[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 153 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE ON EFFECTS OF SYRIA ACCOUNTABILITY ACT ON 
                             IRAQI ECONOMY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, amid the U.S. Coalition Provisional 
Authority's push for a free and democratic society in Iraq, this House 
has been constructing a dangerous wall threatening Syria. The recently 
passed legislation, H.R. 1828, will not help alleviate the incessant 
attacks that our soldiers are facing daily in Iraq, as an integral part 
in ensuring their safety is an immediate boost to provide Iraqis with 
jobs and prospects for prosperity. But the SAA will only prove to upset 
these efforts. Hugh Pope elaborates on this point in the article ``Iraq 
Adds Complexity for U.S., Syria,'' which appeared in the October 20th 
issue of the Wall Street Journal. I recommend the following article to 
all of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, and to the 
administration.

             [From the Wall Street Journal, Oct. 20, 2003]

                  Iraq Adds Complexity for U.S., Syria


  As Washington Sanctions Damascus, American Troops Seek Syrian Trade 
                                Partners

                             (By Hugh Pope)

       Mosul, Iraq.--While the House of Representatives was voting 
     to adopt a new raft of Syrian sanctions in Washington last 
     week, here in northern Iraq the 101st Airborne Division was 
     doing everything in its power to burnish economic relations 
     with Syria.
       ``It's the freest trade there has ever been here,'' said 
     Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne's 
     22,000 troops, in an Oct. 10 war room briefing for U.S. 
     visitors involved in the campaign to promote American 
     achievements in Iraq. He proudly called for the next slide, 
     an image from the day the Iraq-Syria frontier post opened for 
     business. It featured a Syrian border monument with a huge 
     picture of that nation's late president, Hafez al-Assad.
       Mr. Assad's son Bashar is now Syria's head of state, and 
     the sanctions, headed for the Senate, are meant to punish 
     Damascus until the U.S. says it has stopped sponsoring 
     terrorism.
       But the burgeoning relationship between Syria and American-
     controlled northern Iraq illustrates a divergence of 
     interests between Middle Eastern priorities in Washington and 
     the more immediate, on-the-ground needs of the U.S. 
     occupation forces in Iraq, who seek to bring Iraqis the jobs 
     and prosperity they view as a key step in ending attacks on 
     U.S. forces.
       ``Our No. 1 problem is unemployment,'' said Gen. Petraeus, 
     who has noted a falling-off in supplies of discretionary 
     funds that his officers use to keep projects going forward in 
     his area of responsibility. He has spent $28 million so far 
     and says he needs more. ``The north has the military forces 
     it needs,'' he said. ``All we need is money.''
       Spurring the local economy is a critical element in Gen. 
     Petraeus's campaign, and he has used his funds to restart a 
     long-dormant asphalt factory, uncap local oil wells and work 
     to bring irrigation to a new area of wheat fields.
       Gen. Petraeus didn't say whether he had had friction with 
     the civilian U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad 
     over his relationship with the Syrians. An officer of the 
     101st said its general practice was not to confront the CPA 
     but to do what they thought best and ``apologize later rather 
     than seek permission first.'' CPA officials said they had no 
     comment on the wider question of trade with Syria, which also 
     takes place elsewhere in Iraq, since no new U.S. sanctions 
     were yet in force.
       But trade is vital to this city of 1.7 million and the 
     surrounding region, and one of Gen. Petraeus's first 
     priorities upon taking control of the north was to open the 
     Turkish and Syrian borders. Now, he said, some 500 to 700 
     trucks arrive from Syria each day, paying a toll of $10 for a 
     pickup and $20 for a bigger rig. He has also pioneered easy, 
     visa-free travel between Mosul province, home to about 12% of 
     Iraq's 25 million people, and the neighboring Syrian region.
       To help Iraq cope with its huge electricity deficit, the 
     general dreamed up a scheme to buy power from Syria in return 
     for Iraqi oil. Speeding the process with his fleet of 
     helicopters, he brought together officials from Damascus, men 
     from the new ministries in Baghdad and the best of the 60 
     lawyers in his own force to hammer out a deal.
       Negotiations dragged on, and the general feared they would 
     collapse over bureaucratic details. To break the logjam, he 
     proposed that his engineers swing open the valves on the 
     Iraqi oil-export pipeline, the Syrians switch on the power 
     lines, and the haggling proceed at leisure over the exact 
     final price. Everyone agreed.
       Six weeks later, the informal arrangement appears to be 
     working well, Gen. Petraeus said, even if the power from 
     Syria represents well under 10% of local production.
       Security hasn't been neglected. Some 800 border guards have 
     been retrained and set up at the old border post to keep an 
     eye out for Islamist and other Arab fighters, some of them 
     Syrian, who have been slipping over the border to attack U.S. 
     troops. But on the tables of Mosul, breakfast now includes 
     Syrian apricot jam.

                          ____________________