Anna Badkhen outlines the security apparatus that Saddam uses to control Iraqis, but also the existence of an underground resistance movement that will respond to the Coalition effort as long as we stay the course - and their worries that we will not. After our many years of weakness, ambivalence and timidity, who can blame them? But this president seems different.
"We have lost confidence in American help," he said. "Iraqis know that Saddam is finished, but they still have doubts." His words reflect the sentiment of the Iraqi majority, according to several members of the underground resistance movement operating in government- controlled Iraq. "People realize that the war may take a long time," said one dissident journalist, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. "They would like to resist, but they are afraid that there won't be anyone on the other side to protect and support them, and that between the time they pledge allegiance to the coalition and the time the regime falls, they may be persecuted.
An elaborate underground network... operates inside most villages and towns on Hussein- controlled territory, exchanging leaflets and using codes to message each other. With Iraqi state television their only source of information, it is hard for people in Iraq to judge when the time is ripe for a revolt.
"People inside are absolutely disconnected from the world," he said. "People hear there is a war, but they don't know where. They see propaganda of Saddam, who says his forces are victorious, and they don't know what is happening. But as soon as they see American tanks with their own eyes, things will start happening very rapidly. For 34 years we've been seeing Saddam's face on TV. That's enough. If the Americans keep going, things will start to collapse."
Posted by Alan at March 29, 2003 12:23 AM