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(Archives: March 19, 2005) The War
in Iraq - Y2
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Two years ago on
March 19, President George W. Bush launched a war
on Iraq. In a speech that lasted only four minutes,
the President said that "liberating" Iraq
"could be longer and more difficult than some
predict."
That was in the only true statement
in all of the pronouncements of the Administration
regarding Iraq.
During the past two years we have learned
that the President, and his advisors, have lied about
Iraq's having weapons of mass destruction, ties to
al-Queda, and the ability of the US to manage reconstruction
effectively. During the past two years, tens of thousands
of soldiers and Iraqis have become casualties of the
war and the Administration says that it has no timeline
for withdrawal.
Texans for Peace continues to demand
an immediate end to the war and occupation of Iraq.
We have taken a consistent position
during the past two years based on direct experience
and evaluations from military and international experts
in and outside of Iraq - most whom have greater experience
than the political team in Washington - as well as
opinions of the Iraqi people. We provide information
and facts regarding the war and what will be needed
for withdrawal based on both historic and current
events (see
FAQ).
We continue to call on all Texans to
Take
a Stand with us in bringing an end to the war.
Although the U.S. helped start Iraq
on the road to a freer society by dismantling the
regime of Saddam Hussein, life for Iraqis has barely
improved since the war began and in many cases has
actually worsened.
Lives of Continuing Occupation and
Violence
Highest on the lists of Iraqis' grievances
the lawlessness and constant threats from insurgent
and US forces throughout many areas of the country.
The primary reason given for this increasing cycle
of violence is the dismantling of security forces
- both local and national - by US administrators immediately
following the fall of Baghdad. Since that time, the
150,000 US troops has been unable to stem rising tide
of local criminal activity and growing insurgency
caused by frustration with the occupation.
In my visit to Iraq in January of 2003,
just two months before the war began, I found the
streets safe and clean, and was able to travel without
escort and at any time of the day throughout Baghdad.
During trips to other cities, permission was needed
from the government but the roads were relatively
safe and people friendly towards Americans.
When I returned in December to compare
post-occupation Iraq, we were still able to travel
to Kerbala, Fallujah, and Ramadi and walk around Baghdad
without escort. Today the situation is much worse.
Even Iraqis are afraid to make trips outside of their
neighborhood or city without fear of being killed.
The schools that US soldiers have worked so diligently
to repair have too few children - many families are
afraid or unable to make the trip to the schools and
won't let their children (particularly girls) go unescorted.
Before the invasion this was not the case.
One
friend of peace, Shiela Provencher, describes the
situation starkly today. "Life in Iraq is like
a rollercoaster. At 6:30 this morning I woke up because
the bed and windows were shaking. A car bomb had exploded
about a mile away."
Patrick Quinn of AP calls Baghdad the
world's most dangerous city, "By day or night,
Baghdad has become a cacophony of automatic weapons
fire, explosions and sudden death, its citizens living
in constant fear of being shot by insurgents or the
security forces meant to protect them. Streets are
crammed with
passenger cars fighting for space
with armored vehicles and pickups loaded with hooded
and heavily armed Iraqi soldiers. Hundreds of bombs
in recent months have made mosques, public squares,
sidewalks and even some central streets extremely dangerous
places in Baghdad. " So reads stories from virtually
all press who have reporters inside of Iraq, including
MSNBC.
No one knows with certainty how many
Iraqis have been injured or died as a result of the
invasion and occupation. The British Medical Journal
estimates that as many as 100,000 Iraqis may have
died under occupation, a number that is disputed by
the US, and that the failure of the US occupation
to count Iraqi death has been "irresponsible".
The BMJ reports, "We
believe the joint US/UK failure to make any effort
to monitor Iraqi casualties is, from a public health
perspective, wholly irresponsible."
Economic Disaster
Second to daily fears of violence is
an economy that has been devastated and is only slowly
recovering.
More than 25% of Iraqis population remains
dependent on daily food rations to keep from starving,
easily-preventable diseases such as Cholera are seen
in many places, and unemployment continues to hover
around 50%.
US and World Bank authorities estimate
that Iraq needs
$55 billion for reconstruction following years of
embargo and war. However, By September 2004 only
$2.5bn had been released, largely because the security
situation has not allowed rebuilding work to proceed.
Over half the $1.2bn released by
the US was spent on security-related measures.
Even the statistics
provided by the pro-Administration USAID office tells
how little has been done. During the past 2 years
USAID has "created more than 77,000 public works
jobs through the National Employment Program."
Only 77,000 jobs in a country of 25 million people,
what a grand disappointment. Charles Hess of the Pentagon's
reconstruction office says that
"Iraq's power plants are currently producing
about 75 percent of the country's pre-war electricity
demand."
Added to this list
of reconstruction challenges are the destruction of
entire cities during recent fighting. No estimates
have been given for the rebuilding of Fallujah and
other towns that have repeatedly been in the path
of insurgents and military forces.
At the national level, the US remains
in control of too much of the infrastructure and funds
needed to repair it while international organizations
are staying clear of the country since the US military
is unwilling - or unable - to provide protection for
their efforts. There also appears evidence that many
funds may have been mismanaged. The BBC News reports
that nearly
$9 Billion of the $20 Billion raised and managed by
the US cannot be accounted for.
There is also concern
about the "privatization" of many parts
of the country that have been ongoing since Paul Bremmer
was promulgating rules in Iraq. Prices for housing,
food, and services are already rising as the economy
is privatized. There is genuine fear that prices for
electricity, telephone, and fuels - will skyrocket
soon and that medicine and education will no longer
be provided for free.
Personal and Political Liberty
A third concern for
Iraqis is a question of the future regarding personal
and political liberties.
The recent elections
have been hailed by most Iraqis as a sign of improvement,
even if they did nothing to advance a more secure
state. They helped to select anonymous slates, not
real candidates, and were held against a backdrop
on suicide bombings and guerilla warfare.
Although Iraqis voted
mostly along ethnic and religious lines - nearly 50%
of the vote went to the openly-Shi'ite block backed
by al-Sistani - Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who currently
rules as an authoritarian figure appointed by the
US, only received 15% for his group despite having
an overwhelming advantage in terms of campaign finances
and media control. However, most Sunni Muslims boycotted
the election which heightens concerns about the possibility
of a civil war.
Many Iraqis, particularly those who
were educated or travel abroad, find it Ironic that
President Bush calls for withdrawal of foreign troops
from Lebanon while having the largest occupation force
in the Middle East, writes Professor
Juan Cole.
"He (Bush) must have forgotten
that his army is occupying Iraq," said Sa'ad
Abdul Aziz, 21, an engineering student at Baghdad
University. "What about the Republican Palace
that they are using as a U.S. embassy?"
"America should get out of Iraq
immediately and without conditions, just like it is
asking neighboring Syria to withdraw from the Lebanese
Republic," said Sheikh Nasir Al-Saidi, imam of
a mosque in the restive Shiite neighborhood of Sadr
City, in a front-page article Saturday in the newspaper
Azzaman. . .
While welcoming new political liberties,
Iraqis are generally concerned more about personal
freedoms than national elections.
One leading intellectual
describes the situation in her blog. "You
feel it all around you. It begins slowly and almost
insidiously. You stop wearing slacks or jeans or skirts
that show any leg because you don't want to be stopped
in the street and lectured by someone who doesn't
approve. You stop wearing short sleeves and start
preferring wider shirts with a collar that will cover
up some of you neck. You stop letting your hair flow
because you don't want to attract attention to it.
On the days when you forget to pull it back into a
ponytail, you want to kick yourself and you rummage
around in your handbag trying to find a hair band…
hell, a rubber band to pull back your hair and make
sure you attract less attention from *them*."
Another
women asks, 'just exactly who is it that has created
this situation?' Who made us enemies?
The War at Home
- American Tragedy
As the war in Iraq heads into a third
year, stories in local dailies across America bear
tribute to the impacts of the war on the lives of
families in this country.
"Steffeney
was buried March 4th in North Carolina, where his
wife and three children live. In his hometown yesterday,
he was remembered as a easygoing man who lived to
fish and hunt."
"Four
Fort Carson soldiers were killed Friday in Ramadi,
Iraq when an explosive detonated near their patrol."
"He
(Koch) loved children. He was a nice, soft-hearted
kid.''
"A
Henrietta (PA) mother and stepfather are mourning
the death of their son who was killed in Iraq."
"It takes a little bit to stop
ducking," say Lt. Col. Raymond Liddy, 41, a reservist
who returned from Iraq in June 2003 after being deployed
with the 2nd Battalion 23rd Marine division in the
initial ground attack on Baghdad."
"Since
arriving here Jan. 6, Anderson has become perhaps
the most visible member of the tiny group of U.S.
deserters … But back home in Lexington, some
call him a coward, a young man who has run from commitment
before. His desertion has caused strains even within
his family."
While most Americans have felt little
impacted by the war, military families and veterans
groups are increasingly worried about the war's long-term
effect and becoming more strident in their opposition
to the continued occupation. "Why aren't Bush's
children volunteering?" asks Sue Niederer whose
youngest child, Lt. Seth J. Dvorin, was killed in
Iraq. "If it's good enough for our children,
why isn't it good enough for them? Are they exempt?"
Groups like Military
Families Speak Out and Veterans
for Peace are leading efforts in Texas and elsewhere
to bring home the human tragedy and wasted lives caused
by this war even while casualties continue to mount.
(see: Iraq Casualties)
Bright Spots of Truth
One basic problem for those who want
to know more about what is going on in Iraq, and the
'truth' of the situation there, is finding media and
voices that aren't biased by profit or political necessity.
Fortunately there are those who continue to report
from inside Iraq and who question openly and honestly.
Cliff Kindy, with the Christian
Peacemaker Teams, is one of those hardy few. He
has seen worst of situations ranging from Colombia
to Hebron, Israel and has been part of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams stationed in Iraq during the past
three years. He
reports through a weekly blog with as much honesty
and heart as is humanly possible.
Like Cliff another American, Cathy Breen,
pens lyrical stories about the daily lives of Iraqis
with others in Electronic
Iraq diaries. She writes, "In spite of the
difference in religion, culture, and many other things…
what drew us together is that we are humans, with
faces, eyes, hearts, and minds that work in the same
way. We have smiles and laughs, tears and sorrows,
which could be understood without interpretation."
Ending the War
This was started in one place, by the
political will of folks in Washington - mostly Texans
- and will only be stopped in the same way. Texans
for Peace will continue to work to convince our Senators
and Congresspersons that it is the interest of Texas
to leave Iraq. We will also continue to build grass-roots
networks throughout the state, along with demonstrations
against the war. Our End
The War in Iraq website continues to grow as does
membership (free) throughout Texas. Join us to educate,
motivate, and empower. Participate in a demonstration
or vigil wherever you happen to be on March 19, 2005
to End the War in Iraq!
Charlie Jackson
Texans for Peace
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5801 Westminster Dr. Austin, TX 78723