Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

MDATE= 6/24/2003

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/ATTACKS

NUMBER=5-53995

BYLINE=GREG LaMOTTE

DATELINE=CAIRO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: With attacks against U-S forces, oil pipelines, and power stations in Iraq occurring almost daily, the urgent question is what must be done to stop them. V-O-A's Greg LaMotte spoke with political analysts in the Middle East who say forming an Iraqi government and providing jobs will go a long way toward reducing acts of violence in Iraq.

TEXT: Two U-S soldiers were wounded in attacks (Tuesday) west of Baghdad. Gunmen fired assault rifles and grenades at U-S troops guarding a power station in the town of Fallujah, 70-kilometers west of Baghdad. A U-S convoy came under attack Monday while driving through the Iraqi capital, and during the past two weeks, there have been three acts of sabotage involving oil pipelines.

According to Hassan Nafae, the head of the political science department at Cairo University, the attacks will continue as long as U-S troops are viewed as occupying forces by the Iraqis.

/// NAFAE ACT ///

I think this is a situation the Americans have to learn how to live with; they have to live with a long time. This was something expected because the United States seems to have come to Iraq to stay for a long time. They are generally perceived (by) most of the Iraqis as occupying forces, not as liberators. And, so they have to expect to be treated as occupiers, not as liberators.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Nafae says he believes there are two solutions that would bring about a reduction in the attacks. First, he says, an Iraqi government must be formed as quickly as possible. And, he believes resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would help ease anti-American sentiment in Iraq.

But another analyst, Sami Baroudi, who heads the political science department at Lebanese-American University in Beirut, says it is impossible to say what is prompting the attacks since so little is known about the attackers.

/// BAROUDI ACT ///

We have not yet seen any people arrested who are trying to attack the Americans, so we do not know anything about the motives of the people attacking U-S soldiers. You do not know if there is some central command. You do not know whether these people are remnants from the Baath party. We have very little knowledge about the motives of these people and until you capture some of them and get them to say why they are attacking, it is merely speculation.

/// END ACT ///

With an unemployment rate in Iraq estimated to be as high as 60-percent, the U-S administrator there, Paul Bremer, has said creating millions of jobs is his top priority. Mr. Bremer says if Iraqis are making money, their anger and resentment will begin to diminish.

Uraib el Rantawi agrees. But the head of the al-Quds Center for Political Studies in Jordan says a permanent solution will occur when the Iraqis are governing themselves.

/// EL RANTAWI ACT ///

Of course it will calm down by finding jobs for the people. You will calm down the anger. You will calm down the resistance. You will calm down the demands by the Iraqis themselves for Americans to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. But, sooner or later, you will face the main issue in Iraq, which is having the Iraqi people ruling themselves by themselves.

/// END ACT ///

Paul Bremer says he anticipates an Iraqi controlled government will be established within two years.

Until that occurs, the analysts who spoke with V-O-A said U-S forces in Iraq should expect almost routine attacks against them, and against key infrastructure installations in Iraq. (SIGNED)

NEB/GL/KL/FC/RAE