We're Headed for a Pyrrhic Victory*

A young man by the name of Dahr Jamail has written many on-the-scene accounts of the war in Iraq. He is back in Iraq and is writing almost daily about the disasterous situation there. He says: A military victory for US forces in Fallujah seems set to lead to a huge political loss for the US-backed interim Iraqi government. Strong anti-government reactions have set in already as reports come in from Fallujah of bombed hospitals, high civilian casualties and denial of access to medical care. Several governments and international groups have warned that military action is likely to undermine elections scheduled for January.

• The Assoication of Muslim Scholars (AMS) has called on people to boycott elections. Its secretary-general openly supports Iraqi resistance to the occupation.
• The Iraqi Islamic Party, a major Sunni political party, has withdrawn from the Iraqi interim government in protest of the attack on Fallujah.
• A professor at Baghdad University has said: Even if the Americans take the city, they will only anger the rest of Iraq. He scoffs at the American-imposed martial law, saying it is not from any Iraqi government.
• The Shura Mujahidin Council in Fallujah has called on the Iraqi National Guard to withdraw from the battle for the sake of national unity. It has also persuaded resistance fighters in other cities in Iraq to assist those fighting in Fallujah.
• The fighters in Fallujah believed to be mostly Sunni have won backing from Shia leaders who fought US forces in Najaf earlier.

There are an estimated 6,000 resistance fighters in Fallujah. Killing or capturing a significant number of them will not be easy for the interim government to live with, says Jamail.

What is the US position? US Commander Colonel Michael Formica was quoted as saying, "As we tighten the noose around him [resistance], he will move to escape and fight another day. I do not want these guys to get out of here. I want them killed or captured as they flee."

The more US forces succeed in this, the heavier Iraqis say will be the price they would have to pay.

President Bush said today that the military operations in Iraq are going very well. Four more years of this president is more than I can bear.

[Click on the blog title to read Dahr Jamail's diary.]

*A victory or goal gained at too great a cost.