Resistance to occupation of Iraq

by: Reuben Easey

Iraq: Though interest in Iraq from the mainstream media may have waned somewhat, and though a year may have elapsed since millions around the world marched in opposition to the war, there are many –both in Iraq and around the world- who are still fighting to see that justice is done by the Iraqi population.

Allan Slater, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams volunteers in Baghdad, recently completed a five-day hunger strike. Slater, a 68-year old dairy farmer from Canada, was protesting at the difficulty faced by Iraqi people in regaining personal property which was confiscated by coalition forces in house raids. Slater was threatened with criminal prosecution if he returned to the coalition-run Iraqi Assistance Center.

On 7 January, Ken O’Keefe, a former US marine and founder of the Truth Justice Peace human shields movement, burned his US passport in front of the assembled media and on-lookers at Baghdad’s Paradise Square. In an act of symbolism to rival the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue nine months before, O’Keefe stated “America must pull out of Iraq without delay. To not do so proves America to be the greatest threat to the safety and security of our world and indeed the world’s number one terrorist”, before dousing his passport with petrol, holding it aloft and setting it on fire.

The Iraqi population meanwhile continues to suffer the effects of war, and most recently a dramatic fall in the value of the dollar in Iraq -the currency in which the CPA pays its workers. Attacks on US soldiers are still occurring, despite the cheerful pronouncements of Iraq’s new Governor, Paul Bremer.

Hostility towards coalition forces is not confined to Baghdad either. The south of the country, home to a largely Shiite Muslim population, was considered by US military planners to be more sympathetic to the war. But away from the media’s gaze, riots have occurred in several cities as a result of chronic unemployment. Numerous civilians have been killed at these protests, by Iraqi police and British and Ukranian soldiers. In Basra, thousands of former Iraqi soldiers took part in violent demonstrations, demanding the three months’ of back pay ($150) they are owed.

As the so-called democratisation of the country continues to resemble anything but democracy, it seems almost inevitable that the hostility and frustration directed at occupying forces will also continue to grow.

Contact Voices in the Wilderness(US): 5315 N Clark St, Box #634, Chicago IL 60640
Tel: 00 1 773 784 8065 e-mail: info@vitw.org
http://www.vitw.org
http://www.electroniciraq.net

http://www.almuajaha.com

http://www.humanshields.org