[Marxism] Occupied Iraq: "Any demonstration against the government or coalition forces will be fired upon"

[Juan Fajardo <fajardos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    "Any demonstration against the government
    or coalition forces will be fired upon"
    -- U.S.-backed Regional Governor Hussein al-Jaburi




Tanks Roll into Tikrit
By Robin Pomeroy
Reuters

     Tuesday 16 December 2003

    "Any demonstration against the government or coalition forces will
be fired upon"
    -- U.S.-backed Regional Governor Hussein al-Jaburi


     (Reuters) - Tanks have rolled out on to the streets of Tikrit, as
a message that the U.S. army will not tolerate shows of support for
Saddam Hussein in the captured president's home town.

     U.S. troops forcibly broke up at least four attempted pro-Saddam
demonstrations and three soldiers were wounded when a bomb went off as
their Humvee patrolled the streets.

     In response, around 30 American tanks and Bradley armoured
vehicles rolled up Tikrit's busy main street as two helicopter gunships
buzzed overhead.

     Armed troops jumped down from tanks and some used strong language
to clear shoppers from crowded pavements in a town smarting from lost
privilege after the fall of Saddam.

     Tikrit is home to many of Saddam's kinsmen who enjoyed wealth and
status under his three decade rule. U.S. troops found the former
president hiding in a pit just a few km (miles) from town. A U.S.
commander conceded that the occupying forces would never be popular.

     "These people love Saddam, that isn't true of other cities," said
Lieutenant Colonel Steven Russell. "These people have always hated us in
this area. It is not surprising that they hate us."

     Some locals backed into shop doorways, many just stood and watched
the parade by an occupying army whose temporary base is a sprawling
complex of palaces Saddam built for himself and his family on the side
of the Tigris river on the edge of town.

     An hour later, a handful of military vehicles returned, one
carrying the U.S.-backed regional governor Hussein al-Jaburi, while a
recording of his voice boomed a warning to would-be Saddam loyalists.

     "Any demonstration against the government or coalition forces will
be fired upon," Jaburi's voice said, according to an army interpreter.
"This is a fair warning."

     Demonstrators risk a year in jail and, if they work for the state
as civil servants or teachers, they will loose their jobs, the message
said. All demonstrations are illegal in the U.S.-occupied province.

     "They are not allowed to go around kissing pictures of Saddam in
this city," Russell said. "It will not happen."

     Afterwards, Jaburi and Russell interviewed a middle-aged man in
traditional Arab clothing who they suspect of inciting demonstrations.

     "Look me in the eye. Let me make something very clear," the
American officer told the man over tea at the governor's office.

     "If our ears and eyes see and hear you are connected with
demonstrations, and anti-coalition activities you will be going to jail
for a very long time."

     Russell described the roll-out of tanks not as a show of force,
but as a security operation and said a tough approach was needed. "We
cannot hand out lollipops, it does not work," he said.

( http://www.truthout.org/ )


Original story:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=423620



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