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A
man offers new Iraqi passports as well as Kalashnikov rifles for
sale at a street market in Baghdad
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By
Aws Al-Sharqy, IOL Iraq Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
April 30 (IslamOnline.net) - "America got us freedom, but with
destructive missiles, looting and lawlessness," complained
Rasheed Mosuli of the U.S. forces aggression against his country in
the name of "freedom".
"They
crossed oceans, recruited their media, shelled our houses, destroyed
our gardens, allowed thieves to steal us and spread chaos and anarchy
in the country; all for the alleged ultimate aim of freedom,"
charged Mosuli, as did many here after the end of the U.S.-led war and
the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.
The
Iraqis said the U.S. forces did not act
enough to stop the wave of looting and thievery the country descended into
after they drove into Baghdad on April 9 declaring the Iraqi regime
now crumbled.
"After
the situation was stable, the U.S. forces allowed the parties to claim
control of the government buildings without even limiting the number
allotted for each one of them. Is this freedom!," wondered Mosuli
with a mixed tone of sarcasm and eagerness.
Children
Selling Alcohol, Guns, Porn CDs
Alcoholic
beverage sellers, who sell their products in the streets to everyone,
including under age youth, could now yell "yes to freedom… Beer
is now by 200 dinars a bottle" to attract buyers to the new
product in the country's markets.
The
U.S. officials have long repeated Washington would promote democracy
in Iraq and will not impose any government or culture on it.
"Iraq
can be an example of peace and prosperity and freedom to the entire
Middle East," Bush said on Tuesday, April 29.
But
the Iraqis feel it is rather an occupation rather than a transatlantic
journey for freedom. Three anti-occupation demonstrators were
killed and several others wounded when U.S. soldiers opened random fire on
them, only hours after 15 others killed by the U.S. gunfire in
separate protests.
In
the capital street markets, Kalashnikov rifles, weapons and bombs as
well as other ammunitions were available to be at the hands of all
civilians with lucrative prices less than a kilo of meat.
Along
with a general state of lawlessness, everything could be bought
including military service documents and original stamps approving
them. Stolen goods are starting to surface from the extensive looting
in the city after Saddam's ouster.
The
U.S. forces, Iraqis said, turned a blind eye over the looting of
government buildings and rushed to protect the Oil Ministry
headquarters, raising public fears that it is rather a thirst for oil.
In
one of the slums of Baghdad, intensively rocked by the U.S.-British
warplanes for more than two weeks, car plates are offered for sale,
only by 25,000 dinars each, with stamped documents to prove its
authenticity.
The
only blank space to write into is the name of the buyer - or let's put
it clear- the thief.
The
Iraqis are also morally outraged after the U.S. forces pushed into
their country.
"Children
could now find pornographic mags, films for sale at street market in
the Iraqi capital," said Amer Sabri, wondering how such
previously-tabooed things arrived in the Arab Islamic country with
such amazing speed.
"Gambling
was rampant in the country and people no longer harbor the earlier
fear of approaching it, and we no longer hear the voices of Muezzins
or Qur'an recital blaring out, " Sabri lamented.
The
Iraqis were rather seething with anger at the U.S. forces' declaration
they did not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far, the main
reason that triggered the war against the country. British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw also said Iraq may have no weapons of mass
destruction.
There
were also waves of massive demonstrations that broke out in various
districts of the country with higher calls for ending the occupation
and the precipitous formation of a national government. In one
demonstration, tens of thousands of Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shiites,
joined hands demanding
an end to the Anglo-American occupation of their country with chants
"No to Saddam, No to Bush, Yes to Islam".
But
Bush kept saying that much work remains to be done in the country.
