Death Squad Democracy
The notion that Iraq is now consumed by civil war depends on a number of assumptions that are inherently false. First of all, it assumes that Pentagon chieftains have lost sight of the fundamental principle which underscores all wars: "Know your enemy". In this case, there’s no doubt about who the enemy is; it is the 87% of the Iraqi people who want to see an immediate end to the American occupation. Therefore, the greatest threat to American objectives of permanent bases and occupation is the camaraderie that exists between Iraqis; in other words, Arab solidarity or Iraqi nationalism. To this end, the Pentagon, through its surrogates in the media, must create a "self-fulfilling" narrative that presumes that civil war is already under way. That means the media must constantly create the impression that the violence is generated from ethnic tensions and sectarian hatred...
[21711]
|
Uruknet on Alexa
>
:: Segnala Uruknet agli amici. Clicka qui.
:: Invite your friends to Uruknet. Click here.
:: Segnalaci un articolo
:: Tell us of an article
|
|
Death Squad Democracy
Mike Whitney
 |
Some of the 48 corpses found in a ditch at Nahrawan.
Photo: Paul McGeough
March 19, 2006
The notion that Iraq is now consumed by civil war depends on a number of assumptions that are inherently false. First of all, it assumes that Pentagon chieftains have lost sight of the fundamental principle which underscores all wars: "Know your enemy". In this case, there’s no doubt about who the enemy is; it is the 87% of the Iraqi people who want to see an immediate end to the American occupation. Therefore, the greatest threat to American objectives of permanent bases and occupation is the camaraderie that exists between Iraqis; in other words, Arab solidarity or Iraqi nationalism.
To this end, the Pentagon, through its surrogates in the media, must create a "self-fulfilling" narrative that presumes that civil war is already under way. That means the media must constantly create the impression that the violence is generated from ethnic tensions and sectarian hatred. Some keener observers have noted that all talk of the imaginary al Zarqawi has vanished from the newspapers as Pentagon spin-meisters are now devoting their attention to promoting their latest product-line; civil war.
In fact, if any of us were involved in the Pentagon’s "pacification" plans we might have drawn the very same conclusion. After all, the War Department is already overextended with no more troops available in the short term, so a plan had to be devised to divert attention from the occupation forces and get Iraqis to kill each other. The only reasonable alternative is to incite enough "sectarian violence" to make civil war inevitable. That, of course, is the task of the American trained death squads. (The New York Times has confirmed that the Interior Ministry death squads were trained by American forces)
For three years the Iraqi resistance has successfully put American troops on the defensive; gradually taking control of more area, destroying pipelines and oil facilities at will, discouraging enlistment in the Iraqi Security Forces, and undermining public support among Americans (63% of who now believe the war was "a mistake")
These are the goals of every guerilla movement; a gradual erosion of public support, deflating morale, surprise attacks, and eliciting greater support from the general population.
It is clear that this has been a winning strategy for the resistance, so it is doubtful that they would suddenly change direction and pursues an ethnic/religious war.
Question: Could it be that the independent militias are engaged in sectarian war without help from the greater resistance?
It could be, but it’s not likely. Again, the only one who benefits from civil war is the Pentagon; and the Pentagon has no other option except to follow a "divide and rule" strategy. They simply don’t have the resources or manpower for any other plan.
In a larger sense, the "alleged" sectarian violence is consistent with what we have seen in previous CIA-run operations in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Negroponte are alumna of those conflicts (which, according to Cheney, succeeded quite admirably) so it’s probable that they would apply what they have learned from their experience with counterinsurgency in Iraq. The El Salvador-experiment proved that the masses can eventually be terrorized into compliance.
Isn’t that what is taking place in Iraq?
In Iraq, terror is being used as a substitute for security, because the United States has no intention of providing the manpower or funding needed to maintain order.
Death Squad Democracy
Video footage of a massacre outside of Nahrwan, east of Baghdad, has appeared on the Internet showing the bodies of Shiite laborers who were allegedly killed by Sunni death squads. Journalist Paul McGeough was given the tapes and is planning to report on their content in the "Sydney Morning Herald". http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12376.htm In one incident, four adults were pulled from their vehicle and either shot or stabbed to death in front of a 5 year old boy whose father was one of the victims. When the townspeople came to investigate the scene, they discovered the bodies of 48 men and women who had been dumped in a ditch. The corpses showed the signs of having been "systematically murdered. Most were shot but some appear to have been stabbed and mutilated".
It is the "stabbed and mutilated" part that should interest us. After all, the intention of the Iraqi resistance is to gather greater support for their cause, not to alienate ordinary Iraqis through gratuitous acts of sadism. If, however, this was the work of the American-backed death squads, then the goal of "governing through terror" has been compellingly achieved.
Journalist McGeough sticks with the same mantra as the establishment-media to explain the tragedy: "The current round of tit-for-tat sectarian violence was sparked by the bombing of the Samarra mosque—a holy site for Shiites. In the immediate aftermath, there were reports of many killings and fears that Shiite reprisals could see the country descend into a civil war."
Isn’t this the official narrative?
The media insists that the destruction of the Golden-dome mosque was a "9-11-type event" which has caused an up-tick in the bloodshed. But, was it? Or was it merely part of a broader (covert) strategy to foment civil war?
There’s evidence that the plan to divert attention from the occupation forces is succeeding. In February the military reported less servicemen killed (31) than in any month in the last year.
Isn’t this the goal?
In Max Fuller’s seminal article "For Iraq, the 'Salvador Option’ becomes Reality" the author disproves the idea "that sectarianism is a sufficient explanation for the violence in Iraq". Instead, he locates it "structurally at the hands of the state as part of the ongoing economic subjugation of Iraq." http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/FUL506A.html
It is simply impossible to fully understand what is taking place in Iraq without reading Fuller’s well-documented article.
Fuller provides an overview of the Iraq conflict which contrasts with theories by either the Right or the Left:
"In Iraq the war comes in two phases. The first phase is complete: the destruction of the existing state, which did not comply with the interests of British and American capital. The second phase consists of building a new state tied to those interests and smashing every dissenting sector of society. Openly, this involves applying the same sort of economic shock therapy that has done so much damage in swathes of the Third World and Eastern Europe. Covertly, it means intimidating, kidnapping and murdering opposition voices."
Fuller provides copious evidence for his conclusions by citing open-source material such as newspapers:
"What we do know, however, is that hundreds of Iraqis are being murdered and that paramilitary hit squads of the proxy government organized by US trainers with a fulsome pedigree in state terrorism are increasingly being associated with them."
The objective of death squads is not to target one particular group or ethnicity, but to direct the violence outwards creating as much fear as possible with the ultimate aim of pacifying the population.
Fuller winds up his polemic with a summary statement that confirms the long and bloody history of colonial wars:
"The pattern is repeated time after time in every imperialist so-called counter-insurgency war; for behind each and every one lurks the reality of exploitation and class war, and, as successive imperialist powers have shown, the bottom line in combating the hopes and dreams of ordinary people is to resort to spreading terror through the application of extreme violence."
The secretary general of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Hareth al-Dhari, said it even more succinctly than Fuller; "This is state terrorism."
Courtesy and copyright © Mike Whitney
|
|
:: Article nr. 21711 sent on 20-mar-2006 00:11 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=21711
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website.
The section for the comments of our readers has been closed, because of many out-of-topics.
Now you can post your own comments into our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/uruknet
[ Printable version
] | [ Send it to a friend ]
[ Contatto/Contact ] | [ Home Page ] | [Tutte le notizie/All news ]
|
|
Uruknet on Twitter
::
RSS updated to 2.0
:: English
:: Italiano
::
Uruknet for your mobile phone:
www.uruknet.mobi
Uruknet on Facebook
The newsletter archive
:: All events
|
