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Iraqis worry that as Fallujah goes, so goes the U.S. occupation
Interesting perspective on the liberal perception as well as the Arab mindset.
On television, the children are unmoving, dead in the streets, blood pooling and spreading underneath them. On radio, announcers accuse Americans of attacking helpless civilians, not even allowing them to move for treatment of their bullet wounds. In newspapers, the stories ask if the deaths of perhaps hundreds of innocent civilians is not a greater crime than the horrific deaths and mutilations of four Americans.
| It's a propaganda technique to make the retaliation the subject, rather than the original crime. If you make it a habit, you lose track of cause and effect. Arabs have been doing it for a thousand years... |
For the past week, those have been the images, sounds and words that Iraqis have been taking in as everything here has focused on Fallujah. In this one week, Fallujah has come to symbolize for Iraqis everything that is wrong with the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. "When the four Americans were murdered, almost all Iraqis were horrified, and understood that the reaction must be strong," said Iraqi journalist Dhrgam Mohammed Ali, referring to the killing March 31 of four private security guards whose bodies were then mutilated, dragged through Fallujah and hung from a bridge. "But now, we see women and children dying, trying to escape and not being allowed to, and many stop remembering the dead Americans. Instead, they wonder why four dead Americans are worth so much, while hundreds of dead Iraqis are worth so little."
| Because the dead Iraqis aren't killed in ambushes and their bodies aren't mutilated by jubilant Marines? Because any women and kiddies who get it aren't the targets, but the Bad Guys standing behind them? |
Umm Marwa, who has fled her home in Fallujah, said the March 31 attack -- if not the crowdâs behavior -- was honorable. "The mujahedeen killed them and left them alone," she said. "It was some of the mob that was there that pulled them apart." Others, though, said even the mutilation was understandable. "Those people who dragged the Americansâ bodies through the streets, they certainly had had a brother or a father killed by the Americans; they had burnt hearts," said resident Umm Samir.
| So you've got no objection to any Americans pulling the arms off dead Iraqis? After all, the Marines have lost men, too, right? |
There is no official toll of dead and wounded Iraqis in Fallujah since the U.S. Marines began trying to take control of the town four days ago, but U.S. officials acknowledge many of the dead were civilians. Casualty estimates range as high as 450 deaths and more than 1,000 wounded. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt on Saturday again defended American tactics, saying that Marines had been fired upon from mosques and from crowds containing women and children. He said Marines had tried to avoid civilian casualties, firing back in dangerous situations only in self-defense.
| Great way to "defend your people," isn't it? |
Residents told a different story. Many refused to give their names, saying that even talking to an American right now could endanger their lives.
| Un-named sources can't be verified, can they? Great way to get the Bad Guys' story out... |
But one, a doctor, said: "I was in my home for days, unable to leave, even to treat the sick, for fear of being shot. One morning, I decided I had to make it to the hospital, but just before I left, I saw my neighbor walk from his house. An American sniper shot him, once in the head. I was afraid to go out to him, to treat him. I watched him die."
| How very sad. The neighbor, no doubt, was just returning the lawn mower he'd borrowed last week. That was what he had in his hand. And how come the Doc wasn't shot in the head? Could it be that he wasn't carrying anything? |
One young woman asked why the Americans had to take out their anger on a whole city. "They are angry, yes, but we were not all guilty, and yet we were all punished. Every time they shot another man, his brother, his father, picked up a weapon and swore to kill Americans."
| That puts them on the firing line, doesn't it? |
Others echoed that sentiment. "The resistance is just some individuals, they are not a regular army. The Americans are striking as if they are fighting an army," said Salim Mubarak, 61, who fled with 19 members of his family Friday and is staying in western Baghdad.
| Seems like anybody with a gun in his hand should be fair game. |
Kimmitt denied that the Marines had engaged in collective punishment, but some said the damage had already been done. "Iraqis are looking at the images of Fallujah, and wondering if theyâre looking at the future of the rest of Iraq, should we ever anger the United States." said Iraqi journalist Abbas Ali Saki.
| I sure as hell hope that's the case. Only Fallujah isn't rubble, yet. |
Its that Arab failure to associate cause with effect. Simultaneously needing to be a victim, yet threatening dire revenge. But the last sentence is the money quote and might possibly indicate a rational policy decision summarized as âFuck with the Iraqi authorities, then the USMC is going to fuck with you. It aint nice but I think it might just work.
Posted by: Phil B 2004-04-11 |
