Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
By Michael Georgy
BAGHDAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Election posters promising a stable Iraq
cut no ice with men like Abu Mohammed, who runs a women's clothing boutique
in Baghdad's Adhamiya district by day.
By night Abu Mohammed is an insurgent, attacking U.S. military
convoys with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles, fighting
Iraqi troops and hunting down "informers".
"Expect black days. Elections won't change anything. This is a
long-term struggle. We will fight for the next 20 years," said Abu Mohammed,
who used that name as an insurgent.
Iraqi officials and their American allies are pinning their hopes on
Dec. 15 elections for the first post-war, full-term government to defuse a
Sunni Arab insurgency that has killed thousands of security forces and
civilians.
Even though many more Sunnis are expected to vote after largely
boycotting January elections, the big question is whether hardcore fighters
can be drawn into peaceful politics.
Abu Mohammed and his insurgent brother sitting beside him in his
shop aim to dig in for a protracted battle.
They dismiss candidates like Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, a
former U.S. ally, and pro-Iranian Shi'ite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and say
they are exiles who rode into Iraq on American tanks.
In Adhamiya, a northern Baghdad district that is a typical
stronghold for Sunni insurgents, inspiration still comes from Saddam
Hussein, not from promises of democracy and prosperity made after his fall
in 2003.
They see signs of decline all around. An old officers' social club
now has sandbags in front of it and what was once a feared intelligence
headquarters is inhabited by the homeless.
SECTARIAN FURY
Abu Mohammed says even election candidate and former prime minister
Iyad Allawi, seen as a strongman who appeals to both Shi'ites and Sunnis
amid sectarian fears of civil war, has little chance of winning over
guerrillas in Adhamiya.
"We want Saddam back. If we can't have Saddam we want someone who
stayed in Iraq and not exiles," said Abu Mohammed, a short, stocky man with
glasses whose eyes fill with rage when he speaks of U.S. occupation and
Iraqi politicians.
Both his favoured scenarios are highly unlikely. Saddam is fighting
for his life in court and Iraq's political landscape, once controlled by
Sunnis, is dominated by Shi'ites and Kurds.
Insurgent Abu Alaa, a former intelligence officer, says he wanted to
join Iraq's new security forces but was discouraged by what he called
Shi'ite discrimination and violence against Sunnis.
Unemployed, he spends most of his time fighting despite the slick
election advertisements on television.
"These elections don't mean anything. There is no democracy in Iraq
with our new leaders," he said.
Although Sunnis lost out by not voting in January elections, Abu
Mohammed sees the elections as a U.S. plot to dominate Iraq.
His suspicions have been reinforced by the recent discovery of 173
malnourished Sunni prisoners found locked in a bunker by the Shi'ite-run
Interior Ministry.
Workers in his shop listen closely as he criticises Iraq's new
government while women stroll through looking at clothes.
Outside, insurgents who once served in Saddam's intelligence
agencies keep a close eye on any strangers who enter Adhamiya, where he was
last seen in public after the fall of Baghdad waving to crowds near the Abu
Hanifa mosque.
The United States may be optimistic about democracy conquering
violence but Abu Mohammed and others like him still prefer the bullet to the
ballot box.
"How can we accept any new government when the Americans have
arranged everything their way?," he asked.
"There are just too many differences between us. If an American man
finds his wife in bed with another man it is normal. In Iraq if a man looks
at my wife I will kill him."
BAGHDAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Election posters promising a stable Iraq
cut no ice with men like Abu Mohammed, who runs a women's clothing boutique
in Baghdad's Adhamiya district by day.
By night Abu Mohammed is an insurgent, attacking U.S. military
convoys with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles, fighting
Iraqi troops and hunting down "informers".
"Expect black days. Elections won't change anything. This is a
long-term struggle. We will fight for the next 20 years," said Abu Mohammed,
who used that name as an insurgent.
Iraqi officials and their American allies are pinning their hopes on
Dec. 15 elections for the first post-war, full-term government to defuse a
Sunni Arab insurgency that has killed thousands of security forces and
civilians.
Even though many more Sunnis are expected to vote after largely
boycotting January elections, the big question is whether hardcore fighters
can be drawn into peaceful politics.
Abu Mohammed and his insurgent brother sitting beside him in his
shop aim to dig in for a protracted battle.
They dismiss candidates like Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, a
former U.S. ally, and pro-Iranian Shi'ite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and say
they are exiles who rode into Iraq on American tanks.
In Adhamiya, a northern Baghdad district that is a typical
stronghold for Sunni insurgents, inspiration still comes from Saddam
Hussein, not from promises of democracy and prosperity made after his fall
in 2003.
They see signs of decline all around. An old officers' social club
now has sandbags in front of it and what was once a feared intelligence
headquarters is inhabited by the homeless.
SECTARIAN FURY
Abu Mohammed says even election candidate and former prime minister
Iyad Allawi, seen as a strongman who appeals to both Shi'ites and Sunnis
amid sectarian fears of civil war, has little chance of winning over
guerrillas in Adhamiya.
"We want Saddam back. If we can't have Saddam we want someone who
stayed in Iraq and not exiles," said Abu Mohammed, a short, stocky man with
glasses whose eyes fill with rage when he speaks of U.S. occupation and
Iraqi politicians.
Both his favoured scenarios are highly unlikely. Saddam is fighting
for his life in court and Iraq's political landscape, once controlled by
Sunnis, is dominated by Shi'ites and Kurds.
Insurgent Abu Alaa, a former intelligence officer, says he wanted to
join Iraq's new security forces but was discouraged by what he called
Shi'ite discrimination and violence against Sunnis.
Unemployed, he spends most of his time fighting despite the slick
election advertisements on television.
"These elections don't mean anything. There is no democracy in Iraq
with our new leaders," he said.
Although Sunnis lost out by not voting in January elections, Abu
Mohammed sees the elections as a U.S. plot to dominate Iraq.
His suspicions have been reinforced by the recent discovery of 173
malnourished Sunni prisoners found locked in a bunker by the Shi'ite-run
Interior Ministry.
Workers in his shop listen closely as he criticises Iraq's new
government while women stroll through looking at clothes.
Outside, insurgents who once served in Saddam's intelligence
agencies keep a close eye on any strangers who enter Adhamiya, where he was
last seen in public after the fall of Baghdad waving to crowds near the Abu
Hanifa mosque.
The United States may be optimistic about democracy conquering
violence but Abu Mohammed and others like him still prefer the bullet to the
ballot box.
"How can we accept any new government when the Americans have
arranged everything their way?," he asked.
"There are just too many differences between us. If an American man
finds his wife in bed with another man it is normal. In Iraq if a man looks
at my wife I will kill him."