Iraq’s former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says his country is in the midst of a civil war. “We are losing each day, as an average, 50 to 60 people throughout the country,” he told the BBC. “If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is”.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says there is no risk of an imminent civil war and lauds the fact that Iraqis are enjoying the fruits of democracy.
Britain’s Defense Secretary John Reid believes that most of Iraq is under control, while US Vice President Dick Cheney still maintains the insurgency is in its “last throes”.
An Iraqi diplomat, who recently passed through Egypt after a long stint at home, told me, “Iraq is in a terrible mess. It’s too dangerous even to walk in the street.” This is a man who hated Saddam and was delighted he was ousted. He now feels betrayed by the occupiers and his own government alike. Some 18 months ago, he told me that Iraqis would never fight each other but now he believes his country is, indeed, on the brink of civil war.
The firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has hinted that the attacks on the shrines in Samarra were the work of foreign interventionists and has urged Iraqis to unite against the occupation. Paradoxically Al Sadr’s arch foe Saddam Hussein made a similar comment during his last tribunal appearance, when the chief judge cut him off in full flight and closed the courtroom to the media.
How can we know who’s telling the truth when almost all of the above have a vested interest in the way things in Iraq are going? Whom should we believe?
Let’s take a look at what the Iraqi bloggers are saying. Perhaps ordinary people can make better sense of what’s really taking place on the ground.
This from Riverbend, the Girlblog from Iraq:
“Three years, and the electricity is worse than ever. The security situation has gone from bad to worse. The country feels like it’s on the brink of chaos once more — but a pre-planned, pre-fabricated chaos being led by religious militias and zealots.
“I’m worried that we’ll see more of what happened to the Askaria mosque in Samarra. Most Iraqis seem to agree that the whole thing was set up by those who had most to gain by driving Iraqis apart.”
“The real fear is the mentality of so many people lately — the rift that seems to have worked its way through the very heart of the country, dividing people. It’s disheartening to talk to acquaintances — sophisticated, civilized people — and hear how Sunnis are like this, and Shiites are like that... to watch people pick up their things to move to “Sunni neighborhoods” or “ Shiite neighborhoods”. How did this happen.”
A post on last Sunday’s Mesopotamian blog reads: “Are we in a civil war situation already? Unfortunately, I must tell you that the situation is very tense and things are on the brink. Unless very energetic measures are taken quickly, I fear the situation may slip despite all the good work that has been achieved. Another incident like the Samarra shrine bombing will almost certainly trigger a mass uprising that will be impossible to contain even by religious leaders.”
A March 9 entry on a Star from Mosul speaks of a tragic loss. “Uncle S. was dad’s only uncle from his mother’s side. Yesterday he was shot by Americans on his way home, and he died. Like many others, he died, left us clueless about the reason, and saddened with this sudden loss. He was shot many times; only three reached him: One in his arm, one in his neck and one in his chest. But they said they’re sorry...they always are.”
The independent journalist Dahr Jamail, who reports out of Iraq, has this comment on his blog: “If one watches corporate media or listens to Cheney administration propaganda, one is either not getting information about Iraq at all, or hearing that things are looking up as the US approaches another ‘phase’ in the operation.”
An entry dated March 17 on the Baghdad Treasure blogspot illustrates the writer’s intense disillusionment.
“When Saddam’s statue was downed, I was stunned. Oh my God! Saddam is gone. We are free. Yes, we are free. The Americans liberated us. I was so happy. A huge burden was removed. We can work, study, have fun and live like others. I did not expect that I was too optimistic to the extent that I believed what was said. When I first saw the US Army in the streets, I said these are the ones who broke all the locks with which Saddam and his gang has imprisoned us. I didn’t know that the locks coming later are bigger and much bigger than Saddam’s.
“Three years have passed. I feel so disappointed. I thought this war was the last as we were told and promised. I did not expect it would be the opposite, the beginning. What beginning: The beginning of horror, fear, civil war, destruction and death.”
If we believe what residents of Iraq are saying on their blogs — and here I should point out that several of the above set out as supporters of the invasion — then it is clear that the words of Cheney and Reid ring hollow. The situation in Iraq is not hunky dory as they would have us believe, and Talabani’s assertion that Iraqis are enjoying their newfound democracy should definitely be taken with a large shovelful of salt.
There is surely only one conclusion for any sane person to reach. The invasion of Iraq and its subsequent occupation has emerged as one of the most tragic events throughout history. It was an exercise conducted on lies and propaganda, which are continuing even today in an attempt to persuade Western publics that there is a core of nobility amid the sham. The day is soon coming that they, like the Iraqi people, can no more be fooled. That day can’t come soon enough.
Until the leaders of the occupation forces admit to themselves and the world what a terrible blunder has been committed, nothing can be done to put things right. Like addicts must face harsh reality before they can be cured, so must the warmonger who created this tragic debacle.
