Death Struggle in the Desert

By William Drozdiak

Iran steps up its attacks, but the newly inspired Iraqis rally

For the fifth time in three weeks, tens of thousands of Iranian soldiers launched a furious offensive against Iraqi forces entrenched near the Shatt al Arab waterway. Many of the Iranian troops, according to Iraqi officials, went into battle carrying a plastic key that the ayatullahs had told them was the key to paradise. Said one Iranian officer: "In fact, it is the key to hell."

Still, this time the Iranian high command abandoned its suicidal tactic of human wave assaults and adopted a more conventional deployment of armor and artillery to confront the Iraqis. The Iranian forces pushed eleven miles inside Iraqi territory before they were stopped by a ferocious counterattack near the strategic Iraqi port of Basra. For the spoils of a few miles of sun-baked marshland, some 2,000 Iranians lost their lives. Iraq now says that more than 21,000 Iranian troops have been killed in the abortive drive on Basra, while Iraqi casualties, though not publicized, are estimated to be 5,000 dead and wounded.

The latest cycle of bloodshed and renewed stalemate intensified appeals for a rapid settlement of the 22-month-old conflict. Last week Iraqi President Saddam Hussein admitted that he was "favorably disposed" to Algeria's offer to serve as mediator between the two warring nations. He also suggested that the truce should become effective in early September, coinciding with the summit of non-aligned nations scheduled to take place in Baghdad. Bright banners already festoon the Iraqi capital, bearing the words WELCOME TO OUR DISTINGUISHED VISITORS in English, French and Arabic. For years Saddam Hussein has envisioned the summit as a grandiose occasion to mark Iraq's emergence as a leading force in the non-aligned movement.

But Iran evinces no signs of accommodating Saddam Hussein's wishes. Tehran insists that peace can be achieved only after three conditions are satisfied: the repatriation of 120,000 Iraqi Shi'ites exiled in Iran, the payment of $150 billion in war reparations and "punishment of the aggressor." For Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini and other mullahs in the government hierarchy, the last condition means nothing less than Saddam Hussein's ouster, the destruction of the ruling Baath Party and the establishment of a pro-Iran Shi'ite regime in Baghdad.

On a trip to Algiers two weeks ago, Iranian Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi spelled out those terms and stressed Khomeini's intractable demand that Saddam Hussein must go before peace can be restored. The Algerians, according to a senior Iranian diplomat, suggested that one way to break the impasse would be to create an international commission that would assign guilt in the gulf war and thus presumably condemn Saddam Hussein for his initial invasion of Iran. But Moussavi rejected the idea and declined to modify his position. Said he: "Iran will accept Algerian mediation if it helps to achieve the Iranian conditions."

Iran's intransigent stand toward negotiations augurs more death and destruction. After meeting with Khomeini last week, Brigadier General Qassem Ali Zahirnejad, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "We have bigger operations in store that we shall unleash in order to put the enemy in his place. If we stay idle, Saddam himself or another Saddam will attack us."

In anticipation of further Iranian assaults, exit visas were canceled to ensure that all able-bodied men were available for military service. Said an Iraqi officer: "There is hardly anybody born between 1948 and 1962 who is not at the front."

As the fighting went on, Saddam Hussein tried to get new pledges of support from the Arab gulf states, which remain highly apprehensive about Khomeini's Islamic revolutionary fervor. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz recently flew to Baghdad to offer generous assistance to Saddam Hussein. If a peace deal could be worked out, Abdullah claimed, Saudi Arabia was prepared to pay Iran for war reparations. Said Abdullah: "Any price in terms of money is worth it if we can get rid of this pestilence of war."

Iraq's defense of the Basra region appears to have infused new life into Saddam Hussein's regime. The Iraqi strongman seems to have been vindicated in the belief that his troops would fight tenaciously once they were protecting their own territory. Moreover, his assiduous courtship of Iraqi Shi'ites, who make up 55% of the population, has blunted Khomeini's call for insurgency. But Saddam Hussein's ultimate test still lies ahead: both he and Khomeini realize that their bitter rivalry will be resolved only when one of them is swept from power. --By William Drozdiak. Reported by Dean Brelis/Baghdad and Raji Samghabadi/New York

With reporting by Dean Brelis, Raji Samghabadi

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