Posted on 05/10/2003 8:32:42 AM PDT by Chirodoc
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- When Lt. Gen. David McKiernan declared last week that U.S.-led forces were the "absolute authority within Iraq," and that Iraqis should return to work, hardly anybody heard.
Most Baghdadis did not have electricity for television and printed leaflets of the speech were not distributed.
Hanna Kamal, 36, and her colleagues were already trying to return to jobs at the Ministry of Trade. Her workplace had been burned and looted repeatedly since American troops captured Baghdad. She kept going to the charred building, dragging her children along, hoping for American aid or instructions that never came.
"We went for two weeks, standing in the street, and no one paid any attention," said Kamal, who said she owes two months back rent and has no income. She called McKiernan's order "just ink on paper."
Friday marks one month since U.S. Marines and a crowd of Iraqis in downtown Firdos Square triumphantly toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein, signaling the end of the war.
Since then, at least by the measure of Iraqi sentiments, America is losing the peace.
Goodwill toward U.S. troops is eroding quickly. Iraqis look in disappointment at the collapse of law and order and the continued lack of basic services such as electricity, water and telephones.
A month might seem like a short time to rebuild a country and Iraqis still usually greet American troops warmly and with gratitude for toppling Saddam. But they are increasingly angry -- living conditions are improving too slowly in some areas and are worsening every day in many others.
"We like the American troops because they got rid of Saddam, but if it keeps going from bad to worse, we will resist them," said Hussein Abd Zayyed, 22, who confronted U.S. troops guarding the Palestine Hotel in a quest for a job. "Our patience is limited."
Like hundreds of others, Abd Zayyed had filled out a job application a week earlier. Troops accepted it dutifully, apparently unaware that the applications were for jobs with a self-proclaimed mayor who would soon be arrested by the Army for trying to form an illegitimate government.
U.S. officials have admitted to instances of disorganization and that they did not expect the rampant looting and other postwar problems. The force of 12,000 U.S. troops in the capital has failed to provide security and order, so U.S. commanders are calling in 4,000 extra troops.
The spasm of looting that plagued the capital immediately after Saddam's statue fell has settled into a routine. Looters now work with job-like regularity, disassembling buildings often in full view of U.S. troops. Worse, crime is getting more violent each day.
Reliable electricity is still lacking for most in Baghdad. Those who have it get it for just a few hours every few days. As summertime temperatures approach, air conditioners are not running and refrigerating food is difficult.
Public water systems are faltering and health officials said Wednesday that they had found 17 cases of cholera in southern Iraq -- not uncommon for the season, but enough to have doctors worried about the potential for an epidemic amid shortages at hospitals.
There are other problems that could get worse. Many Iraqis saved money and food before the war but are running low on both. They hoarded gasoline but are out now and, with a shortage in production, gas lines of hundreds of cars are now clogging up wide city freeways.
Complaining that they are running out of money and food, looters set out each day in small groups to any of the hundreds of burned buildings in the capital. They dismantle anything that is left -- air conditioning ducts, metal wall and ceiling supports and, if they're lucky, some leftover furniture.
On Wednesday, looters worked doggedly on a police station across an intersection from a post manned by American troops. In another part of the city, troops in Humvees rolled past looters piling their booty onto donkey carts.
Car-jackings -- so unprecedented here that they don't have a word for it yet -- are now so frequent on Palestine Street that some of the few Iraqis who have jobs are walking to work to avoid risking their cars. There are increasing accounts of shootings and robberies. Markets for stolen weapons and cars now operate in plain view.
An American-backed court system began operating this week with Iraqi judges. Though Iraqi police have reported to work, few besides the occasional traffic cop can be seen on the streets. The Iraqi handpicked by the military to run the police quit abruptly.
U.S. officials are trying to regroup. Former State Department official L. Paul Bremer III was appointed Wednesday to outrank Ret. Gen. Jay Garner, who has been heading up the reconstruction effort. Bremer's appointment was apparently meant to smooth over conflicts between the State Department and the Pentagon over the country's political and physical reconstruction.
Garner acknowledged this week that American planners were taken by surprise by the scale of the looting.
Military officials say electric service has been restored to pre-war levels in only nine of 27 main cities. The military also said that water is back to pre-war levels in 14 of 27 cities but as the heat increases, people have been seen cutting open underground water pipes for easy access -- essentially looting water.
Reconstruction planners have acknowledged they came shorthanded and under-equipped. A senior official in Garner's office was not aware that U.S. troops had killed about 13 Iraqis in the town of Fallujah -- front-page news in most of America -- until almost two days later when informed by reporters.
Getting news out is also a problem. Garner has openly lamented his inability to get information to the Iraqi people amid what he said were insufficient American attempts to start up radio and television broadcasts.
"We haven't done a good job," he said. "I want TV going to the people ... programs they want to see."
But Iraqis have found ways to get their message to the Americans. On the base of the statue that troops pulled down on their entry to the city a month ago, a graffito in broken English states: "All donne(sic). Go home."
Well, if there's a silver lining, it's that we're probably more caught up in this "everything now" mode than are the the Iraqis. Their existence has been less modern than ours and they are more durable and patient.
sometimes I am convinced I'm in the Twilight Zone...
Can anybody beyond Jr. High be that monumentally ignorant and stupid?
Just like the Iraq war was turning into another Vietnam after two weeks....incredible.
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