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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//KurdishMedia.com, UK--OCCUPATION REGIME INSTALLED IN IRAQ: DOES A PARACHUTE DEMOCRACY LOOM? (Junge Welt's Karin Leukefeld spoke with Hans von Sponeck, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid to Iraq from 1998 to 2000..." The economic crisis in the USA is getting deeper and deeper, and the Americans will use Iraq in order to ameliorate this crisis. All the war damages, however, have to be paid by those who initiated the war...A foreign body from outside, democracy dropped in by parachute, will lead to a catastrophic situation. The country does not need some artificially propped up system with people who have their own interests and do not even know their country anymore, Iraqis from exile or overseas, whose backbone is American power politics.")
2//The
Moscow Times, Russia--OPINION: NEW DÉTENTE TO DIE
YOUNG (In fact, the Bush administration seems to be moving toward
sending the Kremlin an ultimatum: End Bushehr or we will bomb it
to bits anyway. The St. Pete summit may still survive the new controversy,
but the strain is growing. Russia is scheduled to supply enriched
uranium to fuel the Bushehr reactor in the coming months, while the
U.S. is adamant this should not happen.)
3// Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran--SUPREME LEADER URGES
SOLIDARITY TO FEND OFF US PRESSURES (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei on Wednesday exhorted Iranians to strengthen their solidarity
in the face of American pressures which, he said, were aimed at
destabilizing the country and intimidating officials...Ayatollah
Khamenei said such policies were the result of American leaders'
'stupid vanity'..."The opponents of Islam and the Iranian
nation, with the help of their news empire, intend to spread the
dangerous virus of terror and stress among officials...")
4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong-- IRAN AND REGIME CHANGE: LEAVE IT TO THE IRANIANS (Unlike what some hawkish policy makers in Washington might think, Iran is a totally different society from those of Afghanistan and Iraq in terms of history, social fabric and development, political aspirations and economic, industrial, scientific and military capabilities. As a result, the American experience in those countries on "regime change" is simply inapplicable to Iran. Despite the depth of social dissatisfaction with the status quo and a clear desire for a secular political system, as citizens of an ancient country now a regional power with claims to a higher international status, Iranians will not act according to any Washington-envisaged plan.)
5//Panapress, Senegal--SOUTH AFRICAN TEAM OFF TO ASSIST BAGHDAD ZOO (A South African emergency relief team left Thursday for Baghdad to save animals and help restore infrastructure at the war-ravaged Baghdad Zoo... Animals being cared for at the Baghdad Zoo include 19 lions, tigers, brown bears, wolves, foxes, jackals, camels, ostriches, badgers and some primates. The animals were left severely traumatised, with no food and water following the recent strife in Iraq.)
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1//KurdishMedia.com Updated: 29/05/2003 18:47:03 GMT
http://www.kurdmedia.com/inter.asp?id=72
OCCUPATION REGIME INSTALLED IN IRAQ: DOES A PARACHUTE DEMOCRACY
LOOM?
Source: Translated from German by KurdishMedia.com; originally published
in Junge Welt newspaper, 26 May 2003
Junge Welt's Karin Leukefeld spoke with Hans von Sponeck, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid to Iraq from 1998 to 2000.
(SNIP)
Q: The USA and Great Britain won the war militarily; who are the losers?
Everyone, with the exception of the victors: international law, the people of Iraq, since the Resolution does not ensure that the resources of Iraq will be used effectively in the interests of the Iraqi population.
Europe, which with the exception of the British and the Spaniards had supported dialogue, has also lost. The war itself, and the role of the occupying power, are being legitimized after the fact. This is a documentation of weakness.
Q: The Iraqi oil revenues will now be controlled by the USA and Great Britain. Contracts are going to American and British firms. Was this thus a war for the benefit of the American economy?
The economic crisis in the USA is getting deeper and deeper, and the Americans will use Iraq in order to ameliorate this crisis. All the war damages, however, have to be paid by those who initiated the war.
The reconstruction of the country must be led and supported by an international group, as weakly identified in the UN Resolution, until an Iraqi face takes over the affairs of government. The money that is urgently needed for the reconstruction of the country cannot be touched in order to give a boost to American companies and the American political system.
Q: How long could it be until Iraq once again has its own face, an Iraqi face?
That is a difficult question. Many people are saying that we are now seeing a systematically constructed chaos in Iraq. For chaos means, for the victors, the right to administer things.
We must not allow the population to be freed from one dictator in order then to be handed over to an occupation.
(SNIP)
A foreign body from outside, democracy dropped in by parachute, will lead to a catastrophic situation. The country does not need some artificially propped up system with people who have their own interests and do not even know their country anymore, Iraqis from exile or overseas, whose backbone is American power politics.
(MORE)
2//The Moscow Times Thursday, May. 29, 2003. Page 9
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/05/29/009.html
OPINION:
NEW DÉTENTE TO DIE YOUNG
By Pavel Felgenhauer
Pavel Felgenhauer is an independent defense analyst
Last week Russia, together with France and Germany, reluctantly approved a UN Security Council resolution that lifted economic sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990, legalized the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad and allowed Washington to resume export of Iraqi oil to finance postwar reconstruction.
After the vote, French government officials, including President Jacques Chirac, declared that the UN affirmation of the postwar reality in Iraq was not an endorsement in retrospect of the U.S.-led invasion. Moscow, which during the last several months of the Iraqi crisis had often echoed French opinions, this time did not copy the "no legalization" theme. The climbdown on Iraq that the Kremlin performed in the space of one week was too steep, too painful and accompanied with too much infighting inside the ruling elite to try to cover it up with empty talk about legality.
(SNIP)
Under growing public pressure to reform a wasteful Soviet-style military, the generals are desperately trying to retain the United States as their main antagonist, hoping this will result in a drastic growth in defense spending sometime in the future and help keep an extended armed forces structure at present. The apparent victory by pro-Western forces did not change the Defense Ministry's underlying anti-American posture.
When Paris announced it would not use its veto in the UN Security Council, Russia was left isolated. Putin was persuaded that if Moscow continued to be stubborn for too long, the cherished summit with U.S. President George W. Bush and other world leaders in St. Petersburg would be ruined.
But how long will this new detente last? This week an Iranian opposition group disclosed evidence of two previously unknown uranium enrichment facilities near Tehran. With the United States and Iran already clashing over the future of Iraq and the presence of Western forces in the country, a new acute confrontation seems inevitable.
Russia supplies Iran with nuclear technology and advanced conventional weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. After the vote in the UN, Washington does not need to placate Moscow as much as before, and pressure is mounting to force an end to the construction of the nuclear power reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf.
In fact, the Bush administration seems to be moving toward sending
the Kremlin an ultimatum: End Bushehr or we will bomb it to bits
anyway. The St. Pete summit may still survive the new controversy,
but the strain is growing. Russia is scheduled to supply enriched
uranium to fuel the Bushehr reactor in the coming months, while the
U.S. is adamant this should not happen.
3//
Islamic Republic News Agency ( IRNA) Last Update Thursday, 29-May-2003
12:59:16 PDT
http://www.irna.ir/en/index.shtml
SUPREME LEADER URGES SOLIDARITY TO FEND OFF US PRESSURES
Tehran, May 28, IRNA -- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday exhorted Iranians to strengthen their solidarity in the face of American pressures which, he said, were aimed at destabilizing the country and intimidating officials.
The enemy seeks to 'stir up social tumult and psychological commotion and petrify officials', but 'nobody has the right to give in to the enemy's demands and the nation will not let this happen', he told parliamentary deputies here.
(SNIP)
Washington has turned up the heat in recent days, accusing the Islamic Republic of harboring al-Qaeda members and pursuing an aggressive nuclear program.
Ayatollah Khamenei said such policies were the result of American leaders' 'stupid vanity'.
"The opponents of Islam and the Iranian nation, with the help of their news empire, intend to spread the dangerous virus of terror and stress among officials, but according to the Holy Qur'an, the faithful rely on God on such occasions and the Creator instills calm in their hearts and boosts their faith and perseverance.
"America is not satisfied by anything other than (forcing) the nation and officials to give up national power and preferred values of the nation. Thus, those who are intimidated retreat step by step and give in to all enemy demands," the Supreme Leader added.
(MORE)
4//Asia Times Online May 28, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE29Ak03.html
IRAN AND REGIME CHANGE: LEAVE IT TO THE IRANIANS
By Hooman Peimani
Dr Hooman Peimani works as an independent consultant with international
organizations in Geneva and does research in international relations.
Over a one-week period, two groups of influential Iranians have criticized the unelected but powerful institutions undermining efforts towards their country's liberalization. They have both expressed concerns about the status quo, and demanded a change. As the American administration is clearly shifting towards destabilizing the Iranian government, these realities of Iranian society suggest that an inevitable fundamental change in its political system will not be an American determined outcome, but one arising from a deep-rooted indigenous movement for democracy.
Unlike what some hawkish policy makers in Washington might think, Iran is a totally different society from those of Afghanistan and Iraq in terms of history, social fabric and development, political aspirations and economic, industrial, scientific and military capabilities. As a result, the American experience in those countries on "regime change" is simply inapplicable to Iran. Despite the depth of social dissatisfaction with the status quo and a clear desire for a secular political system, as citizens of an ancient country now a regional power with claims to a higher international status, Iranians will not act according to any Washington-envisaged plan.
In particular, unlike in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has a genuine popular pro-democracy movement with a clear, but yet to be achieved, demand for a democratic political system, whose roots can be traced back to the second half of the 19th century. Internal and external factors have since muted that movement during certain periods. However, social and economic necessities have made it reemerge in intervals.
(SNIP)
Between the Iranian government's rival "conservative" and "reformist" factions, the mounting dissatisfaction of the Iranians with their political system is weighing in favor of the latter's demands, whether it be for reform of the present system, or a completely new one. If the current trend continues, this will pave the way for a gradual replacement of the religious system with a secular one. Any American intervention in this process will simply hamper such process by making all Iranians unite in face of a superpower seeking to restore its lost influence in their country, an unwanted scenario for the nationals of a regional power.
5//Panapress 29/05/2003
http://www.panapress.com/freenews.asp?code=eng002511&dte=29/05/2003
SOUTH AFRICAN TEAM OFF TO ASSIST BAGHDAD ZOO
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - A South African emergency relief team left Thursday for Baghdad to save animals and help restore infrastructure at the war-ravaged Baghdad Zoo.
Capetonian Mariette Hopley is leading a team assembled by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) which is sending a group of five logistics and zoo management specialists to Baghdad to help establish a medium to long term plan to ensure the welfare of the remaining zoo animals.
"Baghdad's infrastructure has completely broken down so our team will be taking in everything we need -- from sleeping bags to MRE's (meals ready to eat) and even lavatory paper," said Hopley shortly before her departure.
(SNIP)
IFAW's Director of Emergency Relief, Sarah Scarth observed that the rescue effort at Baghdad Zoo so far has been almost entirely led by South Africans.
She said Lawrence Anthony of Thula Thula Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal is the first person from South African who has been there helping since 23 April.
He had received permission from the US military to close a smaller zoo where animals were living in dreadful conditions and to move them to the main Baghdad Zoo where they are now being cared for.
(SNIP)
IFAW is also collaborating with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) in putting together a long-term plan for the Baghdad zoo.
(SNIP)
Animals being cared for at the Baghdad Zoo include 19 lions, tigers, brown bears, wolves, foxes, jackals, camels, ostriches, badgers and some primates.
The animals were left severely traumatised, with no food and water following the recent strife in Iraq.
Looters stole most of the zoo equipment and zookeepers were unable to provide any support for the creatures in their care.
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©2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
