[Tovarish Spetsnaz]

The first newspaper to come out after the fall of Saddam Hussein is the newspaper of the Iraqi Communist Party...which is priniting its issue for the first time in more than 30 years!!

The first edition of Tareeq Al-Sha'ab (the central organ of the
Iraqi Communist Party) since the collapse and demise of Saddam's
dictatorial regime, has just come out .. Tens of thousands of copies
of the paper have been distributed, openly, in the capital Baghdad
and other cities and towns throughout Iraq.
The following is the main article, published on its first page:

At last .. the bloody, barbaric and repressive regime of Saddam
Hussein has fallen!
The most brutal dictatorship in Iraq's modern history has collapsed.
It was also one of the most tyrannical dictatorship ever known in
the modern history of the area and the world, and perhaps the only
one which has inflicted or caused all this damage, destruction and
devastation to its country and people, materially and morally, as
well as economically, socially, culturally and psychologically, in
every field and sphere of life!
With the collapse of the tyrant and his regime, the hopes and will
have been fulfilled of the overwhelming majority of our Iraqi
people, who were the first and main victim of his injustice and
oppression, and the continuous fodder for his internal and external
wars and military invasions. They were the ones who paid, first and
last, the price for his reckless policy which had no regard for the
people and homeland, and the price for his foolish policies .. and
their sacrifices to get rid of the dictatorship were enormous and
almost with no parallel.
If it has been difficult, until the very recent day, to describe
the suffering of our people and how deep was their pain and sorrow
under Saddam's tyranny and his barbaric rule, it is also difficult
today to describe the joy of the masses of people with the fall of
the dictator and getting rid of his regime, despite all the
tragedies and pain which accompanied this collapse as a result of
invasion and war, which should have, and could have, been avoided.
There is no doubt that it was the invasion, backed with the latest
military technology and the most destructive means of classic
warfare, which made it possible to smash the regime's military
capabilities, tearing up and fragmenting the formations which it had
been relying upon, that led directly to the fall of the
dictatorship.
A Hated and Isolated Regime
But there is no doubt also that it was not the only reason for its
fall. This regime has crumbled and collapsed for another fundamental
reason: the weight of its crimes against the people, its abuse of
the interests and sovereignty of the homeland, and exposing both the
people and the homeland to a succession of catastrophes with no end
in sight, the latest of which have been the catastrophes of this
last war itself.
The reason for its fall is also what all this has generated: a total
and deep schism between the people on one hand and the dictator and
his clique, on the other hand. And also the hate and resentment
towards the tyrant and his rule which it deepened among the
people .. giving rise to the tough and relentless struggle waged by
the people's patriotic forces, with tremendous and immeasurable
sacrifices, in order to overthrow the dictatorship and get rid of
its woes and effects.
It was only natural, therefore, that the people would distance
themselves from the dictator, and would not rush, or even think of
rushing to his defence, thus leaving him and his clique to face
their fate, which no one had any doubt that it would be defeat and
collapse.
The People Punish the Dictator
Our people have punished the dictator and his clique for all the
violations, excesses and crimes committed against them.
It was, therefore, natural that the people were not sorry for the
fall and collapse of the dictatorial rulers, and that no one shed a
tear for them as they met this fate!
But our people's joy at the fall of the tyrant and his rule did not
mean in any way that they are happy with the invasion and
occupation. From the beginning, they expressed, and continue to
express in various ways, their condemnation of the war and the
tragedies which it left behind, and the new calamities which they
have suffered, especially as it ended, thereby spoiling the joy at
getting rid of the dictator and his brute regime, and almost
dissipating it! They have also contributed, and continue to do so
day after day, to intensifying their rejection of what has been
planned to be imposed on Iraq!


Incomplete Joy
Yes, it was not possible for the joy at the fall of Saddam and his
dictatorship to be complete, at a time when the suffering of
millions of our people has been aggravated as a result of the loss
of even the meagre essentials of living which had been available to
them, such as clean water, electricity, medicine and food .. which
no attention was paid to ensure that they are provided for the
people, in clear violation of the obligations under international
treaties, in particular the Geneva convention regarding the
responsibility of occupation powers towards the population of
occupied areas.
Total abandonment of this responsibility has even led at the end to
a breakdown of security, widespread anarchy, the outbreak of looting
of public property and setting fire to them, and the proliferation
of acts of revenge and settling personal scores.
No action was taken, even when the looting and vandalising gangs -
which seems that the cronies of the fallen dictator and agents of
his secret services were not far from them, in addition to
professional criminals which he himself had released from prisons
about six months ago, in accordance with the infamous "amnesty"
which he announced at the time – attacked hospitals, libraries,
educational institutions, museums, and removed their contents!
Looting and Vandalism .. a Sign of Freedom?
In the face of wide protests at taking no action to avert these
serious criminal acts, American and British officials have
considered what happened as being "a natural thing" which takes
place in the aftermath of the collapse of every totalitarian regime!
The US Defence Secretary went as far as saying that the Iraqis have
become free, and that in acting as they did (looting and stealing)
they were actually exercising their freedom! So why protest!
But what has especially caused utmost anger and protest among our
people, as well as on international level, was what this
irresponsible behaviour resulted in: a grave deterioration in the
conditions of hospitals and of water and electricity services, as a
result of acts of looting. This in turn further deepened the
suffering of millions of our people.
Seeking Help from Elements of the Buried Regime!
Even worse was that American and British authorities are trying to
make use of the mounting public complaints of the breakdown of law
and order, to justify seeking help from Saddam's police force, and
elements of the former regime's party, after having switched
allegiance and put themselves at their service!
It is not forbidden of course to use some of the members of the
former police force, at a time when there is increasing need for
urgently tackling the security situation. But care must be taken to
ensure that these few are not among those who had been involved in
committing crimes against the people, or had indulged in corruption
and bribery, and must be among those who respect human rights and
the law.
On the other hand, as the daily suffering of millions of Iraqis
aggravates, and UN agencies and international humanitarian
organisations call upon nations of the world, especially the US and
Britain as the two occupying powers, to take urgent steps to ensure
providing drinking water, and food for the people because what they
had stocked continues to run down, in addition to providing security
and stability .. Under such conditions, efforts are being made to
push to the forefront the process of preparing for setting up "an
Iraqi administration" which is intended to operate as part of the
military rule which the US is going ahead with establishing in Iraq,
in accordance with its already prepared plan.
The People Reject Military Rule
It is evident that military rule and occupation in general will not
receive approval and support from our people, as a lot of evidence
does already point out.
Our people have fought to get rid of Saddam's oppressive dictatorial
regime so that they can build on its remains a democratic rule which
expresses their independent will and fulfils their legitimate
demands, and not a new oppressive military rule.
It is clear that the democratic regime, to which our people aspire,
in an independent and unified federal Iraq, will not be achieved at
the hands of any military rule, whether foreign or Iraqi. It has to
be achieved through setting up an interim patriotic and democratic
coalition government, broadly based in its representation of the
forces of our people and their political parties which have fought
for so long against the dictatorship and for the democratic
alternative.
Only such a government, which represents the interests and
aspirations of our people, including all their political and
national components and social classes and strata, is really capable
of ensuring the transfer of our country, in peace, security and
respect for people's freedoms and rights, to the desired stable and
federal democratic era. And only such a government can be trusted to
prepare the new constitution of a democratic Iraq, and provide the
prerequisites for conducting free and fair elections in which the
people choose the government they want.
In order to set up the transition democratic coalition government,
the occupation of our country must first end, with power being
handed to an interim UN administration .. one whose task would be,
first and foremost, to call for a conference for representatives of
the forces of our Iraqi people, their political parties and other
constituents, and to supervise convening this conference in which
agreement would be reached on setting up the coalition government
and its makeup."