Al Mahdi Millitias Take Control Over Amara

It became obvious from the past two days that the Mahdi army has controlled the southern Iraqi city of Amara. They also burned three police stations, and looting the surrounding buildings. Very interesting becuase this is exactly what is happening everytime there are clashes between the militias and police/army forces in the post Saddam era: burning and looting!!

In the meantime, the government gave up its insistence that the new security plan was successful, instead they are in deep discussions with the U.S. to find another solution to the deteriorating situation. In the meantime, orders were given to the British troops to move forward towards to the city and support the Iraqi forces, after they decided in the beginning not to intervene so they can give the Iraqi officials the chance to resolve the dispute on their own! The British troops handed Amara after two years occupation to the Iraqis last August.

Some says, It sounds like this Iraqi forces and military men are so crippled that they are just not prepared to fully defend their stations after all. For this reason, the presence of the occupation forces is essential to bring order. Did the British bring peace and security to their controlled regions?

The whole thing about these clashes began when a family tribe in Amara accused Al Sadr militia men of killing their family member, and as a revenge that tribe kidnapped the brother of the local leader of the Mahdi army militia. As a reaction, the militia decided to storm the city after their call to release that leader went in vain.

There are some who comes up with an opinion that the Shiites in Iraq were oppressed by Saddam for years, and this one of the reason for the violence which has been witnessed in day to day life in Iraq.. I don’t agree with that opinion because:
First, it became clear to many – even the media is increasingly showing this through their reports and news bulletins – that violence is caused by two groups of people: one group is looking for political gains and misusing the name of a certain religious group for this purpose. The second group consists of thieves, killers, and some other losers who are looking for financial gains. It also might be some kind of a political maneuver, but Muqtada Al Sadr did himself send a letter to his militia in Amara demanding them to stop, “otherwise, Al Sadr will disown you all”. This did not put a halt to the bloodshed in the begining!

On the other hand, Last wednesday, a couple of days ago all media channels showed a pro-Qaida group in Ramadi staging a defiant parade-like show off in the western city of Ramadi. They were driving their cars and on motorcycles freely and in the middle of the day carrying their rifles with their black and white masks and slogans.

Some media sources named this show of force as "Sunni fighters take over Ramadi". It made me wonder, though, if the whole clashes affair in Amara by the Shiite Al Mahdi millitia is just a reply message from Al Sadr to the Sunni group in Ramadi, and not only about a local leader who has been kidnapped!!

Second, Saddam did not only oppress Shiites. Saddam is not considered as Sunni as some think, and that he is loyal to Sunni Islam! In fact, Saddam did not give a damn to whether that person is Sunni or Shiite or even believe in devil: the essential thing is to eliminate anyone who might dream of opposing anything related to the regime. Saddam created his own “sect”, his own “social” group. Yes, a mutant social group within the Iraqi community. Back to Saddam’s created social group: This group became the effective tool that helped in planting successfully two things: fear from the regime, and distrust among citizens. This included people from all sectors, and from different religions.

Any Iraqi remember how Baghdad used to be during the time Saddam used to rule Iraq. I am sure that a lot of Iraqis remember seeing that man in dark olive color military uniform walking in the street, a pistol hanging on right down side of his belt, shoulders pushed up, and arms semi-floating on both sides like wings ready to spread, while the eyes rolling right and left to see if anyone dare to challenge! For non-Iraqis, this man is a member of the Special Security forces. Guys from Al Mansoor or Karrada districts also remember the other “boys” around the block: Those boys used to wear suits, very expensive suits, with very light beard grew up on their angry faces, and short hair. They used to drive their luxurious cars, especially on some Thursdays. Again, for those who don’t know, those are Uday’s (Saddam’s eldest son) thugs. In addition, the view did not end to that; we used to have a group of military men called the Military Disciplinary forces. Those boys with the famous red band tied to their wrists was specialized in setting up check points in different areas in Baghdad along side with the intelligence service - who used to wear civilian clothes. Their job was to stop cars, check every man’s ID, and face – if they don’t like your face, then…well, fate might vary from one lucky to another!!

Does anyone have any idea if the situation in the past has something to do with the current situation in Iraq? Or does this organized terror and someone’s fear from trusting a colleague in school, for example, or the salesman in the near by shop have its impact on attitude towards others?

OK, let me ask the question from a different angel: what has been changed in Iraq today, compare it to the past?

Check points? still there, and maybe more, but the military disciplinary forces were replaced with either the militia, or police or military (without making similarities).
The man in dark olive military uniform has not been spotted anymore today, because he has been replaced with men wearing either black or white from head to toe.

Fear did not vanish, on the contrary, because in the past the source of fear and terror came from one direction: Saddam regime. Today, terror (and death) comes suddenly from a side bomb planted by terrorists while driving a car, or a bullet from an American soldier’s reacted irrationally, or a ‘unknown’ men storming a shop, while coincidently some poor man was standing there wanting to buy cigarettes…etc

I don’t want to put the blame on the U.S. troops here. I am not going to do so, but the U.S. defied international community in order to ‘liberate’ Iraq from Saddam’s tyranny, and to ‘bring change’ to the Iraqi people. After all, they are trying, with these news about the meetings and analysis they are putting energy and effort into – determining the results of James Baker’s commission is one option. I still have my doubts. I remember now the discussion I had with a couple of fellow bloggers, they said that only a miracle can bring a solution to the current violence!!

Do we really need a miracle? Or human brain can find a solution?