Feature
BAGHDAD JOURNAL
War in Iraq continues with no peace
in sight
by Phil Bloom
November 2004
As I stepped off an Iraqi airways Boeing 737 at Baghdad International
Airport I could hear jets overhead and choppers everywhere. At that moment
I knew George W. Bush was wrong when he declared the war over.
For the past year and a half the violence has broadened and now seems to be
headed towards an all out civil war. Emergency orders were put in effect for
everyone in Faljua and the surrounding areas of Ramadi and even Baghdad. The
people of these cities have been told to stay away from central areas where
fighting will take place.
Baghdad, a city of five million people, has during these last days of Ramadan
been quiet in anticipation of an attack on the Green Zone. The streets are
empty after 5pm when night falls quickly. During the day there is still a
semblance of hustle and a myriad of activities to show signs of normalcy.
Every Iraqi who is not involved in this mess stays home or has plans to leave
the city. Everyone is talking about conditions prior to the US-led invasion
in March 2003. Fear is on everyone’s face, including mine.
Conditions in the city are ripe for attacks and kidnappings against citizens
and foreign personnel alike. There is no longer a distinction. Its open season
for criminals to piggy back on the mantle of terrorists and collect huge payoffs.
The going ransom is in the high six figures regardless of race, creed, color
or nationality. Welcome to the 'wild, wild, west.'
The interesting phenomenon in all of this is how America claimed victory when
in fact nothing of the sort occurred. The latest casualties show more than
fifteen hundred soldiers dead and high numbers of wounded. Other coalition
members face casualties. This does not include any Iraqi military and certainly
no civilians. For me this is a shameful waste of human life for a victory
that never happened.
When will it all end? First there will be civil war, then rebuilding, then
sovereignty. This will all take time since there is no will to end hostilities
soon. The US committed over $89 billion to reconstruct Iraq. Today, less than
$500 million has been spent on these efforts. Why? No one wants to do the
work and those companies like mine are hindered by red tape. Simply put, it’s
time to re-think and re-deploy. To do that there needs to be in place a political
will. From what I read W has no intention of pulling back. He is going to
spend his ''political capital'' gained in the election on another four years
of war.
The insurgents are clever and are engaged in urban warfare. They are the Davids
against the Goliath. While the US and Iraqi troops attack Faluja, they’ve
been slowly creeping into Baghdad. They continue daily car bomb attacks, mortar
rounds, and small explosive devices around the city in order to disrupt US
forces. They are waiting while the major assault hits Faluja and when no one
is around will mount their attack on the Green Zone - or worse, neighbourhoods
in Baghdad. This would be a disaster and lead to a total collapse.
The above prediction is not far off. The reality is everyone knows this is
a possibility and yet nothing is being done except isolating the Green Zone
and keeping everyone inside. This is like waiting for Godot. Where are the
military planners? Where are the politicans? Where is anybody of authority?
Somehow, everyone engages in meetings to hold more meetings and nothing gets
done. So, my advice to anyone listening is to tell W the war is in full glory
and get him to focus on reality. Certainly I can’t plead to vote him
out of office. Four million born-agains decided that for us. Maybe we should
enlist them to fight the fight.
