The spectacle of the mutilated remains of four American contractors being paraded through the streets of Fallujah will have turned the stomachs of all who saw this savagery on their television screens. This was mob violence at its worst.
Those who participated in the butchery must be punished. The mob may oppose the Coalition occupation. They may support the insurgents. They may count the death of soldiers as victories. But there is no understanding the brutish slaughter of four unarmed men who were working to rebuild their country. It was a senseless crime of great barbarity.
The Fallujah mob has soiled the reputation of Iraqis. It also appears to misrepresent the true feelings of most Iraqis, if an independent opinion poll commissioned by the BBC is to be believed. Some 70 percent of Iraqis thought their lives were better since the ouster of Saddam. A majority was optimistic, though perhaps significantly the least optimistic people were the citizens of Baghdad. There was also a preponderance of Iraqis who said that while they did not like the coalition being around, they wanted the troops to stay for the foreseeable future to combat the tide of violence.
It is Iraqis who are the main victims of common criminals as well as terrorists. The murders of occupation troops, foreign contractors or aid workers earn world headlines, but the killing of Iraqis is often treated by international correspondents as incidental. Likewise when tens of thousands of Iraqis recently filled the streets of Baghdad to demonstrate against the hidden killers and call for peace and reconciliation among all Iraqis, there was scant international media attention.
Baghdad is still a city for flak-jacketed reporters. Stories which highlight the unpredictable dangers of sudden violence make excellent television. Though the military authorities would dearly like better news to report, at the moment they are happy to play up the lawlessness. It still appears to be stiffening civilian resolve back home to see the job through and return Iraq to peace and independence.
But many Americans will take the crazed mob in Fallujah as typical of all Iraqis. Their government has told them too often that Iraq equals terrorism, that Muslims are terrorists. We must not allow that to happen. Many people in Iraq may hate the American-led occupation, but that does not mean they can behave like rabid dogs and tear apart the bodies of innocent civilians who were there to build up, not beat down, Iraq. It is hard at such times for the voice of moderation to make itself heard. Nevertheless, honest Iraqis, including those in the city of Fallujah, and all honest Arabs, owe it to themselves to say loudly that Wednesday’s carnage was wrong.
