Iraqis are angry at the lack of basic services in their oil-rich country

BAGHDAD, May 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Although the U.S. forces have declared themselves the "absolute authority within Iraq," their failure to maintain security, restore public services or ease the tough living conditions in post-Saddam Iraq, sent anti-American sentiments sky-high.

The American call for Iraqis to return to their jobs, for example, hit deaf ears because, inter alia, most Iraqis do not have electricity for television and printed leaflets of the call were not distributed, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The paper cited the case of Hanna Kamal, 36, and her colleagues who were already trying to return to jobs at the Ministry of Trade.

Kamal’s workplace had been burned and looted repeatedly since American troops drove into Baghdad.

She kept going to the charred building, dragging her children along, hoping for American aid or instructions that never came.

"We went for two weeks, standing in the street, and no one paid any attention," charged Kamal, who said she owes two months back rent and has no income.

She stressed that the U.S. order was "just ink on paper."

Friday, May 10, marked one month since U.S. Marines and some Iraqis in downtown Firdos Square triumphantly toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein, signaling the end of his regime.

Since then, the U.S. is seen to be loosing the peace, at the least by the measure of Iraqi civilians, said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Goodwill toward U.S. troops is eroding quickly. Iraqis look in disappointment at the collapse of law and order and the continued lack of basic services such as electricity, water and telephones, it added.

People are increasingly angry as living conditions are improving too slowly in some areas and are worsening every day in many others.

"We like the American troops because they got rid of Saddam, but if it keeps going from bad to worse, we will resist them," said Hussein Abd Zayyed, 22, who confronted U.S. troops guarding the Palestine Hotel in a quest for a job.

"Our patience is limited," he threatened.

The hotel witnessed many demonstrations against the U.S. military presence, with repeated calls for an end to the Anglo-American occupation.

Like hundreds of others, Abd Zayyed had filled out a job application a week earlier.

American troops accepted it dutifully, apparently unaware that the applications were for jobs with a self-proclaimed mayor who would soon be arrested by them.

Routine Looting

U.S. officials have admitted to instances of disorganization and that they did not expect the rampant looting and other postwar problems.

The 12,000-man U.S. force in the capital has failed to provide security and order, said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The spasm of looting that plagued the capital immediately after Saddam's statue fell has settled into a routine, it stressed.

Looters, the paper said, now work with job-like regularity, disassembling buildings often in full view of U.S. troops. Worse, crime is getting more violent each day.

As summertime temperatures approach, reliable electricity is still lacking for most in Baghdad, air conditioners are not running and refrigerating food is difficult.

Public water systems are faltering amid worries potential spread of cholera amid shortages of hospitals, also hit by waves of looting. Seventeen cases of the disease have been discovered in southern Iraq.

Complaining that they are running out of money and food, looters set out each day in small groups to any of the hundreds of burned buildings in the capital.

They dismantle anything that is left -- air conditioning ducts, metal wall and ceiling supports and, if they're lucky, some leftover furniture, said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On Wednesday, May 8, looters worked doggedly on a police station across an intersection from a post manned by U.S. forces.

In another part of the city, American troops in Humvees rolled past looters piling their booty onto donkey carts.

There are increasing accounts of shootings and robberies. Markets for stolen weapons and cars now operate in plain view, said the paper.

Iraqis said the American occupation troops also provoked their irk by making no heed to their Islamic values and traditions.

On Monday, April 28, 15 Iraqis were killed and about 50 wounded when U.S. occupation forces opened fire on a crowd of anti-occupation demonstrators in the southern town of Falluja.

Few days afterwards, U.S. soldiers in the town came under a grenade attack in another strong message for the U.S. occupation troops that their presence would not be tolerated.

Iraqis have found other ways to get their message to the Americans. On the base of the statue that troops pulled down on their entry to the city a month ago, a graffito in broken English states: "All donne(sic). Go home."