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Betreff : IRAQ: IRAQ-NEWS - July 22-23, 2002
Reuters (with additional material by AP). 22 July 2002. U.S.
completing new military camps in Gulf region.
KUWAIT and PUTRAJAYA -- The United States is completing work on new
military facilities in the Gulf region as the Bush administration
pursues its plans to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, officials
in the area said.
They said the facilities were not directly linked to U.S. calls for a
"regime change" in Iraq but were part of plans to improve and upgrade
U.S. installations in the oil-rich region.
These include installations in Qatar and Kuwait. The United States
already has a military presence in the Gulf waterway and in all six
Gulf Arab states in addition to non-Arab Turkey -- Iraq's northern
neighbour.
Kuwait's Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah told Reuters
on Monday that a new military camp in the south of the country is
almost ready for U.S. troop deployment.
Western military sources said the camp would be ready within weeks
while some four tent cities had been erected in the north, close
to the Iraqi border.
Washington has also replenished its military stocks in the region
after a draw down for use in the war in Afghanistan, the sources
said.
Some Arab states fear a backlash in the Arab world, already angered
by what they see as blind U.S. support for Israel in its fight with
the Palestineian Authority, if military action were taken to topple
Saddam.
Leaders of Iran and Malaysia, two key Islamic nations, met Monday and
reinforced their shared opposition to any U.S. military action against
Iraq, an official at the meeting said.
But Western sources familiar with plans to oust Saddam told Reuters
that some Washington planners believe removing Saddam would rally
support for the U.S. position.
"Some high up in the (U.S.) administration believe that getting rid of
Saddam will facilitate movement on the Palestinian issue," [!!] a well-
placed source said.
"Also, if Saddam is toppled quickly, you will see some Arab (official)
support gradually emerging," the source said. Some sources doubted
there would be any U.S. action prior to the U.S. congressional
elections in November.
"After the elections all options will be open and anything is
possible," said a U.S. official.
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Barry Stoller
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* * *
Iraq suggests special Arab League meeting on US threats
======================================
Xinhuanet 2002-07-23 01:39:16
BAGHDAD, July 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's head of parliament suggested
on Monday the Arab League hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss
the threats of the US administration against Iraq, the official
Iraqi News Agency reported.
In a letter to Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, Iraq's
National Assembly Speaker Saadoun Hamadi said the US threats against
Iraq constituted "a threat to international security and peace and a
flagrant violation of the United Nations charter and the International
law."
US President George W. Bush, who branded Iraq as part of an "axis
of evil," has vowed to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by using
all the possible tools he has.
Iraq has remained adamant in the face of US threats.
The National Assembly had sent letters to its Arab counterparts and
called on the Arab parliaments to hold an emergency session for the
Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union to discuss the US threats against Iraq
as soon as possible, the INA reported on Friday.
Enditem
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* * *
US moves closer to war against Iraq
By Patrick Martin
23 July 2002
Last week's visit to Turkey by US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul
Wolfowitz marks another step towards full-scale American military
action against Iraq. Wolfowitz is the Bush administration policymaker
most closely identified with plans for war with the oil-rich Persian
Gulf country. The purpose of his trip was to hold top-level talks
with the regime whose cooperation is most vital to such an attack.
A US onslaught against Iraq would be one of the great crimes in the
history of American imperialism, rivaling only the bloody wars in
Korea and Vietnam. Internal Pentagon studies have already predicted
tens of thousands of civilian casualties in the event of a US
invasion. If fighting extends to the streets of Baghdad_or if the
Bush administration acts on its hints of earlier this year, and uses
tactical or strategic nuclear weapons_the death toll would rise
immeasurably.
Despite the claims that the purpose of a war against Iraq is to
overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish democracy in Iraq, the Bush
administration itself the product of an anti-democratic coup in the
2000 elections has no intention of installing a popular regime in
Baghdad. Instead, its goal is the seizure of Iraq's huge oil reserves
and the establishment of unchallenged US strategic dominance in the
two most important oil-producing regions of the world, the Persian
Gulf and Central Asia.
The real aims of Washington in the region were spelled out in the
Times of London in an article July 11, headlined, "West sees glittering
prizes ahead in giant oilfields."
"The removal of President Saddam Hussein would open Iraq's rich new
oilfields to Western bidders and bring the prospect of lessening
dependence on Saudi oil," the newspaper said. "No other country offers
such untapped oilfields..."
Iraq's proven reserves of 112 billion barrels are second only to Saudi
Arabia's 256 billion barrels. The oil riches could be even greater,
since unproven reserves may run as high as 220 billion barrels,
especially in the three huge oilfields in the south of Iraq_Majnoon,
West Qurna and Nahr Umar_each as large as the total oil resources of
Kuwait. As one industry expert told the British newspaper, "There is
nothing like it anywhere else in the world. It's the big prize."
There is a second, equally powerful motive behind the US drive to war
against Iraq. It is increasingly seen by sections of the ruling elite
as the only way out of the deepening financial and social crisis
within the United States. While news accounts in the American media
spread complacency about the timing of such a war, suggesting that
no action is likely until this winter or early in 2003, the crumbling
political standing of the Bush administration could produce a military
assault before the November elections.
Under conditions of meltdown in the stock market and incessant reports
of corporate criminality, some of them linked to Bush and Cheney
personally, as well as members of their cabinet, the White House may
well decide that the only alternative to a rout for the Republican
Party is a spectacular military adventure. This could involve anything
from massive bombing of Iraq, to a raid on Baghdad aimed at killing
Saddam Hussein and decapitating his regime, to a full-scale invasion.
The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, citing high-level sources in the
French government, said that an attack on Iraq could take place
as early as August. US media reports about the delays in deploying
American troops and the obstacles in obtaining support for governments
in the region were intended as "disinformation to achieve tactical
surprise with regard to the timing, place and method of the assault,"
the newspaper said. "Paris won't be surprised if the blow comes in the
middle of August, while Bush is seen vacationing at his Texas ranch,
in the form of a special forces raid backed by the CIA and precision
air attacks."
US battle plans
According to Pentagon reports leaked to the American media, the
military brass has concluded that a war against Iraq can be waged
successfully from Turkey and the small Persian Gulf states of
Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, without using the network of bases in
Saudi Arabia which were built up during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf
War.
The three small Gulf sheikdoms have become little more than extensions
of the American military infrastructure in the region. Last month
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited the three states, while not
stopping off in Saudi Arabia, an omission whose significance was not
lost on the regimes throughout the region.
Kuwait is home to Camp Doha, an American base only 35 miles from
the Iraqi border, site of the forward headquarters of the US Central
Command. Some 2,000 army troops, equipped with Abrams tanks, Bradley
fighting vehicles and Patriot air-defense missiles are at Camp
Doha, part of an 8,000-strong contingent of army, air force and navy
servicemen that dwarfs in size and fighting power the armed forces
of the Kuwaiti emir.
Qatar is the site of Al Udeid air base, a huge facility that is
already home to thousands of American airmen who operate F-16
fighters, JSTAR reconnaissance aircraft and KC-10 and KC-135 aerial
tankers. Al Udeid is being fitted out as the main command and control
center for US air operations in the region. It would replace Prince
Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, which served that purpose in the
1991 war but is now hampered by restrictions placed on its use by the
Saudi monarchy.
The island sheikdom of Bahrain is the principal naval base of the US
in the Persian Gulf, with 4,225 sailors and marines stationed there.
The naval headquarters for the US Central Command was shifted there
last December after completion of the first stage of military
operations in Afghanistan, marked by the overthrow of the Taliban.
One possible military scenario for a US war against Iraq, spelled out
in documents leaked to the New York Times and published July 5, would
involve a three-pronged attack from the Persian Gulf on the south,
from Jordan on the west, and from Turkey on the north.
A Jordanian role would represent a sharp change from 1991. The Pentagon
has several top-priority construction projects under way in Jordan,
including lengthening runways at two Jordanian air bases to accommodate
larger planes. Last month General Tommy Franks, commander of CentCom,
visited Jordan and held talks with King Abdullah and his senior
military commanders.
Bribes for Turkey
Wolfowitz's trip to Turkey was aimed at firming up support for a US
war against Iraq in the country which is the most important staging
area for such an assault. The US air base at Incirlik is key to aerial
operations in the northern half of the country, and Turkish ports and
land transport would be required to conduct ground operations in the
oil-rich region around Kirkuk.
While Turkish officials, including Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit,
reiterated their posture of opposition to a unilateral American
attack on Iraq, their real goal was to extract the best possible
price from Washington for their collaboration, both financially
and in terms of postwar arrangements in the event of an expected
American occupation of Baghdad.
The Turkish regime is primarily concerned that no independent
Kurdish regime emerge in northern Iraq, which could become a pole
of attraction for the large and cruelly oppressed Kurdish minority
in southeastern Turkey. Wolfowitz addressed this issue within hours
of his arrival, declaring in a speech in Istanbul that the US
government opposes any independent Kurdish state.
According to one report, Turkish officials pressed Wolfowitz for
a commitment that after a US-led war against Iraq, the Kurds will
not be left in control of Kirkuk and Mosul, the two main centers of
oil production in northern Iraq. Control of these oilfields would
represent a powerful economic basis for a Kurdish state_or a lucrative
prize for Turkey to reward it for support for or participation in the
war.
There are even more crass concerns in Ankara. As the New York Times
noted July 18 in its report on the Wolfowitz visit: "Turkey wants
the United States to write off more than $4 billion in debt, but
government officials said today that they were not naming a price for
their support of military action to topple President Saddam Hussein
of Iraq."
Except for the case of Turkey, the Bush administration is making
little pretense of consultation with the various sheiks and kings
who act as its stooges in the region. As the Times noted in its
account of the latest Pentagon scenario, "None of the countries
identified in the document as possible staging areas have been
formally consulted about playing such a role..."
The Times claimed this underscored "the preliminary nature of the
planning." It would be more accurate to say that it demonstrates the
disregard of the Bush administration for the national sovereignty
and rights of the peoples of the region.
The US war plans provide for a significant role for only one ally:
the former imperial ruler of the Persian Gulf, Great Britain. Press
reports in London July 19 said that Prime Minister Tony Blair is
preparing for a call-up of military reserves and has withdrawn an
armored division from training exercises so that it could be deployed
to the region if required. British ships and warplanes operate from
bases in Oman, Bahrain and Turkey.
US officials have concluded that there cannot even be the pretense of
Iraqi participation in the intervention, on the model of the Northern
Alliance in Afghanistan, because the rival factions of the Iraqi
bourgeois opposition have neither popular support nor military forces
at their disposal. Prior to his trip to Turkey, Wolfowitz met with
representatives of the Iraqi National Council, the main opposition
umbrella group, and heard what was described as a "bleak report" on
the "chaotic state of opposition forces in Iraq" (New York Times,
July 5).
The Bush administration is only looking for a suitable pretext for
war, whether in a breakdown of ongoing talks over reentry of UN
weapons inspectors, or a staged incident involving American and
British warplanes that continuously patrol the US-declared "no-fly"
zones in northern and southern Iraq. The pace of the ongoing bombing
attacks, allegedly in retaliation for Iraqi anti-aircraft fire, has
been stepped up. While only two large-scale raids took place in the
first five months of 2002, on February 28 and April 19, there have
been six days of bombing since the middle of June.
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* * *
ATLANTA JOURNAL AND CONSTITUTION (GA) 23rd July 2002
PROBE ON IN LEAK OF IRAQ ATTACK PLAN
Washington --- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed Monday
that he has ordered an investigation into who leaked information
to The New York Times about a planning document for an attack on
Iraq.
"If people start treating war plans like they're paper airplanes and
they can fly them around this building and throw them to anybody who
wants them, I think it's outrageous," Rumsfeld said. "It's inexcusable,
and they ought to be in jail."
Rumsfeld said he has not seen the document and that his characterization
of it as "low-level" in no way lessened his determination. He ordered
an investigation, which he said was the first time he had ever done
that.
"I think it is so egregious, so terrible, that I decided to have a
leak investigation, notwithstanding the cost," Rumsfeld said. "And
I am pleased I did."
The July 5 front-page article referred to the document as highly
classified and preliminary. The document "calls for air, land and
sea-based forces to attack Iraq from three directions --- the north,
south and west" with as many as 250,000 troops, according to the
article.
The Times said its information was supplied by a "source familiar
with the document . . . on the condition of anonymity" who expressed
frustration "that the planning reflected at least in this set of
briefing slides was insufficiently creative and failed to incorporate
fully the advances in tactics and technology that the military has
made since the Persian Gulf War in 1991."
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who was
with Rumsfeld, said there are "plenty of ways" to raise such concerns
"without leaking something."
Rumsfeld would not comment on whether material in the article had
compromised U.S. national security.
* * *
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (MO) 23rd July 2002
BOEING GEARS UP TO DOUBLE BOMB-KIT WORK ST.
CHARLES FACILITY IS GETTING AN ANNEX
Boeing Co.'s missile plant in St. Charles is gearing up for another
big increase in production of tail kits that turn ordinary bombs
dropped from military jets into satellite-guided smart bombs.
The bombs have been used heavily in the U.S. offensive in Afghanistan,
and they would figure prominently in any effort to oust Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein, defense experts say.
"I think (the Joint Direct Attack Munition) is going to be critical
to any operation against Iraq," said John Pike, director of
Globalsecurity.org, a research group in Alexandria, Va.
Boeing is producing 1,500 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, kits
a month in St. Charles. An appropriations package pending in Congress
would boost output to 2,800 kits a month by mid-2003.
At that production rate, 40 to 50 people will be employed on the
program, said Robert Algarotti, a Boeing spokesman.
Boeing is building a 36,000-square-foot annex to its JDAM production
area to prepare for the higher volume, Algarotti said.
The company has been increasing its output of JDAM kits since April
1999, when U.S. forces used them successfully in Serbia and Kosovo,
he said.
JDAM-equipped bombs have been the most widely used precision weapons
in Afghanistan, where nearly 7,000 have been dropped on targets.
JDAM kits fit over the end of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs and feature
a global positioning and inertial navigation system that helps to guide
the weapons to their targets.
The technology has two main selling points, said Jack Spencer, a
defense and national-security analyst for the Heritage Foundation
in Washington.
"It's incredibly accurate, and it's inexpensive," Spencer said.
Even at a price of about $20,000 per weapon, JDAMs can be less
expensive than conventional bombs because fewer are needed to
knock out a target, Spencer said.
The technology was developed after the Persian Gulf War, to meet a
need for weapons that could hit home in all weather and visibility
conditions.
JDAM-equipped bombs can be launched from a distance of 15 miles and
from an altitude of 45,000 feet.
The weapons systems aren't infallible, however.
A 2,000-pound, JDAM-equipped bomb landed about 100 yards from a group
of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in December, killing three and wounding
19. Five Afghan soldiers who were helping to track down al-Qaida or
Taliban forces also were killed.
"These are human-made, human-designed systems," Rear Adm. John
Stufflebeem said at the time. "They're going to have flaws."
The Defense Department began buying JDAM kits in 1998, primarily for
the Air Force. The Navy also uses them, and the kits have been approved
for sale to foreign allies.
Rick Smith, president of International Association of Machinists
District 837, remembers when only three or four people worked on
the JDAM program in St. Charles.
The numbers are still modest, but the growth is encouraging, Smith
said. "It's important as far as jobs are concerned, and it's important
to national security."
Boeing produced JDAM kits at a rate of 700 a month in 2000. It boosted
output to 1,000 a month last year and increased production even more
sharply in the first half of this year.
Boeing reached a production rate of 1,500 a month in June, and it plans
to push the figure to 2,000 a month by year's end.
The Defense Department would like a stockpile of 40,000 to 50,000 JDAM-
equipped bombs, Pike said.
The kits originally were designed for 2,000-pound bombs. Later
versions were developed for 1,000-pound bombs.
Boeing won a $45 million contract in September 2000 to develop a JDAM
variant for 500-pound bombs.
The Air Force flight-tested one of the 500-pound versions in April at
Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. An F-16 fighter launched the weapon
six miles away from its target, at an altitude of 20,000 feet. The
bomb followed its planned flight path to score a direct hit.
= = = = Joint Direct Attack Munition
JDAMs guide free-fall bombs in any weather using an inertial navigation
system and a global-positioning system in the tail. The bombs can be
launched from a wide range of altitudes in level or diving flight.
Contractor: Boeing Co.
Length: 119.5 to 152.7 inches
Weight: 1,013 to 2,115 pounds
Wingspan: 19.6 to 25 inches
Range: 15 miles
Ceiling: 45,000-plus feet
Cost: $21,000 per tail kit, plus cost of bomb
Deployed: 1999
* * *
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (MO) 23rd July 2002
THE ROAD TO WAR MAY RUN THROUGH JORDAN
"Well," said the prince, "if I can't be the king of Jordan, they're
just going to have to let me be the king of Iraq." Even as a line
in a children's book, it would sound far-fetched, and perhaps Prince
Hassan never actually put it quite that way. But he seems to be
serious about it, which shows just how silly things are getting.
It has been a trying couple of years for Prince Hassan. Groomed for
years to succeed his brother Hussein on the throne of Jordan, Hassan
had the rug pulled out from under him when King Hussein switched the
succession to his own son Abdullah just a few weeks before his death
in 1999. Word had it that Prince Hassan was very cross.
Nevertheless, when Prince Hassan went to Washington on April 8 to meet
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, the fiercest advocate
of a U.S. attack to overthrow Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein, it was
still hard to believe that the Bush administration was planning to put
a Jordanian-born prince on the throne of an Iraq turned back into a mon
archy, let alone that Hassan would go along with it.
Monarchy is long dead in most of the Arab world: Apart from the ruling
families of the Gulf oil-states, the Jordanian and Moroccan monarchies
were the only survivors of the revolutions of the '50s and '60s. The
end of the Iraqi monarchy in 1958 was particularly gruesome, with the
bullet-riddled bodies of the king and the crown prince being dragged
through the streets.
That murdered king came from the same Hashemite dynasty as Prince
Hassan. No doubt having his cousin publicly slaughtered and defiled
has left certain scars on his soul, but you would think that such a
vivid demonstration of the Iraqi people's verdict on their Hashemite
rulers might cause a prudent prince to think twice before bringing
the subject up again. However, this is a family that has always been
game for a gamble.
For many generations the Hashemites quietly administered the sacred
city of Mecca under Turkish rule, but then along came World War I
and that very accomplished snake-oil salesman T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a.
Lawrence of Arabia). Working for British intelligence, Lawrence
persuaded Sharif Hussein of Mecca to lead an Arab revolt against the
Turks, Britain's enemy, and promised that the Hashemite family would
rule an independent Arab state.
British troops did most of the fighting that freed the Arab provinces
from Turkish rule, but at the end of the war in 1918 one of Sharif
Hussein's sons, Prince Faisal, tried to create an Arab government to
rule all of the former Ottoman province of Syria. He was betrayed and
abandoned by the British, then driven out of Damascus by the French,
and the nascent Arab state was carved up into four countries: Lebanon
and the current, smaller Syria (both under French rule), Palestine
(ruled by Britain), and the impoverished desert tract called Trans-
jordan, which was given to the Hashemite family as a consolation prize.
Faisal's brother Abdullah became king of Transjordan (now called
Jordan), and despite revolts and assassinations the family has clung
onto that throne for eighty years. The British also found a job for
Faisal himself, as puppet king of Iraq, another new and mostly Arab
country carved out of the Ottoman empire. His branch of the family
managed to ride the Iraqi tiger until 1958, when they fell off and
got eaten. And now, it seems, Prince Hassan would like to give it
another try.
In late June, the chairman of Jordan's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen.
Khalid Jamil Surayrih, met Gen. Tommy Franks, who heads U.S. Central
Command, the organization that would control a U.S. attack on Iraq.
And on July 11, Prince Hassan, to everybody's astonishment, showed
up at a London meeting of former Iraqi officers opposed to Saddam
Hussein's regime. It proves nothing, but it suggests a great deal.
It suggests that Jordan's inexperienced young king and his ambitious
and embittered uncle are being drawn into a plan to put their family
back in power in Iraq, a plan that could be the ruin of them both. It
suggests that the Bush administration's planners haven't a clue about
how to hold Iraq together and give it a modern, democratic government
after (or rather, if) they overthrow Saddam Hussein. But it does
confirm that they intend to go ahead and try, if they can override
a clearly reluctant Pentagon.
* * *
BAGHDAD TV CARRIES CONFESSIONS OF IRANIAN AGENTS
Iraqi TV and Iraqi satellite TV at 1404 gmt on 23 July carried a
statement issued by the Public Security Directorate which announced
the arrest of a pro-Iranian agents accused of "terrorist activities".
At 1412 gmt, Baghdad television carried a recording of the confessions
of the "criminals" Hamzah Qasim Sabat and Ibrahim Abd-Jasim Muhammad.
The television showed shots of each of the two speaking, wearing light
coloured suits with no ties. They alternated in speaking on how they
were recruited, and the training courses they took. Most of the events
they discuss went back to the 1980s. They also described how they were
given orders to try to exploit the situation in Iraq after 11 September
2001.
The taped confessions ended at 1455 gmt.
Source: Iraqi TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 1404 gmt 23 Jul 02
* * *
AL BAWABA NEWS FROM MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 23rd July
2002
JORDAN JOINS OTHER ARAB STATES AND SIGNS FREE
TRADE DEAL WITH IRAQ
Iraq, which has signed a series of free trade agreements with its
Arab neighbors recently amidst US threats against its regime, agreed
on Monday to boost its business and economic cooperation with Jordan.
The Iraqi trade minister Mohammed Mahdi Saleh inked an accord "to
enlarge business and economic cooperation" with his visiting Jordanian
counterpart Salah Bashir, INA news agency reported.
Bashir, who arrived late last week, heading a trade mission, has held
talks with several top Iraqi officials, including deputy prime minister
Hekmat Ibrahim al-Azzawi, and the industry and minerals minister,
Mayssar Raja Shalah.
He was earlier in the day quoted in Jordan's Al-Doustour daily as
saying Jordan would follow the example of other Arab nations in
signing a free trade accord with Baghdad in spite of Western press
reports it is a likely staging post for a threatened US strike on
Jordan's neighbor.
"The Jordanian and Iraqi governments are determined to seal a free
trade agreement," Al-Dustour quoted Trade and Industry Minister Salah
Bashir as saying during his four-day visit to Baghdad. "The deal will
be signed in Baghdad soon at the heads of government level," Bashir
told the paper, without providing details on when Prime Minister Ali
Abu Ragheb would visit Iraq.
The minister recalled that the two countries were already bound by a
trade agreement dating back to 1957, which grants duty-free access
for certain goods and has helped make Iraq Jordan's main Arab trade
partner. A free trade agreement would "provide the two countries'
private sectors with more scope to strengthen bilateral trade," he
added.
The Kingdom of Jordan would be the 11th Arab state to sign a free trade
agreement with Baghdad, in a trend that has sparked growing concern in
Washington.
* * *
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - ENGLISH 23rd July 2002
IRAQ URGES EU TO PLAY MORE ACTIVE ROLE TO END
SANCTIONS
BAGHDAD, July 23 (AFP) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri has urged
the European Union to "play a more active role" to secure a lifting
of UN sanctions imposed on Iraq for the past 12 years, the official
INA news agency reported Tuesday.
"Iraq aspires to a more active role by the European Union to bring
about an end to the embargo" in force since Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait, Sabri said after a meeting in Brussels with Belgian counterpart
Louis Michel on Monday.
He also called on the EU to assert its "independence" vis-a-vis the
United States and show "greater understanding for Arab causes, chiefly
the Palestinian cause," INA said.
A statement from Michel's office said the Belgian foreign minister
told Sabri that Baghdad's only choice was to fully abide by UN Security
Council resolutions.
Sabri's talks with Michel came some two weeks after a meeting with UN
chief Kofi Annan failed to break the deadlock over the return of UN
arms inspectors to Iraq.
Michel urged Baghdad to allow a return of the inspectors, who were
recalled in December 1998 on the eve of a US-British air blitz, saying
the EU could play a role in finding a resolution to the Iraq crisis.
The United States has threatened to take military action against Iraq
and topple President Saddam Hussein on grounds that he is pursuing
weapons of mass destruction.
The Belgian foreign minister said he would continue to work to find a
lasting diplomatic solution to the crisis and improve the humanitarian
situation in Iraq.
* * *
PA NEWS 23rd July 2002
GOVERNMENT CHALLENGED ON IRAQ
The Government was challenged again in the Commons tonight on its
plans for Iraq.
Former Army officer Tory Patrick Mercer (Newark), defence select
committee member, said: "The much vaunted and much signalled campaign
in Iraq seems to be grinding further inevitably into action."
But he told the Commons, during a wide-ranging debate ahead of the
summer break: "There are questions that this House needs to know
before our troops take part."
US plans were well advanced and President Bush had made clear that he
intended to go to war in Iraq, he said.
Mr Mercer demanded: "What decisions have been made by this country? And
what is going to be the fate of this country's men and women when and
if we go to war alongside America?"
He added it seemed clear "our Prime Minister has made a decision that
we are going to act in concert with the US in a war against Iraq".
Questions included the size of any operation, the effect on moderate
Arab opinion, whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, who would
succeed Saddam Hussein and the true relationship between that country
and terrorist organisations.
"If we are going to go down the route of war in Iraq then this House
and the nation should have the chance to voice its opinion," he said.
Deputy Commons Leader Ben Bradshaw told MPs the Prime Minister had said
that the House would have ample opportunity to debate the issue of Iraq
before any action was taken.
* * *
Death Penalty Fits Spy Case, Prosecutors Say
U.S. Rebuts Defense Bid To Rule Out Execution
By Tom Jackman, Washington Post of Tuesday, July 23, 2002
The death penalty is an appropriate punishment for U.S. citizens
who commit espionage against their country and should be used in
the case of spy suspect Brian P. Regan, federal prosecutors said
in court papers.
Regan, 39, of Bowie, was arrested last August at Dulles International
Airport with satellite surveillance information that he was trying to
sell to Iraq, prosecutors say. He was charged with espionage, and the
government announced that it would seek his execution -- the first time
the government has sought capital punishment in an espionage case since
the death penalty was restored in 1976.
Regan's attorneys filed a series of briefs last month in Alexandria
federal court arguing that death for the former National Reconnaissance
Office analyst was disproportionate and unfair when compared with the
life sentences imposed on Aldrich H. Ames and Robert P. Hanssen,
government agents convicted of damaging intelligence leaks.
Regan is accused of trying to sell information to Iraq, China and
Libya. Defense attorneys also noted that Regan was caught before
transmitting any information to enemies of the United States.
"The defendant argues, in effect, no harm, no foul," Assistant U.S.
Attorney Randy I. Bellows, the lead prosecutor in the case, wrote
in a brief filed late Friday. "There was harm and we were fouled."
Bellows said that prosecutors intend to prove that Regan completed an
act of espionage and was not captured merely while making an attempt.
He argued that the United States has the right to defend itself "to
the maximum extent possible against one who would seek to market and
merchandise our national security to our enemies. . . . An individual
who commits a single act of espionage potentially places at risk not
only confidential sources and methods but may, in some instances,
jeopardize the lives of our soldiers and even the health, safety and
survival of our nation."
Regan's attorneys argued that the government has leaked information
to the news media that is far more detailed and damaging than what
Regan allegedly was carrying -- specifically information detailing
U.S. preparations for an invasion of Iraq.
Bellows said the issue was irrelevant. "How does that make Regan less
guilty or less deserving of severe punishment?" he asked. "A leak to
The New York Times in July 2002 does not make Regan less guilty or
less worthy of the death penalty for what he did in a prior year."
Both sides will argue the appropriateness of the death penalty before
U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee on Aug. 9.
* * *
Iraq's Saddam Hussein Plans Mid-October Referendum
BAGHDAD, July 23 (Reuters) - Iraq's Saddam Hussein is planning to hold
a referendum to endorse his presidency in mid-October, the country's
newspapers reported on Tuesday.
Politicians and analysts in Baghdad see the referendum as a routine
procedure to endorse Saddam for a new seven-year term.
"The great referendum day on the post of the president of the republic
will be held mid-October," the official al-Qadissiya newspaper said.
Saddam, who has been in power since 1979, won 99.96 percent of more
than eight million valid votes cast on a turnout of 99.47 percent
in an October 1995 referendum.
The plan for the vote coincides with increased rumblings from the
United States about the need for a "change of regime" in Iraq,
which holds the second largest oil reserves in the world behind
Saudi Arabia.
The 1995 referendum was the country's first since the monarchy was
overthrown in a July 1958 coup by units of the Iraqi army in which
King Faisal II was killed along with the crown prince. Power was
then placed in hands of a Council of Sovereignty and cabinet led by
Brigadier Abdul Karim Qassim.
* * *
Annan Rejects New Talks With Iraq Without Progress
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan told
U.N. Security Council members and a television interviewer on Tuesday
he did not intend to hold further talks with Iraq until Baghdad showed
some willingness to allow U.N. arms inspectors back into the country.
Some council diplomats at the monthly luncheon with the secretary-
general reported that Annan, however, stressed that the channel for a
dialogue should not be closed following the third round of unsuccessful
talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in Vienna on July 5-6.
The United States believes that three rounds of talks with no progress
were sufficient but other envoys hoped the discussions would continue,
if for no other reason than to ward off any possible U.S. attack.
The inspectors left Iraq in December 1998, the eve of a U.S.-British
bombing campaign to punish Baghdad for not cooperating with the arms
experts. Accounting for Iraq's dangerous weapons is key to suspending
U.N. sanctions, imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
Later on Tuesday, Annan told CNN's Lou Dobbs "Moneyline" he
deliberately did not set a date for another session after the
Vienna talks until the Iraqis gave a "reason to meet again."
"You will note that in Vienna I did not set another date, a date for
another meeting saying that they should go back home and think about
it and come back to me with a message that gives me reason to meet
again," Annan said.
"And so we will see what happens. But as you know, we did not come
to a successful agreement in Vienna, and of course, if they do not
come back with indications that I'm looking or, then of course, we
are not going to meet," he said.
Annan said he and Sabri agreed that the foreign minister would consult
his government and "come back to me with an indication that they are
prepared to allow the inspectors, and then we can resume discussions.
"If they were to say 'no', if we were to come to no agreement, then
of course the situation, which has existed since December 1998, when
the inspectors left will continue to prevail," Annan said.
WASHINGTON THREATS
With Washington threatening to attack Iraq, some council members had
been promoting further talks in hopes the return of the inspectors,
out of the country for more than three years, would delay any attempt
to topple President Saddam Hussein.
One key reason the Bush administration has given for a "regime
change" is its suspicion that Iraq has restarted its weapons of
mass destruction programs.
The United States has been skeptical of the talks between Annan and
Sabri since they began in March but could not oppose the urging of
other council members to resume discussions. "And now it's three
strikes and you're out," said one U.N. official after the third
round of talks.
Annan's position was clear in Vienna when he deliberately avoided
setting a date for a new round of high-level meetings and said there
might be "technical talks" in the future, a phrase that obviously
excluded him.
Iraq has been seeking assurances from Annan since May that the United
States would not carry out its threats to topple Saddam. But Annan
has repeatedly said he is not in a position to reply to such questions.
Sabri and others have openly questioned why they should allow in U.N.
weapons teams, which would probably include Americans, when Washington
was planning to attack no matter what Baghdad did. They also raised
the possibility of U.S. "spies" fingering targets for an attack.
Shortly after the talks, Sabri told Abu Dhabi's satellite channel that
the United States was undermining the discussions. He said that Hans
Blix, the chief weapons inspector, was "stringent in the talks and
refused to discuss technical issues" although Baghdad had brought its
top arms experts.
Blix, the executive chairman of the U.N. Inspection, Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, met for
several hours with Iraqi officials and said he wanted to discuss
"practical arrangements" for how the inspectors would operate.
But the Iraqi team insisted on going over outstanding weapons
issues in 1998, which Blix said he could not discuss in detail
until inspectors were on the ground and try to determine if
anything had happened since then.
* * *
Iraq's Weekly Oil Production Reaches New Levels
UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (AFP) - Iraq's UN-supervised oil exports
hit 9.8 millions barrels last week, the highest weekly volume
since the current phase of the oil-for-food program began on May
30 this year, UN officials said Tuesday.
With the price of Iraqi crude oil averaging approximately 24.50
dollars per barrel, last week's production netted an estimated 240
million dollars in revenue, compared with 152 million dollars for
the previous week.
Eight million barrels were exported in four shipments from Iraq's
Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr, while 1.8 million barrels left Turkey's
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in two shipments.
Mian al-Bakr and Ceyhan are the only two points of export authorised
under UN sanctions.
Last week, the UN's oil overseers approved four new export contracts,
bringing to 131 the number approved since May 30. The volume of oil
covered by these contracts is 177 millions barrels, of which almost 51
millions barrels have been shipped.
Iraq needs to sell about 274.5 million dollars' worth of oil per week
to pay for humanitarian imports during the current 180-day phase of
the oil-for-food program, which runs from May 30 to November 25.
Under UN sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait,
25 percent of Iraq's oil revenue goes into a compensation fund for
Kuwaiti war victims and another three percent goes towards to meeting
UN costs.
Iraq must therefore export about 7.06 billion dollars' worth of crude
in order to finance its UN-approved budget of 5.08 billion dollars for
the current phase.
Since the program was first implemented, contracts for some 32.6
billion dollars worth of humanitarian supplies and equipment, and
3.3 billion dollars worth of oil industry spare parts and equipment,
have been approved by the UN sanctions committee,
But as a result of an accumulative revenue shortfall, 996 humnitarian
supply contracts, worth almost 2.1 billion dollars have been approved
but cannot be processed because of a lack of funds.
The worst-hit sectors are electricity (351 million dollars), food
handling (322 million dollars), food (299 million dollars), housing
(286 million dollars), agriculture (270 million dollars), health (157
million dollars), telecommunications and transport (156 million),
water and sanitation (143 million) and education (104 million).
Meanwhile, the UN Security Copuncils sanctions committee has blocked
some 2,172 humanitarian contracts worth some 5.4 billion dollars.
The United States, and to a lesser extent Britain, have in the past
blocked contracts if they suspect that goods might be put to military
rather than civilian use.
* * *
Arms Monitors' Return Tied To Ending Sanctions
BRUSSELS, July 23 (Reuters) - Iraqi repeated on Tuesday that the
return of U.N. arms inspectors to the country was linked to lifting
U.N. sanctions and respect for its sovereignty.
"The (U.N.) Security Council resolutions stress the need for
links...between inspection and respecting Iraqi sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity, and lifting the sanctions,"
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told reporters.
"We are asking the U.N. to implement its own resolutions," he said
during a two-day visit to Brussels.
The United Nations withdrew inspectors in 1998 after Iraq obstructed
their efforts to hunt for and eliminate suspected weapons of mass
destruction, prompting punitive air strikes by the United States and
Britain.
Iraq denies having such weapons, and three recent rounds of talks
between it and the United Nations have failed to yield an agreement
to readmit the inspectors.
Baghdad wants guarantees that it will not be attacked and seeks to
impose conditions on the inspectors' work.
There are growing indications that the United States is planning to
overthrow President Saddam Hussein.
Sabri told reporters Iraq was prepared to defend itself.
"Our population will be courageously defending their freedom and their
sovereignty and their land against American invaders when they come,"
he said.
After meeting Sabri on Monday, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel
voiced frustration at what he saw as Iraq's intransigence given the
risk of attack.
"Clearly their position is still quite inflexible," he told local
radio. "It is evident that it will be much more difficult (to avert
U.S. military strikes)...if there is no flexibility shown by the
Iraqis."
Michel said last week that any U.S. military action to oust Saddam
would provoke fierce opposition in Europe.
The Belgian parliament passed a resolution in April calling on
Britain and the United States to stop regular air raids in no-fly
zones over Iraq and give the Iraqi government time to guarantee
the safety of civilians in the area.
Raids have become more frequent in recent months.
British and U.S. planes patrol two "no-fly" zones set up after the
1991 Gulf War in northern and southern Iraq.
* * *
Iraqi Killed, 22 Wounded In US-British Raids: Baghdad
BAGHDAD, July 23 (AFP) - One Iraqi was killed and 22 wounded in US-
British air raids on southern Iraq, a military spokesman said Tuesday
evening, quoted by state television.
The raids targeted "civilian installations" in Kut, 170 kilometers
(105 miles) south of Baghdad, and in al-Qadissiyah province, some
200 kilometres south of the capital, the spokesman said.
A total of 11 sites were targeted by the "enemy planes" in two waves
of air raids launched Monday at 9:25 pm (1725 GMT) and Tuesday at 5:30
am (0130 GMT), the military added in a statement quoted by the state
INA news agency.
It was during the raid early Tuesday that the civilians were hit,
according to state television station, which aired footage of
rescue operations and houses destroyed by the strikes.
"Missile and anti-aircraft units fired at the enemy planes, causing
them to flee to their bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait," the report
said.
Baghdad said last Friday that five Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded
when US and British warplanes bombed southern Iraq during an overnight
raid.
Almost daily skirmishes are reported in "no-fly" zones enforced by US
and British warplanes over northern and southern Iraq since the end
of the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraq says US-British raids in the air exclusion zones have now killed
1,484 Iraqis and wounded 1,422. Baghdad does not recognize the zones,
which are not sanctioned by any UN resolution.
* * *
US Jets Strike Targets In Southern Iraq-Military
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes on Tuesday attacked
military air defense communications targets in a "no fly" zone in
southern Iraq in response to continuing Iraqi attempts to shoot down
Western jets, the U.S. military said.
It was the most recent of hundreds of such tit-for-tat exchanges in
no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq over the past decade.
The exchanges have increased markedly in recent months.
The U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for American military
operations in the Gulf region, said in a brief release from its
headquarters in Tampa, Florida, that the warplanes used precision-
guided weapons to strike a cable repeater station and other
communications facilities.
All warplanes departed the area safely after the attack at about
6 a.m. Iraq time (0200 GMT) and damage assessment to the targets
was incomplete, the Central Command said.
The announcement did not say whether Western warplanes had been fired
on before the attack, but added the air strike was "in response to
recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft."
Iraq said on Friday that U.S. and British planes, which patrol the
zones, attacked civilian targets killing five people and wounding 17
others in the south of the country on Thursday. A statement from the
Central Command said then that coalition aircraft had struck a cable
repeater station in the southern zone.
Military activity in the region has become more frequent in recent
months amid speculation that the United States might invade Iraq to
oust President Saddam Hussein, whose country has the second largest
oil reserves in the world and who is accused by the United States of
developing weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. military has stressed that it never targets civilian
populations or infrastructure and that strikes in the no-fly
zones are executed as self-defense in response to hostile Iraqi
threats and acts against coalition forces.
* * *
Belarus, Iraq To Strengthen Relations
Jul 23, 2002 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX) -- Belarus will increase its
economic and scientific relations with Iraq, the Belarussian foreign
ministry said after a week-long visit by Iraq's minister for military
industrialization, Abdul Tawab Mulla Howeish.
Belarus would help form a truck-producing line in Iraq, as well as
assist Baghdad in updating its oil industry, the foreign ministry's
spokesman Pavel Latushka told reporters Monday, according to AFP.
In addition, Belarussian technologies would be used to boost Iraq's
health industry, Latushka said, adding that Baghdad also decided
to increase the number of Iraqi students currently studying in the
isolated former Soviet republic.
However, Latushka assured, all cooperation between Belarus and Iraq
was strictly in the framework of the humanitarian oil-for-food program.
Belarus exported about 26 million dollars (Euros) of goods to Iraq in
the year 2001, up from 11.5 million dollars in the first five months of
this year.
* * *
Arab World Unites In Anger At Israeli Killing Of Civilians
CAIRO, July 23 (AFP) - The Arab world united in fury Tuesday over an
Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip that killed 13 civilians as well
as a militant leader and his bodyguard, with even leading pro-Western
state, Egypt, slamming the attack as a "war crime".
Both Egypt and fellow moderate Jordan -- key players in Western
efforts to relaunch the Middle East peace process -- accused Israel
of deliberately timing the strike against the militant group Hamas
to sabotage an emerging deal for it to halt its suicide attacks
against the Jewish state.
"What happened yesterday in Gaza is a war crime," Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters after talks on the attack between
President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.
By launching the attack on Hamas military leader, Salah Shehade,
Israel was seeking "to blow up" an anticipated deal with Yasser
Arafat's Palestinian Authority to stop the groups's attacks on
Israeli civilians, Maher said.
Such an agreement "would deny Israel pretexts it creates to continue
its occupation" of Palestinian territory, he charged.
Israeli troops reoccupied almost all of the West Bank last month after
back-to-back suicide bombings in Israel.
Maher's anger over the timing of the raid was echoed by Jordanian
Information Minister Mohammad Adwan, who pointed to the flurry of
diplomatic contacts in recent days which had been close to calming
the spiralling violence.
"The Jordanian government condemns this attack and casts doubt over
its timing, especially that it coincided with new signs for a peaceful
settlement and Arab and international agreement to end the escalation,"
he said.
At an earlier press conference with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud
al-Faisal at Mubarak's palace, the Egyptian foreign minister appealed
for US intervention following the latenight strike on a densely
populated area of Gaza City by an Israeli warplane firing a 1,000
pound (450 kilogram) missile.
"I demand that Washington condemn this action strongly and take the
necessary measures to stop these attacks," Maher said.
But despite a chorus of condemnation from around the world, including
the European Union and the United Nations, Washington was the last
to chime in with a condemnation more than 18 hours after the strike,
calling the strike "heavy handed".
The Saudi foreign minister warned that the Jewish state's worldwide
reputation would suffer enormous damage from the attack, which also
wounded 176 people, 36 of them children.
"We believe the biggest loser is the Israeli people because history
will record these atrocities against them," Prince Saud told the
press conference.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa said the carnage caused by
the air strike required urgent action from the major world powers
to back Arab peace efforts in the region.
"This attack represents a real challenge for the quartet (of the United
States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations)," he said.
"Nobody has the right after that (attack) to ask himself about the
reasons for the continuing violence in the region and for the failure
of international Arab efforts to achieve peace."
Iran and radical Arab states, Syria and Iraq, which all host militant
groups opposed to the Middle East peace process, voiced disgust at
their arch-enemy's latest "massacre".
"We feel disgust faced with these overwhelming attacks by the army of
the Zionist regime," said Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza
Assefi, quoted by state radio.
Syrian radio hit out at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who had
congratulated his soldiers on the Gaza attack.
"The international community's silence will encourage Ariel Sharon to
commit new massacres and break all taboos," the radio said.
In Baghdad, a pro-Iraq Arab organization blamed Washington for Israel's
"genocide" of Palestinians.
"The US administration of evil, a key partner of the Zionist enemy,
has given the war criminal Sharon a green light to carry out his
genocide against the Palestinian people," Saad Qassem Hammudi,
secretary general of the Congress of Arab Popular Forces, told AFP.
And in the region's Palestinian refugee camps, demonstrators made
clear their desire for revenge against Israel for the attack.
In Lebanon, some 25,000 Palestinians rallied in the Rashidiye and
Al-Bass camps near the southern port of Tyre, including some 200
children dressed in mock military garb carrying plastic guns.
"The Jews massacre women and children," the demonstrators shouted.
* * *
Iraq Says It Broke Up Iranian-Linked "Terror" Group, Airs "Confessions"
BAGHDAD, July 23 (AFP) - Iraq announced on Tuesday it had broken up a
"terror" ring linked to Iran and arrested two Iraqi "terrorists" who
were shown on television "confessing" to having plotted to exploit an
eventual US strike against the country.
Hamza Qassem Sabbat, alias Abu Haitham, and Ibrahim Abd Jassem
Mohammad, alias Abu Ayyub, would divulge "the terrorist actions
carried out by the agencies of the Iranian regime which are in
tune with enemy goals against our country's security," a statement
from the public security department said.
Iraq's security services managed to penetrate "the labyrinths of
treason thanks to a well-studied security plan and to strike at
terror and its perpetrators," said the statement, carried by the
official INA news agency.
Iraqi state television, which aired hour-long "confessions" by the
two men Tuesday evening, said Sabbat, 40, hailed from Baghdad while
Mohammad, 43, hailed from the southern province of Basra.
The pair said they had received military training in Iran, where
they "sought refuge" in the early 1980s, and joined Iranian troops
to fight Iraq during the 1980-1988 war between the two countries,
in addition to taking part in an uprising by Shiite Muslims in
southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
"Following the September 11 attacks in the United States, we were
instructed to go to Iraq and prepare to exploit an American attack
on the country," Sabbat said.
"Modern telecommunications equipment were brought into Iraq to
pinpoint the targets that were to be attacked concomitantly with
the anticipated US strike," he said.
"We were given money to hire cars and premises to carry out the acts
of sabotage," Sabbat said, adding that he had already taken part in
such acts in Baghdad and in southern Iraq, a region with a Shiite
population like Iran's.
Mohammad for his part admitted to having had a hand in "rocket attacks
against various locations in Baghdad and in operations using booby-
trapped cars against some officials."
"We recently received orders to go to Iraq and seize any opportunity
to destabilize the country ... through sabotage," he added.
"While the Iraqis, determined to secure victory over their enemies,
are closing ranks ... these wretched enemies added a new black page
to their record of treachery and blind hatred," the public security's
statement said.
"Those enemies (used) despicable elements rejected by society ... who
fell in the abyss of treason and collaboration ...
"The hired dwarves ... thought they could perpetrate their crimes
undetected," the statement said, adding that the pair had been tried
in court.
Since the end of its eight-year war with Iran, Iraq has regularly
reported attacks and acts of sabotage on its territory, attributing
them to Tehran or "Iranian agents."
Baghdad last announced the arrest of a network of saboteurs in the pay
of Tehran in November 2001.
At the time, Baghdad said it had dismantled a network of six Iraqis,
including a Kurd, all of whom had confessed to carrying out four
"operations in which they detonated bombs and set up launchers" against
targets in and south of the capital.
Iraqi state television also aired "confessions by the six criminals,"
in which they admitted having been "incited by terrorist circles in
the Iranian regime to perpetrate criminal acts for the benefit of the
US administration and the Zionist entity (Israel)."
Although Baghdad and Tehran have gone some way toward burying the
hatchet, they have yet to sign a formal peace treaty 14 years after
the end of their devastating conflict which cost around one million
lives.
* * *
Twelve Iraqi Children To Receive Medical Treatment In Vienna
BAGHDAD, July 23 (AFP) - Twelve gravely ill Iraqi children, including
some suffering from cancer, boarded a flight to Vienna Tuesday to
receive medical treatment in the Austrian capital.
An Austrian private plane carrying a dozen doctors and Austrian public
health director Hubert Hrbcik had flown into Baghdad Monday to pick up
the children.
Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider took home two Iraqi children
suffering from cancer to be treated in his southern stronghold of
Klagenfurt after visiting Baghdad in May.
"Some 15 Iraqi children suffering from leukemia will soon receive
treatment in Austria," he said at the time.
The Freedom Party strongman, who had been widely criticized in Austria
and other Western countries after a first trip to Baghdad in mid-
February, also met Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri when the latter
was in Austria early this month for talks with UN chief Kofi Annan.
Iraq's health ministry says around 1.5 million Iraqis, mostly children,
have died since 1990 as a result of UN sanctions imposed after Baghdad
invaded Kuwait that year.
* * *
Action against Iraq's president could destabilise the entire region
Publisher: Jordan Times (Amman)
By: Michael Jansen
Posted: 2002-06-20
President George Bush's plan to initiate a covert campaign to topple
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has already run into trouble. His
scheme, leaked to the press last weekend, involves providing the exiled
Iraqi opposition with funding, training, weapons and intelligence;
expanding intelligence-gathering inside Iraq; and deploying of Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Special Forces teams to kill the Iraqi
leader on the pretext of acting in "self-defence".
Although CIA Director George Tenet warned Bush that covert action
had only a 10-20 per cent chance of success, an examination of the
following factors suggests that even Tenet's lower figure is highly
optimistic.
First and foremost, both the CIA and Special Forces are seriously
overstretched by Bush's "war on terror". The CIA is operating against
alleged terrorists in some 80 countries while the country's limited
number of Special Forces units are deployed in Afghanistan, the
Philippines and Yemen.
Second, the Kurds in northern Iraq have said they will not cooperate
with the US action to topple the Iraqi government. In an interview
published on June 18 in the Guardian, Massoud Barzani, the leader of
one of the two major Kurdish factions, stated: "The Iraqi issue won't
be solved by military action or covert action." Barzani and the leader
of the other faction, Jalal Talabani, have repeatedly stated their
opposition to the external overthrow of the Iraqi leader and said they
would reject his replacement by a military government, the most likely
outcome of US action. The Kurds insist, Barzani said, that the solution
for Iraq should be a "democratic, pluralistic, parliamentary Iraq".
Without Kurdish cooperation and collusion, CIA and Special Forces
cadres will not be able to operate in the Kurdish-controlled zone in
the north of the country.
Third, by placing Tehran in his "axis of evil" Bush alienated the
Iran-based opposition group which could have influence amongst Iraq's
southern Shiites, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in
Iraq. The council has repeatedly stated its opposition to the US
campaign to oust Saddam Hussein. Therefore, it is unlikely that US
undercover and intelligence agents would be welcome in the south or
receive help from local opponents of the Iraqi government.
Fourth, there is no evidence that the US has successfully penetrated
the upper ranks of the Iraqi military, the only element capable of
overthrowing the present government.
Fifth, providing money, training, weaponry and intelligence to
the Iraqi National Congress (INC), the exiled opposition umbrella
organisation, will not give the INC credibility with Iraqis living
in the country. This grouping has never been anything more than a
CIA front. It is not even an "asset" because it is led by corrupt
and discredited individuals.
Finally, Iraq's Arab neighbours are strongly opposed to Bush's policy
of "regime change" in Baghdad and are unlikely to provide facilities
for secret operations.
Bush has adopted covert action to achieve his aim of overthrowing
Saddam Hussein because his generals say they do not have the men,
arms and aircraft to mount an all-out military offensive against
the Iraqi government at the present time. It is unlikely that they
will be in a position to do so for at least seven or eight months.
This will be opposed by the Kurds, Iran and other Iraq's neighbours
and elements in the US military who are reluctant to commit 200,000
to 250,000 troops to a new "adventure".
While keeping his eye on Iraq as his initial target, Bush has,
over the past few weeks, enunciated a doctrine of "preemption".
This involves taking preemptive action against states and groups
his administration deems "terrorist" and claims that they are seeking
to develop weapons of mass destruction. Last month, Bush told the
graduating class at the US military academy at West Point: "If we
wait for threats to fully materialise, we will have waited too long."
His remark was subsequently elaborated by National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice who stated: "It means early action of some kind. It
means forestalling certain destructive acts against you taken by an
adversary ... you can't wait to be attacked to respond."
Bush's doctrine of preemption is very dangerous and is likely to cause
serious alarm in Western and Third World capitals. The doctrine is
a throwback to the practices of Western imperialist nations towards
Third World peoples and countries during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The doctrine is also an aspect of sole-superpower arrogance and
unilateralism. Bush clearly intends to decide who is a menace and
take action regardless of the consequences to US allies and regions
in conflict. Thus, Bush's accusations against individuals, groups or
states will justify action. His word will become law.
If this happens, US preemptive unilateralism will undermine the
emerging global order and the body of international law which has
been painstakingly built up since World War II.
Other states which feel threatened by their neighbours could also
take up the doctrine of preemption. India, for example, could attack
Pakistan's nuclear facilities in order to preempt a possible attack.
Pakistan could do likewise. China and Taiwan are candidates for
preemption. And, of course, Israel could hit Iran, Syria and Iraq,
which it claims are building arms of mass destruction.
By using covert means to achieve "regime change" under his doctrine
of preemption, Bush also risks the sort of "blowback" or unanticipated
negative repercussions of CIA operations undertaken over the past half
century. The attacks on the US of Sept. 11, 2001, were a "blowback"
from the US-led campaign against the Soviets in Afghanistan during the
1980s. There would have been no Al Qaeda without CIA funding, training
and deployment of Mujahedeen in Afghanistan.
Over the past fifty years, the CIA masterminded successful coups in
Iran, Guatemala, the Congo, Indonesia, Iraq, Greece, Chile, Cyprus
and Guyana. These coups' "blowback" negated the usefulness of "regime
change" and, in most instances, had devastating results both for the
countries concerned and US interests. For instance, the CIA-backed
coup against the nationalist government of Iran that brought the shah
back to power led to the anti-US Islamic Revolution of 1978-79. The
assassination of Congo's Patrice Lumumba in 1960 led to the 32-year
dictatorship of Joseph Mobutu and the ongoing civil conflict in
portions of the former Belgian colonial territory. The 1967 coup in
Greece by the CIA-backed military junta produced seven years of bloody
repression in that country, as well as the CIA-planned 1974 coup
against President Makarios of Cyprus. This prompted Turkey to invade
and occupy the north of the island republic. Today antagonism between
Greece and Turkey over Cyprus continues to threaten the NATO alliance
and the peace of the eastern Mediterranean and to jeopardise the
European Union's enlargement process.
Unintended consequences - "blowbacks" - from a US-sponsored coup in
Iraq are civil war, dismemberment of the core country of the eastern
Arab world and the destabilisation of the entire region.
C 2002 [Jordan Times (Amman)].
--
.ines.mi.en
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--- mailto:newsdesk@ines-newsline.de ---
http://home.arcor.de/m.gscheidlen/2002/Januar/020131GI.007
http://www.uruklink.net/iraqnews/ereport17.htm
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>> Further Informations about Iraq and Palestine:
>> GIV-Archiv: http://www.giv-archiv.de
>> http://home.arcor.de/ge.lange/start.htm
>> http://home.arcor.de/giv/GIV-Seiten/
>> http://soziales.freepage.de/irak/index.htm
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