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U.S. trains Iraqi exiles to help in possible war

By Kris Osborn
CNN Headline News

Iraqi exiles
Iraqi volunteers attend a lecture last month during U.S. training sessions at the Taszar Air Base in Hungary.

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(CNN) -- At Taszar Air Base in Hungary, more than 100 miles southwest of Budapest, the U.S. Army is training Iraqi exiles to work with and support coalition forces in the event of war in Iraq.

Soldiers from U.S. Army units are training classes of up to 500 Iraqi opposition volunteers in various skills.

If there is a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the exiles' mission, according to U.S. military officials, will be to coordinate between coalition forces and humanitarian relief agencies. They will help ensure that displaced citizens or any Iraqis who might be in need receive help, officials said.

Maj. Bob Stern, spokesman for the U.S. training task force, said, "They will be supporting the coalition forces in civil military operations. This includes humanitarian relief support, basically resource control procedures, things like food, shelter, medical support and knowing where the displaced citizens may be.

"You really feel for them. The volunteers talk about their own personal experiences of being oppressed in Iraq," Stern said. "Their accounts range from being brutalized to being shot, and in some cases, the exiles say their family members have been murdered."

U.S. military officials said they have sought to protect the volunteers' identities for security reasons and for the safety of some exiles' family members who may live in Iraq.

Stern said the volunteers share a common vision -- a "free and democratic Iraq."

"They all believe that the liberation of Iraq from Saddam [Hussein] is a goal shared by the people of Iraq," he said. "They are allowed to say this, knowing that their brethren in Iraq cannot.

"These individuals have fled Iraq because of Saddam's brutal repression. They have left their jobs, their homes and their families to participate in this training program."

U.S. military personnel said the exiles' knowledge of Iraq could prove useful to humanitarian efforts in the event of war.

One official said the Iraqi volunteers are joining the program from "all over the world -- North America, Europe and other parts of the globe. Per our agreement with Hungary, we can train up to 3,000 volunteers during a six-month period."

Stern said the program has two phases. "The first phase is self-defense, and the second phase focuses on civil military operations," he said. "They are learning how to protect themselves from chemical and/or biological attacks, read maps, identify and avoid land mines. They are also trained in basic first aid and in the use of small arms for self-defense, [such as] a 9mm pistol."

For volunteers to be selected for training, Iraqi opposition groups must submit a list to the U.S. government, which then screens applicants. The training operation falls under the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, officials said.

Stern said one group of Iraqi volunteers has completed the training and has been flown to southwest Asia, a region under U.S. Central Command's responsibility. A second group is midway through the course, and more Iraqis are scheduled to arrive.


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