Condemn Assassination of IFC Safety Force Head, Moving onward to End Occupation of Iraq

All-out truth-finding effort demanded

Concerning the assassination of Abdelhussein Saddam, the head of the Safety Force of the Iraq Freedom Congress, who was kidnapped on July 4 and found dead two days later, we, united in MDS - Movement for Democratic Socialism, demand the US government and the Iraqi Al-Maliki administration to conduct all-out investigation, punish the party responsible for the crime and compensate for his death. Here, we announce our determination to develop this protest campaign into an international drive across Iraq, the US, Europe and Japan.

The US Special Forces and the Iraqi National Guard troops committed this savage act, constituting a power crime by the state agencies. They arrested and took away Abdelhussein without a warrant eventually to assassinate him under supervision of the US forces and the Al-Maliki administration. Nothing could be so blunt a war crime, in which case the criminal parties are the ones who should be responsible for truth-finding - the US military authority and the Al-Maliki administration. To the above condemnation, we must also add the fact that the US forces and its puppet administration in Iraq have repeated hundreds of thousands of "the assassination of an Abdelhussein" in these four years.

If the Bush administration dares to refer to "democracy" just once, they must accomplish their responsibility for investigation into this assassination under international humanitarian law.

From truth finding to the end of the occupation

It has double-fold or triple-fold significance for us to pursue the truth of the incident particularly at this point after four years of occupation. That significance can be seen clearly in the light of the development from the June 7 attack on the IFC headquarters through this assassination.

The development on the ground in Iraq is symbolized in the withdrawal of cabinet members of the Al-Sadr fraction from the Al-Maliki administration in April as well as in the June 29 suspension of intra-governmental activities of the six cabinet members belonging to the Iraqi Harmony Front, a joint parliamentary group encompassing all Sunni parties. In January, the Al-Maliki administration announced a target to achieve national reconciliation within six months, but that failed completely. Instead, a political crisis is developing with the dysfunction and three-way decomposition of the administration.

In turn, let us see the development for the US administration. By means of veto, President Bush was given additional funds for war along with a duty to submit a benchmark report to the Congress on the situation in Iraq. The July 12 Initial Benchmark Assessment Report could not help stating clearly that results on eight out of the 18 benchmarks were inadequate and that "the security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging." On July 12 when the report was submitted, the House of Representatives again voted for a timetable to complete the troops withdrawal by April 2008. Reportedly, Bush will use a third veto to the withdrawal timetable. The continuation of the Iraqi War is only narrowly supported by the presidential veto. The US public opinion is moving closer to the impeachment of the president each day.

The Al-Maliki administration fearful of its collapse and the Bush administration faced with an urging crisis of his impeachment that would be inevitable if the military surge failed to work - they needed to do something, and that was the desperate attack on the anti-occupation front and the assassination of Abdelhussein. Therefore, the pursuit of the unit and the commander of this murder should form a struggle to choke the most bloodthirsty force continuing the occupation and repeating killings. In succession with our path for truth finding on the assassination lies the path toward the withdrawal of all occupation forces.

Show Sana TV to the world

Furthermore, now we have means to communicate and spread truth - the IFC's Sana satellite TV in which Abdelhussein also had strong confidence. Let us spread to the world our voices of condemnation of the assassination and calls for truth finding. Let us introduce the Sana TV to the world. Let us advance shoulder to shoulder with Iraqis and peoples around the world toward the withdrawal of all occupation forces from Iraq. (July 14)