Iraq may benefit from Arab resentment

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (Bahrain), FEB. 17. Iraq today began assessing the damage from yesterday's bomb attack on Baghdad by U.S. and British planes, in which eight persons were injured. The attack on the Iraqi capital, first since 1998, was launched beyond the limits of the ``no-fly'' zone unilaterally imposed by the U.S. and Britain.

The Iraqi Government is expected to reap the benefits from the resentment caused in the Arab world.

The air strikes occurred after a period of relatively low activity over Iraqi skies and after the British had, for the first time, indicated that they were reviewing the policy of enforcing the zones.

The British had apparently become aware that Saudi Arabia, which provides the bases from which some of the zone-enforcing planes operate, was growing increasingly resentful.

It is not clear whether the U.K.'s participation in the air raids was on account of operational considerations pending this review or whether it had been briefed on any change in Washington's policy towards Iraq.

The new U.S. administration has spoken aloud about the need to make the sanctions against Iraq more regime-specific instead of country-specific as it has been so far. If yesterday's strikes were intended to hit the regime, and the evidence proves to the contrary, they might have met with a different kind of Arab response.

Call for new U.S. policy

While the Iraqi President, Mr. Saddam Hussein, is the hero on the streets in Arab nations, especially on account of his staunch support for the Palestinians in their on-going intifada (armed struggle), most Arab governments would probably breathe a lot easier if he, his family and his close retainers were removed from the scene.

Almost all Arab governments, under pressure from their public, have taken steps to improve relations with Iraq but are still extremely reluctant to rehabilitate the core of the Iraqi leadership.

A change in U.S. policy, that would relax the country-specific sanctions and thus ease the suffering of the Iraqi people while intensifying regime-specific sanctions so as to bring about a regime change, would dovetail with the wishes of the Arab governments.

If there is a clear evidence that the U.S. is shifting to regime- specific sanctions, the Arab governments would slow down in cosying up to Iraq. They would be interested in the details of the U.S. thinking on Iraq when the Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell, visits the area at the month-end.

Arab governments are under some pressure to know which way the U.S. is moving in respect of Iraq, since demands for Baghdad's full rehabilitation in the Arab world are bound to be strongly pressed at the Arab summit in Amman at the end of March. Regional governments which have watched Iraqi contracts being given to powers outside the region are impatient to get into the game themselves and Egypt and Syria have been the latest to sign major trade agreements with Iraq.

Symbol of defiance

Stronger than the economic need to reintegrate Iraq into the Arab world is the pressure from the Arab masses.

Besides being incensed at the suffering the decade-old sanctions have inflicted on the Iraqis, the Arab masses are increasingly proud of Mr. Saddam Hussein for standing up to the world powers.

In a context where they see the sole superpower firmly aligned with the non-Arab regional powers, Israel and Turkey, and apparently interested only in exploiting the Arab world's oil wealth, Mr. Hussein stands as the lone symbol of defiance.

In particular, his staunch defence of the Palestinians and his offer to fight alongside them against Israel has stood out in contrast to the softer approach of other Arab leaders. Moderate Arab regimes, which have had to combat extremism for quite some time, are probably capable of ensuring that anti-U.S. sentiment does not boil over. However, actions such as Friday's air strikes, increase the pool of resentment and thereby increase the pool of potential recruits to the extremist cause.

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Section  : International
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