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The war and occupation in Iraq is leading to steadily-increasing chaos, suffering and bloodshed, argues a report by Global Policy Forum. It endangers international peace and security. It massively drains scarce resources. And it is in continuing violation of international law.

Report by Global Policy Forum and partners November 2006

Published in November 2006, by Global Policy Forum

Executive Summary

1 – Introduction

On March 20, 2003, the United States and a group of allies invaded Iraq, against the opposition of a large majority of the United Nations Security Council. The belligerents justified their war and subsequent occupation with claims about imminent threats from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Already in serious doubt when the war began, these claims later proved thoroughly unfounded.

After the invasion, the Security Council gave a mandate to the occupiers, making the US-led coalition a UN-authorized “multinational force” (MNF). Some Council members hoped that the UN would assume a “vital role” in Iraq and would lead the way back to peace. But the United States allowed the UN only marginal involvement. On August 19, 2003, a truck bomb destroyed UN headquarters in Baghdad and the organization drastically reduced its presence in the country.

Though US president George Bush declared “mission accomplished” on May 2, 2003, the conflict has continued for three and a half years. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are now dead or injured, more than three million are displaced, several of Iraq’s populous cities lie in ruins, and hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent wastefully.

Each week, there are further disturbing reports from Iraq and further evidence of international law violations. Iraqi public opinion overwhelmingly favors a speedy end to the occupation and even the current chief of the British army has stated that the occupation deepens insecurity in Iraq and should be ended “sometime soon.”

The MNF mandate for Iraq is due to expire at the end of 2006, providing an opportunity for new thinking and new policy in the Security Council and beyond. Such policy must aim to promptly end the occupation, promote national reconciliation in Iraq and return full sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

This report considers in detail the violations of international law under the occupation. It also considers political issues in Iraq and weighs the need for change to prevent further violence. In conclusion, it proposes a number of policy recommendations that could lead to peace and reconciliation.

2 – Illegal Detention and Prisons
The US coalition and its Iraqi government partners are holding more than thirty thousand Iraqi citizens in “security detention” without charge or trial, in direct violation of international law. No Iraqi is safe from arbitrary arrest and the number of prisoners has been rising. Detainees lack fundamental rights and they are kept in deplorable physical conditions, often for long periods. US commanders have refused International Red Cross inspections and they have turned over thousands of detainees to Iraqi authorities whose prisons are even more illegal and dangerous.

3 - Torture and Criminal Abuse
United States forces, in charge of nearly all coalition prisons, have criminally abused and tortured large numbers of Iraqi prisoners. Thousands of Iraqis have suffered from this inhuman treatment and some have died as a direct result. Torture has taken place in many sites across Iraq, including central prisons like Abu Ghraib, secret interrogation centers and dozens of local facilities, as well as torture increasingly taking place in Iraqi prisons.

4 - Attacks on Cities
Occupation forces have attacked and destroyed a number of important Iraqi cities, on grounds that they were “insurgent strongholds.” The attacks have resulted in the massive displacement of people, large civilian casualties, and colossal destruction of the urban physical infrastructure. In addition to Falluja, there have been assaults on a dozen other cities including al-Qaim, Tal Afar, Samarra, Haditha, and Ramadi. The attacks include intensive air and ground bombardment and the cut-off of electricity, water, food and medicines. The attacks have left hundreds of thousands of people in displacement camps.

5 – Indiscriminate and Especially Injurious Weapons
The US and the UK have used indiscriminate and especially injurious weapons that are banned by international convention or widely considered unacceptable and inhuman. The US used a napalm-type incendiary weapon as well as white phosphorous munitions, the latter against ground targets in densely populated areas. These weapons have incinerated many innocent civilians. During the 2003 invasion, the US and the UK also made use of depleted uranium munitions and cluster bombs. Both violate prohibitions against weapons that cause unnecessary suffering and indiscriminate harm.

6 - Killing of Innocent Civilians, Murder and Atrocities
Occupation military commanders have established permissive “rules of engagement” for the occupation forces, allowing troops to use “deadly force” against virtually any perceived threat. As a consequence, the US and its allies regularly kill Iraqi civilians at checkpoints, during house searches, and on the street, on the basis of the merest suspicion. Occupation forces also kill many Iraqi non-combatants during military operations and air strikes. In this environment of permissive violence, some soldiers have committed pre-meditated murder and several shocking atrocities have come to light.

7 – Massive Corruption
Under the control or influence of occupation authorities, public funds in Iraq have been drained by massive corruption and stolen oil, leaving the country unable to provide basic services and incapable of rebuilding.. Billions of dollars have disappeared. To avoid accountability, the US and UK undercut the UN-mandated International Advisory and Monitoring Board. Iraq has suffered from stolen cash, padded contracts, cronyism, bribes and kickbacks, waste and incompetence, as well as shoddy and inadequate contract performance. Major contractors, mostly politically-connected US firms, have made billions in profits.

8 - Cultural Heritage Destroyed
The United States and its allies ignored the warnings of organizations and scholars concerning the protection of Iraq’s cultural heritage, including museums, libraries, archaeological sites and other precious repositories. Arsonists badly damaged the National Library and looters pillaged the National Museum. Looters also damaged or destroyed many historic buildings and artifacts. The US badly damaged the archeological site of ancient Babylon by constructing a military base on top of it.. Occupation forces destroyed or badly damaged many historic urban areas and buildings, while thieves have ruined thousands of incomparable, unprotected archeological sites.

9 - Permanent Military Bases & the Mammoth New Embassy
United States has been building enormous long-term military bases in Iraq as well as a mammoth embassy complex in the heart of Baghdad. Though Washington denies that the bases are “permanent” or that the vast new embassy has a hegemonic purpose, the elaborate multi-billion dollar construction projects suggest strategic investment for long-term operational use. Surrounded by elaborate perimeter security systems, provided with their own water and electricity, and fitted out with restaurants, swimming pools and movie theaters, these islands of US power in the heart of the country have come to symbolize an arrogant occupation.

10 – Cost, Humanitarian Issues and Women’s Condition

• Enormous Cost of the Conflict
Iraq has sustained huge costs – including vast physical destruction, loss of life, injury, and trauma as well as lost economic production and lost oil revenue. The United States has spent approximately $350 billion in direct government appropriations for the conflict as of October, 2006. US federal budget costs have risen from about $4 billion per month in 2003 to more than $8 billion per month today. According to one estimate, total US costs, including future spending on the conflict, interest on the national debt, veterans’ medical costs and other factors, have already passed $1 trillion.

• Mortality/Injury
A very large number of Iraqis have died under the occupation—far above the expected mortality for the population – and the rate of mortality is rising sharply. In addition to combat deaths of insurgents, occupation forces have killed many Iraqi civilians during military operations. Iraqis have also died because of untreated water and preventable disease due to healthcare failures. And there have been many deaths from attacks by Iraqi militias, death squads, and criminal gangs. A recent study estimates an astonishing 650,000 “excess” deaths. No studies have estimated long-term injuries in Iraq, but these are likely to affect over a million people.

• Large Numbers of Displaced & Refugees
As of October 2006, an estimated 1.5 million Iraqis were displaced within the country and 1.6 million were refugees abroad, mostly in neighboring Syria and Jordan. Violence and the destruction of cities by the occupation forces caused the first big wave of displacements, now intensified by the general insecurity and rising sectarian violence. The Iraqi government estimates that 50,000 people are leaving their homes each month, joining 365,000 who have become internally displaced since February. The scale of the problem and the difficulty of humanitarian agencies reaching the displaced put the crisis practically beyond the capacity of the international relief system.

• Deteriorating Conditions for Women
Prior to the occupation, Iraqi women enjoyed substantial legal and social rights. Women had good access to the education system and held jobs in virtually all professions. Since the occupation, women’s condition has deteriorated drastically. The increasingly sectarian political system has promoted conservative Islamic laws and social practices. Women have been driven out of jobs, forced to adopt conservative dress and social standards, and pressured to remain in the home. Violence against women has risen sharply, including kidnapping, abuse, rape and killing. Women’s rights activists have been threatened and even murdered.

11 – Impunity
Yet the United States has established broad legal immunity in Iraq for its military forces, for private security personnel, for foreign military and civilian contractors, and even for the oil companies doing business with Iraq. No matter what crimes they commit, Iraqis ow or in the future cannot hold them accountable. US Presidential Executive Order 13303, Order 17 of the Coalition Provisional Authority, and other official dicta, shield occupation personnel from arrest, detention, prosecution or punishment. While the US and its occupation allies have applied limited legal reckoning in a few flagrant cases that became known to the public, punishment has been light and those with command responsibility have remained beyond the law.

12 - Politics & the Occupation System

• Fatal Weakening of the State
Early in the occupation, the US disbanded the Iraqi army and police, eliminating all national forces of order. Washington failed to protect government ministries and other state offices, resulting in looting and arson that destroyed records and administrative infrastructure. The occupiers then deeply purged the ranks of the civil service, removing many qualified government employees. They also privatized state companies and lifted trade tariffs, leading to the disintegration of the state-centered economy. Today, the government is isolated, with little autonomy, no control of its army and desperately short of funds.

• Oil
Throughout the occupation, Washington has placed a high priority on shaping Iraq’s future oil laws and guiding contract distributions, so that the most lucrative fields will fall into the hands of favored companies, particularly US and UK companies such as Exxon, Chevron, and BP. These multinational oil giants (whose Iraq interests were nationalized in 1972) have been keen to return to the country, with its enormously profitable, unexploited fields. Because oil nationalism runs strong in Iraq, Washington is motivated to continue the occupation until the oil legislation is in place, the Production Sharing Agreements are signed and a tough but friendly government guarantees the oil flow.

• Sectarianism
Sectarian conflict certainly existed in Iraq before March 2003, but sects intermarried and lived side by side in peace. Since then, occupation policies have greatly deepened sectarian differences. The US set up a political system that promoted sectarian identities and rivalries, beginning with the sectarian allocation of seats in the Governing Council in July 2003. Sectarian differences widened under the flawed election process, the drafting of the constitution, and the sectarian allocation of ministries. After nearly a century of secular politics in Iraq, the occupation has given rise to intolerant and radical Islamic politics.

• “Federalism” and Plan B
The United States government has been searching for a new strategy. Some policymakers favore a radical form of “federalism” that would divide the country into three separate and largely self-governing regions. This could lead to the disintegration of the country, stepped-up ethnic cleansing and terrible conflict in Iraq’s multi-ethnic cities. Plan B, gaining favor in Washington, involves a military coup to oust the government of Nouri al-Maliki, bringing to power an autocratic, pro-US leader. This option would surely fail. It would further isolate the government and block the national dialogue that is required for genuine peace and stability.

• Public Opinion
Public opinion polls show how deeply unpopular the occupation has become. Even polls commissioned by the US and UK governments show clearly that a large majority of Iraqis are critical of the occupation and favor a speedy withdrawal. By a large margin, Iraqis now feel that the occupation increases insecurity and sectarian violence. Opinon in Iraq has been shfting steadily against the occupation. More than ever, Iraqis overwhelmingly want the occupation to end.

• Reconciliation
Increasingly, Iraqis have sought broad reconciliation as a means to overcome the sectarian conflicts and end the occupation. Real reconciliation must bring together a wide range of political groups, including Baathists, resistance fighters, Islamists, secular parties, Kurdish nationalists, trade unionists and many others. Meetings have taken place in Amman and Cairo. On June 25, 2006, the al-Maliki government announced a promising “National Reconciliation Plan.” But the US opposed key elements of the deal which would have undercut US power and led towards withdrawal.

12 – Conclusion

As this report shows in detail, the war and occupation in Iraq is leading to steadily-increasing chaos, suffering and bloodshed. It endangers international peace and security. It massively drains scarce resources. And it is in continuing violation of international law.

The occupiers are not the sole cause of Iraq’s ills, but those who started the war and occupation – particularly the US and the UK – are responsible for the false claims they made, the destruction they wrought and the chaotic and violent conditions they largely provoked.

The road ahead is not free of risk. Iraq will not easily recover and achieve stability. But there are clear steps that can begin a resolution of the conflict. Firstly, the Security Council must assume its responsibilities, undertake a serious review of the MNF mandate and consider alternatives for the future. The following policy recommendations suggest a possible path forward:

• When the mandate of the “multinational force” expires at the end 2006, the UN Security Council should not agree to renewal.

• The Council should press the occupiers for a near-term withdrawal of all their forces from Iraq.

• Withdrawal must be governed by a timetable and it must be complete, with no residual forces or bases.

• Iraqis should draw up a national reconciliation plan, possibly with the assistance of the United Nations, and should synchronize its implementation with the occupation withdrawal timetable.

• All armed groups and militias should agree to a ceasefire. As occupation forces withdraw, these groups should turn in their weapons and disband, as part of the reconciliation plan.

• The Iraqi government should speedily release all “security detainees” who have not been charged with a crime.

• A UN peacekeeping force could assist temporarily with the transition, by monitoring the ceasefires, strengthening local police forces and the judicial system, and organizing fully-credible elections.

• The international community should assist with reconstruction and rebuilding of Iraq’s infrastructure and badly-damaged cities, as well as the speedy resettlement of those who have been displaced.

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