Jobless soldiers fuel anti-US riots in Iraq

Former infantryman Khadim Hasan has spent the better part of a week in the desert sun outside a US military compound in Baghdad waiting for $40 that will never come. He considers himself a victim of Saddam Hussein's regime, and rolls up his sleeves to show scars up and down both arms that he says were inflicted after criticizing Mr. Hussein in front of an officer.

Mr. Hasan was delighted with the US invasion, which he believed was a chance to start on a new life. But six months later, tired, hot, and frightened of a future in which he may not be able to provide for his wife and three children, he blames the US-led coalition for his problems and is growing increasingly angry.

He'd been hoping to get the $40 - a one-time payment the coalition had promised to some 370,000 demobilized conscripts from the old Iraqi army - but like many, he'd been told at the US base that he wasn't on the list. "I'm glad that America invaded, but you have to give us our rights or there will be more trouble,'' he says. "They're not giving any money to us. They should get out."

For the past four days, angry former soldiers like Hasan have been at the center of violence in at least three places in the center and south of the country. Police stations and cars have been burned in Baghdad, Basra, and the oil-producing town of Bayji, 150 miles north of Baghdad; rioting ex-soldiers destroyed four shops in a wealthy Baghdad neighborhood; and at least four Iraqis were killed in the violence.

The jobless conscripts are perhaps the most volatile of the 60 percent of Iraqis that the coalition estimates are unemployed. Their bleak prospects were brought home this week by the swearing in of the first battalion for a new Iraqi Army slated to number just 40,000.

Coalition officials say Baathist loyalists incited the violence. But the speed with which the crowds grew out of control illustrates the mix of poverty, disillusionment, and anger that continues to confront the coalition, even as basic security improves for Iraqis and services like electricity are restored and schools reopen.

Coalition officials complain that bad news is disproportionately reported. "We are making good progress in Iraq," President Bush said Monday. "Sometimes it's hard to tell when you listen to [critics]. The situation is improving on a daily basis."

But to a significant minority of Iraqis, the US military presence is a daily irritation, and it seems unlikely that incidents involving soldiers are going to abate soon. Though many Iraqis are delighted to be free of Hussein, they, like Hasan, increasingly blame their economic struggles on the US.

On top of this group is a smaller but still significant group of Saddam loyalists who are growing adept at manipulating such situations to create chaos.

"Very senior Baathist officers, some of whom are now in custody, were stirring up these crowds,'' said Charles Heatly, the coalition's chief spokesman.

Page: 1 | 2