Iraq: Building a new society?

Only a few weeks ago the bourgeois newspapers bombed us with their great expectations in Iraq, presumably on its way to “freedom and democracy”. This supposedly objective analysis was based of course on US State department information (only communists make propaganda, the capitalists produce information). However, it was much better to read the imperialist self-delusions and lies directly in the site of the Bureau of Public Affairs, at least it was the original. This source published for example the following “prediction” on October 18, 2004 under the title Iraq: Building a New Society.

It says:

“Like every nation that has made the journey to democracy, Iraqis will raise up a government that reflects their own culture and values. Iraqis will write their own history, and find their own way.
- President George W. Bush

“Iraqis, with help from the Coalition and many partners, are rebuilding their country and offering freedom, new opportunities and much needed services to their people. Security problems remain a major challenge for the Iraqi people and for development in various parts of the country. Nevertheless, real progress has been made in many key areas.”

According to their predictions the Interim Government that was announced on June 4 would convene and select an Interim National Council on August 15. This would be followed by national elections for a permanent government in January 2005. But to win the election the Government has to smash the growing opposition, and it is finding this task to be a formidable mission.

Yesterday, barely more than four months after he was elected by the U.S.-British occupiers, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced a state of emergency for 60 days, in a desperate attempt to put down an insurgency. The interim government has a very small base of support in Iraq. As a matter of fact until very recently Allawai, a former member of Saddam’s Baath Party who left for Britain in 1971, was much more known in the British and Jordanian intelligence circles than in Iraq itself.

Since he became Prime Minister, Allawi has tried to raise his own security apparatus made of Iraqi mercenaries and Saddam’s former officers to replace the 160,000 U.S.-led troops in Iraq.

However, this government that announced that it had lost its patience with Fallujah, where it faces a growing opposition, is also losing its new army. On Saturday seventeen policemen were killed. This was followed by the killing of 23 people, most of them policemen, in the western province of Anbar for the second day in a row.

In Haditha, 200km northwest of Baghdad, fighters with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars attacked a police station at dawn on Sunday. After a 90-minute battle in which six policemen were wounded, the attackers took 21 captured policemen to the K-3 oil-pumping station area and shot them dead.

In nearby Haqlaniya, Brigadier Shaher al-Jughaifi, security chief in western Iraq, died in an attack on a police post. Fighters killed another Iraqi police officer and wounded one in the town of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, police said.

“A large number of guerrillas, estimated at about 200, ambushed the main police station in Haditha and another smaller one in Haqlaniya,” an officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “The attackers disarmed the police, gathered them together and then shot them dead,” he said.

Policemen found their colleagues with their hands tied behind their backs, while the attackers made off with their weapons and about 15 vehicles. Seen as collaborating with the US-led military, Iraq’s fledgling security forces are a top target for groups fighting to drive out foreign forces.

In retaliation US warplanes and artillery pounded parts of Fallujah on Sunday. At least 12,000 troops, including four US military brigades and one Iraqi forces brigade, are ringing the city, a marine officer told AFP.

Now Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has given a final go-ahead, which means that he will lose support in the elections. Had he not acted he would have lost support due to the daring actions of the guerrillas.

Iraq is as far away from freedom as any place under imperialist occupation can be. To keep it the re-elected President of the US will send more troops against many other cities in Iraq. It is only a question of time before the US will leave the region with its tail between the legs. This will change the entire situation of the Middle East. It will bring real hope to the hearts and minds of the people in the region who will say the US can be defeated and so can its local servants.