Baghdad crackdown fails to stop the sectarian killings
Baghdad crackdown fails to stop the sectarian killings
By Steve Negus
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: September 14 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 14 2006 03:00
On a street corner in Baghdad's Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiya, a frightened-looking youth squats against a wall, guarded by a group of Iraqi army soldiers. He and a group of his friends had just pulled up to an Iraqi army checkpoint, when one of their number bolted, leaving behind a pistol and hundreds of dollars in cash in the car.
The youth's story does not quite add up. His mother comes wailing to the checkpoint, claiming that he is just an innocent kid.
But when he is taken back to the Iraqi army base for questioning, the battalion commander is ecstatic - he believes that this slightly-built young man is in fact one of the most dangerous insurgents in Adhamiya, wanted for a number of roadside bomb attacks.
Nicknamed "Capsules" because of the prescription medication to which he is allegedly addicted, he is all of 21 years old.
Last month, 12,000 US and Iraqi soldiers moved into Baghdad to reinforce the existing garrison and begin Operation Together Forward, a drawn-out plan to try to restore order to the capital. The capture of "Capsules" (assuming they have the right suspect) is one of its successes - the result of stepped-up checkpoints, sweeps and patrols that are made possible by having more troops on the ground.
But it has not stopped the wave of sectarian killings. Police yesterday discovered 65 bodies in and around the capital, while nearly 30 people were killed by car bombs. Police said 45 bodies had been discovered in predominantly Sunni districts like Adhamiya, a further 15 in Shia areas, with another five floating down the Tigris river. Such discoveries have become commonplace since sectarian violence flared in February.
Nonetheless, most of the Adhamiya inhabitants interviewed for this article appeared happy that the Americans were there.
On a recent patrol, a young US captain was greeted with horror when he suggested that citizens ought to turn to their government, rather than US forces, to complain about services.
"Iraqis take over from Americans? We don't like that," declared a representative of this once staunchly anti-occupation neighbourhood. The Iraqi government is a "government of Iran", he said, claiming that the Shia-dominated alliance of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki was starving their district of municipal services in an attempt to force them to travel outside where they would be vulnerable to Shia death squads.
Ever since the appointment of a member of the radical Sadrist movement as minister of health, they say, anyone who goes to the hospital is likely to turn up in the morgue several days later, pierced through the skull with an electric drill in the Shia militias' signature execution style. Adhamiya residents also refuse to allow police to enter their neighbourhoods, believing them to be infiltrated by Shia militias.
Adhamiya does tolerate the presence of the army, particularly now that the commander of the local battalion is a Sunni. Still, residents say, they rely primarily on each other to keep the Shia militias at bay.
Throughout Baghdad, neighbours take turns staying up late on their roofs with assault rifles, keeping an eye on streets sealed off by makeshift checkpoints. Inevitably - although the Adhamiya residents deny it - such local watch groups mesh with the insurgents. Adhamiya's walls are covered with graffiti suggesting the insurgents' campaign to portray themselves as local heroes protecting their homes.
The citizens of Adhamiya may be protecting the insurgents because they are sympathetic, or because they are intimidated. Or, they may protect the guerrillas simply because fighters such as "Capsules" are their delinquent children.
The Iraqi army, meanwhile, appears to feel caught in the middle. Although they are largely Shia, the enlisted men seem to have no love for the militias - they proudly point to a blasted Humvee, damaged by a Mahdi Army bomb and towed to their base, as evidence of their commitment to their non-sectarian duty. However, they also seem to feel they are simultaneously protecting Adhamiya and at war with it. Although militarily they are coming along they are probably too few.
According to a Pentagon report, 115,000 out of a planned 137,000-strong force are already on duty, with 92 per cent of battalions formed. But with the police largely deemed politically unreliable, this force is stretched far too thin. It is yet unclear whether the new offensive is paying off but yesterday's discovery of bodies is all too common.
But regardless of whether the Americans are reducing the violence, or merely keeping it at a slow boil, it seems almost certain that the death toll would soar without them. Iraqi officials say that about half the provinces in the country can be tackled by Iraqi forces alone by the end of the year, and this may in fact be true of the predominantly Shia south, the Kurdish north, and even some former insurgent strongholds in the homogeneously Sunni heartland, where home-grown police forces seem to be able to keep control with the co-operation.
Baghdad, however, appears to be increasingly divided into fear-ridden sectarian enclaves.
By Steve Negus
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: September 14 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 14 2006 03:00
On a street corner in Baghdad's Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiya, a frightened-looking youth squats against a wall, guarded by a group of Iraqi army soldiers. He and a group of his friends had just pulled up to an Iraqi army checkpoint, when one of their number bolted, leaving behind a pistol and hundreds of dollars in cash in the car.
The youth's story does not quite add up. His mother comes wailing to the checkpoint, claiming that he is just an innocent kid.
But when he is taken back to the Iraqi army base for questioning, the battalion commander is ecstatic - he believes that this slightly-built young man is in fact one of the most dangerous insurgents in Adhamiya, wanted for a number of roadside bomb attacks.
Nicknamed "Capsules" because of the prescription medication to which he is allegedly addicted, he is all of 21 years old.
Last month, 12,000 US and Iraqi soldiers moved into Baghdad to reinforce the existing garrison and begin Operation Together Forward, a drawn-out plan to try to restore order to the capital. The capture of "Capsules" (assuming they have the right suspect) is one of its successes - the result of stepped-up checkpoints, sweeps and patrols that are made possible by having more troops on the ground.
But it has not stopped the wave of sectarian killings. Police yesterday discovered 65 bodies in and around the capital, while nearly 30 people were killed by car bombs. Police said 45 bodies had been discovered in predominantly Sunni districts like Adhamiya, a further 15 in Shia areas, with another five floating down the Tigris river. Such discoveries have become commonplace since sectarian violence flared in February.
Nonetheless, most of the Adhamiya inhabitants interviewed for this article appeared happy that the Americans were there.
On a recent patrol, a young US captain was greeted with horror when he suggested that citizens ought to turn to their government, rather than US forces, to complain about services.
"Iraqis take over from Americans? We don't like that," declared a representative of this once staunchly anti-occupation neighbourhood. The Iraqi government is a "government of Iran", he said, claiming that the Shia-dominated alliance of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki was starving their district of municipal services in an attempt to force them to travel outside where they would be vulnerable to Shia death squads.
Ever since the appointment of a member of the radical Sadrist movement as minister of health, they say, anyone who goes to the hospital is likely to turn up in the morgue several days later, pierced through the skull with an electric drill in the Shia militias' signature execution style. Adhamiya residents also refuse to allow police to enter their neighbourhoods, believing them to be infiltrated by Shia militias.
Adhamiya does tolerate the presence of the army, particularly now that the commander of the local battalion is a Sunni. Still, residents say, they rely primarily on each other to keep the Shia militias at bay.
Throughout Baghdad, neighbours take turns staying up late on their roofs with assault rifles, keeping an eye on streets sealed off by makeshift checkpoints. Inevitably - although the Adhamiya residents deny it - such local watch groups mesh with the insurgents. Adhamiya's walls are covered with graffiti suggesting the insurgents' campaign to portray themselves as local heroes protecting their homes.
The citizens of Adhamiya may be protecting the insurgents because they are sympathetic, or because they are intimidated. Or, they may protect the guerrillas simply because fighters such as "Capsules" are their delinquent children.
The Iraqi army, meanwhile, appears to feel caught in the middle. Although they are largely Shia, the enlisted men seem to have no love for the militias - they proudly point to a blasted Humvee, damaged by a Mahdi Army bomb and towed to their base, as evidence of their commitment to their non-sectarian duty. However, they also seem to feel they are simultaneously protecting Adhamiya and at war with it. Although militarily they are coming along they are probably too few.
According to a Pentagon report, 115,000 out of a planned 137,000-strong force are already on duty, with 92 per cent of battalions formed. But with the police largely deemed politically unreliable, this force is stretched far too thin. It is yet unclear whether the new offensive is paying off but yesterday's discovery of bodies is all too common.
But regardless of whether the Americans are reducing the violence, or merely keeping it at a slow boil, it seems almost certain that the death toll would soar without them. Iraqi officials say that about half the provinces in the country can be tackled by Iraqi forces alone by the end of the year, and this may in fact be true of the predominantly Shia south, the Kurdish north, and even some former insurgent strongholds in the homogeneously Sunni heartland, where home-grown police forces seem to be able to keep control with the co-operation.
Baghdad, however, appears to be increasingly divided into fear-ridden sectarian enclaves.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 10:57 AM
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