Chaos, disorder and death continue to rise in Iraq

Pity the Iraqi people. Even years of oppression under Saddam’s regime did not result in such high number of civilian deaths on daily basis. According to the Iraq Body Count website, about 36 Iraqis are killed daily – either by the insurgents or the US-led army. Since the beginning of invasion three years ago, at least 35,000 Iraqis have died.

I watched an excellent documentary in the UK’s Channel 4 on Monday night. Called
Iraq: The Women’s Story, it showcased how life has changed for the women in Iraq. It was taken by a brave Iraqi woman on her handycam.

Almost every woman interviewed in the documentary was a widow with many young mouths to feed. They all agreed in one thing though – that the American government is to blame for the anarchy in their country.

Men who had jobs under Saddam are now jobless. People are afraid to venture outside for the fear of being killed in the sectarian violence, or by the American army who just can’t differentiate between gun carrying insurgents and innocent children, women and men of Iraq.

Even today 11 civilians were killed by suspected insurgents in separate drive-by shootings. This followed a suicide truck bomb attack in a crowded market on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 130.

There is still a political power vacuum in the country five months after the general election as no one could agree as to who should form the government. This has paved the way for the rival militias to take the law into their own hands.

The American strategy of concentrating on removing the insurgents has only caused more retaliatory attacks. The mess they are creating in Iraq is fast becoming untenable – sounds pretty much like what is going on in Afghanistan as well.

At least there is one piece of good news emanating from Baghdad. The incoming Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has almost assembled his Cabinet to establish a national unity government. But the question remains if this inexperienced government can clean the chaos and disorder currently plaguing Iraq.