Many in the first place do not believe that there is a functioning government in Iraq.

Otherwise how could a responsible government remain silent vis-à-vis the calamities that are descending on the nation?

Nothing seems to function properly in Iraq and the government has almost no control whatsoever over the course of events.

It cannot issue orders to U.S. troops who are in effect the real masters. In fact the government owes its existence to their presence.

And because the government feels safe so long as the troops are around, it apparently sees no reason to move and put its house in order.

And the troops themselves are here because they are striving to put our house in order.

They have failed and there is no sign they will ever succeed. So they are needed so long as our misery continues.

The equation, many say, is crystal clear. The government is in urgent need of the occupation for protection and the occupation is in a way happy with the status quo despite its tragedies because it gives it some form of legitimacy to continue.

Therefore our prime minister and his ministers do not bother at all for the way things are being run.

They do not care if there is no electricity. It is no longer their duty to have food rationing system functioning to help millions of Iraqis make ends meet.

No one bears the responsibility for our calamities as if they are not of the government’s making.

No minister has ever leveled with the Iraqi people and blamed his ministry’s performance for the deteriorating public services.

More than two years after the occupation the Ministry of Oil still cannot make enough fuel available though we are the envy of the world for our oil riches.

We have turned to net fuel importers in these two years, wasting hundreds of millions dollars.

Corruption and crime are on the rise and stories abound of senior officials giving contracts to front companies they have set up in Dubai, Beirut, London and other world capitals.

The spate of car bomb attacks, killing and murder of innocent people and the spread of mafia-like gangs in major cities are now part of our daily life.

While we bear the brunt of the chaos, many of our senior officials, including cabinet members and heads of some political parties either reside abroad or have their families settled in a foreign country.

There is nothing of the prosperity, equity and hopes the government made when it took office nearly five months ago. On the contrary, conditions have deteriorated beyond any expectations.

But still these officials love their chairs and stick to their money-spinning posts.

Therefore we have not seen a minister with enough courage to resign protesting these conditions.

The government and the league surrounding it know that they are total failures, but they have no intention to acknowledge the fiasco they are in and the tragedies they have created for us.

A responsible government would have admitted its blunders, apologized to the Iraqi people and resigned to give way to more efficient leaders to lead.

But it seems it is not in the interest of our rulers to have things under control. Prosperity, stability and security, once achieved, will be a blow to their ends.

Because if the bombs stop, food is made available, electricity returns, crime is checked and the country is back on its feet, all the Iraqi people will then turn their attention to the most pressing issue – how to drive occupation troops out of the country.

It does not need a genius to understand that both the government and the occupation need each other and both thrive on our miseries.