Siah
20-02-05, 01:53
Rumsfeld's Terror Campaign
By Mike Whitney
Al-Jazeerah, February 19, 2005
The bombings that killed 31 people outside the Shia mosques in Iraq today
may be the handiwork of American covert operations (black-ops) under the
direction of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The Iraqi resistance does not engage in gratuitous acts of murder. These
acts only serve to alienate their base and weaken their moral authority. As
reported months ago in an Asia Times article, many of the leaders in the
insurgency have studied the works of Che Guevara who provided strong
guidelines for building public support for their cause. Insurgents must
count on the sympathies of the public to wage their guerilla war within the
protective confines of the community. Without broad public support it would
be impossible for them to conceal themselves. The resistance leadership has
faithfully followed Guevara’s injunctions. The bombings were not their work.
Conversely, the ultimate goals of the occupation are advanced by the
attacks.
The Pentagon Brass now realizes the magnitude of the insurgency and
has modified its strategy accordingly. (Notice Rumsfeld’s unwillingness to
speculate on the number of insurgents during testimony in front of Congress
this week) The terror attacks can be expected to continue until the nation
is split up into smaller more manageable pieces. This will simplify regional
control and ensure easier access to vital resources. We only need to refer
to the last few imperial projects (Haiti, Afghanistan, and Serbia) to
appreciate that this “balkanization” is the inevitable and preferred
response to the growing threat of Iraqi nationalism. In fact, the media’s
preoccupation with Islamic fundamentalism is little more than a diversion
that ignores the real danger of Iraqi unity. The only way to undermine this
solidarity is through a calculated terror-campaign that accentuates the
fault lines between the various sects and ethnicities. It’s a “divide and
conquer” strategy that normally succeeds, but there are reasons to think
that it may fail in Iraq. Pepe Escobar clarifies this point:
“Asia Times Online has been repeatedly told by sources in Baghdad close
to the Sunni Iraqi resistance, as well as by Shi'i sources in Najaf, that
the paramount response of both Sunni and Shi'i clerics to the wave of
"mysterious" car bombings in Iraq has been to call for no revenge. The
iron-clad certainty, on both sides, is that these have been perpetrated not
by "terrorists" as the US claims, but rather by Israeli black ops or Central
Intelligence Agency-connected American mercenaries, with the intent of
fueling sectarian tensions and advancing the prospect of civil war.”
Despite what Americans may believe, Iraqis know their enemy. By now
everyone has seen the infamous photographs from Abu Ghraib and they are
aware that the torture has continued unabated to this day. They have also
heard the many chilling stories emerging from Falluja where Rumsfeld
flattened a city of 250, 000 in revenge for the deaths of 4 mercenaries. The
Socialist Worker recorded the stories of Doctor Salam Ismael who just
returned from Falluja: “We heard accounts of families killed in their
houses, of wounded people dragged in the streets and run over by tanks, of a
container with the bodies of 481 civilians inside, of premeditated murder,
looting and acts of savagery and cruelty that beggar belief….We moved from
house to house, discovering families dead in their beds, or cut down in
living rooms or in the kitchen. House after house had furniture smashed and
possessions scattered…In most of the houses, the bodies were of civilians.
Many were dressed in housecoats, many of the women were not veiled-meaning
there were no men other than family members in the house. There were no
weapons, no spent cartridges. It became clear to us that we were witnessing
the aftermath of a massacre, the cold-blooded butchery of defenseless
civilians. Nobody knows how many died. The occupation forces are now
bulldozing the neighborhoods to cover their crime.”
Three months have passed since the Nov 8 siege of Falluja began, and
yet, not one camera crew has entered the city and been allowed in to examine
the extent of the devastation. (Compare this to the 500 news outlets are
covering the Michael Jackson trial) America’s free press operates entirely
according to Rumsfeld’s directives. Never the less, the stories of the
butchery and destruction have already circulated throughout the Arab world.
Falluja is Rumsfeld’s My Lai; an event so ghastly that historians will
certainly regard it as the turning-point in the Iraq war. The bloodbath has
galvanized the public in a way that cannot be fully measured, but will have
a profound bearing on the outcome of the conflict. Whatever opportunities
the administration may have had for victory were foreclosed after Falluja.
Now they are left with the one remaining option for which they have
demonstrated an insatiable appetite; terrorism.
By Mike Whitney
Al-Jazeerah, February 19, 2005
The bombings that killed 31 people outside the Shia mosques in Iraq today
may be the handiwork of American covert operations (black-ops) under the
direction of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The Iraqi resistance does not engage in gratuitous acts of murder. These
acts only serve to alienate their base and weaken their moral authority. As
reported months ago in an Asia Times article, many of the leaders in the
insurgency have studied the works of Che Guevara who provided strong
guidelines for building public support for their cause. Insurgents must
count on the sympathies of the public to wage their guerilla war within the
protective confines of the community. Without broad public support it would
be impossible for them to conceal themselves. The resistance leadership has
faithfully followed Guevara’s injunctions. The bombings were not their work.
Conversely, the ultimate goals of the occupation are advanced by the
attacks.
The Pentagon Brass now realizes the magnitude of the insurgency and
has modified its strategy accordingly. (Notice Rumsfeld’s unwillingness to
speculate on the number of insurgents during testimony in front of Congress
this week) The terror attacks can be expected to continue until the nation
is split up into smaller more manageable pieces. This will simplify regional
control and ensure easier access to vital resources. We only need to refer
to the last few imperial projects (Haiti, Afghanistan, and Serbia) to
appreciate that this “balkanization” is the inevitable and preferred
response to the growing threat of Iraqi nationalism. In fact, the media’s
preoccupation with Islamic fundamentalism is little more than a diversion
that ignores the real danger of Iraqi unity. The only way to undermine this
solidarity is through a calculated terror-campaign that accentuates the
fault lines between the various sects and ethnicities. It’s a “divide and
conquer” strategy that normally succeeds, but there are reasons to think
that it may fail in Iraq. Pepe Escobar clarifies this point:
“Asia Times Online has been repeatedly told by sources in Baghdad close
to the Sunni Iraqi resistance, as well as by Shi'i sources in Najaf, that
the paramount response of both Sunni and Shi'i clerics to the wave of
"mysterious" car bombings in Iraq has been to call for no revenge. The
iron-clad certainty, on both sides, is that these have been perpetrated not
by "terrorists" as the US claims, but rather by Israeli black ops or Central
Intelligence Agency-connected American mercenaries, with the intent of
fueling sectarian tensions and advancing the prospect of civil war.”
Despite what Americans may believe, Iraqis know their enemy. By now
everyone has seen the infamous photographs from Abu Ghraib and they are
aware that the torture has continued unabated to this day. They have also
heard the many chilling stories emerging from Falluja where Rumsfeld
flattened a city of 250, 000 in revenge for the deaths of 4 mercenaries. The
Socialist Worker recorded the stories of Doctor Salam Ismael who just
returned from Falluja: “We heard accounts of families killed in their
houses, of wounded people dragged in the streets and run over by tanks, of a
container with the bodies of 481 civilians inside, of premeditated murder,
looting and acts of savagery and cruelty that beggar belief….We moved from
house to house, discovering families dead in their beds, or cut down in
living rooms or in the kitchen. House after house had furniture smashed and
possessions scattered…In most of the houses, the bodies were of civilians.
Many were dressed in housecoats, many of the women were not veiled-meaning
there were no men other than family members in the house. There were no
weapons, no spent cartridges. It became clear to us that we were witnessing
the aftermath of a massacre, the cold-blooded butchery of defenseless
civilians. Nobody knows how many died. The occupation forces are now
bulldozing the neighborhoods to cover their crime.”
Three months have passed since the Nov 8 siege of Falluja began, and
yet, not one camera crew has entered the city and been allowed in to examine
the extent of the devastation. (Compare this to the 500 news outlets are
covering the Michael Jackson trial) America’s free press operates entirely
according to Rumsfeld’s directives. Never the less, the stories of the
butchery and destruction have already circulated throughout the Arab world.
Falluja is Rumsfeld’s My Lai; an event so ghastly that historians will
certainly regard it as the turning-point in the Iraq war. The bloodbath has
galvanized the public in a way that cannot be fully measured, but will have
a profound bearing on the outcome of the conflict. Whatever opportunities
the administration may have had for victory were foreclosed after Falluja.
Now they are left with the one remaining option for which they have
demonstrated an insatiable appetite; terrorism.