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| Saddam Arrest Cheer Fades Into Iraqi Ire at U.S. |
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| gharib |
| 12/16/03 at 22:15:48 |
| [slm] From Reuters http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=BHNCHQOYR14CWCRBAE0CFEY?type=topNews&storyID=3991873 Saddam Arrest Cheer Fades Into Iraqi Ire at U.S. By Joseph Logan BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Joy at the capture of Saddam Hussein gave way to resentment toward Washington Monday as Iraqis confronted afresh the bloodshed, shortages and soaring prices of life under U.S. occupation. The morning after Iraq's U.S. governor revealed the ousted strongman was a disheveled prisoner, Iraqis flooded the streets to snatch up newspapers emblazoned with photos of the man who ruled them by fear, now humbled and captive. Many were ecstatic to see Saddam captured and hoped he would answer for his deeds but said they would not rush to thank America -- in their eyes the source of their problems since a U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam in April. ................. "It's great that he's caught, but it wasn't him who screwed up the petrol and the electricity and everything else so badly, so now a canister of gas that was 250 dinars costs 4,000, if you can get one," said Ghazi, a 52-year-old dentist, from his car as he queued with hundreds of other drivers waiting for petrol. "This is an oil country and it should be rich. It should not be Afghanistan." Other drivers echoed the complaints of chronic fuel shortages in a country with the world's second-largest oil reserves, as well as of their treatment at the hands of troops who have killed civilians while hunting suspected Saddam partisans or pursuing criminals with Iraqi police. "The Americans promised freedom and prosperity; what's this? Go up to their headquarters, at one of those checkpoints where they point their guns at you, and tell them that you hate them as much as Saddam, and see what they do to you," said Mohammad Saleh, 39, a building contractor. "The only difference is that Saddam would kill you in private, where the Americans will kill you in public," he said. .... |
| Re: Saddam Arrest Cheer Fades Into Iraqi Ire at U. |
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| gharib |
| 12/16/03 at 22:21:26 |
| On the same subject from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/iraq-d15.shtml US occupation authority suppresses study of Iraqi civilian casualties By Peter Symonds 15 December 2003 In a crude effort to cover up the extent of its crimes in Iraq, the US occupation authority has brought pressure to bear on the country’s health ministry officials to halt a count of civilians killed and injured during the US-led invasion in March and subsequently. Head of the ministry’s statistics department Dr Nagham Mohsen told the media last Wednesday that she had been summoned by the director of planning Dr Nazar Shabandar last month and told to stop a survey of hospitals aimed at tallying civilian casualties. He had also ordered her not to release any of the partial information that had been collected to date. Mohsen said Shabandar had been acting on behalf of Health Minister Dr Khodeir Abbas—a member of US-imposed puppet administration, the Iraqi Governing Council. “We stopped the collection of this information because our minister didn’t agree with it,” she said. “The CPA [the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority] doesn’t want this to be done.” ................ |
| Re: Saddam Arrest Cheer Fades Into Iraqi Ire at U. |
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| gharib |
| 12/17/03 at 10:22:00 |
| [slm] Some more Iraq news from; http://electroniciraq.net/news/1268.shtml Growing Fury and Unrest 16 December 2003 -- Hamudi sits slumped in a chair at the lobby of Funduk Agadir. Normally all smiles with loads of energy, his face is deeply troubled. He sits staring at the table before him. ..... Later we are watching some footage from demonstrations, and a funeral service in Al-Aahimiyah today. The funeral service was for an Iraqi killed, one of many, a few days ago by Americans. Last night the locals report [i]24 Iraqis killed for demonstrating[/i]. On BBC we watch footage of Americans gunning down Iraqis as they ran from the armor clad vehicles. Gunned down in the street as they tried to run away, red tracer bullets leaving laser-like trails as they flew past bodies falling upon the cement. This was told to be in Ramadi, by the BBC, then later the same footage was told to have occurred in Falluja. As usual, the truth is hard to come by, even here, unless it is witnessed personally -- or residents of an entire neighborhood or city are all telling the same story. ..... Do we need yet another reason for Iraqis who have been attacked by US soldiers to be enraged? Unfortunately, there are more. One being that the Americans sealed off the hospital in Al-Aadimiyah today after removing all the bodies of Iraqis killed last night in the fighting. The wounded were taken directly to prison. No journalists were allowed inside. I stand in utter disbelief in what the military from my country is doing before my very eyes here. ..... Hamudi gets up and leaves the room, tears in his eyes. "I have seen enough Iraqi blood. I do not want to watch any more of this." Hamudi is sad, frustrated, and deeply troubled. "This is the freedom? So these people are for Saddam. So what? He is gone now, let them demonstrate. They are being killed for this? This is what they call freedom for Iraqis?" Iraqis are being killed all over the country today for holding pro-Saddam demonstrations. I just watched footage taken by friends just returned from Tikrit-columns of tanks and hummers rolling down the streets. Endless processions of US soldiers roaming the streets. The psychological war is in full gear within the 'Sunni Triangle'. The attempt to intimidate is met by Iraqis who glare at them as they walk by. Reports are streaming in of Iraqis being killed in demonstrations in Samarra, Falluja, Tikrit, and around parts of Baghdad. Some of the demonstrations have turned violent, this being the reason for American force -- while most haven't until Americans opened fire first. ..... While most hope for change for a unified, peaceful, and democratic Iraq, the demonstrations continue. How the Americans deal with this time is critical. It is far too early to know, but for now it is business as usual with the American occupation of Iraq. The petrol squeeze is worse than ever today. The one Iraqi oil refinery in Baghdad is closed for refining black oil. There are countless Iraqi engineers begging to be allowed to open it and run it. But, this is not allowed by the CPA. The refinery remains closed, until American (or British) companies will open it. ..... This is another reason, along with the catastrophic state of daily life for most Iraqis, that unless the US changes its policy here immediately, we are only seeing the beginning of a resistance against the occupation. |
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