| January 13, 2006 Iraq's Tightening Noose by Karen Button, insurgent49 Many have feared that the December 15th elections would not give Iraqis the democracy promised since the invasion of their country in 2003. It seems they were right to worry. Since the elections, a number of key events have taken place, which bear highlighting. Visa Requirements Tightened Tougher requirements for visas was announced a week after the election. The Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a statement that defies logic, claimed, “Before, the Iraqi authorities easily granted visas to most applicants, which led to an increase in foreign insurgents coming into Iraq, especially Arabs.” Apparently, before now foreign fighters were not only applying for visas, they were being granted them too easily. Who this will actually affect are NGOs, journalists, and business owners, many of whom are now living in Amman, Jordan and travel between the two countries. Khalid Sumayre, a senior ministry official, went on to declare, “From now on, if a journalist wants a visa, he has to have a security detail to provide him [sic] with protection.” Journalists at Risk/News Censored At the same time, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists released their annual report, calling Iraq the most dangerous place for journalists in 2005. Since the start of the war, 60 journalists have been killed, 41 have been Iraqi. Of those, 13 have been killed by the US, prompting calls by journalist rights groups for investigations whether or not they were targeted killings. An additional 22 media workers have been killed while working. 36 journalists have been kidnapped in that same time period; most were released. One, Jill Carroll of The Christian Science Monitor, was abducted January 7th and is still being held. Her interpreter was shot dead. Also disturbing is the frequent detainment of journalists—particularly Iraqis—and the confiscation of their work by US forces, such as what happened to Ali Fadhil on 8 January. Fadhil, an award-winning reporter working for The Guardian and Channel 4, was investigating accusations that “tens of millions of dollars worth of Iraqi funds held by the Americans and British have been misused or misappropriated,” according to The Guardian. “The director of the film, Callum Macrae, said yesterday: ‘The timing and nature of this raid is extremely disturbing. It is only a few days since we first approached the US authorities and told them Ali was doing this investigation, and asked them then to grant him an interview about our findings.’ “The troops told Dr Fadhil that they were looking for an Iraqi insurgent and seized video tapes he had shot for the programme. These have not yet been returned.” IMF Loan First Step Toward Privitization In late December the International Monetary Fund unsurprisingly weighed in by granting a $685 million loan to Iraq to rebuild their war-ravaged country. In exchange for Iraqi’s paying for their own reconstruction, the IMF demanded the government end oil subsidies and open the country’s economy to private investment. In response to IMF pressures, Iraq’s outgoing government increased fuel prices nine-fold, causing demonstrations and riots across the country. Police fired upon a crowd of 3,000 protesters in Nassiryeh and killed four during riots in Kirkuk. When Iraq’s Oil Minster, Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, protested, he was given a “forced vacation.” According to the blog DailyKos, al-Uloum asked, “Is this how we repay the Iraq citizens who risked their lives to participate in the elections, by raising fuel prices in this way?” Ahmed Chalabi, former CIA informant and convicted embezzler, replaced al-Uloum, leaving no question that the US will benefit over Iraqi citizens in regards their oil. In closed-door meetings members of Iraq’s interim-government and representatives from the US and the UK have been negotiating Iraq’s oil future. If the current plan is signed off on, Iraqis will lose control of more than 85 percent of their oil resources to foreign multinationals according to a report entitled Crude Designs by researcher Greg Muttitt. Though Iraqis have no desire to privatize their oilfields, they may have no choice. In a country whose resources have long been nationalized, there has been no public discourse about the future of their oil. The noose around democracy continues to tighten. Karen Button is a freelance journalist and peace activist. She can be reached at kbutton@insurgent49.com |
-
Columnists -
- related items -
- also by this
writer -
Fallujah: Resistance Growing One Year Later Regime Change In Syria? Support Our Troops, Question the War "People Are Seriously Suffering" From Soldier To Activist "Those Are The Sounds Of Peace" "Scorched Earth" In Iraq Showdown At The Crawford Ranch The High Cost Of Occupation Dispatches From The Middle East Escalating Chaos Points The Way The 'Prerogative State' Is Upon Us Where Are All The Heroes? A Bitter Anniversary When Bush Comes To Shove ... Resist Occupied: Palestine, Iraq, and the U.S.A. |
||||||
| Copyright
2005
Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
|||||||
