A well written article appeared in two parts at the last days of 2007 on Jordanian newspaper Al-arab Al-youm by Jordanian journalist Nahedh Hatter [Part-1, part-2…Arabic], the original name of the two parts article is “The Iraqi resistance, is it the end?”.
The writer explains the strategy used by the Iraqi resistance to defeat the American occupation, later he counts few mistakes committed by the Iraqi resistance, and in second part he explains how the Iraqi resistance changed the world power balance.
Although Iraqi resistance operations are at lowest level in the last three months, the American occupation didn’t win the war, not militarily nor politically.
At the military level, the US can not win over guerrilla fighters supported by their community, as well as the abilities of the Iraqi resistance fighters proved to be really high since the occupation of 2003 till now.
The Iraqi resistance organizations have not crushed, but it turned into a militia govern their own influence areas.
At the political level, this development does not benefit the American agenda in Iraq, only to obtain a truce for the presidential elections.
The Iraqi resistance internal infrastructure is too complicated to the Americans to manage and can be described as an independent regional power, this was also the British experience with Iraq ninety years ago, prior to the establishment of the Iraqi State.
What does that truce means?
The survival law has won –and this is normal– the resistance community and its guardian of the Sunni Arab tribes fought fiercely and courageously for four years without external support, in difficult circumstances and on three fronts.
In addition to the criminal nature of the occupation, and faced with what could be described as a genocide by two internal forces:
Shiite militias associated with Iran, and Al-Qaeda militias associated with other regional forces, including — ironically-Iran also.
The first one attacked the Sunnis in the Baghdad and its surroundings, and the second attacked the Sunnis in their on region.
therefore, a broad Sunni stream called for a truce, which was accepted by the exhausted and even fatigue occupier, for example:
The resistance slogan says:
The resistance is the only and the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people
Shiites and Kurds interpret this slogan that the Sunnis want to re-gain the power again, therefor, in the Iraqi context, it wasn’t revolutionary, it was sectarian. Neither could any of the resistance organizations, because of their religious or sectarian nature they failed to provide an internal national vision, even the Baathists refused an initiative to self-criticismand review the mistakes of the past, insist on regaining the power which led them to isolation not only by the Iraqi society , but in resistance community also.
But the worst mistake was: hosting Al-Qaeda, which opened the sectarian massacres, imposition itself as Taliban-like, authoritarian state on the resistance in particular.
The first phase of the Iraqi resistance ended with forcing the occupiers to radically change their strategy, and the recognition of the weight and quality of the Sunni component in the country, making the occupiers change the power share strategy based on Sunni-Shiite, rather than depending on the Kurds, who now return to normal size in the Iraqi and the regional equation.
Although, it was attacked by very powerful enemies, and its internal political weakness, the achievements of the Iraqi resistance in the first stage were tremendous.
They saved the Arab world from kneeling under the weight of the defeat, and it was extremely rapid response resistance in history, this stormy response hindered the American colonial agenda in Iraq and the region and gave it a very painful blows.
The Iraqi infrastructure is was intractable on colonialists, in the sense that its internal conditions are stronger than the external conditions - however, the pace of launching the Iraqi resistance, size and ability to inflict heavy losses in the occupation, the military and security groups since spring, 2004 proved this theory, and demonstrated the historic failure of the neo-conservatives strategy based on the possibility of changing the national structures with military force, his strategy has become obsolete now.
Iraqi resistance was able in four years of fighting, to restore order in the regional power balance in favor of States and local forces in the region, each according to its capacity and ability to benefit from the American predicament in Iraq.
The biggest winners are Iran, Syria, the Lebanese opposition and Hamas.
At the global level, a four-year American’s sinking in the Iraq-war, was a golden opportunity for China and Russia to be converted into super powers, and it was an opportunity for the socialists in Latin American to advance and seize the power in several countries known before as (the US backyard) at the expense of the interests of America itself, even in North America competition, Washington lost the war in all areas, except the military superiority, but you can not be a superpower dominating the world depending on your bully capabilities alone without economic, cultural and ideological success
Washington, in its war on Iraq lost almost everything, from controlling the international oil sector, where Russia, China and India took the 1/3 of this sector for themselves as comparators,
But the major defeat suffered by the American empire, is the ideological and culture defeat, which is associated in the collective human mind with barbarity, war and bloodshed, and imperialism, since 2003 the world has changed indeed, but to oppose the United Sate agenda.
We do not know when the Iraqi resistance will launch its second phase, but it will come in the future in the form of a popular revolution and the national anti-sectarian and stands against linking politics to religion and regional influence, especially Iran, and this revolution will shakes the American occupation and its influence in the region and the world.
The Iraqis will surprise us as they did always.
It is Iraq’s destiny to fight until the end, and the destiny of the American Empire is to be shattered in Iraq.
Who actually said the US had any intention of winning, just as Israel was “repelled” in their last skirmish. There are only 2 groups of people the elite(semite and non-semite) and us the sheeple(semite and non-semite) or cannon fodder of the elite. The “difference” between the east and west is an illusion.
The United Nations had control over ALL of Iraq’s OIl revenues.
you call this power?
How is this better than the so called imperialist power now, which has relaunched the Iraqi dinar, set up public companies, and the first Iraqi stock exchange,as well as investors from many countries to help build the new infrasttructure. You call this American imperialism? Alot of the investors are from England, Europe, the Middle East.
The United Nations imposed 13 years of sanctions on Iraq, for it’s invasion of Kuwait, and considered several times how to remove Saddam Hussein from power, as a condition of restoring trade.
You call this freedom of movement by China and Latin America, etc…? China and Latin America supported any sanctions that were imposed on Saddam. The entire international community did. If anything we wanted them to revert to sustenance living, not enjoy the rewards of participating in capitalism and selling oil for goods, until we could replace Saddam.
That’s why oil for food was introduced.
In less than one hour, a nuclear warhead could be launched from a country who can afford to manufacture, buy and launch one, and we can’t detect them on our radars. These things go 10,000 miles an hour now, and hit their targets.
You wanted Saddam to have money so he could buy one, or enrich uranium?
I do not see how Hamas has benefited from Iraq. Palestine was given the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank as part of the PEACE process, for a roadmap to peace, which restores a greater balance of power, and two state solution potential for Palestine and Israel, or at least provides land.
Hamas took the peace offering and sincerity of the international community in returning land, and
have their own government independent of the Palestinian Authority which they tried to overthrow, and now the west and everyone arms Fatah, fueling even less chance of people dying sad deaths in Palestine, from infighting as much as from Israel.
You call this benefiting from Iraq?
This is a ridiculous description of events.
The ceasefire of the Mahdi Army and Sadr was the biggest display of negotiating skills on behalf of the two warring parties of the new government, coalition and us forces,multinational forces and the mahdi army who is still under ceasefire, and progress is hopefully being made to benefit both parties equally, as negotiations demand this.