The Hindu : U.S. redrafting Saddam's Generals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 09, 2003

International

International

U.S. redrafting Saddam's Generals

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA May 8. Faced with the prospects of unceasing administrative collapse in Iraq, the United States may be considering redrafting some of the former soldiers of the Saddam Hussein regime to restore order.

Already, the U.S. has appointed Brigadier Gen. Hosni Homamed al-Joubri, who had battled U.S. forces in the first Gulf War, as the Governor of Tikrit. The former Iraqi Air Force Colonel Gaza Al-Nasere will serve as his deputy. The two might have to impose an iron-fisted administration, as Tikrit has been known to be a stronghold of Mr. Hussein.

Several factors are persuading the U.S. to take a fresh look at inducting some of the former Iraqi army officers as possible administrators. For instance, the U.S. has been well acquainted with some of the top former army officers, who, it knows shed their loyalty for Mr. Hussein during the recent war.

A nascent level of mutual trust has, therefore, been already established. It is now becoming evident that the U.S. acquired control over cities such as Baghdad, Tikrit, Mosul and Al Kut not by fighting, but by entering into secret deals with some of Mr. Hussein's top commanders. Recent disclosures indicate that the U.S. intelligence gained access into top Iraqi military circles through General Waqil Massiri. A son-in-law of the influential General Li Majid Al-Tikriti, also known as "chemical Ali", General Massiri reportedly had access to Mr. Hussein and his sons.

Difficult task

This, it is believed, gave him influence over Special Republican Guards divisions as well as Fedayeen units that were run by Mr. Hussein's son, Uday. It now appears that General Massiri was responsible for facilitating the reported U.S. access to General Maher Safiyan Al Tikriti, the commander of the Special Republican Guards force guarding Baghdad.

There are clear indications emerging that after offering stiff resistance to the advancing U.S. marines along Baghdad's eastern flank, General Safiyan's forces withdrew en masse from the bridge over the Diyala river. This allowed the marines to enter the suburb of Saddam city, a critical breakthrough that helped the U.S. to complete the takeover of Baghdad.

Once in the "inside track" of Mr. Hussein's military machine, the U.S. intelligence established close contacts with a large network within the 45 divisions of the Iraqi military.

Now faced with the difficulties of wining the peace in Iraq, it is this large reservoir of officers, who simply rejoined their families as civilians after leaving the battlefield, that the U.S. is looking to tap in order to fill the administrative vacuum in Baghdad and other major cities. Two other factors are persuading the U.S. to liaison with the former officers.

First, the U.S. is finding it difficult to unify the majority Shia community and position it in a new administrative and political structure. Second, Washington's attention is still diverted to the developments in northern Iraq. The tensions between the ethnic Kurds and the Iraqi Arabs who were settled here by the Mr. Hussein's Ba'athist regime are still explosive.

Related Stories:
Bush names Iraq administrator

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

Stories in this Section

Bush Govt. eases sanctions

Mahathir to step down in Oct.

U.S. redrafting Saddam's Generals

'Germ lab.' in Iraq

First SARS case in Russia

SARS epidemic: China closes some border points

Meet on chemical weapons

Pak. to clear Menon's papers 'soon'

U.K. warned of unrest over asylum policy

Options few for India in Quattrocchi extradition case

Stir by Nepal parties

Brajesh Mishra begins talks in U.S.

Trade promotion after resolving political issues, says Pak.

U.S. for 'renewed engagement' to reduce tensions

Armitage denies U.S. pressured India, Pak.