No Takers As US Offers Forgiveness To Insurgents

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No Takers As US Offers Forgiveness To Insurgents
Aamer Madhani, Tribune staff reporter
January 19, 2005

BAQOUBA, Iraq - The plan was a hopeful one: Some of those siding with the insurgency in this restive city would be offered a chance to drop their weapons and vow not to sabotage the elections.

U.S. military commanders invited suspected insurgents and religious and tribal leaders sympathetic to the resistance to gather Tuesday for a conference with Iraqi government and military officials. The invitees would be asked to sign a pledge not to support or participate in violent acts against Iraqi or U.S. forces through the scheduled Jan. 30 elections.

But not one Iraqi signed the pledge, and many used the forum to accuse U.S. troops and Iraqi officials of creating a dangerous atmosphere in a region where the insurgency seems to be gaining momentum.

Others simply charged that they were falsely accused of being insurgents because they did not agree with the occupation.

"We came here with an invitation," one man told the panel, made up of the acting provincial governor and high-ranking officers with Iraqi security forces in Diyala province. "If we are accused people, tell me what it is I am accused of."

With less than two weeks remaining before provincial and national elections, the tense dialogue indicated that there is no telling how many people in this ethnically and religiously diverse province will participate.

Further confounding is how legitimate the elections will be seen by Sunni leaders, who are not eager to see a potential shift in power to the Shiites.

Not Convinced

Amer Jassem Hassem al-Tamimi, a leader in Diyala province’s largest tribe, said he was yet to be convinced that U.S. and Iraqi forces could provide adequate security for the elections. He also said he was not sure the elections would be "honest."

Al-Tamimi told a reporter that he will not advise any of his fellow tribesman whether they should take part. "I leave it to everyone to decide for themselves," he said.

The purported insurgents invited to the forum included those who have launched attacks against U.S. and Iraqi troops and those who have spouted anti-coalition rhetoric, said Maj. Teresa Wolfgang, a U.S. Army civil affairs officer. Only those who were invited were allowed in, and all were assured they would not be detained.

"There are a lot of bad guys here," Wolfgang said.

An officer with the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade, which issued the invitations, said some of those invited under the umbrella of suspected insurgents were people accused of wrongdoing that had not necessarily been substantiated. One man told the panel he did not know why he was on the list.

"My friends tell me they hear the insurgents want to kill me," the man said. "Now I am wanted from your side."

Outside the confines of the conference, the battle persisted on the streets of Baqouba. Just as the event was concluding, insurgents launched a barrage of mortars at an Iraqi police station, killing one officer and wounding others, said Capt. Marshall Jackson, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade.

Although the plan to hold such a conference might seem quixotic, 3rd Brigade officers pointed to two similar, successful events they held to give low-ranking insurgents the chance to walk away from the resistance without facing retribution from U.S. or Iraqi forces.

During the previous events, called forgiveness days, the brigade offered amnesty to insurgents who owned up to their attacks against coalition forces and vowed to quit fighting.

"The showing was significantly larger for the previous two forgiveness day events," Jackson said.

But in the year that the 3rd Brigade has been in Diyala, security has deteriorated. In the past two months, eight provincial council members have been gunned down, dozens of Iraqi security troops have been killed and a high-ranking Iraqi electoral commission official was assassinated.

Won’t Support Election

Fouad Mahmoud, an imam at a Sunni mosque in the city, said he came to the conference to hear what was being said but already had made up his mind not to support the election.

With the security situation unstable in four of the country’s 18 provinces by U.S. officials’ standards, he said any national election would misrepresent the people’s wishes. He said the voting should be delayed at least six months so security can be restored.

When Mahmoud got his chance to speak at the forum, he launched into a tirade about how U.S. and Iraqi forces have abused their authority.

"You arrested my children, my cousin," Mahmoud said. "How can you expect me not to speak against the coalition?"