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Occupation Watch
By: James Brandon
Published date: 17/8/2003
TIKRIT –– “The local people don’t have a problem with us,” said the US First Lieutenant, kicking a used M16 bullet casing at his feet. His two comrades on guard duty at their barracks nervously eyed an approaching vehicle and tightened their grip on their machine guns. “It’s not the Iraqis who are shooting at us. We’re sure of that. It’s the Iranians and Syrians. Have we caught any? I’m not in a position to say.”
Tikrit was the heart of Saddam’s Iraq. Saddam was born only a few miles away, in Owja, and his palaces still dominate the city. If you wanted to understand Iraq this was the place to come. In a way it still is. With opposition to the occupation spreading even to the previously peaceful Basra, in Tikrit the war never ended. The city has become synonymous with violence as American troops wage a round-the-clock battle against mysterious attackers, and lately the conflict has become bloodier.
On the morning of Aug. 8, a car pulled up at the Jumah Market in central Tikrit. It was still early, but the popular second-hand market was packed when the car’s owner, a local man, took out an old AK-47 he was hoping to sell. American troops in the vicinity saw him and afraid for their safety opened fire on the crowds killing three.
“People come here to sell all sorts of things,” said Latif Abdul Karthum, 20, a fruit seller who witnessed the events. “When the man brought out his gun the Americans shot at him from Humvees and a tank. They took away the two people they had killed and left the wounded bleeding on the ground and the ordinary people had to take them to hospital.”
One of these wounded, a 30-year-old man, later died of his wounds, said Esma Saleh Al-Jahouri, 29, a doctor at Tikrit Hospital.
An American press spokesman in Baghdad later announced that army snipers had killed “suspected former regime loyalists” for “illegally trafficking weapons,” and that the AK47 had been confiscated, along with wires and switches the army claimed could be used to make bombs. Eight people were also wounded, and one arrested.
Kasim Shaker-Diha, a 10-year-old boy, was shot from behind as he tried to run away.
“When the shooting started I tried to run when two bullets hit me; one grazed my head and another hit my legs. I had only come to the market to sell and buy some things to make money for my family,” he said from his hospital bed.
Jasm Mohamed Taha, also 10, had come to the market to sell birds from his family’s farm. The Americans shot him twice in the chest and then left him to die where he lay. He survived only after being rushed to hospital by a taxi driver. As he lay covered in blood-drenched bandages on his hospital bed he described the attack.
“I don’t know where the bullets came from as I was busy selling my pigeons. Suddenly I heard the sound of firing and bullets hit my chest,” he said as his father sat crying beside him.
The “suspected former regime loyalist” who the Americans said they had captured was also recovering in hospital. Ahmed Feisal Rahim, 18, gave his version of events:
“This morning I went to Al-Jumah market as it’s my hobby to buy exotic birds. Suddenly I heard shooting. I was astonished and looked to see where the bullets were coming from. Everyone started running. I was hit in the legs and fell down where I was shot again in the stomach. In the evening the doctors will operate, when I recover I will be arrested for wearing a black t-shirt because the US thinks that anyone wearing black is a Fedayeen.”
A policeman sitting beside him confirmed this.
“The Americans say that they came to liberate us, but what have I gained from them? Two bullets in my leg and one in my stomach,” Rahim said.
The US-appointed governor of Salahuddin Province, which includes Tikrit, said that, “the treatment by Americans of the people is as in any other province.” He paused. “However, the Americans can be very forceful.”
Far from the airconditioned hallways of power, ordinary Iraqis are increasingly employing a familiar language of oppression and resistance to describe their condition.
“The US here are an occupation force,” said Jameel, who would only give his first name. “Their tanks are doing the same as the Israelis’ in Palestine. They will never persuade us that they are liberation forces. When they kill or destroy anything, the resistance will multiply. We are a Muslim people and our religion and tradition will never allow us to be slaves.”
In a press conference the day before, Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer said that the regular attacks on American forces were “carried out by killers who cannot accept the free and democratic Iraq that now exists.”
It is hard to reconcile this portrait with Adel, a mechanic who was also afraid to give his full name.
“My neighbour is Kurdish and yet we treat each other as brothers” he said, “I am a Tikriti Sunni and my wife is Shiite. Religion and race will not be a barrier to us. What we want as ordinary people is for our political and religious leaders to take control. We want to live in peace in a unified Iraq.
“However, now if we find out that somebody has been helping the Americans we will kill them. Even if my own son was an informer I would kill him.
“There is no organization behind it. It is not the Baath Party,” continued Adel, when asked about the attacks on US troops. “My family and friends are insulted by the Americans every day and every day we sit down in the evenings and discuss revenge. Maybe one day I will carry out some attacks myself. In the past a famous Iraqi poet said, ‘When I visited Tikrit I discovered fire.’”
As Adel spoke, the lights failed in his workshop as another power cut began, instantly plunging this modern city back into a stone-age existence.
“We know that the US is a superpower. Restoring electricity should not be beyond their abilities.”
In common with the rest of the country, continuing shortages of electricity and petrol are a major source of irritation to local residents.
It is difficult for any sense of normality to return when people enjoy only two hours of electricity each night to run airconditioners. However, in Tikrit, there seems no immediate danger of this irritation turning into riots such as recently occurred in Basra. Instead the complaints articulated by almost every Tikriti revolve around the heavy-handedness of the Americans. It seems that the American tactics are in danger of creating more problems than they solve. In searching for its myriad exotic enemies, such as Ansar Al-Islam, Al-Qaeda, and Baath Party loyalists, the US is making enemies of average apolitical Tikritis. People who initially welcomed the US troops feel betrayed.
“When the US capture people here they treat them inhumanely, barbarically; as if they were animals. We have no human rights here,” said another man who refused to give his name.
“When they come to people’s houses they even steal food from people’s fridges and tables. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Is this liberation?”
“I told the US troops that if they knock on my door first I will let them in,” added his brother, Bisam, who also refused to give his full name for fear of the Americans. “Instead they prefer to kick the door down and terrorize your family. When they raid people’s houses, they threaten fathers in front of their children, they tie whole families up and then go into their houses and throw their possessions everywhere. They don’t even tell us what they’re looking for.
"A friend of mine was even stabbed in the face by an American with his bayonet when they came to his home. They promised us freedom and democracy. I ask you is this freedom? Does America act like this in its own country? Like the talk of weapons of mass destruction, these promises were just empty words.”
“If you ask us what we want it’s simple. We want the Americans to fix everything and improve our condition because at the moment we are worse off than under Saddam. If they won’t help us then we want them to get out and leave us in peace.”
Back at the barracks, the polite well-educated American lieutenant on guard duty shrugged.
“Apart from the Fedayeen and the Iranians sometimes it’s just ordinary people. They just come and shoot at us for fun. Imagine that, ordinary people shooting at us. It’s like they think it’s a game.”
Published date: 17/8/2003
Author: James Brandon
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