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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Too many cooks...
By Salah HemeidEnding their first meeting in seven years on Monday, members of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC) vowed that they would intensify their struggle to remove President Saddam Hussein from power and continue their efforts to bring leaders of his regime to justice as war criminals. Following a three-day meeting in New York, about 300 exiled delegates also elected a new leadership to the INC and entrusted them to forge a new strategy that would eventually lead to Hussein's downfall and replace his regime with a democratically elected government.
The delegates discussed plans to resurrect the INC, which was formed in 1992 as an umbrella organisation for Iraqi opposition groups but faltered under political bickering, sectarian and ethnic divisions and foreign intervention. They also listened to speeches from US Congress members and officials from the Clinton administration who urged the Iraqi opposition groups to unite and pledged to increase US political and financial support in the opposition's drive to oust Hussein.
But despite the confidence expressed by the INC's leaders, and the generous promises made by their US sponsors, the delegates did not formulate a military strategy or a tangible political strategy for toppling Hussein or even a vision for Iraq's future, raising questions about their ability to remove the well-entrenched Iraqi regime. Sources from inside the meeting suggested that the INC leaders differed over what role Washington should play in the opposition's endeavours to bring about changes in Iraq. Some opponents argued that flagrant US involvement might further embarrass the INC and depict it as an American stooge. Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and a key participant, said that change in Iraq should be made by Iraqis alone and that "it is up to the Iraqi opposition to prepare a plan to do it."
However, at the start of the meeting, Washington announced that it would launch a specially designed 10-day training course for members of the INC at the Air Force's Special Operations Headquarters in Florida. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said that during the training, which is part of the Iraq Liberation Act passed by Congress last year, former Iraqi army officers who have defected to the INC will "study leadership skills, civil military relations, legal issues and political opposition skills."
Whatever the motives behind Washington's drive to rebuild the INC as the regime's key opposition -- and the main beneficiary of its generous financial and military aid -- the meeting in the Manhattan hotel has further divided Hussein's opponents and will probably make it more difficult for them to bring down his regime. The move has already outraged some 11 major dissident groups, which denounced Washington's interference in Iraqi opposition affairs.
In Tehran, the leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Ayatollah Baqir Al-Hakim, cast doubts on the US efforts, saying that their "goals are dubious." Another major Shi'ite group, the Damascus-based Islamic Action group, said, "The Iraqi opposition should only depend on themselves and not on others because... change can only come at the hands of Iraqis." In London, Iraqi Communist Party representative Sobhi Al-Jumaili dismissed the outcome of the meetings as "worthless," and said his group "will not deal with its outcome."
Opposition sources in Damascus told Al-Ahram Weekly that major opposition groups who boycotted the New York discussions are holding intensive consultations to convene a counter-meeting soon in the Syrian capital or in Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Iraq. The sources said the Syrian government has given the green light for such a meeting, which is expected to be attended by major Shi'ite, leftist and pan-Arab groups based in Iran, Europe and the Middle East. According to experts on Iraqi affairs, such a meeting will further fragment the Iraqi opposition and make its campaign to take the offensive against Hussein more difficult.
In fact, Baghdad is already rejoicing at the discord among its opponents and will certainly exploit it for its ends. On Monday, Hussein's deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, scoffed at the meeting, which he described as "an American ploy," while the ruling party's newspaper, Al-Thawra, derided the participants as "not more than mercenaries and thieves who cannot be trusted even by their pay-masters," in a reference to the United States.
Two days earlier, Hussein summoned his cabinet members to tell them that he had decided to make some "democratic" reforms in his political system which would include dissolving the all-powerful Revolutionary Command Council, drafting a new constitution and allowing political parties to function. The statement seemed designed to send a message to those who boycotted the New York meeting that they are welcome back if they drop their opposition to his regime.
Meanwhile, Hussein is keeping a watchful eye on Washington's new bet. On the eve of the meeting, he ordered the Iraqi First Army corps to stage a large-scale military exercise on the border with the Kurdish area in northern Iraq. The manoeuvres, conducted under the supervision of Hussein's deputy, Izzat Ibrahim, appear to be aimed at warning the two Kurdish groups which control the enclave against taking part in any military plans against his regime. Similar exercises were conducted in the south by Hussein's Fidaeyyin, a paramilitary force commanded by his eldest son, Uday. His message in putting the military on the move is clear -- there is a heavy price to pay for attempts to bring him down.
