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Iraq Practically Mired In State of Internal War

Posted February. 15, 2004 23:05,   

한국어

Concerns have mounted that the resistance of the Iraqi insurgence has expanded to a state of internal war.

Avoiding the current methods of attack such as burying land mines or detonating suicide bombs along the roadside, the insurgent troops have introduced a brand-new strategy of collectively swooping down upon public agencies. Suspicious armed men from Iran have also been found at the spot of battle, and anxieties about intervention of the neighboring countries are also being stirred.

Has Iraq advanced into a state of internal war? – At dawn on February 14, 50 armed insurgents made a surprise attack on the police station and the headquarters of civil defense force of Iraq in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. Shooting machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, they swiftly took command of the targeted locations and liberated 70 inmates.

The insurgents daringly conducted a deliberate attack on the headquarters of the civil defense force, including randomly firing machine guns and throwing grenades at every room in the headquarters. Due to this sudden attack, at least 27 civilian and police officers were killed and 40 were wounded, the New York Times reported.

In particular, this attack together with the February 10 suicide bomb attack at the Iskandariyah police station south of Baghdad, and the February 11 terror attack against the recruiting station in Baghdad, has increased death tolls in the recent days from 5 up to 129. Foreign news agencies have reported that excluding the bomb terror attack that occurred at the Kurd Party headquarters in Arvil, it was the biggest affair of bloodshed that has taken place in the short-term period.

Realization of the conflicts between religious denominations – Among the killed insurgents at the Fallujah battle, there was one Lebanese person and two Iranians, reported New York Times. The local police have assumed that they attempted to assault the police station in order to rescue the five Iranian people detained. As they were kept in the other prison, the rescue operation turned out to be failure.

The Administration has been surprised by the intervention of Iranian people. They even shouted, “God is mighty!” when they set upon the targets. The Shia Muslims, which account for 60 percent of Iraqi people, also represent the majority in Iran. On the other hand, constituting the “Sunni triangular zone” which connects Tikrit and Samarra, Fallujah is referred as the stronghold of the Sunni Muslims.

As for the Iraqi power transfer problem, the majority Shia Muslims require an early direct election, threatening the minority Sunni Muslims.

Iraqi minister Hoshyar Zebari, who participated in the Arabian foreign minister’s talk held in Kuwait on February 14, has urged to “take thorough measures toward the forces that cross the boundaries to Iraq.”

Does the election schedule matter? – It has been observed that the recent bloodshed and terror attacks can be directly connected to the upcoming Iraqi election. “Even two to three weeks ago, the security state was calm. But, as the UN inspection team visited Iraq, terror attacks have taken place consecutively,” pointed out a high level member in the Iraqi interim government.

Except the Fallujah attack, the other terrorist activities are presumed to have been driven forward by the supporters of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, which is also related to Al Qaeda. The BBC has assessed that it could be a ploy to delay the election schedule by stirring security instabilities.

This corresponds to the strategy of Al Qaeda, which aims to intensify conflicts among the religious sects and weaken the demand by the Shia Muslims to hold an early direct election. “If the temporary government organized in Iraq does not receive comprehensive support of the people, there is a risk that the newly established government will have less administrative power than that of the interim government,” reported the BBC.



Jin Lee leej@donga.com