February 23, 2005

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 FEBRUARY 23, 2005


1//Spiegel Online, Germany--EUROPEANS ASK: IS BUSH A WOLF IN A GRANNY’S SUIT? (US President George W. Bush's goodwill spin through Europe garners all the news with commentators searching behind the platitudes for girth. How much of what this president -- known for his knack for hyperbole -- says will translate into deeds? And what of the looming crises in Iran, Iraq and over the EU's desire to lift its Chinese weapons embargo? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe famously said, "When ideas fail, words come in very handy." The iconic, albeit very dead German writer would have had a field day in Brussels on Monday, where US President George W. Bush delivered his first speech abroad since his second term began. The speech, billed as a chance to address Europe and start mending ties broken over the Iraq war and other policy conflicts took place in an 18th century bourgeois salon in front of a hand-picked crowd of 300-pro Bush supporters. It was laced with grand verbiage, but not with new ideas. By far, the president's favorite word of the night was "freedom," although "liberty" also got its fair play. Bush stood before the crowd and acted almost blissfully ignorant of the depth of Europe's frustration with him and his first administration. At one point, he went so far as to say that "no power on Earth will ever divide" Europe and America.)

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--BUSH OR BUSHEHR? RUSSIA PUTS ITS MONEY ON IRAN (With a firm handshake from the Kremlin chief, Hassan Rohani concluded his visit to Moscow last Friday. As head of Iran's National Security Council, Rohani made no secret that his meetings were timed ahead of a U.S.-Russia summit in Bratislava this week. A triangulation of interests has emerged in which Russia is keen on bolstering ties with the U.S., while signing defense contracts with Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin met Rohani's delegation with a broad smile, a signal that work on the Bushehr atomic plant remains on track: "We will continue to cooperate with Iran at all levels, including nuclear energy," a resolute Putin told the Kremlin pool… "Putin will be as opportunistic as he is allowed to be. It all depends on U.S. persistence and whether Bush can convince the Europeans to hold the line," says Kortunov. The delivery of anti-aircraft systems to Syria does not directly violate UN conventions. But if Putin is unable to calibrate his policies, he may have to alter his portfolio and forsake Iran.)

3//The Daily Times, Pakistan--IRAN FINDS ALLIES AGAINST UN PLAN TO HALT N-PLAN (A plan by the UN’s atomic watchdog aimed partly at helping to persuade Iran to forsake its nuclear ambitions is opposed not only by Tehran but a group of countries including Japan and Brazil, diplomats said. Even the United States, which accuses Iran of trying to make an atomic bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, has reservations about the proposed five-year moratorium on new nuclear production facilities, they added. Major uranium suppliers Canada and Australia also have objections. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), proposed the plan last year, hoping a global moratorium would give the world time to patch up loopholes in the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The scheme also offered Iran a way of saving face while acceding to a European Union demand that it scrap its uranium enrichment programme, the UN diplomats said.)

4//The Globe and Mail, Canada--CANADA ‘ALREADY PART’ OF MISSILE DEFENCE: McKENNA (The next ambassador to the United States raised the stakes in the debate over missile defence program by saying Tuesday that Canada is already a part of the controversial program. Frank McKenna said that Canadian participation is such that he does not know what more could be asked by the United States, an argument that could remove the need for the minority Liberals to make a contentious decision on ballistic missile defence (BMD). “We're a part of it now,” he said, citing an amendment to NORAD, a continental defence pact, that has given the joint command responsibility for watching for incoming missiles.)

5//The Moscow Times, Russia--MYSTERY PROTESTERS PROVOKING TROUBLE (Red Youth Vanguard and other left-leaning political groups believe their rallies are being targeted and infiltrated by agents provocateur planted by the police and Federal Security Service, or FSB.
The goal, they say, is to surreptitiously undermine and marginalize anti-government demonstrations, especially in light of the widespread protests over social reforms that have prompted calls for the resignation of President Vladimir Putin and the government… Constitutional scholar Vil Kikot, a professor at the Moscow State Law Academy, said any use of provocateurs to break up demonstrations would be a "gross violation" of the Constitution. "Of course it is illegal and has no place in democratic society," Kikot said. "It is every citizen's right to express his disapproval with the government in a legal, public protest.")

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1//Spiegel Online, Germany February 22, 2005
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international...

German Papers
EUROPEANS ASK: IS BUSH A WOLF IN A GRANNY’S SUIT?

US President George W. Bush's goodwill spin through Europe garners all the news with commentators searching behind the platitudes for girth. How much of what this president -- known for his knack for hyperbole -- says will translate into deeds? And what of the looming crises in Iran, Iraq and over the EU's desire to lift its Chinese weapons embargo?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe famously said, "When ideas fail, words come in very handy." The iconic, albeit very dead German writer would have had a field day in Brussels on Monday, where US President George W. Bush delivered his first speech abroad since his second term began. The speech, billed as a chance to address Europe and start mending ties broken over the Iraq war and other policy conflicts took place in an 18th century bourgeois salon in front of a hand-picked crowd of 300-pro Bush supporters. It was laced with grand verbiage, but not with new ideas. By far, the president's favorite word of the night was "freedom," although "liberty" also got its fair play. Bush stood before the crowd and acted almost blissfully ignorant of the depth of Europe's frustration with him and his first administration. At one point, he went so far as to say that "no power on Earth will ever divide" Europe and America.

Germany's major newspapers spent the day trying to hash out just what all the friendly rhetoric will mean for a Europe anxious for pats from America, but also proud of its fledgling stance against the world's only superpower. The conservative daily Die Welt writes, "Bush's speech could not have been warmer, friendlier or more cooperative." The Europeans, for their part, listened attentively, particularly the French, who are especially relieved at the easing of tension, writes the paper. Still, doubts and strong differences remain, and those differences could turn explosive. "Despite the smiles, both sides perceive the global threat differently. When push comes to shove, they are not prepared to move towards each other. In addition, Berlin is losing interest in the trans-Atlantic structure. At any time, this strong anti-Americanism that exists all over, but predominantly in Germany, could be used for political ends. Already, the anti-American furor is alarming. What would happen if the conflict with Iran becomes a crisis?"

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung applauds Bush's nod to Europe, the European Union and his recognition that America actually does need partners in the world. During Bush's first term, his foreign policy message was more that of a desperado, willing to take on the world by himself, if need be. "Bush's praise for Europe, if it was meant seriously, was as welcome as it was overdue," says the paper. But if Europe is serious about accepting the praise, the nations cannot "comfortably sit back and watch. Whoever wants to rectify the situation with America, cannot relax and do nothing -- that is the price of partnership." The true question is not if everyone can sit in a room together for speeches, but rather "is the US really prepared to involve its partner in the drawing up of the Atlantic agenda" and is Europe ready to take US interests seriously?

The center-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung offers a highly skeptical analysis, comparing the old bellicose Bush team, with its newer, softer incarnation. Indeed, in a few weeks' time, Europeans have been presented with a smiling, charm oozing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a much more demure and even complimentary US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The paper begins its main editorial with the line, "After the new Donald Rumsfeld, now the new George W. Bush has arrived in the Old World." It also outlines the main challenges ahead -- Iran, the Middle East, China and wonders aloud if Bush has really changed his spots. "Will the words also be followed by deeds? Is Bush just improving the general atmosphere or will there really be a European component in trans-Atlantic decisions? And, on the other side, do the Europeans have common goals, a policy even, or are they just moved by popular anti-Bushism or anti-Americanism?" Iran, says the paper, and how both sides deal with rogue mullahs with nuclear aspirations, "will be the test."

(MORE)

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon Wednesday, February 23, 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition...

BUSH OR BUSHEHR? RUSSIA PUTS ITS MONEY ON IRAN
Gulf atomic plant back on track

By Paul de Zardain
Special to The Daily Star

MOSCOW: With a firm handshake from the Kremlin chief, Hassan Rohani concluded his visit to Moscow last Friday. As head of Iran's National Security Council, Rohani made no secret that his meetings were timed ahead of a U.S.-Russia summit in Bratislava this week.

A triangulation of interests has emerged in which Russia is keen on bolstering ties with the U.S., while signing defense contracts with Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin met Rohani's delegation with a broad smile, a signal that work on the Bushehr atomic plant remains on track: "We will continue to cooperate with Iran at all levels, including nuclear energy," a resolute Putin told the Kremlin pool.

According to Izvestia, more than 1,500 Russian engineers are scheduled to bring Bushehr online by 2006. Putin restated his conviction that Tehran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons. Next to him at the bargaining table was Aleksandr Rumyantsev, head of Russia's Federal Agency for Atomic Energy. Rumyantsev is expected to sign a protocol in Tehran on Feb. 26 monitoring the return of spent fuels to Siberia. The precautionary measure has not quieted critics who argue that plutonium can easily be extracted from reprocessed fuels.

Last September, Iran announced it was resuming large-scale conversion of uranium ore. The debate is now about mastering the whole nuclear cycle, in violation of a 2003 agreement reached with Britain, France and Germany. Although the Islamic Republic holds 9 percent of the world's proven crude oil reserves (and 64.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas), nuclear power is seen as an alternate source of electricity generation. Exports of crude oil could then be freed up to pay off the country's $9.9 billion in external debt. Tehran argues that the Gulf reactor at Bushehr will help meet the needs of a population fast approaching 70 million. With median age at 22, the mullahs fear youths with few job prospects could lead a de-facto opposition.

For Moscow, the commercial incentives are strong. Putin is reluctant to alter his economic development plans on the basis of what he sees as unproven allegations. The Kremlin is concerned that Chinese oil companies are profiting from the diplomatic crisis by clinching deals in Iran. According to a January report by Cambridge Energy Research Associates, China's Sinopec has secured 51 percent of Iran's Yadavaran oil-field project. And in September, another Chinese oil major took over operations at Masjid-e Suleiman. Meanwhile, the European offer to supply Tehran with nuclear fuels and civilian technology is a potential slap in the face for Putin.
Still, business daily Kommersant reminded its readers Saturday that Iran could be nuclear-enabled within six months. It said Kremlin officials had failed to mention that U.S. President George W. Bush is not ruling out pre-emptive attacks against Bushehr. A military showdown could put Russian trade policies at risk. In Moscow, a consensus among analysts holds that Bush's threats are not credible.

"Iran is not Iraq. There is no possible way the U.S. can carry out the same type of campaign it launched against Saddam Hussein in Iraq," says Gleb Pavlovksy, a Kremlin-connected political strategist. "Anyway, business and diplomacy don't necessarily cancel each other out," he says.

(SNIP)

Russia is struggling to find its strategic fit in the Middle East. One way is by opening new export markets. But to avoid upsetting the regional balance, it will have to tread lightly. This past week, Moscow had to qualify the sale of Strelets surface-to-air missile systems to Syria. A controversy erupted in January over the possible sale of rocket propellers. At the time, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov denied talks over "illicit" weapons. During his three-day visit to Russia, Syrian President Bashar Assad also denied arms deals. But just last week, Ivanov's office resorted to a rhetorical device to explain that it was going ahead with sales to Syria. The Strelets is for defensive purposes only, an official source claimed. It cannot be detached from armored vehicles and is therefore unlikely to land in terrorist hands.

Linguistic devices may not work after the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Any tracks leading to a Syrian role in the Beirut bombing will isolate Damascus.

"I assume this issue will be raised in Bratislava [on Feb. 24] to avoid additional irritants in the Bush-Putin partnership," says Andrei Kortunov, president of the New Eurasia Foundation in Moscow. Kortunov thinks Putin is responding to the pressure of arms exporters linked to the Defense Ministry.

"Putin will be as opportunistic as he is allowed to be. It all depends on U.S. persistence and whether Bush can convince the Europeans to hold the line," says Kortunov.

The delivery of anti-aircraft systems to Syria does not directly violate UN conventions. But if Putin is unable to calibrate his policies, he may have to alter his portfolio and forsake Iran.

3//The Daily Times, Pakistan Wednesday, February 23, 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...

IRAN FINDS ALLIES AGAINST UN PLAN TO HALT N-PLAN

VIENNA: A plan by the UN’s atomic watchdog aimed partly at helping to persuade Iran to forsake its nuclear ambitions is opposed not only by Tehran but a group of countries including Japan and Brazil, diplomats said.

Even the United States, which accuses Iran of trying to make an atomic bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, has reservations about the proposed five-year moratorium on new nuclear production facilities, they added. Major uranium suppliers Canada and Australia also have objections.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), proposed the plan last year, hoping a global moratorium would give the world time to patch up loopholes in the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The scheme also offered Iran a way of saving face while acceding to a European Union demand that it scrap its uranium enrichment programme, the UN diplomats said. “The idea is that it would be easier for Iran to give up enrichment as part of an international movement,” a diplomat involved in EU discussions with Iran on its atomic fuel programme said on condition of anonymity.

Iran, which denies seeking to make an atomic bomb and says its programme is peaceful to generate electricity, has rejected both the EU demand and the moratorium.

ElBaradei will not have an easy time selling his plan for a moratorium on the creation of new uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing facilities ahead of a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in May.

The moratorium has only partial support from Washington, which nevertheless sees such a plan as a way of isolating and increasing pressure on Iran to give up its enriched-uranium fuel projects, the diplomats said.

Iran and a number of other states which would be affected by the moratorium strongly oppose it, fearing it could lead to a permanent ban.

Tehran also rejects the idea of such a moratorium as tantamount to granting a virtual monopoly to European, Russian and other existing producers of enriched-uranium nuclear fuel.

Enrichment is a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or, when very highly enriched, in bombs.

While the EU supports the moratorium, Iran has some powerful allies against it — including Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Pakistan, diplomats from several IAEA member countries said.

(MORE)

4//The Globe and Mail, Canada Tuesday, February 22, 2005 Updated at 4:05 PM EST
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/...

CANADA ‘ALREADY PART’ OF MISSILE DEFENCE: McKENNA
By Oliver Moore
Globe and Mail Update

The next ambassador to the United States raised the stakes in the debate over missile defence program by saying Tuesday that Canada is already a part of the controversial program.

Frank McKenna said that Canadian participation is such that he does not know what more could be asked by the United States, an argument that could remove the need for the minority Liberals to make a contentious decision on ballistic missile defence (BMD).

“We're a part of it now,” he said, citing an amendment to NORAD, a continental defence pact, that has given the joint command responsibility for watching for incoming missiles.

“There's no doubt, in looking back," he said, "that the NORAD amendment has given, has created part – in fact a great deal – of what the United States means in terms of being able to get the input for defensive weaponry.”

The Liberal caucus is split on participation in the thus-far unsuccessful program, and the government has not officially made up its mind whether to sign on. Defence Minister Bill Graham insisted later Tuesday that nothing has changed in the federal position, leaving opposition parties to jump on the apparent disparity between the two men's statements.

“Last summer, Canada agreed to NORAD's monitoring of incoming missiles,” deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay said.

Last August, this minister said that decision does not affect in any way or determine the ultimate decision of whether Canada will participate in missile defence. Mr. McKenna's statements today clearly contradict that position. ... Will the Parliament of Canada have a full debate with all the facts on missile defence, or is Canada's position already a done deal?

Mr. Graham insisted that no decision had been reached and that any debate would address the benefit to Canada.

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5//The Moscow Times, Russia Tuesday, February 22, 2005. Issue 3111. Page 1.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories...

MYSTERY PROTESTERS PROVOKING TROUBLE
By Carl Schreck, Staff Writer

Yelena Kashirina says she knows almost everyone from the Moscow chapter of Red Youth Vanguard. But when the leftist group stages demonstrations, dozens of young people she doesn't know mysteriously show up.

The anonymous protesters wear the right clothes and chant the right catchphrases, but then they become aggressive, causing the police to step in and break things up. "After that they disappear immediately," said Kashirina, 19.

Red Youth Vanguard and other left-leaning political groups believe their rallies are being targeted and infiltrated by agents provocateur planted by the police and Federal Security Service, or FSB.

The goal, they say, is to surreptitiously undermine and marginalize anti-government demonstrations, especially in light of the widespread protests over social reforms that have prompted calls for the resignation of President Vladimir Putin and the government.

The FSB did not reply to requests for comment. Moscow police acknowledged sending undercover officers to rallies but denied that they were provocateurs.

(SNIP)

Alexander Tarasov, a sociologist who follows leftist youth groups, said the main task of the provocateurs is to ensure that a rally does not get too big. "If it does, they'll try to start a fight to break it up," Tarasov said. "Usually the signal to proceed is given by a senior officer. It can be done using ear pieces or radios, or it could be someone on the scene using visual signals. He might pull a book out of his pocket, open it up and put it back in his pocket. That alerts the agents in plain clothes to start an incident."

Tarasov noted, however, that such tactics are usually used only in Moscow and other large cities. "If it's in a small village, they'll just send in the OMON and chase everyone out," he said. "If you're in a big city, they need to maintain some pretense of legality."

Tarasov said the authorities only send provocateurs into authorized rallies, as they do not need an excuse to break up unsanctioned gatherings.

(SNIP)

Constitutional scholar Vil Kikot, a professor at the Moscow State Law Academy, said any use of provocateurs to break up demonstrations would be a "gross violation" of the Constitution. "Of course it is illegal and has no place in democratic society," Kikot said. "It is every citizen's right to express his disapproval with the government in a legal, public protest."

(MORE)