Interview with the Iraqi National Foundation Congress secretary-general
I just came across an interview with Sheik Jawad Khalisi of the Iraqi National Foundation Congress. I don't know anything about the INFC but it appears to be a promising organization based on the descriptions contained in the article. An excerpt:
HD: You call for an immediate withdrawal of occupation forces. What do you say to those who argue that the troops should not be withdrawn yet because there will be chaos if the troops leave?
JK: We are also afraid of a political vacuum in Iraq. When we say "immediate retreat of occupation," we know that this will not happen in one day. But it's necessary to set a timetable. During the intervening period, the Iraqi police and army can be built up. In any case, we don't expect things can get much worse when the occupation troops leave Iraq than what's happening today. What's happening today is so bad that after the retreat of the occupation forces, the situation could not be worse.
This strikes me as a sensible stance to take. American activists debating whether to call for "troops out now" or something more nuanced would do well to take note.
Another excerpt:
JK: According to the US military, in Fallujah they captured 1,065 people. Among them, they found only 25 non-Iraqis. All the others were Iraqis. The resistance is an Iraqi resistance - a popular resistance -- which is spreading now. Among the resistance groups, there are former officers of the army who are using their expertise to help the resistance. But the main ideological current inside the resistance is a popular and moderate Islamic current - not a Baathist one. It is popular, patriotic, and Islamic.
And this:
JK: That means that the people of Iraq - not necessarily the organized ones or those who belong to organized political groups - are fighting the occupation at their own initiative and they generally have a mixture of religious and patriotic motives for doing so. The American forces dominate the Iraqi nation and they also have a project that threatens the religious identity of Iraq. The religious motive is also very strong because people who are fighting militarily superior forces have more strength when they have a religious conviction that they are fighting against oppression and that when they die, they'll go to heaven.
HD: There are people in the anti-war movement, in the left, and even those in the right who also oppose the occupation but who say that we shouldn't support the resistance because they're being led by Baathists and "fundamentalists" and we shouldn't allow them to take over Iraq if and when the US leaves.
JK: It is the occupation forces who are spreading this line. As one French deputy said a few months ago, the Iraqi resistance was like the French resistance: one day it will defeat the occupation forces and take power in Iraq.
When I say "Islamic current" inside the resistance, I mean a moderate Islamic current. It is not the Islamic current portrayed in the media. It is an Islamic current that is defending it's own culture and nation but which is not hostile to other cultures and other nations. It is not hostile to the American people but it is opposed to the project of American domination of our region and the world.
HD: To what extent are Saddam loyalists and "Islamic hard-liners" engaged in the resistance?
JK: I think that they represent only 5% to 10% of the resistance. Of this fraction, the "Islamic hard-liners" are the majority. Partisans of Saddam have a very weak participation. However, some Baathists participating in the resistance and in the political opposition to the occupation are not Saddam loyalists. They consider Saddam responsible for what happened. They are still attached to the ideology of the Baath party but they are not Saddam loyalists. They don't want him to come back to power. Some of them have quit the Baath ideology and they are against the occupation. Now, the main focus in Iraq is to fight the occupation. This is the fundamental question now - transcending ideological and political differences.
And this:
HD: Do the resistance groups have the support of ordinary Iraqi people?
JK: The main support to resistance actions is given by ordinary people.
HD: You call for an immediate withdrawal of occupation forces. What do you say to those who argue that the troops should not be withdrawn yet because there will be chaos if the troops leave?
JK: We are also afraid of a political vacuum in Iraq. When we say "immediate retreat of occupation," we know that this will not happen in one day. But it's necessary to set a timetable. During the intervening period, the Iraqi police and army can be built up. In any case, we don't expect things can get much worse when the occupation troops leave Iraq than what's happening today. What's happening today is so bad that after the retreat of the occupation forces, the situation could not be worse.
This strikes me as a sensible stance to take. American activists debating whether to call for "troops out now" or something more nuanced would do well to take note.
Another excerpt:
JK: According to the US military, in Fallujah they captured 1,065 people. Among them, they found only 25 non-Iraqis. All the others were Iraqis. The resistance is an Iraqi resistance - a popular resistance -- which is spreading now. Among the resistance groups, there are former officers of the army who are using their expertise to help the resistance. But the main ideological current inside the resistance is a popular and moderate Islamic current - not a Baathist one. It is popular, patriotic, and Islamic.
And this:
JK: That means that the people of Iraq - not necessarily the organized ones or those who belong to organized political groups - are fighting the occupation at their own initiative and they generally have a mixture of religious and patriotic motives for doing so. The American forces dominate the Iraqi nation and they also have a project that threatens the religious identity of Iraq. The religious motive is also very strong because people who are fighting militarily superior forces have more strength when they have a religious conviction that they are fighting against oppression and that when they die, they'll go to heaven.
HD: There are people in the anti-war movement, in the left, and even those in the right who also oppose the occupation but who say that we shouldn't support the resistance because they're being led by Baathists and "fundamentalists" and we shouldn't allow them to take over Iraq if and when the US leaves.
JK: It is the occupation forces who are spreading this line. As one French deputy said a few months ago, the Iraqi resistance was like the French resistance: one day it will defeat the occupation forces and take power in Iraq.
When I say "Islamic current" inside the resistance, I mean a moderate Islamic current. It is not the Islamic current portrayed in the media. It is an Islamic current that is defending it's own culture and nation but which is not hostile to other cultures and other nations. It is not hostile to the American people but it is opposed to the project of American domination of our region and the world.
HD: To what extent are Saddam loyalists and "Islamic hard-liners" engaged in the resistance?
JK: I think that they represent only 5% to 10% of the resistance. Of this fraction, the "Islamic hard-liners" are the majority. Partisans of Saddam have a very weak participation. However, some Baathists participating in the resistance and in the political opposition to the occupation are not Saddam loyalists. They consider Saddam responsible for what happened. They are still attached to the ideology of the Baath party but they are not Saddam loyalists. They don't want him to come back to power. Some of them have quit the Baath ideology and they are against the occupation. Now, the main focus in Iraq is to fight the occupation. This is the fundamental question now - transcending ideological and political differences.
And this:
HD: Do the resistance groups have the support of ordinary Iraqi people?
JK: The main support to resistance actions is given by ordinary people.
posted by Steve Fake at 5/22/2005 01:45:00 AM
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