European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday january 23, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary William Safire iraqi kurd will die for no less than autonomy Mem last sunday came some solid reporting by the new York times Patrick e. Tyler about the coming a april Surprise Quot a Covert stimulation of an uprising against Saddam Hussein with backing this time from . Airpower. Tyler informed us the stars and stripes carried an associated press report on the article that a two months ago the Bush a deputies committee asked the Pentagon for a military plan to assist iraqis plotting to Rise against Saddam and b simultaneously. Bush wrote to saudi arabians King fahd pledging to accede to his request to do just that if he would provide free Long term parking for our equipment. When joint chiefs chairman Gen. Colin l. Powell responded with a the wrong answer which i am told was equivalent to a not my table a your waiter is Bob Gate the task of preparing air support to the iraqi rebels was Given to the National Security adviser Brent scowcroft who used to Wear a Blue uniform with stars. The world now knows that the saudis want Saddam removed before he can regroup and wreak vengeance on the kingdom that the Pentagon is letting the cup pass by demanding elephant guns to shoot rabbits and that we and our allies Are gearing up to Back an internal revolt. This time we will not let kurdish rebels be slaughtered from above As the a a suckered h. Norman Schwarzkopf did last february. As extra Assurance to the often betrayed iraqi kurd the saudis have agreed to pay the Covert charge a to provide tribesmen with stinger missiles to shoot Down Saddam a helicopter gunships while some Well connected sunni baathist coolly take Over in Baghdad. The astute Reader will wonder if we Are engaged in some vast undercover plot How come we can read All about it beforehand on the commentary and front pages of the new York times obviously some a Allied official with intimate knowledge of .-saudi communications is willing to share secrets with an inquiring reporter. And a Friendly spook has the franchise to Alert a hawkish columnist or two who have also written about the subject. Does this not smack of manipulation Are we not being used of course it does and of course we Are. Talk of an a april Surprise a All denied with straight faces by administration officials on talk shows is part of a War of nerves. President Bush to erase the stain on his foreign affairs Escutcheon and King fahd to save his monarchy by in age the clique around him to dump its Leader and grab the swag for themselves. The Paradox is that this War of nerves a this psych ing out of a dictator we mistakenly refrained from taking out a May Well Lead to a real uprising. And this time. Bush cannot allow the Butcher of Baghdad to crush the opposition. But what of the kurd the pawns whose lives will be expended in this geopolitical chess Massoud Barzani has joined with Jalal Talaban to break off negotiations with Saddam. Be the sunni Boss of Iraq. Before the kurd risk their lives again at our Behest they expect the United nations to Send observers to an election for the administration of age old kurdish territory Down to the 35th parallel which includes the Oil Center of Kirkuk. Allied air cover for that area would make them an economic Factor in Iraq no longer deprived of their own Patrimony. They seek autonomy not the Independence the t urls dread. Kirkuk would provide a site for a sunni shiite kurdish provisional government to draw sunni defectors from Baghdad until Saddam s regime collapses. This degree of Freedom is probably not what the manipulators in Riyadh and Damascus have m mind. But kurd will not die for a reshuffling of gangsters in Baghdad. Only by accepting a modicum of self determination can we turn this War of nerves into a War of self liberation. C Tho now York inc stalling his own Man in Baghdad Are trying to rattle Saddam As Well As to enc our they Are prepared to do business with Mohammed Bakr Al Hakim the iraqi shiite Leader whose family was murdered by Saddam but Are not about to accept the saudi syrian Choice of Nassau Al Naquid an ousted Saddam Henchman to Robin Wrigh Saddam first to cheer Bush s aimless policy in Stark contrast to the deliberate policy Steps that culminated in operation desert storm a year ago the Bush administrations policy on Iraq is now Drifting according to . Political and military analysts. Efforts to rid Iraq of president Saddam Hussein Are now largely limited to . Economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation. And although . Troops deployed with the North Atlantic treaty organization in neighbouring Turkey Monitor treatment of the kurd in Northern Iraq the ground troops and helicopters of operation provide Comfort Are gone. . Teams Are also still tracking Down and eliminating iraqis weapons of mass destruction which will diminish Baghdad a threat to the Oil Rich Region. But overt and Covert . Support for the internal opposition kurd and shiite and sunni muslims has remained Low key because of the dissidents inability to provide a United or viable alternative. The basically passive role of the .-led coalition and the United nations has helped Saddam Deconsoli Date his singular hold on Iraq according to Middle East experts. A a Saddam sinner Circle May be getting tighter but there a no indication that he a anywhere near being ousted which is partly a result of our policy a said a . Military official. A the calculated that we would move on to other things and we did. Now we have no stick to draw Saddam a attention or to encourage the opposition. A i done to believe the Man will die a natural death but he May survive in office longer than George a this confirms our worst fears a said one . Expert. A having him around taunting us undermines the whole military but . Officials conceded that no new opportunities Are visible in Iraq. A Short of a serious new provocation by Saddam i done to think there will be any new groundswell wanting to push in a More Active direction a an administration source said. A a there a not a great Deal of new thinking on Iraq. In fact there a not even a lot of thinking about even the debate in november generated largely from Congress has ebbed the source said. The Bush administration is instead allowing an unusual coalition of iraqis neighbors a Syria saudi Arabia and Iran a to take the Lead. All three Are supporting disparate elements of the fractious iraqi opposition which met in Damascus earlier this month in another attempt to forge a common Agenda and eventually possibly even a government in exile. Similar efforts during and after the War failed. Meantime the United states has raised the level of its contacts with opposition groups. In testimony before the House foreign affairs sub committee last november Deputy assistant Secretary of state Edward p. Djerejian said a we will continue to broaden our contacts with the iraqi opposition and to support the emergence of an iraqi government representative of iraqis pluralistic Baghdad sinner Circle is made up largely of sunni muslims the smallest of the country s Tluck main ethnic groups from Saddam a own Tikili Elan. Despite the pressure last fall from congressional democrats and some quarters within the Pentagon the Bush administration so far has rejected a higher profile a while conceding that sanctions alone Are unlikely to have a major Impact any time soon. A some observers believe that More ambitious Covert efforts Are probably needed to have a significant Chance of removing Saddam a said a recent congressional research service report on . Policy options by Iraq expert Kenneth Katzman. But administration sources dismissed providing arms to kurdish or shiite rebels As ineffective one official called the option a Foolhardy. A both private and government specialists maintain that the primary Hope of ousting Saddam rests within the iraqi military. C los Angeles Tutic a
