 |  |
Click for Contents
|
P.O. Box 1805,Jerusalem 91017 Tel. 972-2-531-5440, Fax: 972-2-537-9489 Advertising Fax: 972-2-531-5425, Email Editorial: [email protected] Subscriptions: [email protected] Web site: http://www.jrep.com |
Middle East: Mission: Coming Home
Adam LeBor, Taszar air base, southern Hungary
At the headquarters of the U.S.-backed Free Iraqi Forces deep in the Hungarian countryside, Iraqi exiles train for the day after Saddam
A freezing wind whips snow flurries through the coils of razor wire that surround this U.S. military base deep in the heart of the Hungarian countryside, 200 km (125 miles) from Budapest. Heavily armed U.S. and Hungarian soldiers stand guard at the perimeter, while high-security checkpoints control entry and exit.
This is Camp Freedom, headquarters of the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF), now being trained by U.S. army instructors to help run post-Saddam Iraq. Some of the several dozen FIF soldiers, ranging in age from 18 to 60, have military experience in guerrilla movements or the Iraqi army. Drawn from a cross-section of the Iraqi opposition in exile, they include Sunnis, Shi�ites and Kurds. Once their hometowns and cities have been conquered, the plan is to send them back as intermediaries between the invading troops and locals. If the FIF experiment is successful, it could provide a model for other conflict zones, say U.S. Army officers.
According to the plan, once western forces have secured an area inside Iraq, the Free Iraqis will then be brought forward to administer the newly liberated territory. "We are going to focus much of their training on civil military support functions," says training task force commander Maj. Gen. David Barno. "This is going to be the main role they will perform in support of coalition forces in the event of conflict."
Many in the FIF, like Hakim, have not seen their family for decades. A middle-aged former oil-business executive -- U.S. officials say his family name, town of origin and precise age cannot be disclosed for security reasons -- Hakim fled from Iraq over 30 years ago when the regime launched a campaign against the country�s Shi�ite minority. After living in the Gulf states, he made his way to the United States where he ran a transportation business.
"I have no idea whether my family in Iraq is still alive. My mother had many children and she told me to flee, so that at least one would survive. Our mission is to help liberate Iraq. I plan to stay on afterwards, and build a country where people have dignity and equality," Hakim says.
Iraq was the cradle of civilization, a place of tolerance where different cultures and religions lived together, rhapsodizes Hakim. Now, though, "there is fear in every Iraqi soul. Saddam is destroying one of the world�s cultural treasures that stretches back to the time of Abraham. All resources are being directed towards this evil aim, to stay in power no matter what."
The Saddam factor, Hakim goes on, does not just affect Iraq, but the whole Middle East and the rest of the world. Iraq has the resources to meet the needs of its own people, "but we never had the chance," he says. "I just pray to God liberation will come true."
Hungary has given permission for up to 3,000 trainees -- which U.S. officials see as the nucleus of the post-Saddam regime�s middle-management and administration -- to pass through Camp Freedom over the next few months. The first batch of several dozen have almost completed their four-week course. Though they are not designated as combat troops, the first stage of their training provides them with basic military skills: self-defense, pistol marksmanship, navigation and teamwork development, land mine identification and protective measures against chemical, nuclear or biological attack.
The second stage focuses on such operations as ensuring clean water supply and providing facilities for refugees. Classes, taught in English, are simultaneously translated into Arabic. The training program includes courses on the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions, human rights, rules of engagement and ethical decision-making.
The camp was established under the U.S. Congress�s Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, which obliges the United States to support efforts to remove Saddam Hussein from power and promote a democratic alternative. The $97-million act also authorizes the U.S. Department of Defense to provide military equipment, education and training to seven anti-Saddam groups: the exiled opposition�s umbrella organization, the Iraqi National Congress; the Sunni Iraqi National Accord; the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan; the Iranian-backed, Shi�ite Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq; the royalist Movement for Constitutional Monarchy; the Kurdish Democratic Party and its rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
A statue of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit earth, stands at the entrance to Taszar air base, a former Warsaw Pact command post. Camp Freedom is a separate enclave inside the base, which was used as a regional hub by U.S. forces during the Bosnian and Kosovo operations.
The volunteers are drawn from diverse backgrounds, says Barno. "Among them are many college graduates, some with master�s degrees. Only a minority have a military background." The volunteers were recruited mainly by word of mouth as news of the program spread through the Iraqi exile community. Contracted to the U.S. armed forces, they get a stipend of around $1000 a month.
Housed in large tents with wooden floors, trainees wear U.S. Army uniforms, with FIF shoulder patches. Their day begins at 5.30 a.m. and ends at 10.00 p.m., and includes five prayer breaks. The men�s access to the outside world is limited: They are allowed to write letters to their families and can watch satellite TV, but they do not have access to telephones or the Internet because of the risk of security breaches. The mess provides halal food for those who observe Muslim dietary laws.
Trainers admit that the FIF are not crack troops. Those who have had previous military experience often lack weapons safety discipline. Initially they had to be repeatedly instructed to button up their uniforms and taught how to salute.
At first sight, the wooden-floored classroom of young and middle-aged Iraqi men with severe U.S. Marine buzz cuts is a curious sight. But the U.S. Army trainers say that the fact that many of the recruits are older is also an advantage.
"They are more mature than the 18- or 19-year-olds we usually start with," says Sgt. Kenneth Locke, a drill sergeant in basic training. "Some of them have real military experience; they know that war is not like what you see on television. They have a defined objective and a common goal. The biggest challenge is to make them work as a team and make them realize they have a buddy on their right and left."
Mohammed, also middle-aged, is a former computer salesman and a former member of the Iranian-backed Islamic Mujahadin, a Shi�ite opposition group that fought against Saddam�s troops. "I have been working to liberate Iraq for 30 years. I had to leave my wife and daughter behind in the United States, but I have a mission that is more important. We have been watching the news 24-hours-a-day; they know what is going on and when I told them I had to leave, they understood and they support me. The Iraqi people are waiting for this moment, to get rid of Saddam."
The anti-war demonstrators in Europe would not take to the streets if they knew the truth about Saddam�s regime, he says. "In 1991 Saddam killed 500,000 people when they rose against him. Nobody demonstrated against him then," he states. "But now the United States wants to get rid of the dictator, people are demonstrating against it."
FIF members reject predictions that Iraq is likely to fall apart if Saddam is toppled.
"We plan to build an Iraq of dignity and equality, where everybody is respected. We had that in the past. I have seen how other countries are, the level of free speech and tolerance," says Hakim. "The reality is that is there is no difference between Shi�ite, Sunni and Kurd. But you have to be realistic. The transition from dictatorship to democracy has to be a supervised process. But the seeds are there already in the Iraqi love of freedom and dignity."
Outside Taszar however, Iraqi opposition leaders fear that just as in post-Milosevic Serbia, significant elements of Saddam�s army, intelligence and security forces would be allowed to survive the transition in exchange for withdrawing their support for the dictatorship, and be used by the United States to administer a new regime.
Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, has warned against American plans to set up a U.S.-led civil administration working alongside the military for up to two years, according to some officials, until power is handed over. And critics say that the FIF could be used as a fig leaf for long-term U.S. ambitions to take control of the region�s natural resources.
"American help is essential, and is welcome, in winning the fight against Saddam," Ahmad Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal. "But the liberation of our country and its reintegration into the world community is ultimately a task that we Iraqis must shoulder."
Camp Freedom is getting a mixed reception in Hungary. The country is one of NATO�s newest members, and is keen to play a regional role, but the strong support of its left-liberal coalition government for Washington is causing fallout domestically and internationally. French President Jacques Chirac has criticized Hungary and the other seven European signatories to a letter of support for President Bush.
Domestic public opinion is nervous over the training operation. Seventy-six percent of the Hungarian population is opposed to any war on Iraq, even with a U.N. mandate, according to a late-January Gallup poll of 1,000 people.
Two-thirds of those asked said the Hungarian population was badly informed about the training at Taszar; one-third said the government itself was badly informed.
But for Hakim and Muhammad, these are questions for politicians. They dream of returning home to a free country. "I became very emotional when I heard about this opportunity. It was like a dream come true," says Hakim. "I drew up my will and left everything to my wife and children. I hope they will join me when we liberate Iraq. That day will be the greatest emotion I can imagine. Iraq is our home, the problem is ours, the decision is ours and the mission is ours."
March 24, 2003
Middle East
|
 |
|
© The Jerusalem Report 1999-2004 |  |