15 November 2002
Former Iraqi Generals Say Army Should Defend Country, Not Regime
(American Enterprise Institute conference November 15) (970) By David Anthony Denny Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Five former Iraqi generals agree that after Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi military must represent the country, not the regime. Speaking November 15 at a conference organized by the private American Enterprise Institute, General Sadoun al-Dulaimi said that over the last 20 years the Iraqi armed forces have behaved as Saddam Hussein has desired. Even the Ba'ath Party, he said, has become a group whose members inform on each other. Al-Dulaimi was joined at the conference by Brigadier Generals Najib a-Salhi, Muhammad Barra al-Rubaie, Tawfik al-Yassiri, and Fawzi al-Shammari. The theme of the conference was demobilizing, reforming and rebuilding the Iraqi armed forces. The generals addressed the conference through interpreters. All stressed that the Iraqi armed forces must not be seen as monolithic; instead, they said, the elite Republican Guard was created and serves as Saddam Hussein's insurance against the regular army. Al-Dulaimi called the Republican Guard, along with its special security and intelligence organizations, Saddam Hussein's private army, and said these forces "are capable of fighting and defeating the regular army." There was disagreement, though, over whether and how hard Saddam Hussein's special forces would fight to save the regime. Al-Dulaimi said they "will fight fiercely for Saddam." Al-Salhi disagreed with this assessment. "I don't think (the special forces) will 'fight fiercely' for Saddam," he said. "Even those closest -- we know them quite well -- are disgruntled. A few hundred, isolated from news of the outside world, will fight for the first couple of days," al-Salhi said. All the generals agreed that the current armed forces need to be reformed and restructured after Saddam Hussein. Al-Yassiri said the current army must be downsized by demobilizing divisions "that exceed its defensive role." In addition, he said, the defense ministry must be reconstituted in order "to implement the policies of the government and define the professionalism of the army, which Saddam has robbed from it." After regime change, said al-Yassiri, all factionalism should be eliminated from military schools and academies, and all extra-judicial tribunals should be removed. "Get rid of political guidance in the army," he said. He also called for moving the military institution away from developing weapons of mass destruction, and toward combating terrorism. Demobilized units should be "used to rehabilitate the nation," with non-governmental organizations having "a big role to absorb the troops" and to return them to society. Also, the military should be educated to become subordinate to civilian government control. Brigadier General al-Rubaie said that demobilization requires a working group to set forth a timetable. Also to be decided is what kind of army is needed -- "one that hasn't done sequestrations and made arrests," he said. For al-Rubaie, a key factor of a new army would be to distribute its elements to each of the country's provinces, making sure that each one got no more than four mechanized regiments. He wants to ensure that the army be used "for defending the country and not for (internal) security forces." General al-Shammari said a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq would "have to go toward democracy as a modus operandi." The army should first be demobilized and then reconstituted with a size of 150,000 troops, al-Shammari said. He cautioned that there will be a need to look to post-Saddam Hussein challenges. "There may be a Sunni-Shiite clash," he said, "or a takeover attempt by the Ba'ath Party." In the question-and-answer period that followed the presentation by the generals, an audience member asked whether Iraqi commanders would heed U.S. warnings not to use weapons of mass destruction, even in spite of direct orders from Saddam Hussein to do so. "I don't think unit leaders will use them," said al-Shammari. "They think if they do, the U.S. will use nuclear weapons." After all, he said, Scud missiles fired against Israel in 1991 had conventional warheads. "I think only the Republican Guard would use them, but many of them would not obey," al-Shammari said. "It's not accurate to think that (Saddam Hussein's special forces) won't fight," said al-Dulaimi. "The special Republican Guard forces have 37,000 warriors. They are criminals; they have blackmailed Iraqi society. How can we convince such forces not to fight for Saddam Hussein," he asked. Another questioner asked how revenge killings could be prevented as part of regime change. "These possibilities do exist," said al-Yassiri. "The Ba'ath Party did things beyond your imagination." "We have to start right now," said al-Salhi. "Saddam has many victims. They will try to retaliate." Al-Shammari said "campaigns should start right now for how to deal with the new situation, even before it happens." "I lean toward the realistic approach," said al-Dulaimi. "We will not be able to prevent revenge, politically or religiously," he said. "The opposition movements most promoting revenge are the (religious) fundamentalists, whether Sunni or Shiite," he said. "There is no moderate view -- they all believe in revenge and bloodshed. If we do not remove these religious movements from power, we will not avoid it," he said. Concerning the possibility of assassinating Saddam Hussein, al-Shammari said it is not acceptable. It would only mean one of Saddam Hussein's sons would take control. "We need regime change," he said. "Many in the military make attempts" to oppose Saddam Hussein, said al-Salhi. "Not a month passes without such attempts -- to create movements or difficult challenges" to Saddam Hussein. "The jails are full. Saddam has killed many," he said. "Assassination is possible," said al-Yassiri. "It might create chaos, but it could create new avenues. (Saddam Hussein) has created a nightmare in the country." he said. The key for al-Salhi is regime change. "The U.S. should prove it is ready to get rid of Saddam Hussein, not (focus) on weapons of mass destruction," he said. "In the next few days, the U.S. should assure (Iraqi) military elements that they will be treated fairly." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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