[Cerchio] "We Keep Asking Ourselves Who's Next" : Fisk . FWD . M

Author: Maurizio / DJ M
Date:
Subject: [Cerchio] "We Keep Asking Ourselves Who's Next" : Fisk . FWD . M

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=20
++ Amazing Fisk! ++

Allora, come ce la caviamo con l'inglese?

M - www.melektro.com

"We Keep Asking Ourselves Who's Next" =20

by Robert Fisk =20

July 29, 2003=20
Baghdad. The convoys were humming down the highway from Amman to Baghdad =
all last week, trucks groaning under the weight of hundreds of tons of =
pre-stressed concrete, giant blocks and heaps of cement on the trailers, =
each one higher than the average lorry. I understood what they meant: =
protection from car bombs.

I had seen them so often in Beirut when the US Marines first came under =
fire in 1983. The "liberators" of Beirut were becoming the occupiers. =
Now the same is happening in Iraq. The "liberators" are turning into =
aggressive raiders, kicking down doors and screaming at disobedient =
Iraqis, shooting dead drivers who don't stop at their checkpoints.

When they kill the former Iraqi leadership, the sons of Saddam, they =
parade their cadavers before Arab television audiences, just like any =
other Middle East regime.

Welcome to the "New Iraq". The vast miles of concrete are to be placed =
around US bases in Iraq, protection from the car bombs which have yet to =
be used against them.

At Al-Ghoraib, northwest of Baghdad, the US base has an even more =
symbolic wall. Installed in a former Soviet armored personnel carrier =
factory, the Americans have assembled 30 Russian BMP armored vehicles - =
rust-covered but as sturdy as those which were once intended to plunge =
through the Fulda Gap - and used them to form a semi-circle of steel =
around the main gate.

Hiding behind this semi-circle is a US Bradley fighting vehicle, a =
single soldier in the turret. An American has painted "No Entry" on one =
of the Russian vehicles. Thus does the ghost of the Warsaw Pact now =
protect the world's only superpower from those it supposedly =
"liberated".

Into all this exploded the villa on the Mosul road, devastated by the =
101st Airborne's TOW missiles and Kiowa helicopter rockets last Tuesday. =
"Gotcha", as we said about the Belgrano. Within hours, Uday and Qusay =
Hussein's corpses were the center of a macabre television show. The =
American authorities - so morally upright when they wish to castigate =
journalists for publishing photographs of "coalition" dead - became =
purveyors of low-class pornography. Uday with blood on his face. Qusay =
still bearded (and thus unrecognizable to the great Iraqi masses).

No problem. An American military mortician washes the blood off Uday's =
face and stitches up his nose and mouth - inconveniently entered by a =
bullet that is later described as "a blow to the head" - while Qusay, =
with two bullets behind an ear, is given the best shave of any tonsorial =
artist to make him look more like the original product. And the Iraqis - =
wait for it - are therefore supposed to be persuaded that the New Iraq =
is just around the corner. The Baathists are gone. Only Saddam is left.

Everyone, of course, tells us that this is the "turning point", or to =
use the favorite new term, the "tipping point". It's "a great day for =
the New Iraq", according to Tony Blair. It's "a landmark day for the =
people and the future of Iraq", according to US commander Ricardo =
Sanchez.

"Every day," he announced last week, "we get closer to a stable =
environment." Every day, his army defeats what he calls the =
"non-compliant forces", helping to break the "vicious, dictatorial grip" =
of Saddam Hussein on the Iraqi people. Only Saddam's "remnants" stand =
between Iraq and the bright future we have ordained for it.

There is no talk of the growing mass of Sunni Islamists joining the =
resistance to the Americans - men who had no love for the ghastly Saddam =
- nor of the increasingly brutal raids by American troops around Mosul =
and Tikrit and Falluja.

Gen. Sanchez now brazenly talks about the "rot" in central authority =
created by decades of Saddam's misrule, because Iraqi ministries were =
not up and running when the Americans arrived. Erased are the 158 =
government offices looted and burned under the eyes of US occupation =
troops in April.

Yet everywhere are signs of collapse. America's tanks and armor protect =
Baghdad's banks - but only from behind barbed wire and "gabions" of =
steel and stone. US soldiers patrol the streets of Baghdad =
Israeli-style, one vehicle in front with a heavy machine gun trained on =
the road, one vehicle behind with a heavy machine gun to prevent anyone =
approaching at speed.

Lesson=20

No. 1: Slow down and let the convoy pass.

No. 2: Don't get entangled in an American convoy because the new =
roadside bombs usually explode between the fifth and sixth vehicles. =
Civilian drivers have no immunity.

Every Iraqi police station is piled high with sandbags and barbed wire, =
American soldiers peering through the loopholes and over palisades. For =
this is not an army of liberation but an army of occupation, already =
deeply mired in a wilderness of ideology dreamt up by the sinister =
friends of the US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld - those who would =
"liberate" Iraq and create democracy as America changed the map of the =
Middle East, and help Israel into the bargain. In the sweltering heat of =
Baghdad, American soldiers are ready to elicit sympathy. "All I want to =
do is go home," a Third Infantry Division man lamented to me last week =
when his patrol stopped to buy juice at a shop near Hourriya Square. "I =
never thought when I came here that this would happen. I tell my wife =
I'm OK, but we all ask ourselves 'Who's next?'" Indeed. Two months ago, =
one American soldier died a week. Three weeks ago, it was one a day. Now =
it's often two or three a day.

Sniper fire has changed to rocket-propelled grenade fire, which has =
turned into grenade and rifle fire, which has, in turn, changed to more =
and more sophisticated land-mines - mortars strung together and buried =
in the central reservation of the two-lane motorways that are America's =
main military supply routes across Iraq. Paul Bremer's Coalition =
Provisional Authority (CPA) - a name which just reeks of apologies for =
its own existence - issues edicts like a Roman emperor with the Goths, =
Visigoths and Ostrogoths at the gates of the capital. Tons of razor wire =
now surround the marble Saddamite palace from which Bremer's whiz kids =
and anti-terror advisers try to govern Iraq. The coalition - essentially =
America and its British ally during the war - seems less and less =
provisional and equally less an authority as the weeks go by.

The Interim Council - the parallels between "provisional" and "interim" =
are ever more painful - has earned no points. Its 25 members, all =
representing a dutiful balance between Iraq's Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish and =
secular population (one cannot but be reminded of all those intensely =
fair power-sharing governments in Cyprus and Northern Ireland), is =
already the subject of the deepest cynicism. Its first act - at the =
behest of the Pentagon's Shiite acolyte Ahmed Chalabi was to declare a =
national holiday for April 9, marking the downfall of Saddam Hussein. Or =
at least, that is how it looked in the West. For Iraqis, their first new =
national holiday marked the first day of foreign occupation of their =
land.

In the days before the March-April war, the Baathists claimed that one =
of the first acts of American occupiers would be the installation of an =
Israeli embassy in Baghdad. Now Adnan Pachachi, a former Sunni foreign =
minister on the council, has met the former Israeli Foreign Minister =
Shimon Peres in Rome, who asked for - you guessed it - an Israeli =
embassy in Baghdad. Pachachi dutifully said that this would have to be =
preceded by an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories occupied =
during the 1967 war - essentially compliance with UN Resolution 242 - =
though perhaps he did not realize that Israel does not have to abide by =
UN resolutions in the same way as Iraq was supposed to. But the =
discourse about an embassy has begun. Many Iraqis now predict increasing =
American support for Pachachi as well as for Chalabi. On to all this is =
grafted the illusion of global stability. The Poles are here, and the =
Japanese are coming. Ruud Lubbers, the UN High Commissioner for =
Refugees, turns up in Baghdad to announce that tens of thousands of =
Iraqi refugees will return next year. There are 204,000 Iraqis in Iran, =
300,000 in Jordan, 22,200 in Saudi Arabia, up to 72,000 in Syria, 50,900 =
in Germany (not to mention 20,000 asylum-seekers) and 38,500 in the =
Netherlands. But is it safe to come back to Iraq, someone asks? "Well, =
we are here," he smilingly replies.

But even as he leaves his press conference last week, the UN radios =
crackle with static and fear. A convoy has been attacked on the Hilla =
Road, with one UN Iraqi employee killed. Hours later, a US colonel tells =
journalists this only proves how "low" Saddam's "remnants" have become.

In the conference hall that now serves as the press centre for the =
occupation authorities in Baghdad, sets of handouts are laid carefully =
on a table for journalists to peruse. They lurch from good news to bad.

"Al-Saydia Public Health Clinic Grand Opening" says one. "Soldier Killed =
in Explosion" says the next. "Iran National Vaccination Day for =
Children" says a third, just an inch from another flyer recording the =
killing of two more US troops. "4th Infantry Division Successful in =
Operation Ivy Serpent" announces another report from the "CJTF-7 =
Coalition Press Information Center". Only fatal attacks on US troops are =
recorded nowadays. Other ambushes, on the men and women of the =
occupation authorities, simply do not exist.

And the reality? Yes, there are good men and true trying to help Iraqis. =
There are NGOs aplenty, and universities have all reopened, and Iraqis =
with outdated passports will be welcomed back to Iraq, and 9,000 young =
Iraqi men have offered to join the new army - how scrupulous, one asks =
oneself, will their screening be - and now there's even talk of an Iraqi =
"militia" as well as an army. Anything - anything - to stop the attacks =
on US troops. There's an election coming in the States and Blair needs =
help, too. Let's get this thing wrapped up.

What was it Paul Wolfowitz, one of Rumsfeld's pro-Israeli advisers who =
pushed for war in Iraq, said last week? "Some of our assumptions turned =
out to be wrong." Quite so.

Robert Fisk is an award winning foreign correspondent for The =
Independent (UK), where this article first appeared. He is the author of =
Pity Thy Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon (The Nation Books, 2002 =
edition). Posted with author's permission.

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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>++ Amazing Fisk! ++</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Allora, come ce la caviamo con=20
l'inglese?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>M - www.melektro.com</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
"We=20
Keep Asking Ourselves Who=92s Next"  <?xml:namespace =
prefix =3D o=20
/><o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">by =
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Robert=20
Fisk   <o:p></o:p>
<H1 align=3Dcenter><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 16pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">July 29,=20
2003=20
</H1>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: red">B<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">aghdad. The =
convoys=20
were humming down the highway from Amman to Baghdad all last week, =
trucks=20
groaning under the weight of hundreds of tons of pre-stressed concrete, =
giant=20
blocks and heaps of cement on the trailers, each one higher than the =
average=20
lorry. I understood what they meant: protection from car=20
bombs.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I had seen =
them so=20
often in Beirut when the US Marines first came under fire in 1983. The=20
=93liberators=94 of Beirut were becoming the occupiers. Now the same is =
happening in=20
Iraq. The =93liberators=94 are turning into aggressive raiders, kicking =
down doors=20
and screaming at disobedient Iraqis, shooting dead drivers who don=92t =
stop at=20
their checkpoints.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">When they =
kill the=20
former Iraqi leadership, the sons of Saddam, they parade their cadavers =
before=20
Arab television audiences, just like any other Middle East=20
regime.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Welcome to =
the =93New=20
Iraq=94. The vast miles of concrete are to be placed around US bases in =
Iraq,=20
protection from the car bombs which have yet to be used against=20
them.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">At =
Al-Ghoraib,=20
northwest of Baghdad, the US base has an even more symbolic wall. =
Installed in a=20
former Soviet armored personnel carrier factory, the Americans have =
assembled 30=20
Russian BMP armored vehicles =97 rust-covered but as sturdy as those =
which were=20
once intended to plunge through the Fulda Gap =97 and used them to form =
a=20
semi-circle of steel around the main gate.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hiding =
behind this=20
semi-circle is a US Bradley fighting vehicle, a single soldier in the =
turret. An=20
American has painted =93No Entry=94 on one of the Russian vehicles. Thus =
does the=20
ghost of the Warsaw Pact now protect the world=92s only superpower from =
those it=20
supposedly =93liberated=94.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Into all =
this exploded=20
the villa on the Mosul road, devastated by the 101st Airborne=92s TOW =
missiles and=20
Kiowa helicopter rockets last Tuesday. =93Gotcha=94, as we said about =
the Belgrano.=20
Within hours, Uday and Qusay Hussein=92s corpses were the center of a =
macabre=20
television show. The American authorities =97 so morally upright when =
they wish to=20
castigate journalists for publishing photographs of =93coalition=94 dead =
=97 became=20
purveyors of low-class pornography. Uday with blood on his face. Qusay =
still=20
bearded (and thus unrecognizable to the great Iraqi=20
masses).<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">No problem. =
An=20
American military mortician washes the blood off Uday=92s face and =
stitches up his=20
nose and mouth =97 inconveniently entered by a bullet that is later =
described as=20
=93a blow to the head=94 =97 while Qusay, with two bullets behind an =
ear, is given the=20
best shave of any tonsorial artist to make him look more like the =
original=20
product. And the Iraqis =97 wait for it =97 are therefore supposed to be =
persuaded=20
that the New Iraq is just around the corner. The Baathists are gone. =
Only Saddam=20
is left.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Everyone, of =
course,=20
tells us that this is the =93turning point=94, or to use the favorite =
new term, the=20
=93tipping point=94. It=92s =93a great day for the New Iraq=94, =
according to Tony Blair.=20
It=92s =93a landmark day for the people and the future of Iraq=94, =
according to US=20
commander Ricardo Sanchez.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">=93Every =
day,=94 he=20
announced last week, =93we get closer to a stable environment.=94 Every =
day, his=20
army defeats what he calls the =93non-compliant forces=94, helping to =
break the=20
=93vicious, dictatorial grip=94 of Saddam Hussein on the Iraqi people. =
Only Saddam=92s=20
=93remnants=94 stand between Iraq and the bright future we have ordained =
for=20
it.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">There is no =
talk of=20
the growing mass of Sunni Islamists joining the resistance to the =
Americans =97=20
men who had no love for the ghastly Saddam =97 nor of the increasingly =
brutal=20
raids by American troops around Mosul and Tikrit and=20
Falluja.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Gen. Sanchez =
now=20
brazenly talks about the =93rot=94 in central authority created by =
decades of=20
Saddam=92s misrule, because Iraqi ministries were not up and running =
when the=20
Americans arrived. Erased are the 158 government offices looted and =
burned under=20
the eyes of US occupation troops in April.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Yet =
everywhere are=20
signs of collapse. America=92s tanks and armor protect Baghdad=92s banks =
=97 but only=20
from behind barbed wire and =93gabions=94 of steel and stone. US =
soldiers patrol the=20
streets of Baghdad Israeli-style, one vehicle in front with a heavy =
machine gun=20
trained on the road, one vehicle behind with a heavy machine gun to =
prevent=20
anyone approaching at speed.<o:p></o:p>
 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Lesson =

<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">No. 1: Slow =
down and=20
let the convoy pass.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">No. 2: =
Don=92t get=20
entangled in an American convoy because the new roadside bombs usually =
explode=20
between the fifth and sixth vehicles. Civilian drivers have no=20
immunity.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Every Iraqi =
police=20
station is piled high with sandbags and barbed wire, American soldiers =
peering=20
through the loopholes and over palisades. For this is not an army of =
liberation=20
but an army of occupation, already deeply mired in a wilderness of =
ideology=20
dreamt up by the sinister friends of the US Secretary of Defense Donald =
Rumsfeld=20
=97 those who would =93liberate=94 Iraq and create democracy as America =
changed the=20
map of the Middle East, and help Israel into the bargain. In the =
sweltering heat=20
of Baghdad, American soldiers are ready to elicit sympathy. =93All I =
want to do is=20
go home,=94 a Third Infantry Division man lamented to me last week when =
his patrol=20
stopped to buy juice at a shop near Hourriya Square. =93I never thought =
when I=20
came here that this would happen. I tell my wife I=92m OK, but we all =
ask=20
ourselves =91Who=92s next?=92=94 Indeed. Two months ago, one American =
soldier died a=20
week. Three weeks ago, it was one a day. Now it=92s often two or three a =

day.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Sniper fire =
has=20
changed to rocket-propelled grenade fire, which has turned into grenade =
and=20
rifle fire, which has, in turn, changed to more and more sophisticated=20
land-mines =97 mortars strung together and buried in the central =
reservation of=20
the two-lane motorways that are America=92s main military supply routes =
across=20
Iraq. Paul Bremer=92s Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) =97 a name =
which just=20
reeks of apologies for its own existence =97 issues edicts like a Roman =
emperor=20
with the Goths, Visigoths and Ostrogoths at the gates of the capital. =
Tons of=20
razor wire now surround the marble Saddamite palace from which =
Bremer=92s whiz=20
kids and anti-terror advisers try to govern Iraq. The coalition =97 =
essentially=20
America and its British ally during the war =97 seems less and less =
provisional=20
and equally less an authority as the weeks go by.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The Interim =
Council =97=20
the parallels between =93provisional=94 and =93interim=94 are ever more =
painful =97 has=20
earned no points. Its 25 members, all representing a dutiful balance =
between=20
Iraq=92s Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish and secular population (one cannot but =
be reminded=20
of all those intensely fair power-sharing governments in Cyprus and =
Northern=20
Ireland), is already the subject of the deepest cynicism. Its first act =
=97 at the=20
behest of the Pentagon=92s Shiite acolyte Ahmed Chalabi was to declare a =
national=20
holiday for April 9, marking the downfall of Saddam Hussein. Or at =
least, that=20
is how it looked in the West. For Iraqis, their first new national =
holiday=20
marked the first day of foreign occupation of their =
land.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In the days =
before the=20
March-April war, the Baathists claimed that one of the first acts of =
American=20
occupiers would be the installation of an Israeli embassy in Baghdad. =
Now Adnan=20
Pachachi, a former Sunni foreign minister on the council, has met the =
former=20
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Rome, who asked for =97 you =
guessed it =97=20
an Israeli embassy in Baghdad. Pachachi dutifully said that this would =
have to=20
be preceded by an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories =
occupied=20
during the 1967 war =97 essentially compliance with UN Resolution 242 =
=97 though=20
perhaps he did not realize that Israel does not have to abide by UN =
resolutions=20
in the same way as Iraq was supposed to. But the discourse about an =
embassy has=20
begun. Many Iraqis now predict increasing American support for Pachachi =
as well=20
as for Chalabi. On to all this is grafted the illusion of global =
stability. The=20
Poles are here, and the Japanese are coming. Ruud Lubbers, the UN High=20
Commissioner for Refugees, turns up in Baghdad to announce that tens of=20
thousands of Iraqi refugees will return next year. There are 204,000 =
Iraqis in=20
Iran, 300,000 in Jordan, 22,200 in Saudi Arabia, up to 72,000 in Syria, =
50,900=20
in Germany (not to mention 20,000 asylum-seekers) and 38,500 in the =
Netherlands.=20
But is it safe to come back to Iraq, someone asks? =93Well, we are =
here,=94 he=20
smilingly replies.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">But even as =
he leaves=20
his press conference last week, the UN radios crackle with static and =
fear. A=20
convoy has been attacked on the Hilla Road, with one UN Iraqi employee =
killed.=20
Hours later, a US colonel tells journalists this only proves how =
=93low=94 Saddam=92s=20
=93remnants=94 have become.<o:p></o:p>
 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In the =
conference hall=20
that now serves as the press centre for the occupation authorities in =
Baghdad,=20
sets of handouts are laid carefully on a table for journalists to =
peruse. They=20
lurch from good news to bad.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">=93Al-Saydia =
Public=20
Health Clinic Grand Opening=94 says one. =93Soldier Killed in =
Explosion=94 says the=20
next. =93Iran National Vaccination Day for Children=94 says a third, =
just an inch=20
from another flyer recording the killing of two more US troops. =934th =
Infantry=20
Division Successful in Operation Ivy Serpent=94 announces another report =
from the=20
=93CJTF-7 Coalition Press Information Center=94. Only fatal attacks on =
US troops are=20
recorded nowadays. Other ambushes, on the men and women of the =
occupation=20
authorities, simply do not exist.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">And the =
reality? Yes,=20
there are good men and true trying to help Iraqis. There are NGOs =
aplenty, and=20
universities have all reopened, and Iraqis with outdated passports will =
be=20
welcomed back to Iraq, and 9,000 young Iraqi men have offered to join =
the new=20
army =97 how scrupulous, one asks oneself, will their screening be =97 =
and now=20
there=92s even talk of an Iraqi =93militia=94 as well as an army. =
Anything =97 anything=20
=97 to stop the attacks on US troops. There=92s an election coming in =
the States and=20
Blair needs help, too. Let=92s get this thing wrapped =
up.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">What was it =
Paul=20
Wolfowitz, one of Rumsfeld=92s pro-Israeli advisers who pushed for war =
in Iraq,=20
said last week? =93Some of our assumptions turned out to be wrong.=94 =
Quite=20
so.<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial"><o:p></o:p> 
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: red">Robert Fisk<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13pt"> is an award winning foreign correspondent for =
<A=20
href=3D"http://www.independent.co.uk/">The Independent</A> (UK), where =
this=20
article first appeared. He is the author of Pity Thy Nation: The =
Abduction of=20
Lebanon (The Nation Books, 2002 edition). Posted with author=92s=20
permission.</BODY></HTML>

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