The puppet regime set up by Washington, full of political
Islamists, have even legislated recently in favor of husbands
beating up wives who misbehave. The State has collapsed,
because it was destroyed by the United States, and nothing has
been set up, two and a half years later, to help the people.
--------------------------------------------------------
http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/16319_Iraq.html
The Truth about Iraq
10/18/2005 13:05
The American-led invasion has taken Iraq back one hundred
years in just two years
The puppet regime set up by Washington, full of political
Islamists, have even legislated recently in favor of husbands
beating up wives who misbehave. The State has collapsed,
because it was destroyed by the United States, and nothing has
been set up, two and a half years later, to help the people.
There are two forms of terrorism in Iraq. The state terrorism
perpetrated by the USA and the Islamist terrorism practiced by
the unwanted Islamists. The people are caught in the middle.
Women are raped, people are shot at arbitrarily.
Houzan Mahmoud , Iraqi political activist, came to Lisbon,
invited by Pravda.Ru, to inform us about what is really taking
place in Iraq. For those who wish to learn the truth, what she
says is imperative to read.
Houzan Mahmoud, Co-Founder of the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC)
which was founded by many workers and women's leaders,
socialists, intellectuals and secularists of Iraq among those
organizations is Organization of Freedom for Women in Iraq
(OWFI) and the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in
Iraq (FWCUI), in which Houzan is one of their leading activist
and also she is a member of the political bureau of the Worker
Communist Party of Iraq, came to Lisbon, invited by the
Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru to participate in a
conference/debate on Iraq.
Apart from the debate, which was the source of great interest,
bringing together various personalities from the most varied
sectors of political life, among others, Houzan Mahmoud had
meetings with representatives of the Left Block (Bloco de
Esquerda), Communist Renewal Movement (RenovaÁ“o Comunista),
the Trade Union Confederation CGTP, the Unions FENPROF and
SPGL and gave interviews to the newspaper P™blico, the
magazine Vis“o and the Portuguese news agency, Lusa.
The message Houzan has to tell is simple: the American-led
invasion has taken Iraq back one hundred years in just two
years. Shocked at what she saw this April and May on her
return to Iraq, she paints a picture which few, if any, organs
of communication, present to the public.
On the freedom of women
"Women are not free in Iraq today", declares Houzan Mahmoud,
who explains that they had more freedom under the fascist
dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The puppet regime set up by
Washington, full of political Islamists, have even legislated
recently in favor of husbands beating up wives who misbehave.
The OFWI has set up shelters to receive women who have been
raped by American soldiers or are threatened by Islamist
extremists or who are victims of domestic abuse and threats of
so called "honour killings."
Women are forced to wear the veil and to cover their arms and
legs and those who refuse to, are often attacked, raped and
even beheaded in public, in daylight.
On the government
"The government is a puppet regime installed by the United
States, which has no power at all beyond the Green Zone in
Baghdad, in which it lives comfortably, practising corruption
and leaving the people to their own fate at the hands of the
Islamists and terrorists who run rife".
The State has collapsed, because it was destroyed by the
United States , and nothing has been set up, two and a half
years later, to help the people. Running water and electricity
have still not been established in vast areas of the country.
On security
"There is no security in Iraq. People do not feel safe, even
in their houses. In the middle of the night, a gang of armed
thugs cam break in, steal, rape and murder."
Houzan Mahmoud said that there are armed gangs of men
everywhere, imposing their will, stealing and terrorizing
people. The authorities are holed up in the Green Zone,
powerless to do anything.
On terrorism
"There are two forms of terrorism in Iraq . The state
terrorism perpetrated by the USA and the Islamist terrorism
practiced by the unwanted Islamists. The people are caught in
the middle."
According to Houzan Mahmoud, these Islamic groups did not
exist before in Iraq. The American-led invasion gave them the
space they needed to pour into the country and the puppet
regime, full of political Islmaists, gives these elements the
cover they need to impose Sharia law on the people.
The present day of the US-led occupation of Iraq: Photo
gallery
These terrorists murder fifty to one hundred people every day
under the excuse that they are fighting occupation. It is not
safe to go to cinemas, to restaurants or to bars because
"these cowards choose these soft targets to kill as many
people as possible." They recently target barbers' shops
"because men are supposed to have long beards, not shave them
off."
On the religious strife
"Being a Sunni or a Shiite was never an issue before this
invasion. People got along fine and religious practice was a
private question. Now the people are being told they are Sunni
and must act like this, or Shiites and must act like that."
The American invasion has created massive and deep cleavages
inside Iraqi society, which never existed before. The puppet
government and the Constitution have been drawn up based on
sectarian, ethnic and tribal differences and are bound to
create more problems than they solve.
The way forward
"We are caught between two factions which nobody wants. On one
side is the unwanted American-led invasion force, which does
not protect anyone. Women are raped, people are shot at
arbitrarily. If an American soldier sees Islamists attacking
someone on the street, they turn their backs and walk away.
They travel around in massive convoys terrified for their
lives.
"On the other hand, we have a puppet regime which looks after
its own interests in the Green Zone and has no authority
outside it."
"Hiding behind these two factions are the Islamists, who have
found a safe haven inside Iraq. The victims are the innocent
and defenseless civilians."
According to Houzan Mahmoud, what Iraq needs is a third
option: a strong civil society which sets up a secular and
progressive state, based on the will of the people and not
political, ethnic and religious divisions, which is what the
puppet government represents. Therefore, whether the
Constitution is adopted or not (and here is it important to
remember that many people are either coerced into voting by
the Shiites, Kurdish Nationalists and traibalists in power
tricked by the lies of the government which hides its real
agenda or else simply do not know what they are voting for),
the outcome will be the same: a government out of control,
terrorists running rife and the people, unprotected.
The organizations which Houzan represents are setting up
networks of workers' councils and trade unions, are organizing
strikes and fighting for workers' rights, fighting for women's
rights and are calling for support from the international
community to ensure that Iraq and its people do not fall
victim to Islamism. The women of Iraq want to walk freely in
the streets without being attacked or decapitated because they
are not wearing a veil.
Houzan Mahmoud sees the immediate withdrawal of the occupying
force as being imperative, because the invasion created all
the problems in the first place. The Americans are responsible
for a decade of sanctions which has murdered hundreds of
thousands of children and created a generation of disabled or
sick children, through the deployment of Depleted Uranium ,
one hundred thousand people have been murdered in the war,
civilian infrastructures have been destroyed, terrorists have
poured into a country where they did not exist before and the
country is in chaos.
The puppet regime, supported by the Americans , is composed of
factions on the margins of Iraqi society, gathered together in
London by the CIA before the invasion and given power that
they have never earned.
Only through a civil and progressive movement supported by the
people in a government, which is progressive and secular, not
religious, can Iraq becomes a safe place for its people.
"Under Saddam, we had one fascist dictator. Now, we have many
fascist dictators. We are worse off than under Saddam".
For more information, contact Houzan Mahmoud at
•••@••.•••
www.equalityiniraq.com
www.uuiraq.org
*A special mention of thanks to PpravdaA.Ru journalist and
collaborator, Luis Carvalho, for his considerable contribution
in organizing this event in Portugal
You can discuss this article on Pravda.Ru FORUM
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
--
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"Apocalypse Now and the Brave New World"
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