Kuwait Diary

Kuwait Diary -- April 16th, 2003

Day 28 of the 2nd Gulf War.
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As Baghdad continues to burn, the US and Britain began talks with Iraqi faction on reshaping Iraq, urging them to put aside their differences and assuring them that they will be allowed to govern their own country. The religious and political leaders who met at a makeshift US airbase beside the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur in Southern Iraq agreed to again convene in 10 days after a session that raised as many questions as answers.

Jay Garner, the retired US general leading the effort to rebuild Iraq, opened the conference saying “ a free Iraq, a democratic Iraq will begin today.”

But events surrounding the meeting, which was boycotted by a major Shi'ite Muslim group, served notice that ruling postwar Iraq could make the 26 day war to oust Saddam Hussein look easy. Ahmad Chalabi, the high profile Iraqi businessman favored by the Pentagon for a role in Iraq, did not attend in person, the start of the meeting was delayed for unexplained reasons and demonstrators made clear they were no keener to be ruled by the United States (not even in the initial phases by Jay Garner’s administration), than by Saddam. Even before the meeting had started, thousands of Iraqis protested in the city streets, saying they wanted to rule themselves and chanting, “ Yes to freedom, yes to Islam, no to America, no to Sadam.” Such anger was also visible in the northern city of Mosul, when a firefight broke out as the newly appointed governor was making a speech which listeners deemed was too pro-US. A doctor said that 12 people had been killed and 60 civilians wounded. The US Navy was investigating, but witnesses said that that US troops fired into crowd after it became increasingly hostile towards the new governor, Mashaan Al Juburi.

Elsewhere, the rhetoric is ratcheting up. Senior Bush administration officials have labeled Syria a "terrorist state" and have threatened sanctions against Damascus, accusing it of developing chemical weapons, not having found any WMD’s in Iraq. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Musa, said he was astounded by the threats, while an Egyptian spokesman warned against what he called the targeting of Arab countries one by one. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denied suggestions that Syria was "next on the list", but said it had to answer some "important questions". So, dear reader, here we go again. Haven't we been there before? The speed with which history is repeating itself is truly incredible.

Economic and diplomatic sanctions on Syria have been threatened, and some US Government spokesmen have refused to rule out military action. Speaking for the Gulf Co-operation Council, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani urged the US to moderate its tone against Syria. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has insisted that Washington has no intention of attacking any other countries in the Middle East. "There is no war plan right now to go attack someone else," he said. But he added that the US was expecting to see change in Syria.
Ties between the US and Syria have long been strained by US support for Israel and Syria's backing of the Lebanese group Hezbollah and radical Palestinian groups, which Washington considers terrorist organizations. But Syria is not Iraq and Bashar is not Saddam.

A statement released by the Syrian Government on Tuesday condemned US "threats and falsifications", saying that the "escalated language of threats and accusations by some American officials against Syria" was aimed at "damaging its steadfastness". And in an apparent response to the US accusations, Syria is preparing to introduce a resolution at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, calling for the Middle East to be declared a "zone free of weapons of mass destruction" - a clear reference to Israel's nuclear weapons program. Both the UK and Spain, crucial US allies in the war in Iraq, have declined to support the US over Syria. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed concern that recent statements about Syria may further destabilize the Middle East.

World heritage: Senior U.S. military officials have admitted Iraqi museums were plundered during a "void in security" and that they had failed to anticipate Iraq's cultural riches would be looted by its own people. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said that forces entering Baghdad were involved in very intense combat and in removing the regime and conducting military operations, a "vacuum" was created. He said that while "it may be after the fact" it remained important to restore institutions and retrieve as many items as possible. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States will work to track down objects looted from Iraq's museums and help restore damaged pieces. Powell's comments came on the heels of criticism of the Bush administration for not doing more to stop looters from ransacking the National Museum of Iraq. The museum is home to one of the world's most extensive collections of artifacts dating back to the Mesopotamian era and "the seat of world civilization." In an interview with CNN, a leading academic in Britain said Tuesday that U.S. and British authorities were aware of the possibility that museums throughout Iraq could be looted and damaged during warfare and "action should have been taken" to avert the pillaging. Robert Springborg said that "proper authorities were duly informed" by art historians, archaeologists and other scholars about the "possibility of this occurrence." These include the U.N.E.S.C.O, which urged protection of the country's cultural treasures. He said they were informed that occupying powers under the Geneva Conventions must protect cultural properties. The ransacking of the National Museum of Iraq, in particular, speaks of a "profound breakdown" in communications between authorities in Washington and soldiers in the field or "something inexplicable." He said the museum is about one of the five greatest in the world.

Reconstruction contracts: Rebuilding Iraq's roads, oil fields, ports, power grids and communications networks could cost $20 billion a year and the lion's share of the spoils is likely to go to a handful of well-connected US companies. US lawmakers have already protested against their government's decision to award no-bid contracts to several companies, as well as the closed-door nature of the process. Others have raised questions about whether companies like Halliburton Co, once headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney that has already won a no-bid deal to put out Iraqi oil well fires, are getting special treatment. Several other companies, like Bechtel Group Inc and Fluor Corp, are vying for a $600 million contract from the US Agency for International Development.

"To the victor go the spoils," said Richard Aboulafia with Virginia-base Teal Group. "It's going to be a protected hunting ground for the relatively small number of US companies that have the critical mass and capabilities necessary to do these jobs -- and that's a very small list indeed." The controversy has put the limelight on a specialized military procurement process in the United States, that tends to favor big defense industry insiders, while leaving smaller businesses, foreign companies and sector newcomers in the dust.

"Victory should not turn into an undeserved financial bonanza for companies that have cultivated close ties with the Bush administration," a New York Times editorial said on Monday. The decision to give Halliburton an interim contract valued at up to $7 billion looked 'like naked favoritism', it said. US lawmakers said that the contract represented a huge sum and one that should have been competitively bid. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the US Congress, has begun a thorough review of the issue, vowing that no company will be excluded from closer scrutiny. But analysts say the GAO likely will not find improprieties. They acknowledge the US defense community is incestuous, with top military officials often taking high-paid jobs in industry after they retire. Former secretary of state George Schultz, a proponent of the US war in Iraq and member of the Bechtel board, denied using his political connections to help win work for Bechtel and said he was not active in the company's daily management. He said recent articles critical of the reconstruction contracts reflected, 'the sort of suspicious atmosphere that seems to pervade a lot of the people in Washington, a key reason why he had moved to California.

An Iraqi child, who suffered 60 per cent burns and lost both his arms and his whole family after an American bomb struck his home, has been flown to Kuwait for treatment. Surgeons at the Khairallah Hospital in Baghdad, which has been flooded with victims of the war, were looking after the 12-year-old orphan, Ali Ismail Abbas. Television images of him lying on a hospital bed had triggered sympathy and a lot of people from around the world had offered to help him. In Kuwait, the authorities have set aside an intensive care room at the Ibn Sina Hospital. Because of his burns and the severity of his injuries, there were fears that Ali would die without specialized treatment. A number of Iraqi children have been flown to other countries for treatment. Two of them, including a badly burnt six-month-old girl from Basra, are in Britain. Eight other Iraqi children, including a five-year-old girl from Baghdad, are being cared for in Kuwait. Ali's plight had touched the hearts of Kuwaitis.

Ultimately the war has to be won in the human heart and mind. People will continue to remember only the civilian casualties. Winning the heart, when violence an mayhem prevails, is a daunting task indeed.