Democritized Iraq: A Gangster State
"Rules fell away along with the regime of Saddam Hussein, leaving a broken landscape of sagging state institutions. Ambitious political parties, criminal gangs and the region's vast network of tribes, stepped in to fill the vacuum. "So much of the state melted after Saddam fell," U.S. official said."
State Has 'Melted,' Leaving Basra In Chaos
BASRA, Iraq The message in the Shiite newspaper was perfectly clear: Watching soccer is a dangerous distraction. It leads to celebrating in the street, listening to music, waving flags and seeing scantily clad female fans - all forbidden.
Fadhila, one of the many religious Shiite political parties that proliferate in this southern city, was handing out copies at Basra University.
Iraqi leaders have called on the army to halt this once-quiet southern city's slide into chaos. But the problems run far deeper than tanks and machine guns can reach.
They begin in Basra's institutions, where political parties have taken root, forming morals patrols in the halls of Basra University, moving into the flimsy police force and controlling the guard force that protects the important sites at the state oil company.
"We're into political porridge," said Brigadier James Everard, commander of the British forces that patrol southern Iraq. "It's mafia-type politics down here."
Many parties - there are six in the Basra Provincial Council - have their own militias, and those armed groups have been fighting battles over political causes in recent months. The result has been a soaring murder rate, the second- highest casualty month for the British military since the start of the war and an absolutely terrified population.
"I cannot talk with you," said Sajid Saad Hassan, a professor at Basra University's agriculture college. "I haven't joined a party and no militia is protecting me."
As military planners contemplate the future of this war, they are seeing a southern Iraqi landscape that is infinitely more complex than it was at the start of their effort.
For the last three years, Baghdad has put its resources into fighting an insurgent war in central and western Iraq, and the predominantly Shiite south has been allowed to go its own way.
But rules fell away along with the regime of Saddam Hussein, leaving a broken landscape of sagging state institutions. Ambitious political parties, criminal gangs and the region's vast network of tribes, stepped in to fill the vacuum.
"So much of the state melted after Saddam fell," U.S. official said.
Among the first steps for the new state was the building of a police force. But the police chief at the beginning was weak, and the parties quickly began to bully him.
Politically motivated recruiting increased the size of the force, which now has 15,000 members, twice as many as it should have, a British official said.
Major General Hassan Swadi al-Saad, the city's police chief, said he had resisted influence by the parties, a practice that had nearly cost him his life. Last week his convoy was bombed - an attack that he said was probably carried out by police officers working for one or another party.
On Tuesday, gunmen killed one of his senior guards and wounded another.
"The parties are assassinating one another for posts," he said.
The governor, Muhammad al-Waeli of the Fadhila party, detests Saad and blames him for the dismantling of several special police units - those handling major crimes, internal affairs and criminal intelligence. The British suspected some officers of the units of committing crimes. "They were assassins going around killing people," said Laszlo Szomoru, a senior police adviser here.
The province has sunk into political paralysis as Waeli has tried - and failed - to fire Saad. The provincial council, for its part, has tried, also unsuccessfully, to remove Waeli, but has not been able to achieve the two-thirds majority required to do so.
The parties' influence extends beyond the police into the court system, frustrating efforts by the British to bring to justice those they consider corrupt. In January, for example, the British authorities identified several men they said had been running death squads, siphoning oil and shooting at British soldiers. So commanders arrested them.
"You arrest someone and the next day, you're on the phone to the governor, to the chief of police," Everard said. "We say, 'We know he's yours, but we did it for the following reason.'"
When British commanders release Iraqis into the Iraqi justice system, those with powerful political connections almost immediately go free. "The justice system here is a bit like a bucket with a hole," Everard said.
By Sabrina Tavernise The New York Times
SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/02/news/basra.php
State Has 'Melted,' Leaving Basra In Chaos
BASRA, Iraq The message in the Shiite newspaper was perfectly clear: Watching soccer is a dangerous distraction. It leads to celebrating in the street, listening to music, waving flags and seeing scantily clad female fans - all forbidden.
Fadhila, one of the many religious Shiite political parties that proliferate in this southern city, was handing out copies at Basra University.
Iraqi leaders have called on the army to halt this once-quiet southern city's slide into chaos. But the problems run far deeper than tanks and machine guns can reach.
They begin in Basra's institutions, where political parties have taken root, forming morals patrols in the halls of Basra University, moving into the flimsy police force and controlling the guard force that protects the important sites at the state oil company.
"We're into political porridge," said Brigadier James Everard, commander of the British forces that patrol southern Iraq. "It's mafia-type politics down here."
Many parties - there are six in the Basra Provincial Council - have their own militias, and those armed groups have been fighting battles over political causes in recent months. The result has been a soaring murder rate, the second- highest casualty month for the British military since the start of the war and an absolutely terrified population.
"I cannot talk with you," said Sajid Saad Hassan, a professor at Basra University's agriculture college. "I haven't joined a party and no militia is protecting me."
As military planners contemplate the future of this war, they are seeing a southern Iraqi landscape that is infinitely more complex than it was at the start of their effort.
For the last three years, Baghdad has put its resources into fighting an insurgent war in central and western Iraq, and the predominantly Shiite south has been allowed to go its own way.
But rules fell away along with the regime of Saddam Hussein, leaving a broken landscape of sagging state institutions. Ambitious political parties, criminal gangs and the region's vast network of tribes, stepped in to fill the vacuum.
"So much of the state melted after Saddam fell," U.S. official said.
Among the first steps for the new state was the building of a police force. But the police chief at the beginning was weak, and the parties quickly began to bully him.
Politically motivated recruiting increased the size of the force, which now has 15,000 members, twice as many as it should have, a British official said.
Major General Hassan Swadi al-Saad, the city's police chief, said he had resisted influence by the parties, a practice that had nearly cost him his life. Last week his convoy was bombed - an attack that he said was probably carried out by police officers working for one or another party.
On Tuesday, gunmen killed one of his senior guards and wounded another.
"The parties are assassinating one another for posts," he said.
The governor, Muhammad al-Waeli of the Fadhila party, detests Saad and blames him for the dismantling of several special police units - those handling major crimes, internal affairs and criminal intelligence. The British suspected some officers of the units of committing crimes. "They were assassins going around killing people," said Laszlo Szomoru, a senior police adviser here.
The province has sunk into political paralysis as Waeli has tried - and failed - to fire Saad. The provincial council, for its part, has tried, also unsuccessfully, to remove Waeli, but has not been able to achieve the two-thirds majority required to do so.
The parties' influence extends beyond the police into the court system, frustrating efforts by the British to bring to justice those they consider corrupt. In January, for example, the British authorities identified several men they said had been running death squads, siphoning oil and shooting at British soldiers. So commanders arrested them.
"You arrest someone and the next day, you're on the phone to the governor, to the chief of police," Everard said. "We say, 'We know he's yours, but we did it for the following reason.'"
When British commanders release Iraqis into the Iraqi justice system, those with powerful political connections almost immediately go free. "The justice system here is a bit like a bucket with a hole," Everard said.
By Sabrina Tavernise The New York Times
SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/02/news/basra.php
posted by R7 | 6/03/2006 02:20:00 AM
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