June 21, 2002	atimes.com

Front Iraqis not ready to lie down just yet By Kim Ghattas BAGHDAD - Iraqis are getting back to business in the face of uncertainty over what the US plans to do next in their war against terrorism. They ask every foreigner in town whether Iraq will be bombed soon, only to add that not much can happen they have not already seen. Iraqis are trying to survive the best they can, and it seems to be working, at least in Baghdad. Everything is on sale in the popular Shorja market in the center of the capital: rice, sugar, pasta, baby milk powder and even imported US cola. For a country facing embargoes, the market keeps bustling. All kinds of goods continue to find their way into Iraq, but prices remain too high for average Iraqis. Where a civil servant's monthly salary is approximately 10,000 Iraqi dinars (US$5), a kilogram of beans sells for about 400 dinars and a box of baby milk powder sells for 450 dinars. Most of those tins of powdered milk constitute government rations that people sell in order to make some money to buy shoes or clothes. To ease the flow of civilian goods and to restrict those that could be used for military purposes, the Iraqi government introduced a new sanctions regime. The effect of this is not yet clear, for the moment, though, a slow trickle down effect is visible, with more and more goods on sale. Baghdadis are the first beneficiaries. The money trickles down from hundreds of new businesses and contracts. These have brought in goods ranging from food to computers and steel. Foreign companies, mostly Arab, are opening offices in Baghdad and employing Iraqis. Restaurants are full, with businessmen leaving large tips. Rehabilitation and construction works are employing a growing number of laborers. Many of these contracts are independent of the oil-for-food-program administered by the US; instead, they are signed between Iraq and its neighbors, including the Gulf states. This brings goods into Iraq unchecked at the border. Abdel Razzak el Hashimi, advisor to President Saddam Hussein and leading member of the ruling Baath party, says that the US has tried to portray Iraq as a threat to the region, but the trade agreements are evidence of the opposite. Iraq has diplomatic relations with all countries in the region except Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, he added. Hashimi brushed aside calls by the US for a change of the regime in Iraq, calling it a breach of international law, and state terrorism instigated by the US. "The US should learn from its recent experience in Venezuela," he says. "When they had some of their stooges trying to overthrow [President Hugo] Chavez, the people put him back. When the people [of a nation] support their president no one can do anything about it, not even the United States." How much the Iraqis support Saddam Hussein is hard to tell. State propaganda shapes most public opinion, freedom of the press is non-existent, and all opposition gets ruthlessly smashed. Najaf, in the Shi'ite south of Iraq, is one of the places where a popular rebellion started in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. There are expectations that when the US embarks on its mission to topple Hussein, Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in northern Iraq will rise up against the regime again. Speaking cautiously away from the ears of the government chaperone who accompanies all journalists, one Iraqi said that Shi'ites would not waste a minute rebelling if the US guaranteed them support, unlike in 1991 when their hopes of US air cover failed to materialize. Wamid Nathmi, professor of political science at Baghdad University, says nothing is certain. "If the Americans are taking the Kurds and the Shi'ites for granted in their endeavor to overthrow the regime, they are making an awful mistake," he said. "It's true the Americans gave support to the Kurds, but nothing more than that. The Kurds were hoping for an independent state. The situation in the south is worse and the Iraqis have come to blame the US for their suffering." For the moment, however, the Iraq issue has gone on the backburner for the US, though talk of toppling Saddam Hussein remains frequent. Iraq is taking advantage of the Middle East crisis not only to strengthen mostly business-related ties with its neighbors, but also to portray itself as the only Arab country that supports the Palestinians effectively. Iraq sends $25,000 to families of Palestinian "martyrs". This is a drastic increase from the previous amount of $10,000 per family. This will ensure more support for Iraq from the common Arab once the Americans launch a campaign. Iraq is also beefing up military positions in the far south, and vacating key buildings. At the same time, Iraq is attempting diplomatic reconciliation on other fronts. Talks on the return of United Nations arms inspectors to Iraq have been scheduled for Vienna in early July, and Iraqis hope something positive will come of the meeting. "I don't think that it would do any harm if Iraq accepted the return of the arms inspectors," says Professor Nathmi. This would pre-empt US efforts to justify a military strike, he says. But just as the US is unlikely to accept a return of the inspectors on the condition that sanctions be lifted, Saddam Hussein will not accept the US demand for unconditional return of the inspectors. The conditions look set to provoke a crisis. (Inter Press Service)

Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive

back to the top ©2001 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd. Building B - 5th Floor, 102/1 Phra Arthit Road, Chanasangkhram, Bangkok 10200, Thailand