US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

  India Yielding To American Pressure For Troops

Prakash Karat

THE Vajpayee government is considering the US administration’s request to send Indian troops to Iraq. The troops would serve as a police cum pacification force under the US occupation. When reports first came in about such a move, the ministry of external affairs denied there was such a request and stated that troops could be sent only under United Nations auspices. The Indian army followed up with its own denial, stating that it had prepared a contingency plan for sending troops for United Nations-led peacekeeping missions “as a matter of routine.”

However, these denials have not ended the matter. There is enough credible evidence that the US has asked India to send a division strong force, as part of a contingent of troops from different countries, that would be willing to work under the US military command.

PROSTRATING BEFORE THE US

According a report in The Indian Express, the deputy chief of US mission and the military attaché in the US embassy in New Delhi have met Indian army authorities on May 6, to discuss the sending of an contingent as part of a “stabilisation force.” Such a meeting could not have taken place without authorisation from the highest political level.

Brajesh Mishra, the principal secretary to the prime minister and the national security advisor, has more or less confirmed that India has received such a request. After returning from a visit to Washington, while speaking at a book release function in New Delhi, Mishra stated that the US “well understood” India’s reservations about sending troops without a UN arrangement. He stated that it had done no damage to relations with the US. The fact is that both during Armitage’s visit to Delhi and Mishra’s trip to Washington, the issue was discussed. The United States wants India to send troops to Iraq to do its dirty work for it. This is the least expected from the Vajpayee government that has proclaimed itself as a loyal ally of the US, as much as Pakistan is today.

The BJP-led government was waiting for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would give the US occupation some form of legitimacy. This would pave the way for the government of India to claim that sending troops has UN sanction. But the resolution adopted by the Security Council on May 22, does not lend itself to any interpretation that a UN peacekeeping force will be put in place. The resolution recognises the US and Britain as the occupying authorities. Iraq will be under the control of the US armed forces, not under a United Nations force. There is no mandate for a UN peacekeeping force. Further, the UN has accorded this role to the US-British forces for a period of 12 months, after which the matter will be taken up for consideration again in the Security Council. The UN’s special representative for Iraq has an advisory role only; real authority vests with the American civilian administrator.

If India sends troops, they will be part of a multinational force under US command. The commander of the US Central Command will be in overall command of such a force.

IMPLICATIONS OF SENDING TROOPS

What are the implications of such an Indian force in Iraq? It is well known that after the ouster of the Saddam Hussein government and the US military occupation of Iraq, the country is in a state of chaos and lawlessness. The Americans had not anticipated such a situation. There has been widespread looting and destruction going on for weeks. Attacks on US soldiers, and also the cases of American troops firing on civilians, have become a common feature. In Fallujah town alone, in two incidents of firing in the space of two days, 15 people were shot dead by US soldiers.

The mess that has been created by the military occupation has upset the plans of the Bush administration. It had announced in April that Iraqi groups would be allowed to form a national assembly and an interim government by the end of May. In an abrupt about-turn, the new American administrator Paul Bremer informed the Iraqi clients that the interim administration headed by the Americans would continue for an indefinite period. This is an admission of failure. No viable “Iraqi” administration is possible with the bunch of Iraqi leaders who have returned from exile, and no cohesive team has emerged from the motley crowd gathered by the Americans. With basic facilities like electricity and water not yet restored, there is still no semblance of an administration working.

It is at such a juncture, with the administration very much in the hands of the Americans, that Indian troops, if sent, will be expected to perform the job of a “policing force.”

Now that the military invasion and occupation of Iraq has been accomplished, the Americans want others to share the burden of pacification of the recalcitrant population. The toll taken of lives of American soldiers in the form of sniper attacks and ambushes has to be curtailed. Help is sought from    countries such as India, Pakistan and Philippines and from its new found East European friends such as Poland and Hungary. The fact that India has figured in the list is itself indicative of the new status to which the Vajpayee government has subordinated the country. Sending a contingent under the present circumstances would mean Indian soldiers would have to put down protests against the American occupation. The suppression of the Iraqi people, who are turning increasingly hostile to the occupation, will be part of the job. Not only that, the US has drawn up plans to use Iraq’s oil wealth for “reconstruction” work the profits of which will be pocketed by the American corporations. The UN resolution calls for phasing out the food-for-oil programme within six months and the lifting of sanctions. This will facilitate the US use of the Iraqi oil revenue. Already a former Shell executive has been appointed advisor to the Iraqi oil ministry.

INDIANS MADE PAID MERCENARIES

The Indian troops will have to be paid for their sojourn in Iraq. This will not be done out of UN funds. The payment will be made by the Americans. For the first time, thus, our soldiers would act as a paid mercenary force --- for the Americans. This is something totally unacceptable to most Indians. That the government can even contemplate such a mission reveals how far down the road the BJP has traveled in its eagerness to win the US approbation. For the past five years steadily, the Vajpayee government has entangled India into a strategic relationship with the US, which is unequal and to the advantage of the Americans.

In a recent article, the outgoing US ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, boasted about the great strides in Indo-US military ties. Writing in The Hindu (May 13, 2003), he expressed satisfaction at the all-round progress in military cooperation. US special operation forces, the same that have been in use in Afghanistan and Iraq, recently were in the Jungle Training School of the Indian army in Mizoram for joint exercises with Indian forces. More joint exercises of the naval forces are in the offing. From October 2002 onward, India can import US arms equipment up to the value of 14 million dollars per item without Congressional notification. This, according to Blackwill, puts India in the “same category with American Treaty Allies such as South Korea and Japan.”

More significantly, the Indian army will also host the 2004 Pacific Armies Management Seminar, an annual meeting of senior army leaderships of the Pacific region. The Indian armed forces seem to be categorised with the Filipino and Indonesian armed forces --- traditional allies of the Pentagon. India is thus being integrated into the global military strategy of the US with the blessings of Vajpayee and George Fernandes. It is this nexus that requires sending troops in the service of the US occupation of Iraq.

GREAT ILLUSION

The BJP-led government has taken to this path under a great illusion. While the Pacific command of the US armed forces deals with India, the Central Command deals with Pakistan. The website of this command recently gave out details of how closely Pakistan collaborated in the military operations in Afghanistan. In 2002, the US provided a special 73 million dollars package for “improving security" along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Under the Foreign Military Financing Grant of the US government, Pakistan will get 200 million dollars in 2003-04.

The deep appreciation that the US has for Pakistan’s regime is evident from the invitation that Musharaff has received to meet Bush at Camp David. This must surely discomfit our BJP leaders who gets thrilled if Bush "drops in” to see them while they are meeting some junior functionary, or if they are given l5 minutes in the Oval Office. It is this subservient mindset which clouds the judgement of the ruling circles.

For the US, Pakistan and India together are parts of its strategic designs in the region. If Pakistan is useful as a Muslim country and a neighbour of Afghanistan and the Middle East, India with its BJP-led government is a useful counterweight which can be used for the purposes of acting against any interests hostile to the US from the same region. The Vajpayee regime’s chorus of praise for Israel and its lining up with the arch-enemy of the Arab peoples is a reassurance for the US that India can be relied upon to play a role which Pakistan cannot. This is the meaning of Brajesh Mishra’s appearance at the American Jewish Committee’s annual dinner and his speech calling for India, US and Israel joining hands to fight terrorism. The AJC is well known for its blind support to the Sharon regime’s aggressive policies.

AN AFFRONT TO INDIAN PEOPLE

To come back to the question of Indian troops in Iraq, the BJP-led government has no right to take this decision without the concurrence of parliament. In its last session, parliament had adopted a resolution opposing the US-British war on Iraq and called for the withdrawal of its forces. To send troops to serve under these occupying authorities, is thus to flagrantly violate the parliament decision which reflects the views of the Indian people.

The existence of a colonial occupation in Iraq is an affront to the independence and sovereignty of all countries. The British acquired Iraq during the First World War when it fought the Ottoman empire to which belonged the territories which are modern-day Iraq. The occupation of Basra, Baghdad and the Mosul provinces were accomplished by the British Indian army. Ninety thousand troops of the colonial army belonging to India, took more than two years to secure Iraq. Thousands of Indian soldiers died in the fighting. Today, Iraq has been occupied once again by the imperialist powers. Thus, in an eerie repetition of history, we are asked to provide soldiers for recolonising Iraq. But this is not l9l4, when India was a colony. Despite the machinations of the Vajpayee regime, the Indian people will not allow a repeat of colonial history.

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