[Mb-civic] Lawful Resistance to Occupation in Najaf

[Michael Butler]

    Lawful Resistance to Occupation in Najaf
    By Marjorie Cohn
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

     Friday 13 August 2004

     Anyone who tunes in to the cable news channels these days would hardly
realize our Commander-in-Chief is presiding over a new campaign of aerial
terror against the Iraqi people in the holy city of Najaf. In his nightly
prayers, George W. Bush should remember those prosecuting Scott Peterson's
murder trial, which is wall-to-wall fare on television this week.

     For nearly a week, American troops and Iraqis under U.S. command have
been battling the resistance led by the "radical" cleric Muqtada Sadr in
Najaf. Hundreds have been killed. The U.S. forces are poised to strike the
Imam Ali shrine. Such an attack on one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam
could unleash a volcanic reaction among Shia Muslims throughout the Middle
East.

     Bush, however, continues to proclaim victory in Iraq, while the number
of dead U.S. soldiers rapidly approaches the 1,000 mark. Our troops who
haven't yet been killed are sweltering in 130-degree Iraqi temperatures,
with no end in sight.

     Kais Alazawi, Editor-in-Chief of the Iraqi daily Al-Jareda, and General
Secretary of the secular Arab Nationalist Movement, fears a civil war
threatens Iraq.

     "In Najaf, we're witnessing the failure of the transfer of sovereignty
process begun in June," according to Alazawi. He calls the U.S.-chosen
interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi "an American pawn who has revealed
his true face" by capitulating to the United States' military campaign
against the resistance forces in Najaf.

     "This offensive will not diminish the level of violence in the country,
much to the contrary," says Alazawi. "You cannot resolve a fundamental
political problem by force. The main problem in Iraq remains the occupation,
and when there's an occupation, there's resistance. The solution must be
political," in Alazawi's opinion.

     Deputy Governor of Basra, Salam Uda al-Maliki, plans to announce the
secession of Basra, Misan and Dhi Qar from the central government in
Baghdad, and the effective cessation of oil exports. The separation of these
three southern provinces would likely encourage the Kurds in the north to
seek greater autonomy, enhancing the possibility of civil war.

     "This reaction comes in response to the crimes committed against Iraqis
by an illegal and unelected government, and occupation forces who claimed
they came to liberate Iraq, but it turned out that they have come to kill
Iraqis," Ali Hamud al-Musawi, head of the Misan governing council, told Al
Jazeera Tuesday.

     Even the U.S.-installed interim Iraqi government seems to be at odds
with itself. In a broadcast on Al Jazeera television yesterday, Interim Vice
President Ibrahim Jaafari said: "I call for multinational forces to leave
Najaf and for only Iraqi forces to remain there." Last week, Jaafari said
there was "no justification" for the U.S. assault on Najaf. The Financial
Times reports Jaafari is Iraq's most popular politician, according to
opinion polls.

     The situation in Iraq is deteriorating because the Bush administration
has permitted the country to lapse into chaos.

     Under the Geneva Conventions, an occupying power has an obligation to
protect civilians and enable humanitarian assistance. Thousands of civilians
were killed - and continue to die - at the hands of the American military.
Cluster bombs and depleted uranium, which indiscriminately target civilians,
were used, in violation of Geneva. And the U.S. government's insistence on
hegemony over the provision of humanitarian aid prevented relief
organizations from bringing crucial assistance to the suffering Iraqi
people.

     The Hague Regulations mandate that an occupying power restore and
maintain public order and safety in the occupied territory. Yet the
occupiers succeeded only in destabilizing the country and destroying its
infrastructure. Many Iraqis are forced to drink contaminated water,
resulting in epidemics of typhoid and hepatitis E.

     When the media does mention the fighting in Iraq, we hear about the
Iraqi "insurgents." There are certainly terrorists operating in Iraq, thanks
to Bush's war, which has drawn them there like a magnet. Those who target
civilians - be they suicide bombers, or cluster bombers - are terrorists.

     Journalist and writer Paul-Marie de La Gorce said in an interview in Le
Nouvel Observateur this week that the al-Qaeda forces, which have come to
Iraq just to confront the United States, do not enjoy popular support among
the Iraqi people.

     But much of the opposition to the occupation appears to be legal under
international law. People have a right to resist illegal occupation. In her
report, "Terrorism and Human Rights," United Nations Rapporteur Kalliopi
Koufa cited with approval the 1999 Convention of the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference on Combating International Terrorism:
 "People's struggles including armed struggle against foreign occupation,
aggression, colonialism, and hegemony, aimed at liberation and
self-determination in accordance with the principles of international law
shall not be considered a terrorist crime."

    The Iraqi resistance goes beyond the followers of Sadr, standard bearer
for Shi'ite resisters. De La Gorce says "the Iraqi resistance has won
popular support, but is not unified, which is its weakness."

     Contrary to Bush's claim that his regime change in Iraq has produced a
more stable Middle East, his actions have opened a hornet's nest of death
and destruction.

  

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