Who is Winning this War?

by Syed Atiq ul Hassan

While the world is watching the Hollywood-style live adventure of US-coalition forces using the most devastating and technologically advanced weapons to strike as hard as these can be on Iraq to win and justify the war that unilaterally thrashed by Bush with his two knots Blair and Howard; even those who considered Saddam Hussain a secular dictator till the start of US bombardment on Iraq, are now holding the portraits of Saddam Hussain, as a Arab hero, on the streets of almost every Arab State in the marches of millions.

The way the US forces are busy in showdown of their latest warheads of mass devastations through air, land and sea, the time may not be far now when US brigades clutch the palaces of Saddam Hussain and take over the control of Baghdad. So, would that be the end game of this brutal operation? The invasion of Iraq which has been started considering all the positive scenarios and assumptions is already bringing discontents in US, UK and Australian camps.

The world is already witnessing the fearful and mounting resentments against the US in the entire Arab region. Watching the brutal images of innocent deaths and disabilities of their fellow-Arabs brothers, the anger and revenge in Arabs is disseminating like a bush-fire. The reaction to annihilate Iraq by US will transform Saddam Hussain into a hero in the hearts of millions in the region. It is, now, not so difficult to understand why France, Germany, Russia, China and others kept opposing the idea of using force against Iraq. As the destruction of Iraq by US forces will grow the uprising against the west on the streets of the Arab lands will also inflate. Many heads of States including France and Russian had already warned that using force against Iraq will increase the terrorist activities around the world and it will provide more reasons to those Islamic extremist groups who believe on tit for tat rather than diplomacy.

According to Al-Jazeera TV, the invasion of Iraq has prompted hundreds of Muslims to take up arms against US-led forces. While there have been some low-level desertions in the Iraqi army, there has also been a personnel flow in the opposite direction. In the build-up to the war, hundreds may be even thousands of volunteers have made their way to Iraq where Al Jazeera television has shown them receiving training in urban warfare and street fighting. Their aim is simple – to defend Iraq against the US invasion that creeps ever so close to Baghdad. No doubt, Iraqi army is no match against the US military might and one can not imagine the victory of Saddam’s forces over US-coalition would not be less than a miracle, yet the issue still remains the same what about post-war rule, stability and peace?

Saddam Hussain is a dangerous military man. Who can understand better the climate and tactics of war in the Iraqi desert than Saddam Hussain who had engaged his forces for 10 years against Iran and then experienced the atrocious assails by US-led forces in the last desert storm. His basic tactics are very simple – engage the US forces for as long as possible in the desert by using every justifiable or unjustifiable tactics, let the US forces get frustrated, choosing more and more urban targets, resulting more civil casualties and make them guilty in the eyes of the world for their own actions. Nevertheless the first week of US invasion is proving so. The signs of frustration in the US-coalition command are already occurring as the highly equipped force embedded with the hi-tech machinery, satellite links and heavily-designed bombs could not bring any claims of specific victory after a week long decisive bombardment on every city of Iraq. The US claims are going backward and forward with total nervousness.

As the time goes by, US forces will increase their bombardment to achieve quick results which will generate more chances of missing targets and civilian casualties. That will continuously bring more anger and fearful reaction in the entire Arab region, particularly in the neighbouring Syria, Jordan and Iran. At the same time; showing the US prisoners of war on Iraqi state television by Iraqi government, only in 48 hours, has already marred the tune of President Bush. Asking Iraq to follow the Geneva Convention on US’s Prisoners of the war which has been thrashed without the approval of United Nations and over the condemnation by the majority of this world has already reasserted the anger of the majority on Bush, Blair and Howard. More causalities and capturing of US-coalition personnel in the hand of Iraqi forces will bring more depressions in US, UK and Australian camps and back home.

War is a game of playing with human lives. How long this brutal game will continue and who will assert the victory; the world has to witness hour by hour and day by day. (The Writer is a Sydney based journalist and editor Tribune International Australia).