July 16, 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 16, 2004

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--THE NEW SADDAM, WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE ("With Allawi, it's like the CIA is marrying Iraq," says a Baghdad intellectual. European diplomats in Brussels prefer to note his old-school but very sound strategy to climb to power: first infiltrating the debris of the Iraqi secret services and then putting them back into place while allying himself with former Ba'ath Sunni generals so he can reconstitute the army in his image. In Baghdad, Allawi is called "Saddam without a moustache". Exactly what Washington wants...Washington tried 19th-century-style colonialism in Iraq. It failed. Now it's trying a remix of 1970s Latin America - with proxy hardcore security forces subjected to the US. It will fail - as it did in Latin America. The United States may be militarily strong in Iraq, but politically it is a midget - as Fallujah demonstrates. Only one desired effect by the White House is already on: the war - at least in this summer silly season - is slowly disappearing from US television. The resistance - and not only in Fallujah - will certainly bring it back.)

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAQI RESISTANCE TIRING OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS (The Iraqi interim government hopes to isolate the Islamist militants by drawing off their nationalist allies through offers of amnesty, promises of re-employment for former army officers and some ex-Baathists in state institutions and by opening up the political arena to allow opposition voices to be heard. Yet prolonged military action by foreign - in particular US - troops in Iraq will continue to serve as a stimulus for nationalist insurgents and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government to marginalize the Islamist component. "I do not believe that these intra-Iraqi conflicts are so important right now," said Juan Cole, modern history professor at the University of Michigan. "Only after the US is expelled would they then have to settle things among themselves."

3//The Straits Times, Singapore--MANILA'S IRAQ PULLOUT DUE TO CLOUT OF OVERSEAS WORKERS (The impending Philippine retreat from Iraq is a tribute to the humble overseas Filipino worker...So crucial is the contribution that these workers make to the economy that they have been hailed as the 'new heroes' and described as a 'pillar of the Philippines' foreign policy'. Their clout was evident in President Gloria Arroyo's decision on Wednesday to bow to the demands of Mr de la Cruz's kidnappers and pull troops out of Iraq early despite the risk of straining relations with the United States. Political analyst Gladstone Cuarteros said Mrs Arroyo's decision was 'a recognition of the political clout of overseas workers. There would have been a major political backlash against her government because so many families depend on a relative working abroad'.)

4//The Scotsman, UK--PRESIDENTIAL BLAIR 'MUST CHANGE' STYLE OF LEADERSHIP (Since taking office, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, has prided himself in his informal style of meetings at No 10 - swapping agendas and minutes for cups of tea and biscuits. However, Lord Butler indicated yesterday that the highly personalised style he uses to run the government has to change...Effectively, the report accuses Mr Blair of rewriting constitutional tradition in order to increase his personal power, the most authoritative condemnation to date of his presidential style of government.)

5//The Independent, UK--ANGER OF A QUIET GERMAN VILLAGE WHERE NEO-NAZIS PLAN AN SS-STYLE BABY FARM (A normally tranquil west German village has been traumatised by a notorious neo-Nazi lawyer's plans to turn its 19th-century manor house and adjoining estate into an Aryan-style baby farm designed to further the Nordic race. The dubious project has been launched by Jürgen Rieger, a wealthy 57-year-old Hamburg lawyer and specialist in defending members of the German far right. He has convictions for incitement to racial hatred...The foundation is funded by the copious financial assets of the late Wilhelm Tietjen, a diehard Nazi loyalist and stock-market speculator who set up his fertility research organisation to further the Nordic races before his death in 2002. Mr Teitjen was infertile.)

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Jul 16, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG16Ak02.html

The Roving Eye
THE NEW SADDAM, WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE
By Pepe Escobar

Talk about outsourcing.

The first two acts of former Central Intelligence Agency asset turned Prime Minister Iyad Allawi were to call a US air strike on an alleged safe house in Fallujah, and to sign a martial-law order to be imposed on an Arab "sovereign" state by a Western, Christian army. Saddam Hussein also imposed martial law on Iraq. Last year, the talk in Baghdad was that the Americans wanted an "American Saddam". Now they have one. No wonder "sovereign" Iraq looks like your average Arab dictatorship - again: it could be Egypt, it could be Syria.

Weary, secular Iraqis are now contrasting the two unsavory propositions with which they have been presented. On one side, there's the virtually independent enclave of Fallujah, half an hour away from Baghdad and under control of hardline Taliban-like mujahideen militias. On the other side, "democratic" Iraq with its inbuilt Patriot Act - where everyone is potentially subjected to martial law, curfews, a ban on demonstrations, phone-tapping, the opening of mail, the freezing of bank accounts and the appointment of the military to rule parts of the country. Iraq's Patriot Act was appropriately announced to the Iraqi population by Bakhtyar Amin, the new minister of justice and human rights.

Some Iraqis may welcome their Patriot Act because it supposedly tackles the security nightmare bequeathed by the Americans. People in Baghdad still remember Saddam Hussein's ultra-harsh security state: it was ugly, but there was plenty of security. But Baghdad sources tell Asia Times Online that many people are wondering whether the Patriot Act will be enough to save Allawi's Iraq. Much of the Sunni triangle - including the major cities of Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra and Baqubah - is now controlled by the resistance. These cities are nothing less than autonomous republics.

The pseudo-state
(SNIP)

The British tried to rule Iraq by proxy in the 1920s, via their embassy. The scheme failed. Adam Hochschild, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and also the author of King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, has compared the new Iraq with the Bantustans of South Africa during apartheid, a scheme that also failed. Washington may want a "pseudo-state", says Hochschild, "a willing home for the permanent military bases the Pentagon is building in the country; an oil reservoir safely under US influence; and a strategic ally against militant Islam, all with the facade, at least, of democracy. On the other hand, with its vast oil wealth and restive population, at some point Iraq could take a very different path, and embody the religious fervor of its Shi'ite majority, demand that US forces leave, try to cancel reconstruction contracts with US firms, and reverse the privatization of state assets now under way."

The main contractor
The heavy silhouette of Allawi, the heir of a Shi'ite merchant family from Nassiriyah, configures him as an Arab version of Tony Soprano - without the charm.

According to Dr Haifa al-Azzaoui, a former exile who now writes for the Arab media, Allawi's Baghdad diploma in neurology is "a fake, and provided by the Ba'ath Party before they sent him to London to spy on Iraqi students". A former hardcore Ba'athist in the 1960s - socialist and Arab nationalist - an exile for 32 years, the head of a political party with absolutely no popular base, and an honorable client of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Britain's MI6 military intelligence and Saudi intelligence, it was Allawi who almost sent British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the unemployment line when he sold the notion that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction "operational in 45 minutes".

(SNIP)

"With Allawi, it's like the CIA is marrying Iraq," says a Baghdad intellectual. European diplomats in Brussels prefer to note his old-school but very sound strategy to climb to power: first infiltrating the debris of the Iraqi secret services and then putting them back into place while allying himself with former Ba'ath Sunni generals so he can reconstitute the army in his image. In Baghdad, Allawi is called "Saddam without a moustache". Exactly what Washington wants.

But the point is what Iraqis want. They want two things from Allawi: restoration of order and security, and getting rid of the US occupation as soon as possible. Allawi and his party, though, have absolutely no popular base. He has to do what the Americans - via US Ambassador John Negroponte at the US Embassy - tell him to do. Bringing back the Mukhabarat and Saddam's spies is a tremendously unpopular move - as well as a virtual death warrant to democracy.

(SNIP)

The Fallujah effect
The security nightmare in Iraq won't be contained. The Fallujah effect can generate a reaction that could spill over into Jordan - via the towns of Zarqa, Irbid and Maan - and into the West Bank and Gaza in Palestine.

Jordan's King Abdullah is not exactly popular in a country that is almost 60% Palestinian (the natives are Arab Bedouins) and an ally of the United States and Israel to boot. Irbid in Jordan is a Palestinian-majority town. Maan in Jordan is an important Salafi crossroads. The political opposition in Jordan is basically constituted by Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood: this in essence is the ideology predominant in Fallujah.

That's the reason King Abdullah has offered Jordanian troops to Allawi's Iraq: so he can have a shot at preventing radical Islam from expanding west from Fallujah toward Jordan.

Washington tried 19th-century-style colonialism in Iraq. It failed. Now it's trying a remix of 1970s Latin America - with proxy hardcore security forces subjected to the US. It will fail - as it did in Latin America. The United States may be militarily strong in Iraq, but politically it is a midget - as Fallujah demonstrates. Only one desired effect by the White House is already on: the war - at least in this summer silly season - is slowly disappearing from US television. The resistance - and not only in Fallujah - will certainly bring it back.

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon Friday, July 16, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=6314

IRAQI RESISTANCE TIRING OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS
Analysts say only US withdrawal, elections will end violence

By Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Once united in their opposition to the US-led occupation authority, signs of division are emerging among the ranks of the Iraqi resistance, as nationalist militants grow resentful of the power and ruthlessness of Islamic extremists.

But the jihadist component of the insurgency - Iraqis and other Arabs - appears as resolute as ever. Furthermore, only the withdrawal of foreign forces and the holding of full elections will help substantially reduce the level of violence, analysts say.

(SNIP)

There was a short-term tactical alliance between some militant Shiites and Sunnis in April during the simultaneous rebellions in the flashpoint Sunni town of Fallujah and several southern Shiite-dominated cities. However, the hostility of Sunni extremists toward Shiites rules out a longer-term strategic alliance, ensuring instead that militants from both sides will remain in confrontation.

Of more potential consequence for the insurgency, however, are signs of friction between Sunni Islamic extremists on the one hand and Sunni nationalists on the other.

That tension is evident in Fallujah, which was transformed into a mini-Islamic state following the withdrawal of US Marines from the town at the end of the April clashes. Extremist clerics have imposed a strict Islamic code on the town. Alcohol is banned from stores and barbers have been instructed to cut the hair of men in an Islamic fashion.

(SNIP)

The draconian rule of the Islamists is upsetting many Fallujah residents, compounded by the presence of some foreign fighters whose agenda extends far beyond removing foreign forces from Iraq.

The extremists may be a small percentage of the population, but they are ready to do and to die," Dulame said. "They are creating turmoil in the town. They have money and support from outside."

The nationalist component of the insurgency has not declared a long-term political agenda, reflecting the autonomous nature, as well as lack, of cohesion between the numerous disparate cells and groups. For now, their collective aim appears limited solely to driving out foreign troops and undermining the interim government.

On the other hand, the actions of the Islamist elements in Iraq fit into a broader long-term strategy of removing all foreign presence and influence from the region as a prelude to creating a pan-Islamic state in Muslim countries. The Islamists have had little compunction in using brutal tactics to achieve that goal, such as carrying out suicide bomb attacks in populated areas with scant regard for civilian casualties.

But such uncompromising tactics have earned the enmity of war-weary Iraqis and the resentment of nationalist militants.

"There is now very real anger against the Al-Qaeda operatives and the other Wahhabi terrorist groups," said a Western official in Baghdad with close ties to Iraq's religious groups.

(SNIP)

The Iraqi interim government hopes to isolate the Islamist militants by drawing off their nationalist allies through offers of amnesty, promises of re-employment for former army officers and some ex-Baathists in state institutions and by opening up the political arena to allow opposition voices to be heard.

Yet prolonged military action by foreign - in particular US - troops in Iraq will continue to serve as a stimulus for nationalist insurgents and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government to marginalize the Islamist component.

"I do not believe that these intra-Iraqi conflicts are so important right now," said Juan Cole, modern history professor at the University of Michigan. "Only after the US is expelled would they then have to settle things among themselves."

3//The Straits Times, Singapore July 16, 2004 Fri
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,261716,00.html?

MANILA'S IRAQ PULLOUT DUE TO CLOUT OF OVERSEAS WORKERS
Too many Filipino families depend on 'new heroes' for Manila to ignore hostage threat

By Luz Baguioro

Manila - The impending Philippine retreat from Iraq is a tribute to the humble overseas Filipino worker.

Hostage Angelo de la Cruz, a driver, is only one among millions of his countrymen toiling overseas to keep their families, as well as the Philippine economy, afloat.

So crucial is the contribution that these workers make to the economy that they have been hailed as the 'new heroes' and described as a 'pillar of the Philippines' foreign policy'.

Their clout was evident in President Gloria Arroyo's decision on Wednesday to bow to the demands of Mr de la Cruz's kidnappers and pull troops out of Iraq early despite the risk of straining relations with the United States.

Political analyst Gladstone Cuarteros said Mrs Arroyo's decision was 'a recognition of the political clout of overseas workers. There would have been a major political backlash against her government because so many families depend on a relative working abroad'.

About 7.5 million Filipinos currently work abroad, most of them as construction workers, domestic helpers and seamen.

Their remittances, which amounted to US$7.6 billion (S$12.9 billion) last year, or 7.5 per cent of the Philippines' gross domestic product, were the main drivers of the economy.

'Without remittances from these workers, the economy would have been in a precarious situation,' said Mr Jesus Felipe, an Asian Development Bank economist.

During the Asian financial crisis, the remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) cushioned the impact of currency speculation on the national economy and kept it from collapsing.

Hailed by former president Corazon Aquino as 'new heroes', many OFWs risk their lives and endure abuse and poor living conditions just to keep high-paying jobs they hope will lift their families out of grinding poverty.

Until the Aquino presidency, the foreign policy of the Philippines had been mainly driven by the need to maintain its most important bilateral relationship, that with the US.

Last year, the workers won the right to vote while overseas - adding a political dimension to their economic importance.

(MORE)

4//The Scotsman, UK Thu 15 July 2004
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=807872004

PRESIDENTIAL BLAIR 'MUST CHANGE' STYLE OF LEADERSHIP
James Kirkup

Since taking office, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, has prided himself in his informal style of meetings at No 10 - swapping agendas and minutes for cups of tea and biscuits. However, Lord Butler indicated yesterday that the highly personalised style he uses to run the government has to change.

Yesterday's report reveals that even when considering decisions of the gravest national interest, the Prime Minister relies on informal, largely unminuted meetings with small groups of colleagues instead of gatherings of the full Cabinet.

Typically, the Prime Minister considers the most momentous issues on the sofa in his "den", the private office at Downing Street, instead of at the coffin-shaped table in the Cabinet room.

Lord Butler, a former Cabinet Secretary, also finds that Mr Blair has restructured many of the key civil service roles that tie the Prime Minister's authority to the Cabinet and the civil service.

Effectively, the report accuses Mr Blair of rewriting constitutional tradition in order to increase his personal power, the most authoritative condemnation to date of his presidential style of government.

The extent of Mr Blair's so-called "sofa government" was first laid bare by Lord Hutton's investigation last year, when the law lord criticised Downing Street over the number of pivotal meetings relating to Dr David Kelly, the government weapons scientist who killed himself last July, which took place outside the formal structure of government and for which no official minutes were taken.

To Mr Blair's critics, the informal style of administration allows the Prime Minister to evade proper accountability and make decisions, like those relating to Dr Kelly, on a deniable basis.

While some of those surrounding Mr Blair dismiss these complaints as the grumbling of fusty old-school civil servants like Lord Butler, the same worries are shared by a number of contemporary politicians too.

(MORE)

5//The Independent, UK 16 July 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=541481

ANGER OF A QUIET GERMAN VILLAGE WHERE NEO-NAZIS PLAN AN SS-STYLE BABY FARM
By Tony Paterson in Berlin

A normally tranquil west German village has been traumatised by a notorious neo-Nazi lawyer's plans to turn its 19th-century manor house and adjoining estate into an Aryan-style baby farm designed to further the Nordic race.

The dubious project has been launched by Jürgen Rieger, a wealthy 57-year-old Hamburg lawyer and specialist in defending members of the German far right. He has convictions for incitement to racial hatred.

The former member of the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party has appeared at far-right rallies in Britain and praised the British fascist Oswald Mosley. He is also a fervent advocate of "racial purity". In a book on the subject, he wrote of the "disastrous effects of bastardising races" and promised, "the white giants are coming".

This year, Mr Rieger paid €225,000 (£150,000) for the graceful Heisenhof, a turn-of-the century manor house and its estate, in the idyllic commuter village of Doerverden near Bremen, in Lower Saxony.

This week, Doerverden's inhabitants have been shocked to learn what Mr Rieger is planning. "We are seriously worried about public order," Rainer Herbst, the village mayor, said. "The image of Doerverden is likely to suffer. At first, we thought he was merely planning to develop agricultural fertilisers and manure. We didn't realise human fertilisation is intended."

The villagers' suspicions were aroused after German media reports revealed that the official purchaser of the Heisenhof was the Wilhelm Tietjen Foundation for Fertilisation Ltd, a London-based fertility research organisation of which Mr Rieger is director.

The foundation is funded by the copious financial assets of the late Wilhelm Tietjen, a diehard Nazi loyalist and stock-market speculator who set up his fertility research organisation to further the Nordic races before his death in 2002. Mr Teitjen was infertile.

The concept was developed during the Third Reich when the Nazi party set up its notorious Lebensborn organisation, encouraging German mothers to produce offspring by having sex with hand-picked SS men.

Mr Rieger, a senior member of a group called "Germanic faith community for life creation", says the foundation "aims to help childless couples produce children". He claims the foundation is based in London for legal reasons. "The use of surrogate mothers is banned in Germany but not in England," he said.

(MORE)