Re: A Russian view of the war (April 6)

[Jim Farmelant <farmelantj@xxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 12:20:50 -0400 "Ed C." <bronterre@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
writes:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Farmelant" <farmelantj@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: A Russian view of the war (April 6)
> >
>
> I'm sure this question has been asked before, but is there
> any way we can get at least an inkling of another source to
> verify this material?  In some ways it simply 'rings true' because
> it isn't the rosy scenarios of the U$ War Dept. & its PR firm
> known as "the media," while it also isn't the hyperbole of
> the Ba'athist Information minister about how Iraqi forces
> have cleared out the enemy from the airport and have recaptured
> it, etc etc.  The reports on Al-Jazeera are not specific about
> the above assault by Iraqi forces but simply suggest that
> there is more resistance than is reported by 'coalition' forces.
>
> In solidarity,
> Ed C.
>

For a skeptical assessment of US war claims,
see this story from the Al Jazeera web site.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Doubts grow over US war claims

http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=1895&vers
ion=1&template_id=277&parent_id=258

Habib Battah


With only one or two Iraqi cities firmly held by
US-led forces in the third week of their invasion,
experts are questioning the effectiveness of the

?We are almost in control of their country," said US
secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday.

American war plan, and the credibility of messages
being relayed by US diplomats.


"We are almost in control of their country, and we'll
be in complete control soon,'' said US Secretary of
State Colin Powell on Friday.


Former congressional official Joseph Cirincione
respectfully disagrees.


?It would be more correct to say we are operating in
most areas of the country but we control very little,? said
Cirincione, also Senior Associate at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace and member of the
Council on Foreign Relations.


Claims made by other Bush officials, such as Defence
Secretary Rumsfeld?s assertion that Saddam Hussein would
fall ?at the first whiff of gunpowder? or Vice president
Dick Cheney?s defiant pronouncement that the Iraqi
military would ?fall like a house of cards,? have fallen
far short of expectations, he said.

?Clearly the senior civilian leadership in US was surprised
by the level of resistance. They honestly believed people
would rise up when they entered and that hasn?t
happened,? Cirincione said.

Coalition forces have overestimated their control over
Iraqi cities, said the commander of Egyptian forces in
the 1991 Gulf war, Mohammed Bilal.

?How can they announce the capture of certain cities
when they confess to pockets of resistance? he asked
in an interview with Al Jazeera.

How can they claim they?ve taken a city when they?re
still being fired upon, or when they continue shelling
a town centre? This means that they must not have
troops there,? he said.

Coalition forces are actually seizing the outskirts of
cities, according to Bilal, where the public is not
involved in the the defence of a city. A city?s defence
plan does not include the outskirts, he said.

The US military is winning substantial victories against
conventional forces, Cirincione said. ?We have defeated
most of the Republican Guard. No one thought it
would be a contest.?

But ?real control? only comes when US forces walk
the streets of a city. "And that?s still a long
way off,? he said.

Despite the ?awesome? power of the US military, it is
highly vulnerable to attacks by guerrilla or
irregular forces.

Such forces do not attack frontline positions, he
said. ?They engage the enemy wherever it is weakest,
such as fuel trucks and ammunition dumps.?

And the level of resistance witnessed so far indicates
it will be a ?very difficult? occupation, he said.

?The greatest challenge is still ahead trying to occupy
a country where the larger part of the population
opposes American force.?

Even if half of Baghdad?s six million residents welcome
US troops, deep antagonism,  possibly emanating from
12 years of crippling sanctions, may reside in the
hearts of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis in Baghdad or elswhere.

Having based the war plan on very optimistic assessments,
the US military ?grossly underestimated? the power
of nationalism, ?both Iraqi nationalism and Arab
nationalism,? Cirincione said.



A tense air of suspicion may reign over trigger-trained
young American boys occupying Baghdad; unable to speak
the language, and having trouble discerning between
innocents and combatants.

In Beirut, US troops were welcomed in the 1980s only
to be subjected to the worst attack in military history,
a few months after their entry.

?Suicide attacks will be increasingly active in the
future,? said retired General Mustapha Maher formerly
with the Egyptian military.

?The Iraqis are relying on the factor of time,? he
said. ?The longer the war lasts, the greater US and
the British loses will be.?

American citizens may not be prepared for casualties
from a protracted conflict, due in part to highly
optimistic media coverage, said Ciricione.

?When you look at American media this war is being shown
from the perspective of the firing hand, and in the Arab
world, this war is being viewed on receiving end, with
an emphasis on those being killed.?

?In America it looks heroic, but in the Arab world it
looks like slaughter,? he said. ?The American public
does not understand the level of hatred growing in
the Muslim world as a result of this war.? --- Al Jazeera


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