The US-led colonialisation of Iraq may have officially ended on June 28, but the Americans are not about to leave ( pix ). For sure, the armies will remain.

The coloniser has handed over power to an interim Iraqi government headed by an ex-American agent. A general election will follow (in January) which will allow the Iraqis to breathe the air of democracy. But, the Americans expect nothing less than a pro-American regime to be set in place.

To the Iraqis, the promise of democracy is nothing but hypocrisy in the absence of true freedom of choice in a country already torn by war and insurgencies.

In view of the presence of "fundamentalist Iraqis" - or groups opposed to the occupation and certainly a power to be reckoned with - the US can never accept a democratically elected government that opposes its policies.

If fate determines that fundamentalist Iraqis gain power through democratic elections and then establish an Islamic government, the likelihood is that the country and its people will continue to be regarded as enemies of America and for that matter, Israel.

The reason is obvious - the ultimate objective of the invasion was to colonialise and secularise Iraq and to make the Iraqis submit to the will of the superpower. Hence, in a real sense, the Americans are not likely to leave, not until a truly pro-American regime is established.

Iraq was attacked and colonialised for reasons that never existed - to search for and destroy weapons of mass destruction. In the end, this turned to be a big lie, for no weapons have been found.

It only leads us to believe there is a hidden agenda in attacking and colonialising an Islamic country. Iraq is only the beginning. Two other Islamic countries - Libya (then) and Iran - were listed by US President George W Bush as part of the "axis of evil".

Fundamentalist Iraqis and Muslims elsewhere see the invasion of Iraq as an integral part of a secret blueprint hatched by an 'American-Jewish axis' to rule the world. This is no longer a secret, going by such publications as 'The International Jew and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion' by Henry Ford.

With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism, the US sees Islam and its adherents as the remaining obstacle to that ambition. As events unfold, it becomes unmistakably clear that the US-declared war on terrorism is a thinly veiled war on Islam and its faithful adherents.

The world cannot run away from the fact that a head-on collision between the American-Jewish axis and faithful Muslims would indeed be a conflict of global proportions. Such a conflict would shape the world in the 21 st century for better or for worse.

Goals not achieved

History is replete with evidence that colonialisation has been used to plunder the wealth of colonialised nations. It has inflicted untold damage on the lives of people.

Islam is against colonialisation of nations and peoples. The only legitimate reasons to go to war are to quell invading enemies and for self-defence. Even then, Muslim armies are required to strictly observe the rules of war and ethics of conduct.

Islam only allows its adherents to wage wars of liberalisation, that is, to liberate the human mind and spirit from the clutches of man-made systems of worship, and to bring them to a God-guided way of life.

Over the last 15 months, the defenceless Iraqi people have witnessed war and destruction and the suffering that comes with this. They have been denied basic human rights, beaten, pressured, killed, murdered and humiliated like animals.

The torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison are living testimony to the savagery of colonialisation, in particular a superpower that has supposedly liberated Iraqis. The lesson learnt is that a coloniser always behaves and acts like one through acts that plunder, destroy and humiliate.

Many of the objectives of 'liberating' Iraq have not been achieved. The Asian Wall Street Journal reported on June 21 that: "The American occupation of Iraq will formally end this month having failed to fulfill many of its goals and stated promises intended to transform the country into a stable democracy".

Instead, the story is one of repeated failure. A plan to create an "optimistic partnership" between America and the people of Iraq remains a dream. In its place is growing hatred, animosity and frustration against the invader.

If last April, the people of Baghdad came out and danced in the streets to welcome the American soldiers, the scene today is just the opposite - they jeer as the troops pass by. Young Iraqis have climbed on top of bomb-disabled tanks and danced before setting these on fire.

Little benefit

Blackouts are common in Baghdad due to breakdowns in electricity supply. Power is supplied at 4,000 megawatts, barely enough for nine hours of consumption. A plan to raise the output to 6,000 megawatts by June has failed mainly because the Daura power station has not been repaired. It was badly damaged by bombs during the 1991 war.

As the Asian Wall Street Journal report noted, "Today, the Daura plant is indeed a model of how the US reconstruction has failed to meet the goal".

There are long queues at petrol stations. Unemployment is on the rise. Americans in Iraq want to move about freely, making the country as though their own, but some Iraqis have not allowed this happen.

Due to deadly attacks attributed to "terrorists", the coalition forces are confined - or rather imprisoned - to a fenced-up and wired area. Iraqis entering this 'Green Zone' are subjected to stringent checks.

The invaders promised to rebuild Iraq's armed forces, but a good 70 percent of the recruits have not received the training pledged, let alone weapons and other necessary equipment. Perhaps, mistrust remains. As insurgencies spread, many soldiers have refused to fight the attackers.

The Americans also promised to spend US$18.6 billion on 2,300 reconstruction projects, under an allocation approved by Congress last November. The projects were supposed to create jobs for 250,000 Iraqis. Up to June 1, only US$3.7 billion had been spent and 15,000 Iraqis employed.

The projects were almost exclusively awarded to Western contractors - Americans, British, Germans, Russians and others. But now they are no longer working, having chickened out because of frequent attacks. Many have left the country.

Some of the work has come to a stop, while there is slow progress on other projects. The direct benefits for Iraqis have been minimal, since many foreign workers are employed in their stead.

Militia power

Unfulfilled promises have fired up anti-coalition sentiment. Opposition is becoming stronger and more widespread by the day. Coalition forces have resorted to dropping bombs and firing missiles indiscriminately, killing members of the public.

The occupying armies are constantly under attack by militia groups such as Al-Mehdi Brigade, led by young Shi'ite scholar Moqtada Al-Sadr and Al Ansari Al Islami led by a Sunni scholar.

It has been reported that some in the Iraqi army and police force have refused to shoot at the militias. They believe the militias to be on the 'right side' as they are fighting to get the coalition forces out of Iraq.

Studies indicate that 80 percent of Iraqis support Moqtada. A pro-American soldier, Major Raed Khadim, has been reported as saying: "The Americans misunderstood us. We will fight for Iraq. We will not fight for them." ( Asian Wall Street Journal , June 21)

The handover of power to the interim Iraqi government is seen by many as a strategic retreat from the original US plan to colonise Iraq, in order to achieve the ultimate aim of re-orientating the Iraqis to become pro-America.

Assessments by military experts familiar with the American experience in Vietnam predict that the US will lose in Iraq in the same way it was humiliated in Vietnam.

Moqtada has been quoted as saying: "If the small-built Vietnamese succeeded in chasing the Americans out of Vietnam, why not we, the much bigger Arabs. And we have Allah with us."

Chaos is a good pretext for Americans to remain in Iraq for as long as they want. So, why not create it?

DR ROSLI YAAKOP holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin, USA. He is a columnist with Harakah and currently Negri Sembilan PAS commissioner.