More American hypocrisy as US forces move into Iraqi Kurdish schools for their war purposes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44358-2003Mar28.html
**Kurds Voice Suspicion of U.S. Troops **
U.S. Special Forces troops have taken up residence in five schools in this little town on the northwest edge of Irbil, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Far from being welcomed as liberators, citizens fear the troops’ presence will make Ain Kawa a target for artillery or terrorists. Residents also are upset that the Americans picked schools, clearly civilian establishments. "Isn’t this what the Americans blame Saddam Hussein for doing? Why not put them in the countryside? There are plenty of camps out there," said Fais Betrus, an unemployed laborer. “Ain Kawa is a peaceful place, and this can bring trouble,” remarked Sivan Ahmed, a college fine arts student. “The authorities told us that the soldiers are here for humanitarian assistance. We don’t believe them.” It is odd to hear such negative comments from Kurds about the presence of U.S. soldiers in their territory, an autonomous zone protected by U.S. and British fighter jets since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Kurds generally support the U.S.-led war to unseat Hussein, the Iraqi president. Kurdish officials have declared their militia forces at the service of Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command and the officer in charge of running the war. They would like to help the United States take the city of Kirkuk, a key oil center and former home to tens of thousands of ethnic Kurds who were expelled by the Baghdad government over the years.
But Kurds are also fearful. During a 1988 revolt, Hussein’s forces attacked villagers from Halabja, on the eastern side of the autonomous zone near the Iranian border, with chemical weapons. Thousands of people died. Moreover, on two occasions, in 1975 and 1991, the United States has withdrawn support from Kurdish uprisings. The second time, after Iraq’s Gulf War defeat, President George H. W. Bush called on Iraqis to revolt only to refuse to back the uprising with military force. Tens of thousands of Kurds, as well as Iraqi Shiite Muslims in the south, were killed during Baghdad’s counterattack. “Honestly, we are nervous. Saddam is capable of anything and we are now targets,” said Yusuf Shauba, a vegetable vendor. Someone in Irbil apparently tried to exploit Kurdish fears today. A bomb packed into an artillery shell and laced with a material that caused lots of smoke exploded in a vacant lot near the center of town. It seemed designed to simulate a chemical attack, said Karim Sinjari, interior minister of the Kurdish administration. Ain Kawa is a lively, relaxed town of 12,000 residents, mostly Assyrian Christians. Its main street is jokingly referred to as the Champs-Elysees by Kurds both here and in Irbil, which is largely Muslim and the most populous city in the Kurdish region. In late afternoon, strollers fill the street. And, unlike in Irbil, a more conservative city, women appear publicly in large numbers without head scarves and long black dresses.
