http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6848133/site/newsweek/Madness indeed...
~snip~
Probably no single aspect of the American presence in Iraq has so infuriated Iraqis as their treatment at these checkpoints. The lines are long, and as everyone in Iraq now knows, a long line is an invitation to a bombing. Tempers fray among Iraqis and the beleaguered soldiers—usually reservists, often on their second, extended tour in Iraq. Iraqis are convinced the Americans only care about protecting themselves, not them. Iraqi troops and police, who have been so aggressively targeted by insurgents for the past few months, have imitated the Americans' methods, which only heightens their sense of alienation from their own people. And as Iraq gears up for elections, checkpoint madness is multiplying around police stations, possible polling places, public places of every description.
~snip~
Still, Iraqis are understandably frustrated. An angry Al-Janabi not only resigned from the government, but is now denouncing the American military as an anti-Iraqi occupation army. He is hardly a raving anti-American. An insider since the days of the former Coalition Provisional Authority and one of the country's most prominent Sunnis as leader of the huge Janabi tribe, he was given the minister of state portfolio in Allawi's government. For a while he served as justice minister. And he remains the campaign chairman for Allawi's slate in the elections, the Iraqi List.
~snip~
The minister's experience is hardly an isolated incident—nor even the worst example of it. Hachim al-Hassani, another minister, of industry and minerals, who was a long-time exile in the United States, has suffered two humiliating incidents. While in the Governing Council, he was denied entry on his way to an important meeting (Iraqi government offices, especially at the cabinet level, are nearly all in the American-controlled Green Zone). When he protested, a soldier lost his temper and punched him in the face, according to Al-Janabi. Al-Hassani confirmed the story, saying, "Yes, I was punched by a soldier. I was very calm with him. I just kept talking to him. He kept punching me, and I kept talking to him. The situation was very dangerous. We handled it very wisely at that time. I kept thinking I still have major things to do for my country. I was thinking about the
party. I was thinking about my country. It could have been much worse."
~snip~
While Al-Janabi may have resigned from office, he has no intention of not running for the National Assembly and continuing to chair Allawi's campaign. "Every government we've had in various degrees has been imperfect but better than what was before it—Bremer, the Governing Council, Interim Government, these are all stages of better and higher representation." One of his key platform planks will be a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, something the Americans have so far refused to provide. It's a strange demand, coming from an associate of Allawi, who has said timetables play into the insurgents' hands. "We don't have to be terrorists to be against the Americans," Al-Janabi explains. "It's just representing how Iraqis feel."
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