Iraqi opposition takes the heat for being lackeys of Uncle Sam

NEW YORK -- Eleven opposition groups boycotted an anti-Saddam strategy session last weekend, voicing concerns about the obvious U.S. backing for the campaign. The three-day meeting which sought to form a plan for the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein wrapped up on Sunday.

In its first meeting in seven years, about 300 delegates of the Iraqi National Congress and their supporters in Congress called for a change in U.S. policy.

The INC agreed to restructure its leadership and establish a committee of up to 50 representatives. A leaderhip council would be composed of seven members.

But those boycotting the conference derided the Iraqi National Congress for its reliance on Washington and for having no forces on the ground inside Iraq. "The Americans deal with the Iraqi issue according to their goals," said Jawad Malki, a representative of the Islamic Dawa Party. "They called for the meeting because they could not do anything on the ground."

On Monday, four Iraqis opposition leaders are expected to begin classes on democracy in Florida, with more to follow. For now, U.S. officials said, there would be no combat training.

"We are spending nearly $2 billion a year in the containment policy," said Sen. Bob Kerry, a Nebraska Democrat, "We have a military strategy in place and it simply isn't working and it is unsatisfying to the American people."

Kerry acknowledged that 11 opposition groups boycotted the parley. 'The fact that you can argue and disagree openly is a sign of freedom," he said.

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues David Scheffer said the United States has more than 5 million pages of captured Iraqi documents that could be used to indict the Iraqi leadership for war crimes. He warned that the world is beginning to accept the Iraqi regime's propaganda.

"Saddam Hussein and his henchmen are still viewed by some governments as legitimate, tolerable leaders of a country somehow under siege by the international community," Scheffer said. "In reality, these are thugs who terrorize what was once, and could again become, a great nation."

On Saturday, a leading Iraqi newspaper condemned as "traitors" Iraqi opposition groups meeting in New York in the hope of uniting against Saddam. "All the Western propaganda machines and all their brainwashing laboratories would not able to change the fact that Iraqis view them as traitors," the state-run al-Iraq newspaper said.

"The Americans were unable to do anything so what can these monkeys do?" said Babel, a newspaper run by Saddam's son.