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Bush
war down with the wall: Absence of
foresight |
Posted By George S.
Hishmeh
One wonders what possessed the Bush
administration to believe that the
best way to minimise the casualties in
the raging sectarian war in Iraq will
be in building high walls around the
rival Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods
in Baghdad.
Or, isn’t this a clear indication of
the continued absence of foresight at
the start of the fifth year of the
US-led military occupation.
One would think that those who have
come up with this bankrupt idea would
have reviewed recent history in the
Arab world, especially the prevailing
Arab attitude towards Israel’s
"apartheid wall" that has
led to a de facto usurpation of
additional Palestinian lands in the
West Bank, especially East Jerusalem.
Why these military planners did not
see the futility of similar walls
elsewhere in the world, or the
negative effects of these foreboding
structures as has been the case in
Belfast or Berlin, to cite a few
examples?
The US military is planning to build
similar walls, interestingly, under
cover of darkness, in at least 10 of
Baghdad’s most violent
neighbourhoods. They are also
introducing biometric technology to
keep track of the residents.
In a flippant manner, one uncouth
American officer compared these
"gated communities" to the
ones prevalent in some expensive
American neighbourhoods. These are
situated mainly in resort towns where
residents are absent a good part of
the year, far from the Iraqi example!
The Iraqi outcry, coming from the
public and the Prime Minister Nouri Al
Maliki, against this shortsighted
American plan merits an immediate
positive response from the White
House, which at present is facing a
serious challenge from Congress and a
not very encouraging assessment from
American generals in the field.
General David H. Petraeus, the top US
commander in Iraq, has conceded that
the "surge" in American
troops, now in its second month and
still not fully complete, has achieved
"modest progress".
The Washington Post, however, noted
that the American troops have also met
with "setbacks such as a rise in
devastating suicide bombings and other
problems that leave uncertain whether
his counterinsurgency strategy will
ultimately succeed".
General Petraeus said that on his
third tour in Iraq he has found the
Iraqi society to be "more
fearful, more suspicious, more
worried" and, the paper added,
more difficult to help.
Since the "surge" began in
February, reported the Guardian of
London, "Sunni and Al Qaida
insurgents have mounted at least 93
car bombings, killing or wounding more
than 4,000". It added that since
the start of the occupation in 2003,
there has been more than 1,050 deadly
car and truck bombings, resulting in
civilians death totaling close to
about 30,000.
Such statistics and other equally
discouraging news from Iraq has
contributed to the war of words now
evident in the American capital
between the senior members of the
Congress, now controlled by the
Democratic party which wants to set a
withdrawal date, and the White House
which this week saw Vice President
Dick Cheney, who apparently prefers to
stay in the background, enter the
fray.
He admitted that he was incensed by
the remarks of Senator Harry Reid, the
Senate Majority leader, who had
earlier maintained that the U.S. has
lost the war in Iraq.
There is no doubt that the sectarian
strife in Iraq will quiet down once
the factions are encouraged to work
out a reconciliation. Should the
Shiite-controlled Iraqi government
take serious steps in this respect it
will find that many of its neighbors
are willing to lend a helping hand.
Al Maliki may not have much time on
his hand since two conferences on Iraq
are due in the first week of May where
several issues including internal
reconciliation, constitutional
amendments to open the door for more
political participation by Sunnis, a
modest de-Beatification programme and
an equitable sharing of Iraq’s oil
wealth among the various provinces in
the country will be discussed - a tall
order, no doubt.
These issues that are converging on
the Iraqi government may be too
difficult for Baghdad to manage alone
- a situation that will require
international sympathy, understanding
and cooperation.
The Americans obviously will play a
leading role in the process and this
will require the Bush administration
to be more open minded and
accommodating to the American popular
demands for an early exit strategy.
Likewise, all eyes will be on the US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at
the upcoming Sharm Al Shaikh
conference since she no doubt is aware
of the Iraqi leaders’ visits to
various capitals in the region. Her
first goodwill step ought to be an
American willingness to demolish the
new walls.
* An Arab American columnist based
in Washington. |
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