Guerrilla War continues in Iraq
The London Times reports that another 48 were killed and dozens wounded in a bombing of a police recruitment center in Baghdad on Wednesday. This comes after a similar and even more devastating bombing in Iskandariyah.
The Times report has a fascinating aside: ‘It is quite bizarre, but many Iraqis openly accused the US Army of being directly involved, which also happened after yesterday’s car bomb attack in Iskandiriyah. A US Army officer came out from the compound to speak to the media after today’s attack. He was quickly surrounded by a crowd of very emotional young Iraqi men, who were convinced that the Army was in some way complicit in the attack. Many Iraqis approached me to say that America orchestrated the attack, some even said with the support of Israel. They cite as evidence the fact that US soldiers were around before the attack, then they left, only to arrive back at the scene once the bomb had gone off. They believe that the attacks today and yesterday are part of a conspiracy to ensure that American troops continue remain in Iraq, because the US authorities can say the situation is not stable enough for them to leave.‘
I take this report of attitudes in the street to reveal a profound psychological conflict among Iraqis, who do not at all like the idea of being occupied (that is the term they use) by Westerners, but who know deep down they need US and Coalition troops to keep order from breaking down altogether. This cognitive dissonance is resolved by conspiracy theories like the one reported, such that the need for the US troops is created by the US troops themselves, thus closing the circle of causality.
Wire service reported other attacks on Wednesday as well: Guerrillas in Kirkuk detonated a bomb as a US convoy passed, wounding 3 US troops. Another roadside bomb in Ramadi slightly injured a US soldier and damaged an SUV.
Guerrillas threw an explosive device at Spanish soldiers walking to their headquarters in the southern Shiite town of Diwaniyah, lightly injuring 5 of them.
In Mosul, there was a drive by shooting of the office of the Democratic Assyrian Party, a Christian group, in which a security guard was injured.
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