Making Mideast Safe from Iraq

[CMSgt Mike Bergman]

From CMSgt Mike Bergman <ber...@afnews.pa.af.mil>

Press Pack #37 for the Week of September 14, 1992

Making Middle East Safe From Iraq

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Information Service

In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war, the United Nations
determined Iraq should never again be able to threaten the Middle
East with weapons of mass destruction.
U.S. Army Maj. Karen M. Jansen has been on the front line in
verifying that Iraq complies. Until recently, she was a chemical
and biological weapons inspection operations officer for the U.N.
Special Commission on Iraq.
Jansen, a chemical officer assigned to the Army's Chemical
Research, Development and Engineering Center at Aberdeen Proving
Ground, Md., made six trips to Iraq during the 13 months she was on
loan to the commission. She describes Iraq as a place where the
leaders develop a "fantasy" perspective of reality to manipulate
their citizens into supporting the Baath party goals.
"Iraq is the most closed society any American is likely to
see," Jansen said. "The leaders use their carefully controlled
media to turn the people on and off. For example, they hold large
celebrations in honor of their `victory' during the Iran-Iraq war."
Jansen said the Iraqi people also believe they won the Persian
Gulf war. The leadership feels that surviving an encounter with
the most powerful force in the world is proof of victory, she said.
"From the beginning, the state-controlled propaganda has been
so calculated and repetitive that the man in the street refers to
that war as `the war with the United States,' which is part of the
reason Iraq is trying to assert that weapons inspectors from the
United States are not impartial," she said.
Predictably, they have claimed a victory over the July 1992
incident at the Ministry of Agriculture, as the U.N. team that
eventually went into the complex had no American inspector, said
Jansen. The truth is, they bowed to U.N. pressure just days after
they vowed no U.N. weapons inspector would ever set foot inside the
ministry, not even if every Iraqi citizen perished because of the
action.
"Cheat-and-retreat" is the phrase many have used to describe
Iraqi behavior in the course of weapons inspections, she said. The
Iraqis initially denied having a biological or nuclear weapons
program; they made no mention of the supergun in their first
declaration to the United Nations that was supposed to reveal
everything.
When inspectors uncovered evidence in June 1991 that the
Iraqis had a nuclear weapons program, the U.N. Security Council set
a July 25, 1991, deadline for Iraq to reveal all aspects of its
weapons of mass destruction programs. A September 1991 incident in
a parking lot showed they were still hiding and attempting to
retain nuclear weapons design plans, she said.
In spite of Iraq's attempt to hide many aspects of its weapons
programs from the United Nations, Jansen continued, inspectors have
been able to discover much of the information through dogged
persistence and detective work.
"Although it has always been in Iraq's best interest to be
totally forthcoming -- after all, this is the only way the U.N.
will lift the economic sanctions -- they have chosen a different
route," she added. Iraqi leadership insisted on hiding or denying
many elements of their programs, only to quickly modify their story
when faced with evidence to the contrary.
The Iraqi leaders' attitude has been their biggest problem,
Jansen thinks. "It is one of `We'll tell you what we think you
need to know, and we'll decide what's relevant and what isn't.' "
She said where Iraq has nothing to hide or saw it in their
best interest to cooperate, the working relationship was
professional and businesslike. She said the Iraqis were cordial,
polite and hospitable.
The effort to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile at Al
Muthanna, Iraq's chemical weapon production and storage facility,
is an example where Iraq has been very cooperative with the United
Nations.
"On the other hand," she said, "the cases where there has been
a confrontation leading to the brink of resumed military action
have been few, but they underscore how difficult this particular
U.N. action has been."
Inspectors have come from 33 countries to date. Each has a
particular technical expertise; many are in their country's
military service.
"In the chemical field, it was the first time for some to work
around live chemical agents," Jansen said. "Many people had the
theoretical knowledge and through this process were given practical
experience.
It is a wonderful experience to work with people with similar
backgrounds from not only Germany, Britain and France, but also
from countries like Russia and Czechoslovakia, said Jansen. She
believes a lot of the misconceptions and barriers about countries
formerly viewed as "the enemy," are being broken down and changed
because of teams like this one.
In the July standoff at the Ministry of Agriculture, Jansen
believes the team handled things correctly. "They were, without
exception, the most professional and courageous group of people
I've ever met," she said. "They endured a great deal, knowing that
they were acting on behalf of the U.N. Security Council and that
the world would support what they were doing."