Religion, Nationalism, and Terror

Basra fight pointless, says British commander - Telegraph, October 28, 2007

One of the most senior British commanders in Iraq has claimed that there is no point in fighting on in Basra, likening British troops in the city to “Robocop” and admitting that innocent people were hurt as a result of their actions.

The officer, who spoke to The Sunday Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said commanders had concluded that a military solution was no longer viable.

“We are tired of firing at people,” he said. “We would prefer to find a political accommodation.”

The officer, who is responsible for thousands of troops, said the decision to pull soldiers out of the centre of Basra last month came after commanders concluded that using Iraqi forces would be more effective. “We would go down there [Basra], dressed as Robocop, shooting at people if they shot at us, and innocent people were getting hurt,” he said. “We don’t speak Arabic to explain and our translators were too scared to work for us any more. What benefit were we bringing to these people?”

British forces have struck a deal with Shia militias to withdraw to a single base at the international airport in return for assurances that they will no longer be attacked.

Bil’in - Four nonviolent activists wounded in Bil’in’s weekly protest, October 26, 2007
Source : IMEMC

by George Rishmawi

At least four nonviolent activists have been wounded in the weekly nonviolent anti-wall demonstration in the village of Bilin, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

A number of International and Israeli peace activists joined the villagers of Bilin in their weekly protest carrying banners condemning the harassment of the Palestinian prisoners by the Israeli police. The protestors demanded the international committee of the Red Cross to pressure Israel to probe the death of one of Mohammad al-Ashqar few days ago in the desert jail of Ketsiot.

Protestors walked through the streets of the town and attempted to go to the olive orchards behind the annexation wall. However, they were stopped by the Israeli soldiers who placed barricades on the way to prevent the villagers from reaching their olive trees.

Troops threatened to shoot anyone who attempts to go through the barricade. As the protestors attempted to walk through, troops fired several gas and sound bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets at them wounding four.

Benziman, One, two, three, testing - Haaretz, October 28, 2007

Experience teaches that subjecting the Palestinians to collective punishment - roadblocks, curfews or economic pressure - has not brought the desired result. Just the opposite: it increases the terror organizations’ motivation to strike at Israel, and increases the number of potential suicide bombers. In addition, the use of collective punishment damages Israel’s image and efforts to gain international understanding for its position in the conflict with the Palestinians. Common sense would thus suggest avoiding this method. To put it simply, in terms of costs versus benefits - the idea of harassing Gazans to the point of depriving them of fuel and electricity deserves to be shelved in light of the price Israel will have to pay for implementing this plan. It can be inferred based on what Olmert told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday that he understands this: A statement released after the two leaders met in Jerusalem said the prime minister promised his guest that Israel would not cause a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. If that is the case, then what is the point of publicizing Israel’s plans to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Gaza’s population? Either the intention is to harass them mercilessly, in which case one may question the value of the prime minister’s promise to the PA leader; or to harass them only to a “tolerable” degree - in which case, what’s the point in harassing them?

There is a moral message to the decision, too: When Israel assassinates terrorists and injures innocent bystanders, it claims in its defense that that was not its intention, and that the terror organizations’ operational methods force it to act as it does. It is doubtful that this argument passes the test of morality, since some might argue that if Israel knows from the start that its actions will harm innocent victims, then it should avoid such actions. How much more so when the state walks, eyes wide open, into a moral and legal trap, in preparing to knowingly impose a collective punishment whose purpose is to harm tens of thousands of completely innocent people. So what should be done to combat the Qassams? Instead of trying economic siege and power outages and limited raids and ground campaigns and targeted assassinations - how about trying to reach a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians founded on a genuine Israeli willingness to give up the territories?

U.S. commander in Iraq: Sectarian bias limits police - Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2007

BAGHDAD — A departing major general who oversaw the U.S. military operation in northern Iraq delivered blunt criticism Friday of the ministry that manages Iraqi police forces, accusing it of “foot dragging” in hiring desperately needed officers because of sectarian bias.

The comments put in stark terms the sectarian divisions in Iraq’s Shiite-led Interior Ministry, which has been beset by allegations of infiltration by Shiite Muslim militiamen and human rights violations, including torture….

Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, who will soon conclude his 15-month term commanding the U.S. forces in northern provinces, said he had negotiated Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s approval in May for the Interior Ministry to hire 6,000 additional Iraqi police officers for Diyala province north of Baghdad.

Mixon said he had hoped the officers would be a mix of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to reflect the region’s ethnic and religious makeup — especially Sunnis, who make up a large share of the population. But six months later, he said, the officers had still not been hired because of “certain individuals trying to influence who is being hired.”

“The problem we’re dealing with now is what still appears to be sectarian divides in the Ministry of Interior that is responsible for the support to the police,” he said, speaking via teleconference from Camp Speicher, outside the northern city of Tikrit.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done down there to do away with the sectarian decision-making that occurs in the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad.”