Rada approves battalion's deployment to Kuwait (03/23/03)

Rada approves battalion's deployment to Kuwait

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - As the first U.S. bombs fell on Iraq on March 20, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada approved the deployment to Kuwait of an army battalion that specializes in the clean-up of chemical, biological and nuclear contamination - but only after a heated and sharp debate.

The Ukrainian Parliament supported the decision by President Leonid Kuchma to offer the battalion for "humanitarian" support by a comfortable voting margin of 258 to 121, while 253 lawmakers ratified the agreement between Kuwait and Ukraine on the details of the deployment.

Ukraine proposed the expertise and equipment of the 19th Special Battalion, usually stationed near the city of Sambir in western Ukraine, for service in the Iraqi conflict after a request from the United States in early February, which was followed by an appeal from Kuwait on March 6.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council approved the request from the United States on February 20, while President Kuchma signed a decree supporting the Kuwait invitation the day it was received.

While some national deputies had called the odds for ratification of a deployment "about 50-50" less than 24 hours before the vote, the two bills passed easily after a heated debate in which representatives of the Socialist, Communist and Tymoshenko factions opposed the call to action, while Our Ukraine joined the pro-presidential factions in support of a deployment.

"We seem to want to decide here whether there should be peace or war, so let me tell you that at 4 a.m. war began," stated Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, as an unusually noisy parliamentary session fell silent to hear where the popular leader stood on the issue.

"Any normal person longs for peace, but war has begun. Already there may be those out there who need the help we can offer," added Mr. Yushchenko as shouts of protest broke out from among the lawmakers opposed to deployment.

National Deputy Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist faction, was blunt in his assessment of the situation around Iraq and Ukraine's proposed relationship to it.

"Our responsibility is to defend the people of Iraq," said Mr. Symonenko. "The U.S. has already sent tens of thousands of Iraqi mothers and their children to their graves. The only point here is to take the oil in Iraq. The 550 or so troops we send, our own sons and daughters, will perish."

Socialist faction leader Oleksander Moroz, Mr. Symonenko's colleague on the oppositionist side of the political arena in Ukraine, derided the Ukrainian offer to the United States and Kuwait, and said that a vote in support of sending the 19th Battalion to the Mideast would only allow President Kuchma to continue political maneuvering intended to further his personal political ambitions.

"Yesterday we were selling Kolchuhas [radar systems] to Iraq, today we have turned the other way to say, hey, maybe we can help [the U.S.] with a battalion," Mr. Moroz stated.

The Socialist Party leader added, "Come on, we have our own Hussein, let's deal with him."

Yevhen Marchuk, head of the National Security and Defense Council, which gave the initial approval for participation of the 19th Special Battalion in the humanitarian effort in Iraq, emphasized repeatedly during his address to the lawmakers that none of the 531 Ukrainian soldiers that are part of the contingent would become combatants. He also vowed that they would not enter Iraq. At the same time he reminded the Communist faction members that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had destroyed the Iraqi political party of the same name.

"Let me tell you that Hussein wiped out your Communist brethren in Iraq and left the party in a pool of blood up to its knees," said Mr. Marchuk.

The specialized battalion will take up to 12 days to deploy, according to the national security chief. It will take orders only from Ukraine's General Staff in Kyiv, which will be apprised of the situation in the Persian Gulf by the United States and other coalition members to determine when and how its expertise is needed.

The Ukrainian battalion will join similar contamination clean-up units from the Czech Republic and Slovakia that have already deployed on Kuwaiti territory. It will bring 165 pieces of machinery and equipment, including armored vehicles and machine guns, but most importantly, mobile laboratories and decontamination equipment and the expertise of its 531-member force. The daily cost to keep the battalion in Kuwait will be just under $1 million with an additional $6 million needed to transport the contingent there. The U.S. has agreed to cover the costs, which will include an average salary of $600 per month for each Ukrainian soldier. The salary would increase to $1,000 a month should a nuclear, biological or chemical attack occur.

* * *

As military action against Iraq began, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its regret that the United Nations Security Council had failed to find a resolution to the Iraq crisis in a diplomatic and peaceful manner.

The ministry called for every effort to minimize casualties among the civilian population and demanded adherence to the highest standards of international human rights. It underscored the need to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq in any post-war environment and not allow for the further destabilization of the Mideast. The ministry also expressed Ukraine's willingness to take part in all humanitarian efforts during and after the war.

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