The human cost of the battle for Fallujah

By Suhair al-Qaisi

This article is about the pain I feel at the sight of the death of children and women in one of the hospitals in Fallujah, killed by the rockets of our own Iraqi forces.

I am writing this article devoid of all sectarian feeling: I am only telling the truth and stand by the people of Iraq -- from Basrah, Nasriya, Diwanya, Babil, Karbala and Najaf to Baghdad. I write in solidarity with the people of my country in all their ethnic and religious differences who are caught in this war against the Islamic State group (ISIS).

The people of Fallujah are living their worst times. They are caught between the anvil of ISIS and the hammer of Iraqi and coalition forces. Of course, we haven’t forgotten that some tribal sheikhs pledged allegiance to ISIS and executed Iraqi soldiers. But on the other side there are courageous sheikhs who still stand strongly in the face of this terrorist organization.

My sympathy here goes to the people of Fallujah, whose wounds haven’t healed since the US invasion of 2003. A people rallied for public services in street protests but were answered with bullets from Nouri al-Maliki’s forces, the former prime Iraqi prime minister who branded them as a threat to his power.

Now, with the Iraqi bombardment of the city the situation isn’t getting any better. Bombing a children’s hospital in Fallujah would only take us back to square one: hatred and resentment. These indiscriminate shellings of the city, without at least asking the civilians to evacuate, would lead to more human tragedies.

Today, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has a chance. He should support the local tribal forces and make peace between them and the Iraqi army. Iraqi leaders should redraw their strategy and only target ISIS and its allies in order to take on ISIS with the least human cost.

Suhair al-Qaisi is an Iraqi TV anchor.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.