Carnage in Haifa Street

---

US authorities describe the fierce fighting in Haifa Street as "war," in clear admission of the extent of the ongoing carnage. The street, named after the famed city in Palestine, is a two-kilometre boulevard lined with modern apartments, most of which built in the 1980s. The street is only a few kilometres away from the Green Zone where the bulk of US military and administrative facilities, as well as the Iraqi government and most embassies, are located.

People who have been living in Iraq for generations, many of whom are Lebanese and Syrian, live in that street. For the past two years, they've had to deal with a spate of killings, abductions and threats in what amounts to a campaign of intimidation designed to get them out of the country.

In 2005, when Ibrahim Al-Jaafari was prime minister, Iraqi and US forces launched numerous offensives on that street, killing and detaining many Iraqis. In two months of ferocious clashes in Haifa Street, resistance fighters inflicted heavy casualties on Iraqi and US troops. In 2006, with Nouri Al-Maliki in office, Haifa Street became the scene of dozens of attacks. This time, the attacks were mounted by government-backed militia and by individuals who participated in the country's so-called "political process". Ruthless gangs abducted innocent people. Later on, bodies would appear on street corners, bearing signs of torture.

In the course of the so-called "Baghdad security plan", Iraqi and US forces have launched an offensive to gain control of this street. Dozens of aircraft and hundreds of armoured vehicles took part in the operation. A state of siege was declared in the area and snipers were deployed on rooftops, firing at anything that moved. Innocent inhabitants venturing out of their homes in search of food or water were shot at. This is the story of Haifa Street. It is a story of a war in which ordinary people and resistance fighters are fighting off occupation forces, regular Iraqi troops, and government-backed militia. It is a story of ineptitude, betrayal and shame. It is the story of the "new Iraq" imposed from Washington.