Mark Phillips: The American Question

11/03/03: Clash of narratives.

The Iraqi city of Fallujah has become a symbol of resistance. Three competing narratives attempt to explain why.

1. The U.S. government and their local proxies explain the resistance as Ba'ath party remnants plus religious fanatics plus foreign jihadis. "American and Iraqi officials say they believe resistance forces in Fallujah comprise Iraqis loyal to former president Saddam Hussein, Islamic extremists and foreign militants, many of whom were drawn here after clashes between residents and American soldiers transformed this otherwise unremarkable trading post about 30 miles west of Baghdad into a front line in the resistance fight." (Washington Post, 11/3/03.)
2. American military commanders on the scene explain it as the outcome of irresponsible softness on the part of their predecessors. "Officers with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, which arrived here two months ago, contend their predecessors were not aggressive enough in rooting out resistance fighters, who had come to regard Fallujah as a haven." (ibid.)
3. Tribal leaders and residents explain it as the result of American heavy-handedness. "'The Americans are creating enemies by the way they are treating people,' said Feras Khalil, a psychology teacher. He said his house was hit with a 10-minute fusillade of American gunfire on Saturday evening after an attacker standing on the street fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the mayor's office, where a contingent of paratroops was stationed. The soldiers, who believed the grenade was fired from inside Khalil's house, responded with 40 Mark-19 grenades, a light antitank weapon and 1,000 rounds of small-arms fire. 'There is no justification for what they did,' Khalil growled as he pointed at dozens of bullet pockmarks on the front of his two-story stucco house. He said six members of his family were inside at the time of the shooting, preparing to break their day-long Ramadan fast. Everyone took shelter in a windowless back bedroom, trembling with fear, Khalil said. 'We couldn't do anything to defend ourselves,' he said." (ibid.)

Granted that we are all prisoners of the stories we tell, which of these narratives seems most plausible to you?

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