Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume III, Number 44 December 7 - 13, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
The
arrest of Saddam Hussein: will the anti-US resistance continue? Does
the arrest of Saddam Hussein, last Saturday in Tikrit, mean the end of the
resistance against US occupation? Will it have removed the main obstacle to
democracy and security in Iraq, as Western political leaders are saying? A
reaction from Mohammed Hassan, Middle East specialist. By David Pestieau
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What
is your first reaction on this arrest? Mohammed
Hassan. It is amazing that the man most wanted by the US and its allies in the
whole world was able to evade arrest for more than eight months. This indicates
that Saddam Hussein could count on a certain level of support among the Iraqi
population. Did you know, for example, that some 69 different intelligence
services are active in Iraq, with as priority mission to proceed to this arrest? Does
the arrest of Saddam Hussein mean the end of the resistance against US
occupation? Mohammed Hassan.
No. The arrest is a political success for the US occupation troops. The United
States will use this arrest for propaganda purposes, in order to demoralise the
anti-US resistance and the Iraqi population. Without any doubt, this arrest will
provoke confusion and an amount of disorganisation in the ranks of the
resistance. But over the past few months, the resistance has been able to get
organised. It is no longer embryonic, it no longer lacks coordination and it can
no longer be crushed. It has arms, financial means and even well-informed
intelligence services. Recently, the Americans found the day-to-day schedules of
the colonial administrator Bremer in a resistance hideout... Add
to this that the resistance is not solely composed of members of the old Baath
Party but also of other patriotic, nationalist and Islamic forces, in a sort of
federation. With
this arrest, the occupier hopes to have struck at a part of the resistance
leadership. But the objective conditions that give rise to the resistance are
still in place. The occupation continues, the economic crisis is very serious.
Many Iraqi's don't even have the food rations that they still received under
Saddam Hussein. 400,000 soldiers have been demobilised without retirement
benefits or salaries. And 250 out of the 700 first soldiers of the new Iraqi
army have deserted right after their training. History
has proven that a colonial occupation cannot crush a resistance, not even with
the arrest of some of its leaders. Take Algeria, where the major leaders of the
anti-French resistance were arrested in the very first years of the
anti-colonial war. Has
the arrest removed the main obstacle to democracy and security in Iraq, as
Western political leaders pretend? Mohammed
Hassan. There can never be democracy under colonial occupation. The colonial
democracy, US style, is a democracy based on ethnicism and clanism, on the
economic pillage of the country and on the repression of all nationalist forces. Washington's
henchmen who are now leading the provisional government (completely subordinated
to US colonial administrator Bremer) support the US project of a federal State
that will divide Iraq in three parts. Just like the Americans have done in
Yugoslavia. On one hand, and confronted with the resistance, Bremer has called
for national reconciliation. With a general amnesty, the Americans may try to
win over some sections of the resistance, promising them functions in the new
government. On the other hand, the pro-Iranian Shiites demand an Islamic State.
From now on, all contradictions that have been initiated with the US occupation
will intensify, between all these different components. This will further fan
instability. All this is happening in a context in which resistance will most probably continue. And the US will no longer be able to invoke the role of Saddam Hussein in it, thus more clearly exposing the genuine anti-colonial character of the resistance before the whole world. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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