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Monday April 14, 2003-- Safar 11, 1424 A.H.
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Thieves in Baghdad

Anwar Ahmad

What we commonly call the "human civilization" is, in the view of Bertrand Russell, an optimism. He had expressed these sentiments at the height of the barbarous American assault on Vietnam. Needless to say, like all aware human beings, Russell was bitterly opposed to that American infamy. The current Anglo-American assault on Iraq is yet another reminder that, even after the demise of the "Evil Empire", humankind and civilization remain as far apart as ever.

Take the manner in which the misadventure was launched, stubbornly ignoring the reminders that the Frankenstein in Baghdad was nurtured by the US-UK through all the crimes now being heaped at his doorstep. One hollow pretext for the attack kept giving way to another until, finally, there was focus on the weapons of mass destruction. But when Messrs Hans Blix and El-Baradei started getting close to exploding this myth and the Security Council balked at endorsing the imperial enterprise -- making, possibly for the first time, a fair use of the veto -- the pretence of civilization was dropped altogether and the gloves came off.

Liberation of the Iraqi people from the monster Saddam Hussain, winning their hearts and minds and implanting democracy in their midst became the avowed imperial goals. It is a measure of the pervasive hypocrisy surrounding this epochal enterprise that all the effete Arab Sheikhs, Emirs, Kings and presidents-for-life are now bleating for the "liberated" Iraqi people to be allowed to choose their new government -- forgetting that their own subjects have never had a say in who rules them, or how.

Others are happy that Saddam Hussain is gone, but indignant at the assault on Islam and its third holiest shrines -- forgetting that similar disunity and duplicity had paved the way for the fall of Al-Quds, the second holiest site, and now places even the holiest sites at the mercy of the colonial invaders. If the contagion of democracy does spread through the region, perhaps some unintended good will follow from an otherwise malevolent enterprise. Much of the rest ought, then, to take care of itself.

For the present, though, primordial savagery and thievery rule the streets of Baghdad and other "liberated" cities. After the American attack on the Al-Jazeera office, the wanton murder of its reporter Tareq Ayub and the firing on Abu Dhabi TV's news team, there is diminished coverage of the human cost of the conquest of Baghdad. We have seen, though, the haunting image of the armless 12-year-old Ali Ismael Abbas. It was a Reuters photo, and the agency's 15-floor office in Palestine Hotel was rocketed promptly thereafter by a US tank killing one cameraman. A coincidence, surely?

Also trickling through are reports of "scores" of Iraqi civilians -- old men, women and little children -- lying dead by the roadside in "liberated" cities. Shot dead "pre-emptively" because the US Marines feared they might be suicide-bombers, others killed to settle personal scores and some lynched for stealing. All rotting in the sun, until volunteers could find a shallow hole for them.

Perhaps the number of dead and orphaned is not as great, but otherwise how much different is the present sacking of Baghdad from that by the Mongol hordes? Remember, please, that the Mongols were savages even by their medieval standards, and the neo-Mongols are "civilized". This jarring dichotomy is what makes the present tragedy so traumatic. Otherwise, killing has always been the business of the Empires.

But to be fair to the "liberators", scenes of celebration have also been flashed around the world. But how real and pervasive the jubilant mood actually is remains questionable. In Mosul it turned nasty, sending the "liberators" scurrying for cover. There was a stand-off in Najaf, a bloody clash outside Imam Bukhari's tomb in Baghdad. There is tension and tentativeness in the air. And more looters than celebrators, forcing the "liberators" to facilitate even the ritual pulling down of the Saddam statues.

The conquering instinct of smothering him with the American flag had promptly to give way to the Iraqi flag -- sans the 'Allah Akbar' inscription Saddam had added on during his Kuwaiti entrapment to rope in Muslim emotions. This seemingly insignificant event underlined the new power realities -- while the Iraqi tri-colour may flutter in public, the star-and-stripes will shape the Iraqi destiny. This is one step "forward" from the prosaic Mongol regime of kill-and-pillage, a sop to civilization.

Iraqis were seen kicking and shoe-beating the images of their fallen ruler. These are natural emotions of an oppressed people suddenly liberated. But these could perhaps have carried some respectability had the Iraqis themselves toppled the tyrant. Since this was done by invaders -- whom even those who welcome the "liberation" want to leave immediately -- such expressions of hatred were anything but dignified.

That some of the lead players kept casting an eye to the camera could perhaps call into question the spontaneity of the shows. After all, such cheering images had been promised and their absence in the initial days had put the Anglo-American warriors under the cosh. These absolutely had to happen now to vindicate the "liberation".

The thievery is a reflection of how quickly man's baser instincts take over when the deterrent authority is removed -- reminiscent of New York during a power failure, and Los Angeles during racial riots. The scenes of Iraqis carting off every thing that "wasn't nailed to the floor" was humiliating. Even hospitals and schools were not spared.

That some of the looters also appeared to be the cheer-leaders and were waved benignly on by the conquerors -- whose obligation it is under international law to protect the lives and property of the occupied people -- puts a somewhat different complexion to the sudden outbreak of plunder. Some of the targets were revealing too. When an inequitable order breaks down, it is understandable for the poor to rob the rich. Stripping and torching government and commercial offices may also be logical (and, incidentally, more business for the conquerors who will rebuild and re-supply).

But why would the looters pick out the UN office, the German and Slovak embassies and the French Cultural Centre and not others? Remember also that the convoy of the Russian ambassador had been targeted earlier by US troops while leaving Baghdad under the Russian flags. Coincidences? A coincidence also that the oil ministry was fully protected by American tanks?

There is also talk of war crimes trials. How much more credible this would have been had the USA not walked out of the International Criminal Court. The ICC is now waiting for business and could, so fittingly, have cut its legal teeth on the Saddam coterie. But The Empire loathes any semblance of international law, democracy and justice. It is unlikely even to favour the UN-sanctioned tribunals like those trying the Balkan and Rwandan genocidists. They permit the accused to be heard by the world. That is embarrassing, knowing what Rumsfeld's old pal Saddam might tell.

The US military courts, then? Possibly. But the best bet would be for the villains to simply disappear, like OBL and Mullah Umar. That way, their periodic "sighting" can be reported from wherever pressure is to be applied next. This may actually happen, considering that only one big fish (Gen Amer al-Saadi) has so far been netted; and there is talk of a deal which had turned the loudly boasted bloody battle for Baghdad into a damp squib. For the smaller fry, there is talk of the "hospitality" of Guantanamo Bay (or Ginto, as Fox TV affectionately calls it).

Against this murky backdrop, the spotlight is now focused on the new contraption to rule the "liberated" Iraq. As a possible preview of things to come, Tony Blair's choice Abdul Majid Al-Khoei was hacked to death in Imam Ali mosque at Najaf within a week of arriving from Britain. The Pentagon's heart is set on Vice President Dick Cheney's pal Ahmad Chalabi, a convicted fraudster and fugitive from justice.

A fitting choice indeed, considering that a far grander robbery is in the offing in Iraq than the thievery being witnessed on its streets. No "material gains" are involved, protests the American viceroy designate retired Gen Jay Garner. If so, having achieved the avowed objective of regime-change, why is the US so unwilling to turn Iraq over to the United Nations -- as it had done with Kosovo?

The writer is a freelance columnist

aa52pak@hotmail.com


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