July 23, 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--NATO FACES RIFT OVER US PLAN TO REMOVE JETS FROM ICELAND (To make matters worse Reykjavik was informed of the politically sensitive decision in May on the eve of parliamentary elections in which the outgoing Prime Minister, David Oddsson, was returned with a sharply reduced majority. Mr Oddsson has hinted that, if the US does remove the jets, America will have to end its military presence in Iceland. That would not be palatable to the Pentagon which has 1,200 naval staff in the country from which it operates four P-3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft as part of its reconnaissance of the North Atlantic, a task it still regards as a high priority.)

2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong-COMMENTARY: PERFIDIOUS ALBION AND THE LYING AMERICAN (As the gap grows between the facts on the ground in Iraq and the facts in the air of Washington and London, even the media proprietors who have willingly retold the lies, and fashioned many of their own - men such as Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch - will recognize the noses on their faces, and smell the way the wind is blowing. By themselves, Time's Saigon correspondent in 1972, and his New York editor, couldn't stop the bombing campaign in Vietnam. By himself, David Kelly couldn't stop the Iraq war. That is going to require a great deal more transfer of treasure, and loss of blood. Perfidious Blair and lying Bush aren't the kind of people who ask themselves whether this is really the kind of world in which they want to live.)

3//Al Bawaba, Jordan--IRAQ COUNCIL THREATENS TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ARAB SATELLITE CHANNELS (The spokesman, whose party is headed by governing council member, Ahmad Chalabi, said, "What these channels are doing is not pure media [activity] but rather an implementation of a pre-planned project. "I would like to affirm to you that the Iraqi people will not allow such a 'plan' to continue," he told Al Bawaba. He added, "these channels give no consideration to the feelings of the Iraqi people who have just emerged from a critical situation nor do they care for the country's current circumstances.")

4//The Daily Star, Lebanon--US VISION FOR LEBANON UNDER SCRUTINY (The growing American enthusiasm for a full Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon prompts the questioning of the US administration's motives and plans for the country... According to Qornet Shehwan Gathering member Samir Franjieh, Lebanon's interests do not top the American agenda. "What's noteworthy in Powell's statement is that there is an agenda that is being proposed to the Syrians, and we know nothing about the content of this agenda, only that it includes some points about Lebanon," he said.)

5//The Moscow Times, Russia--U.S. ENERGY DELEGATION IN MURMANSK (Demonstrating the United States' intensifying interest in Russian fuel resources, a high-level U.S. Energy Department delegation on Tuesday visited Murmansk, the Barents Sea port from which Washington eventually hopes to import Russian crude...The Bush administration has advocated the construction of an oil pipeline from oil-rich western Siberia to Murmansk, the country's only northern ice-free port, but private funding for the project would be necessary and the Russian government has been hesitant to cede its grip on the country's pipeline network.)

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1//The Independent 22 July 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=426500

NATO FACES RIFT OVER US PLAN TO REMOVE JETS FROM ICELAND

Nato is facing a new rift after a threat by Washington to withdraw US fighter jets from Iceland as part of a shake-up of American military forces in Europe.

So concerned are the Icelanders about US intentions to remove four F-15s that they have asked the Nato secretary general, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, to intervene in their support. The row is provoking new tension in the alliance as it tries to repair the divisions which opened up over Iraq, when France, Germany and Belgium opposed the US-led military action.

Iceland has no army, but its territory was of enormous strategic significance during the Cold War, making it a much valued member of the transatlantic alliance.

The rethink of US priorities after the 11 September terror attacks has called into question Washington's willingness to keep the small number of jets, plus rescue helicopters and refuelling planes, which Iceland sees as a guarantee of its security and of US commitment.

To make matters worse Reykjavik was informed of the politically sensitive decision in May on the eve of parliamentary elections in which the outgoing Prime Minister, David Oddsson, was returned with a sharply reduced majority. Mr Oddsson has hinted that, if the US does remove the jets, America will have to end its military presence in Iceland.

That would not be palatable to the Pentagon which has 1,200 naval staff in the country from which it operates four P-3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft as part of its reconnaissance of the North Atlantic, a task it still regards as a high priority.

(MORE)

2//Asia Times Online July 22, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EG22Ak02.html

COMMENTARY
Dancing With Bears
PERFIDIOUS ALBION AND THE LYING AMERICAN

By John Helmer
(John Helmer, since 1989 the longest-serving Western correspondent in Russia, was an official of the Carter administration in Washington between 1977 and 1981. In 1975 he published Bringing the War Home: The American Army in Vietnam and After, a celebrated analysis of disintegration in the US Army.)

MOSCOW - Wars usually start with one large lie. Throwing more troops into the breach requires a great many little lies. Wars usually end when the lying can't staunch the bleeding, and the stench.

According to the wife of the David Kelly, the British Defense Ministry expert on Iraqi weapons who committed suicide last Friday by cutting his left wrist, and bleeding to death while on painkillers, "this was not really the kind of world he wanted to live in". But the kind of world prime ministers of England and presidents of the United States hatch, when they go to war together, should have been familiar to Kelly, as he was old enough to remember the Vietnam War.

The big lie for which Kelly killed himself was no different from the one that created the Tonkin Gulf incident, the invented Vietnamese attack on US warships which purported to justify the first landings of US troops 40 years ago. The little lies which Tony Blair and George W Bush go on telling, as they, too, try to land more troops, and fight a guerrilla war, soon to expand into a national liberation struggle - these lies are no different. Not even the methods for feeding them to the press have changed.

(SNIP)

A great many people, in editorial offices of newspapers, as well as government offices in Washington and London, know very well that the intelligence for which David Kelly killed himself was fabricated. They already know that the stream of little lies has begun. They know that it isn't worth their career prospects, let alone their lives, to expose them. In time, those who remember Vietnam realize that Blair and Bush won't be able to staunch the investigations of the family, business and other links they, their advisors and supporters have with the war machine they have set in motion in Iraq. In time, those who remember Vietnam understand that the fighting men of the US Army will fear every Arab they see, and will lose the will to risk their lives for a cause they don't believe is worth it.

As the gap grows between the facts on the ground in Iraq and the facts in the air of Washington and London, even the media proprietors who have willingly retold the lies, and fashioned many of their own - men such as Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch - will recognize the noses on their faces, and smell the way the wind is blowing. By themselves, Time's Saigon correspondent in 1972, and his New York editor, couldn't stop the bombing campaign in Vietnam. By himself, David Kelly couldn't stop the Iraq war. That is going to require a great deal more transfer of treasure, and loss of blood. Perfidious Blair and lying Bush aren't the kind of people who ask themselves whether this is really the kind of world in which they want to live.

3//Al Bawaba 22-07-2003, 10:06
http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=254772&lang=e&dir=news

IRAQ COUNCIL THREATENS TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ARAB SATELLITE CHANNELS

An informed Iraqi source disclosed that the interim governing council might start legal proceedings against several Arab satellite channels that broadcast pre-recorded videotaped messages of groups identifying themselves as 'resistance cells'.

A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress (INC) accused Arab satellite channels that have previously aired videotaped messages of Iraqi groups claiming they represent 'cells resisting the [US] occupation' of implementing a "preplanned project". He also stressed that the newly formed interim governing council is currently mulling legal action against them to limit their activity within Iraq.

The congress' spokesman, Haidar al Moussaui, told Al Bawaba in a telephone conversation that these channels are playing a 'dirty game' and are fully aware of its dimensions. "The rage these channels are causing has gone beyond the Iraqi public and has now reached the governing council, which is currently looking at ways on how to deal with the issue...and take the necessary action against them. This is due to the fact that the country's circumstances cannot tolerate more incitement and hatred amongst the Iraqi people," added Moussaui.

(SNIP)

The spokesman, whose party is headed by governing council member, Ahmad Chalabi, said, "What these channels are doing is not pure media [activity] but rather an implementation of a pre-planned project. "I would like to affirm to you that the Iraqi people will not allow such a 'plan' to continue," he told Al Bawaba. He added, "these channels give no consideration to the feelings of the Iraqi people who have just emerged from a critical situation nor do they care for the country's current circumstances."

It is noteworthy to mention that many groups have appeared on Arabic channels over the past few weeks claiming responsibility for attacks on American and British forces and targets in Iraq.

(MORE)

4//The Daily Star Beirut, Tuesday July 22, 2003. Updated 09:00 AM +3GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/22_07_03/art6.asp

US VISION FOR LEBANON UNDER SCRUTINY
Observers say Beirut being left out of loop as American-Syrian plans take shape

Alia Ibrahim
Daily Star staff

The growing American enthusiasm for a full Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon prompts the questioning of the US administration's motives and plans for the country.

Last Saturday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo that his country was looking forward to a full Syrian Army withdrawal from Lebanon.

Powell also referred to Syria as an occupying force and said that the US has "laid down a comprehensive agenda and a list of issues to be addressed by the Syrians," which included military support for Hizbullah.

Political observers say that since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, the US has given Syria carte blanche in Lebanon, and that Syrian hegemony in Lebanon is not limited to the military presence of the 20,000 or so troops remaining in the country. They say Syria rules Lebanon through the activities of its intelligence community and not through its military.

According to Qornet Shehwan Gathering member Samir Franjieh, Lebanon's interests do not top the American agenda.

"What's noteworthy in Powell's statement is that there is an agenda that is being proposed to the Syrians, and we know nothing about the content of this agenda, only that it includes some points about Lebanon," he said.

"As a member of the opposition, I would have preferred that bilateral relations between Lebanon and Syria remain bilateral and not become tripartite ... the Syrians ought to discuss Lebanese affairs with the Lebanese not with the Americans," he said.

(MORE)

5//The Moscow Times Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2003. Page 5
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/07/23/044.html

U.S. ENERGY DELEGATION IN MURMANSK
The Moscow Times

Demonstrating the United States' intensifying interest in Russian fuel resources, a high-level U.S. Energy Department delegation on Tuesday visited Murmansk, the Barents Sea port from which Washington eventually hopes to import Russian crude.

Headed by Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow, the delegation traveled to Murmansk after signing a protocol with Deputy Energy Minister Oleg Gordeyev in St. Petersburg on Monday aimed at strengthening investment ties and cooperation in oil field development.

The visit is part of the groundwork being laid for the second annual U.S-Russia Energy Summit to be held in St. Petersburg Sept. 21 and 22. The first was held last year in Houston, Texas.

Energy issues are also expected to figure prominently when President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush meet at Camp David in late September, as the United States seeks to rely more on Russia and less on the Middle East for its energy needs.

The Bush administration has advocated the construction of an oil pipeline from oil-rich western Siberia to Murmansk, the country's only northern ice-free port, but private funding for the project would be necessary and the Russian government has been hesitant to cede its grip on the country's pipeline network.

(MORE)