Who said that Iraq was
pacified? This week, a massive jailbreak in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison has freed
more
than 500 prisoners, many of them from Al Qaeda in Iraq. The word massive falls
short to describe an operation that dwarfs others attempted by Al Qaeda in
Afghanistan or Iraq.
The confusion in the
Iraqi government has been massive too. They knew that something was coming to get
them. Every year during the Ramadan month, terrorist attacks increase. That
reminds me of the modus operandi of ETA, which used to carry out attacks on
weekends and holidays.
Returning to the
subject, I was saying that the Iraqi government suspected something was
brewing. They weren’t sure what exactly but just in case, they had prepared a
special police operation to deal with the unexpected.
Well, it
didn’t work. According to the latest information available, some of the
guards of the prison itself helped the prisoners to escape. In fact, Iraqi
officials are talking of an inside
job that has released many of the leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq, including
some who were arrested by U.S. troops.
But if it had been
just a matter of a mass jailbreak –just a huge escape after all- it would not
be so worrying. Worrying, but not as worrying as the other stuff going on in
Iraq. The really serious problem is that the death toll continues to rise. So
much for a country that is supposed to be stable.
It was too much to ask
for that for once Iraq enjoyed a peaceful Ramadan. So far in July, 450 people
have died in a country that is accustomed to high numbers of deaths on a daily
basis. Last Saturday, in one day alone, 80 people were killed in various
attacks around the country.
To get an idea of the bigger picture, in 2011
there were 4,147 deaths related to terrorist violence in Iraq. In 2012 the
figure rose to 4,573. So far in 2013 (excluding July), the death toll stands at
3,175. If the progression continues, it could reach 5,000 dead in this year.
Moreover, since 2003, there has not been a single month that had less than 200
violent deaths. Since 2011, the average is 450 deaths a month. Too many for a (supposedly)
pacified country.
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