After five years of war in Iraq, protesters say: Enough already
By Jim Phillips
March 20, 2008
With the war in Iraq at five years and counting, a group of about 30 local protesters did some counting of their own at a demonstration outside the Athens County Courthouse Monday.
They were counting numbers like 4.3 million (Iraqi refugees), 4,000 (U.S. troops killed), and 456 billion (dollars spent by the United States on the war through fiscal year 2007).
Demonstrator Bob Sheak said he has little hope that domestic protests like the one Monday will prompt U.S. leaders to pull troops out of Iraq, but that it’s nonetheless important for people who oppose the war to make their position public.
“The government’s not going to do anything (to stop the war),” he predicted. “They’ll come up with some reason why we have to continue it… I’m not sure I have a glimmer of hope, but you’ve just got to come out here and stand up for something that’s true. You do what you can, whether it’s hopeful or not.”
Sheak argued that the time to talk about gradual withdrawal may be past. No matter what the impact of a quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq may be, he suggested, it can’t be much worse than the impact of leaving them there.
While government officials cite drops in internecine violence as a sign that the troop “surge” is having a positive effect, Sheak said he believes that over the long term, violence is increasing, despite any short-term dips in the numbers.
While the daily death toll has come down from its level of about 65 in February 2006, Sheak said this is partly attributable to “ethnic cleansing” of Sunnis from Baghdad and Shias from al-Anbar province, and enforced separation of Sunnis from Shias.
He cited a recent article by Juan Cole, president of the Global Americana Institute, reporting that the death numbers are now going back up – to 20 in January, 26 in February, and 39 in the first half of March.
“The trend is up, Cole says,” Sheak observed.
He also noted that while the official reasoning behind the occupation is to allow Iraqis to form a stable, democratic government, so far, under U.S. occupation the Iraqi government is noted mainly for its extreme corruption.
By one assessment, he said, in 2007 Iraq ranked 178 out of 180 nations worldwide in terms of government corruption. The Iraqi government is clearly in the hands of one religious faction, he said, and is increasingly incapable of providing basic services such as food distribution.
Peggy Gish, a local Christian peace activist who just returned from her latest trip to northern Iraq, agreed that the violence in Iraq is not really improving, and that the Iraqi government is widely viewed as corrupt.
“People there say, yes, there’s a little less violence in the streets, but it’s not a really stable sort of situation,” she reported. “There’s still a lot of violence, and if there isn’t improvement in many of the problems there, as far as infrastructure, then this lull isn’t going to last very long.”
The government “is considered corrupt,” Gish added. “One of the big complaints is about their actions in the supporting of death-squad-type militias, that have been a big part of the escalation of violence between Sunni and Shia.”
Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani, Gish said, “has been a very ruthless, overbearing person,” allowing militias to target Sunnis without restraint. “That is a really major factor in the escalation of the Sunni-Shia violence, and it’s not often even mentioned in the media here,” she said. “People do not support the government. It’s very fragile right now.
As protesters sang anti-war tunes, passersby were encouraged to sign petitions to Athens County’s U.S. senators and representatives, urging them to support four pieces of war-related legislation.
House Resolution 4959 would require congressional review of any plans for a prolonged U.S. presence in Iraq. HR 3797 would require the United States to enter into diplomatic negotiation with Iraq, the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to help stabilize Iraq and create conditions for ending the war.
Senate Bill 2646 would require congressional approval for any security agreement with the Iraqi cabinet about long-term U.S. bases in Iraq. SB 2130 would call on the administration to make a sustained effort at diplomacy in the Middle East to improve security, advance Iraq’s national reconciliation and facilitate U.S. troop withdrawal; seek a greater role for the U.N.; and provide more assistance to Iraqi refugees.
Supporters of the “surge,” including a local retired Air Force colonel who sent two letters to the editor to The Athens NEWS in recent weeks, argue that critics such as those who protested Friday and Monday in Athens, are ignoring the fact that a hasty pull-out from Iraq will likely result in a bloodbath worse than anything seen so far in that country.
They also argue that critics don’t seem to credit the benefits of establishing democracy in the Middle East. The retired officer, Randy Morris, in a letter on Monday, stated, “My complaint is with those who deny successes in Iraq and effectively root for our defeat. I believe such behavior… deserves the disdain of all Americans.”
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