Iraq Press Roundup

The Association of Muslim Scholars' Al Basaer newspaper said in its editorial Monday, referring to the infighting in Basra and Baghdad, that divisions within the Iraqi government and the turning of friends into enemies will not save the occupier from the great failure.

In the editorial with the title "Rice's visit is failed support for a demolished project," the newspaper said the Pentagon and human rights and other groups released reports last week on the situation in Iraq and on the hidden and announced goals of the invasion of Iraq. The United States described the situation in Iraq as disastrous and critical, but many others called the war on Iraq and Bush's defeated games as a great failure, it said.

"These reports came out as the Iraqi government failed in carrying out its military campaign in southern Iraq in which it gave the militias a bigger role to invest in this failure and control the situation," it said.

It said some militias, referring to the Mehdi Army, became enemies of the government after it revealed the truth about mass graves and the latter's involvement. It also said militias who became enemies with the government were being used as an official cover to the government's crimes.

Al Basaer accused the United States of establishing the circumstances to activate the infighting and eliminate the sides that disagree with its game.

"The infighting that the U.S. is supporting through its tools, which resulted in a split inside one sect, has led to a collapse of the country and its people," the editorial said.

It said the reports reveal the failure of the U.S. occupation in Iraq, noting the collapse of the U.S. economy and the announcement that soldiers have lost limbs since the start of the war on Afghanistan and Iraq.

It commented that the Iraqi resistance realized since the first day of the invasion of Iraq that the U.S. occupation will only gain defeat and failure.

The Saudi-based newspaper said the increase of attacks on U.S. bases in the fortified Green Zone traumatized soldiers.

"Most of the U.S. soldiers after hoping to serve inside the Green Zone then leave at their due time, gave their dreams up and decided to oppose the war especially after the killing of their friends and colleagues," it added.

The paper concluded the increase in the number of soldiers killed inside the Green Zone made the troops in military bases in other cities become frightened.

"The Iraqi resistance has summed up that targeting the Green Zone is serving not only as a military dimension but also as one serving morale," the paper said.