A Bagdad hanno provato tutto tranne la liberta'

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg@tin.it>]

We haven't tasted freedom yet"

Ruben Banerjee --Al Jazeera

Far from feeling liberated, many residents of Baghdad find themselves in a
state of siege.
As lawlessness sweeps and gangs of looters plunder at will, the Iraqi
capital hasn't really had the time to savour either the arrival of US-troops
into the city centre or the collapse of Saddam Hussein's command and control
structure.

Iraqi looters ride on the top of a car with stolen goods in the centre of
the Iraqi capital
"We haven't tasted freedom yet," insisted a resident in downtown Baghdad.
"All that we have tasted so far is fear and uncertainty."

By all accounts, even the muted traces of celebrations that marked the
arrival of the US troops barely days ago have vanished.  An ecstatic crowd
of around 500 people had danced on the felled statue of Saddam Hussein on
the day in a city of five million. But days later, even they seem to have
gone home. Or, have they headed to loot and plunder?
Amid all the chaos, Baghdad's residents have begun to fear for their future.
"You call this freedom? It is plain and simple disorder and mayhem,"
lamented Tareq Aziz of a middle-class Baghdad neighbourhood from behind his
tightly bolted door.  Even as he spoke, arsonists were sweeping through the
nearby Al Rashid street in another round of free-for-all opportunism.
The presence of US troops haven't helped in enforcing order. Either, they
are outnumbered or they simply do not have the will to intervene.
But for the hapless population of Baghdad, the days of "liberation" have yet
to live up to the promise.
"Tell the Americans to stop the killing and the looting. We cant live like
this much longer with Muslims looting other Muslims," pleaded 41-year old
Jabryah Aziz.
But the frantic pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears and US troops have
been loathe to step in.  Under their very nose, the determined looters have
been calling the shots and stealing whatever they could set their sights on.
After having stripped dozens of offices and hospitals, they swooped on a
nursing college on Saturday.
But tomorrow, it could be the turn of ordinary Baghdad homes, and the
capital's residents are spending fearful nights.
In some neighbourhoods like Karadah, desperate Iraqis have set up
road-blocks to try and keep the looters at bay. In others, residents have
begun to sleep in the day and stay awake at night.
Life surely has been turned upside down since the arrival of the US troops.
Hospital staff have taken up arms and are being forced to guard their
premises from further pillaging. Shop-keepers have hastily set up vigilante
groups to police their own streets.
But the going isn't easy.  Having drawn out his gun to scare away a mob that
was seeking to break into his shop, a Baghdad shopkeeper was shot dead by US
troops on Friday. In a crazy twist of fate, the looters escaped unharmed.
Besides peace, sanity has been another casualty. And tempers are clearly
fraying.
"All we want from the world is to help Iraqis restore order, peace and
humanitarian needs. Where have the honorable men of the world gone?" cried
an emotional resident on Al Jazeera television.
Baghdad isn't alone in being in ruins. Amid the anarchy, even the provisions
of the Geneva Convention lie as much in tatters.
International law makes it obligatory for the US troops, in this case the
occupying force, to maintain the city's law and order and ensure the lives
and property of its citizens.
Article 50 of the Geneva Convention(4) Relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, adopted in 1949, stipulates that the
occupying power must "facilitate the proper working of all institutions
devoted to the care and education of children."
Article 55 says that occupying power, as far as possible, "has the duty of
ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population, it should, in
particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other
articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate."
Article 56 says the occupying power "has the duty of ensuring and
maintaining with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the
medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene
in the occupied territory.."
ARTICLE 59 says the occupying power must "facilitate relief schemes where
supplies to the population are inadequate. Aid schemes may be undertaken by
governments or humanitarian groups to provide food, medical supplies and
clothing."
Tragically for Baghdad, the provisions haven't been enforced as yet and the
fruits of "liberation" is tasting bitter for its residents.