Mercenaries in Iraq
To prevent their military victory turning into a political defeat occupying US- British troops in Iraq must now follow the path they earlier, and at enormous costs, rejected. They must restore the legitimacy of the United Nations by handing over control of the situation in Iraq to the international body. The role of the occupying powers should not extend beyond providing material and logistic support to UN troops, which could then work towards restoring security and order, as well as preparing the Iraqi people to run their own affairs through the formation of a national Iraqi government.
At the outset the Americans had assumed -- and we all see, now, how erroneously -- that a preemptive strike against the Iraqi regime would lead to a quick peace without encountering many problems. Sentiments of gratitude by the Iraqi people for ridding them of a despotic regime, the argument went, would facilitate the work of the occupying forces in governing Iraq with minimal difficulty. The US would then be free to pursue all its goals in the region, changing what it wanted, maintaining whatever served its own interests, reaping the fruits of its victory for many years to come.
The Iraqis may well have felt gratitude for the ousting of a corrupt regime, but the obtuseness of the occupying forces has eroded such feelings. In many Iraqi circles there is now little trust left as regards the intentions of the occupiers. The brutality of the occupying forces in dealing with Iraqi citizens, their inability to understand the political and psychological make-up of Iraq, the promotion of the Kurds at the expence of the Shi'ites and Sunnis, compounded by sluggishness in repairing what the war destroyed (water supplies, electricity and other infrastructure) and, perhaps most importantly, its failure to secure law and order, have all contributed to the turnaround. Adding to this heady brew are continuing signs that the occupying forces will remain for many years to come.
The situation in Iraq is such as to suggest that there will be an increase in resistance operations. Nor will such operations be restricted to the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime, in the form of Ba'ath Party militias. Resistance operations are increasingly being undertaken by other sectors in society in response to the arrogance of US occupying forces and the brutal manner in which they conduct searches for weapons and Ba'ath Party elements at large. Tellingly, these actions differ little, if at all, from those carried out by Israeli forces in the occupied territories.
There is, until now, no clear exit plan for the US in Iraq. The situation could, indeed, become worse as troops from other countries are called upon in Iraq. Already Poland has been allocated administrative and security supervision in some areas. The US has also asked several other countries to send troops to back up the American presence, including, reports suggest, India, Pakistan, several East European countries and Japan.
In the absence of a legitimising role for the UN, the status of such troops, operating within the US-led occupation, is essentially no different from that of mercenaries. They will have been contracted to do the dirty work in exchange for high fees. It is unnecessary to mention that this will act only to further provoke the Iraqi people, increasing acts of resistance and further driving a wedge between the Arabs and participating countries.
The situation would be very different if the administration of Iraq was handed over the UN. Then it would be possible to call on Arab troops to help out in Iraq.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 24 - 30 July 2003 (Issue No. 648)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/648/op4.htm