IRAQ: "Guerilla Warfare" is taking a heavy toll on US occupation forces
by
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de Aztlan
--- Ernesto "El Che" Guevara ---
Los Angeles, Alta California - Friday June 13, 2003 - (ACN) The US chief occupation administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has issued a proclamation outlawing any “gatherings, pronouncements or publications that call for opposition to the US occupation." Bremer issued the proclamation after US troops suffered a series of casualties including the downing of an Apache helicopter and a jet plane by Iraqi resistance fighters earlier this week.
There is now a growing resistance movement in Iraq that is utilizing
deadly guerilla tactics against the approximately 180,000 US troops
stationed in the oil rich Arab country. Guerilla warfare is a very
effective military strategy used by small irregular military units
against a larger and better armed regular army. Guerilla warfare was
utilized by the irregular Vietcong units to oust the US Armed Forces out
of Vietnam and more recently by the Mujahideen to defeat the Russians in
Afghanistan.
The Bush Administration is now facing major obstacles in its efforts to consolidate its control over Iraq and its vast oil resources. Bush and his cronies are extremely anxious to exploit Iraq's oil in order to pay for the huge costs of the war. The US deficit is now Trillions in the red. It looks, however, that US plans to benefit from Iraq's vast oil fields may go awry. As part of Iraqi resistance guerilla tactics, an oil pipeline, 15 kilometres from the key refinery town of Baiji, was blow up last Friday. Successful efforts by Iraqi guerilla fighters to stop the US from benefiting from Iraq's oil could possibly bankrupt the USA.
The situation for US occupation forces in Iraq could get a lot worse in the near future. La Jornada of Mexico City reported last week that hundreds of Arabs have travelled to Iraq to participate in "suicide missions" against US occupation troops. It is just a matter of time when these operations will be undertaken causing more casualties and further demoralization of US soldiers. Ten US soldiers have already been killed by Iraqi guerrilla fighters in Baghdad alone over the past 15 days. Dozens more have been wounded.
The implementation of "martial law" and brutality against the Iraqi
civilian population has aggravated the situation significantly.
Approximately 3,000 US troops from the 3rd Infantry Division had to be
deployed in the city of Fallujah to suppress resistance among the
quarter of a million residents after occupation forces massacred Iraqi
civilians in the city on April 28 and April 30. Resistance fighters
are conducting regular attacks against US troops in the city during the
night. It appears that the guerilla fighters have the full support of the residents of the city. The residents are assisting the nighttime
guerrilla operations. According to the US military, the residents are utilizing different colored flares and light signals to warn Iraqi
fighters about the strength of approaching US units so they can attack
the most vulnerable. This is a classic guerilla warfare tactic.
Presently the US military is in a very difficult situation in Iraq. The Iraqi people have suffered greatly for many years because of US imposed economic sanctions and the horrific effects on children from depleted uranium that was used during the 1st Gulf War by Bush Sr. The Iraqi people have a lot of resentment against US soldiers that will manifest in support for the resistance. As the affects of a destroyed public infrastructure become worse and worse on the population, Iraqis will become increasingly impatient with the invaders and bolder guerilla actions against US soldiers will take place.
Worst of all, more and more US soldiers, occupying Iraq, are becoming increasingly demoralized. They were told that they were going to Iraq to "liberate" the country but now they are seeing that they are not wanted there. They are living in constant fear of being shot. Like in Vietnam, they are never sure which civilian may be part of the resistance and attempt to kill them. A military policeman patrolling the city of Fallujah told the Washington Post, “We’ve got to be on our toes all the time. Eyes open, scanning the buildings. It’s not tanks and infantry we’re fighting anymore. It’s something hidden.”
Many of the soldiers also feel betrayed. They never figured that they will remain in Iraq as an occupying force for an extended period of time. In addition, many are becoming aware that they were lied to by their Commander in Chief, George Bush, about the real reasons they are risking their lives in Iraq. They were told that they would be "liberators" and eliminators of the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that Saddam Hussein supposedly possessed. Now that US Deputy Defense Secretary, Zionist Paul Wolfowitz, confessed that the WMD's was just a ruse and that the real reason was to take possession of Iraq's oil fields, many of the GI's feel "duped".
