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Americans bring enlightenment and progress to Iraq

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  • Americans bring enlightenment and progress to Iraq

    From L'Humanité

    Ils disent l'enfer de Falouja

    Réfugiés après avoir vécu au milieu des combats dans la ville sunnite, ils témoignent du palier de violence franchi par les forces d'occupation US.

    Bagdad, correspondance particulière

    Ses yeux trahissent l'effroi. Recroquevillée sous une tente blanche, aménagée à la hâte par le Croissant-Rouge irakien, Jadida Djedou fait partie des cinquante familles de Falouja, installées provisoirement dans le camp d'Al-Khadra du quartier Al-Mansour, à Bagdad. Regard obscur, habillée de la traditionnelle robe noire, la mère de famille ne peut retenir ses sanglots. Malgré la douleur, elle raconte l'enfer de Falouja. Deux semaines à côtoyer et à attendre la mort. " Les corps jonchaient les rues de la ville. Le neuf avril dernier, J'en ai compté trente-cinq ne serait-ce que dans mon quartier. " Trois de ses proches ont péri. Un miracle à côté de familles qui en ont perdu plus de vingt.

    Sous les crocs des chiens

    Beaucoup d'habitants sont morts ensevelis sous les décombres de leur maison tandis que d'autres étaient abattus par les Marines. Les cadavres, abandonnés dans les rues, ont fini sous les crocs des chiens. " Nous avons essayé de les ramasser pour leur donner une sépulture mais à chaque fois on nous a tirés dessus ou dit de dégager ", explique-t-elle. Tous les témoignages recueillis parlent d'un massacre digne des pires scénarios. À l'entrée de la tente, Hassan, un voisin, lève les bras au ciel. Il crie vengeance. " Bush et son lieutenant Bremer sont l'invention du diable. Qui sont-ils pour juger du destin de tout un peuple ? Combien de sang devrons-nous verser pour être libres ? " interroge le vieil homme. Les témoins font état de plusieurs centaines de victimes depuis le lancement de l'offensive, le 4 avril dernier. Trouver des cadavres à tous les coins de rue est devenu " tristement banal " à Falouja. " Les soldats ont fracturé des portes pour entrer dans les maisons. Ils criaient : où sont les résistants, dites-le nous sinon on vous tue. " Hassan a perdu plusieurs proches. Aujourd'hui encore, il est sans nouvelle de son beau-frère, accusé d'être un membre de la guérilla. La tête recouverte d'un sac, le M16 posé contre la tempe, les marines l'ont " embarqué puis jeté en prison ". Du moins, il l'espère. L'intensification des bombardements, ainsi que " les tirs aveugles " des Américains, l'ont convaincu de fuir la zone de combats. À l'issue de plusieurs jours de marche, sans vêtement ni eau et nourriture, Hassan a rejoint sain et sauf le camp de réfugiés d'Al-Khadra, tenu par le docteur Mohammad Jumaa, un des responsables du Croissant-Rouge irakien. Il y a deux semaines, ce dernier a dû quitter précipitamment la ville de Falouja dans laquelle il travaillait. Le centre de santé de l'organisation a été la cible des forces américaines. " Ils nous ont demandés par haut-parleur de cesser nos activités puis nous ont aussitôt bombardés ", dénonce-t-il. Avant de partir, le docteur Jumaa a ramassé les corps de deux Irakiens d'une trentaine d'années. Il raconte : " ils avaient les yeux bandés, les mains liées dans le dos. Leurs jambes et thorax étaient remplis d'ecchymoses. " Pour cet orthopédiste de formation, nul doute à avoir : les Américains ont infligé en toute impunité des tortures à la population. Dans le camp de Bagdad, les réfugiés de Falouja portent leur histoire à bout le bras. Leur enfer revêt désormais un autre visage. " Ici, on manque de tout. Depuis notre départ, nos enfants souffrent de diarrhées, d'allergies. On en peut plus, on veut rentrer chez nous, malheureusement, il ne nous reste plus rien ", disent-ils.

    Combien de sang devrons-nous verser ?

    Tous ces témoins révèlent le palier de violence franchi par les troupes US dans leurs combats dans le triangle sunnite. Dernièrement, Mark Kimmit, responsable adjoint des opérations militaires de la coalition, expliquait qu'il s'agissait de " l'offensive la plus significative " depuis le 1er mai 2003, fin officielle de la guerre. Le haut commandement américain parle d'une résistance composée de plusieurs centaines de combattants issus de l'ancienne garde républicaine de Saddam Hussein, des services de renseignements du moukhbarat, d'" habitants ultra conservateurs " et de combattants étrangers. Fortement organisés et entraînés au combat, les fidèles de l'ancien dictateur utiliseraient des armes de tous types : Kalachnikov, mortiers, lance-roquettes, roquettes antichars et même des missiles sol-air russe Strela. Le vieil Hassan veut y voir " la résistance de tout un peuple " et il interroge la voix pleine d'indignation : " Mais combien de sang devrons-nous verser pour être libres ? "


    Summary:
    Those are testimonies of Iraqis who have fled Fallujah, and made it to refugee camps in Baghdad. They explain how corspses are piling up in the streets. One interviewed woman has lost three relatives in the fightings, which is low compared to some of her acquaintances having lost 20 of them.

    The American troops fire indiscriminately, and many people have died under the rubble of their bombed houses. American troops barge in houses, and threaten to kill the inhabitants if they don't tell where the resistors are. Some civilians managed to flee Fallujah, however it is a very difficult: Baghdad is days away of Fallujah. Many kids suffer from disease in the refugee camps.

    A doctor of the Red Crescent explains his base of operation in Fallujah has been ordered to close down, and has been attacked immediately after the warning. He has seen young people whose legs and thorax were full of ecchymoses, a sign the Americans are torturing people there.


    I thought it is interesting to post this. It helps us see the Americans are not the nice civilized guys fighting against the evil and barbaric terrorists.

    Besides, what I read reminded me of two major traumas: the occupation of France by nazi Germany, and the occupation of Algiers by French troops. Both occupations were retaliatory in nature, and both occupations used massive threats to force civilians to cooperate with the occupier. Both involved torture, included of many innocent people who knew no info. Both were animated by the belief the occupier was somehow superior (either racially or politically superior) to the occupied.

    And we are witnessing the same right now. You have to give Kudos to the self-proclaimed most advanced country in the world for doing this
    "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
    "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
    "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

  • #2
    /me thinks Spiffor is basing an awful lot on suspect info.
    I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
    For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

    Comment


    • #3
      ...
      Attached Files
      So get your Naomi Klein books and move it or I'll seriously bash your faces in! - Supercitizen to stupid students
      Be kind to the nerdiest guy in school. He will be your boss when you've grown up!

      Comment


      • #4
        Meanwhile, the French sit around practicing their stinking abilities.
        Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
        "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
        He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

        Comment


        • #5
          Its keeps you away, so they work!

          While I will take testimonials with a grain of salt, no matter what the military claims war today will kill plenty of bystanders in such a dense area, so "colateral damage" is bound to occur.

          Question-the US won;t even try to make estimates of total, dead, yet they always seem to know how many dozens of militants they offed in any one battle..werid, huh?
          If you don't like reality, change it! me
          "Oh no! I am bested!" Drake
          "it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong" Voltaire
          "Patriotism is a pernecious, psychopathic form of idiocy" George Bernard Shaw

          Comment


          • #6
            That's Arab propaganda.
            They have a long history of exagerating what is done to them, and forgetting what they do to others.

            Comment


            • #7
              Ollie:
              Excellent picture

              I must admit there is something I really loathe in the way Americans see their war, it is their absolute belief to be right, to bring all that is great and good for the targets. I heard it being called the "messianic vocation" of the US, and I think it is spot-on.

              Yesterday, I had a meeting with old comrades, and we ended up talking about the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The arguments used by the Soviets and by their sycophants (we were their sycophants back in the day), were frighteningly similar with the US and Iraq. A belief to bring progress and justice, which allowed to overlook for any horror (what horrors? How could the Russians / the Americans perpetrate any horror? They're far above that! )

              If it wasn't for the incomparable belief to be right, maybe the Americans would avoid slaughtering Civilians, and dismiss that slaughter under the PC word of "colateral damage". But for this, they'd have to tolerate the idea their methods could be wrong.


              I'm damn glad the politicians stepped in, and forbade to attack mosques. In France, we have a particularily painful memory of the occupation, the incident of Oradour sur Glane:

              The Germans knew some resistors were harbored in the village of Oradour sur Glane. They decided to launch a retaliatory operation on the village. The population looked for a sanctuary in the church. The Germans burned down the Church, and every villager within burned to death. It is the single most barbarous act of the German occupation of France (and I know it is nothing compared to their ordinary handlings in Eastern Europe).
              This is what happens when you attack religious buildings in a religious country - you are bound to destroy all the civilians who looked for a safe haven, and who believed religious buildings are respected.
              "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
              "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
              "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Yef
                That's Arab propaganda.
                They have a long history of exagerating what is done to them, and forgetting what they do to others.
                What's typically Arab with that? Name a culture that doesn't.
                So get your Naomi Klein books and move it or I'll seriously bash your faces in! - Supercitizen to stupid students
                Be kind to the nerdiest guy in school. He will be your boss when you've grown up!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Yef
                  That's Arab propaganda.
                  Those are refugees answering a French journalist. Propaganda implies an organised and systematised attempt at bringing information, foten orchestrated by an organization (government). I strongly doubt these refugees have been briefed to tell coherent lies to journalists.

                  They have a long history of exagerating what is done to them, and forgetting what they do to others.
                  Well, sure, this woman only lost three of her relatives, the refugees only saw corspes piling in their streets, they only saw bombed houses with corpses in the rubble. What's the fuss about?
                  "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
                  "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
                  "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Spiff, drop the slaughtering civilians bit, ok?
                    Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
                    "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
                    He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by SlowwHand
                      Spiff, drop the slaughtering civilians bit, ok?
                      No.
                      "Colateral damage" is the PC word for the slaughter of civilians. The fact it is not done on purpose doesn't make it any less terrible for the victims. When you bomb a house and kill the inhabitants, whether voluntary or not, makes no difference for those who weep. It only makes a difference for the culprits to continue feeling good about it
                      "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
                      "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
                      "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SlowwHand
                        Spiff, drop the slaughtering civilians bit, ok?
                        Only if your army does first
                        Res ipsa loquitur

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          If I get time time tonight, I will translate a similar report by a Swedish journalist who is one of the few Westerners that have been in Falluja recently.

                          What happened to the "embedded reporters" anyway?
                          So get your Naomi Klein books and move it or I'll seriously bash your faces in! - Supercitizen to stupid students
                          Be kind to the nerdiest guy in school. He will be your boss when you've grown up!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Spiffor

                            No.
                            "Colateral damage" is the PC word for the slaughter of civilians. The fact it is not done on purpose doesn't make it any less terrible for the victims. When you bomb a house and kill the inhabitants, whether voluntary or not, makes no difference for those who weep. It only makes a difference for the culprits to continue feeling good about it

                            Intention matters in international law, and I think in morality.


                            Spiff, Frenchmen were killed by American and British bombers in WW2, IIUC. Do you call that "slaughtering civilians"?

                            US in Iraq vs USSR in Afghanistan. A vast difference in tactics - do we really need here to go into detail on Soviet tactics in Afghanistan??? And a vast difference in the political situation - Iraq today has a range of political parties, newspapers, etc, and has had local elections across the country, and will have national elections in less than a year.

                            I will freely admit that my country has done wrong, in Iran in 1954, and in Latin America. But thats NOT whats going on in Iraq now. If we wanted to "take the gloves off" we could have level Fallujah already, and Najaf as well. We could have crushed Muqtada Al Sadr back in May of 2003, and not given him a year to build up his strength. If we were fighting like the Soviets did in Afghanistan, Ayatollah Sistani would be in jail, and Ahmed Chalabi would be president of Iraq, and criticizing him would be a felony. And UN reps like Brahimi would be nowhere to be found.
                            "A person cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human. To become human, is what this individual person, has been created for.” Martin Buber

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by DinoDoc
                              * DinoDoc thinks Spiffor is basing an awful lot on suspect info.
                              I have no doubt there is exaggeration, and I have no doubt the journalist kept only the most accusatory part (L'Humanité is the commie newspaper).

                              However, I think there is much truth in it. I believe that Americans are indeed bombing "suspect" houses without caring for the inhabitants; I believe that they fire indiscriminately in the streets as soon as they feel threatened (they use C-130s in urban areas for god's sake!). I believe they are self-righteous enough to think that every real innocent bystander could have left the city already, and that Fallujah is now close of a free fire zone.

                              Probably the content of this article is not 100% right. But this doesn't mean the info should be utterly dismissed, like you seem to do
                              "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
                              "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
                              "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

                              Comment

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