Six Years of Resistance

Published in Alquds Alarabi
(U.K.) on 9 April 2009
by Alquds Editorial (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Namir Shabibi. Edited by Katy Burtner.
The U.S. occupation of Iraq completes its sixth year today without improvement in the security or stability promised by Iraq’s new leaders and their masters in Washington, leaving more than 25 million Iraqis without the bare minimum of either.

The new American President, Barack Obama, during his swift and unannounced visit to Iraq, warned that the coming eighteen months will be difficult and full of violence and instability. This means more spilled blood, death and displacement.

Iraq was an independent country, anchored by strong scientific clout, with a well-respected strategic position in the region. This put it firmly in the general sights of U.S. crosshairs and made it, in particular, a target of Israel.

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could have accepted tempting offers of safe refuge in exile with his family members, but his dignity refused to allow him to abandon his country as prey for the U.S. and its forces. He decided to stay and side with the resistance and undergo all the consequences that followed this sacrifice to build a great Iraq.

They [the occupiers] applied a whole host of deceptive names, like ‘liberation,’ to the invasion, and promised Iraqis growth and prosperity. Yet, the anniversary of ‘liberation’ passes without any celebration or, indeed, remembrance, since today is associated with the martyrdom of more than 1.5 million Iraqis and the displacement of more than 3 million others.

When on television, the people of Iraq ask God to have mercy upon the previous regime, particularly on the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) station, and they are expressing their longing for it. This sums up the current situation in Iraq and the sentiments of the crushed Iraqi man towards the occupation, which came to power on the backs of tanks.

The ‘New Iraq’ has become a mass grave for the people of Iraq, both living and dead. The present is a terrifying nightmare whose daily headlines are booby-trapped cars and the absence of basic services from security to water, from electricity to education and from healthcare to jobs. Basically, it is an Iraq without scientists or innovators. Instead, we have a group of hypocrites (in power) who beat their drums to the occupation and its masters.

The virtuous and honorable Iraqi people, known for their mettle, magnanimity and national pride, are the biggest loser, whereas the winner is an elite who plundered the latter’s riches and transferred them outside of the country for their own and families’ enjoyment. We are speaking of a small minority who sold their sense of national responsibility to the occupation and the enemies of Iraq, in return for billions stolen from the sweat of laborers and the tears of widows and orphans.

In spite of our many reservations about the excesses and rights violations of the old rulers, we ask God to have mercy on the ‘Old Iraq.’ The ‘New Iraq’ is drowning in malady, corruption and a lack of basic human worth, without even mentioning human rights.

There will always be those who defend the new leaders of Baghdad, whether out of hatred for the previous regime, out of material or occupational gain, or out of the malicious antagonisms of sectarianism. Yet, supporters of the ‘Old Iraq’ hide out of fear, or duck in the interests of peace. Nevertheless, the truth remains clear and difficult to bury.

The Iraqi people underwent the biggest trick in its history, both ancient and contemporary. Albeit, in the name of honor, they content themselves with their tenacious resistance, the beacon of hope, which has managed to defeat the American project. In turn, this has transformed the alleged ‘liberation’ into a nightmare for the occupier, making it the most expensive occupation in the history of empires.

When Obama decides to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq after a year and a half, it won’t be out of love for Iraqis or care for them, but as an admission of defeat and a wish to cut its losses.


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رأي القدس

يكمل الاحتلال الامريكي للعراق اليوم عامه السادس، دون ان تتحسن الأوضاع بطريقة تحقق لأكثر من خمسة وعشرين مليون عراقي الحد الأدنى من الأمن والاستقرار اللذين وعد بهما الحكام الجدد وأسيادهم في واشنطن.
الرئيس الامريكي الجديد باراك اوباما 'بشّر' العراقيين بأن الثمانية عشر شهراً المقبلة ستكون صعبة وحافلة بالعنف والاضطرابات، وذلك اثناء زيارته الخاطفة، وغير المعلنة مسبقاً لبغداد. الامر الذي يعني المزيد من الدماء والقتل والتهجير.
العراق كان دولة مستقرة، ترتكز الى قاعدة علمية قوية، ومكانة استراتيجية معترف بها في المنطقة بأسرها، الأمر الذي وضعه في دائرة الاستهداف الامريكي بشكل عام والاسرائيلي بشكل خاص.
الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين كان باستطاعته ان يقبل العروض المغرية بمغادرة البلاد الى منفى آمن ومعه افراد أسرته، ولكن كرامته أبت عليه الانسحاب وترك بلاده فريسة للأمريكان ورجالهم، وقرر البقاء، والانحياز الى صفوف المقاومة، وتحمل كل التبعات المترتبة على ذلك فداء للعراق العظيم.
اطلقوا على الغزو تسميات مضللة مثل 'التحرير'، ووعدوا العراقيين بالرخاء والازدهار، ولكن ذكرى 'التحرير' تمر دون ان يحتفل بها، او حتى يتذكرها احد، لأن هذا اليوم ارتبط في اذهان معظم العراقيين باستشهاد اكثر من مليون ونصف المليون عراقي، وتشريد اكثر من ثلاثة ملايين آخرين.
عندما يترحم ابناء العراق على ايام النظام العراقي السابق، ويعبرون عن حنينهم اليه عبر شاشات التلفزة الأجنبية، وخاصة محطة الـ'بي. بي. سي' البريطانية، فهذا يلخص حقيقة الاوضاع الحالية في العراق، ومشاعر المواطن العراقي المطحون تجاه الاحتلال ومن وصلوا الى سدة الحكم بفضل دباباته.
العراق الجديد اصبح مقبرة جماعية لأبناء العراق، الاحياء منهم والأموات، فالحاضر كابوس مرعب، عناوينه السيارات المفخخة، وانعدام الخدمات الأساسية من امن ومياه وكهرباء وتعليم وطبابة ووظائف. عراق بلا علماء ولا مبدعين، وانما مجموعة من المنافقين الذين يطبلون للاحتلال ورجالاته.
الشعب العراقي الكريم عفيف النفس، المعروف برجولته وشهامته وكبريائه الوطني هو الخاسر الأكبر، بينما الرابحون حفنة معدودة من المحسوبين عليه الذين نهبوا ثرواته، وهرّبوا امـواله الى الخارج لكي يتنعموا بها وأسرهم. مجموعة صغيرة بــاعت ضميرها الــوطني للاحتلال واعــداء العــراق مقــابل مليارات ســرقتها من عرق الكادحين، ودموع الأرامل وأبنائهم اليتامى.
نترحم على 'العراق القديم' رغم تسليمنا بكل التحفظات على تجاوزات حكامه وانتهاكاتهم لحقوق الانسان، ليس لأنه الأفضل، وانما لأن 'العراق الجديد' غارق في السوء والفساد وانعدام قيمة الانسان نفسه، ناهيك عن ضياع حقوقه.
سيظل هناك من يدافع عن حكام بغداد الجدد، سواء بسبب كراهية النظام القديم، او لاستفادة مادية او وظيفية، او انطلاقاً من أحقاد طائفية مريضة، بينما سيتوارى بعض من المدافعين عن العراق القديم خوفاً، او ايثاراً للسلامة، ولكن الحقائق ستظل ناصعة، من الصعب اخفاؤها.
الشعب العراقي تعرض لأكبر خديعة في تاريخه، القديم منه والحديث، ويكفيه شرفاً ان مقاومته الصلبة، نقطة الضوء الأبرز في حاضره، استطاعت ان تهزم المشروع الامريكي، وتحول 'التحرير' المزعوم الى كابوس للمحتلين، وتجعل من الاحتلال الأكثر كلفة في تاريخ الامبراطوريات، وعندما يقرر الرئيس اوباما سحب قواته من العراق بعد عام ونصف العام، فذلك ليس حباً في العراقيين، وحرصاً عليهم، وانما اعترافاً بالهزيمة، ورغبة في تقليص الخسائر.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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  1. ok well written article.

    but it fails to talk of the three tribes in iraq and hate one another.

    even with the three tribes that hate one another we americans are imperialists.

    we have been imperialists for many decades.

    now most americans dont have a clue they are imperialists. not even a hint as the germans and the japanese did not know decades ago.

    trust me when I tell you americans dont lose any sleep over the plunder we have done to the iraqis.

    the cost of the war is what is driving americans crazy.

    we will pay a price for our imperialism. what we sow we reap or often called karma.

    nations have karma just like souls have karma.

    america is a failed state and falling fast but they are told it is only a recession. politicans know better than to tell them the truth.

    I am deeply sadden that my nation has become an imperialist nation. ike warned us in 1961 about our industrial military complex but no one listened.

    never have I been in a christian church have the people prayed for the iraqis always for their soldiers.

    how few americans can fully comprehend what we have done to the iraqis. few americans are able to see their greed and arrogance and imperialism.

    wealth can destroy a nation and its morality.

    we killed one million vietnamese and did not bat an eye for the vietnamese. most americans did not even know who the viet cong were.

    please know that there are a few americans very few that understand our imperialism and the destruction it is doing to your country.

    as long as china loans us money we will continue our imperialism. we even call our soldiers heros for doing what we are doing to the iraqis.

    few americans will understand my words, very few.

    I will be called many names by americans for my words. my conscious must express itself.