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<h2 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=5 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>The <st1:City w:st="on">Battle</st1:City>
of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gaza</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><strong><b><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Mike Whitney
– uruknet.info June 17, 2007 </span></font></b></strong><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><br>
In less than 24 hours of fierce street-fighting, Bush’s proxy-army in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gaza</st1:place></st1:City> was routed by armed
units of Hamas. It was a stunning defeat for Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas, and for US-Israeli policymakers who have done everything in their power
to overturn the "free and fair" election of the Hamas government. For
now, Hamas has reestablished its authority in <st1:City w:st="on">Gaza</st1:City>
although Abbas is still working frantically with Bush and Olmert to consolidate
his power in the <st1:place w:st="on">West Bank</st1:place>. So far, Abbas has
carried out the demands of his paymasters by replacing Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh with ex-World Bank official, Salam Fayyad---a Palestinian Karzai who
will take his orders from Tel Aviv or Washington. Abbas does not have the
constitutional authority to replace Prime Minister Haniyeh or to disband the
Hamas-dominated government, but this point is typically overlooked in the
western media. <br>
<br>
The Bush administration has abandoned any pretense of neutrality and is openly
supporting the ongoing violation of UN resolution 242. Bush helped to engineer
the savage boycott which has withheld food, water, medical aid and financial
resources from Palestinian civilians. He has also funneled millions of dollars
and weapons to the Palestinian "Preventive Security Force" headed by
US-ally Mohammad Dahlan. According to the UK Guardian, "<st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State>
has launched a controversial $60 million program to bolster Mr Abbas's presidential
guard and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>
has quietly allowed Arab states to send in arms and ammunition".
Dahlan’s militia was organized to challenge Hamas, but the plan failed
spectacularly. As soon as the fighting broke out in <st1:City w:st="on">Gaza</st1:City>,
Dahlan’s men panicked and fled across the border to <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Those
who remained were disarmed, stripped and taken into custody by Hamas. One
prominent Fatah gunman, Samih Madhoun, who had boasted of "executing
several Hamas fighters and torching the homes of others", was shot
execution style. <br>
<br>
The defeat in <st1:City w:st="on">Gaza</st1:City> is just the latest of <st1:State
w:st="on">Washington</st1:State>’s debacles in the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle
East</st1:place>. US-Israeli failures in the territories are the result of a
misguided policy which is backfiring everywhere. Investigative journalist
Seymour Hersh summed up the present policy like this: "We're in the
business of creating ... sectarian violence." <br>
<br>
Hersh is right. Bush and Olmert are using the familiar "divide and
conquer" strategy to provoke "Arab on Arab" violence. The policy
is an extension of Henry Kissinger’s dictum during the Iran-Iraq war:
"I hope they all kill each other". The goal is the same today as it
was then. <br>
<br>
Hersh says that the Bush administration supported the group of Sunni
extremists, Fatah al-Islam, who are still battling the Lebanese Army in Nahr
al-Bared refugee camp. He said that it is "a covert program we joined in
with the Saudis as part of a bigger, broader program of doing everything we
could to stop the spread of the Shiite world". <br>
<br>
In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
as in Gaza Strip, the "divide and conquer" strategy has produced
appalling results---forcing 30,000 poor Palestinians to flee their homes and
search for shelter. <br>
<br>
This week’s bombing of the minarets at the Golden Dome Mosque is another
example of the Bush Doctrine at work. Bush and his generals assure us that Al
Qaeda was responsible, but reports from the New York Times tell a different
story. <br>
<br>
Here’s an excerpt from an article by Graham Bowley <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/world/middleeast/13cnd-samarra.html?_r=2&bl&ex=1181880000&en=361c306cc52bf08d&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin&oref=slogin">"Minarets
on Shiite Shrine in Iraq Destroyed in Attack"</a>(NY Times) which gives us
a good idea of what really happened in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Samarra</st1:place></st1:City>.
Bowley says: <br>
<br>
"Since the attack in 2006, the shrine had been under the protection of
local — predominantly Sunni — guards. But American military and
Iraqi security officials had recently become concerned that the local unit had
been infiltrated by Al Qaeda forces in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. A move by the Ministry of
Interior in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>
over the last few days to bring in a new guard unit — predominantly
Shiite — may have been linked to the attack today." <br>
<br>
No reference is made to the sudden and unexplained changing of the guards at
the mosque in future accounts in the mainstream press. And, yet, that is the
most important point. The minarets were blown up just days after the new guards
took charge. They cordoned off the area, placed snipers on the surrounding
rooftops, and then blew up the minarets in broad daylight. <br>
<br>
The first explosion took place at 9:30 AM. Ten minutes later the second bomb
was detonated. <br>
<br>
Al Qaeda? <br>
<br>
Not likely. <br>
<br>
The Golden Dome mosque has been heavily guarded ever since it was blown up in
2006. The four main doors have been bolted shut and not a tile has been moved
in over a year. The reason for this is that the Shiites consider it a
"crime scene" which they intend to investigate more thoroughly when
the violence subsides. <br>
<br>
The Shiites never accepted the official US-version of events that "al
Qaeda did it". Many believe that US Special Forces were directly involved
and that it was a planned demolition carried out by experts. There is
considerable proof to support this theory including eye witness accounts from
the scene of the crime as well as holes that were drilled in the floor of the
mosque to maximize destruction. This was not a simple al Qaeda-type car-bombing
but a technically-demanding demolition operation. <br>
<br>
The damning information in the New York Times article has been corroborated in
many other publications including an <a
href="http://heyetnet.org/en/content/view/847/1/">official statement from the
Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI)</a>. According to the AMSI, Prime
Minister Nouri al Mailiki replaced the Sunnis who had been guarding the site
for over a year with Shiite government forces from the Interior Ministry. Their
statement reads: <br>
<br>
"Security forces arrived yesterday afternoon from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City> Tuesday for the receipt of the task
of protecting two tombs instead of the existing force there. Somehow they obtained
a scuffle followed by gunfire lasted two hours over control of security forces
coming from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>."
<br>
<br>
So, the Sunni guards were replaced (after a scuffle) with goons from the
Interior Ministry. The next day the minarets blow up. <br>
<br>
Coincidence? <br>
<br>
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki immediately issued statement where he
claimed that the al Qaeda was responsible for the attack. At the same time,
however, he arrested all 12 of the guards he sent from the Interior Ministry. <br>
<br>
Why? Was he afraid they would talk to the media? <br>
<br>
The Association of Muslim Scholars said that <br>
"last year’s explosion happened after a severe political crisis
between blocs involved in the political process to the occupation. After the
elections, the establishment of the government was blocked at that time. It is
quite similar to the political crisis faced by the government and parliament
today". <br>
<br>
The AMSI is right. The destruction of the Golden Dome Mosque took place soon
after the Iraqi parliament rejected the US-plan for dividing <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
("Federalism") This time, the parliament has voted-down the US-plan
to transfer control of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s
vast petroleum reserves to the American oil giants via the "oil
laws". <br>
<br>
The AMSI sees the bombing as a desperate attempt by the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> occupation
to break the logjam in Parliament over the oil laws and to conceal the failures
of the "surge" by inciting sectarian violence. The only difference
this time is that the Shiite militias have been less responsive to <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
manipulation. In fact, Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr has tried to stop his
Mahdi Army from attacking Sunni areas and he has decried the bombing as another
plot by US-Israeli intelligence agents operating in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. He said that the incident
reveals "the hidden hand of the occupier." <br>
<br>
He added, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>"This is what the occupiers
brought to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>:
a disintegration plot and fanning the flames of sectarian violence. Destroying
the Askariya shrine goes exactly with the insurgents' beliefs."</span></i>
<br>
<br>
Among Shiites, there’s nearly unanimous agreement that the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> was behind
the bombing. Middle East expert Juan Cole reports on his blog-site <a
href="http://www.juancole.com/2007/06/khamenei-global-demonstrations-blame-us.html">"Informed
Comment"</a>, that protests have broken out in India, Pakistan, the
Caucasus, Bahrain, Iran and other locations where there are high concentrations
of Shiites. The consensus view is that the minarets were blown up as part of a
larger US-Israeli strategy for controlling the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>.
<br>
<br>
But why would the Bush administration want to unleash a fresh wave of sectarian
violence when they can’t even establish security in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>? <br>
<br>
Here’s what the AMSI says: <br>
"Sectarian violence is an effective means to enable the militias to fully
impose their control on (Sunni) neighborhoods and cities as it did after the
bombings of Samarra….The government is also trying to control the capital
of Baghdad; seeking to extend its power over other cities that reject the
occupation, especially the cities of Baquba and Samarra". <br>
<br>
This is what is gained by the bombings—further ethnic cleansing of the
Sunni neighborhoods and greater control over the public through a campaign of
terror. It’s all part of a broader neocon strategy that centers on
"creative destruction" rather than the traditional <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> policy of
"regional stability". <br>
<br>
Al Sadr’s comments (as well as those of the AMSI) show that fewer and
fewer Iraqis are taken in by US counterinsurgency activities. In fact,
US-Israeli aggression is now seen as the main source of violence in the region.
This has turned Muslims around the world against the West. For these people,
the victories by Hamas and Hezbollah must come as a welcome relief. They are
small indication that the imperial grip is beginning to loosen and that,
perhaps change will be achievable sometime in the "not so distant"
future. <br>
<br>
The perception of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
invincibility has been shattered. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s moral authority is
in ruins. We are neither feared nor respected; that is the unfortunate legacy
of Abu Ghraib and Falluja. But what is bad news for us may be good news for the
people in the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>. It’s now
possible to imagine a New Middle East where fundamental change is possible. As
resistance continues to swell from a trickle to a stream---we can envision
"regime change" sweeping through the region from <st1:City w:st="on">Riyadh</st1:City>,
to <st1:City w:st="on">Amman</st1:City> to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Cairo</st1:place></st1:City>---an entirely new world shaking off its
colonial past. <br>
<br>
The forces that Bush has put in motion will inexorably lead to the decline of
"superpower rule" and the dismantling of the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> imperium.
The transition is already visible. The battle of <st1:City w:st="on">Gaza</st1:City>
is just a macrocosm of a much larger phenomenon which now extends from <st1:City
w:st="on">Mogadishu</st1:City> to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kabul</st1:place></st1:City>.
<br>
<br>
Change is coming, but it might not be to Bush’s liking. That’s the
real lesson of what happened in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gaza</st1:place></st1:City>.
<br>
</span></font><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>http://www.uruknet.info/?p=33741 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Last updated 17/06/2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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