|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
November 2nd, 2006 - Fallujah:
U.S. Military Adopts Desperate Tactics |
|
Fallujah: U.S. Military
Adopts Desperate Tactics By Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily Inter Press Service and uruknet.info November 2, 2006 Fallujah - Increased
violence is being countered by harsh new measures across the Sunni-dominated
al-Anabar province west of Baghdad, residents say. "Thousands have been
killed here by the Multi-National Forces (MNF) and Iraqi allies, and the
situation is getting worse every day," a member of the Fallujah city
council speaking on condition of anonymity told IPS. "We have no role to
play because the Americans always prefer violent solutions that have led from
one disaster to another." The violence appears to be
affecting the civilian population far more than it is stifling the
resistance. The suffering of people in Fallujah increases by the day, and the
number of resistance snipers appears to be increasing in response to the U.S.
use of snipers against civilians. "In fact it is many
more snipers now, considering the number of incidents that have taken
place," Sebri Ahmed from the local police told IPS. "Our men are
terrified, and the majority of them have quit after serious threats of
getting killed, like our three main leaders." General Hudhairi Abbas,
former deputy police chief of Fallujah was killed two months ago. Colonel
Ahmed Dirii was killed soon after, and last week the police leader of
al-Anbar, General Shaaban al-Janabi, was assassinated in front of his family
house in Fallujah. There are now no police
patrols on the streets of Fallujah, and the only policemen around remain
inside their main station. "How come those three
Fallujan born officers were killed while the Fallujah police leader General
Salah Aati was hiding behind concrete barriers," a police officer said.
Aati lives in the green zone of Baghdad, a highly barricaded government area. Meanwhile, attacks against
occupation forces have increased in frequency and severity. On Eid recently,
four U.S. Humvees in a convoy were destroyed by roadside bombs. The military responded by
closing all the checkpoints in the city. Thousands had to spend the night,
the first of the holidays, outside of the city. The main roads inside the
city were also closed. "Four firemen were
killed by the U.S. army because they were late to get to the four burning
hummers," a young man who witnessed the attack told IPS. "They were
not killed by mistake, they were killed in front of many people." The U.S. military has admitted
that it killed three firemen by mistake because they were suspected to be
militants. Hundreds of residents later
attended the burial of the firemen together with five other men killed by
occupation forces the same day. "The Americans brought
five dead civilians whom they shot in the city streets in revenge for their
casualties," a man at the former football field now called Martyrs
Graveyard told IPS. "We are going to need another graveyard, this one is
going to be full soon." All semblance of normal living in the province
is disappearing. Saif al-Juboori, a student at the University of al-Anbar in
Ramadi says this will be a wasted year for thousands of students. "The whole university
is now under siege, and there is a checkpoint at the main gate," Juboori
told IPS. "The students or teachers who approach must lift their shirts
from 50 metres away and listen to nasty comments of arrogant soldiers who
give body checks before admitting people in. Most will no longer accept such
humiliation, and so there will be no college this year." Ramadi has been facing
electricity and water cuts for about two weeks now. Most residents believe
this is punishment for the popular support for Iraqi resistance. "We would rather starve
to death than accept this occupation and its Iranian allies," a
20-year-old student told IPS. "We will not let the blood of our brother
martyrs go unpunished." Despite the punishing
tactics of the occupation forces, people appear unwilling to cooperate with
local officials or the U.S. military against local fighters. "Iraqis believe firmly
that U.S. ambassador (Zalmay) Khalilzad is the actual ruler of the occupied
country despite the repeated comedy of transfers of sovereignty to Iyad
Allawi, Ibrahim al-Jaafari and now Noori al-Maliki's governments," a
senior leader of the Arab National Movement in Iraq, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told IPS. "Yet, that does not
mean that the U.S. embassy has real control, as long as there are resistance
fighters who are firmly holding the Iraqi streets in Sunni areas, and
militias with their death squads controlling the rest of the country as well
as the huge oil market." Resistance fighters recently came out to show
their strength in Ramadi, the capital city of al-Anbar province. Dozens of
cars loaded with armed men went around the city. Immediately after that,
power and water supply were cut, and raids carried out in civilian areas.
Several were killed by U.S. snipers, residents said. The police did nothing, they
have a hard time protecting themselves. Gunmen have attacked Iraqi police
stations in Samarra, Beji and Mosul. "We are back to point
zero," a senior officer in the Ministry of Interior told IPS. "Our
forces are either loyal to militias and political parties or too powerless to
do their duties." "Every one who fights
the American occupation has our full support," Yassin Hussein, a
30-year-old teacher in Ramadi told IPS. "They lied to us all the time,
and it is time for them to admit their terrible failure and leave. Let them
go rebuild New Orleans." Hussein said resistance
fighters are the only force able to keep local peace and keep criminal gangs in
check. "The Americans are too busy trying to take care of their own
security to care about Iraqis." External link:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=JAM20061102&articleId=3666 |