Development Overseas:
A new stage in the Iraqi struggle

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When American troops captured former Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein in December 2003, the US was convinced Iraqi resistance would dwindle. Instead, the Iraqi armed struggle against the occupation has escalated.

Since April this year, the US-led occupying coalition has suffered the worst attacks by the militant Iraqi people. More than 80 US soldiers have been killed in Iraqi offensives this month, bringing to 700 the number of Americans killed since the US occupied the country in March 2003.

Growing patriotic solidarity. An armed uprising by Iraqi Shi�ites erupted on April 4.

The Arab Shi�ite majority were among the forces who readily expressed their opposition to the US invasion of Iraq. For some time, they called for the expulsion of the US forces and the dissolution of the puppet Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) through relatively peaceful marches and protest actions in Baghdad and other cities. Their organized resistance is led by the Shi�ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Sadr proclaimed an independent Iraqi government in October 2003 after American troops indiscriminately shot at a Shi�ite crowd, leaving two Iraqis dead. The last straw came on March 28 when the US ordered the closure of a newspaper controlled by Sadr�s group for its condemnation of the invaders. Five days later, Sadr called on his followers to launch armed assaults on the occupation forces.

Even before the Shi�ite uprising, various patriotic forces had been waging a widespread guerrilla movement in Iraq. They were mostly from the Arab Sunni ethnic-religious group which comprises around 20% of the population. The armed resistance now covers most of Iraq with the participation of the Shi�ites, who comprise over 60% of the Iraqi people.

Since the start of the occupation, the US has tried to accentuate differences between Shi�ites and the Sunnis to divide the Iraqi people and undermine their fighting capacity.

Instead, Iraqis are now forging a broader and stronger unity that sets aside ethnic and religious differences and signals a new stage in their struggle for national liberation. The erstwhile opposing Sunnis and Shi�ites now worship together in Iraqi mosques. In Fallujah and other predominantly Sunni cities, people welcome Sadr�s group and hail them as heroes.

The US has launched ruthless military operations in response to the growing Iraqi resistance. Amid such operations, even some officials of the IGC could no longer keep silent. �This is genocide!� reacted Ghazi Ajil al-Yawer, a member of the puppet council, to US actions in Fallujah last week that killed up to 450 Iraqis and injured around 1,000.

The US� actions also prompted the resignation of the IGC�s human rights minister and a member of its rotating presidency.

The US and the IGC could not trust even the puppet government�s military and police recruits who for several times have refused to fight fellow Iraqis. Last week, for instance, troops of the puppet Iraqi Armed Forces refused to join and support the US Marines in operations to quell the Shi�ite uprising.

US-led coalition shaken.The escalating Iraqi resistance is now upsetting the US-led coalition. In coalition member-countries, there is growing opposition to the war and calls for the pullout of their contingents in Iraq.

The resistance is made even more intense by the series of abductions by Iraqi forces of foreigners from coalition member countries. At least 15 foreigners are believed to be held by the Iraqis demanding the withdrawal of occupation forces in exchange for the release of the captives.

Coalition member-countries are now backing out from their commitments one after another. In the coming weeks, Kazakhstan�s troops are pulling out of Iraq. Spain started the process of withdrawing its contingent on April 19. Honduras and Nicaragua have likewise decided to pull out.

All the other governments supporting the US war on Iraq are under intense pressure from their people who oppose the occupation.

In any case, the occupying coalition is further being exposed for what it is�a paper tiger. If the US and its allies insist on staying longer in Iraq despite continuing losses in battle and vehment international and domestic protests and pressure, they will be mired in a worsening defensive position that will lead to certain defeat.

21 April 2004
English Edition

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