Iraq heading for destruction or reconstruction?

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 08, 2003

Iraq heading for destruction or reconstruction?

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At a donors' conference in the Spanish capital of Madrid late last month, the planned reconstruction of war-torn Iraq received a boost with pledges of US$33 billion streaming in to rebuild the country.

However, this plan was dealt a blow when the 5 million residents in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad witnessed a well-co-ordinated series of powerful bombings on the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The five consecutive blasts on October 27 left more than 30 people dead and nearly 200 injured, in addition to widespread material destruction over large areas of the city.

Almost everybody of the 25 million Iraqi people is convinced that there can be no reconstruction in the absence of security and stability.

Even US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who himself narrowly escaped an attempt on his life during his three-day visit to Iraq late last month, admitted on Tuesday that escalated armed attacks on US-led coalition forces in Iraq would "obstruct" reconstruction.

Six months after the US-led war ended the 24-year dictatorial rule of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, security in the country remains as elusive as ever.

The crux of the matter is that Iraq, under US occupation, has turned into the "central front" of the US-motivated war against international terrorism with no speedy end for such a "global war" in sight.

This ominous development comes as a disappointment to the Iraqis, who have been aspiring to see the dust of the war settle down to enjoy peace.

Meanwhile, wrangling continues between the US-handpicked Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) and Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, over who is to be in charge of security.

While IGC insists on taking responsibility for security, Bremer, as the top US administrator in Iraq, is reluctant to cede even some of his prerogatives in this field.

The pro-coalition al-Sabah daily reported on Wednesday that IGC had sent a letter to US President George W. Bush, urging him to transfer responsibility for security to the Iraqis to put an end to the messy situation and start the long-awaited process of reconstruction.

Many people fear that Iraq, which has experienced three destructive wars in the past two decades and 13 years of harsh United Nations sanctions, has been so weakened that it cannot sustain such a situation any longer.

However, some observers said, with the incessant armed attacks and car bombings against Iraqi civilian targets in addition to coalition troops, Iraq is drifting more toward self-destruction rather than reconstruction.

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