In November the International Committee of the Red Cross said that around 60,000 people are currently detained in Iraq.
"The
Americans occupied our country and put our men in prisons," Dhafir
al-Rubaiee, an officer from Iraq's previous army told IPS. "The
majority of these prisoners have been arrested for nothing other than
for being Sunni. Every one of these prisoners has a family, and these
families now have reason to hate Americans."
Others blame the lack of security and the destroyed infrastructure for the increasing anti-U.S. sentiment.
"The
lack of security is a direct result of the occupation," resident Abu
Ali told IPS. "The Americans crossed thousands of miles to destroy our
home and kill our men. They are the reason for all our disasters."
Another
resident, speaking on condition of anonymity added, "We lived in need
during the period of the Saddam government, but we were safe. We were
compelled to work sometimes 20 hours a day to earn our living, but we
were happy to see our children and relatives together." U.S. forces, he
said, have ended all that.
Abu Tariq believes the U.S. military
intentionally destroyed Iraq's infrastructure. "The Americans destroyed
the electricity, water pumping stations, factories, bridges, highways,
hospitals, schools, buildings, and opened the borders for strangers and
terrorists to get easily into the country," he said.
The large number of Iraqis killed by U.S. forces has also hardly endeared the forces to the people.
"When
targeted by a roadside bomb or suicide bomber, U.S. soldiers shoot at
people randomly. Innocent civilians have been killed or injured," Yaser
Abdul-Rahman, a 45-year-old schoolmaster told IPS. "Thousands of people
have been killed like this."
The anti-U.S. sentiment in Baquba is now so high that people no longer hide their distrust of the U.S.
"At
the beginning of the occupation, the people of Iraq did not realise the
U.S. strategy in the area," Abu Taiseer, a member of the communist
party in the city told IPS. "Their strategy is based on destruction and
massacre. They do anything to have their agenda fulfilled.
"Now,
Iraqis know that behind the U.S. smile is hatred and violence," Taiseer
added. "They call others violent and terrorists, but what they are
doing in Iraq and in other countries is the origin and essence of
terror. America is the biggest producer of terror, and they spend huge
funds for creating and training death squads all over the world."
Despite the differing U.S. ways of dealing with Shias and Sunnis, the two sects seem one in their hatred of the U.S.
"Look
at our country, it will need 30 years to get back again," Edan Barham
told IPS. "This has nothing to do with sects; all of us are Iraqis, and
we should think of Iraq in a better way than sectarian lines."
"People of Iraq of all sects now realise that it is the occupation
represented by the Americans that has damaged the country," resident
Khalil Ibrahim said.
Political analyst Azhar al-Teengane says the only Iraqis who support the occupation are those benefiting directly from it.
"The
occupation is good for politicians who have made money, militiamen,
contractors and opportunists," Teengane said. "These form not more than
5 percent of Iraqi people."
Self-rule could help lower anti-U.S.
sentiment, said resident Jalal al-Taee. "In order to improve the
situation, the U.S. army should let the people of this city run it."
(*Ahmed, a correspondent in Iraq's Diyala province, works in close
collaboration with Dahr Jamail, a U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq
who has reported extensively from Iraq and the Middle East)
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