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Iraq through the American looking glass<br><br>
Insurgents are civilians. Tanks that crush civilians are traffic
accidents.<br>
And civilians should endure heavy doses of fear and violence<br><br>
By Robert Fisk in Baghdad<br>
26 December 2003 <br><br>
<a href="http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/fisk4.html" eudora="autourl">http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/fisk4.html</a>
<br><br>
Something very unpleasant is being let loose in Iraq. Just this week, a<br>
company commander in the US 1st Infantry Division in the north of the<br>
country admitted that, in order to elicit information about the guerrillas<br>
who are killing American troops, it was necessary to "instill fear" in the<br>
local villagers. An Iraqi interpreter working for the Americans had just<br>
taken an old lady from her home to frighten her daughters and<br>
grand-daughters into believing that she was being arrested.<br><br>
A battalion commander in the same area put the point even more baldly.<br>
"With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I<br>
think we can convince these people that we are here to help them," he said.<br>
He was speaking from a village that his men had surrounded with barbed<br>
wire, upon which was a sign, stating: "This fence is here for your<br>
protection. Do not approach or try to cross, or you will be shot."<br><br>
Try to explain that this treatment - and these words - offend the very<br>
basic humanity of the people whom the Americans claimed they came to<br>
"liberate" and you are met in Baghdad with the same explanation: that a<br>
very small "remnant" of "diehards" - loyal to the now-captured Saddam<br>
Hussein, etc, etc - have to be separated from the civilians whom they are<br>
"intimidating".<br><br>
To point out that the intimidation is largely coming from the American<br>
occupation force - to the horror of the British in southern Iraq who fear,<br>
understandably, that Iraqi revenge will be visited upon them as it was on<br>
the Italians and the Spanish - is useless.<br><br>
Instead, we are told that American troops are winning those famous hearts<br>
and minds with the spirit of Christmas. There was a grim example of this -<br>
and the inherent racism that pervades even reporting of such events - on<br>
the Associated Press wire agency just this week.<br>
<br>
Describing how an American soldier in a Santa Claus hat was giving out<br>
stuffed animals to children, reporter Jason Keyser wrote that one 11-year-<br>
old child "looked puzzled, then smiled" as the soldier gave him a small,<br>
stuffed goat. Then the report continued: "Others in the crowd of mostly<br>
Muslims grabbed greedily at the box," adding the soldier's remark that:<br>
"They don't know how to handle generosity."<br><br>
I don't doubt the soldier's wish to do good. But what is one to make of the<br>
"mostly Muslims" who "grabbed greedily" at the gifts? Or the soldier's<br>
insensitive remarks about generosity? Iraqi newspapers have been<br>
front--paging a Christmas card produced by US troops in Baghdad: "1st<br>
Battalion, 22nd Infantry Wishes you a very Merry Christmas!" it says.<br><br>
But the illustration is of Saddam Hussein in his scruffy beard just after<br>
his capture, with a Santa hat superimposed on top of his head. Funny enough<br>
for us, no doubt - I can't personally think of a better fall-guy for St<br>
Nicholas - but a clear insult to Sunni Arabs who, however much they may<br>
loathe the beast of Baghdad, will see in this card a deliberate attempt to<br>
humiliate Muslim Iraqis. It is for Iraqis to demean their ex-president -<br>
not their American occupiers.<br><br>
It's almost as if the occupying powers want to look through Alice's looking<br>
glass. This week, we had the odd statement by British General Graeme Lamb<br>
that Saddam could be compared to the Emperor Caligula. Now the good general<br>
was probably relying on Suetonius's Twelve Caesars for his views on<br>
Caligula. But if anything, the Roman was a good deal more insane than<br>
Saddam and even more heedless of human life.<br><br>
The crazy Uday Hussein, son of Saddam, might have been a more appropriate<br>
parallel. But what was all this supposed to achieve? A serious war crimes<br>
trial - preferably outside Iraq and far from the country's contaminated<br>
judiciary - is the way to define the nature of Saddam's repulsive regime.<br><br>
All references to the ex-dictator as Hitler, Stalin, Attila the Hun or<br>
Caligula - like all suggestions that Tony Blair or George Bush are Winston<br>
Churchill - are infantile. And again, they will appear insulting to the<br>
Sunni Muslims of Iraq, the one community which the Americans should be<br>
desperate to placate, since it is the Sunnis who are primarily resisting<br>
the occupation.<br><br>
But the looking-glass effect seems to have taken hold of US pro-consul Paul<br>
Bremer's entire authority. Like President George Bush, Bremer has now taken<br>
to repeating the absurdity that the greater the West's success in Iraq, the<br>
more frequent will be the attacks on American troops.<br><br>
"I personally feel that we'll actually have more violence in the next six<br>
months," he said a couple of week ago, "and the violence will be precisely<br>
because of the fact that we're building momentum toward success." In other<br>
words, the better things become, the worse they're going to get. And the<br>
greater the violence, the better we're doing in Iraq.<br><br>
I wouldn't worry about this nonsense so much if it wasn't mirrored on the<br>
ground in Iraq. Take the US claim - now regarded as an absurdity - that<br>
they killed "54 insurgents" in Samara a month ago. The truth is that they<br>
killed at least eight civilians and there's not a smidgen of evidence that<br>
they killed anyone else. But still they insist on sticking to the story of<br>
their great victory.<br><br>
Last week, they pushed out a similar version of the same story. This time<br>
there were 11 dead "insurgents" in Samara. But when The Independent<br>
investigated, it could only find records of four dead civilians and a lot<br>
of wounded. None of the wounded - presumably "insurgents" if the Americans<br>
believe their own story - had been visited in hospital by US forces who<br>
might, if they didn't question them, at least have apologised.<br><br>
An even more peculiar habit has now manifest itself among spokesmen for the<br>
occupation authorities. When a tank drove over a prominent Shiite Muslim<br>
cleric in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City three weeks ago, they claimed<br>
this was a "traffic accident", as if driving an M1A1 Abrams tank over a car<br>
and a robed prelate is the kind of thing that can happen on any downtown<br>
street.<br><br>
A few days later, after a truck-bomber crashed into a car and killed 17<br>
civilians, the occupation lads churned out the same rubbish again. It was,<br>
they said, a "traffic accident" involving a petrol tanker. But there was no<br>
tanker attached to the lorry.<br><br>
The first American troops on the scene found the grenades intended to<br>
detonate the bomb and the victims were all blasted to bits - not burned, as<br>
they would have been if the petrol tanker had simply caught fire. Those of<br>
us who reached the scene shortly after the slaughter could still smell the<br>
explosives. But it was a "traffic accident".<br><br>
Only yesterday we had an equally bizarre event. Jets, C-130 aircraft<br>
mounted with chain guns, and heavy artillery were all reported to be<br>
striking "guerrilla bases" in Operation Iron Hammer south of Baghdad. But<br>
investigation proved that the targets were empty fields and that some of<br>
the heavy guns were firing blank rounds as part of an artillery maintenance<br>
routine.<br><br>
So let's get this right. Insurgents are civilians. Truck bombs and tanks<br>
that crush civilians are traffic accidents. And the "liberated" civilians<br>
who live in villages surrounded by razor wire should endure "a heavy dose<br>
of fear and violence" to keep them on the straight and narrow.<br><br>
Somewhere along the way, they will probably be told about democracy as<br>
well.<br><br>
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