August 11, 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 AUGUST 11, 2004

1//The Jordan Times, Jordan--INSECURITY EXACERBATED BY COALITION WEAKNESS (A US takeover of Polish command in the restive holy city of Najaf hot on the heels of the Philippines' withdrawal of its troops from Iraq has underscored a weak multinational force in which Anglo-US domination only exacerbates insecurity, analysts said Tuesday..."The multinational presence is very important because the greater the number of countries that participate in this, the more legitimacy it has and the better it is accepted by the local people," said Hussein Sinjari. Instead "there is an increasing perception of British and US domination," added the president of the Iraq Institute for Democracy... A spokesman said Tuesday that coalition troops under British command no longer patrol outside their bases and have kept a low profile, particularly since sovereignty was returned to Iraq six weeks ago. He confirmed that there had been no request from authorities in Basra for British troops finish off the militia, as in Najaf. But at the London School of Economics, international relations professor Barry Buzan believes that bailing out, rather than staying, may ultimately be the lesser of two evils. "I don't think the Americans and British can do good here," he told AFP.)

2//Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK-- MAHDI ARMY DRAWS SUPPORTERS (...This type of hit-and-run attack is typical of fighting in the streets, suburbs, and cemeteries of Najaf between US troops and Iraqi paramilitaries on one side, and the Mahdi Army militia of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr on the other. But this time there was a key difference - the presence of Col Rifaat al-Janabi. Dressed in the uniform of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guards, Janabi had come from his home in Fallujah to show Najaf's poorly-trained Mahdi militiamen how to use their weapons. "The Fallujah Consultancy Council of Mujahedin holy warriors sent me with nine other officers and forty soldiers who are well trained in using mortar and the RPG-7 grenade launcher," said Janabi, who unlike many Iraqi insurgents had no qualms about giving his name.)

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--LEBANESE DRIVERS AVOID IRAQ ROUTE (...Usually prefabricated houses, power generators, bottles of water and alcohol are sent to the US Army. While such merchandise can stand out, the lure of greater profits is tough to resist, with some truck drivers paying between $300 and $400 for a shipment. Nonetheless, "the rate of Lebanese drivers traveling to Iraq has dropped to 10 percent, a drop from the pre-war high of 80 percent," said the owner. He estimated that nearly 90 percent of trailers going to Iraq are now Syrian. "Lebanese owners are afraid of shipping merchandise to Iraq," he said.)

4//The Independent, UK--BLUNKETT FACES REVOLT OVER TERROR POWERS (David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, faces a cabinet backlash over his plans to overhaul anti-terrorism laws aimed at deterring an attack in Britain. A powerful coalition of ministers opposes the renewal of emergency powers to detain foreign terrorist suspects without charge. They also warn that measures designed to combat domestic terrorism could backfire because they cause resentment among a generation of young Muslims...Hostility has intensified as Mr Blunkett draws up a new package to replace anti-terrorist legislation of 2000 and 2001. Most contentious is his determination to keep the power to detain suspected international terrorists without trial.)

RELATED: BLAIR FACES VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE OVER WAR

5//The Scotsman, UK--TIDAL WAVE CATASTROPHE LOOMS (World leaders were yesterday urged to wake up to the threat from a collapsing mountain which at any moment could unleash a massive tidal wave on the east coast of North America. A chunk of a volcano in the Canary Islands the size of the Isle of Man is on the brink of falling into the sea, a leading expert warned. Scientists think it could break away when the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma next erupts... Professor Bill McGuire, of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre at London's University College, said yesterday close monitoring might at best provide two weeks' warning of the impending disaster..."The US government must be aware of the La Palma threat. They should certainly be worried, and so should the island states in the Caribbean that will really bear the brunt of a collapse.")

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1//The Jordan Times, Jordan Wednesday, August 11, 2004
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/news/news9.htm

INSECURITY EXACERBATED BY COALITION WEAKNESS

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A US takeover of Polish command in the restive holy city of Najaf hot on the heels of the Philippines' withdrawal of its troops from Iraq has underscored a weak multinational force in which Anglo-US domination only exacerbates insecurity, analysts said Tuesday.

As of Monday, American Marines took command of the provinces of Najaf and Qadisiyah, amid what the Polish military described as a "deteriorated security situation" in the central Shiite Muslim pilgrimage city.

Where the 6,500-strong Polish-led multinational division was responsible for five provinces, they now retain control of only three, undermining the strength of the 32-member multinational military alliance in Iraq.

A key US ally, Poland contributed special forces to last year's invasion of Iraq, but will slash its contingent from 2,500 to about 1,500 staff early next year.

The US takeover came days after intense fighting engulfed Najaf after US troops intervened at the request of the local governor to help Iraqi forces crush radical militiamen holed up in the city.

But the governments of the troops operating under Polish command, had agreed to conduct only stability and security operations in Iraq.

The Najaf offensive falls outside that remit, regardless of the Iraqi government's determination that US troops help bring control back to the city.

Among the administration, whose biggest task is to restore security, there has been a hint of impatience with US allies who have bailed out.

(SNIP)

"The multinational presence is very important because the greater the number of countries that participate in this, the more legitimacy it has and the better it is accepted by the local people," said Hussein Sinjari.

Instead "there is an increasing perception of British and US domination," added the president of the Iraq Institute for Democracy.

(SNIP)

Yet one day before the Najaf campaign began, Washington said it and its 31 military partners in Iraq had adopted a tough common policy to battle the growing trend of kidnappings and executions in the strife-torn country.

"All this violence brings instability to the people," said Sinjari, referring to Najaf and heavy fighting in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in April in which hundreds were killed in battles between US forces and Sunni insurgents. Although Britain has since issued a largely identical statement and British troops have also been attacked by Shiite militia in southern Iraq, it has adopted an approach radically different from the US onslaught in Najaf.

A spokesman said Tuesday that coalition troops under British command no longer patrol outside their bases and have kept a low profile, particularly since sovereignty was returned to Iraq six weeks ago.

He confirmed that there had been no request from authorities in Basra for British troops finish off the militia, as in Najaf.

But at the London School of Economics, international relations professor Barry Buzan believes that bailing out, rather than staying, may ultimately be the lesser of two evils.

"I don't think the Americans and British can do good here," he told AFP.

2//Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK (ICR No. 78, 10-Aug-04)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/irq/irq_78_1_eng.txt

MAHDI ARMY DRAWS SUPPORTERS
Fallujah fighters provide military training for Sadrist forces.

By Aqil Jabbar in Najaf and Kufa
Aqil Jabbar is an IWPR trainee.

On the road leading to Najaf, six black-clad members of the Mahdi Army scrambled to set up three light-gauge mortars along the edge of a palm grove.

Aiming at a walled compound they said was a US military base, they fired off 11 rounds at leisure - until two American helicopters appeared and sent them scrambling for cover.

This type of hit-and-run attack is typical of fighting in the streets, suburbs, and cemeteries of Najaf between US troops and Iraqi paramilitaries on one side, and the Mahdi Army militia of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr on the other.

But this time there was a key difference - the presence of Col Rifaat al-Janabi.

Dressed in the uniform of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guards, Janabi had come from his home in Fallujah to show Najaf's poorly-trained Mahdi militiamen how to use their weapons.

"The Fallujah Consultancy Council of Mujahedin holy warriors sent me with nine other officers and forty soldiers who are well trained in using mortar and the RPG-7 grenade launcher," said Janabi, who unlike many Iraqi insurgents had no qualms about giving his name.

(SNIP)

Kufa appeared to be under full Mahdi Army control.

Checkpoints, spaced about 200 metres apart, were manned by black-clad fighters, their foreheads wrapped in green cloths emblazoned with the name of the seventh-century Imam Ali.

"I am not a kid ... I can kill many Americans," said 13-year-old Hassan Kamel, a preparatory school student who stood guard with his rifle at one of the checkpoints.

Not far away, fire engulfed the local police station.

In addition to their forces in Kufa, Mahdi Army officials said they had troops fighting the Americans in Sahla, in the centre of Najaf near the shrine of Imam Ali, and in the cemeteries outside the holy city.

(MORE)

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon Tuesday, August 10, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=7127

LEBANESE DRIVERS AVOID IRAQ ROUTE
Shipping to war-torn country has dropped to 10 percent
Trucks from Lebanon are targeted because mujahideen believe merchandise is directed to American army

By Maya Abou Nasr, Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: In his efforts to make a living, Abdel-Qader, the father of six from the northern village of Minyeh, traveled to Iraq recently in his trailer loaded with household equipment. However, instead of being able to deliver his merchandise, Abdel-Qader "saw death with his own eyes" when 300 shots were fired at his trailer.

"Out of the four trailers in our group going to Baghdad, two were loaded with power generators, one with foodstuff. My truck had household equipment," he said. "When the mujahideen who had shot at us discovered that the merchandise was not being sent to the US-led coalition army, they let us go. However, the shipping company was obliged to pay $75,000 as ransom payments to get back its trailers and merchandise within 20 days."

(SNIP)

An employee who works for the same company said that Lebanese trucks are usually targeted. "Mujahideen believe that the merchandise is directed to the US Army," he said, despite the fact that many of the shipments are the result of contracts concluded during Saddam Hussein's era. Iraq may be a primary destination for Lebanese goods, "but, out of 600 trucks, only 50 are traveling now to Iraq," said the employee.

In an interview with The Daily Star, one owner of a shipping firm, who also refused to give his name for fear of reprisal, said: "Because of the very high risk, shipping firms don't give driver's insurance protection. The shipping company only covers them while traveling from Lebanon to the Al-Walid Iraqi frontier. Our responsibility ends there. Drivers go to Iraq on their own responsibility."

Sometimes, he explained, the merchandise customer sends a delegate to the frontiers to escort drivers. Indeed, convoy companies escorting trucks have become common procedure in Iraq, and drivers, not surprisingly, feel somewhat better. "But, whenever those delegates see a checkpoint, they leave the trailers at once," said the owner.

Usually prefabricated houses, power generators, bottles of water and alcohol are sent to the US Army. While such merchandise can stand out, the lure of greater profits is tough to resist, with some truck drivers paying between $300 and $400 for a shipment.

Nonetheless, "the rate of Lebanese drivers traveling to Iraq has dropped to 10 percent, a drop from the pre-war high of 80 percent," said the owner. He estimated that nearly 90 percent of trailers going to Iraq are now Syrian. "Lebanese owners are afraid of shipping merchandise to Iraq," he said.

Note: a previous article on this continuing problem was posted in the August 6 edition of the WMW: "KINGDOM SUSPENDS TRUCK TRAFFIC TO IRAQ," Arab News, Saudi Arabia, Friday, 6, August 2004 http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=49438&d=6&m=8&y=2004

4//The Independent, UK 10 August 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=549854

BLUNKETT FACES REVOLT OVER TERROR POWERS
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, faces a cabinet backlash over his plans to overhaul anti-terrorism laws aimed at deterring an attack in Britain.

A powerful coalition of ministers opposes the renewal of emergency powers to detain foreign terrorist suspects without charge. They also warn that measures designed to combat domestic terrorism could backfire because they cause resentment among a generation of young Muslims.

Mr Blunkett's critics include the Government's senior law officers, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor, and Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The Home Secretary has already encountered resistance among senior ministers to proposals for compulsory identity cards and a national DNA database.

Hostility has intensified as Mr Blunkett draws up a new package to replace anti-terrorist legislation of 2000 and 2001. Most contentious is his determination to keep the power to detain suspected international terrorists without trial. A total of 12 foreign nationals, including several at Belmarsh prison in south-east London, have been held under the power, rushed in shortly after the 11 September attacks in 2001.

Some ministers argue the measure is "disproportionate" to the threat faced by Britain and could even play into the hands of terrorists. They also fear the recent US Supreme Court ruling that more than 500 foreigners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had the right to challenge their indefinite detention could leave Britain exposed if a similar policy continues to be applied at Belmarsh. They have also noted hints that the US Democratic presidential contender, John Kerry, could act on the ruling if he wins power later this year.

(MORE)

RELATED:

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=549868

BLAIR FACES VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE OVER WAR

Labour activists are circulating a resolution of no confidence in Tony Blair for next month's annual party conference because of a loss of trust in him over the war over Iraq.

The renewed calls for Mr Blair to be replaced threatens to revive the doubts about his leadership and underlines growing dissatisfaction among grass-roots party workers.

(MORE)

5//The Scotsman, UK Tuesday 10 Aug 2004
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=916432004

TIDAL WAVE CATASTROPHE LOOMS
Rhiannon Edward

World leaders were yesterday urged to wake up to the threat from a collapsing mountain which at any moment could unleash a massive tidal wave on the east coast of North America.

A chunk of a volcano in the Canary Islands the size of the Isle of Man is on the brink of falling into the sea, a leading expert warned.

Scientists think it could break away when the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma next erupts.

If that happened, a giant tsunami up to 500 feet high would be sent racing across the Atlantic at the speed of a passenger jet. About nine hours later it would hit the Caribbean islands and the east coast of Canada and the United States.

Professor Bill McGuire, of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre at London's University College, said yesterday close monitoring might at best provide two weeks' warning of the impending disaster.

"What we need now is an integrated volcanic monitoring set-up to give maximum warning of a coming eruption," Prof McGuire said.

"The US government must be aware of the La Palma threat. They should certainly be worried, and so should the island states in the Caribbean that will really bear the brunt of a collapse."

(SNIP)

Speaking at a briefing in London, he said the next eruption could literally split the mountain apart. Cumbre Vieja last erupted in 1949.

Any evacuation plan would have to be based on the forecast of an eruption, since once the collapse happened it would be too late. The wave-front would spread out in a crescent, striking the west African coast within hours with a wall of water more than 300ft high. Its northern side would send a 33ft-high wave smashing into the south coast of England.

(MORE)