-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/international/worldspecial/01QATA.h tml?ex=1050250043&ei=1&en=1c4882019d301c1f April 1, 2003
Top Commander Suggests Shiites Haven't Rebelled Because U.S. Failed Them in '91 By JOHN M. BRODER AMP SAYLIYA, Qatar, March 31 — The United States, through its past acts, is largely to blame for the failure of Iraq's Shiite majority to rise in revolt against Saddam Hussein, a senior American military commander at Central Command said here today. "We bear a certain responsibility for what we didn't do in 1991," the officer said. After the Persian Gulf war in 1991, the American government encouraged a Shiite uprising, then did not act when Mr. Hussein's forces slaughtered thousands of civilians. "We let them down once," the officer said in a background session with reporters. "We're not going to do it again." The officer, who spoke on condition that his name not be used, said millions of leaflets and round-the-clock radio broadcasts into Iraq had failed to convince the Iraqi population that the United States and its allies were fully committed to overthrowing the Baghdad government. He said years of repression and a succession of what he called barbarous acts against civilians by government agents and militia since the start of the current war had caused the people to largely refrain from acts of rebellion. "If you have been beaten up and beaten down the way they have been for 12 years, it should not surprise us that they're waiting to see," said the officer. Nonetheless, he expressed optimism that ultimately the Iraqis would recognize that the American-led forces were serious about toppling Mr. Hussein and dismantling his apparatus of terror. The officer said cultural misunderstandings and a failure to learn the lessons of recent history contributed to miscalculations by American military and civilian leaders. He said those planning and prosecuting the war might have failed to appreciate how deeply Mr. Hussein's personality and organs of repression pervade Iraqi society. "There are big cultural differences between ourselves and the Arab world," he said. "Their version of the truth is different from our version of the truth. They come at it from a different way." He said that on some days at least, Baghdad was winning the public relations war in the Arab world by showing pictures of wounded children and devastated public marketplaces, while American officials were showing antiseptic videotapes of precision weapons hitting buildings. The coalition has not effectively shown skeptical audiences in the Arab world and around the globe the brutality of the Iraqi war effort. "The way this regime fights is despicable, it's barbarous," he said. "We cannot allow anyone, especially in the Arab world, to believe that the way they fight is honorable." He said Arabs were, as a rule, more emotional than Americans and Europeans. Those who have lived for decades under what he called Mr. Hussein's totalitarian rule tend to discount, even distrust, American promises of liberation and relief aid. He compared the Iraqi population to the Germans under Hitler and the Russians under Stalin, who were so cowed by their charismatic leaders that they did not revolt in an organized way. He said Iraq was not, as some strategists inside and outside the government presumed, a "house of cards" that would topple quickly if given a modest push. "That's just not true," he said. Mr. Hussein appears invincible to many Iraqis who have known no other leader. "He's won the lottery every time," the officer said. "Saddam is a huge symbol for these people. He's everywhere. He's everything." That is why American bombers and missiles repeatedly attack Iraqi state television, and why British troops in Basra are knocking down statues and posters of Mr. Hussein. The officer said that in some places at least, the Iraqi people were close to believing that the end of the government was near. "They are rising up, even though slower than we hoped," he said. "I sense we're near the tipping point in Basra. I sense we're near the tipping point in Nasiriya." Intercepted communications between Iraqi army commanders and conversations with Iraqi officers who have surrendered or been captured indicate that at least some in the military believe that the government is in its final days, he said. "They are worried," he said. "And they ought to be." But he acknowledged that ground actions — and particularly the heavy bombardment of Baghdad, which apparently has resulted in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries — might have had the effect of stiffening the anti-American resolve of at least some of the citizenry. He also said, however, that he believed that more Iraqi civilians had been killed by the Iraqi government "than by any of our errant bombs." He charged that scores of civilians had been killed by the Iraqis in Basra and that more than 60 had been "executed" in Mosul. But he warned that more American and Iraqi casualties were a certainty in the days to come. "We're prepared to pay a very high price," he said. "We're not going to walk away. We're going to take him out." He added, sadly, "There's no such thing as a clean war." Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. 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