Crackdown in Ramadi

“And let us bathe our hands in blood, up to the elbows, And besmear our swords. Then we will walk forth, even to the market place. And, waving our red weapons o’er our heads, Let us all cry “peace, freedom and liberty.’” Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”

By Mike Whitney

06/23/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Ramadi is not an “insurgent stronghold” as it is characterized in the media. Nor is it a “safe-haven” for foreign fighters and Al Qaida. This is merely the Pentagon’s fairy-tale to justify attacks on a civilian population. In fact, Ramadi is a city of 400,000, the capital of Anbar Province; a peaceful enclave that never experienced any widespread violence or turmoil before the illegal invasion by the United States armed forces.

Most of the city’s people do not support the occupation of their country and a considerable number of them have taken up arms against the invaders. They are fighting in defense of their country.

There were no WMD in Iraq. The reasons for going to war have all proved to be false. The war was a transparent act of unprovoked aggression against a defenseless people. This is no longer an arguable point.

There are 9 permanent bases being constructed in Iraq’s main oil fields. These bases provide absolute proof in “brick and mortar” of the war’s real objective.

Never the less, US forces have surrounded Ramadi causing tens of thousands of people to flee into the countryside. The city is clearly the next domino in the Pentagon’s master-plan to decimate Iraqi society and divide the country into three small statelets.

Throughout the Sunni heartland the resistance to the occupation has been exceptionally strong. When the United States arbitrarily decided to depose Saddam and remake the government according to their own muddled inclinations, they implicitly declared war on the Sunni population who were the main beneficiaries of the prior system. Now, Rumsfeld’s legions are going from city to city conducting massive military operations in an effort to quash the burgeoning resistance.

Falluja, al Qaim, Husbaya, and Tal Afar; are all Iraqi cities that have been targeted and, to large extent, destroyed by Rumsfeld’s plan. Now, it is Ramadi’s turn; and although the strategy has been slightly modified, the same basic principle applies; using overwhelming military force to affect a political solution.

As Dahr Jamail reports for IPS:

“The residents are suffering from lack of water, electricity, cooking gas and medical supplies for the hospitals. The streets are eerily empty, and it appears that many people have now left the city, although possibly as many as 150,000 still remain in their homes, either because they are too afraid to leave or they have nowhere to go.” (“Residents struggle to Survive in Ramadi” Dahr Jamail)

The pattern is identical to the previous sieges of other cities in the Sunni region. The water and electricity are cut off, vital food and medical supplies are disrupted, a military cordon and checkpoints are set up, and the air strikes begin pounding away at “suspicious” areas of the city. This paves the way for foot-patrols to go from door to door; destroying personal property; shooting at anything that moves on the streets, and generally terrorizing the people who were left behind.

The military’s actions are executed with complete impunity knowing that the embedded media will remove any account of atrocities from the official version of events. Ramadi is another test for Rumsfeld’s “full spectrum dominance” of the news cycle. His success is evident in the dearth of coverage from the front-lines and from the complete absence of photos from Falluja and the other pummeled cities.

This is what is currently taking place in Ramadi; and this is what the Congress voted overwhelmingly to support in their misguided resolution yesterday. By refusing to set a timetable for withdrawal, the congress has unconditionally sanctioned the ongoing attacks on civilians and the continued fragmentation of Iraqi society. It is tacit death sentence for tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

Haditha, Falluja, Abu Ghraib: any one of these should provide sufficient reason for a decent person to withhold their support for the genocidal war in Iraq. Instead, the congress endorsed the present policy and linked themselves directly to the premeditated decimation of the world’s oldest civilization.

A passage from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” summarizes congress’ decision:

“And let us bathe our hands in blood, up to the elbows, And besmear our swords. Then we will walk forth, even to the market place. And, waving our red weapons o’er our heads, Let us all cry “peace, freedom and liberty.’” (Brutus to Caesar)

Congress is now full partner in Bush’s Iraqi slaughterhouse. Whatever happens in Ramadi, we hold them equally culpable

Click on "comments" below to read or post comments - Click Here For Comment Policy

|