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World Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.
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1//Turkish Daily News, Turkey--TURKISH AUTHORITIES NOT TO INFORM PEOPLE ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (Health Ministry Undersecretary Necdet Unuvar stated Wednesday that they have no particular plan on the Iraq issue. "We only plan to act faster," he answered reporters insisting on questions. The information that the Ministry of Health does not want to share with citizens in order not to create panic includes how to discover a weapon of mass destruction, how to protect yourself from its after affects, how and where to shelter and do's and don'ts under attack from such weapons.)
2//Al Bawaba, Unidentified ME country)--MUBARAK: ARABS CAN'T AVERT WAR IN IRAQ ("What we discuss in our meetings is that if an attack happens - and we hope it does not happen - trying to save the souls of the innocent Iraqi people who could die in a war like this helplessly.")
3//The
Daily Star, Lebanon--PATTEN SEES LITTLE BENEFIT IN ATTACK ON
IRAQ ("Do I think the region is likely to be more democratic,
more prosperous ... if there is a war in Iraq? That demands an
extraordinary leap of faith," Chris Patten, the EU commissioner
for external relations, told foreign journalists during a news
conference in Beirut. "I am not sure you make people more
moderate in the region by bombing Baghdad.")
4//The Independent, UK--MR BLAIR ASKS US TO TRUST HIM. WE CANNOT
DO SO (So desperate were Mr Blair's aides to prove the case
for war they published an outdated thesis by a postgraduate
student and presented it as contemporary intelligence material.
The Government's junior spin-doctors have been let loose on
a matter as serious as war... But Mr Blair has done little
more than produce fanciful evidence to back up his firmly held
beliefs. He asks us to trust him. We cannot do so. He has not
made a convincing case for war.)
5//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--FILIPINO'S GULF WAR CLAIMS UNRESOLVED (- As the US-led war against Iraq looms and plans are drawn up for the evacuation of Filipinos working in the Middle East, those who suffered from the effects of the 1991 Gulf War and have not been compensated to this day fear the worst: that they will be forgotten...Analysts have questioned the wisdom of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's decision to throw her support behind US President George W Bush and expose Filipino workers to high risk, when the dislocation and danger caused by a war can already be seen from the 1991 conflict.)
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1//Turkish
Daily News February 10, 2003
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f1
TURKISH AUTHORITIES NOT TO INFORM PEOPLE ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Turkish authorities do not inform Turkish citizens, the probable targets of probable war in Iraq, about the weapons of mass destruction which Iraq is claimed to own. Weapons of mass destruction are so dangerous that the US considers initiating a war in order to disarm Iraq
Ozgur Eksi
While the probable war in Iraq becomes inevitable, Turkish authorities fail to inform Turkish people about the weapons of mass destruction.
Health Ministry Undersecretary Necdet Unuvar stated Wednesday that they have no particular plan on the Iraq issue. "We only plan to act faster," he answered reporters insisting on questions. The information that the Ministry of Health does not want to share with citizens in order not to create panic includes how to discover a weapon of mass destruction, how to protect yourself from its after affects, how and where to shelter and do's and don'ts under attack from such weapons.
(SNIP)
The Turkish Association of Doctors (TTB) which has a very strong anti-war stance against a war in Iraq, publishes the relevant information on its web site. TTB deputy Chairman Dr. Metin Bakkalci underlines that Turkish people can prevent the war in Iraq.
(SNIP)
Informing may cause panic
In Diyarbakir where people are exposed to more threat, there is a more substantial approach. TTB, Diyarbakir Branch Chairman Dr. Necdet Ipekyuz, states that they also discussed with authorities how to inform people about weapons of mass destruction but it was refused. He comments the meetings as "They are afraid of panicking people. People are divided in two groups those who favor informing people and those who are afraid of chaos."
People who are in favor of informing indicate that the Israeli government train citizens against any kind of threat and that this does not cause panic and saves life.
(MORE)
2//Al Bawaba December 9, 2003
Article
Link
MUBARAK: ARABS CAN'T AVERT WAR IN IRAQ
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday other Arabs were powerless to avert a war, but that he had sent a plea to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to find a way out of his crisis with the United States.
(SNIP)
"To say that we can put off the war would be fooling ourselves," Mubarak said. "There is the American Congress, the (U.N.) Security Council, the British Parliament, the American administration and so many parties, and those are the ones who can put off, accelerate, or carry out the war. It is not in our (Arabs') hands.
"What we discuss in our meetings is that if an attack happens - and we hope it does not happen - trying to save the souls of the innocent Iraqi people who could die in a war like this helplessly."
Mubarak met separately Sunday with Syria's Bashar Assad and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, then the three sat down together for a mini-summit. Later, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and top aides to Mubarak, Assad and Gadhafi were brought in for expanded talks.
3//The Daily Star Beirut, Saturday February 08, 2003. Updated
08:30 AM +2GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/08_02_03/art19.asp
PATTEN SEES LITTLE BENEFIT IN ATTACK ON IRAQ
EU foreign envoy visits Beirut
Dania Saadi, Daily Star staff
Beirut: A war on Iraq is unlikely to bring democracy to the Middle East or help resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as the US administration has indicated, a senior European official said Friday.
"Do I think the region is likely to be more democratic, more prosperous ... if there is a war in Iraq? That demands an extraordinary leap of faith," Chris Patten, the EU commissioner for external relations, told foreign journalists during a news conference in Beirut. "I am not sure you make people more moderate in the region by bombing Baghdad."
Patten, who ended in Beirut his three-nation tour of the region, made the statements one day after US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the US Congress that war on Iraq could help change the Middle East to suit US interests. Powell had said: "Success (in war against Iraq) could fundamentally reshape the region in a powerful, positive way that will enhance US interests, especially if in the aftermath of such a conflict, we are able to achieve progress on the Middle East peace."
But
Patten said the war on Iraq would most likely make it harder
to resolve the "mayhem" in Palestine, and that it should
not distract attention from implementing the "road map" for
an independent Palestinian state.
(SNIP)
"If you accept (Resolution) 1441 as the way of dealing with the problem, you should actually give inspections a serious go," he said. "If the inspectors say they are actually achieving what you want them to achieve, then you can't simply ignore it." But if the inspectors say Iraq is not cooperating, he said, the international community would have to find alternative solutions for the Iraq crisis, which is unlikely to be resolved by "writing letters to papers."
"If the lesson you have to draw up from this crisis is that you can't deal with weapons of mass destruction through a UN regime of inspections, what are we left with?" he asked. "Are we only left with the use of military power to deal with this problem? I think that would be a troubling outcome."
He said the EU will be ready to provide humanitarian assistance to deal with the "slip over" effects of a possible war. "Everywhere I've been this week Iran, Turkey, Lebanon there has been a mood of some fatalism about the prospects for Iraq, despite the efforts that everyone is making to ensure that there can be a peaceful resolution of this crisis," he said.
(MORE)
4//The Independent 9 February 2003 15:55
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=376794
Politics
MR BLAIR ASKS US TO TRUST HIM. WE CANNOT DO SO
Tony Blair seeks the trust of a wary nation. With passionate sincerity he told BBC's Newsnight last week that he is leading Britain to a likely military conflict because this is "what I believe to be the right thing to do". Not for the first time since he became Prime Minister, he is pleading with voters to trust him.
But Mr Blair undermines his plea by the unconvincing and slippery arguments deployed to prove his case. On page 12 we highlight his erratic presentation on Newsnight: half-truths and subjective interpretations of past events were paraded as grounds for war. Mr Blair insisted, for example, that the central issue was Iraq's having weapons of mass destruction. Jeremy Paxman asked him why, in that case, the US and Britain were not planning to attack Syria. Mr Blair responded by saying that Syria had not invaded a neighbour as Iraq had done in 1990. So did that mean the US and Britain were dealing with the unfinished business of the 1991 war that left Saddam still in power? No, said Mr Blair. It was not a matter of unfinished business; it was a matter of weapons of mass destruction.
This happens all the time.
(SNIP)
The farcical shambles over last week's dossier published by the British government serves to reinforce the doubts. So desperate were Mr Blair's aides to prove the case for war they published an outdated thesis by a postgraduate student and presented it as contemporary intelligence material. The Government's junior spin-doctors have been let loose on a matter as serious as war.
Now the United Nations becomes the focus of the unconvincing presentation. For President Bush the UN is a sideshow of marginal importance. Mr Blair acknowledges the importance of a second UN resolution, but at no stage has he commented on what the wording of such a resolution might be. Yet the wording is absolutely pivotal. An anodyne resolution allowing for a thousand different interpretations would not be a legitimate trigger for war.
We fear that Mr Blair would parade such a resolution as if it were a medal. He decided long ago that Saddam had to be dealt with and that war would probably be necessary.
Although we disagree with both the premise and the conclusion, it is a perfectly reasonable position to hold. But Mr Blair has done little more than produce fanciful evidence to back up his firmly held beliefs. He asks us to trust him. We cannot do so. He has not made a convincing case for war.
5//Asia Times Online February 8, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EB08Ae03.html
FILIPINO'S GULF WAR CLAIMS UNRESOLVED
By Marites Sison
MANILA - As the US-led war against Iraq looms and plans are drawn up for the evacuation of Filipinos working in the Middle East, those who suffered from the effects of the 1991 Gulf War and have not been compensated to this day fear the worst: that they will be forgotten.
"The payment of claims will be further delayed when the new war breaks out. And then, of course, there will be a new set of victims," said Roy Anunciacion, campaign officer of Migrante International, a non-government group that has been helping Gulf War claimants.
The United Nations established a compensation commission in 1995 to handle the compensation claims from 100 different countries, including the Philippines, whose workers had to abandon jobs and livelihoods after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent liberation of Kuwait by the United States.
About 50,000 Filipino workers, mostly domestic workers and hospital staff, were displaced by that conflict. Filipinos are among the biggest number of foreign workers in the Middle East, which is home to 1.5 million of them spread across the Middle East.
Up to now, however, more than 2,000 workers who have filed war-reparation claims before the Philippine Claims and Compensation Committee, a body set up by the country's Foreign Affairs Department to process the disbursement of the UN funds, have yet to receive their checks, Anunciacion said.
(SNIP)
But the attention to unfinished war claims also brings out a larger issue here, especially as some expect an upcoming war to be longer and possibly triggering a conflagration in the entire Middle East.
Analysts have questioned the wisdom of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's decision to throw her support behind US President George W Bush and expose Filipino workers to high risk, when the dislocation and danger caused by a war can already be seen from the 1991 conflict.
(SNIP)
Meantime, the distribution of the compensation from the 1991 Gulf War continues to be marred by allegations of corruption, misuse and mismanagement.
(MORE)
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© 2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
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