There were so many military actions during this period that to report all of them would require too many pages. Only the main ones will be mentioned here, some more deatails can be found in Annex 9.
A. The Americans
At the beginning of June 2003, we had confirmation that about 10,000 cluster
bombs and bomblets dropped by British and US planes litter Iraq nearly two
months after the end of the war. As a result, millions of Iraqis are at risk,
as well as humanitarian workers, UN personnel, UN staff and military officials.
This obviously contradicts the affirmations of both President Bush and Prime
Minister Blair that Iraq would be a safer place to live after the invasion.
On June 12, 2003, US soldiers were fighting Iraqis for the third day in the Operation Peninsula. About 4,000 US soldiers moved inside the towns of Duluiya and Balad, 45 miles north of Baghdad. River patrol boats and low-flying AC-130 gunships were also used and one US Apache AH-64 helicopter was shot down but the pilots escaped unhurt. About 100 Iraqis are said to have died and 400 suspects were detained. It is the biggest military operation since the regime collapsed two months ago. A site described by the US as a training camp was bombed. The Iraqi resistance was described as strong and the guerrillas of unknown nationality -but some are thought to be foreigners- were skilful and well armed. In the last few days about 10 American soldiers were killed and 25 injured. On June 13, 2003, the Americans admitted that they had killed 97 Iraqis in two days of fighting. This happens two months after President Bush declared that major military operations in Iraq were over. US officials said that 74 al-Qaida sympathisers were also arrested near Kirkuk. In a separate incident US troops killed 27 Iraqis after a tank patrol was attacked near Balad, 35 miles north of Baghdad.
On June 14, 2003, the US troops in Iraq were accused of killing many innocent civilians. Many shepherds came to western Iraq were they build tents on a streambed five miles from Rawa. Two days later American troops came and accused them of being terrorists linked to Saddam Hussein running a training camp for Iraqis and foreigners keen to kill Americans. Many of them died on June 12 as bombs and missiles were fired on them by US planes, helicopters and armoured vehicles. It is also true that they defended themselves and even shot down an Apache helicopters. The resistance to the US and British occupation is growing especially in the areas dominated by Sunni Muslims. Local residents said that they buried 69 men in Rawa, the result of what they call a massacre. Ten American soldiers are thought to have been killed in the last three weeks. Whatever the truth is, the Americans are not very popular in this region as well as anywhere else in Iraq.
Around June 8, 2003, US soldiers arrested 400 people in Duluiyah north of Baghdad but all but 60 were released without charge before the end of the week. An organised group attacked a tank convoy in the village of al-Hir on Friday June 13. Initially the US authorities claimed that 27 -people were killed. Now it is known that the number of dead was seven, among them five innocent farmers. Last week too, the US jets bombed a camp in Rawa near the Syrian border, killing 70 people who appeared, without proof, to be guerrillas. They also destroyed a lot of munitions. These operations show the inability of the US forces to deal with the post-war management of Iraq. They won the war but like in Afghanistan they lost the peace and they do not know it. Even the Iraqis say: "under our law you are innocent until proved guilty. But the Americans punish and kill us before we are found guilty, These Americans are savages. They should know that violence creates violence but they do not".
On June 22, 2003, the Observer told us that on Wednesday June 18 the Americans bombed a convoy of four-wheel-drive luxury cars in the Iraqi desert near the town of Qaim close to the Syrian border. Satellite telephone conversations involving either Saddam Hussein or one of his sons persuaded the US troops that they were in this convoy and they immediately bombed it. They then conducted DNA tests on the human remains to identify the corpses. We only have to hope that they are from Saddam Hussein or his sons; if it is not the case then the US troops have again knowingly killed civilians. Up to now the pentagon refuses to comment on the incident.
On June 29, 2003, the US started a big operation called Sidewinder against what they call the last pocket of resistance in Central Iraq. It covers the territory from the border with Iran to the north of Baghdad and it should last a few days. This started after the bodies of two US soldiers missing since June 25 were found near the town of Balad, north of Baghdad. The total death toll since the official end of major combat is now of 23 Americans and 6 Britons. At least 20 raids using troops, tanks and air forces were made the first day and about 60 Iraqis were arrested. Weapons and documents were also found.
On June 29, 2003, the British and the American forces had to recognise that their offer of an amnesty to the Iraqis who voluntarily gave up their weapons was a fiasco. Asking the Iraqis to give up their light arms such as Kalashnikovs is impossible but they were hoping that they would surrender heavier weapons such as machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. This has failed too and the result will not change until, perhaps, the Iraqis feel secure. Militaries people in Iraq are also angry at the failure of American civil agencies to deliver on promises to restore or renew Iraq's power and water supplies as this is provoking anger in the population and increases the influence of extremist groups.
In an editorial published on July 30, 2003, The Guardian complained that the coalition forces in Iraq do not care as much about the dead Iraqis that they do about their own. It is known that about 150 US soldiers were killed in and off combat. No attention at all is given to the Iraqis. No body count of the soldiers or the civilians was made. All we know is that more than 5,000 civilians died some of them without reason. For instance, on July 27, five civilians were gunned down by US "elite" soldiers in the Mansur district of Baghdad for the only reason that they drove in the neighbourhood of a villa where it was thought that Saddam Hussein was hiding. He was not but the five civilians died. This shows again the complete disregard of the Americans for the life of any foreigners. Their comments show this clearly: "if you cross a roadblock, we assume you mean to do harm!" This explains why the US do not want to join the International Court of Justice dealing with war criminals. Because they behave with foreigners like criminals and human right abusers. An international inquiry should clarify the facts related to these murders.
On July 5, 2003, the US forces arrested 11 Turkish commandos in northern Iraq. They were taken to Baghdad for unknown reasons and released on July 7 after a phone conversation between the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney. There was a deep anger in Turkey against the so-called "ugly Americans". It is a fact that the US is not very good at making friends, even with their allies.
On July 10, 2003, President Bush had to admit that US soldiers were facing a security problem in Iraq as poll revealed that the American public opinion is becoming sceptical about the presence and purpose of the US troops in the Gulf region. According to general Franks said that US troops could be in Iraq for the next four years at a cost of about $3.9bn a month and with the additional possibility that the actual number of Us troops -145,000- needs to be increased. And, of course, questions are still asked about the accuracy of the intelligence used to justify the war. Now only 23% of the Americans believe that the military action in Iraq is going well compared with 61% in April. Those who believe that the operation is going badly increased from 3% in April to 21% now but still 67% feel that going to Iraq was right.
On July 15, 2003, the US soldiers present in Iraq have been told that, given the security situation and the unwillingness of other countries such as France and Germany to help, they will have to stay there longer that foreseen. And the military personnel does not like it at all as some of them left home 10 months ago and the heat does not suit them at all. In order to improve their moral, the food will be improved and more television channels will be made available.
Armed attacks on US troops increased by mid-July 2003 and the Pentagon had to decide that its best troops would have to stay there "indefinitely". The new general in charge of the war who is replacing General Franks, John Abizaid, admitted that his troops are facing a guerrilla war by professional people not motivated by religion or money. On the contrary, the US administrator in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, is repeating that the attacks are not coordinated and are the result of a combination of Baathists, fedayeen and ex-intelligence members.
On August 10, 2003, The Observer told us that many US soldiers in Iraq are sending emails to their families complaining about being in Iraq. Now some of their families are breaking the traditional silence of military families in times of war by asking that their children, relatives, partners, friends should be brought home NOW. They dislike Bush's policies that put the soldiers in a terrible and dangerous mess. The rising casualty rate in Iraq is at the base of it but Bush's decision to cut army benefit to many soldiers does not help either. In their emails the soldiers are painting an image of their life in Iraq that is far off the sanitised official version. They feel that they have become invaders and not liberators anymore, their moral is poor, and the equipment is not always very good.
On August 14, 2003, the US forces in Iraq expressed "deep regrets" following the removal of an Islamic banner by a Black hawk helicopter, accidentally or otherwise, from the top of a telecommunication tower. A riot followed during which an Iraqi was killed and four wounded.
On Sunday 17, US troops shot a Reuters cameraman, Mazen Dana, who was filming the Abu Ghurayb prison where 6 prisoners were killed and 59 wounded by a mortar attack. The soldiers had mistaken his camera for a rocket-propelled grenade (if you believe it)! The other journalists who witnessed his murder by the American soldiers said that they behaved in a crazy and negligent fashion. The US army is launching an investigation, which, as usual, will find that everything was OK since the dead man is not American.
On August 22, 2003, President Bush said that many foreign terrorists are entering Iraq to launch more bombing attacks. He also said that more countries would soon send additional troops in Iraq to increase security and guard infrastructure freeing US soldiers for more active duty. As they would be under US command, it is doubtful that the main western countries, Russia and China would join. The UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, on the other hand, said that attracting more foreign troops is improbable if the US does not accept to share power. And they do not want to do it.
On August 25, 2003, The Guardian is telling us that the US had begun to recruit many former Saddam Hussein's spies from his former intelligence service, the Mukhabarat, to help them stop a rising tide of attacks by Saddam loyalists and Islamists in the entire Arab world. The Americans believe that terrorists -both Iraqi and foreign- from the Ansar al-Islam and al-Qaida networks are back in Iraq.
The Guardian of 26/8/2003 reported that the Pentagon, accused of not having enough troops to bring security to Iraq, is going to train up to 28,000 Iraqis in Hungary. The US will also train border guards and custom officers. This would double the size of the Iraqi police in 18 months. The Bush administration is criticized at home to either increase the number of troops in Iraq or find other countries to join the security forces. The pentagon refuses until now to increase its forces in Iraq -146,000 soldiers- and finding other countries to join under US leadership is not easy.
On August 26, 2003, even the Americans have to admit that the situation in Iraq is going from bad to worse and the Iraqis are wondering why a country that spends $9bn a month on Iraq cannot repair the water and electrical networks in four months. At the same time in the USA, a toy representing President Bush dressed as a fighter pilot (like he did when he landed on the USS Lincoln on May 1, 2003, to declare the end of the war. Everybody can buy one for $39.99!! And again at the same time humanitarian aid agencies are leaving Iraq for Jordan because of the complete lack of security in this country. Oxfam, Save the Children, and the Red Cross have pulled out their foreign staff. The UN Security Council approved a resolution to protect the UN and humanitarian aid workers by declaring that any attack against them would be considered as a war crime. However to get American approval, the reference to the international criminal court.
On September 5, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld was touring Iraq to see for himself the problems faced by the US troops. He visited Tikrit and Mosul. At the same time Washington is trying to get as much help as possible -in soldiers, 15,000? and money- from other countries. But Russia, France and Germany are not happy and are not ready to agree to an project of UN Security Council resolution calling for an UN multinational force under US command, and giving the UN a little more power in Iraq security, political transition and reconstruction. The White House estimates that the rebuilding of Iraq will cost £43.7bn for the next year. Bush is now criticised in the USA for his go-it-alone approach to Iraq. A retired general, Anthony Zinni, said that the situation is Iraq is now similar to what it was in Vietnam adding, "There is no strategy or mechanism for putting the pieces together, and we are in danger of failing."
On September 12, 2003, the US troops in Iraq killed at least eight Iraqi policemen working for them in Falluja. Two police vans were chasing a car full of suspected bandits. They came to an US checkpoint and did not stop. The US soldiers fired with heavy machine-guns killing the policemen, three so-called bandits and a Jordanian guards at the hospital where the policemen looked for a refuge. The hospital was shot at too and four other security guards were wounded. The police vans were clearly marked, as being from the police but this did not stop the "murderers" to fire at them for at least 45 minutes. The policemen shouted to the soldiers to stop but they went on killing. The soldiers justified themselves by saying that they were responding to an initial attack when the policemen were caught in the confusing fighting that lasted three hours. If this is a liberation army, then it is better to have been invaded by enemies. Even the Iraqis who welcomed the US invasion of their country are changing their mind in front of the behaviour of the US soldiers who are killing innocent civilians in large number and only because they are not Americans. On September 13, people in Falluja who were burying some of the 8 policemen shouted, "America is the enemy of God". The local police had to fire in the air to disperse the demonstrators.
On September 28, 2003, the US forces in Iraq are waiting for reinforcement. The Pentagon has announced the mobilisation of two National Guard Brigades (10,000 soldiers) and another one has been put in a state of alert (5,000 soldiers). The will soon be transferred to Iraq. At the same time it is becoming clear that the USA cannot expect much help from other countries although together with Britain they try to induce the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution creating an international peace force for Iraq. Today there are about 118,600 US soldiers in Iraq and 10,600 British. Since May 1, 2003, 170 US soldiers have been killed, from which more than 80 in fighting actions.
On November 2, 2003, an US Black Hawk helicopter was shot down west of Baghdad and 16 soldiers were killed and quite a few wounded. The wounded were sent to a US military hospital in Germany for treatment. President Bush expressed his sympathy and sent his condolences to all the families and friends touched by this tragedy but he also said that the US would not pull out of Iraq until it is safe and democratic. From May 1 to now more than 130 US soldiers were killed in Iraq.
On November 7, 2003, US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld announced that 85,000 new US soldiers will move to Iraq to replace those who have been there a long time. He still hopes that other countries will send troops but it is far from certain. At the present time the USA is relying heavily on the Iraqis; there are now 118,000 Iraqis in the various security forces making their country the second contributor in men to the coalition after the USA. Soon they will be the first and later on they will have more soldiers that all the coalition put together.
A Black hawk helicopter crashed near Tikrit, Northern Iraq on November 8, 2003. It was not immediately certain if it had been shot down but later on the Pentagon said that it had been shot by a rocket shot from the ground. All six members on board were killed. Since May 1, 140 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq. The insurgents are getting better organised each day. There are, on average, 35 incidents each day this November. A bomb in Mosul hit a military convoy today. The number of victims is unknown.
In the evening of November 13, 2003, the American troops are shelling houses in Baghdad, kicking their way into private houses, arresting so-called suspects and threatening women and children. Not the best way to be seen as friendly liberators! The military authorities now believe that there are about 5,000 well-armed and well-trained dangerous insurgents in Iraq and, after what happened yesterday in Nasiriyah no other country will want to send troops to Iraq with the exception of Britain that, according to Jack Straw, is ready to send more, if necessary.
On November 15, 2003, two US Black Hawk helicopters crashed into each other over a residential suburb of Mosul, Seventeen soldiers were killed, five wounded and one is missing. It is believed a rocket-propelled grenade hit that one helicopter before crashing into the other. On November 16, it was clear that one of the Black hawk helicopters had been hit by a rocket-propelled missile before hitting the other and both of them crashing on the ground. Missiles have brought down four helicopters in the last two weeks with the killing of 39 US soldiers (16 in Falluja, 6 in Tikrit and 17 in Mosul). It is known that Iraq has bought thousand of hand held missile launchers, mainly from Russia, and the insurgents have easy access to many of them. On November 30, 2003, the US authorities acknowledged that enemy fire was the reason why 2 US helicopters collided on November 15.
The American military authorities have decided to toughen their tactic in Iraq in front of the increasing attacks by the insurgents. They say that they will use planes and heavy guns against those people who attack them, resistance spots and other targets including civilian houses. This night they have destroyed a few empty buildings said to be used by the insurgents. Local people deny this. This will not make them popular with the local population that certainly do not see them as liberators but as occupiers.
President Bush went secretly to Baghdad to spent 2 hours and a half with 600 US soldiers and talk with the Iraqi Governing Council on Thanks Giving Day, November 27, 2003. The American people and the world were told of this trip when he was already on Air Force 1 on his way home. This was well received by the soldiers in Iraq and by the people in the USA. Outside and in Iraq, the majority of the people thought that it was a political game to increase his re-election chances.
On November 27, 2003, Thanks Giving Day, US Democrat Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jack Reed visited US troops in Kabul. The next day they were in Baghdad, Iraq, also visiting US soldiers. Senator Rodham said that the UN should have a bigger role in the reconstruction of Iraq.
On December 1, 2003, we were told that Paul Bremer escaped an Iraqi ambush near Baghdad airport. Bremer was travelling in a convoy when the explosion of a roadside bomb hit it. Nobody was hurt. It is believed that Bremer was not the target as his presence in the convoy had been decided at the last moment.
On December 8, 2003, we were told that 20 US soldiers had to be sent back from Iraq to the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC for treatment of a skin disease, called leishmaniasis, transmitted by bites from sand flies. About 10 to 20 others are treated in Iraq. The US soldiers call it "Baghdad boil" and it can leave disfiguring skin lesions for months.
On December 10, 2003, a US Army C-17 transport plane leaving Baghdad airport was forced to do an emergency landing after take-off as an engine exploded. One passenger was slightly wounded. It is not clear if the plane was fired at from the ground. The same day an AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship was also forced to do an emergency landing in Mosul. Its engine caught fire but nobody was injured and it is not clear if it was shot down.
On December 17, 2003, more than 2,000 US soldiers raided Samarra on the base of information found with Saddam Hussein who was arrested on December 13, 2003. They were looking for insurgent leaders and fighters. They arrested 79 Iraqi suspects.
On January 2, 2004, a US observation helicopter OH-Kiowa with a crew of two was shot down near Falluja. One crewmember - an US soldier- was killed in the crash and another one was wounded. On the same day another US soldier was killed and five were injured when their truck flipped over near Lake Habbaniyah on their way to Baghdad airport. Again the same day the Americans captured Abu Mohammed who is suspected of smuggling foreign insurgents and cash to Iraq. Also arrested was the tribal leader Sheik Kahtan Yehia of the Abu Rahman tribe in Samarra. He is accused of sheltering the now most wanted man in Iraq, former vice president Izzat Ibrahim. US soldiers also blew up the house of Talab Saleh accused of coordinating attacks against American troops. It looks like the US soldiers are copying the Israeli.
In January 2004 more and more US soldiers are prevented to leave the army or retiring because the US military are too stretched all over the world.
On January 8, 2004, a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down by rockets near Falluja killing all 9 US soldiers aboard. Also the same day, an US Air Force cargo plane carrying 63 passengers and crew was struck by ground fire while leaving Baghdad airport. It was able to make a U-turn and an emergency landing. Nobody was hurt. Also the same day, a rocket hit a Jordanian field hospital. Nobody was wounded but the hospital suffered structural damage.
In January 2004, it is becoming clear that the number of attacks on US troops as well as the number of soldiers killed and wounded has decreased since Saddam Hussein was taken into custody. During the four weeks before December 13, 2003, 52 coalition soldiers were killed in action and 159 wounded. In the four weeks after December 13, 37 soldiers were killed and 128 wounded. During the same period, the number of attacks decreased by 22%.
On January 29, 2004, we were told that plans are being made for the US army to stay in Iraq until 2006 with more or less the same number of soldiers as now.
On February 12, 2004, the top US general John Abizaid came under grenade attack in Baghdad. Insurgent armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked his convoy as he arrived at the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps building in Falluja. The fight lasted 6 minutes but general Abizaid was not hurt although an Iraqi was wounded. It is not clear if it was a random attack or an attempt to kill him.
On April 4, 2004, it was revealed that some US soldiers back from Iraq believe that they had been irradiated, possibly by depleted uranium used in shells. They are complaining of being constantly sick with headaches, numbness and rashes.
On April 4, 2004, the US authorities admitted that Islamic jihadists are training in the Sunni triangle area north and west of Baghdad. According to these sources, the war in Iraq has helpeded al-Qaida recruiting more anti-American militants in many countries.
On April 5, 2004, the US military authorities in Baghdad issued an arrest warrant for the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, whose black uniformed Mahdi militia attacked the US forces in Sadr City, Baghdad killing seven US soldiers as mentioned before. The US is also using heavy guns and helicopters to try to control the situation with the result that many civilians are killed increasing the hate for the Americans seen as invaders and bullies. And now there are talks that more US soldiers will be sent required. Civil war in Iraq is now foreseen by many as inevitable after the transfer of power. Were not the French right after all?
The US authorities insist that there was not a popular uprising, but only the work of "a few thugs, gangs, and terrorists". Well, if there are so few Iraqis involved why is it that it is so difficult for the strong US army to destroy them? Rumsfeld called the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr a murderer. What about the American soldiers then? After all more Iraqis are killed by these well armed troops that American soldiers by the Iraqis? Al-Sadr and his fighters, the Mahdi Army, will be destroyed said the US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. Al-Sadr said "Iraq will be another Vietnam for the Americans and the other invaders".
On April 15, 2004, Donald Rumsfeld announced that 20,000 US soldiers will have to remain up to 90 more days that foreseen in Iraq due to the violence in the country. This decision means that the USA will keep 135,000 soldiers in Iraq for now.
On April 16, 2004, the Arab al-Jazeera television showed a tape of a US soldier being kept prisoner in Iraq. Keith Mathew Maupin was captured when his convoy was attacked a few days ago.
On April 18, 2004, the US military authorities in Iraq closed many important roads to civilian traffic. Among them are the roads from Baghdad to Samarra, Tikrit, Kerbala, Balad, Basra, and Najaf. The closure aims to prevent bomb attacks.
On April 27, 2004, the "liberators" were again greeted with gunfire in Iraq. American soldiers were again using fighter planes, tanks and heavy guns to "free" Najaf, Kufa, and Falluja killing, as always, civilians in the process. They tried to enter Kufa but they were obliged to desist because the resistance was too strong for them. The Americans said that they killed 64 Iraqi members of the Moqdata Sadr's militia but, as usual, they were no proof. Najaf has not been invaded because the Americans do not want to upset the Shia whose cooperation they need for the soon-to-be interim government. However they still say that they want Moqdata Sadr "killed or captured". This could create a bloodbath as Najaf is a Shia holy city and the Americans are so unpopular that even the more moderate support the radical cleric.
On April 28, 2004, the Pentagon decided to send more armoured vehicles in Iraq as the death toll increases. At least 120 US soldiers were killed and at least 90 wounded in Iraq from April 1 to April 28, more that during the invasion and many soldiers complain that they have been sent to fight without the necessary protection.
On May 4, 2004, the US military authorities said that now they have decided to keep about 130,000 soldiers in Iraq at least until the end of 2005. This is a u-turn in policy as until now the US was saying that they wanted to reduce the number of troops to about 105,000 by mid-2004. Moreover the new troops sent to Iraq to replace those already there for over one year will be more heavily armed with tanks and armoured carriers. And they were expected to be greeted as liberators!
And on May 19, 2004, the Americans did it again! They were afraid when they heard some Iraqi villagers firing their guns in the air, as it is the habit there at a wedding party. The soldiers asked for air support and the bombs killed 45 people including 14 children and 11 women. This happened in a small village -10 houses- near the Syrian border in western Iraq. Of course, the official American version is that insurgents fired at their troops and they returned fire. Once again it would be much better if the coalition forces would go home and leave the Iraqis decide what they want. On May 20, some survivors told and confirmed the story but the US military continue to say that they attacked a safe house used by a fighter and that thy came under hostile fire at which they responded. As usual "dead Iraqis, children, women and old men alike are insurgents". It is clear why the USA did not want anything to do with the International court of justice. Many of its soldiers would be accused of crimes against humanity and genocide.
On May 19, 2004, it looks more and more like the US put itself into a hole from which it cannot get out in Iraq. It looks like the US forces -as shown in Najaf and Falluja- have been obliged by the insurgents' strategy to fight back, killing hundred of civilians in the process. Moreover what happened at Abu Ghraib prison worsened their image forever. Bush still say that a lot of progress has been made towards the transfer of power on June 30 despite the recent killing of the head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Izzadine Salim. The Congress, on the other hand, is warning that America is facing a strategic disaster in Iraq due to the absence of a well-thought exit strategy. In other words, the US could find itself being unable neither to defeat the insurgents nor to find a honourable way out. Now 82% of the Iraqis oppose the presence of any foreign troops in their country. The American right wing politicians are afraid that oil supply could soon become a problem for the US. They have pulled out their troops of Saudi Arabia, the largest producer, and now it looks that they will be thrown out of Iraq, the only credible alternative. Now the ultra conservative politicians like Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, both at the Pentagon, are being blamed for convincing President Bush that the invasion of Iraq would be easy. It looks already probable that the US will not be able to keep permanent military bases in Iraq.
Also on May 21, 2004, the US military authorities are under pressure to explain why about 40 civilians were killed in an air strike on a hamlet, Mukaradeeb, near the Syrian border. Brigadier General Mark Kimmit said that the remote spot was a legitimate target while the local Iraqis said that they bombed a wedding party. The Iraqi version looks better as many children and women are among the victims. On May 24 a video showed clearly that the killing took place at a wedding party and that the American version of what happened is a lie.
On May 22, 2004, Britain and the USA want their soldiers to have full immunity
in Iraq. They will put this clause to the project of UN Security Council to
be presented in the next few days. This means two things:
- The coalition troops will still be able to do what they want (torture, abuses)
in Iraq without risk of being incriminated by the Iraqi government. They will
be subject to their national laws, which, as we know especially in the USA,
do not condemn their soldiers.
- The sovereignty transferred to Iraq on June 30 will be even more limited
that thought until now.
Until now the coalition soldiers were already immune of the Iraqi laws and
this could be understood. But after June 30?
On May 26, 2004, the US is thinking of putting a price of $25m on the head of Abu Moussab al-Zarqaoui a Jordanian a very important al-Qaida member. He is suspected to have beheaded Mike Berg personally. He is also suspected of being behind the Sunni resistance in Iraq, of trying to start civil war in Iraq, of the attacks against Iraqi leaders linked to the coalition forces as well as the bomb attacks in Casablanca and Madrid.
On May 29, 2004, it became known that the American football star, Patrick Tillman was killed by "friendly fire" on April 22 in Afghanistan.
On June 30, 2004, the US military authorities in Iraq said that they would take the risk of launching military actions even if they go against the wishes of the interim government according to General Thomas Metz. This comes two days after "full" sovereignty was transferred to the interim Iraqi government. General Metz is the deputy of the new military head in Iraq, four stars general George Casey who replace General Ricardo Sanchez.
B. The British
On May 29, 2003, Tony Blair visited the British troops in Basra and Umm Qasr,
his first visit to Iraq after the war. He met the American administrator,
Paul Bremer, and the British envoy, John Sawers. This last one told Blair
that Iran is trying to influence the future of Iraq. After meeting Iraqi school
children, Blair talked to the British troops, who, according to him, showed
courage and professionalism in battle for which they and Britain should be
proud.
In another incident, eight other British soldiers from the First battalion Parachute Regiment were wounded when their vehicles were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and rifle fire from a large number of Iraqi gunmen. They called for assistance and when a troop of Scimitar vehicles and a Chinook helicopter arrived, they too where shot at. One soldier on the ground was wounded as well as seven in the helicopter. Until now the British soldiers seemed to be rather well accepted in southern Iraq. It is believed that these two attacks were made by disgruntled Iraqi ex-army soldiers or by followers or sympathisers of Saddam Hussein. Britain will send reinforcement, as it is now even more obvious that peace is not reached in Iraq. Even on June25 it was not known what went really on in the police station. It looks like there was a misunderstanding between the soldiers and the local Iraqis. Previously, the soldiers had been looking for arms in the village and there had been a lot of complain because they were using dogs to find the hidden arms. Dogs are considered to be "unclean" in the Muslim world and the soldiers stopped the search. However on June 24 they were still in the village and the people thought that they were resuming searching. Many people assembled outside the police station, some threw stones to the soldiers who opened fire killing perhaps 4 or 5 civilians. A rocket-propelled grenade hits a vehicle and one British soldier is wounded. Some reinforcement is called in and soon enough light tanks and a Chinook helicopter are on the spot. The Iraqis attack them too and seven soldiers in the helicopter are wounded too. A second reinforcement takes care of the wounded. The Military Police Officers retired to the police station. An angry crowd chased them there. Some Iraqis seem to have advised them to run for their life, but they refused and died. Two soldiers were killed outside the station and the other four inside; some source said that they were executed with a bullet in the head after surrendering.
On June 26, 2003, the British military leaders in Iraq admit that the killing of six Military Police officers at Majar al-Kabir was the result of a misunderstanding between the soldiers and local people. When British troops arrived in the town on June 24, the local people assumed -wrongly according to the militaries- that they would be searching again for weapons despite an earlier agreement to end the search. According to major General Peter Wall they intended to conduct a regular patrol. The Ministry of defence said that the exact sequence of events was not known yet but it seems that at least four soldiers were killed after surrendering. The six military police officers came to Majar al-Kabir to check to visit the local police station and liase with the local policemen. A few hours before some parachutist soldiers went to the town on a regular joint patrol with the local militia. The crowd thought that they would be searching for arms again, they stoned the troops that left the town. The crowd reversed their anger on the police station and killed the six Military Police officers.
On June 27, 2003, the British forces are trying to improve the relations in Majar al-Kabir where people angry at the way the soldiers were conducting their search for weapons killed 6 military police officers on June 24. At the same time Kerim Mahoud who led the Shia opposition to Saddam Hussein in southern Iraq is trying to calm his people. Leaflets were dropped on the town to explain that British soldiers would return to the town, not to punish but to resume good relations. The British will look for the responsible of the killing and will punish them if found.
British troops returned in large number to Majar al-Kabir on June 28, 2003, after dropping leaflets saying that there would not be mass punishment. Only the killers of the six Military Police officers were wanted for punishment.
On July 1, 2003, it was decided that Britain would lead one of the three international forces in Iraq. In addition to the 11,000 British soldiers already there, 5,000 more from Denmark, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania, New Zeeland and Lithuania. The other two forces would be led by Poland and India. The aim is to reduce the number of US soldiers dislocated in Iraq.
On July 2, 2003, it seems that a Royal marine commando, Christopher Maddison, was not killed by the Iraqis as told by the Ministry of Defence but by friendly fire. His landing craft came under fire in the Faw peninsula, south of Basra on March 30, 2003. This created a bitter row between the Ministry of Defence and the BBC that talked of a cover-up.
On July 5, 2003, a British freelance journalist, Richard Wild, was shot and killed by US soldier in the museum in Baghdad. He had been talking to some US Military policemen guarding the museum before he was killed. He is the first journalist killed since the fall of Baghdad.
On August 9, 2003, it was the turn of the British soldiers in Basra to have trouble with the Iraqis. The population was fed up because the shortage of electricity turned the pumps off at most petrol stations. Some civilians started throwing stones to the soldiers who reacted in riot-gears and by shooting in the air. Local clerics helped to calm the people. Two boys and, at least, one man were wounded and a few British soldier were slightly injured too. Of course, the shortage of electricity, water and gas affect all the population in their daily life. Local authorities blamed the shortage of fuel on oil smuggling, sabotage and looting. Kuwaitis are blamed for the oil smuggling. And all this happens when the temperature reaches 55 Celsius. The riots were also repeated on August 10 when Iraqi gunmen shot dead a civilian -a Nepalese who worked for a private security firm in Basra, Global Security, according to a source a former Ghurkha- then they seemed to stop. The British military commanders are unhappy at the failure to restore Iraq's infrastructure. Of course, they would like the international community to pay for it but those countries that refused to participate in the war are not ready to do it. Their answer is something like, "you broke it, you repair it".
On August 24, 2003, it was decided that the British soldiers in Iraq would continue their "soft" approach despite the death of 3 soldiers and the increasing guerrilla threat. The names of the three dead soldiers were also released the same day. They are major Matthew Titchener, warrant officer Colin Wall and corporal Dewi Pritchard.
On September 8, 2003, Geoff Hoon the British Defence Secretary informed the Commons that about 1,200 soldiers would leave for Iraq in the next few days because of the security situation there. It is already possible that 1,000 more will be needed soon but even more could be necessary. Many MPs from the opposition but also many from the Labour party criticised the government for the chaos that reign in Iraq more than four months after the war was declared to be "over". Some blamed also the Americans with words like "A country that put a man on the moon cannot get Iraq's lights to work".
On January 10, 2004, British soldiers and Iraqi police fired on stone-throwing unemployed protesters in Amara, southern Iraq. Six people were killed. Demonstration took place again the next day but nobody seems to have been hurt. On the same day US officials admitted that US soldiers killed 2 Iraqi policemen in Kirkuk after they failed to identify themselves to a patrol. It was also said that senior military officers are investigating the killing of 4 civilians by US soldiers. The civilians were trying to pass a convoy in Tikrit.
On February 8, 2004, Prince Charles visited the British troops in Basra, Iraq. He was there for 6 hours and met about 200 soldiers. We were told that he went on this "dangerous" mission because the troops needed cheering-up! On the way back he went to Iran to visit Bam, the site of the latest devastating earthquake that killed thousands of people and destroyed most of the old town.
On February 20, 2004, we were told that the British Ministry of Defence is facing lawsuits for the killing of at least 18 civilians in Iraq. Most of these killings occurred by gunshots in the streets of Basra and southern Iraq -some civilians were caught in crossfire, others were shot- but some were also killed while in detention. An official inquiry should clarify what really happened but it is already that it some cases it was murder.
On April 23, 2004, The Guardian told us that Britain is under pressure by the USA that wants Britain to extent its zone of military influence in Iraq in a most dangerous zone further north, possibly including Baghdad. They would replace the Spanish troops that are leaving Iraq and would control dangerous cities like Najaf. An increase of the number of British soldiers in Iraq -now about 8,000- would probably be necessary. There are some frictions between the British and American military authorities in Iraq with the British blaming the Americans for their heavy -and deadly-tactics. Until now 59 British soldiers have died in Iraq.
On April 26, 2004, Britain is getting ready to send more troops in Iraq to replace the 1,300 Spanish who are leaving. Whitehall said that they would send more troops only if there was a new approach to security and peacekeeping in the country. But as usual, if Bush asks Blair to send more troops, Blair will agree even if the British military commanders in Iraq are unhappy about the US tactics, especially those used in Falluja, that they describe as counterproductive. But Doggy Blair only hears what his master, President bush, tells him to do. These British troops could take over control of Najaf with all the risks implied.
On April 28, 2004, the senior British military chiefs said that they do not want more troops being sent to Iraq or any extension of their region of command until after the political situation is clarified after the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30. The real reason is not so much that they do not need them after the Spanish soldiers and others are pulling out. They are mainly afraid that if they have more soldiers, the Americans will ask them to take over some dangerous cities like Najaf and they dislike the way the US soldiers are behaving towards the local people.
On May 27, 2004, the British Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, announced that about 370 soldiers would soon be leaving for Iraq. As some soldiers already there will be brought back the total number of British soldiers in Iraq will be increased from 8,700 to 8,900.
On June 19, 2004, The Guardian told its readers that Britain would soon send about 3,000 more soldiers to Iraq as part of a NATO force to support the interim government. Officials said that the force would be "temporarily" taken out of Nato command to make it more acceptable to France and Germany, both countries being opposed to involve Nato in Iraq. These soldiers would not be under a Nato banner but they would form what would be known as a British-led international force. The plan has to be approved by the Nato council that is meeting in Istanbul on June 29.
C. The Insurgents, Iraqis and Others
- Terrorist actions
On August 7, 2003, a minibus loaded with explosives was exploded in front
of the Embassy of Jordan in Baghdad killing at least 11 people and wounding
65, mainly Iraqi policemen and civilians, and damaging seriously the building.
Following the explosion, Iraqi men stormed the embassy destroying pictures
of the present King of Jordan, and of his father. It is possible that they
reacted to Jordan security staff that opened fire on Iraqis helping the wounded
on the street in front of the embassy.
On August 17, one of the main water pipe in Baghdad was hit by a rocket propelled grenade and had to be closed with the result that 250,000 Iraqis will not have any water at all for some time.
On August 25, 2003, it became clear that clashes between Turkmen and Kurds are increasing in northern Iraq where 12 people were killed during the weekend near Kirkuk. Moreover guerrilla attacks go on and there was an attempt to kill an important Shia cleric in Najaf. The cleric, Mohammed Saeed al-Hakin, was wounded but three bodyguards died. The followers of the terrorist group Muqtada al-Sadr are blamed for the attack. At the same time the Red Cross decided to pull out its foreign personal out of the country. Turkey is considering sending troops to Iraq to repair the relations with the USA although the majority of the population disagree.
On October 8, 2003, 2,000 Shia protesters blocked the entrance to the US headquarters in Baghdad to demand the release of a Shia cleric, Sheikh Moayed al-Khazraji. This was the second day demonstration asking the release of al-Khazraji who was arrested two days before in a Mosque in Baghdad. On the same day a light mortar hit a British military base at Saddam Hussein's palace in Basra.
October 27, 2003, Baghdad had its bloodiest day since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Four suicide bomb attacks in 45 minutes killed 35 Iraqis and injured about 224 others. The bombers attacked police stations and the offices of the International Red Cross where 12 people died and 23 wounded, mainly passers-by as well as two Iraqi guards, when an ambulance loaded with explosives exploded outside the security barriers. The Red Cross, the UN, and other charity organisations like "Médecins sans Frontière" will reduce their foreign staff as a consequence of the lack of security in the country. One American soldier was also killed. The Americans believe that they have the evidences that foreign nationals are involved, some of them coming from Syria. Lately the number of attacks has increased up to 35 a day compared with 10 to 15 in the summer. According to Bush this shows that the terrorists are "desesperate". Where he found it is a mystery!
In Baghdad on November 11, 2003, some rocket-propelled grenades hit the US headquarters. There was no victim. In Basra a bomb exploded prematurely and killed three innocent civilians as well as the would-be bomber. At the same time, in Baghdad, the top US military general in Iraq, general Sanchez, warned the coalition troops would react in a tough way to any attacks by the insurgents. Last night Tikrit was hit by bombs launched from helicopters and by heavy guns destroying some houses. There were no information about eventual victims but many men were arrested. The soldiers entered in many private houses, kicking the doors in and threatening the people inside. In the absence of troops from other countries, the coalition is training more and more Iraqis to join the security services and the police.
Most of the attacks in Iraq around November 25, 2003, are not anymore on the coalition forces but on the Iraqis working for the coalition. The American military authorities are also saying that the number of foreigners involved in these attacks is limited in comparison with the number of Iraqis.
It looks more and more like the Iraqi guerrillas are targeting more and more the citizens and soldiers of countries that support the Coalition forces in Baghdad. They also target the Iraqis working for the Americans, policemen and civilians like state employees and politicians.
On December 16, 2003, the Iraqis were still opposing the occupying forces. Saddam Hussein loyalists "rioted" (or better, demonstrated in his favour) in Baghdad, "ambushed" (a word to justify the killing of civilians) a US patrol in Samarra, stormed the office of a US-backed mayor in Falluja and battled American troops in Ramadi. No very popular the "good liberators". Us troops arrested 79 people in a raid north of Baghdad. A roadside bomb wounded 3 US soldiers in Tikrit and an Iraqi police officer was killed and another wounded in Mosul. In Samarra, US troops killed 11 Iraqis. There were 18 such attacks in the last 24 hours.
On December 18, 2003, two important Shiite politicians were killed in Iraq. Muhannad Hakim, an official with the Ministry of Education, was shot in front of his home in Baghdad. On the same day in Najaf, a crowd killed a former official of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party, Ali Zalimi, because he was accused by them of carrying out Saddam's repressions.
On February 5, 2004, there was a report of an assassination attempt on Grand Ayatollah Sistani as he greeted people in Najaf but he was not hurt. However some other sources said that such an attempt did not take place.
On February 10 2004, at least 50 people were killed and 150 injured when
a car bomb exploded near a police station in Iskandariya, 30 miles south of
Baghdad. There was a long queue of young people wanting to know if their application
to join the police had been accepted. The suicide bomber drove his car towards
and detonated about 250kg of explosive. The police station and the courthouse
were badly damaged too. It is obvious that the terrorists are now trying to
kill as many Iraqis as possible collaborating with the Americans. Their aim
is probably to create even more chaos in the devastated country or they want
the Americans to leave as soon as possible and let the Iraqis to decide their
future. It is similar to what happened in the occupied countries in the Second
World War: the so0called partisans killed some German soldiers but also many
of their countrymen collaborating with the occupiers. If this means that,
from the Iraqis point of view, the Americans are comparable to the Germans
in occupied Europe is another question. But if this was the case, then President
Bush is a new Hit…
On February 11, 2004, another suicide attack against a police station in Baghdad
killed about 47 Iraqi policemen and civilians and wounded around 100. In two
days, February 10 and 11, 102 Iraqis were killed in two suicide attacks first
in Iskandariya and the second in Baghdad. In both cases a car loaded with
250kg of explosives drove to a police stations where many civilians were waiting
to know if they had been accepted for police duty or to apply for a police
job at the local recruiting stations. This happened a few days after the Americans
revealed that they intercepted a 17pages-letter written by Abu Musab Zarqawi,
Osama bin Laden's deputy, urging a civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslims
in Iraq in order "to prolong the duration of the fight between the infidels
and us". This is interpreted as showing that al-Qaida in directly involved
in Iraq. Some Iraqi prisoners have confirmed this information.
On February 19, 2004, senior Iraqi intelligence officers said that the Islamic militant group Jaish Ansar al-Sunna that claimed responsibility for two suicide bombing in Irbil and other attacks in Baghdad, Falluja and Mosul had received some help from Syria and Iran. The group is suspected of training suicide bombers.
March 2, 2004, was the anniversary of the killing of Imam Hussein 13 centuries ago. The festival of Ashura is probably the most important feast for the Shia Muslims. As thousand of Shia pilgrims from many country were walking in Kerbala and Baghdad, a well-coordinated series of bomb explosions killed about 182 people (112 in Kerbala, 70 in Baghdad and wounded at least 450 others. The Shia leaders blamed the Americans for their complete failure to bring security to Iraq. The American immediately accused the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarkawi, an Islamic militant member or linked to al-Qaida as the mastermind of the operations. The UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, said that, as a consequence, the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty on June 30 was at risk. Five bombs exploded in Kerbala in street full of pilgrims. In Baghdad, the Kazimiya shrine was attacked by three suicide bombers, two exploded their bombs at the doors and the other managed to get inside. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks yet but it is believed that the aim is to start civil war between the Shia majority, the Sunni and the Kurds. On March 3, the US troops have arrested 15 suspects, five Iranians and ten Iraqis, in relation to the attacks in Kerbala and they are interrogating them. The US military authorities are saying that it is more and more obvious that militants are coming from outside Iraq. Paul Bremer said that the 8,000 border police on duty now will see their number increased in the near future at an additional cost of $60m. The Abu Hafs al-Masri brigades suspected of being linked at al-Qaida, denied responsibility for the attacks blaming US forces. Thousand of Shia Muslins attended the funeral on March 3 shouting their anger and frustration at the coalition that cannot bring security to Iraq. It was noted that the Shia and the Sunni Muslins were united in mourning the victims and showed no sign of wanting a civil war between them.
On April 4, 2004, the situation degraded even more in Iraq as radical Shia followers of the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrated on the streets and attacked the coalition forces, killing at least 9 of their soldiers and dozens injured, in various towns. In Kufa, near Najaf, at least 20 Iraqi protesters were killed together with one American and one Salvadoran soldier and 200 people were injured after the crowd seized a police station and a hospital. They were demonstrating against the closure of their weekly newspaper in Baghdad and the arrest of an aide to al-Sadr. In Baghdad seven US soldiers were killed and at least 24 injured while trying to regain control of the eastern Shia slums. In Asmara the British troops fought with Shia protesters injuring many. The same day, two US Marines were killed in the Sunni triangle west of Baghdad. There were more bombing in Kirkuk, Samarra and at a Shia mosque north of Baghdad while one oil pipeline was put on fire in southern Iraq.
On April 6, 2004, fighting spread across Iraq and the coalition is now fighting the radical Shia in south and central Iraq and the Sunni Muslims in Falluja. It is believed that at least 30 US soldiers and 130 Iraqis have been killed since the weekend in Falluja. US planes used rockets destroying four houses and killing 26 Iraqis. In Ramada twelve US Marines have been killed as many Iraqis attacked US positions near the governor's palace. In Amara the British troops killed 15 Iraqi followers of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and 15 others died while fighting with the Italians in Nassiriya. Bulgarian and Polish troops suffered some casualties too. President Bush repeated that the USA will not leave Iraq before the problem is solved, whatever the cost. However many members of the Congress, among them senior Republicans, warned that civil war could happen in Iraq. The image of Bush as a war president is tarnishing quickly.
Iraq was in full-scale chaos on April 7, 2004 as fighting took place from
Kirkuk in the north to Kut in the south. It was the worst fighting since President
Bush -unwisely- declared that the main military operations were over on May
1, 2003:
- The Ukrainian forces were driven out of Kut by the al-Sadr Shia militia
(the Mahdi Army) where 12 Iraqis died together with and Ukrainian soldiers
-five were wounded. One South African security guard was killed.
- In Kerbala, fighting with Polish soldiers left seven Iraqis dead -including
Mr al-Sade's representative- s well as two Iranian pilgrims. The Mahdi Army
took over the city.
- The Mahdi army was also in control of Kufa.
- In Najaf, the Mahdi Army fought the Spanish soldiers. One Iraqi at least
was killed.
- At Baquba, an US helicopter was shot down.
- In Baghdad's Sadr City, fighting killed four Iraqis and wounded many others.
- In Yusifiya south of Baghdad, two policemen were killed.
- In Kirkuk fighting, eight Iraqis died and ten were wounded.
- There were peaceful demonstrations in favour of al-Sadr in Mosul and Rashad.
- In their third day fighting to regain full control of Falluja the US bombed
(500 pound bomb) and fired a missile to a Mosque killing 25 to 40 Iraqis.
They said that they were aiming to make a hole in the outside wall of the
compound.
- The Americans had 33 soldiers killed in the last 4 days including 12 in
Ramadi. Six more soldiers were killed in Falluja as well as two other soldiers
of the coalition. Possibly 400 Iraqis were killed in the same period.
- Rumsfeld confirmed that some soldiers would have to remain more than one
year in Iraq.
On April 9, 2004, The Guardian title on the first page tells it all: "Chaos, killing, and kidnap" in Iraq. From north to south Iraq is burning! The total number of Iraqis killed this week is at least 460 (330 in house to house bloody fighting in Falluja whose head of the city council, Mohammed Hassan al-Balwa resigned because, he said, the American behaviour in Falluja is increasing the resistance and led more people to join it), the US admitted to have had 36 soldiers killed, 13 foreigners including one British were kidnapped, one British man is missing, and the Shia control the two southern towns of Najaf and Kut, and all this on the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. And the US thought that it would be marked by joyful celebrations, but not of this type.
On April 11, 2004, it is not easy to understand what is really happening in Iraq. What seems certain is that quite a few cities have seen Sunni and Shia militants fighting mainly the American soldiers killing at least 46 during that period. The number of insurgents killed is unknown. It is well known that the USA lost the war in Vietnam mainly because they were backing an illegitimate government. Unfortunately it looks like they are doing the same here: they appointed the members of the Iraqi Governing Council; they wanted to elect the members of the interim government by caucuses because they knew that they could influence the result. At the same time the Shia -through Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani- asked for general elections; lately they closed the weekly newspaper published by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and this together with the bloody siege of Falluja led to the latest insurrections; they are using disproportionate forces towards the civilians since the beginning of the invasion. In other words, even to the more moderate Iraqis, the Americans looks like invaders and not at all the liberators they pretend to be. How this will finish is far from clear.
On April 11, 2004, an entire Iraqi battalion refused to fight the Iraqi insurgents alongside the Americans and had gone back to their barracks. This could prevent the Americans to reduce the number of their soldiers in Iraq (135,000 now) to be replaced by Iraqis. Some unconfirmed information say that about a quarter of the new Iraqi security force recruits had unsurprisely "quit, changed side, or failed to perform their duty".
On April 13, 2004, violence and threat of kidnapping led France, Russia and the Czech Republic to tell their citizens to leave Iraq. Australia did the same in a more diplomatic way, as it is a member of the "coalition of the willing". Several firms involved in the reconstruction said that they were also leaving Iraq. If foreign firms were leaving Iraq this would be a blow to its reconstruction.
On April 15, 2004, a Iranian diplomat, Khalil Naimi, first deputy at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, was shot dead in Baghdad the day after we were told that the USA had asked Teheran for their help in stopping violence in the Shia regions of Iraq. The Russians evacuated 365 of their citizens working in Iraq.
It is a fact that the killing of many foreign security guards in Iraq is a sad thing. However as The Observers rightly point out on April 18, 2004, these people went there for one reason only: to earn probably more than $500 a day. Moreover they must have known that Iraq was a dangerous place to be and that trying to keep foreign contractors safe was even more dangerous.
On April 17, 2004, the "Combined Mujahideen Brigades" told the people of Baghdad to stay home as they were going to move into the city. Nobody knows what they intend to do but most people are afraid that it could be bad.
In April 21, 2004, insurgent suicide bombers attacked three police stations in Baghdad and a police academy in Zubayr. At least 68 people were killed and 240 wounded. Among the killed there were 17 children on their way by bus to Middle and Nursery schools and 10 policemen. Al-Qaida, supporters of Saddam Hussein, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was soon accused to be involved. Why not admit that more and more Iraqis are fed-up with the occupiers who behave, especially the Americans, like murderers, as for them, killing Iraqis is not a crime. But in everything there is some kind of justice. Some of these killer US soldiers, once home, will go on doing the same and then we will hear some weeping stories. Hours after Donald Duck -sorry, Rumsfeld- said that the cease-fire in Falluja was finished, six civilians were killed by American soldiers and twelve wounded.
On June 4, 2004, five US soldiers were killed and four wounded in Sadr City in Baghdad when a bomb destroyed their vehicle. Also in Baghdad the Iraqi police said that they had arrested a member of al-Qaida, Omar Baziyani, a deputy of the Jordanian Abu Mussab al-Zarqaoui, the number one suspect of some of the worse attacks of these last few months. The Americans have put a price of $10m on his head.
On June 23, 2004, seven days before "sovereignty" is given to the Iraqi interim government, the situation in the country is chaotic and dangerous due to the lack of elementary security. Moreover about 30,000 Iraqi policemen could be sacked in the next few days for incompetence or unreliability. Of the 120, 000 officers on the payroll only about 89,000 are really working; they are poorly trained and poorly armed. The Americans believe that violence could very well increase after June 30. An Iraqi army of 25,000 is planned but the first 5,000 are still in training and the paramilitary force known as the Iraqi National guard should have 51,000 troops but there are only 35,000 now.
- International peacekeeping force
The international peacekeeping force that will help the Americans and the
British in Iraq is taking shape on July 25, 2003. Its components are coming
from Eastern Europe, Central America and Asia with small participation from
Mongolia and Fiji. They will try to restore order in Iraq. Major western European
countries -with the exception of Italy and Spain-, Russia, India and China
are keeping out of it. Turkey is still under pressure to join. Iraq will be
divided in three zones, which will be manned as follow:
- Northern Zone, under US command with 150,000 American soldiers only.
- Southern zone under British command with 11,000 British soldiers, 1,100
Dutch, 800 Italians, 120 Portuguese, 400 Danish, 43 Lithuanians, and small
contingents from the Czech Re