February 2, 2004

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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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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR FEBRUARY 2, 2004

1//The Independent, UK--INTELLIGENCE SERVICES TO BE BLAMED FOR WMD FAILURES (After a turbulent week dominated by the Commons vote on university tuition fees and the fallout out from the Hutton report, Downing Street acknowledges that the issue of WMD is about to return to the political centre stage. Michael Howard, the Tory leader, will attempt to exploit government discomfort on the aftermath of the Iraq war by demanding an independent inquiry into the quality of intelligence supplied to ministers. "It is of utmost importance that we try to find out what went wrong with the intelligence, [and] if the intelligence community felt there were WMD," he said yesterday. "It is now becoming clear that the weapons weren't there.")

2//Inter Press Service, Italy--PREVENTING THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE (The first intergovernmental conference on genocide to be held since 1948 ended this week in Stockholm with political fireworks within the conference hall marking its finish. Before representatives from 55 nations, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans said U.S. officials had been using the conference to lobby against the International Criminal Court (ICC), the very body created to try crimes against humanity like genocide. The United States has withdrawn from the Rome Treaty of 1998 that created the ICC. "I'm distressed to hear that the same old squeeze has been put on the national delegations all over again at this conference," Evans said. "And in the otherwise admirable declaration we have emerging from it there is no mention of the International Criminal Court...this is just indefensible.")

3//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--THE BUSINESS OF STIFLING THE INTERNET (Internet users are losing ground in the censorship war being fought in Asia's cyberwaves, partly because Western corporations are helping to undermine the spirit of enterprise that made the medium such a potent weapon for free speech. While smarter and more discreet communication technologies offer a way around creeping state controls, advocates of reduced government intervention fear that multinationals may present a far greater long-term threat.)

4//The Japan Times, Japan--GROUND TROOPS BOUND FOR IRAQ GET SENDOFF CEREMONY (Opinion polls show many Japanese are worried their soldiers will end up in a firefight. Some of the soldiers who paraded into the hall at Asahikawa Base for Sunday's ceremony carried automatic rifles. The sendoff came a day after the government secured an endorsement for the operation from the Lower House in a vote boycotted by the opposition. Koizumi played down that political divide Sunday, telling the soldiers he believes "many people" who opposed the peacekeeping operation "are still cheering for you from the bottom of their hearts.")

5//The Guardian, UK--CIVIL WAR SPLITS BBC AS STAFF TURN ON RYDER (Lord Ryder, who became acting Chairman of Governors after the departure of Gavyn Davies, infuriated many BBC staff when he tried to draw a line under the Hutton crisis, saying: 'On behalf of the BBC I have no hesitation in apologising unreservedly for our errors and to the individuals whose reputations were affected by them.' Many at the corporation felt the apology went too far by conceding total defeat and felt greater sympathy with Dyke, who has openly criticised the Hutton report since resigning. They also resent Ryder, a former political secretary to Margaret Thatcher, 'minding the shop' even temporarily until the next chairman is appointed.)

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1//The Independent 02 February 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=486966

INTELLIGENCE SERVICES TO BE BLAMED FOR WMD FAILURES
By Nigel Morris and David Usborne in New York

Tony Blair is preparing to climb down over his insistence that weapons of mass destruction are certain to be discovered in Iraq.

President George Bush is expected to agree to an independent commission this week to investigate the quality of American intelligence before the war last year. That would set the scene for the intelligence services on both sides of the Atlantic to take the blame for providing political leaders with faulty information about Saddam Hussein's supposed arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.

Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, said yesterday: "I saw evidence that was categoric on Saddam possessing chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. Now I saw that intelligence evidence, so did the Prime Minister, so did other cabinet ministers. That informed our decision to go to topple him. I think we were right in doing so, but let's wait and see what the jury finds in the end."

Mr Blair will come under pressure on the issue when he appears before the Commons Liaison Committee of senior backbenchers tomorrow. It is also likely to feature heavily in a Commons debate on Wednesday on Lord Hutton report into the death of David Kelly.

Until now, the Prime Minister has confidently claimed that it is only a matter of time before WMD stocks are found by inspectors. But he has looked increasingly isolated as President Bush moves towards an admission that the intelligence used to justify war was flawed.

(SNIP)

After a turbulent week dominated by the Commons vote on university tuition fees and the fallout out from the Hutton report, Downing Street acknowledges that the issue of WMD is about to return to the political centre stage.

Michael Howard, the Tory leader, will attempt to exploit government discomfort on the aftermath of the Iraq war by demanding an independent inquiry into the quality of intelligence supplied to ministers. "It is of utmost importance that we try to find out what went wrong with the intelligence, [and] if the intelligence community felt there were WMD," he said yesterday. "It is now becoming clear that the weapons weren't there."

(MORE)

2//Inter Press Service January 30, 2004
http://www.ips.org/index.htm

PREVENTING THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE
Ritt Goldstein

Just as everyone was discussing ways to prevent genocide, it was revealed that the United States was lobbying against the International Criminal Court -- there to counter genocide.

STOCKHOLM, Jan 30 (IPS) - The first intergovernmental conference on genocide to be held since 1948 ended this week in Stockholm with political fireworks within the conference hall marking its finish.

Before representatives from 55 nations, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans said U.S. officials had been using the conference to lobby against the International Criminal Court (ICC), the very body created to try crimes against humanity like genocide. The United States has withdrawn from the Rome Treaty of 1998 that created the ICC.

"I'm distressed to hear that the same old squeeze has been put on the national delegations all over again at this conference," Evans said. "And in the otherwise admirable declaration we have emerging from it there is no mention of the International Criminal Court...this is just indefensible."

Evans continued to berate the Bush administration for blocking global efforts to create such accountability structures. His remarks were greeted with thunderous ovation.

The dramatic intervention highlighted the challenge before the Stockholm International Forum 2004, as the conference was called. The meeting Jan. 26- 28 drew political leaders, officials, academics and members of non- governmental organisations. The Swedish government hosted the conference.

On the one hand United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan drew support for his proposal to set up a committee on the prevention of genocide. On the other, delegates saw just what could be preventing the prevention of genocide.

(MORE)

3//Asia Times Online January 31, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FA31Dj05.html

THE BUSINESS OF STIFLING THE INTERNET
By Alan Boyd

SYDNEY - Internet users are losing ground in the censorship war being fought in Asia's cyberwaves, partly because Western corporations are helping to undermine the spirit of enterprise that made the medium such a potent weapon for free speech.

While smarter and more discreet communication technologies offer a way around creeping state controls, advocates of reduced government intervention fear that multinationals may present a far greater long-term threat.

Media watchdog Privacy International warned in a year-long study released in September that corporations with a vastly different agendas were quietly hijacking the 'Net for their own commercial ends. At the same time, almost all governments worldwide - including many supposed flagbearers of democracy - were exploiting terrorism fears to enact laws that would impede the flow of information.

"Governments and their agencies have traditionally viewed new technologies with suspicion, arguing that their presence can disturb the hard-won 'balance' of rights and responsibilities, in the same way that large companies have traditionally viewed any new media as a threat to the balance of their markets," co-authors Simon Davies and Karen Banks wrote in a foreword.

"Technological developments are being implemented to protect a free Internet, but the knowledge gap between radical innovators and restrictive institutions appears to be closing," they said.

The study, and a flurry of other recent reports by media watchdogs and human-rights organizations, confirm what many frustrated Asian consumers had suspected: meddling in the 'Net has intensified during the past two or three years.

(MORE)

4//The Japan Times February 2, 2004
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040202a1.htm

GROUND TROOPS BOUND FOR IRAQ GET SENDOFF CEREMONY

ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido -- Hundreds of troops received a ceremonial sendoff Sunday before leaving for Iraq on a humanitarian mission that will be the largest and most dangerous deployment by the military since World War II.

In a ceremony at a snow-draped base in central Hokkaido, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba addressed about 500 camouflage-clad soldiers who will make up the core unit in the noncombat operation to help with reconstruction in Iraq.

(SNIP)

The date of departure has not been announced. But there have been reports they will start moving out Tuesday, when about 80 men will fly to Kuwait for several days of training before proceeding by convoy to their base of operations in the southwestern Iraqi city of Samawah.

The contingent will join small teams of soldiers and airmen who have been on the ground in Iraq and Kuwait for weeks making final preparations for the mission, which has divided a nation whose disastrous defeat in World War II left it with a deep attachment to pacifism.

(SNIP)

Opinion polls show many Japanese are worried their soldiers will end up in a firefight.
Some of the soldiers who paraded into the hall at Asahikawa Base for Sunday's ceremony carried automatic rifles.

The sendoff came a day after the government secured an endorsement for the operation from the Lower House in a vote boycotted by the opposition.

Koizumi played down that political divide Sunday, telling the soldiers he believes "many people" who opposed the peacekeeping operation "are still cheering for you from the bottom of their hearts."

The government plans to commit a total of 1,000 military personnel to help rebuild Iraq, a mission Koizumi says is necessary for Japan to uphold its obligations to the international community and strengthen its four-decade alliance with the United States.

(MORE)

5//The Guardian Sunday February 1, 2004
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1136298,00.html

CIVIL WAR SPLITS BBC AS STAFF TURN ON RYDER

David Smith, arts and media correspondent
The Observer

Some of the BBC's biggest names are considering quitting in protest at the attitude of its acting chairman and the greatest-ever threat to their journalistic independence.

The corporation was on the brink of civil war last night as union leaders warned that Greg Dyke's resignation as director-general had split the staff from the governors.

Lord Ryder, who became acting Chairman of Governors after the departure of Gavyn Davies, infuriated many BBC staff when he tried to draw a line under the Hutton crisis, saying: 'On behalf of the BBC I have no hesitation in apologising unreservedly for our errors and to the individuals whose reputations were affected by them.'

Many at the corporation felt the apology went too far by conceding total defeat and felt greater sympathy with Dyke, who has openly criticised the Hutton report since resigning. They also resent Ryder, a former political secretary to Margaret Thatcher, 'minding the shop' even temporarily until the next chairman is appointed. He is regarded as no friend of journalists and has questioned the Today programme's 'tabloid style'. He dismissed objections to ensure that the governors accepted Dyke's resignation.

Leading figures including Joan Bakewell, Ben Brown, Gavin Esler, Jonathan Ross, John Simpson and Jeremy Vine were among 10,000 BBC employees who backed a newspaper advert yesterday, expressing 'dismay' at the loss of Dyke and vowing their commitment to a 'fearless search for truth'.

A number of distinguished BBC personalities explained their concerns to The Observer but insisted that, given the tension with their employers, they wished to remain anonymous. 'An awful lot of people feel Ryder went much too far with his apology,' said one. 'We don't need to abase ourselves. Quite a lot of people are anxious there will be too much timidity from now on. That's what Greg Dyke meant when he said we shouldn't be cowed.

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