Fudlallah: The US hostile policy will face further failure and shoes
| The Sayyed: The need for the occupation is an illusion; Iraqi people are able to preserve their unity and create their destiny |
His Eminence, the Religious Authority Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fudlallah, issued a statement commenting on the recent visit of US President George Bush to Iraq. The following is the text of the statement:
Once again, American President George Bush tries – through his visit to Iraq – to imply that he achieved a sweeping victory in this country, especially after signing the security agreement that was imposed on the peaceful Iraqi people. The entire world realizes that the American policy pursued by the Neoconservatives in Iraq has failed, namely the policy adopted by this president who concludes his presidential term with a huge number of crimes his army has perpetrated in Iraq, alongside the Takfiri groups. This president has created appropriate circumstances for these groups to spill the blood of the Iraqis and provoke chaos and sectarian and ethnic strife in the country, so as to fabricate excuses for the occupation forces to stay longer in Iraq.
We know that the subsequent US policies in the region, were and are still, a key reason for its instability and for the conflicts, wars, and occupations that exist, These policies aim at disrupting the present and future of the region. It has become known that the American administration provided support and protection to the former Iraqi regime in order to implement its arrogant policy against the people of the region, namely by [empowering this regime to] stage a war against Iran, occupy Kuwait, threaten the Gulf countries, in addition to the policy of murder and destruction this regime had practiced against its people.
The entire world knows that the Iraqi people repudiate the occupation, starting with the British occupation in the last century and the American and foreign occupations during this century. [The entire world knows that] whoever errs in dealing with the people of the region will fail, especially those dealing with the logic of occupation, exclusion, and wealth confiscation. All the states and their leaders who are dealing with our Islamic and Arab people in an arrogant manner should listen very well to the pulse of these people who continue to prove that they are immune to all attempts of cancellation and who believe that no matter how pressures might escalate, the future will carry freedom, the freedom of the spirit and mind, as Imam Jaafar Al-Sadeq [a] said: "A free man is a free man under all circumstances. If he is in trouble he is patient, calamities do not break him even if he is imprisoned and overpowered and put in difficulties."
The United States, and its administration, is a country that seeks to secure its strategic interests in the world. It won't be a sincere friend to any country unless the latter secures its empire and hegemony. Even in this case, this friendship is temporary and is contingent upon the continuance of this interest. The United States is a county that does not respect its pledges and promises, not even international law. This disrespect was revealed through its stance vis-à-vis the Palestinian people, as the US sought to undermine their cause, and through the statements [made by US officials] showing that the US will stay for a very long period in Iraq, despite the signature of the security agreement that stipulated a withdrawal from Iraqi cities next June, until a complete withdrawal in 2011.
"Therefore, our people in Iraq, who are ahead of two bitter options imposed by the occupation, should maintain a constant position in refusing the occupation and should not fall under the illusion that they need the occupation forces to train the Iraqi army or maintain security. Reality is open to more than one option in this regard, especially since the occupation is the key reason behind security chaos and instability. The Iraqi people must continue to strive to entrench their internal unity, and make the Western administrations, namely the new American administration, understand that a wrong approach for the fateful issues and the regional issues will only bring about further failure and shoes [in reference to the Iraqi journalist who hurled a shoe at president Bush] which topple all the arrogant projects plotted against the people and their interests."