European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Aftermath continued from Page 1 by that time from the silo area to a vacant iraqi army Post on the West Side of Zakhoo. That freed the silo to receive the local Grain Harvest but it also moved the Headquarters to within a few Miles of the turkish Border. Later like a hiker backing away from a poisonous Snake the coalition forces tried to make their impending withdrawal from the Region itself look inconspicuous in the Days that followed. They finally left last week formally wrapping up the Mission. But it really had ended weeks earlier. A we came Here to Stop the dying and the starving in the mountains and we be done that Quot army capt. Bruce Moore said in june. Nearly half a million refugees fled to the mountains of Turkey in March after the failure of an armed kurdish rebellion against Saddam Hussein s government. Lacking shelter food clean water and proper sanitation thousands of refugees died before an International Effort to save them was fully under Way. After the surviving refugees went Home under the task Force s Protection Many kurd said they would flee to the mountains again if the task Force left. Otherwise they said the iraqi military would massacre them. The coalition forces have announced they will set up a 3,000-member rapid deployment Force just across the Border in Turkey to prevent that from happening. Also kurdish Leader Massoud Barzani again claimed Progress last week in negotiations with the iraqi government about kurdish autonomy and iraqi democratic reforms. On the other hand Saddam remains firmly in Power. The kurd await the future with packed Luggage. Operation provide Comfort began As a Rescue assignment aftermath Mission designed to solve a crisis. It succeeded admirably aside from occasional mishaps such As airborne Relief packages falling on top of refugees and the sometimes fatal effects of chaos in a hungry turbulent crowd. A when the refugees began returning Home in truck convoys the 100-by-30-mile Security zone the task Force had carved out of Northern Iraq became a caldron of political intrigue in some ways reminiscent of postwar Berlin. Everybody was in charge and nobody was in charge. The Black Market was the Only Market. Crowds of Idle people loitered in Public places waiting for something interesting to happen. Army maj. Gen. Jay m. Garner said the task Force he commanded was not an occupation Force. A glance at the 18th my brigades map of the Region suggested otherwise. It showed the Security zone carved up into american British French italian and Spanish sectors. A traveler going from the turkish Border to Dozhuk on the main Highway had to pass through turkish customs a Spanish checkpoint just across the Border an italian checkpoint at Zakhoo a . Marine checkpoint near sum ail and an iraqi police blockade at Dozhuk. The zone remained a theater of the absurd for As Long As the task Force was there. In late april its strangeness stemmed from the fact that it was a Chain of ghost towns. Quot there was nothing Here. There was no food Quot said army maj. Jim Lafleur a task Force civil affairs officer referring to Zakhoo. Quot now you can Tell it s a City again. The markets Are open the vegetables Are  in May soldiers said they saw iraqis on the Street Selling cases of . Field rations that the task Force had Given away at refugee transit Camps. Men also set up Roadside stands to sell soda cigarettes tapestries and other goods to passing soldiers. Boys lined the streets waving helmets bayonets and other iraqi military paraphernalia. Some of the entrepreneurs apparently wanted to use the proceeds to emigrate. Quot when you walk up to a kid who s Selling bayonets and he pulls out More dollars than you be Ever seen in your life what do you think he s going to do with it Quot said an army no who asked not to be named. Quot Why else would kurd want dollars they want to get out of Here. I would  the urge to leave was t confined to Street a vendors. A doctor in Dozhuk asked How he could apply for permission to move to the United states. Counterfeit Money pervaded the Street Side Commerce. The task Force issued a bulletin warning soldiers about fake $100 Bills. Bogus iraqi 50 Dinar notes also turned up although there seemed to be no agreement about How they could be identified. The iraqi governments official Exchange rate for its currency was $3 for one Dinar. The Black Market rate was $1 for 15 dinars at the beginning of operation provide Comfort but dropped to $1 for 5 dinars when the crisis subsided. The transit Camps the task Force built East of Zakhoo were full of poor people but there were exceptions. A one resident drove around in a late Model Mercedes Benz luxury Sedan. Traffic in Dozhuk was somewhat orderly but motorists in Zakhoo flouted the rules routinely. They ignored red lights drove on the wrong Side of divided streets when it was convenient and parked in the Middle of the Road. Thrill seeking children dangled by the dozen from the backs of moving trucks Many were killed or injured in accidents. Teen age boys sold cheap Low Quality gasoline from Large Metal Drums at the Side of a woman and child join the demonstrators who tried to persuade the joint task Force to remain in the Security zone. 1 .1a Many villages in Northern Iraq Tike this Section of Dozhuk Are in  the Road where the drenched soil reeked of spilled fuel. A to escape heat that climbed to 105 degrees fahrenheit or More every afternoon people in Zakhoo Dove into the Turquoise coloured Haber River even though it also was a conduit for untreated sewage. A Small canal reeking of garbage fuel and sewage drained into the Haber at a Point where Many children were swimming. Accustomed to taking afternoon naps Many men and women appeared in Public in pyjamas and bathrobes. Setting fires seemed to be a popular pastime. It was hard to drive through any town without seeing at least a few burning garbage heaps. Farmers set their Fields afire too believing the fire would kill scorpions and other dangerous pests. Kurd tend to have enormous families and Many of their children wander the streets unsupervised for hours at a time. They greeted any Western Soldier driving through town with dozens of Waves smiles and cries of Quot i mister Quot. Manifestations of Saddam a personality cult were everywhere. Rashid a kurdish iraqi in his 30s, said Saddam s name was mentioned at the Start of every Sermon Muslim or Christian before the kurdish revolt. Saddam s name was the first word most children earned to say he said. Saddam s photograph is at the front of most school textbooks and hospitals and other Public institutions Bear his name. But in Dozhuk someone had chipped Saddam a name off the Wall at the Hospital Entrance and most of the Large portraits of him on streets and highways through the zone had been damaged or destroyed. Even if the kurd succeed in attaining autonomy the Economy of the Region would leave them bound to Iraq financially. Agriculture is the primary Industry of the area and wheat is the dominant crop. A a it a the Only big moneymaker Quot said Rick Hill logistics coordinator with the disaster assistance response team an Agency that helped restore Public services. Quot they even have to take it wheat to Mosul to Mill it into  Mosul is a Large iraqi City to the South. The kurd depend on the iraqi government for the processing and Sale of the wheat. But that does t Dampen the kurd desire to keep the iraqi army at Bay and in some cases to drive out civilian arabs. Violent demonstrations against the iraqi government or the controlling Arab baath socialist party broke out occasionally during operation provide Comfort both within and outside of the Security zone. Several people were killed. Identifying the instigators was not easy. A june 2 attack on the Zakhoo police station appeared completely spontaneous even the pesh Merga a paramilitary kurdish organization that worked with the task Force tried to Stop the violence. Throughout All the incidents the task Force took pains to avoid the impression it wanted to help the kurd sever its ties to the rest of Iraq. Quot we Don t use the k word Quot one army officer said asking not to be named. Quot we Don t want to imply support for Independent  in any event autonomy or Independence Only would change Power relationships not Settle differences. The distinction is important because Many culturally in a Village in Northern Iraq kurdish demonstrators a pleaded with the task Force to stay. Kurdish speaking girls of armenian descent learn armenian in a Church classroom in Zakhoo. Assertive non kurdish groups also live in the Region. Dozhuk has a Large Community of Sathory or assyrian christians. About 1.200 armenians Many of them descendants of people who fled Turkey after world War i live in Zakhoo. Vartohe Aslanyan teaches armenian to about 35 kurdish speaking armenian children who attend her private class in the afternoon at the local armenian Church. She reported Little friction Between armenians and kurd in Zakhoo. Quot we have no problem with them because the relations Between us and them is Little Quot Aslanyan said. Many Arab iraqis also live in the area and they tear they will be persecuted if the kurdish achieve More Power. One prominent Arab even cited the kurd violence in his town As justification for american troops remaining in Iraq. Quot since the creation of the world we have been living Here Quot the Man said adding later Quot when we see an american Soldier walking in the Street with his Rifle we say this is a Good thing because he can protect All  sipping hot sugared Tea and speaking through a translator the Arab recounted How kurd had roamed the streets destroying property and had driven the mayor out of town. Quot we need Tranquility. We need stability and peace and we would Welcome any Power that would bring us these things Quot he said. Quot we Are tired of such a situation being under such difficult conditions. But alas we Are under the Rule of a government we cannot oppose Quot capt. Christopher u. Mulholland 33, of Belmont mass., described his Marine company s Contact with the kurd at the sum ail checkpoint As both pleasant and suspicious. Sitting in a camouflaged foxhole last month the Captain flicked away gnats trying to Craw into his ears As he told How the kurd had treated his a amps photos by Joseph Owen marines from cog 2nd in 8th Marine Rogl. A they re handing us Iresh fruits and we give the Candy to the kids. A lot of my Guys Are learning kurdish phrases. They know How to say open the Glove Box open the trunk Quot Mulholland said but the marines also saw Large bags of Cash sitting in people s cars As they passed the checkpoint. Many of the newer cars had the steering column cover stripped off a sure sign of car theft. Army sgt. Muammar Maloley 34, of new York said pesh Merga came to him for help because iraqi government officials had come to them claiming people had attacked them and stolen their cars Quot we weren t allowed to get involved in those kind of situations Quot he said adding that the claims and counterclaims about stolen cars and Money were impossible to sort out. A a they re All jockeying for Power All trying to collect taxes. They Veall got people to pay Quot he said adding that kurd had once set up a Highway checkpoint of their own. North of Dozhuk and demanded $100 from each turkish Driver carrying emergency supplies of flour. Such effrontery seems trivial however when one visits the kurdish villages in the Barzan Valley where iraqi troops killed most of the men in 1988, or when one goes to Dozhuk and looks at the piles of Concrete rubble that used to be kurdish neighbourhoods until iraqi soldiers blew up All the buildings in March. Quot the government is vicious a the prominent local Arab said. Quot it commits atrocities. We can i do anything about that. If Saddam Hussein lives another 100 years will we be in that position All that time Quot Page 2 a the stars and stripes tuesday july the stars and stripes a Page 3