Global Policy Forum

By Michael Gordon

The Bush administration is prepared to finance the construction of a radio transmitter in the Kurdish enclave in Iraq or in neighboring Iran so that the Iraqi opposition can begin broadcasts to encourage opposition to Saddam Hussein, State Department officials said today.

"We have given tentative approval to the concept of putting a transmitter in Iraq or Iran," a State Department official said. "But we cannot support it unless the Kurds or Iranians agree." There are increasing signs that the Bush administration is girding for a political — and potentially military — showdown with Iraq over Saddam Hussein's efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The decision to build the transmitter represents a new degree of support for the Iraqi National Congress, as the Iraqi opposition group is known, as well as some flexibility in Washington's dealings with Iran. For years, the State Department insisted that it would not consider financing opposition operations in Iraq because they were too risky, and President Bush recently labeled Iran part of an "axis of evil."

Now, however, the State Department has indicated that it is prepared to pay to build the transmitter on Iraqi territory to beam the Iraqi opposition's programs into Iraq if the project is supported by the main Kurdish groups in northern Iraq. The choice of Iran as a potential base for the transmitter demonstrates that despite President Bush's characterization of Iran, there are cases where American and Iranian interests may intersect.

Just as both nations found some common cause in their opposition to the Taliban government in Afghanistan, they each have longstanding rivalries with Mr. Hussein, who fought a brutal land war against Iran through much of the 1980's. The construction of a radio transmitter on Iranian territory would not be the first time that the Bush administration has financed activities in Iran by the Iraqi opposition.

Last year, the Bush administration quietly gave the Iraqi National Congress money to open an office in Tehran, which has been an important base for many of its activities. In order to use that money, the Iraqi opposition received a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, which administers the American sanctions against Iran. Ahmad Chalabi, the founder of the Iraqi National Congress, said that the Iranians would support construction of an American-financed radio transmitter on their territory.

But Mr. Chalabi indicated that for reasons of symbolism, as well as practicality, his primary goal was to persuade the State Department that he has sufficient Kurdish backing to allow the installation of the transmitter on Iraqi soil in parts of northern Iraq that the Kurds control. The Kurds in the north have been protected by American and British air patrols over their region but are not united among themselves.

That battle over just how much Kurdish support is needed before the United States would pay to build a transmitter in northern Iraq may just be beginning. A State Department official said it would require the backing of the two main Kurdish groups, which are led by Jalal Talabani and his rival, Massoud Barzani. "We feel it is important that these two major Kurdish groups support this move," a State Department official said. "I am sure you could always find a Kurd who will support this. That is not what we are looking for."

But Mr. Chalabi said he was not proposing to put the transmitter on territory controlled by Mr. Talabani or Mr. Barzani because that would make them vulnerable to threats from Mr. Hussein. Instead, Mr. Chalabi wants to erect the transmitter on Sorain Mountain, which is close to the Iranian border, well away from Saddam Hussein's forces and in a region that Mr. Chalabi says is under the control of a small Kurdish Socialist party that supports the plan.

"I do not believe this will be a problem if the U.S wants to help us do it," Mr. Chalabi said. "Talabani and Barzani think it would be difficult to put it on their territory, but they are not objecting to our message." The plan for the radio broadcasts is just one element of the Iraqi opposition's broader plans to undermine Mr. Hussein. The Iraqi National Congress is also planning to hold a conference of several hundred former — and even some current — Iraqi military officers. The State Department is supporting the conference, which would be held in Washington.

The Iraqi National Congress is also seeking military training but has so far been rebuffed by the Bush administration, which is considering the option. American and Iraqi opposition officials say the transmitter could fill a gap in the American-sponsored propaganda campaign against Iraq. Currently, the United States spends almost $400,000 a month to support satellite television broadcasts by the Iraqi opposition.

The four-hour broadcast, repeated six times a day, can be seen only by Iraqis who have satellite dishes. The American government also transmits shortwave radio broadcasts to influence Iraqi opinion. But the new FM transmitter would have the power to reach Baghdad and other Iraqi cities in central Iraq. FM is more popular than shortwave and more difficult to jam than AM, Iraqi opposition officials say.

The opposition's plan estimates that it would cost $1 million to install the transmitter and broadcast opposition programs for about a year. The programs would be produced in a studio in London, but sensitive to American politics, the Iraqi National Congress notes in its proposal that the radio transmitter would be "manufactured in the U.S.A." "We will use it to broadcast programs to many homes in Iraq," Mr. Chalabi said. "The content will be supporting democracy and freedom, identifying agents of the regime and mobilizing general support to get rid of Saddam."

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