth of information about everything from secret prisons to prisoners’ details and weapons arsenals. They also no doubt contained details of agents of the regime, in addition to important secret government information about internal movements and foreign relations.

Of course we don’t know how much was destroyed and burned out, but it is clear that the Americans are unable to identify the agents of the regime who are behind the daily attacks. There can be no doubt that these agents were well-prepared for the invasion and toppling of the regime as well as for the acts of destruction that followed. The document reveals that the plans were made on Jan. 19 this year.

We know that the American forces stopped protecting the government institutions soon after they entered the city — there are eyewitness reports of doors opened wide for the thieves, looters and arsonists to enter at will under the eyes of the American troops.

For some reason the Americans believed that the Ministry of Petroleum was more worthy of protection, and so they made an exception for it. Yet it is the ministry of least importance. It had nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the country, and it did not even have anything to do with the smuggling of oil or with secret deals between the government and the oil companies. All these things are left to people at a higher level.

Arab News Opinion 19 July 2003