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| August 20, 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. * * * 1//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--IDIOT OR LIAR? EITHER WAY, BUSH IS UNFIT FOR OFFICE (On July 25, President George W. Bush made a truly staggering statement to the press after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: "The fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in. And therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power, along with other nations, so as to make sure he was not a threat to the United States and our friends and allies in the region." This statement is worth reading carefully. The president of the United States has stated, in a public forum, that he invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein would not allow weapons inspectors back into his country. So far as I am aware, this statement has not been the subject of any serious critical analysis in the mainstream American media.) 2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--WHY THE LESSONS OF VIETNAM DO MATTER (It's all there in Vo Nguyen Giap - Selected Writings, a collection spanning the years 1969-91 and published by Gioi Editions in Hanoi: the strategy and tactics of a war of national liberation and how a "popular war against the American aggression" was organized. The Ba'ath Party and the Republican Guards may have not implemented what they learned - as the top army commanders, after a campaign of preventive intimidation, were finally bought out by Pentagon cash and safe refuge (see The Baghdad deal, April 25). But basically the same strategy is now being implemented by the array of groups that constitute the Iraqi national resistance.) 3//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey--PKK REMAINS IN THE MOUNTAINS (The United States has said it will not tolerate the presence of armed groups in Iraq. The U.S. forces have already disarmed the opposition Iranian forces and have used force to wipe out the Islamic militant groups that were threatening the Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq. American sources say the U.S. has given the PKK militants a last chance to come down from the mountains peacefully and disarm. But U.S. sources have also said that if the PKK militants decide to shun the amnesty then they will be left with no other option but to use force against them. When this will happen remains to be seen.) 4//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--PYONGYANG'S ALLIES GROW ANXIOUS (As China tries to calm the region, the US and Australia sent out mixed signals. US officials said on Monday that Australia-US navy exercises in the Coral Sea next month would practise intercepting North Korean mass-destruction weaponry and other contraband exports... As this message was coming out, Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, was saying in China that the Beijing talks meant "interdiction" was no longer the emphasis of the exercises, and that Proliferation Security Initiative was "on the backburner" because of the hopeful diplomatic developments since the July meeting.) 5//The Guardian, UK--US ESCALATES GM FOOD ROW WITH EUROPE (Europe's dispute with America over genetically modified food escalated yesterday after Washington asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to force the EU to lift its five-year-old ban on new GM food products... The EU has recently finalised strict new rules on the authorisation and labelling of such products which it argues means that the moratorium is now dead in the water and that new GM products can be approved. However, most EU member states are still dragging their feet over letting in new products and Washington is growing impatient... However anti-GM campaigners said the US was trying to force unwanted food on Europe..."Decisions about the food we eat should be made in Europe and not in the White House, the WTO or Monsanto's HQ." * * * 1//Arab News Tuesday, 19, August, 2003 (21, Jumada ath-Thani, 1424) http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=30536&d=19&m=8&y=2003 IDIOT OR LIAR? EITHER WAY, BUSH IS UNFIT FOR OFFICE JEDDAH, 19 August 2003 - On July 25, President George W. Bush made a truly staggering statement to the press after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: "The fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in. And therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power, along with other nations, so as to make sure he was not a threat to the United States and our friends and allies in the region." This statement is worth reading carefully. The president of the United States has stated, in a public forum, that he invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein would not allow weapons inspectors back into his country. So far as I am aware, this statement has not been the subject of any serious critical analysis in the mainstream American media. I will therefore provide my own brief analysis. Assuming, as seems reasonable, that the president of the United States was neither drunk nor on LSD, there can be only two possible explanations for this statement: Explanation 1: The president of the United States believed what he said. In this case, he is so dim-witted and/or totally divorced from reality as to be mentally unfit to hold his current job - or, indeed, any job - and should be taken into medical care. Explanation 2: The president did not believe what he said but, rather, believes (unfortunately not without compelling post-Sept.11 evidence) that the vast majority of the American people are so dim-witted and/or uninformed and the vast majority of the American media is so sycophantic and/or terrified of being branded "unpatriotic" (or simply losing White House "access") that he can now tell any lie, no matter how obvious and outrageous, and get away with it. In this case, he is morally unfit to hold his current job and should, by constitutional means, be forced to relinquish it as soon as possible. Either explanation should scare the wits out of anyone who is not comatose. (MORE)
The Roving Eye By Pepe Escobar HANOI - Just as it took a few years for the Americans to lose the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese, it took them only a few weeks to lose the hearts and minds of the majority of Iraqis - which ultimately means losing the war, whatever the strategic final result. Topographic denials - this is the Mesopotamian desert, not the Indochinese jungle - don't work, nor do denials saying that the Iraqis are not as politicized as the Vietnamese were by communism. These totally miss the point: as happened in Vietnam, what is happening now in Iraq has everything to do with patriotism and nationalism. Former Iraqi vice premier Tariq Aziz used to say, before the US invasion, "Let our cities be our swamps and our buildings our jungles." Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, aka "Comical Ali", the unforgettable former minister of information, used to say Iraq would be "another Indochina". The guerrilla war strategy against what was considered an inevitable US invasion has been perfected in Iraq for years. And the master strategist was neither an Assyrian nor a Mesopotamian general, but the legendary Vo Nguyen Giap, the Vietnamese general who coordinated the victories against French colonialism and US meddling. Iraqi strategists - from army officials to Ba'ath Party officials - have always been thorough students of the Vietnam War, or American War, as it is referred to in Vietnam. In addition, the Iraqi urban population is very well educated and analyzes events with a deep historical sense - as well as the Vietnamese. Iraqis are not gullible to the point of believing the occupying power's boast of "nation building"- as they have not seen any tangible results since the "fall" of Baghdad on April 9. Since the beginning - the first huge popular demonstration departing from Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad on April 18 - the "liberation" of the Iraqi people by America has been viewed inside many sections of Iraq as a national liberation war, a "popular war" in the Giap sense against an imperialist aggressor. It's all there in Vo Nguyen Giap - Selected Writings, a collection spanning the years 1969-91 and published by Gioi Editions in Hanoi: the strategy and tactics of a war of national liberation and how a "popular war against the American aggression" was organized. The Ba'ath Party and the Republican Guards may have not implemented what they learned - as the top army commanders, after a campaign of preventive intimidation, were finally bought out by Pentagon cash and safe refuge (see The Baghdad deal, April 25). But basically the same strategy is now being implemented by the array of groups that constitute the Iraqi national resistance. The objective is always to harass, bog down and demoralize a hugely superior army. Veterans of the American War in Hanoi - who usually congregate every day around Hoam Kien Lake to talk about the past and the present - stress that it was all about national consciousness, patriotism and local traditions: according to Giap, "patriotism associated with the democratic spirit and love of socialism". In Iraq, the impetus is the same - with "love of Islam" substituting for "love of socialism". Iraqi patriotism and anti-imperialist sentiment is as strong as it was in Vietnam. (MORE)
PKK REMAINS IN THE MOUNTAINS Ilnur Cevik Hopes are starting to fade that the new partial amnesty law designed to bring PKK separatist militants down from the mountains will yield any results, government sources told the Turkish Daily News. A high ranking government official who asked not to be named said in fact the government did not expect any outstanding results from this amnesty but stressed it was legislated to give the Americans a chance to see if the PKK terrorists holed up in the mountains would give themselves up. It has been nearly two weeks since the partial amnesty law billed as the "winning back to society" legislation was enacted and there is only a handful of PKK militants who have given themselves up. Only two of them came from northern Iraq while at least 5,000 are said to be hiding in the Kandil Mountains bordering Iraq. Another 10,000 PKK sympathizers who have sought refuge in the Mahmour Camp also seem reluctant to return to Turkey and benefit from the law. According to the law those who have not been involved in any terrorist activity will be questioned and released to live a normal life. The law also provides serious reductions in jail terms for those involved in terrorist activity. More than 900 PKK militants currently in prison have asked to benefit from the pardon. Despite the pardon most PKK militants have opted not to come down from the mountains. It is said the PKK leadership is dissuading the militants. The United States has said it will not tolerate the presence of armed groups in Iraq. The U.S. forces have already disarmed the opposition Iranian forces and have used force to wipe out the Islamic militant groups that were threatening the Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq. American sources say the U.S. has given the PKK militants a last chance to come down from the mountains peacefully and disarm. But U.S. sources have also said that if the PKK militants decide to shun the amnesty then they will be left with no other option but to use force against them. When this will happen remains to be seen. (MORE)
PYONGYANG'S ALLIES GROW ANXIOUS As the United States and its ally Australia sent out contradictory signals about naval pressure on North Korea, the isolated Stalinist state's two friends have begun a series of military contacts suggesting deep concern about the risks of war. China's highest military commissar, Colonel-General Xu Caihou, the head of the political directorate in the People's Liberation Army, yesterday held talks in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, with Vice- Marshal Jo Myong-rok, the second-ranking general in the North Korean Army. The visit precedes by a week the crucial talks involving North Korea, the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea in Beijing to find a peaceful solution to the crisis that began last October when it was revealed North Korea had nuclear weapons programs. Chinese and North Korean reports described the visit as reciprocation of Marshal Jo's visit to Beijing in April, which was just before an earlier deadlocked round of talks between the US, China and North Korea. No other details were given, but the Chinese team was expected to urge restraint on the North Koreans. Russian navy ships meanwhile began a 10-day exercise in the seas between North Korea, Japan and the Russian far east involving warships from North and South Korea operating together for the first time. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has successfully brought his country into the Korean negotiations by posing Moscow as a less dominating traditional ally than Beijing for the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. But Russia's worry will be shown by manoeuvres due to start on Saturday in the region close to its short land border with North Korea. Local security forces and civil defence authorities will deal with the scenario of a massive influx of North Korean refugees caused by war on the peninsula or the sudden collapse of the Pyongyang regime. (SNIP) As China tries to calm the region, the US and Australia sent out mixed signals. US officials said on Monday that Australia-US navy exercises in the Coral Sea next month would practise intercepting North Korean mass-destruction weaponry and other contraband exports. Officially not directed at any one country, they were intended to give a "sharp signal" to Pyongyang. The US State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said the exercises were part of the Proliferation Security Initiative agreed at a meeting in Brisbane last month. As this message was coming out, Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, was saying in China that the Beijing talks meant "interdiction" was no longer the emphasis of the exercises, and that Proliferation Security Initiative was "on the backburner" because of the hopeful diplomatic developments since the July meeting.
US ESCALATES GM FOOD ROW WITH EUROPE Europe's dispute with America over genetically modified food escalated yesterday after Washington asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to force the EU to lift its five-year-old ban on new GM food products. In a move which raises the prospect of a fresh trade war just a
month before crucial world trade talks in Mexico, America requested
the formation of a WTO dispute settlement panel to decide once and
for all who is right on GM technology. The call was backed by Argentina
and Canada. The EU response was immediate and curt. It said it regretted the move, blocked the formation of the panel (something it is allowed to do only once), and claimed that the case would confuse already sceptical European consumers. (SNIP) A de facto EU moratorium on all new GM product approvals has been in place since 1998 because of widespread public unease about the technology. The EU has recently finalised strict new rules on the authorisation and labelling of such products which it argues means that the moratorium is now dead in the water and that new GM products can be approved. However, most EU member states are still dragging their feet over letting in new products and Washington is growing impatient. (SNIP) However anti-GM campaigners said the US was trying to force unwanted food on Europe. "The US administration, funded by the likes of GMO giant Monsanto, is using the undemocratic and secretive WTO to force feed the world GM foods," said Martin Rocholl, of Friends of the Earth Europe. "Decisions about the food we eat should be made in Europe and not in the White House, the WTO or Monsanto's HQ. (MORE) | |||||
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