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IRAQ: Now the South Erupts
By Ali al-Fadhily*
BASRA, Apr 11, 2007 (IPS) - The eruption of demonstrations in the south of Iraq
this week could rob the occupation
forces of what was considered a critical bastion of support.
The southern areas of Iraq have long been said to be secure, and people
there peaceful
towards the occupation forces. Iraqis living in the south were also
believed to be
cooperative with the occupation to the extent that they supported
administrative steps
taken by successive Iraqi governments.
The majority of the population of the south are Shia Muslims, and Iraq has
had Shia-
dominated governments under the occupation.
But demonstrations against the occupation and the United States by
hundreds of
thousands of angry Shias in Najaf, Kut and other cities across the south
Apr. 9 mark a
sharp break from a policy of cooperation. Protesters demanded an end to
the U.S.-led
occupation, burnt U.S. flags and chanted "Death to America!"
Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Mayahi, a police commander in Najaf, told
reporters that at least
half a million people joined the demonstration there.
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told
reporters, "We say
that we're here to support democracy. We say that free speech and freedom
of assembly
are part of that. While we don't necessarily agree with the message, we
agree with their
right to say it."
Clashes after the demonstration left at least one U.S. soldier dead and
another wounded in
Diwaniyah, 180 km south of Baghdad.
"We have been patient and we have sacrificed a lot thinking the situation
would be better
one day soon," Hussein Ali, a teacher from Diwaniyah told IPS. "The result
we see now is
that we were dragged into a swamp of hatred between brothers, and that all
the
bloodshed was for the sake of war leaders to get more power and fortune."
Fighting is continuing in Diwaniyah between the occupation forces and the
Mehdi Army led
by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Additional U.S. and Iraqi troops have been
brought into the
city to make arrests and carry out door-to-door raids in search of illegal
weapons and
wanted militiamen.
Muqtada al-Sadr, quiet for a considerable period after clashing with U.S.
troops early on in
the occupation period, publicly called on his militia to attack occupation
troops.
So far this month, five occupation troops have been killed every day on
average, according
to U.S. Department of Defence figures.
The new Shia armed uprising, which appears to be in its early days, is a
further blow to
occupation forces that are already stretched thin.
"Four years of patience and what do we get?" Ali Hashim, a merchant from
the southern
city Basra told IPS. "We got nothing but the loss of our country to those
who spoke a lot
but did nothing. The United States failed us and sold us cheap to those
who would have no
mercy on us."
Mahmood al-Lamy, a historian from Basra told IPS the situation there was
critical.
"Basra is the biggest southern city and the only Iraqi city that has a
port near the Gulf. It is
now controlled by various militias who fight each other from time to time
over an oil
smuggling business that is flourishing under the occupation."
Lamy said residents fear that "the situation here will be a lot worse in
the coming months
due to disputes that are appearing between major parties."
Lamy was referring to the withdrawal last month of the al-Fadhila Party
from the Shia
Islamic Coalition Parliament Group, and the dismissal of two ministers
from the al-Sadr
movement as a punishment for contacting U.S. officials in Nasiriyah in
southern Iraq.
The Shia political group is increasingly divided over many issues, and it
seems unlikely
that it will hold together. But many of the groups are increasingly
opposed to the
occupation.
"We were late to realise that we were wrong about U.S. intentions," Salman
Yassen of the
Basra city municipality council told IPS. "We waited four years while U.S.
and Iraqi
authorities kept us busy fighting each other while they were setting the
plan of stealing
our oil and tearing our country apart so that their allies would feel
safe."
Four years of the occupation of Iraq have seen many changes in U.S.
strategies,
ambassadors and tactics, but the changes may be too little, too late.
"The delay in moving politically has cost Iraq, the U.S. and many other
countries a great
deal," former Iraqi police colonel Ahmed Jabbar told IPS in Baghdad. "The
least to be said is
that the world would have been better off without this occupation and the
catastrophic
security disturbance it has caused."
*(Ali, our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with
Dahr Jamail, our
U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the
region) (END)
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