Rising Opposition to Occupation of Iraq Threatens Bush Agenda for Restructuring the Oil-Rich Country

Interview with Mansour Farhang, Bennington College professor of political science, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris

As the Bush administration works to pacify and restructure post-war Iraq, continuing violence and power struggles between various factions are creating an unstable and dangerous situation. In the latest in a series of confrontations between the U.S. military and Iraqi civilians opposed to American occupation, U.S. troops shot and killed 15 civilians and wounded 75 demonstrators who were protesting the soldier's presence in the town of Fallujah. Despite the U.S. central command's effort to prevent Iraqis from celebrating the 66th birthday of ousted leader Saddam Hussein, a number of commemorations did take place, especially around the former leader's hometown of Tikrit.

Retired Lt. General Jay Garner, the man appointed by the Bush administration to rule post-war Iraq, organized an April 28th closed-door meeting of handpicked Iraqi citizens and exiles to begin the formation of a U.S.-backed "transitional government." But this heavily guarded assembly drew the ire of several thousand Shiite protesters who claimed that the meeting did not represent the interests of the Shiite religion, practiced by 60 percent of Iraq's population. Concerned about the growing political strength of Shiite clerics in Iraq, the White House warned the government of neighboring Iran -- also a majority Shiite nation -- not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs.

News that the Bush administration was considering the selection of former CIA director James Woolsey as an advisor to any new U.S.-appointed Iraqi minister of information and the inclusion of the former chief executive of Shell Oil Company on an American-created council to oversee Iraq's oil industry - has done little to quell suspicion of America's motives in the country. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Mansour Farhang, professor of political science at Bennington College in Vermont, a native of Iran, who assesses the religious and political opposition facing the Bush administration as it attempts to install a new government in Baghdad.

Read Mansour Farhang's March 17 Nation Magazine article, "The Triangle of Realpolitik" online at www.thenation.com

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