Teodor Marjanovic: Respekt's Man in Iraq

Teodor Marjanovic is the head of the Foreign Desk at one of the Czech Republic's cutting-edge weeklies 'Respekt'. The 32-year-old Czech reporter was recently on assignment in Iraq and upon his return he attended various public debates and discussions in Prague on the possibility of war in Iraq, as well as the Czech perspective. One such debate, organised by the People in Need Foundation at Prague's Roxy club, took place last month with several hundred university students and young intellectuals in attendance. Teodor Marjanovic defended a pro-US stance just days after cities around the world saw massive anti-war demonstrations. I began by asking him if he found it uncomfortable being in the "hot seat" during the debate...

"In a way, yes, I don't want to act as an advocate of US diplomacy, of the Bush administration, but, in fact, during such interviews, during such meetings when I have to defend my opinion, which is that a war on Iraq has a point, inevitably I get into a position that I have to defend George W. Bush. But I got used to it in away, since I got back from Iraq, I was there just before Christmas. I was invited to, say, five or six discussions, panels..."

You say you were in Iraq before Christmas: how long were you there for, what was the purpose of that visit?

"Respekt got some grants to undertake trips overseas, to foreign countries, to write in-depth cover stories about difficult places on Earth. Iraq was, from the very beginning, on the top of the list. And, after the inspectors got back in to Iraq, we took the decision to go immediately."

What is it like for foreign journalists there now?

"Well, Iraq is a totalitarian state, so I had the feeling I was going to the 'lion's nest'... I was expecting that it was going to be very tough and I was surprised in the end that although when you get there you have to got to the Ministry of Information, you have to spend a day filling-in all kinds of questionnaires, asking you all sorts of questions - nobody actually tells you what you can do and what you cannot - I was surprised in the end that in Baghdad itself I was able to move around without a 'minder'. Which is very important if you want to write a story about what people think about this possible war, and about possible political changes that might be put in place as a result of this war."

What are some of the dominant elements when you arrive in Baghdad?

"I was surprised to see that Baghdad is a normal city. You know, there are cafes, there are cinemas, they laugh, they talk, it's just a normal Arab city, as anywhere in the Middle East. And I thought that people are going to be very scared, that they are going to stay inside their homes... Of course that doesn't mean that people are ready to talk, or that they don't fear the presence of the secret police all around..."

At the debate organised by People in Need there was very much the emphasis on the cult of personality of Saddam Hussein, his strong imprint on everything...

"Yes of course, the statues, and the pictures are all over. You get used to it after a couple of days, because Saddam is always watching you, wherever you move... In Baghdad I managed to meet some people who are painters, who are sculptors, who are artists, and with some of them I had the chance to ask them questions about what do they think "really", because it's not possible to ask someone at the very first moment 'So what do you think about Saddam Hussein?'. Nobody would answer you sincerely. And one of them was very brave I would say, because he said 'You see, when I get out of Iraq one day, I will tell you what I think. But here in the country don't expect me to tell anything.' This was very sincere, and he was risking a lot, because I was moving around without a minder, and people don't know if this is a sort of provocation. Because, if you are without a minder it's suspicious: 'who are you that you just come here and asking all kinds of questions'... Actually, I think if I was successful in my journalistic trip to Iraq it was in the fact I met three or four people such as him, who did tell me very small bits, which put into the larger picture of Iraq, you can see how difficult this country is, how impossible it is to live there, to think with your own mind. This is what I was trying to tell the people in Roxy, that if I was Iraqi I would agree with US bombing, in order to put this regime away."

One of the early arguments still left from the Gulf War, is that the Iraqi people should overthrow the Iraqi regime themselves...

"It is impossible, because the grip of the security police and the state apparatus is so tough. It's impossible to think that there is some sort of public opinion, that there is anybody able to do anything. As soon as anybody shows any sort of dissent, he is smashed. He gets not only himself, but all of his family into jail. There isn't anybody who is willing to take the risk... It's like saying that in the 1950s the people in the Soviet Union could have overthrown Stalin. It's impossible."

Still, do you have apprehensions at the thought of this huge military operation going ahead, possibly without a UN mandate?

"Well, what I think is that US soldiers are not going to be seen as liberators, although many Iraqis would like to see some changes. And, they realise that no one else other than American soldiers are able to bring such changes. But they don't like them, they don't like America, they think they are doing this just because of oil, because they just want access to the natural wealth of Iraq. And, how can anybody be a liberator, who is bombing Iraq constantly for twelve years, who is behind the sanctions, and who, in 1991, left the Sh'ia rebels in the south and didn't help them to overthrow Saddam Hussein - they were expecting it. Instead, the US pulled back, and the Republican Guards came from Baghdad to the south and just smashed the revolution there. So, I thin that the average Iraqi - although this is very difficult to say, because there are no surveys about what average Iraqis think, what are their feelings - if I can say this I think the average Iraqi doesn't like the United States, and the US Army is going to have big difficulties in order to convince them that they are bringing not aggression, not occupation, but freedom."

What do you say to the Czech role, there's a very divided position there because the government is much more pro-US than the actual population... the numbers are around 70 percent are against any war in Iraq...

"I still think that people here in this country have some sort of understanding for the stance of the government. I think this is because Czechs still have the recent experience of what a totalitarian state is about. If I write in my article that Iraq is a totalitarian state, I think I can expect that my readers will know what it means. If you were a French journalist and you wrote it in "Le Monde", I don't think that French people would actually know what it "really" means, to live in a country where the secret police has total control, where they put in jail everybody who criticises the government. So, I think makes a big difference between public opinion here and western Europe. The government is pro-US because of the historical experience with appeasement. You know, if there is anybody who is going to guarantee stability in Europe it is the US. This is a strong belief."

Do you think, if it does come to war and Saddam's regime is overthrown, that Czechs will have a further role to play, more than just in the military with their anti-chemical units, but also on a diplomatic level?

"This is very difficult to say; it depends how this war is going to end. If the United States do win it very quickly and overthrow the regime in a couple weeks, than everybody, even France, Russia, Germany will try to be there and help, to be on the side of the winners, in which case the Czech Republic would have difficulty to squeeze in... But, if its the worst scenario, if it proves difficult and there won't be any quick success, then there will be strong pressure from the public here for the Czechs to pull their units out and leave it all up to the Americans."