Union Tribune April 11, 2003 Fleeing Iraqi troops left the door open By MARCUS STERN COPLEY NEWS SERVICE KIRKUK, Iraq – Hundreds of Kurdish fighters and a small number of American troops pushed their way into Kirkuk yesterday without encountering any resistance, providing the first breach in Iraq's northern front with no damage to some of the country's most important oil fields. The military push was followed quickly by a joyous torrent of returning residents who had fled or been driven from Kirkuk over the past 12 years by Saddam Hussein's regime. Kirkuk is seen as a vital strategic city because it has major oil reserves, including Iraq's largest single field, Babagurgur. Iraqi soldiers presented no threat yesterday. Residents said they had seen the Iraqi troops fleeing south toward Hussein's hometown and political bastion, Tikrit. With U.S. and Kurdish forces entering the other key northern city of Mosul, coalition leaders fear that the remnants of the Hussein regime will make a fierce, final stand in Tikrit. Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, said in Washington that the Kurdish forces were accompanied by U.S. special operations forces on their drive into Kirkuk. He said they will soon be joined by parts of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. Bringing more U.S. troops here is seen as crucial to coalition hopes to keep Turkish forces away. Turkey announced yesterday it will be sending military observers to Kirkuk. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had promised Turkey that the Kurds will be replaced with U.S. forces. And, in Washington, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer promised that Kirkuk "will be under American control." On the streets of Kirkuk, though, yesterday was a day of liberation and homecoming for hundreds of Kurds forced out of their homes by Hussein after the 1991 Persian Gulf war. For the returnees and those who had remained in Kirkuk, the day was rich in symbolism. In a scene reminiscent of what happened one day earlier in Baghdad, U.S. soldiers helped pull down a huge bronze statue of Hussein, much to the delight of residents who then beat on his metal face with the heels of their shoes and steel bars. Others danced and sang in front of the fallen statue, waving signs and chanting thanks to the United States, Great Britain, President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. They ripped, stomped and spit on Iraqi currency bearing Hussein's likeness. One man climbed atop the fallen statue and fired a pistol in exaltation. Men locked arms and performed wedding dances while horns blared incessantly. For many of the 3.5 million Kurds living in Iraq, the fall of Kirkuk meant liberation, elation and a historic moment akin to the fall of Europe's Iron Curtain. While the response to the fall of Baghdad a day earlier might have been somewhat guarded or possibly reflected mixed feelings, the people of Kirkuk showed little restraint, apprehension or ambivalence in expressing their joy yesterday. "I've never known freedom before this day," said Omed Ahmad, 29. "The political system here was a prison," said Mohammad Nor, 26. "I have dreamed of freedom my whole life," said Khalil Ibrahim, 34. Residents described their terror in the weeks leading up to the war and a nightmarish political system over the past 30 years that deprived them of jobs if they were Kurdish and denied them access to satellite TV, cellular telephones and the Internet. Those who had regular telephone lines said Iraqi intelligence officials monitored their calls. Along the 22-mile stretch of road from the Kurdish city of Chamchamal to Kirkuk, four lanes of pavement turned into a snarl of westbound traffic. Groups of elderly women dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes set off on foot to cover the distance. Women carried children. Children carried younger children. Others stood in the back of pickup trucks. Some jogged along the road. As they passed, growing throngs of people on the roadside greeted them like marathoners. Others made the trip by truck or tractor. Families packed into cars like circus clowns. For many of the returnees, the end of the journey provided a first glimpse of the oil-rich city in 12 years and tearful reunions with family members they hadn't seen in just as long. It had been that long since Iraqi and Kurdish forces created an inviolable no-man's land between Chamchamal and Kirkuk. It was enforced by Iraqi land mines, machine guns and artillery. The semi-autonomous Kurdish region had been protected by a U.S. and British warplanes that since 1991 had enforced a no-fly zone over the area. The road into Kirkuk yesterday was covered in oil. Hussein's forces had dug trenches along the roadway and filled them with oil. They planned to set them on fire, hoping the smoke would make it difficult for coalition bombers to find their targets. But much of the oil spilled onto the roadway instead. Inside Kirkuk, a man pushed a hand cart along a street, carrying two bloody corpses. Several men who helped load the bodies onto the cart said they were Iraqi soldiers killed when they refused to turn over their military vehicle to civilians. The account could not be confirmed. A small U.S. military force was present in the city. U.S. soldiers moved carefully through the ruling Baath Party headquarters, room by room, and declared it clear. Inside a mural of Hussein had been spray painted with the Arabic word for criminal. The Baath Party officials had taken everything of value from the building and destroyed what remained. Outside, a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle made its way through the streets. For the most part, the city was under the control of Kurdish forces. Some looting and arson occurred. Black smoke belched from windows of the Central Market. Even after all of the contents of the shops had been taken by looters, small boys and grown men pulled off window and door frames. "I kiss George Bush's shoes; he liberated us," said looter Goran Sabaah, 20. With the help of several boys, Sabaah was prying free door frames from the back of the burning market, lifting them over a fence and piling them on a donkey cart. He said he walked the 22 miles yesterday from Chamchamal to Kirkuk. "I was so happy I don't know how long it took," he said. Most of the attacks yesterday afternoon were against images of Hussein. A large mural of Hussein in front of the municipal building was charred. "There are 25 million Iraqis and 35 million pictures of Saddam," sniffed Samal Abdul Rahim, 45. When someone asked what the fallen statue of Hussein was made of, 38-year-old Sammad Mohammad replied, "The blood of people." Concerns about revenge attacks by Kurds against Arabs seemed largely unjustified yesterday, although the potential for violence remains. The dominant mood in the freshly liberated Kurdish city was jubilation. "We as Kurds and Iraqi people have waited for this day for a long time," said Bahjed Shef Said. "This is a day of happiness for all Iraq."