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An Occupation By Any Other Name...
Maren Milligan
Casper Star Tribune (Casper, WY, 6/29/04)
Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME, 7/1/04)
Aurora Sun Telegram (Aurora, CO, 07/08/04)
The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, KS, 7/09/04),
Aventura News (Miami, FL, 07/14/04)
Monday's transfer of authority -- two days before the June 30 date
-- is being touted as the date of Iraqi independence. Nothing could
be further from the truth. The unfolding political transition in
Iraq will keep sovereign power in the hands of Americans in every
relevant sense.
Iraq's interim government was appointed by a troika of outsiders:
U.N. representative Lakhdar Brahimi, Coalition Provisional Authority
head Paul Bremer and his deputy Robert Blackwill. Some members of
the interim government, like interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi,
have more experience representing the CIA than they do representing
the Iraqi people. A CPA-commissioned poll conducted prior to the
interim ministers' appointment in mid-May shows that many of them
enjoy shockingly low levels of popular support.
Allawi, who has spent most of his political life on the payroll
of either Saddam Hussein's secret police or U.S. intelligence, received
support from only 5 percent of the Iraqis polled.
When asked whom they would back for president, only four out 1,093
respondents supported the actual interim president, Ghazi al-Yawir
-- a total that the despised ex-dictator Hussein beat by 33 votes.
Many of the figures who scored highest in the CPA-sponsored poll
are not part of the interim government, including the moderate Shiite
leader Ali Sistani, who received over 51 percent support. Much to
the continued frustration of Iraqis, the national elections Sistani
and others have been calling for will not take place until January
2005 at the earliest.
The story of Iraqi finances is no less discouraging. A recent report
from the Iraq Revenue Watch project of the Open Society Institute
reveals that the CPA has committed nearly $2 billion from the Iraq
Development Fund, the repository of Iraqi oil revenues, to bankroll
ill-conceived projects. These decisions were made hurriedly before
the handover of authority but nevertheless are binding upon the
interim government. Not only do these transfers endanger standards
of transparency, but they also undermine the fiscal independence
of the interim government.
Most importantly, the U.S. military will not be withdrawing from
Iraq any time soon. After much diplomatic wrangling, a clause was
inserted into the new U.N. resolution that allows for the interim
government to call for a review of the presence of the U.S.-led
multinational force in Iraq. Yet, since the interim government appears
dependent on the U.S., it is an unlikely candidate for such an exercising
of autonomy. Defense Department statements that many of the 140,000
troops stationed in Iraq will remain "for years" support the notion
that the U.S. occupation of Iraq is only becoming more entrenched.
It is no small irony that in Arabic the interim president's last
name, al-Yawir, means "aide de camp," the junior officer who assists
the general.
Day-to-day security arrangements will also remain in the hands of
Americans.
Although Iraqis will control mundane military matters such as appointments
of officers, U.S. commanders will hold the real reins of the Iraqi
military, having the power to order troops in and out of combat.
Moreover, Iraqi governmental authorization would not be required
for U.S. operations similar to the airborne assault on residential
areas in Falluja that attempted to kill alleged al-Qaeda terrorist
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi but instead killed tens of civilians, according
to local reports.
Some of the most intrusive aspects of the U.S. occupation, such
as house-to-house searches and the indefinite detention of suspected
insurgents without charge, could continue under the U.N. resolution.
In a step that clearly undermines Iraqi sovereignty, the Bush administration
extended Order 17 that granted immunity to all foreign personnel
from prosecution by Iraqi courts for killing Iraqis or destroying
property.
One might argue that all these measures are necessary to build a
strong basis for the future of a stable, democratic Iraq. However,
without the involvement and investment of the Iraqi people in building
their nation, any foundation for Iraq's future will be built on
sand.
As Americans celebrate over 200 years of independence and popular
sovereignty on the July 4 weekend, it is a good time to reflect
on Iraqis' own aspirations for self-determination and collective
control over their own governance. Despite Monday's pomp and circumstance,
these aspirations will continue to clash with the continued foreign
occupation of their country.
Maren Milligan is senior analyst and media coordinator at the
Middle East Research Information Project in Washington, D.C.
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