Americans appoint Saddam lookalike

IN the old days, just the sight of his drab green uniform was enough to strike fear into rebel Iraqi hearts.

As a commander of Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guard, General Jassim Mohamed Saleh was part of the army that crushed countless insurrections.

Yesterday, though, in a remarkable case of poacher turned gamekeeper, United States forces named the former Baathist as the leader of a 1,000-strong Iraqi force to quell the insurgency in Fallujah.

Last night, as marines rolled up their barbed wire blockades before pulling out of the city, he was preparing to take over after a day with local tribal leaders. He also met US commanders while clad in his old military fatigues, garb he last wore in front of Saddam’s brutal son, Qusay, who was head of the Republican Guard.

Washington officials claim to be surprised at the decision by marines in Fallujah to cede power to a former regime member. But according to commanders there, political niceties have been sacrificed to simple battlefield pragmatism. After three weeks of fighting that killed up to 800 people, they have decided they have neither the local knowledge nor the local credibility to tackle the 2,000-odd militants there.

Cynics, however, wonder whether Washington is really so out of the loop as it claims to be, pointing out that today is more than just another day in Iraq’s post-war calendar - 1 May, 2003, was when George Bush, the US president, officially declared combat operations over. The sight of US marines battling it out in Fallujah exactly a year later might make glum viewing back home.

But while the move might cheer those in the US, what remains of his fan club in Iraq is less happy. Although Gen Saleh was not on any US-wanted list of Baathist war criminals, he was a dyed-in-the-wool part of the old regime and his public rehabilitation appalls some.

"The US has slipped into the swamp in Iraq and now they are trying to hang on any rope to get them out," said a colonel who knew Gen Saleh. "They do not care whether he was in the Baath Party or not. All they are interested in is suppressing the militants.

"What message does this send out? That the Americans have no principles - they just want to keep their own a**** safe."

A prominent figure in the al-Jubouri tribe, which has its power base in the old Sunni heartlands around Fallujah, noted Gen Saleh was a level-two Baath member, a position of power and privilege normally only earned by paying more than lip service to Saddam. And in 1991, when Shiites rebelled, he was among those ordered to crush it by all means necessary.

It is perhaps no coincidence that Iraq’s civilian governor, Paul Bremer, announced a scrapping of the ban on top level Baath Party members from public life just two weeks ago.

However, sorting out who was a real villain and who merely followed Saddam’s orders is not easy. Many Iraqi commanders who carried out brutal operations are respected today. Only those such as Saddam’s cousin, "Chemical" Ali Hussein al-Majeed, who applied a personal gusto to their work, are reviled. Gen Saleh belongs largely in the former category, say officers who knew him. "He was a tough guy, but a gentleman, who was a general because he was properly trained, not because he was close to Saddam," one said.