According to a Reuters dispatch, Bush “is considering a short-term increase of thousands of U.S. troops to try to bring stability to Baghdad.” The U.S. rulers’ goal with such a “temporary surge” of their forces is to establish a stable capitalist regime they can rely on in a country torn by sectarian fighting among bourgeois forces vying for a bigger share of power. The bloodletting resulted in the deaths of 16,273 Iraqis last year, according to Iraqi government officials.

The state of the Iraqi regime was highlighted by the lynch-mob style execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The leader of Iraq’s Baath party police regime, who was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, had been sentenced to death following a lengthy trial. He was being held in a U.S. military prison. Hussein was hanged December 30 in a way that violated even elementary bourgeois standards of justice.

During the execution, Hussein was taunted by guards and a number of the witnesses present, who shouted “Muqtada!” as he was stood at the scaffold. The chant was referring to Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of a Shiite militia that has carried out indiscriminate murders of Sunnis, including working people, much like pro-Baathist Sunni-led death squads.

Constitutional provisions requiring the three-member presidency council to approve hangings, and a prohibition on carrying out executions on the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha, were ignored.

At least two Iraqi government officials attending the execution filmed it with cell phone cameras. Those recordings are the likely source of graphic footage now appearing on the internet. As Hussein faces a barrage of derision, including by someone who yells “Go to hell!” the voice of Judge Munir Haddad can be heard saying, in vain, “Please no! The man is about to die.”

Reacting to growing criticism of this degrading mob atmosphere, a U.S. military spokesman claimed U.S. forces had no role in the execution. Gen. William Caldwell said all security matters at the hanging, including searching witnesses for mobile phones, was left to Iraqi authorities, according to Reuters.

Prosecutor Munkith al-Faroon, however, said U.S. soldiers searched those attending the hanging and took mobile phones, including his. The atmosphere was so raucous that al-Faroon threatened to leave, which would have halted the hanging. Iraqi law requires that at least one prosecutor be present during an execution.

This thuggish conduct has sparked outrage among Sunnis and others, and prompted the Iraqi regime to announce the arrest of a guard who filmed the macabre scenes without authorization.

In order to reverse the ongoing instability, Pentagon officials said the White House may send up to 20,000 additional troops to Iraq, reported the December 29 New York Times. Others in the ruling class argue the number falls short of what’s needed.

“Bringing security to Baghdad,” said an opinion column in the December 27 Washington Post, “is possible only with a surge of at least 30,000 combat troops lasting 18 months or so.” Its authors are Jack Keane, a retired Army general, and Frederick Kagan, of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank. The two wrote an AEI study outlining the same point, which Bush is considering as an option for Iraq.

In a related development, Washington is sending 3,500 troops to Kuwait as an “on-call force” for the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), reported the Armed Forces Press Service. The troops will be available for use in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. CENTCOM is responsible for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home