Wieso man den Amis den Sieg nicht gönnt

Taquiyah, Montag, 28. April 2003, 00:08 (vor 7880 Tagen) @ Sarah

The CIA human shields updated and guided the
American forces to the bombing of key regime
installations, and to selected places where Saddam
and the Ba´ath Party leadership would meet: thus
the origin of the information that led to the
"decapitation strike" with four 900 kilogram bombs
in the Mansur district on April 8, the first night
of the war. Saddam survived. But 14 civilians were
killed - members of two Christian families, mostly
women and children. Asia Times Online has been to
the site twice: for Baghdadis, it´s an unofficial
shrine to the horrors of this war.

As the Americans bribed the resistance, the order
not to resist started streaming from the top
commanders down. Republican Guard commanders told
the rank-and-file that the resistance would be
secret and long-term, according to Saddam and
Qusay´s long-elaborated scenario of a guerrilla
war. The "fall" of Saddam International Airport
was the first part of the deal. Another open
secret in Baghdad were the famous tunnels linking
the main Republican palace of Saddam to the
airport. Republican Guard commanders tipped off
the Marines, and the tunnels were immediately
seized.

Proof that Saddam and top Ba´ath Party officials
were out of the handover loop was the promise by
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, in one of his briefings,
that the media should expect an "unusual" Iraqi
counter-attack to retake the airport. Many thought
about chemical and biological warfare, when in
fact the plan was to send Special Republican
Guards through the tunnels to take the Americans
by surprise. The surprise went the other way.

When the American Abrams tanks arrived close to
the Palestine Hotel - Baghdad´s international
media headquarters - the "game" was practically
over. The Republican Guard commanders were about
to be airlifted out of Iraq, and their soldiers
had orders to demobilize and melt into the
civilian population. Independent media had to be
intimidated, silenced or corralled - and that´s
why the al-Jazeera office and the Abu Dhabi TV
office were hit, as well as the Palestine Hotel
itself. The deliberate communications and power
black out of Baghdad fit into the pattern: the
Pentagon and the Republican Guard had to be
dancing together in the dark.

The commander of the Fedayeen of Saddam had heard
about the American offer to the Republican Guard
elite officers. He realized that his own best
interests were to get his own piece of the action.
He got it. The Fedayeen were instantly beheaded,
and were left to roam helplessly around Baghdad
and finally dissolve into the civilian population.
Game over.

Baghdad now can watch satellite TV in the streets.
The communication blackout is slowly being lifted.
Away from the American media spin, the same theme
is being replayed over and over again in Iraq,
from Sunni neo-entrepreneurs to Shi´ite clerics,
from last week´s unprecedented street
demonstration after jumma (Friday) prayers at the
Abu Hanifa mosque to the emotional convulsion of
the Shi´ite celebrations in Karbala: the Americans
want Iraq´s oil, and the guerrilla war will start
sooner or later.

George W Bush solemnly promised that war criminals
would be brought to trial in Iraq. There are
around 60 secret police headquarters in Baghdad.
They are all empty. The giant Mukhabarat complex -
the secret services´ pleasure dome, thoroughly
bombed by the Americans - is empty. When one goes
to these places, still loaded with shredded,
burned or partially readable documents, only
reporters are to be found: not a single American
forensic specialist. War criminals of lower rank -
Saddam´s invisible professional torturers, the
so-called "B" list of the Ba´ath Party - are not
being pursued. Iraqis openly say that most of
these people are now seeking to work for the new
occupying power: all smiles in their newfound,
nondescript, civilian clothes, they were to be
found starting from 9am every day outside the
Palestine Hotel, trying to get a job with the
Marines´ Civil Affairs Unit. In an effort to
disclose names and responsibilities in a giant,
totalitarian police state, every bit of
information is helpful. The Americans are not even
trying to make an effort.


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED25Ak04.
html