[Marxism] Iraqi blogger:" Where is Sistani? WHERE IS EVERYBODY?"

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sistani is keeping quiet, hoping that the current battles and a likely
Sunni boycott of the elections will help the Shia elite win the
elections and force Washington to let them govern pretty much as they
please.  Past experience is that it usually takes around two weeks of
fighting for pressure from below to reach the point that he feels
obliged to step in and preserve his stance of being independent of the
occupation. (And Sadr seems to be trying to assert his independent
position without getting too far from Sistani.) Will the fighting in
Fallujah last long enough to force the hands of the Shia leaders?

The New York Times announced that the last strongholds are now under
attack.  It is not entirely clear, however, that the "strongholds"
previously seized always remain under US control when a new "stronghold"
comes under attack.  Fighting sometimes resumes behind the advancing
troops.  The official figures that I have seen on the percentage of the
city held by US troops has remained at 70 percent for several days, as
has the figure of 18 US soldiers dead and "hundreds" of insurgents
killed.

I am pretty sure complete and final victory will be declared very soon
-- maybe even by Monday.  If it isn't people will begin to ask
troublesome questions.  But victory may or may not mean the end of the
fighting. It stands to reason that the US forces with their overwhelming
advantages should be able to "roll over" the resistance (in the words of
the ineffable "Militant" newspaper)and establish complete control of a
small city for at least a short time, this may not be what is happening
on the ground.

Perhaps Bush will be flow into a secure plaza to eat plastic turkey in
front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner. Maybe he will pop up and say,
"Bring them on!" like the ground hog predicting six more months of
intensifying war.
Feldman




Posted by river @ 1:30 AM Saturday, November 13, 2004
http://riverbendblog.blogspotcom/


People in Fallujeh are being murdered. The stories coming back are
horrifying. People being shot in cold blood in the streets and being
buried under tons of concrete and iron... where is the world? Bury
Arafat and hurry up and pay attention to what's happening in Iraq.



They say the people have nothing to eat. No produce is going into the
city and the water has been cut off for days and days. Do you know what
it's like to have no clean water??? People are drinking contaminated
water and coming down with diarrhoea and other diseases. There are
corpses in the street because no one can risk leaving their home to bury
people. Families are burying children and parents in the gardens of
their homes. WHERE IS EVERYONE???



Furthermore, where is Sistani? Why isn't he saying anything about the
situation? When the South was being attacked, Sunni clerics everywhere
decried the attacks. Where is Sistani now, when people are looking to
him for some reaction? The silence is deafening.



We're not leaving the house lately. There was a total of 8 hours of
electricity today and we've been using the generator sparingly because
there is a mysterious fuel shortage... several explosions were heard in
different places.


Things are deteriorating swiftly.

More on Fallujeh crisis here:

Aid agencies say Falluja "big disaster":
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6
20124&section=news

Eyewitness: Smoke and Corpses:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4004873.stm


Iraqis will never forgive this- never. It's outrageous- it's genocide
and America, with the help and support of Allawi, is responsible. May
whoever contributes to this see the sorrow, terror and misery of the
people suffering in Fallujeh.


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