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No
Peace: New War
What
others
say..........
President
Bush and his advisers thought and planned for more than a year
about a quick victory in Iraq. But it would seem now that not even a
fraction of that time and resources have been spent on winning the
peace in a country which is fiercely independent and in any case
equally fiercely against foreign occupation. The missile attack on
al Rashid hotel where the US under-secretary for defence has been
staying (he escaped but several US soldiers were killed) and the
suicide bombers attacking the headquarters of the International Red
Cross and three police stations have created an emergency in Iraq
for which the Anglo-American occupation forces have been least
prepared. Bush's highfalutin rhetoric that the moment the allies
land in Baghdad, the entire population would welcome the conquerors
with roses has been disproved.
On the contrary, a
new war is surfacing, the dimensions of which or the actual
participants there of are not easy to decipher. The President's
think-tank have expressed two views. There is a ferment and tumult
among the people which is not easy to put down unless more soldiers
are thrown into the fray. Here the problem is not a straight war. It
has already turned out to be a sort of guerilla conflict, bringing
back dark visions of what the US army went through in Vietnam. And
where do the new contingents come from? The US has a large force in
Iraq. Even with nominal UN support, both France and Germany have not
relented. Their opposition to send troops is as stiff as ever.
Russia has already
said no and any reconsideration is unlikely. Pakistan is in two
minds. The despatch of Pak troops would create lots of problems for
Musharraf. The hard-liners would paint him as one who is out to sell
the interests of Islam for US goodies. What is more, Musharraf
cannot ignore the opposition from the higher ranks of the army.
India has made it clear from time to time that it is in no position
to oblige US for a variety of reasons. Turkey remains in the US
camp. But the handpicked US friends in Iraq who are put in power now
would not accept Turkey's good offices, as that country is certain
to fish in troubled waters in the Kurd region.
The targets of
attack are significant. The attack on police stations means only one
thing. The Iraqis will not tolerate collaborators. And the more so,
since the police take their orders from local commanders of the US
army. Equally significant is the attack on the Red Cross. The Iraqis
do not want any outside agency to come to the aid of the occupation
army, when the people are facing an emergency in the country. Now
the question arises whether those decisions are being taken by the
insurgents or any outside jehadi forces. This is the second view
that a number of US think-tank leaders are discussing.
If the leadership
of the insurgents has passed into the hands of outside forces, then
it is a different war. The Mujahideen forces equipped by the US and
directed by Pak ISI in Afghanistan form a close parallel. The same
forces are now fighting US soldiers in Afghanistan. The US is
groping for conclusive evidence whether its armed forces are facing
the fundamentalist terrorists of the Islamic world in Iraq. The US
moves against Syria may create a new ferment in the Arab world. The
situation in Iraq is ``dangerous'', in the words of Colin Powell,
the US Secretary of State.
l
The Free Press Journal l
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