June 11, 2003
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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//The Independent, UK--BLAIR AND CAMPBELL WILL SHUN COMMONS INQUIRY INTO WMD (Neither Tony Blair nor Alastair Campbell will allow the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to question them about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Downing Street revealed yesterday... Mr Blair's official spokesman made clear that neither man would be appearing before the committee. He said "precedent" dictated that Number 10 officials did not talk publicly about their jobs... Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, wrote to Mr Blair last night to warn that it would be "quite incredible" for any investigation into Downing Street's use of intelligence material not to take evidence from Mr Campbell. As the Government's director of communications and strategy, Mr Campbell was "associated with every allegation" and oversaw all the information released in the run-up to the war, Mr Duncan Smith said.)
2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--WASHINGTON WATCHES FOR HIZBULLAH ACTIVITY IN IRAQ (The concern over Hizbullah's possible ambitions in Iraq is reinforced by the rising number of attacks against US troops in what could be the first signs of an emerging Iraqi resistance...The rising tensions in Iraq served as backdrop to an in-house conference last week organized by the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research in which a panel of Arab, Israeli and Western specialists discussed Hizbullah's role in the post-Iraq war phase. The administration's interest in the subject was signaled by the attendance of some 70 analysts from the State Department, CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency. The several off-record briefings with US officials, counterterrorism experts and policy analysts in Washington, The Daily Star has learned that the Bush administration is still undecided on how to proceed against Hizbullah.)
3//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--NAVY ROLE FLAGGED IN POLICING KOREANS (Australia is talking to the United States about a new mission to intercept North Korean vessels suspected of carrying missiles, counterfeit money and drugs - a move that could escalate the already high tensions in northern Asia... The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has already discussed the plan with his Japanese counterparts and there have also been contacts at a lower level with US officials. Mr Downer's department yesterday confirmed Dr Calvert was holding talks on North Korea with the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, overnight. Japanese officials will also attend the meeting.)
4//Korean Central News Agency of DPRK, North Korea--DPRK TO REACT AGAINST U.S. ARMS BUILDUP PLAN BY ITS EFFECTIVE METHOD (The U.S. announcement of a plan to beef up its forces in South Korea which calls for spending 11 billion U.S. dollars comes under strong fire by a signed commentary of Rodong Sinmun today. The DPRK will strongly react against this move by an effective method of its style, it warns. This step for arms buildup can be seen only on the eve of a war, the news analyst notes...)
5//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--DATA ON NORTH'S ECONOMIC GROWTH DISPUTED (Reports from intelligence sources and North Korean defectors are defying the Bank of Korea's analysis that the North Korean economy grew 1.2 percent last year. The central bank said the North's economy edged up due to the market liberalizations Pyongyang introduced last summer. But a government source recently challenged that statistic, saying that the North Korean economy had been "braindead" for several years, and that from a capitalistic standpoint it should have collapsed already. And an intelligence source claimed that the North's manufacturing industry shrank 26 percent last year after contracting 28 percent the year before...According to food production data, however, the agricultural situation has improved; last year's production reached 4.13 million tons, up 4.6 percent from 2001, but still more than 2 million tons short of the country's needs.)
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1//The
Independent 10 June 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=414120
BLAIR AND CAMPBELL WILL SHUN COMMONS INQUIRY INTO WMD
By Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor
Neither Tony Blair nor Alastair Campbell will allow the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to question them about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Downing Street revealed yesterday.
The MPs wrote on Friday to ask if the Prime Minister and his communications chief would give evidence to their inquiry into claims that the Government had "sexed up" intelligence to justify the war.
However, Mr Blair's official spokesman made clear that neither man would be appearing before the committee. He said "precedent" dictated that Number 10 officials did not talk publicly about their jobs.
The Prime Minister will instead meet members of the Intelligence and Security Committee at Downing Street when they publish their annual report on MI5, MI6 and GCHQ today. The committee, which takes evidence in private and which can have its reports censored by the Government, has announced it will conduct an inquiry into the Iraq claims.
But the Foreign Affairs Select Committee has also launched its own inquiry, and Mr Blair and Mr Campbell would have had to give evidence in the full glare of publicity.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, wrote to Mr Blair last night to warn that it would be "quite incredible" for any investigation into Downing Street's use of intelligence material not to take evidence from Mr Campbell. As the Government's director of communications and strategy, Mr Campbell was "associated with every allegation" and oversaw all the information released in the run-up to the war, Mr Duncan Smith said.
(MORE)
2//The Daily Star Beirut, Tuesday June 10, 2003. Updated 08:30 AM
+3GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/10_06_03/art4.asp
WASHINGTON WATCHES FOR HIZBULLAH ACTIVITY IN IRAQ
Some fear party will instigate resistance
Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star
WASHINGTON: Hizbullah's potential for promoting an anti-American
Iraqi resistance movement has caught the attention of counterterrorism
experts and policy analysts here.
Some American officials believe Hizbullah's resistance credentials could be used to drag the US into a complicated guerrilla war in Iraq, helping relieve Damascus and Tehran of pressure from hawks in the Bush administration.
The concern over Hizbullah's possible ambitions in Iraq is reinforced by the rising number of attacks against US troops in what could be the first signs of an emerging Iraqi resistance.
(SNIP)
The rising tensions in Iraq served as backdrop to an in-house conference last week organized by the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research in which a panel of Arab, Israeli and Western specialists discussed Hizbullah's role in the post-Iraq war phase. The administration's interest in the subject was signaled by the attendance of some 70 analysts from the State Department, CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency.
In several off-record briefings with US officials, counterterrorism experts and policy analysts in Washington, The Daily Star has learned that the Bush administration is still undecided on how to proceed against Hizbullah. In general, the hawks in the administration favor applying intense pressure on Syria to forcibly dismantle Hizbullah's military wing as a prelude to the deployment of Lebanese troops to the border with Israel and an eventual withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Others, however, appear to favor a more cautious approach, content with a cessation of Hizbullah's militant activities such as attacks in the Shebaa Farms, aiding the Palestinian intifada and any involvement in Iraq rather than insisting that the party's military wing be shut down.
Nonetheless, even those in Washington who prefer a policy of constructive engagement with Syria rather than one of unrelenting pressure believe that Damascus made a serious error of judgment in lending support to the regime of Saddam Hussein during the war in Iraq. "All they had to do was sit back and do nothing when the war started. If they had done that, everything would have been fine," said one official. The official said that Syria's "mistake" in Iraq removed any incentive in Washington to offer Damascus concessions regarding a resumption of peace talks with Israel.
(SNIP)
As for actual Hizbullah involvement in any emerging resistance,
Ezzieddine said that the party's experience against the Israeli
Army in South Lebanon was no secret and could be copied by anyone.
"Any nation can make use of our techniques if they have the will, the steadfastness, faith and desire to live in dignity," he said.
It also appears that Hizbullah is taking pains to avoid being accused of meddling in Iraqi affairs to the extent that the four or five Al-Manar correspondents reporting from Iraq are all Iraqi nationals rather than Lebanese.
3//The Sydney Morning Herald June 11 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/10/1055220602021.html
NAVY ROLE FLAGGED IN POLICING KOREANS
By Tom Allard, Foreign Affairs Writer
Australia is talking to the United States about a new mission to
intercept North Korean vessels suspected of carrying missiles, counterfeit
money and drugs - a move that could escalate the already high tensions
in northern Asia.
The option involves Australian support for an interception fleet designed to stop Pyongyang's use of illicit shipping cargoes to prop up its ravaged economy.
Defence experts say Australia is well placed to contribute to such an operation.
The head of the Foreign Affairs Department, Ashton Calvert, was meeting US officials in Tokyo last night.
Washington has flagged the use of "selective interdiction" as a new measure to contain the communist state after it confirmed this week for the first time that it was seeking nuclear weapons.
The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has already discussed the plan with his Japanese counterparts and there have also been contacts at a lower level with US officials.
Mr Downer's department yesterday confirmed Dr Calvert was holding talks on North Korea with the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, overnight.
Japanese officials will also attend the meeting.
"There has been quite a lot of discussion going on about it [the interdiction option] already," an Australian official said.
"It's still quite early, though. Obviously, there could be considerable issues for Defence but there could also be a decision to keep Defence out of it and rely on intelligence and customs or the Coast Guard instead."
(MORE)
4//Korean Central News Agency of DPRK (Democratic People's Republic
of Korea) June 9, 2003
http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm
DPRK TO REACT AGAINST U.S. ARMS BUILDUP PLAN BY ITS EFFECTIVE METHOD
Pyongyang, June 9 (KCNA) -- The U.S. announcement of a plan to beef up its forces in South Korea which calls for spending 11 billion U.S. dollars comes under strong fire by a signed commentary of Rodong Sinmun today. The DPRK will strongly react against this move by an effective method of its style, it warns. This step for arms buildup can be seen only on the eve of a war, the news analyst notes, and goes on:
Such move of the U.S. forces proves that the U.S. imperialists' plan for preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK, a scenario for the second Korean war, is entering the phase of its full-scale implementation.
After the Iraqi war the U.S. is stepping up the preparations for
the second Korean war, regarding the DPRK as a new target of state
terrorism and a main target of armed intervention.
(SNIP)
Such development compels the DPRK to take all possible countermeasures with a high degree of revolutionary vigilance.
The U.S. should know how the DPRK will retaliate against its preemptive nuclear attack.
5//The Chosun Ilbo Updated Jun.10,2003 19:20 KST
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200306/200306100012.html
DATA ON NORTH'S ECONOMIC GROWTH DISPUTED
by Kang Chol-hwan (nkch@chosun.com)
Reports from intelligence sources and North Korean defectors are defying the Bank of Korea's analysis that the North Korean economy grew 1.2 percent last year.
The central bank said the North's economy edged up due to the market liberalizations Pyongyang introduced last summer. But a government source recently challenged that statistic, saying that the North Korean economy had been "braindead" for several years, and that from a capitalistic standpoint it should have collapsed already. And an intelligence source claimed that the North's manufacturing industry shrank 26 percent last year after contracting 28 percent the year before.
North Korea experts agreed that the economic situation was dire, calling last year's reforms unsuccessful and saying the country has been unable to cope with supply shortages and the cessation of foreign capital due to the nuclear crisis.
According to food production data, however, the agricultural situation has improved; last year's production reached 4.13 million tons, up 4.6 percent from 2001, but still more than 2 million tons short of the country's needs. What's worse, the deliveries of 500,000 tons of heavy oil the United States had been providing on a monthly basis were cut off last November, provoking an energy crisis. A local think tank, the Korea Unification Institute, said in April said that the cutoff meant North Korea's electricity production would fall by up to 15 percent.
Since the new economic system was introduced last July, Pyongyang's news reports say that wages have shot up; but according to defectors, many people are not being paid and nearly all are suffering from high inflation. A woman named Kim who defected last October said that the wages were not being paid, despite being hiked, and that there were growing fears that the country was sliding back to the dire situation it was in from 1995 to 1997.
(MORE)
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©2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
