Falling into the abyss

 

By Jassem Murad

 

Azzaman, April 14, 2006

 

Iraq is now passing through a serious crisis and those paying the price are the Iraqi people and particularly the most vulnerable among them.

 

Organized killing operations normally target citizen in low-income and poor areas such as the Sadr City, Falluja, Kirkuk, Hilla, Nahrawan, Baghdad Jadida and other impoverished Iraqi districts.

 

What is surprising is the fact that while violence targeting impoverished Iraqis is surging, there has been a slump in attacks against the occupying forces.

 

For those closely monitoring the Iraqi situation the answer is clear. These bloody attacks targeting Iraqi civilians are meant to stoke sectarian strife and incite armed struggle among the different formations of the Iraqi society.

 

We are at the threshold of the third stage in the post-U.S. invasion. According to well-informed Iraqi observers, this stage will see the pro-U.S. disparate factions turn their guns on each other this time for the control of land and resources in a bid to undermine the country’s integrity.

 

Regional and international parties will have a bigger hand in this phase since no one in the region, including Iraqi militia-backed political parties, now fears the U.S.

 

The U.S., bogged down in its own Iraqi quagmire, seems powerless.

 

Therefore, there is nothing in store for Iraqis but more bloodshed as this horrific scenario unfolds. Signs of it being implemented are already there:

 

·          The ongoing attacks on Sunni families in Shiite areas and vice versa

·          The ongoing attacks against Christian families particularly in Baghdad, Mosul and Basra

·          The killing of more than 80 Iraqis every day

·          Storming houses at midnight and killing their occupants

·          The use of identity cards and names as indicative of ethnic or sectarian affiliation and then punishing or murdering those whose names point to an opposite sect or ethnic group

·          Dumping mutilated bodies on roadside and residential areas

·          Using human corpses as booby traps

 

Are not all these actions sufficient to signal that the Iraqi apocalypse is looming. And worse is the impunity the perpetrators enjoy.

 

That there is no justice to administer is evident. U.S. troops themselves are above law in Iraq. There is no authority in the country to hold them accountable for their actions, some of which are comparable to the above-mentioned signs of the Iraqi apocalypse.

 

And the government, mirroring the country’s sectarian and ethnic divisions, is also to blame.

 

Post-invasion Iraqi police, security and army do not owe their loyalty to the national flag but to their own factions.

 

It is not surprising therefore to hear of ‘squads of death’ roaming Iraqi streets at a time the Interior Ministry does not move a finger to stop them.

 

But the ministry has the means to mobilize enough forces to storm towns and cities it deems hostile.