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IRAQ: U.S. Controls Just a Square Mile of Baghdad
By Ferry Biedermann
BAGHDAD, Apr 17 (IPS) - Hundreds of demonstrators gather daily at Fardous
Square outside the Palestine hotel in Baghdad where the U.S. forces have set
up their headquarters. They want security and services restored, and the looting
stopped.
They are getting angrier by the day. "The U.S. only protects oil, not stores and
houses", reads one placard. Others are a variation of that sentiment.
The U.S. forces control barely one square mile of the sprawling city. In streets
immediately around the barbed wire that rings the Palestine hotel compound,
shots ring out at night.
The army started patrolling some streets with local policeman earlier in the
week to restore order. A file of officers in the old olive green Iraqi police uniforms
arrived at the U.S. command to coordinate this.
But hardly any of the Iraqi officers are seen on patrol. Now and then one was
seen leaving with some marines, but most stayed close to the U.S. compound.
At one checkpoint an Iraqi policeman stood looking forlorn beside a U.S.
marine. "We're starting them off easy," said the soldier, "to get everybody used to
the idea again."
Some of the protesters outside are clearly not pleased by what they see. They
mistrust any representative of the old regime of Saddam Hussein. "If they dare
show their faces, we will rip them to pieces," said one man.
Others were milder in their judgment. "We need security now, but can't
somebody else do it?" asked Dr Aisha Al Safar, watching the demonstration.
Her son Sadq, an engineering student, disagreed. "This lawlessness has to
endàeven the old police is better than nothing, at least for now."
Some of the policemen see it as their duty to bring normalcy to Baghdad.
Former police general Mohammed Samir Mahmoud from Babylon district
outside Baghdad has returned to offer his services to the U.S. forces.
He was fired from his job in 1991 after the uprisings that followed the Gulf war.
"Now is my time to come back and help the people," he said.
Captain Joe Plezner, spokesman for the 1st Marines said he was well aware
of the mistrust with which people view the police. "There are some bad elements
among them," he acknowledged, "we will keep an eye on them."
Lawlessness is the biggest problem that Baghdad faces, and it could become
a direct threat to U.S. plans for Iraq. Lack of security is preventing restoration of
services, aid distribution and reopening of businesses.
Looting continues in the city. After government buildings, banks and
businesses, the looters' attention is now turning to homes. Local residents have
taken up arms and organised their own militias to protect their property.
"We used to be safe, we had water, electricity and telephone services," said
Tareq Ahmad, a mechanical engineer who used to work for Mercedes Benz,
and who lives in an upmarket neighbourhood. "Now we don't have any of those
things and I have to stand guard every night from eight o'clock in order to protect
my house and my family."
Baghdad used to be a relatively lively city in the Arab world, even up to the
war. Despite the difficult economic situation, many families would go out in the
evenings to restaurants, tea rooms and ice-cream parlours.
Now the city is pitch dark at night, except for the area around the Palestine
hotel and a few buildings where residents have generators. The shooting,
intermittent through the day, picks up after sunset to what sound like gunfights.
One U.S. soldier standing guard on an approach road to Baghdad said the
main roads were clear but inside the city "people are still going crazy." He
compared it to soccer violence. "If your team in Europe wins a cup, the whole
city also blows up," he said.
Apart from the Palestine hotel, the U.S. troops control only some facilities
around some of the former presidential palaces. A U.S. officer on duty by the
Republican Palace said his troops had been attacked with Rocket Propelled
Grenades (RPGs) over the past few days.
"We thought this is getting crazy, so we blew up a couple of hidden caches of
300 to 400 RPGs," he said. "Hopefully it will be more quiet now."
It is hardly surprising that many soldiers are still very nervous a week after they
moved into Baghdad. One officer screamed at his men as they let an Iraqi car
though their checkpoint. "Who the hell are these guys, what are they doing
here? Get them out," he shouted.
The Iraqi crunch around the Palestine hotel increases by the day. It is the only
place that functions and where people can make some money. They try to sell
their services to the press as translators and drivers and beg to use satellite
phones to call family abroad.
The growing crowds are becoming a bigger warning every day that if the U..S.
forces do not restore normalcy to Baghdad soon, they would have won the war
but lost the peace. (END/2003)
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