The Hindu Business Line : Uneasy peace in Baghdad

THOSE who might have been delighted with the UN Security Council's unanimous resolution last Thursday authorising a multinational military force in Iraq under the single command led by the United States need to think again. The resolution, which calls for contribution of troops as well as financial support from UN member states for the rebuilding of Iraq, comes nowhere near providing a time-table for Iraq's return to self-governance.

Initially, the UN Secretary-General, Dr Kofi Annan, had insisted, along with French and German leaders, that the US should agree to shift power within a few months to a provincial government in Iraq — a demand that was rejected outright by Washington.

Significant is the wording of the resolution vis-à-vis self-rule for Iraq through a full-fledged electoral process. It calls upon the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council to produce by December 15 a time-table for drafting a constitution and holding elections.

Considering the bickering within the Council, which has the blessings of the Americans, the process of just drafting a constitution could take a year or two. And, the UN resolution gives no date for transfer of power, as France and Germany had originally wanted.

Even now, the UN resolution does not give the world forum a central role in Iraq, and eyebrows can legitimately be raised at Dr Kofi Annan virtually welcoming this saying he was "pleased" that the resolution did not force him to send back staff to Iraq until safety could be ensured.

Obviously, the UN is yet to recover from the shocking August 19 bombing of its Baghdad offices that claimed 22 lives.

Talking to people in Iraq, it is obvious why the UN was targeted in such a brutal attack. Says Ms Huda, a retired chief accountant of a Baghdad bank: "In Baghdad, we do not distinguish between the Americans and the United Nations, which has always danced to the tunes of the US. After all, who enforced and administered those monstrous sanctions against the innocent people of Iraq for 12 long years? Sanctions that killed thousands of innocent Iraqi children every year, even as they failed to check Saddam Hussein from using 80-90 per cent of the stuff that came under the Food for Oil programme to only enrich his coffers through sale in the black market.

"The UN has done little more than being a slave to the whims and fancies of the United States," fumes Ms Huda.

She made it clear that the Blue Berets can no longer be considered a symbol of safety in Baghdad, and UN workers would continue to be vulnerable,, as much as the coalition forces, to guerrilla attacks and suicide bombing that rock the Iraqi capital regularly.

As for the American garrison in Baghdad, even to a lay observer the soldiers look not only tense but also exhausted. You ask any American soldier or officer whether he/she wants to go home, the reply is a unanimous "Of course".

Captain Ginela Johnson has been in Iraq from last February and thinks she will get to go home in January, after completion of a year's duty in Iraq. "These days it is not too bad, but the summer was a real killer," says the woman, whose skin has turned a deep red, and who needs to take a sip of water every few minutes.

She and her colleagues are confined to their workplaces and do not feel safe or secure to even walk down any of the city's streets unarmed and alone. "No, it is not safe to go out alone," she says decidedly.

As for food, there is an unending supply of MREs (meals ready to eat). "I guess they are okay, but I do look forward to the time when the owner of a Baghdad restaurant occasionally gives us a treat. He packs and brings for us right here (the Civil Military Operations Office) a five-course meal, complete with liveried waiters. The food is great and during these times it is nothing short of a feast," Captain Johnson says.

But, obviously, such moments are few and far between. The rest of the time it is listening to the unending grievances of Baghdad's residents on deficient supplies and services. The Americans at this office do listen patiently and try their best to help. "Things are getting better by the day," all of them say, but complaints continue to pour.

"Oh, a lot of work has been done and improvements made in several areas, whether it is water, electricity or sewerage. But the problem is that the media love to tell only negative stories, because they make better and more interesting material to read. Who is interested in a broken and vandalised sewerage facility being repaired and restored, even if it takes such hard work," says the Vice-Mayor (Technical Affairs) of Baghdad, Mr Farish Alasam.

Well, one has heard that one before. None less than the US President, Mr George W. Bush, said last fortnight that the media "filter" is distorting the truth of Iraq. "Sometimes it is hard to tell it when you listen to the filter. We're making good progress," he claimed.

A recent AP news agency report, commenting on the "good news" offensive launched in Iraq by the US Government, said that "a couple of Baghdad street kids, peddlers of soda pop, have been recruited for the first wave of attack."

The report was referring to the claim made by the US Commerce Secretary, Mr Don Evans, after a two-day visit to Baghdad, that "thousands of new businesses have sprung up here since the war." Added the report: "He gave an example of new entrepreneurship: two boys he spotted by the road selling soft drinks to Baghdad's parched drivers." It then quoted an unhappy Bank of Baghdad chief, Mr Mowafaq H. Mahmood, saying, `No one's applying for credit'."

Whom to believe, wonders the AP reporter, adding, "It is good news versus bad once again in an American war zone, and once more the media are caught in between — between a US Government that wants to accentuate the positive, and journalists' own duty not to eliminate the negative." But for the American troops in Iraq, the fatigue threshold is near. For, according to a recent survey, one-third of the soldiers described their morale as low and half did not plan to re-enlist — a finding which led the Pentagon to say it was closely watching for such problems.

In the US, many Congressmen are calling for the return of units in Iraq. Said Senator Trent Lott: "You have to have some sort of rotation scheme for the men or women that are over there that's a limit to how long they'll stay. Then you have to bring in other people, other divisions or other National Guard or whatever."

This would be music to the ears of people like R. Brandon, a 26-year-old US naval officer, who boarded mid-sea for "inspection" the passenger ship Jabal Ali 1, which was on its way from Dubai to Umm Qasr in Basra last fortnight. The youngster's face and lips were covered with a rash, and he and his colleagues looked as though they had had enough of an alien country and its hostile weather.

Response can be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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