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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//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--ANALYSIS: COULD SADDAM STILL WIN? (And Saddam's options for final victory, at least in his mind, are not necessarily exhausted by forcing a long or bloody siege. He could, and ultimately may well be prepared to enact the "Samson option" of pulling the temple down on himself and the Baghdad population. He would then stand as a martyr for the cause of Arab independence and freedom from foreign occupation of holy lands, making any expected positive post-war settlements, whether in Iraq or Palestine, potentially illusory. The war in Iraq, then, would stand in history not as the beginning of a new period of freedom, democracy, and prosperity, but as the beacon, the signal fire for a Thirty-Years-War style period of unending conflict and clash of civilizations.)
2//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--EXCLUSIVE: KUWAITI ENGINEERS FACE UPHILL BATTLE TO CAP OIL FIRES IN IRAQ ("We were commissioned with the job of putting out the fires in the oil wells," Essa Buyabis, head of the fire-fighting brigade of the Kuwait Oil Co., said. "The Kuwaiti government felt that it would be very important if our experience was made available as a present to the Iraqi people, and no sooner were the border areas south of Rumaila secured by the American and British forces than the entire team of 25 Kuwaiti experts were made available." … Buyabis made it clear that there was coordination with the members of a team from the Texan company Botts and Coutts, which specializes in putting out oil field fires. "We are volunteers in this operation, but there are other groups trying to make bids on behalf of companies which are after firefighting contracts," Al-Arbeed said. "But we are going to finish our job on a voluntary basis.")
3//The Jordan Times, Jordan--SAUDI INTELLECTUALS TURN DOWN INVITATION TO MEET US ENVOY OVER IRAQ (Mustapha said the measure was also a message that Saudi intellectuals reject the "so-called US democratisation plans for the region," and wanted to tell their government that "we are not a fifth column." …Such political statements have been rare in the kingdom, although more than 100 leading Saudi Islamists and liberal reformists presented a "vision for constitutional reform" to Crown Prince Abdullah in January. The reformists said the prince told them domestic reform was only a matter of time.)
4//The News International, Pakistan--US WANTS TO TAKE OVER ARAB WORLD: BELGIUM (Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose country is fiercely opposed to the war on Iraq, slammed the United States as "very dangerous" Sunday, saying it wanted to take over the whole Arab world, the Belga news agency said.)
5//The Dawn, Pakistan--CURBS ON KRL UNJUSTIFIED: FO (Pakistan on Saturday termed the US decision to impose a two-year trade sanction on the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) as unjustified and said it would not deter Pakistan's resolve to pursue its indigenous missile programme… The measure against the KRL is seen as Washington's response to allegations made by its intelligence agencies that North Korea and Pakistan were involved in missile technology transfer…Officials in Islamabad, however, also concede that in opting for this response "Washington has opted for the minimum possible measure." This still does not erase the Pakistani complaint against Washington' turning a virtual blind eye to India's nuclear and missile programme.)
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1//Asia
Times Online March 29, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EC29Ak01.html
ANALYSIS: COULD SADDAM STILL WIN?
By Marc Erikson
As technically vastly superior and soon to be further reinforced US-led coalition forces reach the vicinity of Baghdad, poised for the final push on the Iraqi capital, the question posed in the headline may seem little more than rhetorical. It is not. Consider why Saddam Hussein made the decision to stay in Iraq and fight in the first place; consider what - in his mind - might constitute victory even as most of his country is occupied by enemy forces.
(SNIP)
This is a clear portent of things to come. The guard divisions around Baghdad and Tikrit (Saddam and his clan's home base) may or may not put up a tough fight. That's a conventional military concern and of less relevance than now accorded in the media. These troops constitute an outer barrier and may be sacrificed - though they, too, are undoubtedly interspersed with irregulars, spread out, and less vulnerable to air strikes and artillery than if they were encountered in open terrain. Saddam's strategy, as is now evident, is to sacrifice open spaces, but to hold urban areas and conduct guerrilla-style harassment operations in coalition rearguard areas. All this is to gain time, even prior to an eventual siege of Baghdad. Such a siege itself will prove time-consuming or, alternatively, be costly in the extreme in civilian lives as well as coalition casualties. Saddam's calculation is simple: Baghdad under lengthy siege could not only lead to ever-growing mobilizations of the "Arab street" in neighboring countries, but also prompt condemnation in the UN by the France-Germany-Russia axis with demands for a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement.
(SNIP)
And Saddam's options for final victory, at least in his mind, are not necessarily exhausted by forcing a long or bloody siege. He could, and ultimately may well be prepared to enact the "Samson option" of pulling the temple down on himself and the Baghdad population. He would then stand as a martyr for the cause of Arab independence and freedom from foreign occupation of holy lands, making any expected positive post-war settlements, whether in Iraq or Palestine, potentially illusory. The war in Iraq, then, would stand in history not as the beginning of a new period of freedom, democracy, and prosperity, but as the beacon, the signal fire for a Thirty-Years-War style period of unending conflict and clash of civilizations.
This is Spengler-esque; it is not a prediction. But a week into the war and close observation of both sides' strategies and tactics, it has a sufficiently high probability of playing out that it cannot simply be dismissed.
2//Arab News Monday, March 31, 2003 / 28 Muharram 1424
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=24533
EXCLUSIVE: KUWAITI ENGINEERS FACE UPHILL BATTLE TO CAP OIL FIRES
IN IRAQ
Abdulrahman Al-Motawa, Arab News War Correspondent
KUWAIT, 31 March 2003 - Backed by their government, at four o'clock each morning, a group of 24 Kuwaiti petroleum engineers begin their difficult jobs in helping to put out fires in nine Iraqi oil wells. They work long hours at a location some 170 kilometers from their homes and only break off their labors at sunset. In spite of this back-breaking labor and the psychological strain, the engineers remain optimistic of the possibility of extinguishing the fires in a few weeks.
The engineers are experienced in this field. Twenty-nine Kuwaitis worked in putting out 600 burning wells after the Iraqi Army withdrew from Kuwait in the last Gulf War. Today their mission is different: to protect the natural resources of Iraq. This is the reason stated by Ahmed Al-Arbeed, president of the Kuwait Oil Company, when he said that "the oil wealth is the property of the Iraqi people and we hope that they will benefit from it at the end of the war."
"We were commissioned with the job of putting out the fires in the oil wells," Essa Buyabis, head of the fire-fighting brigade of the Kuwait Oil Co., said. "The Kuwaiti government felt that it would be very important if our experience was made available as a present to the Iraqi people, and no sooner were the border areas south of Rumaila secured by the American and British forces than the entire team of 25 Kuwaiti experts were made available."
(SNIP)
He explained that there were now nine oil wells on fire, six of
which have been inspected. In the last few days one of the fires
has been brought under control. Efforts are under way to control
the size of the problem and the effects of the fires.
Buyabis revealed that the search for unignited explosives near the surrounding oil wells has begun. This gave a clear indication that the oil wells were deliberately set on fire with the intention of polluting the environment and destroying the oil wealth. He added that work was continuing today to put out the fires on the second oil well.
The team has faced logistical difficulties, but Buyabis said the work would start again soon. He expected the team to complete its mission within two or three weeks.
Buyabis made it clear that there was coordination with the members of a team from the Texan company Botts and Coutts, which specializes in putting out oil field fires.
"We are volunteers in this operation, but there are other groups trying to make bids on behalf of companies which are after firefighting contracts," Al-Arbeed said. "But we are going to finish our job on a voluntary basis."
Asked about the possibility of the effect of the fires on the Kuwaiti underground reserves located on the edges of the Rumaila field, Al-Arbeed said: "We have not yet dealt with this problem in a comprehensive way because we have no detailed knowledge of the area and its special characteristics."
(MORE)
3//The Jordan Times Sunday, March 30, 2003
http://www.jordantimes.com/Sun/news/news5.htm
SAUDI INTELLECTUALS TURN DOWN INVITATION TO MEET US ENVOY OVER IRAQ
RIYADH (AFP) - A group of some 120 Saudi intellectuals has turned
down an invitation to meet with the US ambassador in Riyadh to
discuss their opposition to the war in Iraq, one of them said Saturday.
The group sent a letter to US President George W. Bush through the US embassy in Riyadh two weeks ago urging him to scrap plans to launch war on neighbouring Iraq and asserting that war was not the best means to resolve crises between nations.
"The ambassador had asked to meet all the signatories to the letter in Riyadh later this week, but the intellectuals unanimously decided to turn down the invitation," Hasan Al Mustapha told AFP.
The intellectuals sent their response through an e-mail message to Ambassador Robert Jordan on Friday, Mustapha said.
(SNIP)
Mustapha said the measure was also a message that Saudi intellectuals reject the "so-called US democratisation plans for the region," and wanted to tell their government that "we are not a fifth column."
(SNIP)
Such political statements have been rare in the kingdom, although more than 100 leading Saudi Islamists and liberal reformists presented a "vision for constitutional reform" to Crown Prince Abdullah in January.
The reformists said the prince told them domestic reform was only a matter of time.
4//The News International Monday March 31, 2003-- Muharram 27, 1424
A.H.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar2003-daily/31-03-2003/world/w5.htm
US WANTS TO TAKE OVER ARAB WORLD: BELGIUM
BRUSSELS: Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose country is fiercely opposed to the war on Iraq, slammed the United States as "very dangerous" Sunday, saying it wanted to take over the whole Arab world, the Belga news agency said.
Verhofstadt, in an address in Antwerp to his party which is preparing for legislative elections, reiterated his disagreement with the "logic" of the US administration. "America is a deeply hurt power which has...become very dangerous (and) which thinks that it must take over the whole Arab world," he told a meeting of his liberal VLD party, Belga said.
Speaking in Antwerp, which has a relatively large Muslim population, he said he disagreed with Washington over a link between the war on Iraq and the fight against terorrism.
"That is a logic which I absolutely do not share," he said, addressing his party in the northern port city, where the far-right Vlaams Blok is electorally strong.
(SNIP)
Verhofstadt, who has led a rainbow coalition of liberals, socialists and greens since 1999, is facing national elections set for May 18. The far-right Vlaams Blok scored 33 percent in 2000 municipal ballots in Antwerp. Speaking on national radio, he said: "Above all what we need to do now is to help the Iraqi people with humanitarian means, and secondly we have to avoid this war disrupting the global economy too seriously."
5//The Dawn 30 March 2003 Sunday 26 Muharram 1424 http://www.dawn.com/2003/03/30/top4.htm
CURBS ON KRL UNJUSTIFIED: FO
by Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 29: Pakistan on Saturday termed the US decision to impose a two-year trade sanction on the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) as unjustified and said it would not deter Pakistan's resolve to pursue its indigenous missile programme.
In a statement the foreign office spokesman said: "The measure against KRL was unjustified." However, the spokesman made it clear that the US decision had no material impact either on KRL, which was never dependent on foreign aid, or on Pakistan's determination to pursue its indigenous missile programme.
"Pakistan would never accept any partial approach flowing from selective application of the so-called missile non-proliferation norms," the statement said.
Officials here said the trade ban imposed by the US administration was more of a symbolic act that would practically and concretely have no impact on KRL.
According to the US law if they make a determination that certain foreign government entities are engaged in procurement or export of missiles that exceed certain parameters, then the US government can decide to impose restrictions on those particular entities, explained one senior diplomat.
(SNIP)
The measure against the KRL is seen as Washington's response to allegations made by its intelligence agencies that North Korea and Pakistan were involved in missile technology transfer. This step is meant to bring to closure the long and strained debate, dialogue and media trial that blamed Pakistan for its involvement in the North Korea nuclear programme.
(SNIP)
Officials in Islamabad, however, also concede that in opting for
this response "Washington has opted for the minimum possible
measure." This still does not erase the Pakistani complaint
against Washington' turning a virtual blind eye to India's nuclear
and missile programme.
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© 2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
