In Iraq, it is more of the same: lies, death, carnage and waste. Outside of rural Texas and neoconservative circles in Washington, few still support the war. Since 1991, the United States has attacked Iraq twice and — in between attacks — imposed economic sanctions on it. While exact numbers are impossible to come by, suffice it to say that our country has killed millions and condemned millions more to brutal impoverishment. Currently, we are waging the most naked colonial struggle of recent vintage. The elections were a facade, while the ongoing corporate takeover of the Iraqi economy is about as real as it is unblemished. Martial law reigns supreme as U.S. troops terrorize the civilian populations, amassing an impressive record of human rights violations. The situation that 26 million Iraqis face today is nothing short of a humanitarian disaster — i.e. the United States is not preventing catastrophe, it already exists. A recent Lancet study reports that 654,965 Iraqis were killed as a result of the war between March 2003 and July 2006. This figure is important because it demonstrates that proportionately the U.S. military has murdered far more Iraqis than Saddam Hussein ever did. Even the U.S.-funded "al-Anfal Campaign," an anti-Kurdish operation during the late 1980s that culminated in the Halabja poison gas attack of 1988, is outmatched by the current savagery. For those Iraqis still fortunate enough to be alive, life is bleaker and harsher than ever. According to a U.N. report, Iraq is in the midst of a refugee crisis with 1.8 million people — 44 percent of which are Christian — having fled to neighboring countries and 1.6 million people having been internally displaced. Electricity and clean water are even scarcer than they were before the invasion. The Iraqi Ministry of Health has stated that more than half of all medical professionals have fled the country and life expectancy has since plummeted. The International Red Cross, one of the few humanitarian organizations that has not fled the chaos, has reported that "mothers [are] appealing for someone to pick up the bodies on the street so their children will be spared the horror of looking at them," according to the Chicago Tribune. No wonder the Iraqis are resisting our presence. Let's consider this much-maligned Iraqi resistance. Compromised of diverse and disconnected organizations ranging in ideology from nationalism to Marxism to Islamic fundamentalism, the insurgency is united by its opposition to the occupying forces. Its tactics include rocket strikes, suicide bombings, sniper attacks, ambushes, sabotage and peaceful protest. The military, in conjunction with mainstream media, has distorted the insurgency beyond recognition. Contrary to current dogma, resistance is not a bastion for foreign fighters, let alone a fifth column for al-Qaida. According to a recent Washington Post report, a mere 4 to 10 percent of all resistance fighters are non-Iraqi. The second big lie is that the insurgents are all either religious fanatics, terrorist-types who are intent on restoring the Caliphate or ex-Baathists nostalgic for Saddam. The truth is another matter. Estimates place the number of insurgents between 30,000 and 200,000, crossing political, ethnic, tribal and religious lines. Even more important, however, is the support the insurgency receives from the general population. This is hardly surprising, since 82 percent of Iraqis say they disapprove of the U.S. and allied militaries in Iraq, according to a recent Washington Post report. What all of this adds up to is the following: The Iraqi insurgency is an organic movement, born out of the rape and brutalization of its country by an imperialist power. Most of the fighters — and their far more numerous sympathizers and abettors — are not motivated by politics or religion, but by simple self-interest. With that said, the form of the resistance, at least at the top level, is often unsavory. The means of Islamic fundamentalism, however, should not be confused with the ends of national sovereignty and justice. Houssam Ali Ahmed, a former resident of Fallujah, said in an Associated Press article in 2004, "The people of [the city] are fighting to defend their homes. We are Muslim mujahedeen fighting a holy war." A few crucial questions are never raised in the mainstream debate: Do the Iraqis have the right to rule their own country? Do they have the right to live in peace with their families, homes and livelihoods? If so, do they have the right to fight for it? Kyle Szarzynski ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in Spanish and history.