If the Iraqis despise Saddam as much as the US claims, why aren't they using
these weapons to lead a revolt against Saddam. If there are millions of Iraqi
citizens with weapons and only a few thousand of the Republican Guard...well
you get the point. I think it's clear that the Iraqis are obviously firmly
opposed to US imperialism whether or not they "like" Saddam.
Andrew
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A26394-2003Feb4?language=printer
Iraq Arms Civilians As Second Line of Defense Against U.S.
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, February 5, 2003; Page A01
MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 4 -- Semira Ahmed, a schoolteacher, keeps her battered
AK-47 assault rifle in her bedroom closet, next to her dresses, shoes,
jewelry and cosmetics. Abbas Mahmood, a shopkeeper, displays his in the
living room, on a shelf with pictures of his children. Mohammed Abdullah, a
farmer, totes his wherever he goes, because he wants to be ready "to fight at
any time."
>From dusty villages to the bustling streets of Baghdad, guns are omnipresent
in Iraq. They are, as people here are fond of saying, more common than
telephones or cars, and perhaps even portraits of President Saddam Hussein.
"Everyone has one," Abdullah said. "And some people have two or three."
Over the past two years, Hussein's government says it has trained 1 million
civilians in the basics of armed combat and given many of them firearms to
keep at home. With Iraq now facing a possible U.S. military invasion, Iraqi
leaders are encouraging -- and counting on -- those people to act as a last
line of defense in cities and towns across the country.
Iraqi officials say they expect armed civilians to engage in urban warfare
with U.S. troops, firing at them from inside houses and high-rise apartment
buildings. The officials express hope that if enough civilians join the
fight, the Americans, despite air superiority and technologically advanced
equipment, will be forced to retreat.
Whether legions of ordinary people will take up arms to defend Hussein's
government remains one of the biggest uncertainties of a war between the
United States and Iraq. Although U.S. commanders and Western military
analysts expect relatively few civilians to put up a fight, the Iraqi
leadership says it is confident of just the opposite.
To display their preparations, authorities summoned tens of thousands of
weapon-wielding civilians, from schoolgirls to gray-haired retirees, to march
this morning down a wide boulevard in Mosul, 230 miles north of Baghdad. It
was Iraq's largest display of force in months.
Menacing at moments, comedic at others, the parade featured pot-bellied,
middle-aged men waving rocket-propelled grenade launchers, women in heels
brandishing AK-47s, ethnic Kurds in traditional dress, workmen in blue boiler
suits and a dozen men clad in the white shrouds worn by aspiring Palestinian
suicide bombers.
Although the parade appeared designed for foreign consumption, diplomats and
analysts said such events have an important domestic purpose: dissuading
people who might be thinking of participating in dissent when the war begins
by reminding them that their neighbors may be armed and loyal to the
government. The parade also may have been intended to send a message to Iraqi
Kurds living in an autonomous region whose southern border is less than an
hour's drive away.
"We know the Americans are there right now with the Kurds," said one
participant. "If either of them try to invade, we will be waiting for them."
Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of Hussein's ruling Revolutionary Command
Council, saluted from a reviewing stand as the marchers shouted belligerent
slogans. "Bush, Bush, hear us carefully! We love Saddam Hussein!" one group
screamed. Others opted for the zippier "No peace, no surrender!"
"I wish the Americans would come here," growled Faris Zubaidi, a 42-year-old
businessman who was leading a unit of 96 men with grenade launchers. "We will
show them our bravery. We will show them we can fight. And we will fight
until we win or die."
Zubaidi, who was in the army during Iraq's 1980-88 war with neighboring Iran,
said he decided to join the civilian militia when it was formed almost two
years ago. Named the Al-Quds Army -- after the Arabic name for Jerusalem --
the militia was assembled on Hussein's orders, in theory to prepare for an
invasion of Israel.
At the time, the Al-Quds Army was regarded as a way for Hussein to channel
anger among Iraqis at Israel's policies toward the Palestinians and to curry
favor among Arabs in neighboring countries. It was coupled with payments of
as much as $25,000 to the families of Palestinians killed in the struggle
against Israeli occupation, including suicide bombers.
But as the threat of another war with the United States becomes imminent, the
militia has made homeland defense its primary role. New training sessions
have been scheduled and scores of government employees have been encouraged
to participate.
Although the government has not provided a breakdown of militia members --
"They come from all walks of life," a local official said today --
conversations with several participants in the parade suggested a significant
proportion are civil servants. The militia members said they did not receive
a regular stipend but some said they got $40 for the two months during which
they trained.
The government reports that the militia has 7 million members. Western
analysts place the figure at closer to 1 million. How many would fight U.S.
invaders is anyone's guess. One Baghdad resident who boasted of having an
AK-47 and a revolver at home said he had no plans to use them in the event of
a U.S. attack.
"It will be too dangerous," said the man, a shopkeeper, who did not want his
name published. "People will be firing in every direction. I would be crazy
to join in."
What will he do with his guns? "I'll keep them hidden at home," he said. "And
I'll stay at home, too."
Others said they intend to fight, but they hinted that their primary
motivation would be to try to keep Americans out of Iraq instead of defending
Hussein, casting their role as protectors of Iraq's sovereignty and natural
resources.
"This is our country," said Ali Ahmed, a teacher marching with a contingent
of men in olive-green uniforms. "What right do the Americans have to come
here? What do they really want? It's not about weapons of mass destruction. I
think they want our oil."
But the message organizers tried to convey today was that everyone loves
Hussein. Many marchers wore photocopied pictures of the president on their
chests. Others put on colorful stickers with his image. Large portraits of
him were placed on the back of pickup trucks that brought up the rear, along
with flatbed delivery vehicles mounted with antiaircraft guns.
The large-scale distribution of weapons began during the war with Iran, when
the government gave Iraqi-made AK-47s to decommissioned soldiers, members of
the ruling Baath Party and tribal leaders. But it has dramatically escalated
in recent months. Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said last month that
officials had handed out "hundreds of thousands of weapons" since the Bush
administration began deploying additional forces to the Persian Gulf.
One group largely left out of the gun distribution has been Shiite Muslims,
who make up about 55 percent of the population but whose allegiance has been
questioned by Hussein and other top leaders, who are predominantly Sunni
Muslims. In 1991, after the Persian Gulf War, Shiites rebelled against
government forces in several southern cities. Today, some Shiites still are
quietly loyal to a large opposition group based in Iran, the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, whose leader has vowed to send fighters
into Iraq to oppose Hussein if U.S. forces invade.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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