July 9, 2004

World Media Watch

by Gloria R. Lalumia

BUZZFLASH NOTE: WMW provides BuzzFlash readers foreign views and perspectives that are not usually available from the media here in the U.S. The presentation of these articles from these international publications is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JULY 9, 2004

1//The Independent, UK--BUTLER TO SINGLE OUT INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS FOR BLAME IN WMD INQUIRY (Lord Butler of Brockwell is to defy the Government by including personal criticism of Britain's intelligence chiefs in his inquiry into the information they gathered about Saddam Hussein's weapons before last year's war. The Independent has learnt that the Butler inquiry has sent letters to three crucial witnesses outlining draft sections of next week's report that will criticise them directly...Downing Street is said to be "very worried", fearing the report will criticise the intelligence services for not making rigorous checks about its information on Iraq's arsenal before it was included in the dossier, but also that it will criticise ministers' use of the material.)

2//The Jordan Times, Jordan--US MILITARY POLICIES A JUMBLE IN SOVEREIGN IRAQ (The US military's post-sovereignty strategy in Iraq is a confusing jumble of hands-on involvement in local politics and clear disengagement from cities considered strongholds of the resistance. In some regions, the US army is more deeply enmeshed in social policy than it has ever been, actually filling in the void left by the dissolution of the US-led occupation. On the other hand, Iraq's nastiest zones, like Fallujah, Bohrouz and Samarra, are now almost devoid of US forces despite the aspirations to root out the insurgency and stand up democratic institutions. The zig-zagging prompted one senior US military official to tell AFP in a moment of candor: "Lord knows we need a strategy.")

3//The News International, Pakistan--AFGHAN AUTHORITIES SPEAK WITH MULLA OMAR ( Afghan intelligence agents have spoken with Taliban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar after commandeering a satellite phone being used by his top aide, an Afghan official claimed on Thursday. A man believed to be Omar's aide, Mulla Sakhi Dad Mujahid, was captured on Tuesday, while carrying a satellite telephone containing the phone numbers of top members of the ousted regime, Kandahar intelligence chief Abdullah Laghmanai told AFP. "We contacted Mulla Omar by Mulla Mujahid's phone," he said. At first Mujahid was forced to talk to his boss on the phone. "Salam-Alaikum, where are you," Omar asked Mujahid, according to Laghmanai, who did not say when the call was made. "But when he (Omar) realised the situation ... he cut off the phone," he said.)

4//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--HOWARD TO LATHAM: DON'T BE SO SENSITIVE (Prime Minister John Howard today accused Opposition Leader Mark Latham of being "super-sensitive" in his response to the Bush administration's criticism of Labor's Iraq policy. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has said Labor is divided over its policy to withdraw troops from Iraq by Christmas. Commentators say Mr Armitage's comments go further than previous criticism by US President George W Bush, who said recently that Labor's policy would be disastrous...Former Labor PM Mr Keating yesterday labelled the US dumb and thuggish and said it had made an unwarranted and untimely partisan intervention in Australian politics. His view was backed last night by former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who said Mr Armitage's intervention was "quite unforgiveable".)

5//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong---JAPANESE ELECTION COULD MAKE A SAMURAI FLINCH (There's no clear front-runner, and the outcome of Sunday's elections to the Upper House of Japan's Diet, or parliament, could usher in two-party governance, for decades an unknown system in the nation controlled - some would say ruled - by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of charismatic but politically troubled Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...If Koizumi's LDP loses many of its 50 pre-election seats, he might be swept from office (although he is not personally contesting for a seat), taking responsibility for a potential massive defeat.)

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1//The Independent, UK 09 July 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=539478

BUTLER TO SINGLE OUT INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS FOR BLAME IN WMD INQUIRY
By Andrew Grice and Colin Brown

Lord Butler of Brockwell is to defy the Government by including personal criticism of Britain's intelligence chiefs in his inquiry into the information they gathered about Saddam Hussein's weapons before last year's war.

The Independent has learnt that the Butler inquiry has sent letters to three crucial witnesses outlining draft sections of next week's report that will criticise them directly.

They are John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) which assessed the evidence published in the Government's dossier on Iraqi weapons in September 2002; Sir Richard Dearlove, the head of MI6, which gathered the material, and Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, who is believed to have amended his original legal advice on the eve of the war to give the go-ahead to military action.

Such criticism of Mr Scarlett would be a setback for Tony Blair, who promoted him to head MI6 from August without waiting for the Butler committee. Critics said the appointment was a "pay off" for Mr Scarlett giving his blessing to the dossier, which claimed Saddam could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

The JIC is bracing itself for criticism that it allowed its work to be used for "political" purposes. Evidence presented to the Butler inquiry suggested the intelligence supporting the 45-minute claim was "too thin" and vague.

Mr Blair has made clear he does not want to the inquiry to "scapegoat" anybody, and was hoping that Lord Butler, the former cabinet secretary, would draw general lessons rather than "name and shame" individuals. But the disclosure that the letters have been sent provides the clearest possible sign that the inquiry report, to be published next Wednesday, will include personal criticism. Normally, people to be criticised by such an inquiry are given the chance to make last-minute representations.

Downing Street is said to be "very worried", fearing the report will criticise the intelligence services for not making rigorous checks about its information on Iraq's arsenal before it was included in the dossier, but also that it will criticise ministers' use of the material.

(MORE)

2//The Jordan Times, Jordan Friday-Saturday, July 9-10, 2004
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news5.htm

US MILITARY POLICIES A JUMBLE IN SOVEREIGN IRAQ

BAQUBA (AFP) - The US military's post-sovereignty strategy in Iraq is a confusing jumble of hands-on involvement in local politics and clear disengagement from cities considered strongholds of the resistance.

In some regions, the US army is more deeply enmeshed in social policy than it has ever been, actually filling in the void left by the dissolution of the US-led occupation.

On the other hand, Iraq's nastiest zones, like Fallujah, Bohrouz and Samarra, are now almost devoid of US forces despite the aspirations to root out the insurgency and stand up democratic institutions.

The zig-zagging prompted one senior US military official to tell AFP in a moment of candor: "Lord knows we need a strategy."

The eastern Diyala province on the Iranian border is an example of the post sovereignty mix of hands-on involvement and disengagement from dicey areas.

Colonel Dana Pittard, who commands most of Diyala for the 1st Infantry Division (1st ID), says the disbanding of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has forced his troops to become more involved in the day-to-day running of the province.

"There were about 25 tasks CPA left for us to hold from women's issues to political parties, [to] local governance... It would probably have been better to keep them [the CPA staff]," Pittard says. "But to move that structure out before elections is a tough one. Someone has to fill that void. That'll be us."

With the CPA gone, even matters like oversight of the province's budget fall to his brigade. "We'll be in support," Pittard says, concerning Diyala's finances.

At the same time his men grapple with policy, Pittard has opted to steer clear of trouble spots like the rebel bastion of Bohrouz, outside of Baquba.

(SNIP)

In the region around Fallujah, with the CPA dissolved, the US Marines stand as the sole American voice. They attend local government meetings and coordinate the spending of US money on reconstruction projects.

Despite the aggressive engagement with communities outside the Fallujah, the Marines have made little headway inside, where they handed security responsibility to local forces after heavy fighting in April that saw hundreds killed.

Although the Marines believe they are seeing progress, they confess they do not have a clear comprehension on the power dynamics in the city, among its mix of city officials, who work with the Americans, radical clerics and insurgents. Lieutenant Colonel Austin Renforth, the operatons officer for the Marines' First Regiment, says they are at a disadvantage in understanding who the enemy really is - whether foreign, Baathist or Islamists.

"As far as who they are, where they come from, it's all speculation right now. You get so many reports. Who is to say how credible these reports are. Until we go see it for ourselves, we don't exactly what they are," he says.

3//The News International, Pakistan Friday July 09, 2004-- Jamadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1425 A.H.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2004-daily/09-07-2004/main/main14.htm

AFGHAN AUTHORITIES SPEAK WITH MULLA OMAR

KABUL: Afghan intelligence agents have spoken with Taliban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar after commandeering a satellite phone being used by his top aide, an Afghan official claimed on Thursday.

A man believed to be Omar's aide, Mulla Sakhi Dad Mujahid, was captured on Tuesday, while carrying a satellite telephone containing the phone numbers of top members of the ousted regime, Kandahar intelligence chief Abdullah Laghmanai told AFP. "We contacted Mulla Omar by Mulla Mujahid's phone," he said.

At first Mujahid was forced to talk to his boss on the phone. "Salam-Alaikum, where are you," Omar asked Mujahid, according to Laghmanai, who did not say when the call was made. "But when he (Omar) realised the situation ... he cut off the phone," he said.

Mujahid, who served as Omar's secretary under the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule Mulla Mujahid, was arrested on Tuesday during a raid in Dara-e-Noor, some 70 kilometres north of Kandahar. "Currently he was serving as Omar's military assistant," Laghmanai said.

Kandahar military spokesman General Abdul Wasay confirmed the arrest. "The arrest of Mulla Mujahid will pacify Taliban's activities in the area," where he was captured, he told AFP, without elaborating on further details.

Laghmanai said that subsequent efforts to contact Omar on the phone had been unsuccessful as the Taliban boss refuses to answer phone calls from strange numbers. "Maybe Omar has found out that his friend is under our control," he said. "He doesn't answer his telephone."

(MORE)

4//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia July 9, 2004 - 10:19 AM
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/09/1089000326082.html

HOWARD TO LATHAM: DON'T BE SO SENSITIVE

Prime Minister John Howard today accused Opposition Leader Mark Latham of being "super-sensitive" in his response to the Bush administration's criticism of Labor's Iraq policy.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has said Labor is divided over its policy to withdraw troops from Iraq by Christmas.

Commentators say Mr Armitage's comments go further than previous criticism by US President George W Bush, who said recently that Labor's policy would be disastrous.

Opposition leader Mark Latham and former prime ministers Paul Keating and Malcolm Fraser have hit back at Mr Armitage and told the US to stay out of Australian politics.

But Mr Howard today described the reaction as "super-sensitive" and said Mr Latham had himself commented on US politics in the past.

"Mark Latham himself with his attack on Bush, when he said he was the most dangerous and incompetent American president in living memory, was hardly being diplomatic and gentle," Mr Howard told Sydney radio 2UE.

"I mean this is very much another case of it's okay for Mark Latham to blaze away but if somebody returns the fire, so to speak, then that's wrong."

(SNIP)

Former Labor PM Mr Keating yesterday labelled the US dumb and thuggish and said it had made an unwarranted and untimely partisan intervention in Australian politics.

His view was backed last night by former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who said Mr Armitage's intervention was "quite unforgiveable".

Mr Howard said he was in favour of an Australia-US alliance.

"I'm arguing very strongly that it is in Australia's interest to have a close alliance with the United States.

"But the point I'm making is that the Australian public will make an assessment on that according to what they hear from their Australian political leaders."

5//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong July 9, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/FG09Dh02.html

JAPANESE ELECTION COULD MAKE A SAMURAI FLINCH
By Kosuke Takahashi

TOKYO - There's no clear front-runner, and the outcome of Sunday's elections to the Upper House of Japan's Diet, or parliament, could usher in two-party governance, for decades an unknown system in the nation controlled - some would say ruled - by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of charismatic but politically troubled Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Koizumi may be losing ground to his main opposition rival. In the final stage of the campaign, all the major Japanese media have suggested that the LDP is likely to fall behind the largest opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), in this Sunday's elections to the Upper House. Koizumi's faltering appears largely due to the controversial pension-reform issue - by some accounts a pension scandal involving some members of Koizumi's cabinet, the former opposition chief and even Koizumi himself a long time ago. If those polls prove right, Koizumi will face further questions about his leadership from both inside and outside the party soon after the election.

The DPJ, meanwhile, is likely to increase its seats by a substantial number, putting Japan firmly on the path to a two-party system, a process that gained momentum in last November's Lower House election. Today, it is in essence one-party rule, by Koizumi's LDP. Currently, the Upper House has 247 seats, but through the election, the number will be reduced to 242. Every three years, half of the six-year-term seats are up for election; this time it's 121 seats. Elections to the Lower House, with four-year terms, will be held by November 2007.

Fifty is the key number for this election. This is because Koizumi and LDP leaders have set a clear target of 50 seats, one more than its pre-election strength, and including a now-vacant seat in Kagoshima prefecture, as the LDP's dividing line of win-or-lose in the election. Meanwhile, taking the offensive, the DPJ also has targeted 50 as its goal, although the number of its pre-election seats is just 32. If Koizumi's LDP loses many of its 50 pre-election seats, he might be swept from office (although he is not personally contesting for a seat), taking responsibility for a potential massive defeat.

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