Mixed responses to dispatching troops to Iraq [Archives:2004/754/Front Page]

Soon after the US-led coalition handed over power to the Iraqi interim government at the end of last month, the Yemeni government offered to send troops to help stabilize the war-torn country.
The Yemeni offer cames after Jordan's King Abdullah II was the first Arab leader to announce that he would be willing to send troops to Iraq if the Iraqi government requested it. Bahrain soon followed the two countries by offering naval forces.
In Yemen, there are different opinions concerning the government's decision to offer military assistance to help Iraq.
According to Ahmed Al-Kibsi, vice president for academic affairs and professor of political science at Sana'a University, the offer fits in with the peace initiative the Yemeni government put together and proposed at the Arab summit in May.
“Yemen proposed a peace initiative that included Arab troops replacing coalition troops,” said Al-Kibsi. “It was made before the summit as a possible solution to end the bloody struggle that has continued in Iraq.”
Yemen's “roadmap” for peace aimed at finding a solution for both the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bringing peace to war-torn Iraq. It included adding the Arab league to the international quartet of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and the United States, using an international force to protect Palestinians and creating a Palestinian state in the territories the Jewish state occupied in the 1967 war.
For Iraq, the Yemeni proposal called for the Arab League, the United Nations and the US-led coalition to set up a committee to work on building security using international forces under UN command. An Iraqi sub-committee would draw up a constitution, elections would be held in a year and Iraqi forces would be fully established in two years.
At the summit in Tunis, Arab leaders backed the land-for-peace plan for Israel and Palestine that had gained support at the 2002 Arab summit in Beirut.
But some believe that, although Yemen's offer was a positive gesture to assist the country in need, sending troops is not likely to happen.
“I don't think sending troops to Iraq is realistic,” said a government official to Yemen Times. “I don't think the Iraqi government will accept forces from any Arab country.”
Soon after Arab troops were offered to help stabilize the country, the Iraqi interim government came back with a lukewarm response.
Hamid Al-Bayati, deputy foreign minister of the interim government, expressed that, whilst Iraq would not give a formal response to Jordan and Yemen, Iraqi policy generally does not allow troops from any neighboring countries to enter Iraq.
“We have sensitive issues with Turkey. We have sensitive issues with Iran, which might want to send troops,” said Al-Bayati. “It's quite complicated.”
Turkey has a long history of fighting with the Kurds, who now control northern Iraq, while Iran, a Shiite-majority country, is seen as possibly having influence on Shiites in Iraq. Iran and Iraq fought a war in the eighties that lasted for eight years.
Mansour Zindani, a member of the Yemeni parliament and the foreign relations committee, is skeptical about offering troops to Iraq. He argues that the offer may have made Yemen's position unclear.
“It turned out to be of two opinions from the Yemeni government,” said Zindani. “The first declaration from the foreign ministry said the Yemeni government offered military assistance. The second day it said it would not send any troops unless the coalition troops withdrew. The Yemeni position was not clear. From one side Yemen wants to help Iraq. From the other side, Yemen will not help Iraq because it knows its people would refuse any help the Iraqi government because Yemeni people believe the government is a puppet government set up by the United States. It appears that one declaration was for the Americans and the Iraqi government and the second declaration was for the Yemeni people.”
Zindani also says that the situation in Iraq would make it difficult for troops from any country to bring stability.
“It would be difficult for the Yemeni government to help the Iraqi people since there are divisions within the country,” said Zindani. “Of course I support the withdrawal of coalition troops, but I believe that there is a good chance there will be a civil war and our troops may get caught up in it, which will be very dangerous.”
The Iraqi interim government, headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, is facing major challenges to get the country back on its feet. The first elections since the Saddam Hussein regime was ousted 14 months ago are scheduled to take place on January 31, 2005. But violence in Iraq has continued. According to a recent report from the US Congress, insurgent attacks surged from 411 in February to 1,169 in May. The majority of Iraqi people are receiving fewer hours of electricity per day than before the war. And the report also says that Iraqi's new civil defense, police and security units are poorly trained and are experiencing mass desertions.
To help build security, Allawi recently signed the National Safety Law, allowing the government to impose martial law and detain terror suspects. This will probably help the government secure the nation, but some are worried about the law.
“Security is the first thing we need, but the new law may allow the government to fall back and do just the same as Saddam did in the past,” said an Iraqi living in Yemen.
Under the UN Security Council resolution that was drafted on June 8, the coalition forces are allowed to stay and attempt to secure the unstable country. Recently the US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff said that because of the way things are going, US troops may stay in Iraq up to five years.
“We welcome the sovereignty the Iraqi government received from the coalition forces,” said the government official. “But it's too difficult to predict when the coalition forces will leave.”
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