In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
THE
INSURGENCY IN IRAQ
– HOW LONG?
[Shamim A Siddiqi, New York]
The unfortunate Iraq is bleeding fast. The Nero of the modern age sitting in the
Whitehouse is singing on his flute and his “empire” [Baghdad] is burning. Its sons and daughters
are dying like “cats and dogs” on its streets. No body, in spite of tall talks,
is caring for its dismantled infrastructure. No drinking water, no light and no
sanitation are yet available to its teaming millions whereas billions of
dollars are going down the drain every day in the name of “development” and
fighting insurgency in Iraq.
No peace, no security is in sight. Unemployment is rampant all around at an
accelerated pace. The occupation cost of Iraq
and Afghanistan
has now reached to 300 billions but the end is no where in sight. How long the
people of the USA
will pay the price of the extremely foolish action of a President whose only
concern is to make “the rich richer” and serve the interest of Corporate America. He is pursuing that cause “blindly” and busy
day in and day out in persuading the people to transfer their savings for
future to stocks, a “gain-place” for the rich to get richer and an ever loosing
ground for the low-income investors. He is befooling the people both at home
and abroad.
In spite of these enormous
sacrifices of men and material within the country and at the “front”,
insurgency in Iraq
is on increase. Suicidal bomb attacks are frequent. Road side targeting on the
military convoys are common and are regular targets of insurgency. Government
offices, recruiting areas and religious places like mosques are being hit by
suicidal attacks. Iraqi Shiia Muslims are currently paying a big price for
their love for democratic process in the country and for the future that is
still obscured. On the other hand the insurgency is becoming more and more
sophisticated. The situation warrants going deep into the issue and finding out
why there is no success in sight. Let us examine the “blunders” that have so
far been committed by the occupying forces and why they are not learning any
lesson from their past or from the history of insurgency elsewhere in the world
both of the past and the currents in Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
Insurgency survives on the
support of the people of the land. They hit the targets and then conceal or
hide themselves as common people living within the country or the region where
it occurs. If the people of the land are dissatisfied or discontented, it
becomes the breeding ground for the insurgents. It is, therefore, essential
that this common man’s support must be denied. It would be possible only when
the democratic process is properly established by their people and for their
benefit. Equally, insurgency will be marginalized when the people would feel
contented, their common daily needs are fulfilled and the basic necessities of
life are available without any risk of life and property. Occupied forces could
not deliver any of these legitimate demands of the Iraqi people. So they have
no choice but to side with rebels and provide them safe estuaries where a
“foreign” government or its puppet regime cannot reach.
The prime most objective of the USA should and
must be to deliver at least the minimum amenities of life to Iraqi people right
through Iraqis and not through foreign or American contractors who are taken as
“enemies” and thus are being targeted every now and then. The local indigenous
contractors who know the local situation and the miscreants too can and will
manage the situation more efficiently and deliver the requisite goods and
services within the shortest possible time. The completing of the jobs that
American contractors will take years, the locals will finish them within
months. The deliverance of goods and services at an accelerated pace will
immediately curb the insurgency, enabling the USA to prepare for their way back
home. Will the corporate-oriented management of Bush administration listen to
this simple device and get rid of the insurgency to a great extent? The agenda
of exploiting the oil-rich resources of Iraq
by the Corporate America must be abandoned forthwith by the USA, if it is at all interested to get the issue
of insurgency resolved in right earnest, failing which both Iraq and America will pay a big price in
gradual process
However, the total end of
insurgency in Iraq depends
how the USA handles the
burning issues of Palestine, Kashmir,
Syria, Iran, Pakistan,
Chechnya, Central Asia, Sri Lanka and the entire region of Middle East
and North Africa. America
mishandled each of them, supported the despotic undemocratic rulers, and
unwisely became party to different hegemonies being promoted by Moscow, Delhi, China, and Sharon
against the common people of these lands. They are suffering like a “hell” and
assertively pointing towards the USA for their age old sufferings.
The USA
has turned a deaf ear to their grievances. So they have no choice but to “rush”
to Iraq
to take their “revenge” by offering their skeleton “jobless” bodies to be
“used” as “bombs” or “missiles.” The
stubborn attitude of Dr. Rice is aggravating the situation further and she has
no idea what seeds of hatred she is sowing all over the world against Uncle Sam
So, it would be in the interest
of the USA
to change its foreign policy and strategies and make it everywhere pro-people
and fight for the restoration of a genuine democratic process and human rights.
It would have a far reaching effect not only in Iraq
in sub-siding the insurgency but will go a long way in improving the image of
the USA
abroad as the champions of human rights. The counteracting of the insurgency in
Iraq
is conditional and mostly depends on how far the Whitehouse and Pentagon are
ready to forego the vested interest of the Corporate America. If not, the
insurgency will continue in Iraq
and Afghanistan
one way or the other for long and for an indefinite period.
Shamim A Siddiqi
April 24, 2005