Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=02/01/03

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ TRAINEES (PART TWO OF TWO)

NUMBER=5-53085

BYLINE=STEFAN BOS

DATELINE=TASZAR, HUNGARY

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Training to prepare a group of Iraqi exiles to help the U-S military in case of an invasion of Iraq started last weekend. The training is being done at a military base in a remote part of Hungary, near the village of Taszar, 200 kilometers southwest of Budapest. Stefan Bos paid a visit to the area and reports the residents find themselves in an unexpected role, in the prelude to what could be a conflict in Iraq.

TEXT:///ACT RESTAURANT SOUND, ESTABLISH, FADE UNDER///

In the local pub and restaurant of Taszar, chain-smoking, tired-looking residents are no longer talking about the seemingly lost chickens and cows that wander around the village.

Now the talk is all about Iraq. The country that seemed to many here like a different planet, far away from every day's life, has been brought to the doorstep of this small rural community of two-thousand people.

///ACT SOUND OF ARMY RADIO, ENGLISH ANNOUNCER ABOUT

CODE OF CONDUCT, MUSIC, FADE UNDER ///

Most residents don't understand it, but that's not a problem. These radio programs are meant for the American soldiers and the Iraqi exiles who are being trained for a possible war in their homeland.

In addition to the radio transmitter, the American trainers and Iraqi opposition volunteers brought their own food. And that's bad news for people like Edith Kovacs, the 35-year old owner of the restaurant.

She explains that in 1995, when U-S soldiers first arrived as part of the peace mission in the nearby Balkans, villagers hoped that Taszar would turn into a little America, with Westerners who had money to spend in the town. She says that was true for a while, but now the soldiers seem to stay more and more inside the base.

These days, Mrs. Kovacs says, the only local people who benefit from having the U-S troops nearby are the ones who actually work on the base.

/// OPTIONAL KOVACS ACT, HUNGARIAN UNDER INTERPRETER ///

There is a very high unemployment here, people don't have jobs. And there is a big struggle to get a job of course. And many people get to serve, to work in the base, get of course better paid. But they also learn the style of Americans. The American style is that they are a superpower, they grew up with that idea, and that they have money and that with they can buy everything. The presence of Americans also creates tensions between Hungarians who work for them and those who don't. So now there is a big division.

///END OPTIONAL ACT ///

In addition she and other villagers fear Taszar may become a target for terrorist attacks.

The armored vehicles and police cars that patrol the pot-holed and muddy roads of Taszar do not impress retired military officer Arpad Papp, who now works as a guard at the post office in a nearby town.

He says more should be done to protect key locations outside Taszar, too.

/// PAPP ACT, HUNGARIAN UNDER INTERPRETER ///

It is necessary to check the documents not only from people who come to Taszar, but also on the roads all over the country. What will be if somebody a person of say an Arab nationality will come here to the pub and will be served here and will figure out an object for a possible terrorist attack. For instance a food store or a big supermarket where people are shopping. Or other buildings with children such as a kindergarten or a school. These places are not secure at the moment.

///END ACT ///

Although many people seem to share this opinion, not everyone agrees.

///ACT SOUND OF CARS AND VEHICLES, ESTABLISH, FADE UNDER///

Near a gate of the army base, people can be seen parking their cars, with some arguing that this is the safest place on earth - the last place any car thief would dare operate.

Others wave to the heavily-armed soldiers guarding the area. A young couple, 28-year old Beata and 33-year old Szabo Vandel, take their three-year-old son for a walk.

They say they do not feel that the Iraqi training program has put them in danger. In fact, Mr. Vandel says he feels safer with the U-S forces in town.

/// MR. AND MRS. VANDEL ACT, SPEAKING THROUGH INTERPRETER AND REPORTER QUESTION ///

(Mr. Vandel) I am not afraid and I think that Hungary is very well prepared. And I think that we in Taszar are also very well protected so I am not afraid. (Reporter) What do they think about the training of Iraqi's here? (Mr. Vandel) Since Hungary is a member of NATO this is the only thing we can offer to NATO. Everybody knows that we have not a strong army and we don't have a lot of military equipment. But this is something that we can give, our place and territory."

///END ACT///

Public opinion polls indicate that at least two out of three Hungarians disagree and say there should be no training of Iraqi exiles in Taszar, and no war against Iraq.

But Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy has made it clear it is important that the former Communist country support the United States, especially as a member of NATO, which it joined in 1999. By the end of the program, some three-thousand Iraqis are expected to be trained at Taszar to help U-S forces as translators, guides and administrators.

As a result, the residents of rural Taszar have become a part of the global war against terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. (SIGNED)

NEB/BOS/AWP/DW/FC