Interview with Al Arabia

On 29 December 2003, I had an interview
with Al Arabia New Channel at MBC (MiddleEast Broadcasting Centre) in Dubai, UAE. My
first contact was Mr. Ihab Osman of Public
Relations of MBC. He kindly introduced me
Mr. Sabah Nahi Fajer, Iraqi senior reporter,
who just came back from Iraq a few days ago.
They kindly accepted my interview, as it wasgood timing (Japan’s Self Defence Force has
just been dispatched to Iraq) and it was theirfirst time to be interviewed by a Japanesewoman. The interview was concerned with Iraqi situation and Japan’s contribution tothe reconstruction of Iraq. The interview lasted for more than one hour and wasconducted both in English and Arabic.

(Q) What is the current situation of Iraq?
(A) Iraq has become a dangerous and chaotic state. The US war destroyed thegovernment, military and police in Iraq. Iraqi people are unhappy and feel uneasy
about the situation. The US promised to bring freedom and liberty to our country, but
security situation in Iraq has not yet recovered and reconstruction has not been
progressing. The promise is on the verge of collapse.
Even now, electricity works only 2 hours a day and sewage problems are seen in 16cities. More than 10,000 Iraqis are unemployed. This high number of unemployment
never occurred during the Hussein regime. Our education level has also dropped. How
many more days do the Iraqis have to put up with this situation? The US destroyed
the Hussein regime to save Iraqi people, but has not contributed enough to reconstruct
the country.
Iraq became a miserable state because foreign countries continue to seek their nationalinterest, mainly oil. The Iraqis are originally intelligent people and led a good life.
Education level was high. Iraq is a count ry proud of Mesopotamian civilization whichlasted for 10,000 years. This is a paradoxical situation. In the beginning of the 20thcentury, the British invaded Iraq, saying that they would bring freedom and liberty toIraq. The US is saying the same now. It is doubtful whether or not the US will makeIraq free.
The US invaded Iraq to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction, but noevidence has been found. Saddam Hussein had long been declared that Iraq did notpossess weapons of mass destruction. The US justified its war because they wanted todestroy the Hussein regime, a dictatorship, for their own benefit. In the Arab world,
Saddam is not the only one dictator. There are many dictators in Arab, as everyone
knows.

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Iraq has another problem. Iraq needs to unify a country under one government, but theKurds, the Shiite, and the Sunni claim their own sovereignty and own government; i.e.
a federal system and a government representing their own people. It is uncertain
whether or not Iraq will become one nation or will be divided into several states.

(Q) Do you think the Shiite and Kurdish will cooperate in order to keep Iraq as onecountry?
(A) I do not believe so. But the Shiite
and Kurdish have one thing in common.
They were severely abused by Saddam
Hussein. They may cooperate in thefuture. However, if the security situationin Iraq deteriorates, the country may bedivided. Some neighbouring countries
appear to be interested in Iraq. Iran has
a long boarder with Iraq. As you know,
Iran and Iraq had war in the past. Someforeign newspaper has recently said that
Israel is considering establishing its
military base in the northern part of Iraq
where the Kurds reside. So, it isdifficult to predict what will happen.
In any case, Iraq situation wo uld not improve unless the US military withdraws fromIraq. The Iraqis are against military occupation. They hate to be under militaryoccupation. They will also fight against occupation. The Iraqis feel fear and becomechaotic by the presence of the US military around them. However, it is also true that if
the US military withdraws from Iraq, security will further deteriorate andreconstruction will further be delayed.
(Note: I learned later that in the Koran Muslims are not allowed to harm others, but
permitted to engage in Jihad (holy war) as part of self defence if an opponent
including occupation forces attacks them).

(Q) Do the Iraqis want the US military to leave Iraq or stay in Iraq?
(A) The Iraqis want the US to end occupation and withdraw from Iraq. But at thesame time, they are worried that Iraqi situation might become worse after the USwithdrawal. Iraq became a failed state as the result of US war on Iraq. Iraq is not
functioning as state, because the government, military and police all perished after thewar. Iraq went back to the time when it was founded some 85 years ago. It will be aproblem if the US leaves, although the Iraqis want to expel the US. The United
Nations were in Iraq, but they left. The US created all the problems.

(Q) How do the Iraqis want to rebuild the nation?

2(A) Iraq does not need military occupation, but require reconstruction assistance fromthe international community such as the UN. Whether or not Iraq is divided depends
on how much international assistance Iraq can get. Iraq no longer has a centrifugal
force to unify the nation, as the government, military and police were all destroyed.
Iraq needs external power to unify the nation, and hopes the international community
led by the UN to execute the power.

(Q) What do you think about
Japan’s dispatch of the Self Defence
Forces to Iraq?
(A) Iraqi situation is not good andresistance forces who do not wish tosee stable Iraq are still holding
power. So, it is not wise to dispatch
Japanese military to Iraq now. InIraq, fighting is going on every day
and many US, British and Italian
military personnel have been killed.
Two Japanese diplomats were also
killed. They were my friends. Theyoften visited my office in Iraq to talkabout Iraqi situation. Their death was very tragic. Japan knows what a war is like, andalso understand what overseas military dispatch means.
(Note: Although I explained that Japan’s Self Defence Force’ is not military, it isgenerally interpreted as ‘military’ in the Arab world. Therefore, the expression‘miliary’ is being used in this text).
As some Arab countries are doing, Japan should dispatch humanitarian groups, NGOs
and civilian engineers and doctors. Iraqi people understand that they came to Iraq torebuild the nation, not to occupy the nation. Iraqi people will welcome them withflowers.
I am asked a question. If the US waged a war on Japan and occupied Japan after thewar, and the Iraqi government declared to dispatch its military to Japan to rebuild thenation, what would Japanese people react? Japanese people want civilians to come toJapan, not military personnel, don’t they?
Iraq needs the following people to reconstruct the country:
Electric engineer: to repair power so that the Iraqis can enjoy electricity more than
two hours a day.
Road experts: to repair roads destroyed by bombs with road machine
Experts: to remove weapons and missiles from streets
Farmers: to replant trees (especially plum trees) and recover farm land
Water specialist: to make clean water and construct a dam
Medical doctors: many doctors and nurses. A large quantity of medical supplies isalso required.

3When Japanese civilians come to Iraq for reconstruction, I recommend they come to
one city, concentrate their reconstruction efforts on one city, rebuild the city withJapan’s high technology, and make it as a successful model case. The Iraqis and other
Arab people will see such Japan’s efforts and will truly understand Japan’s efforts
towards internatal peace. This success case should then be expanded to other cities
and then to the entire Iraq. Iraqi people will not attack Japanese civilians, as the Iraqis
know that they are in Iraq to rebuild the nation. You may have seen the Iraqi people
on the television always fighting and killing, but the Iraqis are loving people and carefor others. Japanese people can do this because of goodwill between Japanese andIraqi people. It is however not acceptable to have both soldiers and civilians at thesame time. Even in the UAE, people do not believe that Japanese soldiers alone canwork effectively in Iraq.

My comment
Throughout the interview, I felt thatIraqi people are hoping Japan to help
rebuild the nation using Japan’s hightechnology to the maximum extent.
Japan’s contribution by the Self
Defence Force in Samawa is highly
evaluated, however Iraqi people still
hope Japan to use more advanced
technology to make their lives better;
provide more electricity and cleanwater, and rebuild hospitals andschools. It is important to send a clear
message to the Iraqis and to the worldthat Japan’ reconstruction assistance isfor Iraqi people, not for the US. I
strongly hope that Japan will proactively engage in reconstruction assistance using
Japan’s technological strength.

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