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Mysterious forces behind Iraqi violence "paid by us" - Robert Fisk

spinifex | 02.03.2006 22:19 | Analysis | Anti-militarism

In a television interview that has stunned Australian audiences, Beirut based journalist Robert Fisk has hinted that mysterious forces trying to foment civil war in Iraq are behind the recent upsurge in voilence there.

Fisk went on to state that Sunni Arabs and other Iraqis do not conduct suicide bombings and are not divided as a society.

"Who runs the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad? Who pays the Ministry of the Interior? Who pays the militia men who make up the death squads? We do, the occupation authorities," said Fisk

"I'd like to know what the Americans are doing to get at the people who are trying to provoke the civil war. It seems to me not very much. We don't hear of any suicide bombers being stopped before they blow themselves up. We don't hear of anybody stopping a mosque getting blown up. We're not hearing of death squads all being arrested. Something is going very, very wrong in Baghdad. Something is going wrong with the Administration."

 http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1582067.htm

Sidestepping specific questions about responsibility for the wave of suicide bombings and attacks on Mosques in Iraq in recent weeks, Fisk said;

"What is going on in Iraq at the moment is extremely mysterious. I go to Iraq and I can't crack this story at the moment. Some of my colleagues are still trying to, but can't do it. It's not as simple as it looks. I don't believe we've got all these raving lunatics wandering around blowing up mosques."

"Somebody is operating these people. I don't know who they are. It's not as simple as we're making it out to be. What is this thing when Bush says we have to choose between chaos and unity? Who wants to choose chaos? Is it really the case that all of these Iraqis that fought together for eight years against the Iranians, Shiites and Sunnies together in the long massive murderous Somme-like war between the Iranians and Iraqis - suddenly all want to kill each other? Why because that's something wrong with Iraqis? I don't think so. They are intelligent, educated people. Something is going seriously wrong in Baghdad."

Fisk went on to complain: "It's never been so dangerous here, either for journalists or soldiers but most of all for Arabs."

It is estimated that between 60,000 and 110,000 non-Arab Iraqi Kurds died in a series of genocidal attacks known as the Anfals between 1988 and 1991

 http://www.gendercide.org/case_anfal.html

 http://hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/

Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab, has admitted his own involvement in the supression of Shiite Arabs.

 http://smh.com.au/news/world/i-ordered-shiite-trial-saddam/2006/03/02/1141191742847.html

Independent media were ruthlessly supressed in Iraq under the former dicator who also ordered the "disappearance" and execution of dissident journalists.

 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/freepress/story/0,8224,949407,00.html

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