It is because nothing changed

---

What is happening in Iraq? Why has fighting renewed between the followers of the young Shia leader, Moqtada Al- Sadr, and US forces in Shia towns? Questions abound but the answers, whatever they may be, cannot justify the murder of dozens of innocent Iraqi people, the displacement of mothers and children, the destruction of infrastructure and the shortage of water, food and medical supplies.

The explanation for the renewal of conflict is not Iranian intervention, nor the secret visit Al-Sadr made to Iran ahead of the breakout of violence, as the US media keeps repeating. It is the continuation of US policies that seek to perpetuate the occupation and weaken any Iraqi government, even if loyal to the Americans.

Despite the appointment of an interim Iraqi government and the transfer of power to that government, scenes of US patrols in Iraqi streets and in the alleys of holy towns still persist. The multinational forces have not pulled out of towns. Their inhumane practices at the checkpoints, the mopping-up operations, and the violation of homes and holy places continue. The Iraqi citizen has not felt that things have changed, that security is better following the transfer of power. The Iraqis have lost hope that occupation will end, for they keep hearing US and UK officials reassuring the world that the occupation will last for a further two years or more.

In his recent book, The Point of Departure, former UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook tells the world what it knows: the current US administration is arrogant, does not learn from its mistakes and does not listen to its allies. But the unilateral policies of the current US administration are costly. Oil prices have shot up to a record high of $46 per barrel.

Iraq is shattered in every sense of the word. Once again, we have to repeat what we believe to be the way to resolve regional problems. The withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and of Israeli forces from Palestine, the Golan and South Lebanon, as well as the eradication of all weapons of mass destruction -- the real ones, not the fabricated ones -- would make a difference. It would reduce tensions and give the region a chance to focus on genuine development -- on projects that could avert humanitarian crises, such as the one unfolding in Darfur.