Massacres and Extremists in Iraq. posted by Richard Seymour

Just over a year ago, Bush and Blair were calling for Shi'a uprisings. Well, now they have their answer. Today alone, the news is reporting 300 dead in Fallujah, (and I write this at lunch time). Baghdad Burning is not surprised so much as shit-scared:

"We haven't sent the kids to school for 3 days ... The area of A'adhamiya in Baghdad is seeing street fighting: the resistance and Americans are fighting out in the streets and Al-Sadr city was bombed by the troops. They say that dozens were killed and others wounded...

"Falloojeh has been cut off from the rest of Iraq for the last three days. It's terrible. They've been bombing it constantly and there are dozens dead. Yesterday they said that the only functioning hospital in the city was hit by the Americans and there's no where to take the wounded except a meager clinic that can hold up to 10 patients at a time...

"Was I surprised? Hardly. This is an occupation and for those of you naïve enough to actually believe Chalabi and the Bush administration when they said the troops were going to be 'greeted with flowers and candy' then I can only wish that God will, in the future, grant you wisdom...

"And as I blog this, all the mosques, Sunni and Shi’a alike, are calling for Jihad..."

The Palestinians fully understand the plight of the Iraqis, and say so :

""From Palestine to Iraq: one people, one blood, one enemy!" the crowd chanted, while setting alight pictures of US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon."


Puppetry Of The Penis.

According to Salam Pax, Sadr's fighters are "thugs, thugs, thugs" whose shit list all Iraqis would do well to avoid. The US, he says, are not doing themselves any favours by provoking a war with these people. On that note, Baghdad Burning adds:

"If the situation weren't so frightening, it would almost be amusing to see Al-Hakeem and Bahr Ul Iloom describe Al-Sadr as an 'extremist' and a 'threat'. Muqtada Al-Sadr is no better and no worse than several extremists we have sitting on the Governing Council. He's just as willing to ingratiate himself to Bremer as Al-Hakeem and Bahr Ul Iloom. The only difference is that he wasn't given the opportunity, so now he's a revolutionary..."


"All I Am Saying Is Give Jihad a Chance."

Extremism and opportunism do sit well together in Iraq, if the IGC is anything to go by. Rahul Mahajan notes that:

"[T]he Sadrists are certainly extremists. They believe in Khomeini's Vilayet al-Faqih -- Islamic theocracy. They shout "Death to America" and "Death to the Jews." Still, despite extreme provocation, they all say that they have orders not to fight back, even as the U.S. forces attack peaceful demonstrations and wreak havoc in firefights across half of Iraq. They maintain, in fact, that those who shoot back at the occupying forcess are not from their Mehdi Army but simply people from the areas -- certainly a plausible claim, although impossible to verify."

Possibly, they were awaiting some overture from the "coalition" before launching attacks. They have instead been met with bullets firing on peaceful demonstrations. Indeed, the "coalition" seems to be conducting itself with all the aplomb of traditional imperialist conquerors. All the bullshit about "liberation" and "democracy" for the Iraqis has been slowly hollowed out. The Iraqis are to have no say over their economy or their security - the two most obvious pressing issues in Iraq at the moment. They may not reverse decisions taken by Bremer. They will have to accomodate a secret police set up by the CIA, apparently as a means of ensuring long-term control in Iraq:

""The presence of a powerful secret police ... will mean that the new Iraqi political regime will not stray outside the parameters that the US wants to set," said John Pike, an expert on classified military budgets at the Global Security organisation. "To begin with, the new Iraqi government will reign but not rule.""

Regarding the destruction of a mosque in Baghdad , Juan Cole wryly remarks:

"It seems a little unlikely to me that Muslims around the world are going to say, "Oh, well, they only knocked some holes in the mosque wall. This isn't really so bad. And, they had every right to do it in international law.""

Quite. They seem to be deliberately opening the gates of hell, just to piss in the flames. And, what is more, this current of suppression is apparently not as reactive as it may appear. According to Iraqi Democrats Against the Occupation , this bears all the hallmarks of having been planned weeks in advance:

"There are many indications that these latest confrontations were planned well ahead by US authorities in an attempt to suppress any opposition to its plans to have a phoney government in Baghdad after June that guarantees a long term US occupation of Iraq and control of its oil. Indeed, in a confidential memo circulated to foreign companies operating in Iraq more than 6 weeks ago, the CPA has warned these companies of possible deterioration in the security situation and assured them of a place within the well-protected 'Green zone' in the event of disturbances. The targets of U.S. suppression will not only be the people of Falluja or followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, but they will also include all democratic forces who dare question the illegal U.S. presence in Iraq. These tactics seem to be a direct copy of those employed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, but the CPA, through its unsurpassed incompetence and arrogance, has miscalculated the strength of opposition to its plans and the unity of the Iraqi people."

It is certainly a credible thesis, even if the evidence they adduce is somewhat meagre at the moment. One can well imagine the vulcans roaming around the palace inhabited by Bremer, deciding that now was the time to take a tough line, take these guys out, assert our authority. Someone, nevertheless, will have to take the fall for this outrageous implosion into bloodshed prompted by the coalition. And who might that be? The almighty interior minister! The heavens themselves are splitting apart!