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Hunger turns Iraqis against troops
25/03/2003 08:25 - (SA)
South Of Nasiriyah - Days into the US-led war, Iraq's civilians are still waiting for the food, water and other help Washington and London promised they would distribute behind their advancing soldiers.
But with unexpectedly tough combat holding up the humanitarian aid convoys, hope is rapidly turning to anger against the invaders.
"This war has quickly turned us into beggars," an old man who gave his name as Farak said as he sat on the side of a road in southern Iraq on Monday.
In this part of the country, at least, years of UN economic sanctions that stripped cupboards have now been replaced by a fierce war which is depleting the few remaining valuable provisions, resulting in a severe penury.
With no running water and no electricity, and food all but gone, the inhabitants of the desertic south have slipped into despair, no longer believing in the US promises they would be taken care of. There are no celebrations to greet the Western troops.
"We've been abandoned to our fate. Nobody has given us anything to eat. Nobody is providing security. All they do is arrive here, attack Saddam's forces, then leave," said Hussein Yaber, a 20-year-old shepherd living in a barn south of Nasiriyah.
Basic medicine urgently needed
On Monday, he was forced to buy 300l of water from various trucks driving down from the north because his family now had no more drinking water.
"We can't remember when the situation has been so bad," he said - a telling comment in a region with a Muslim Shiite majority long oppressed by the Sunni minority that runs Iraq.
Because of the desperation, incidents of looting and assault have broken out in recent days, resulting in several people being hurt.
On Sunday, a 10-year-old girl died when she stepped on one of the innumerable landmines laid by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's followers around the border town of Safwan.
"Why did an innocent girl step on it and not an American?" asked Yaber, a resident.
According to the only doctor in Safwan, Ali, basic medicine is urgently needed, including analgesics, antibiotics, and drugs for gastroenteritis - a constant health problem because of frequently contaminated drinking water.
The nearest hospital is in Umm Qasr, the port town 20km to the east, where a small group of Iraqi fighters have been able to hold out and fire shots at coalition soldiers for four days despite aerial bombings and artillery shelling.
Saddam already a legend
"If the (US and British) soldiers are among us for only a short time, we could try to respect them. But if they have come to stay, there are going to be a lot of problems because the United States only wants to destroy Islam," affirmed a young Safwan man driving a car with a white flag flying from its roof.
Nowhere in Safwan were the scenes of celebration or relief US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been counting on to confront their critics.
Although the town was the first to fall to the coalition troops without resistance last Friday, by Monday British patrols were receiving no victory signs from the children in street.
The atmosphere is tense, and the soldiers posted at the entrance and exit of the town can do little to assuage the growing anger directed at them.
Near one of the tanks stationed next to a torn-up portrait of Saddam, a local man said: "The United States hasn't understood that it's not going to be able to kill Saddam Hussein with this war. For better or for worse, he has already become a legend."
- AFX
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