Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=01/15/03

TYPE=U-S PRESS WAR PREVIEW

TITLE=U-S PRESS SUMMARY

NUMBER=6-12789

BYLINE=Andrew Guthrie

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The Los Angeles Times Wednesday uses the term "Kurdistan" in big, bold type over a story about the instability of the money markets in Sulaymaniyah, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. The New York Times features a large color picture of pesh merga Kurdish fighters in the same region, as coverage of the potential war with Iraq continues apace in the U-S press. We get a sampling now from _____________.

TEXT: Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent Jeffrey Fleishman reporting from the Kurdish-controlled city of Sulaymaniyah, says the money markets in the bazaar are increasingly in flux. U-S dollars are "bounding all over the place in northern Iraq" he reports.

"The prospect of a U-S-led war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime and the countless conspiracy theories that swirl around it have shaken the markets in Kurdistan, the ethnic Kurds' autonomous region of northern Iraq. Add an oversupply of [U-S] dollars and the once-stable greenback [Editors: a slang expressing for the U-S dollar] has become erratic here. In recent months, it has fallen from 19 dinars to a low of 6.5 dinars before rising Tuesday to 8.5 dinars."

Mr. Fleishman adds that the unstable money market is "creating turmoil for the two ruling Kurdish parties and for the United Nations operations in the region, which base much of their budgets, contracts and payrolls on [the] U-S currency."

The fluctuations are serious because he says "The dollar's volatility . is Kurdistan's most serious economic threat. It could ruin its postwar economy and limit its ability to build a democratic entity within Iraq."

The big Los Angeles daily is not the only paper with an American correspondent in the Kurdish-controlled region. Today's [Wednesday's] New York Times featured a full-color picture of eight pesh merga Kurdish fighters warming themselves in the rising sun after a cold night on the frontline of Shinerwe Mountain. They are watching and guarding against any attack from a small group of Islamic fundamentalists linked to al-Qaida who have taken control of a valley in Northern Iraq.

Times correspondent C. J. Chivers says there are actually two wars going on in northern Iraq, the small, active one here along the border with Iran, and the mostly dormant one to the south and west, which Kurds expect to resume soon if the United States tries to dislodge [Saddam] Hussein. Although two different Kurdish groups control portions of Northern Iraq, a small group of Islamic fundamentalists have also taken control of a tiny portion of the region. It is that group these pesh merga fighters are watching and guarding against.

Correspondent Chivers reports that most of the men on guard are from the ancient Kurdish, Hamawand tribe, a Kurdish bloodline that dates back to Ottoman times, when they refused to submit to Turkish authority.

Tuesday's Boston [Massachusetts] Globe reports on its front page, under a picture of a U-N weapons inspector, that "Pressures [are building] against fast action in Iraq.

The story datelined Washington reports that The Bush administration is not planning to launch a full-fledge war against Iraq before late February or early March, given the current combination of troops logistics and political considerations. The story quotes unnamed U-S officials.

The Philadelphia [Pennsylvania] Inquirer echoes that sentiment in a front-page story Wednesday, headlined "U-S in [a] bind [Editors: "difficult position"] on war buildup."

The story from Washington suggests that the timetable for any attack on Iraq has changed. "As recently as a few weeks ago, " says the Inquirer "senior Bush administration officials were suggesting that a U-S invasion to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein might begin soon after a pivotal report from U-N weapons inspectors January 27 [Th.]

Now, the target date appears to have slipped to late February or early March at the soonest..." The information is attributed to other unnamed U-S officials and "analysts."

That completes this press summary of articles related to a possible allied war against Iraq over the issue of disarmament.(Signed)

NEB/ANG