Rohan Pearce
& Doug Lorimer
Resistance fighters have forced US troops to abandon their occupation of the Iraqi city of Fallujah, at least temporarily.
According to the February 8 Washington Post, US troops abandoned fixed positions in the city, which the paper described as "one of the most dangerous cities for US troops in Iraq". The city is located 56 kilometres west of Baghdad and has a population of about 250,000.
"Roadside bombs and ambushes around Fallujah have killed dozens of US troops and wounded scores more", the Post reported. Last year, residents drove out a mayor installed by the US.
BBC television journalist Tara Sutton reported on February 4 that one of the first signs seen as you enter the city reads: "Welcome to Fallujah — burial ground of the Americans."
The Post reported that "it is hard to know who really is in charge" in Fallujah: "US forces are seen less often than before in the muddy streets. The US-sanctioned local government operates behind barricades, and police hunker down in fortress-like compounds. Iraqi resistance groups move in and out of the city with ease."
After the US withdrawal, a major daylight attack was launched on February 14. Rebels assaulted a police station, staffed by Iraqi forces under the control of the US. More than 20 people were killed and, according to Associated Press, 87 prisoners were freed.
When Fallujah was occupied, following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, US troops were not greeted as liberators but as unwelcome occupiers. Serious armed operations against the US forces in the area only began, however, after soldiers killed between 15 and 17 Iraqis at two separate protests against the occupation of a school by US forces in late April.
'Excessive force'
In June, US-based Human Rights Watch issued a report that criticised the military, describing the shootings as "an apparent use of excessive force". At the time, HRW's Hanny Megally explained: "The US military presence in Fallujah began with these tragic events in late April, and it has been troubled ever since."
Megally called for an investigation into "possible violations of international humanitarian law by US troops". The group's investigation found that "the physical evidence at the school does not support claims of an effective attack on the building as described by US troops".
Since that time, the city and its surrounds have been the site of fierce armed resistance.
Few in Fallujah have any illusions about the "transfer of power" to a "sovereign" Iraqi government being proposed by Washington. Marwan al Qubeisi, a mechanic in Fallujah, explained to the Post: "There are people who think the next government will just be American agents in disguise. They hate the Americans and they hate the government being planned by the Americans."
Iraq's anti-occupation rebels are planning to take advantage of the formal end of the US occupation on June 30.
The new Iraqi government will closely resemble the current Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). It will be led by former Iraqi exiles long backed by Washington, grouped in the Iraqi National Congress, the pro-US Kurdish parties and "moderate" Shiite clerics.
The Army of Mohammed, a coalition of a dozen guerrilla groups, issued a leaflet in Fallujah on the weekend of February 7-8 declaring that the group will assume control of the city and organise elections once the US forces completely withdraw.
Not isolated
The resistance operations in Fallujah are not isolated. London's Financial Times reported on February 12 that it had obtained a secret report circulated by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) that contradicts the rosy picture of the occupation forces' "progress" being painted by Washington.
"January had the highest rate of violence since September 2003. The violence continues despite the expansion of the Iraqi security services and increased arrests by coalition forces in December and January", the report revealed.
According to the Financial Times, the report revealed that in January:
- resistance operations targeting NGOs increased from 19 to 26;
- "high-intensity attacks involving mortars and explosives" grew by 103%, from 316 in December to 642;
- attacks classified as "non-life threatening", for example, drive-by shootings and rock throwing, increased by 182% from December to January; and
- attacks on occupation forces in Baghdad increased to an average of eight per day, up from four per day in September.
Despite the widespread perception created by the corporate press that resistance attacks are shifting to "civilian" targets, the USAID report revealed that the number of attacks on military targets increased faster than those on civilian targets.
The Fallujah pullout erodes further the credibility of the Pentagon's claim that the Iraqi insurgency is being conducted by an insignificant, isolated group of hard-core supporters of Hussein and members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
In June, commander of the US Army's 4th Infantry Division Major General Ray Odierno assured reporters that the resistance was "militarily insignificant". "They are very small, they are very random, they are very ineffective", he insisted.
Although US Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed on February 12 that the US is making "real progress" in Iraq, the truth is very different. The invasion and occupation of Iraq has claimed the lives of more than 640 troops from the US and allied armies. Since US President George Bush's May 1 declaration aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that major combat operations in Iraq were at an end, the occupation forces have suffered at least 313 combat deaths.
With a US presidential election in November, the Bush administration is desperate to slow the rising rate of US casualties in Iraq. Polls show that the likely Democratic Party candidate for president, Massachusetts senator John Kerry, has the support of a majority of voters.
A CNN/USA Today poll released on February 19 showed that 55% of "likely voters" support Kerry; Bush received only 43% support. The same poll revealed that North Carolina Democrat senator John Edwards would win 54% to Bush's 44% — a clear indication that the majority of Americans want regime change in the White House.
From Green Left Weekly, February 25, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.