NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 |
April 23, 2003
Release Number: 03-04-172
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
POOL REPORT OF MR. GARNER'S TRIP TO BAGHDAD - DAY 2, PART 3
Garner Pool day two, take two (all times are Iraq)
Garner commented that the happy pictures drawn by Kurdish schoolchildren contrasted sharply with those of tanks and bombs that he saw 12 years ago.
"That's quite a reception," ORHA northern regional director Ret. Gen. Bruce Moore said as he left the student activity center.
Garner and his entourage then drove to the beautiful lakeside village of Dokan, adjoining a crystal blue reservoir with mountains in the distance.
There he and his group sat down for lunch with both main Kurdish leaders, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's head Jalal Talabani and the Kurdish Democratic Party's Massoud Barzani.
Talabani wore a blue suit, Barzani olive green fatigues with decorative waistband and a checkered headscarf, and the meal consisted of whole roast sheep, saffron rice with almonds and sultanas, couscous, fish and kebabs.
Before entering the dining room, Talabani, Barzani, Garner, Cross and others posed for photos. Garner sat in between Barzani and Talabani.Talabani greeted Garner: "You are among friends."
Garner replied, "Always."
Garner recounted his visit to the student activity center where he said in contrast to 12 years ago, he saw no pictures of war. "It's the face of freedom as seen by a child and it's because of great leadership."
Talabani praised Garner for his "personal contribution" to Kurdish freedom. "We don't forget," he said. "You opened the door for us."
As the photos were shot, Mr Talabani indicated that the Kurds expected some reward for their support for the US-led coalition over so many years.
"We have chosen our allies and our camp, the United States of America, against tyranny and terrorism," Talabani said.
"President Bush liberated Kuwait and the Gulf. Another Bush came and liberated Iraq. Let us hope that something will happen for the Kurdish people."
Talabani, speaking in English, then pointed out the role played by Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister.
"If we be fair and just we must appreciate too much the bravery of Mr Blair because while Mr Bush has the support of Congress and the American people Tony Blair was in danger," Talabani said. "Inside the Labour Party he had a lot of opponents but he was so brave to decide to go ahead and to win the battle, not only in Iraq but even in the United Kingdom. Now the support for him is increasing. He was so brave to take the right decision.
"I think he really played the role of Winston Churchill in the Second World War. In the beginning Churchill was alone shouting against the dangers of Hitler and Nazism. No-one was listening to him but then everyone accepted his policy and he became the hero. Tony Blair played the same role."
"The brave men and the historical men are confronting difficulties," he said.
Talabani then joked about the reversal of Kurdish attitudes to Britain. "When I met him with Mr Barzani I told him 'Mr Prime Minister when I was young I participated in many demonstrations shouting 'Down with British imperialism. Go back home.' Now I am telling Mr Blair 'Please come back.'
Garner: "If you look at British history Mr Blair has the common trait of all great British leaders, that in hard times they have a superb mark of courage. A great ally. That same mark of courage you have in the two Kurdish leaders we have here today."
He then patted both men on their knees.
Talabani: "They are our former masters, although they understand the situation in Iraq very well."
Major General Tim Cross, one of Garner's British deputies, joked: "No longer the master." Talabani replied: "Former masters, I didn't say masters. Now we are partners, friends." Cross said, "We are no longer masters. We are here to work with you."
Following lunch, the three men met privately. After the meeting, they held a brief press conference in the garden behind the hotel, some of which was disrupted by the noise of US helicopters flying low over the lawn.
Garner began with a statement: "This is a great day in Northern Iraq. I came here to meet met with Mr Talabani and Mr Barzani who over the past 12 years have established a model both in leadership and freedom. This is a wonderful model. This is a wonderful area up here. You can see it in the faces and the attitudes of the people. What we wish is to take this type of experience and spread it through all of Iraq."
Cross: "To come here today has been a very important experience. It proves to me what the Iraqi people are capable of doing and there is no reason why what we see in this part of Iraq today should not be the same in all parts of Iraq in the months and years to come."
Barzani spoke in Kurdish through an interpreter.
He thanked both the U.S. and Britain for "helping the Iraqi people achieve their liberation. We had indeed a very constructive and productive meeting with General Garner and his team and we are very pleased that eventually the Iraqi people will be the masters of their destiny. They will govern themselves by themselves."
"The people of Iraqi Kurdistan stood with you in this war and we wanted you to succeed."
Talabani repeated much of what he said earlier about Tony Blair's bravery. He expressed condolences to families who had lost someone in the war.
"We hope that our democratic experiment will be a model for all Iraq."
Challenged on reports that Kurds have been ethnic cleansing Arabs living around Kirkuk
"I think what is going to happen is there will be a committe put together to arbitrate what is fair. That committee will be a mosaic of the cultures and that will happen some time in the future."
Talabani interceded to say: "Iraqi people I think unanimously condemn it. All Iraqi opposition forces at their meeting in London condemned this policy and they asked for normalisation of the situation in north and south by giving everyone his rights and by asking everyone to go back home. But this must be done, as the general says, in order not in chaos, not in revenge."
Garner then interjected: "The only ethnic cleansing that has been done in Iraq was done by Saddam Hussein. This is a different area with different leaders who don't want to see that again. Next question."
In response to a question about a post-Saddam interim arrangements Garner
said: "Our desire is that the new government of Iraq represent all Iraqi people, Kurdish people, Shiites, Shias, Turkomans, Assyrians, Chaldeans, all people. It will be a mosaic of the cultures and religions and ethnicity of Iraq."
Then challenged on the divisions among Kurds, as demonstrated by the presence of both Barzani and Talabani with their two convoys and two sets of armed bodyguards, Garner said briefly: "The new government of Iraq will have one leader, one army, one unified Iraq."
Talabani denied that the Kurdish leadership was ultimately dreaming of an independent Kurdish state.
"This is not our dream," he said. "This is the accusation of our enemies in Iraq Our dream is to live within the framework of a democratic Iraq based on democratic, parliamentary human right and equal rights of citizenship for everyone."
Pressed that some Kurds wanted independence, he said: "These people are irresponsible people. We cannot prevent people from dreaming. We are in a free country but people are against us sometimes, against me, against Mr Barzani. We both, I think, we are not dreaming. Although we are believing that Kurdish people, like other people of the world, have the right to self determination. But in this moment we want to deal within the framework of Iraq."
Garner: "It is the mark of democracy to have many opinions. Hey, thanks folks."
The delegation then flew back to Sulaimaniyah where they attended a "town hall" meeting packed with local businessmen, dignitaries and politicians. Garner and his team were again received positively.
However the pool was unable to attend because the ORHA team went ahead to the reception without notifying the travelling journalists. By the time we arrived, the meeting was over.
As he emerged, Aso Sheik Nouri, the governor of Sulaimaniyah, said: "He's a good person for us. Asked what he wanted from the US, he said:
"The first thing to do is protect the safety of the the Kurdish people because they are threatened by their neighbors. It's true that Saddam's regime has fallen but there are regimes around us who would not like to see a free Kurdistan."
He said an independent Kurdistan is not possible under the current circumstances because it would not be able to defend itself. "We want to live inside a federated, free democratic Iraq."
Fatah Zakhoy, a local government minister, said he welcomed the US presence
- for years if necessary.
"At this stage, at this time we need support from him and his government. I want them to stay until there is peace and stability and elections. That may take years, and we have no problem with that."
ends
Stephen Farrell, London Times
Donna Leinwand, USA Today
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