Iraq News Wire

I. In Preparation for War: Incitement Against U.S. Interests, Military Training for Civilians, Religious Edicts, and Opinions

1. A Call to Establish Suicide Squads Against U.S. Interests
Al-Iqtisadi weekly, managed by Uday Saddam Hussein, published an article in which it accused the U.S. of "practicing terrorism against all countries in the world and turning their peoples into hostages… therefore, we should punish this unlawful big country whose behavior is reminiscent of Hitler and the Nazis … it is unlikely that the U.N. will establish an international tribunal to prosecute the U.S…. but it is not difficult for any country to condemn it internationally and to mobilize other countries to do so…" The magazine dismisses the idea of "neutrality" in international disputes and says that sooner or later one has to abandon his neutrality and take sides, then goes on to say, "Facing the aggressor requires more than condemnations and refusals, especially when it comes to the Arab and Islamic masses. They should use all means - and they are numerous - against the aggressors, including embargo, closing air and sea ports to ships and airplanes that belong to the U.S. and its allies, striking their economic interests and establishments, and considering everything American as a military target, including embassies, organizations and companies… and to create Fedayeen [suicide] squads to attack American military and naval bases inside and outside the region, and plant mines in waterways to prevent the movement of U.S. [commercial] and naval ships…" The magazine also called on the Arabs to use their resources in "energy, money, and bank accounts as a weapon in any war against an Arab or Islamic country…"[1]

2. Iraqi Pullback of Forces from Areas Adjacent to the Kurdish Region
"Reliable Kurdish sources in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, said that Iraqi military units, stationed along the border with Kurdistan, pulled back as a precaution in case the U.S. attacks Iraq… the sources said that the units pulled back about 13 km. to the south, leaving behind their barracks and the military check points between the provinces of Kirkuk and Irbil…"

3. Saddam Urges the Iraqis to Have Confidence in Their Victory
In an open letter to the Iraqi people, Saddam Hussein emphasized several times that victory starts with conviction in one's ability to achieve it. He said, "… If you want to be victorious, you have to start with yourself… you have to convince yourself, before trying to convince others… When you do so, the enemy will not be able to get you with any weapon or propaganda… This is how we accomplished victory in the great battle of Al-Qadissiya [the Iraq/Iran War] and all other honorable battles…"[3] [Al-Hayat's correspondent in Baghdad described the open letter as a call for action and mobilization of the Iraqis.][4]

4. Baghdad Trains Civilians with Live Ammunition, Renovates Detention Camps, and Iraqis Store Provisions
In a dispatch from Baghdad, Al-Hayat reported, "Baghdad increased its efforts to face the possibility of an American military strike and its consequences. The Ba'ath Party organizations in Baghdad and the provinces are carrying out military training with live ammunition… under the supervision of party leaders…"[5]

In a second dispatch from the Iraqi capital, the paper reported, "Baghdad is taking into account the possibility that opposition elements residing in Iran may try to infiltrate into Iraq across the Iraq/Iran borders when the strike occurs. Iraq also expects that these elements will try to play a similar role as in 1991…" [6]

In another dispatch, the newspaper quoted Iraqi opposition sources, "The Iraqi regime is renovating detention camps that were used for about 40 thousand Iranian POW's… in case of an uprising against Saddam, similar to the one that took place in 1991, where there will be a need to detain large numbers of people whose loyalty to the regime is questionable…"[7]

"…In a quiet manner, the Iraqis started to get ready for the possible military strike… there is some demand for canned food, and a tendency to cut down on daily expenditures in order to use the savings in need… The Iraqi administration announced that it manufactured and distributed small fuel containers… to avoid shortages… however, the experience of 1991 teaches not to keep fuel, especially liquid gas and petrol inside the house…" [8]

5. Baghdad Initiates Drafts for Iraqis Born in 1971 through 1978 to Military Reserves
"Sources in the Iraqi General Recruitment Office said that the reserves recruitment plan for 2003 includes those born in 1971 through 1978… according to the same sources, Iraqis born in 1960 are required to check with their recruitment centers by the end of this month [to verify] their service, which is now for two months… employed teachers born in those years are exempt…"[9]

Earlier the leadership of the ruling Ba'ath party in Iraq "urged the Arab masses to volunteer to fight with Iraq… against the American aggression…" [10]

6. Tightening the Innermost Circle Around Saddam
Iraqi opposition sources reported that Saddam Hussein, in an effort to tighten relationships among family members around him "instructed his younger son Qusay to arrange the marriage of his daughter Mawj, [14 years old] to the son of one of Saddam's cousins. The nuptials, which took place on August 22, 2002, are seen as a step to put the 'innermost house' in order… and to strengthen the ties among members of the ruling family…"[11]

7. A Shi'ite Edict Endorses Collaboration Between Islamic, Secular, National and Liberal Parties to Topple Saddam Hussein
"The Lebanese Shi'ite Imam Mohammed Hassan Fadhl Allah issued this Fatwa [religious edict] in response to a question of whether such collaboration was permitted… The honorable Imam responded that it was permitted when the welfare of Muslims was at stake… and without empowering the non-Islamic elements to the detriment of the Islamic standpoint…"[12]

And in an extensive interview with the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai Al-Amm, Imam Fadhl Allah clarified an earlier Fatwa, in which he forbade Muslims from aiding the U.S. in its strike against Iraq. He said, "I forbade striking the Iraqi people and destroying the infrastructure. Then he added that he had often called on the Iraqis to unite in their opposition to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, and that he issued his second Fatwa allowing collaboration with secular elements for that purpose…" He expressed his disagreement with those who maintain that "the U.S. will protect the Iraqi people when they rebel against their ruler, because America is not a welfare organization, it is a country that wants total control over the oil in the region, and wants to co-opt Iraq's oil, and use its strategic location to blockade Islamic and Arab countries…"[13]

On the other hand, "Muslim clerics, members of the Islamic Labor Front in Amman, Jordan issued an edict forbidding the participation in an attack against Iraq saying it would be treason against Allah, his Messenger, and the believers…"[14]

8. Op-Ed: Arabs Have the Right to Demand the Disarmament of Baghdad's WMD
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily published an op-ed article by Ahmed Al-Rubei [no details] in which he said, "It is naïve to describe the fear… from Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction as exaggerated… it is a matter of historical record that they were used against the Kurds, and along the Iraq-Iran frontier, and it is not out of question that they will be used again… A knife in the hands of a man who has no respect for human life is a dangerous weapon… how much more so, when the weapon is WMD… the real issue is not the probability of the existence of WMD in Iraq, or their 'probable efficacy' or whether they will be used or not. The issue concerns human lives, and in such case we cannot deal with it on the basis of 'probabilities or mathematical equations…' The Arab indifference, adopted by some, towards Iraq's WMD scorns human lives, and those people - whether Iraqis or their neighbors - are also Arabs who have the right to demand the disarmament of Baghdad's WMD. It would be impossible to convince an Iraqi Kurd, who can still envision the massacre of Halabja, to keep silent about Baghdad's WMD… and the Kuwaiti, whose land was occupied and who witnessed the Iraqi army set fires to more than 700 oil wells and turn the whole country into an inferno, has the right to demand the dismantling of Baghdad's WMD…"[15]

II. An Iraqi Satellite?"…The Iraqi cabinet discussed the plan [of building] an Iraqi satellite for communication and radio/TV broadcasts. The cabinet approved the project, and the satellite will be built through contracts between Baghdad and foreign partners [unidentified]…"[16]

III. The Kurds in Northern Iraq: News and Opinions

1. A Faction of Ansar Al-Islam Declares Jihad against Iraqi Shi'ites
Al-Mutamar [The Iraqi National Congress opposition organ] quoted a report by the Kurdish newspaper Kurdistani Noy that stated, "Based on reliable sources, Ansar Al-Islam, led by Mulla Kreikar, is currently facing an internal crisis when a few members of the organization declared their secession. According to the same sources, the new group named itself Jund Al-Haq Al-Muntaqim [Soldiers of Avenging Justice]… In its statement the group issued a Fatwa for Jihad against the Iraqi regime, the Iraqi Shi'ites in the south, and the secular parties in Kurdistan…"[17]

2. Reconciliation between the Two Main Kurdish Parties
"Mas'oud Al-Barazani, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and Jalal Al-Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) formally ended the disputes between the two parties that share control over the Kurdish self-ruled region. They signed an agreement in Salah Al-Deen [northern Iraq] and issued a statement that the two sides are in agreement over the significance of the present situation, issues concerning democratic changes, international policies, war against terrorism, radicalism and dictatorship, and how to use current developments to serve the interests of the Iraqi people in general and the Kurds in particular'… The statement said that the two sides agreed on establishing four committees to prepare a joint plan regarding federalism [in Iraq], normalization of the conditions in the Kurdish region, resolving security problems, and forging a unified [Kurdish] stand regionally and internationally…"[198]

Three days later, a member of the political office at PUK said that "the agreement stipulates on general elections following a transitional period that does not exceed 9 months, and that the parliament that will convene next month will dissolve itself after that period in preparation for the elections…"[19]

3. Al-Talabani Calls on Islamic Parties to Take a Strong Stand against Terrorism, News about Ansar Al-Islam
In a meeting with clan leaders in northern Iraq, the head of the PUK said that the present situation demands that "Islamic parties take a clear stand against crimes committed by organizations hiding behind Islam…" Al-Talabani recalled the desecration of holy graveyards that took place a few weeks ago in northern Iraq [Ansar Al-Islam was accused of carrying out the acts].[20]

"The PUK denied that its leader accused Iran of having links with the radical organization Jund Al-Islam [precursor to Ansar Al-Islam, sometimes the names are interchangeable]… In response to that accusation, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in Iran said that the PUK was trying to 'enhance America's military presence in Iraqi Kurdistan by claiming that there was a link between Iran and Jund Al-Islam…'"[21]

"The Kurdish newspaper Kudistani Noy reported that Ansar Al-Islam imposed a tax on business owners in the areas that it controls…" [22]

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4. Iraq's VP: We are Not Worried about Kurds' Allegiance to Iraq
In a meeting with two Kurdish officials VP Taha Yassin Ramadhan said, "Our Kurdish people are better aware now of the suspicious behavior of those traitorous gangs in the north who want to undermine Iraq's unity… We are not concerned about our Kurdish people, we are sure of their positions and their allegiance to Iraq and to its leader Saddam Hussein…"[23] Ramadhan also called for "increased communications with our Kurdish people, to inform them of the true acts of the traitors, and the dangers of the hostile American and Zionist threats to Iraq…"[24]

5. Baghdad Celebrates the 6th Anniversary of its Operation against the Kurdish North
"…Al-Iraq daily, published by Kurds who support the central regime [in Baghdad] said that 'after six years, the same foreign forces that were behind the events in Kurdistan prior to August 31st [1996], are now trying to exploit the unusual circumstances and the tainted role of certain elements [acting] against the country, its freedom and independence. However, our Kurdish people… comprehend the danger of the hostile American plan… and [know] that in order to undermine it there is a need for action on all levels'…" [25]

IV. Iraq/Iran Relations

1. Uday Saddam Hussein Accuses Iran of Intervening in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Iran Denies the Charges
"President Saddam Hussein's elder son accused Iran of intervening in Iraqi Kurdistan by proxy. In a TV interview, Uday said that "Iran created Jund Al-Islam… and this was a clear Iranian trick, since Iran knows that Kurdistan is a Sunni area and therefore hard to influence…"[26] A couple of days later, "Iran denied officially that it had any links with Jund Al-Islam."[27]

Babil also published a report titled "Iran mobilizes troops on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan" in which it said that: "Two Kurdish groups opposed to Iran announced that the Iranian army was mobilizing military units along the border with Kurdistan in northern Iraq in preparation for an American attack against Iraq…" The paper quoted Hussein Yidanbanah, leader of a Kurdish Iranian group opposed to the Tehran regime, who said that "the Iranian army is awaiting an American war against Iraq in order to intervene in the Kurdish area in the north, and in Iraq in general…"[28]

2. Tehran Reiterates its Refusal to Admit Any Refugees from Iraq
Iran's interior minister emphasized again that "no refugee from Iraq will be allowed to enter Iranian territories in case of an American strike… He said, however, that preparations were made along the border areas to house the refugees who might come there… and that a 'Crisis Management Command' was established within his office, since there is an expectation that about 500,000 refugees may arrive at the Iranian border in case of an attack…"[29]

3. Tehran Accuses Baghdad of Serving the Interests of Israel
"Spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry accused Iraq of rendering the best service to Israel by invading Kuwait and starting a destructive war against Iran… He accused the Iraqi regime of 'fueling conflicts among the Arab and Islamic countries by invading Kuwait.' The Iranian foreign ministry was responding to an earlier accusation by Iraq's VP that 'Tehran allied itself with the Zionists'…"[30]

4. Iraq Marks the 22nd Anniversary of the War with Iran
The Iraqi press published several articles and commentaries commemorating the start of the Iraq/Iran war on September 4, 1980. The following are two short excerpts:

In an editorial in a Al-Thawra [the Ba'ath party organ] said, "Although we do not want to reopen an old wound… we have to remember September 4, 1980, in order to learn its lessons… when the Shah's regime collapsed in 1979, Iraq was hoping to open a new chapter in its relations with Iran, but the new regime declared its animosity to Iraq… and refused to withdraw its forces from the areas of Seif Saad and Zein Al-Qaws, as stipulated by the Algerian agreement…" The paper goes on to say that despite Iraq's "patience and wisdom" Iran persisted in its hostilities, which culminated in attacking Iraq.[31]

Al-Thawra published another article titled, "We Sought a Neighborly Relationship, and They Declared a War" in it the paper said that the Iranian regime fabricated the conflict with Iraq and, and in a euphoria of success following the fall of the Shah, imagined that it could "swallow Iraq in a heartbeat…" The paper goes on to accuse the Iranian regime of trying to foment unrest inside Iraq, and when those efforts failed "the Iranian heavy artillery bombarded several Iraqi cities…"[32]

5. The 'Mujahideen Khalq' Organization Denies Intentions to Act Against Iraqi Shi'ite Incursion
"The Iranian opposition group Mujahideen Khalq, which operates from inside Iraq, denied reports from Iraqi opposition sources that Baghdad intends to use the Iranian group to stop a possible incursion by Iraqi Shi'ite dissidents from Iranian soil… The group accused the Iranian Information Ministry of circulating such lies…"[33]