Article: Greet Bush and Die

from Liberty Underground

UNSPINNING SURGE SUCCESS

Arab Sunnis (as opposed to Kurds, who are also mostly Sunni) have been the primary opposition to US forces occupying Iraq (although there is also strong opposition from Shiahs). And that Arab Sunni opposition has centered in al Anbar province, which President Bush is now saying has turned against al Qaeda and come over to his side, for propaganda purposes.

Terms used in corporate media for those opposing the occupation are often "terrorist" or "the enemy," and to keep Americans from understanding that these terrorists and enemies are the Iraqi people, they are often classified as "al Qaeda." That organization is only a very small part of the opposition in Iraq, so this is misleading. President Bush repeated "al Qaeda" several times in his TV appearance last night.

Those identified as al Qaeda in Iraq are most likely religious fanatics from Saudi Arabia concerned about what they perceive to be the persecution of Arab Sunni brothers and sisters by Iraq's Shiah-dominated government, with its corrupt police and military tied closely to Shiah militias.

But Arab Sunni Iraqis don't want to live in a world of violence any more than the rest of us, and some of them have opposed the small, violent elements described as "al Qaeda in Iraq."

However, let's not make any mistake about this, the hatred of US occupation is the major cause of violence in Iraq, and has been since the invasion. Most attacks are on US troops or those seen as supporting the occupation, and corporate media are negligent by not pointing this out and diverting attention toward al Qaeda and civil war.

As Patrick Cockburn points out in the following piece, Iraqis opposing al Qaeda who appear to be supporting Bush, are likely to die. The first insurgent target is the occupation --Jack

Greet Bush and Die The Killing of Abu Risha

By PATRICK COCKBURN

Ten days after President George Bush clasped his hand as a symbol of America's hopes in Iraq, the man who led the US-supported revolt of Sunni sheikhs against al-Qa'ida in Iraq was assassinated.

Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha and two of his bodyguards were killed either by a roadside bomb or by explosives placed in his car by a guard, near to his home in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, the Iraqi province held up by the American political and military leadership as a model for the rest of Iraq.
His killing is a serious blow to President Bush and the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, who have both portrayed the US success in Anbar, once the heart of the Sunni rebellion against US forces, as a sign that victory was attainable across Iraq.

On Monday General Petraeus told the US Congress that Anbar province was "a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al-Qa'ida and reject its Taliban-like ideology".

But yesterday's assassination underlines that Iraqis in Anbar and elsewhere who closely ally themselves with the US are in danger of being killed. "It shows al-Qa'ida in Iraq remains a very dangerous and barbaric enemy," General Petraeus said in reaction to the killing. But Abu Risha might equally have been killed by the many non al-Qa'ida insurgent groups in Anbar who saw him as betraying them.

The assassination comes at a particularly embarrassing juncture for President Bush, who was scheduled to address the American people on television last night to sell the claim made by General Petraeus that the military "surge" was proving successful in Iraq and citing the improved security situation in Anbar to prove it.

Abu Risha, 37, usually stayed inside a heavily fortified compound containing several houses where he lived with his extended family. A US tank guards the entrance to the compound, which is opposite the largest US base in Ramadi.
He spent yesterday morning meeting tribal sheikhs to discuss the future of Anbar. He also received long lines of petitioners as he drank small glasses of sweet tea and chain-smoked. He carried a pistol stuck in a holster strapped to his waist and dressed in dark flowing robes.

Surprisingly, he is said to have recently reduced the number of his bodyguards because of improved security situation in Anbar, although he ought to have known that as leader of the anti al-Qai'da Anbar Salvation Council he was bound to be a target for assassins.

Iraqi police in Ramadi suspect that the bomb that killed the sheikh was planted by one of the petitioners who came to see him. "The sheikh's car was totally destroyed by the explosion. Abu Risha was killed," said a Ramadi police officer, Ahmed Mahmoud al-Alwani. Giving a different account of the assassination, the Interior Ministry spokesman said that a roadside bomb killed Abu Risha. Soon afterwards a second car bomb blew up.

"The car bomb had been rigged just in case the roadside bomb missed his convoy," said an Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj-Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf.

He added that the Interior Ministry planned to build a statue to Abu Risha as a "martyr" at the site of the explosion or elsewhere. However, statues, as well as living politicians, often have a short life in Iraq.

Abu Risha's death underlines the degree to which the White House and General Petraeus have cherry-picked evidence to prove that it is possible to turn the tide in Iraq. They have, for instance, given the impression that some Sunni tribal leaders turning against al-Qa'ida in Anbar and parts of Diyala and Baghdad is a turning point in the war.

In reality al-Qa'ida is only a small part of the insurgency, with its fighters numbering only 1,300 as against 103,000 in the other insurgent organisations according to one specialist on the insurgency. Al-Qa'ida has largely concentrated on horrific and cruel bomb attacks on Shia civilians and policemen and has targeted the US military only as secondary target.

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