Iraqis strongly oppose deployment of NATO troops

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Iraqis strongly oppose deployment of NATO troops

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The opposition to the deployment of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) peacekeepers is rife among Iraqis who fear, among others, that neighboring Turkey may deploy its troops in the country under NATO flag.

In October, almost all Iraqis, including members of the US-handpicked Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), were opposed to the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq, an idea favored by the United States.

The Iraqis, whose country had been under rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years, are adamant in opposing the idea because of what they call "Turkish historic coverts" in the oil-rich provinces of Mosul and Kirkuk in northern Iraq where a significant minority of Turkmen live.

The idea of deploying NATO troops was unveiled by US Secretary of State Collin Powell at an NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels last week.

Independent Iraqi daily Azzaman on Sunday strongly opposed the idea, saying such NATO involvement might make Iraq part of the pact's area of influence -- a matter that would infringe on Iraq's sovereignty.

NATO, established in 1949 at the height of the cold war, was originally intended to be a defence organization for its member states on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the breakdown of its rival, the Warsaw Treaty Organization, NATO began to enlarge its role to reach beyond its region -- as far as the Balkans and Afghanistan.

"Iraq, in which 15 countries are currently deploying troops, is in no need of more soldiers. It is in need, instead, of a well-thought plan to restore peace and security," said the Azzaman daily.

However, Powell's plan for NATO involvement in Iraq has been accepted, though coolly, by some of the NATO's most influential European members, such as France and Germany, the two opponents of the US-led war on Iraq.

Some Iraqis said the United States is urging NATO to assume an active role because of its failure to stabilize the situation in Iraq -- anti-occupation resistance is gaining momentum in the "central front" in the US-motivated war against international terrorism.

"If NATO comes to Iraq, we will certainly face a big problem in our struggle to regain our sovereignty and independence," said Abu Zaidan, a 42-year-old Baghdad University lecturer.

"What we need instead is a bigger role by the more impartial United Nations and not by NATO," he added.

Abu Zaidan voiced his hope that NATO's European members would not succumb to US pressure to deploy troops in Iraq.

Rajiha Ahmed, a student of al-Mustansiriya University, said that the presence in Iraq of more foreign troops would further fuel resistance against US-led occupation and complicate the situation in Iraq.

"What we need is a speedy and orderly transfer of power to a truly representative government of the 25-million Iraqi people," she said.

Abu Fahmi, a pharmacist in Baghdad's al-Mansur district, asserted his resolute opposition to any NATO role in Iraq and called for a speedy transfer of power from Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to the Iraqis.

The NATO has a chance to "meddle with" Iraqi internal affairs because the post-war Iraq has become a country with no national army, he said.

The 400,000 strong Iraqi army in former President Saddam Hussein's regime was demobilized in May by Paul Bremer, head of the US-led CPA.

So far, the Iraqi Governing Council has made no official response to the possible NATO involvement in Iraq.

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