The editor of the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra, As'ad 'Aboud, calls on the Iraqis to unite all their forces and capabilities, and fight for the independence of their country until the last U.S. soldier leaves, along with the "spies, occupiers, swindlers, and thieves [who are plundering] Iraq's oil and all its resources," because Iraq's independence is measured by its ability to take independent decisions without consideration for U.S. interests.
The following are excerpts:
"We do not believe that keeping 50,000 U.S. fighters in Iraq provides a real opportunity to say that [Iraq's] independence has arrived... Independence means the ability to take independent decisions. And many people see that the independence of Iraq's decision[-making process] has numerous flaws, the first of them being America's role in this process... Can Iraq or its government – or any other government in a similar situation – take a decision that goes against the American wishes?
"We wish the answer [to this question] were positive. We might have deceived [ourselves into believing so] were it not for the presence of not only 50,000 U.S. troops but also a similar number of spies, occupiers, swindlers, and thieves [who are plundering] Iraq's oil and all its resources. Is this is the 'New Dawn' [that Obama] promised?
"Then comes the news: 'America has ended its occupation of Iraq.' What?! What about everything else?... Vice President John Biden [sic] visited Baghdad in person to participate in 'celebrating' the end of combat operations in Iraq – a celebration which, insolently enough, was meant to tell us that everything is over. What?! So what are the tails [i.e., the remaining U.S. troops] and [the American] henchmen still doing in Iraq?!
"The independence of Iraq will be [accomplished] with the departure of the last occupying soldier from this land, when its relations with the occupying country are similar to that of any other country, or when all the Iraqis unite behind the goal of [expelling these soldiers] with all their forces and capabilities. Then we will witness Iraq's independent decision[-making]. Targeting and fighting the illegitimate foreign presence in Iraq is one of the most important elements in the unity among all the Iraqi factions and forces...
"The division among the Arabs deepened... with the weakening of the unified position on the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Remember what the consequences were when [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat signed the Camp David Accords with Israel. Remember what happened to the Arab ranks!! What happened was more than [just] the disastrous withdrawal of Egypt from the struggle [against Israel], with the subsequent effect of reducing the hostility toward this country. Anyone can see the depth of the Arab division that resulted from the collapse of the perception of one single, clear enemy that we all fight in unison.
"Iraq is [indeed] facing a new [dawn] today, and we are waiting for an Iraqi new [dawn], not an American one..."
