Iraqi official defends move to re-integrate Saddam army soldiers
Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London
11 Dec 04
Text of report on an interview with Paruska Nuri Shawes, secretary
general of the Iraqi Defence Ministry, by Ra’d Kamil in Baghdad; date
not given, headlined “Iraqi forces started to use aircraft to watch
the borders and oil pipelines. Iraqi Defence Ministry’s
secretary-general to Al-Sharq al-Awsat: we are building a new,
balanced, national, denominational army”, carried by London-based
newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on 11 December
Paruska Nuri Shawes, the secretary general of the Iraqi Defence
Ministry, has reported that his ministry has started to use
reconnaissance aircraft to watch the border areas and the oil
pipelines so as to prevent the illegal border crossings and stop the
attacks on oil pipelines. He added that the ministry is preparing to
use helicopters for the same purpose.
Shawes said in an interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat that his ministry
is building a new and balanced Iraqi army “which represents all the
Iraqi people’s components” so that not 90 per cent of its officers are
Sunnis and 90 per cent of its soldiers Shi’is like the army under
Saddam Husayn’s regime.
He said: “We have received the help of the brothers in the United Arab
Emirates who trained our pilots to fly the Iraqi reconnaissance
aircraft that take photographs from the air and send them to the
centre. They started operations before two weeks to watch the borders
and were able to take successful photographs of the areas on the Iraqi
borders where there were movements.”
He added: “We are about to develop our work by using some helicopters
that the Iraqi army has been trained to fly so as to watch any
movement in the border areas.” He pointed out that there are “areas
between one country and another where these two countries’ forces
cannot cross according to the international agreements known to
all. But the border areas can be photographed from a long distance by
reconnaissance aircraft. This is what we are doing now and these
aircraft are watching the Iraqi oil pipelines and the movements in the
border areas.”
Asked about the possibility of recruiting members of the dissolved
Iraqi army, Shawes said: “We have absorbed many of the good officers
in the former army whose hands were not tainted by crimes against the
people.” He added: “To avoid what happened in the former army, there
should be a balance between the Iraqi people’s components in the new
army.”
He pointed out that the “Sunnis comprised 90 per cent of the officers
in the former army while the Shi’is represented 90 per cent of its
soldiers. This shows that there was no balance between the people’s
various components. There should be a Shi’i, a Sunni, a Kurd, an
Assyrian, a Chaldaean, an Armenian, and a Turkoman so that every
citizen in Iraq feels that he is not isolated from this army and that
the latter represents him. We take care that where the commander is a
Shi’i then his aides are a Sunni and a Kurd. All the Iraqis should
form an indivisible unit. We have to consider that the one who comes
to us and expresses a desire to enlist in this army should be given
his chance.”
The Iraqi Defence Ministry official went on to say: “Regarding the
rights of the dissolved army’s soldiers, we are paying them emergency
grants and we have proposed to the cabinet to keep them. Moreover, the
Health Ministry has absorbed the former army’s military medical cadres
and the Industry and Works Ministries have absorbed the engineering
cadres.” He added: “There are only between 7,000 and 7,500 former army
elements who are included in the deba’thification decision.” He
asserted that the “doors of appointment have not been closed before
them but we feel that the Iraqi people’s sons whose relatives were
killed in the uprising and in Al-Anfal operation or buried in mass
graves will not be happy with us if we appoint those involved in these
actions commanders in the new Iraqi army.”
Shawes defended the security role of the Iraqi National Guards and
said the number of Guards’ victims since its establishment till now
“is commensurate with the responsibilities they were given.” He added
that the National Guards elements “are being targeted because they are
defending the Iraqi people and their aspirations. This gives us the
honour of confronting those who do not wish Iraq well.”
Regarding reports that there are problems between the National Guards
and the Iraqi police force, he said: “This is an allegation made by
the enemies in an attempt to belittle the Iraqi security forces. This
is untrue and does not exist because there is coordination between the
Defence and Interior Ministries. We are also vying with each other in
devotion and sacrifices.” He pointed out however that there “are some
personal conducts and joint committees have been formed to limit them
because we are eager that such problems should not occur in the new
Iraq.” He said the National Guards, the Rapid Intervention Forces, and
the Mechanized Brigade come under the new Iraqi army “and we have
chosen the National Guards to help the police force. Though their
training is military, the Guards join the Iraqi police force to
maintain internal security.”
Asked for his opinion about enlisting women in the new Iraqi army,
Shawes said: “Though there are physical differences, it is society
that has put certain restrictions on the woman to prevent her from
playing her real role, either in the army or the factory. We have to
give the woman the chance because work in the army is one of the
important sectors in life. We can say from experience that a woman
enrolled in the army can carry out a heroic action just like her
brother the man.”
About his vision of Iraq’s future, especially after the elections that
are scheduled to be held on 30 January 2005, Shawes said: “Iraq is
going to be in a better position than it is now because the state’s
foundations have been established and its institutions have started to
function on the track planned for them. The Iraqi people have felt
this and have started to realize that they can change the authority
through the ballot boxes without any pressures from any human
being. But we are now facing a terrorist situation and we have the
responsibility of establishing a capable army and effective security
forces so that our people in Iraq can have security and stability.”