Letter to Congress on Fiction of Legitimate Government in Iraq
Senator Mel Martinez
317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Dear Senator Martinez,
As the American death toll in Iraq passes 1,900, events in Basra are exposing the fiction that the United States and United Kingdom have established some kind of legitimate or representative government in Iraq during the two and a half years since they invaded the country. In fact, the groups installed as a “government” are opposition groups that only existed in exile in Iran, the U.S. and the U.K. and in the autonomous region of South Kurdistan, and their control of security forces and militia is still exercised via chains of command that exist within these groups rather than via any legitimate governmental structure.
Thus, British newspapers have been reporting for months the complaints of the official “police chief” in Basra that only 25% of his officers are loyal to him, while 75% answer first to the chains of command in the various militia groups that they also belong to. In this capacity, these “police officers” have formed death squads that have conducted hundreds of extrajudicial executions of civilians in Basra, mostly of minority Sunni Arabs. Steven Vincent, an American freelance reporter in Basra, wrote about the death squads in an op-ed in the New York Times on July 29th. Four days later, he was abducted by a group of men in a brand new Chevy pick-up with police markings. His body was found by the side of a road outside the city with three gunshot wounds to the chest.
The same pattern of extrajudicial executions and torture by “security forces”/militias exists throughout Iraq. My letter of September 8th discussed the human rights report issued by the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq about abuses by the Interior Ministry “Special Police Commandos”, and the role of American advisors in establishing, training and supporting these forces.
By continuing its illegitimate and brutal policy in Iraq, the United States Government is seriously undermining several vital U.S. national interests: the diplomatic credibility and legitimacy of the United States as a leader of the international community; the stability of the Persian Gulf oil-producing region; the legitimacy and effectiveness of the U.S. armed forces; bilateral relations with dozens of countries who are allies or partners based upon shared values and interests but who want no part of this kind of international behavior; and indirect economic consequences ensuing from all of these factors.
Please stand up and be counted among the millions of Americans who are demanding an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and a more rational and humane foreign and defense policy.
Yours sincerely
317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Dear Senator Martinez,
As the American death toll in Iraq passes 1,900, events in Basra are exposing the fiction that the United States and United Kingdom have established some kind of legitimate or representative government in Iraq during the two and a half years since they invaded the country. In fact, the groups installed as a “government” are opposition groups that only existed in exile in Iran, the U.S. and the U.K. and in the autonomous region of South Kurdistan, and their control of security forces and militia is still exercised via chains of command that exist within these groups rather than via any legitimate governmental structure.
Thus, British newspapers have been reporting for months the complaints of the official “police chief” in Basra that only 25% of his officers are loyal to him, while 75% answer first to the chains of command in the various militia groups that they also belong to. In this capacity, these “police officers” have formed death squads that have conducted hundreds of extrajudicial executions of civilians in Basra, mostly of minority Sunni Arabs. Steven Vincent, an American freelance reporter in Basra, wrote about the death squads in an op-ed in the New York Times on July 29th. Four days later, he was abducted by a group of men in a brand new Chevy pick-up with police markings. His body was found by the side of a road outside the city with three gunshot wounds to the chest.
The same pattern of extrajudicial executions and torture by “security forces”/militias exists throughout Iraq. My letter of September 8th discussed the human rights report issued by the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq about abuses by the Interior Ministry “Special Police Commandos”, and the role of American advisors in establishing, training and supporting these forces.
By continuing its illegitimate and brutal policy in Iraq, the United States Government is seriously undermining several vital U.S. national interests: the diplomatic credibility and legitimacy of the United States as a leader of the international community; the stability of the Persian Gulf oil-producing region; the legitimacy and effectiveness of the U.S. armed forces; bilateral relations with dozens of countries who are allies or partners based upon shared values and interests but who want no part of this kind of international behavior; and indirect economic consequences ensuing from all of these factors.
Please stand up and be counted among the millions of Americans who are demanding an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and a more rational and humane foreign and defense policy.
Yours sincerely
posted by Nicolas Davies | 1:06 PM
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