August 18, 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 18, 2004

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--A UNIFYING FACTOR ACROSS IRAQ (A measure of the effect of the various fatwas issued by the ayatollahs is that by last Saturday, no fewer than 4,000 Iraqi security forces in Najaf were reported to have defected to Muqtada's Mehdi Army. Officials at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense admitted, for example, that "more than 100 Iraqi national guardsmen and a battalion of Iraqi soldiers chose to quit rather than attack fellow Iraqis". The media really do not know what is happening on the ground. The only journalists sort of covering Najaf are embedded with the Pentagon. It's easy to identify another US design as it fits a common pattern. The siege of Najaf was planned months ago. The Pentagon would not want unembedded, "unreliable" media - Arab and Western - covering the full extent of what Iraqis are describing as a "bloodbath".)

2//KurdishMedia.com, UK--IRAQ TALKS WATER SHARING WITH TURKEY, ASKS FOR PATIENCE ON KURD REBELS (Iraq is eager to boost ties with neighboring Turkey, Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar said here Tuesday, while cautioning that no immediate action should be expected against Turkish Kurd rebels hiding in northern Iraq, a key Ankara demand. Yawar said the two sides had begun talks on the sharing of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a long-standing dispute between the two neighbors...Iraq, along with Syria, have long complained that their northern neighbor, which has built a number of dams, is monopolizing the waters of the two major rivers, which originate in Turkey and flow on south to their territories.)

3//Pakistan Daily Times, Pakistan--100,000 TROOPS DEPLOYED ALONG AFGHAN BORDER (For the first time, it has been officially stated that there are "over 100,000" Pakistani troops on the country's border with Afghanistan. The surprise admission from Mohammad Sadiq, acting Pakistani ambassador to the Untied States, was made during a panel discussion on Fox television regarding an earlier report by the right-wing cable channel that a "terrorist summit" had taken place in the area...If the number is now as high as stated by the Pakistani diplomat, then it can be assumed that the number of troops holding defensive positions along the Line of Control is thinner. What implications that has from the point of view of the country's defence against sudden or possible attack will appear to be in need of careful analysis.)

4//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--KOREAN GOV'T REQUESTS 1 YEAR DELAY IN U.S. TROOP REDUCTIONS (The Korean government has decided to officially request that the U.S. government extend the time period in which it would reduce USFK by 12,500 men by at least a year. The government believes that if the reduction were forced through as originally scheduled, it could negatively influence the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.)

5//The Scotsman, UK--BLAIR'S LATEST FREEBIE IS A RISKY VENTURE AT BERLUSCONI'S VILLA (...Italian officials insist they are confident they can protect Mr Blair at Mr Berlusconi's 27-bedroom retreat, which has its own elaborate security precautions...As well as visiting Mr Berlusconi, Mr Blair will also return to the site of a former holiday, the Tuscan palazzo of Prince Girolamo Guicciardini Strozzi. The Tuscan sojourn will round off the Blairs' global tour, spent solely in the houses of wealthy acquaintances...Downing Street officials insist that the Prime Minister makes charitable donations equal to the value of the hospitality shown to him on his travels. However, this does not placate his critics from within his own party. Mark Seddon, a left-wing member of Labour's National Executive Committee, yesterday attacked the "freebie-loving Prime Minister" taking "yet another gratis holiday".)

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong August 18, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FH18Ak04.html

The Roving Eye
A UNIFYING FACTOR ACROSS IRAQ
By Pepe Escobar

Imagine a Muslim army about to bomb the Vatican with the help of a few Christian mercenaries while the Pope is away, recovering from an angioplasty in London and silent about the whole drama. This is roughly what is happening in Najaf, Iraq, where the forces of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the United States stand eyeball to eyeball pending a "final showdown".

First, let's take a look at where the main players currently stand. Contrary to widespread media perception, Muqtada is not a punk: he is probably one of the most popular figures in the complex Iraqi political spectrum, certainly at the grassroot Shi'ite level. During the first American siege of Najaf four months ago, his popularity was reported to be above 90%. The second-most popular figure in the country now may be Shi'ite religious eminence Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, although he positions himself as apolitical. As for the American-imposed Prime Minister (over a virtual parliament) Iyad Allawi, his popularity would be somewhere in single-digit territory. He essentially represents no Iraqis.

(SNIP)

The political fallout of Sistani's thunderous silence and non-condemnation of the American siege may be earth-shaking - further undercutting his own moral authority, not to mention crucial Iraqi nationalist credentials. Some Shi'ites risk saying that Sistani should resign - a concept that is nevertheless totally alien to the Marja'iyya - the top-level Shi'ite religious body. Sistani's loss, though, is to other ayatollahs' gain.

The ayatollah power struggle

Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husain Fadlallah is from Najaf, although he's been living in Lebanon since the mid-1960s. He's an independent, not very close either with the ayatollahs in Tehran or the Hezbollah in Lebanon. But he's very popular with the Dawa Party in Iraq - at least with the majority faction that is not cooperating with the Americans. Through a fatwa (ruling), Fadlallah has publicly instigated the resistance to throw out the Americans by all means necessary - this is exactly what millions of Shi'ites were expecting from Sistani himself. Interviewed by the pan-Arab alJazeera television station, Fadlallah articulated what's in the minds of many Muslims: their biggest threat is the United States; Saddam was a US agent; and the Najaf drama was provoked by - who else - the occupier.

An even more crucial figure, Grand Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, based in the holy city of Qom, in Iran, has also issued his own fatwa: it essentially says that no Iraqi, Sunni or Shi'ite, may fight another Muslim on behalf of Allawi's regime. Al-Haeri is one of the five great Najaf ayatollahs - and the most engaged politically. He's close to the line of the late leader of the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, and says on the record that he will only go back to Iraq after the American occupation has ended. Meanwhile, he's clearly occupying political terrain vacated by Sistani.

Sistani may be forced by the whole crisis to be more emphatic - something that is totally against his instincts and education. Luizard from the French CNRS has just returned from Qom. He says popular rumors had it that Sistani was leaving Najaf for London just as the Americans intensified the siege of Najaf: "People were saying that Sistani's illness was very convenient, his excuse for not taking a stand." The whole thing smacks of history repeating itself - as farce. Luizard points out that in 1924, the British needed a constituent assembly to legitimize their occupation, while Shi'ite religious leaders had issued their anti-occupation fatwas. Today, the Americans play the same game: "They need a parliament, even non-elected, to legitimize the institutional edifice they erected." Luizard was impressed by how both Iranians and Iraqis are carefully scrutinizing Sistani's every move on this matter.

Muqtada's win-win scenario

A measure of the effect of the various fatwas issued by the ayatollahs is that by last Saturday, no fewer than 4,000 Iraqi security forces in Najaf were reported to have defected to Muqtada's Mehdi Army. Officials at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense admitted, for example, that "more than 100 Iraqi national guardsmen and a battalion of Iraqi soldiers chose to quit rather than attack fellow Iraqis".

The media really do not know what is happening on the ground. The only journalists sort of covering Najaf are embedded with the Pentagon. It's easy to identify another US design as it fits a common pattern. The siege of Najaf was planned months ago. The Pentagon would not want unembedded, "unreliable" media - Arab and Western - covering the full extent of what Iraqis are describing as a "bloodbath".

(SNIP)

Muqtada reveals his progress as a canny political operator when he declares on alJazeera that "Najaf has triumphed over imperialism and imperial hubris". Many merchants in Najaf may blame Muqtada because their business - depending on religious pilgrimage - has come to a halt. And some clerics in Iran - though not the top ayatollahs - may be keeping their distance from Muqtada and the Mehdi Army. But the ayatollahs recognize that the scene is set: if any harm is done to the Imam Ali Shrine, the ripples would be felt across Iraq and the whole Muslim world.

(MORE)

2//KurdishMedia.com, UK 17/08/2004
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=5388

IRAQ TALKS WATER SHARING WITH TURKEY, ASKS FOR PATIENCE ON KURD REBELS

ANKARA, Aug 17 (AFP) - 13h56 - Iraq is eager to boost ties with neighboring Turkey, Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar said here Tuesday, while cautioning that no immediate action should be expected against Turkish Kurd rebels hiding in northern Iraq, a key Ankara demand.

Yawar said the two sides had begun talks on the sharing of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a long-standing dispute between the two neighbors.

"We came to ask for water and Allah gave us what we wanted," Yawar told reporters jokingly in reference to heavy rains that have hit Turkey.

"Our talks on the issue will continue," he said, without elaborating.

Iraq, along with Syria, have long complained that their northern neighbor, which has built a number of dams, is monopolizing the waters of the two major rivers, which originate in Turkey and flow on south to their territories.

Yawar was speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Ankara, his first foreign trip as interim president.

"We had very productive discussions... We are in agreement on all issues we discussed and there is no outstanding problem," he said.

Yawar, however, cautioned that Iraqi action on a key Turkish demand -- a crackdown on separatist Turkish Kurd rebels hiding in northern Iraq -- might take time as Baghdad is striving to build new security forces and combat insurgents across the conflict-torn country.

"We would call upon the international community to understand that. It's a matter of time. And hopefully it will be a short time," he said.

Thousands of rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), now known as KONGRA-GEL, have sought refuge in mountainous northern Iraq since 1999 when they announced a unilateral truce following a bloody war for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told Yawar Monday that Iraq should clamp down on the guerrillas, who called-off their truce on June 1 and stepped up attacks on government targets.

(MORE)

3//Pakistan Daily Times, Pakistan Wednesday, August 18, 2004
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-8-2004_pg1_1

100,000 TROOPS DEPLOYED ALONG AFGHAN BORDER
* Terrorists on the run from tribal areas due to Army operations

By Khalid Hassan

WASHINGTON: For the first time, it has been officially stated that there are "over 100,000" Pakistani troops on the country's border with Afghanistan.

The surprise admission from Mohammad Sadiq, acting Pakistani ambassador to the Untied States, was made during a panel discussion on Fox television regarding an earlier report by the right-wing cable channel that a "terrorist summit" had taken place in the area.

Mr Sadiq said, "Pakistan has over 100,000 troops on the western border now - on the border with Afghanistan. It is a territory where troops had never been stationed in history. Since soldiers are there in the border area and they are taking action there, a lot of terrorists from that area have dispersed to other places and they are on the run."

In the past, the figure for Pakistani troops deployed in the area has been placed at a maximum of 70,000. If the number is now as high as stated by the Pakistani diplomat, then it can be assumed that the number of troops holding defensive positions along the Line of Control is thinner. What implications that has from the point of view of the country's defence against sudden or possible attack will appear to be in need of careful analysis.

4//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea Updated Aug.17,2004 18:53 KST
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200408/200408170037.html

KOREAN GOV'T REQUESTS 1 YEAR DELAY IN U.S. TROOP REDUCTIONS

The Korean government has decided to officially request that the U.S. government extend the time period in which it would reduce USFK by 12,500 men by at least a year. The government believes that if the reduction were forced through as originally scheduled, it could negatively influence the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

A high-ranking Korean official said Tuesday, "A Joint Chiefs of Staff investigation into how the withdrawal of U.S. troops and core equipment like the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) by the end of 2005 might influence our security resulted in an evaluation that the withdrawal would result in a hole in our security, so we've decided to officially request to the U.S. that it extend the time limit for USFK reductions."
(SNIP)

The Korean government plans to adopt USFK reductions as the main agenda in the 11th round of the Future of the Alliance (FOTA), which will be held in Seoul from Thursday to Friday, and aims to see its position reflected in any agreement as much as possible. Attention is focusing on the U.S. response.

5//The Scotsman, UK Tues 17 August 2004
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=950192004

BLAIR'S LATEST FREEBIE IS A RISKY VENTURE AT BERLUSCONI'S VILLA
James Kirkup, Political Correspondent

Tony Blair yesterday arrived in Italy for the last leg of his summer holiday amid tight security after an Islamic militant group issued a direct personal threat to one of the Prime Minister's hosts, the Italian premier, Silvio Berlusconi.

Mr Blair and his wife, Cherie, are expected to spend two nights at Mr Berlusconi's cliff-top villa on Sardinia.

Some Labour members are angry at the trip as they regard the Italian centre-right leader as their natural political enemy. Others are just embarrassed that the Prime Minister is once again the guest of a millionaire.

But Mr Berlusconi is also one of the United States-led "coalition of the willing" who backed the war in Iraq and committed troops to the country. It is the presence of 3,000 Italian troops that seems to have driven the terrorist threat to the Italian leader.

The warning from the Omar el-Mukhtar Brigade of the Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Islamiya group was the second Islamic terror threat to Italy in 24 hours.

(SNIP)

Italian officials insist they are confident they can protect Mr Blair at Mr Berlusconi's 27-bedroom retreat, which has its own elaborate security precautions.

Among the most controversial is an "escape tunnel" cut through the cliff to a private dock, which has brought complaints from environmentalists and opposition MPs who say Mr Berlusconi did not get the proper planning permission for the project.

As well as visiting Mr Berlusconi, Mr Blair will also return to the site of a former holiday, the Tuscan palazzo of Prince Girolamo Guicciardini Strozzi.

The Tuscan sojourn will round off the Blairs' global tour, spent solely in the houses of wealthy acquaintances.

The Caribbean has come to rival Tuscany in the Blairs' affection - this year's holiday began at Sir Cliff Richard's luxurious holiday home in Barbados.

It is the second year running the Blairs have been to the island. Rumours there say that the couple viewed properties for sale during their stay.

Downing Street officials insist that the Prime Minister makes charitable donations equal to the value of the hospitality shown to him on his travels. However, this does not placate his critics from within his own party.

Mark Seddon, a left-wing member of Labour's National Executive Committee, yesterday attacked the "freebie-loving Prime Minister" taking "yet another gratis holiday".