CPTnet
August 20, 2004

IRAQ: Exposing the Occupation in Najaf

By Peggy Gish

           Once more, US forces are battling with Muqtada Al-Sadr's Mehdi
Army. The U.S. and Multinational Forces in Iraq (MNF-I) appear to be winning
this round, but in doing so, may lose the trust and loyalty of the Iraqi
people and Muslims around the world.

Though many Iraqis already see the Interim Government as little more than a
U.S. front and extension of the occupation, they feel the need to give it a
chance. Do they betray their people and support the siege of the Shia holy
shrine in Najaf and the killing of their fellow Iraqis? Or do they refuse
to cooperate and risk being left out of shaping the new Iraq? Some
government officials have resigned in protest. Many Iraqi police and
soldiers in the MNF-I have left their posts and refused to fight.

The methods the MNF-I are using to deal with the Mehdi soldiers in Sadr City
and Najaf are disturbingly familiar to those of us in CPT, who have worked
in Iraq throughout the occupation. Once more, military forces are handling
acts of resistance with excessive force, in order to overpower the
opposition and determine Iraq's economic and political future.

          The behavior of the military in Najaf seems consistent with U.S.
soldiers patrolling city streets, pointing their guns at people along the
way. It is consistent with U.S. forces invading homes in the middle of the
night, beating, binding and hooding the men, breaking furniture, and taking
the family's life savings and gold jewelry.

We see again the collective punishment we have seen in previous months, when
we saw buildings bombed and whole neighborhoods or villages punished for the
violent acts of a few.

The issues involved are greater than U.S. troops taking the quicker,
"easier," or the more secure approach. Their operations have stemmed from
the underlying goals of the occupation. If building democracy and addressing
the needs of the people had been the real goal, they would have put more
effort into supporting local political and social movements that are
addressing problems of injustice. Instead, they marginalized leaders or
organizations that have publicly criticized the occupation and did little to
encourage real dialogue among divergent Iraqi voices. Immediately after the
invasion, U.S. officials instituted a system that continued feeding the
pockets of the rich international corporations, rather than granting jobs
and contracts to the Iraqi skilled and professional working force.

I wonder how many more villages and neighborhoods the MNF-I will encircle
and bomb to bring security in Iraq? How many other countries will the US
government invade to maintain control around the world? The problems with
excessive violence, injustice, and political and economic control of other
countries is that they don't really solve the underlying problems and lead
toward peace and democracy, but elicit more violence from those occupied.