Taking lives and loot.

Publication: Kurdish Life

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COPYRIGHT 2006 Kurdish Library

It was Christmas Eve here, but over there in Iraq the guerrilla war raged unabated. Two U.S. servicemen were killed by a roadside bomb. In another incident, a bomber on a bike killed 10 and injured many more at a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad. An attack on an Iraqi army base killed 10. By Christmas Day the death toll of the U.S. military reached 2,168. Aside from that dismal statistic, bombers and gunmen killed 11 people in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Jbala. According to the LA Times, bombings and shootings across Iraq left at least 21 people dead, ending what the paper termed "a relatively placid stretch." Unable to do a thing to quell the violence, not to mention that by Arabs and Kurds embedded in Iraq's police and security forces, the U.S. military decided against handing over jails or detainees to "Iraqi authorities" until they demonstrate "a higher standard of care." (AP 12.26.05)

Precisely who are the men in Iraq's military and police uniforms? Preliminary results of the December 15 elections, held the answer. According to the New York Times, the tally revealed that while Sunnis had very little representation, "Kurdish peshmerga militiamen seemed to have a heavily disproportionate presence in the security forces." Iraqi election officials said "the heavily disproportionate votes for the Kurds and the slight showing for the Sunnis primarily reflected their relative numbers in the security forces." (12.27.5) This disproportion has been deliberately disguised by the U.S. and by the ruling Kurdish parties. When fatalities are announced to the media, they are not identified as Arabs or Kurds, they are "Iraqis." Washington has insinuated Kurds in key military positions including the Iraqi army's chief of staff anticipating that in an all-out civil war, the Kurds will have first hand knowledge of the composition, military hardware, location and relative strength of units, and therefore significant advantage in a fight against the Arabs. Were Arabs in the street aware of the numbers and tactical positions of Kurds in "Iraqi" forces, they would be even more hostile to the U.S. occupation. Were Kurds in the street to learn just how many young Kurds are being killed in "Iraqi" forces, they would be equally dismayed.

On December 27th AP reported that the U.S. coalition was dwindling. Ukraine and Bulgaria announced that all of their troops had left the country. Poland's prime minister told reporters, "We would like to gradually withdraw Polish troops from Iraq, not in an abrupt way, but gradually." One day later U.S. military fatalities had climbed to 2,175.

Now, in an effort to curtail flagrant abuses of Sunni Arab civilians by "Iraqi" police commando units, the U.S. military announced plans to significantly increase the number of American advisors within their ranks. According to the commander in charge, some armed militias appeared to act with backing of the Iraqi ministries of Interior and Defense. (NYT 12.30.05) By the last day of the year, the count of U.S. military dead for 2005 alone had reached 841. And ushering in the New Year was an announcement that total fatalities since the invasion had reached 2,179.

With the arrival of 2006, thirteen Iraqis were killed and scores injured by 13 car bombs exploded around Iraq. One day later, 4 American civilian contractors were killed and 18 civilians injured when a truck slammed into a bus. In Baghdad a gunfight killed 3 policemen. Police found bodies of eight civilians dumped at a sewage plant. A policeman was found shot in the head. Police discovered 3 bodies in Iskandariya.

On January 3rd the U.S. Central Command said Navy F-14s strafing an insurgent target hit a house in Beiji killing 7 Iraqis and wounding 4. January 4th was the worst day of violence since the December 15 elections. At least 55 people were killed, many of them mourners at a funeral. At least 42 were injured. In another incident a car bomb near an outdoor market killed 7 and wounded 15. Elsewhere in Baghdad 3 civilians and a policeman were killed by a car bomb. Thirteen were wounded. In Kirkuk a roadside bomb killed 3 civilians. In Mosul the offices of the PUK were attacked and a civilian killed. In Baquba a roadside bomb killed a woman. (Guardian 1.4.06)

On the following day, while politicians haggled inside the Green Zone a bomber attacked a line of police recruits in Ramadi. Fifty-six were killed and 60 injured. In Baghdad 3 people were killed in separate incidents. A blast near the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala killed 49 and injured 52. A suicide bomb killed three soldiers. The death toll for the day was the largest since Sept. 14 when 112 died. (AP 1.5.06) On January 6th eleven American troops lost their lives. By now the U.S. casualty total reached 2,194.

Two days later a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed killing 12. On January 9th an attack on the Interior Ministry killed 21 and injured 24. In Kirkuk gunmen killed an investigative judge. In Baghdad a member of Iraq's de-Baathification commission was killed, as was an Iraqi intelligence officer and a doctor. Five bodies were found shot to death.

By January 12th some 2,212 members of the military were dead. Meanwhile casualty totals among the President's "coalition of the willing" remained the same: British 98: Italy 27; Ukraine 18, Poland 17; Bulgaria 13 Spain1; Slovakia 3; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, one death each."

Convinced that advance warning of further casualties to come would somehow assuage public discontent back home, the U.S. military again mouthed the mantra, "more violence will engulf Iraq in the weeks ahead." (AP 1.12.06) But there was no way to comfort Iraqis under guns and bombs. "We used to love the American people but not anymore," cried Iraqi waitress Munaim Abid Hassan. "Hatred is spreading all over now, and everyone wants revenge on them. You [Bush] are bringing disasters to the people of your own country, not only to Iraqis." Retired Iraqi general Ahmed Abdul Aziz voiced his outrage. "The Americans destroyed everything in Iraq," he said. "I think every Iraqi should weep all his life over what it going on. Bush should be among the greatest terrorists along with his colleagues in Britain, because they are all criminals who have killed hundreds...

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