April 3, 2006

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 APRIL 3, 2006

1//The Telegraph, UK--GOVERNMENT IN SECRET TALKS ABOUT STRIKE AGAINST IRAN (The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran. A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran. It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme. Tomorrow's meeting will be attended by Gen Sir Michael Walker, the chief of the defence staff, Lt Gen Andrew Ridgway, the chief of defence intelligence and Maj Gen Bill Rollo, the assistant chief of the general staff, together with officials from the Foreign Office and Downing Street. … But confirmation that Britain has started contingency planning will undermine the claim last month by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, that a military attack against Iran was "inconceivable".)

2//GulfNews.com, United Arab Emirates--REGION ‘COULD BE FIRST VICTIM OF IRAN’S NUKE PROGRAMME’ (Tehran's uncompromising stance over its nuclear programme is reflected with rising concern among Gulf states, including Kuwait where analysts share Western suspicions that the programme includes military ambitions, and say the region will be its first victim, let alone any escalation between Iran and the big powers. However, analysts differ in assessing the weight of "cards Iran is betting on", which some say include the Shiite citizens in Sunni-ruled Gulf countries, though all are looking at the Iranian programme with fear. … "Iran is betting on its power, [as] it has four cards in its hands," said Shamlan Al Eisa, Director, Centre for Strategic and Future Studies at the Kuwait University. Iranian influence in Iraq, Tehran's relations with Syria, its influence on Lebanese group Hezbollah, and the "Shiites in the Gulf states", are these cards, explained Al Eisa. The latter, he said, requires "strengthening national unity", mainly in Bahrain, and providing citizens from both Islamic sectors with equal opportunities. … However, other analysts present different interpretations and exclude the Shiite factor, saying previous "more difficult" experiences proved that national loyalty prevailed among Shiites in the Gulf.)

3//The News International, Pakistan--PAKISTAN MAY BUY US, CHINESE AND SOVIET PLANES (Pakistan has decided to purchase state-of-the-art Chinese F-10 [Jian-10] multi-role fighter-cum-bomber planes while the decision pertaining to purchase of US made ultra modern F-16 planes would be made in July next. Meanwhile Moscow has signalled to Pakistan that like the US, it could also de-hyphenate its ties with Pakistan and India. As a result of this change in thinking, Pakistan could also go for Russian made planes for the Pakistan Air Force [PAF]. The first batch of high-profile JF/Thunder-17 aircraft jointly being manufactured by Pakistan and China will be ready for induction early next year, ahead of the schedule. … It is the part of Chinese fourth generation fighter programme which sent waves of worry in India. … In another related development Pakistan has planned to buy US made F-16 in less number and in all likelihood the number would be cut to half of what Islamabad had initially planned to purchase. Pakistan had made up its mind to buy 55 brand new F-16, but now the number which Pakistan is expected to ask is 25 while 30 used planes will be bought from sources that the United States will identify. The second-hand planes will be later upgraded by the Americans and they could be provided by the US Air Force (USAF) or from any third country, the sources added.)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--AUSTRALIA’S DISCRIMINATORY URANIUM POLICY (China's Premier Wen Jaibao is scheduled to arrive in Australia this Friday, where he will sign two agreements allowing Australia to supply uranium to China. They would also allow Chinese entities to explore for new uranium deposits and open mines in Australian territory. … Some have questioned Canberra's decision to supply uranium to China but deny access to India - another rising Asian giant with a growing appetite for energy. … Supplying uranium to China opens a new era in Australia-China relations, but it also inaugurates a new race between India and China in the field of nuclear technology and nuclear energy. Such sales also have the potential to aggravate the already complex issues related to the nuclear proliferation as has recently been witnessed in North Korea and Iran. If international regulatory regimes are not effective and China uses Australian uranium to build weapons and make them available to her "friends" and "allies" in the region, as it has done in the past, this week's agreement will have major consequences for world politics.)

5//WorldPress.org, U.S.--DEPORTATION FEEDS A CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA (Since the early nineties, criminal gang networks operating across the border between the United States and Central America have exploded in power and number. The gangs take advantage of loopholes in international immigration and deportation policies to spread their influence through extreme violence. The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, has become one of the "Most Wanted" of these gangs. What began as a loosely-connected group of Salvadoran immigrant youth banded together for protection in the join-or-die gang culture of Los Angeles has now grown into a transnational criminal hydra involved in murder, extortion, and some gun and drug smuggling. … Criminal deportees bring tactics, organization, and other criminal skills learned in U.S. prisons. These abilities translate into more sophisticated networks that have created a web that spans across Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Over time this network has made some links with organized crime, acting at times like foot soldiers to help with smuggling, assassination, and other duties. Street gangs remain distinct from organized crime. But they have become a leading cause of insecurity in Central America. The region's history with clandestine death squads, drug and gun smuggling, corruption, and violence during the U.S.-supported "dirty wars" provided a propitious culture for the gangs' insertion into society. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as national police in three Central American countries actively seek solutions to break this 20-year-old cycle, but U.S. authorities and their Central American colleagues face a difficult game of catch-up.)

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1//The Telegraph, UK Monday 3 April 2006

GOVERNMENT IN SECRET TALKS ABOUT STRIKE AGAINST IRAN

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 02/04/2006)

The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran. A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.

It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.

Tomorrow's meeting will be attended by Gen Sir Michael Walker, the chief of the defence staff, Lt Gen Andrew Ridgway, the chief of defence intelligence and Maj Gen Bill Rollo, the assistant chief of the general staff, together with officials from the Foreign Office and Downing Street.

The International Atomic Energy Authority, the nuclear watchdog, believes that much of Iran's programme is now devoted to uranium enrichment and plutonium separation, technologies that could provide material for nuclear bombs to be developed in the next three years.

The United States government is hopeful that the military operation will be a multinational mission, but defence chiefs believe that the Bush administration is prepared to launch the attack on its own or with the assistance of Israel, if there is little international support. British military chiefs believe an attack would be limited to a series of air strikes against nuclear plants - a land assault is not being considered at the moment.

But confirmation that Britain has started contingency planning will undermine the claim last month by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, that a military attack against Iran was "inconceivable".

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, insisted, during a visit to Blackburn yesterday, that all negotiating options - including the use of force - remained open in an attempt to resolve the crisis.

Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from US navy ships and submarines in the Gulf would, it is believed, target Iran's air defence systems at the nuclear installations.

That would enable attacks by B2 stealth bombers equipped with eight 4,500lb enhanced BLU-28 satellite-guided bunker-busting bombs, flying from Diego Garcia, the isolated US Navy base in the Indian Ocean, RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Whiteman USAF base in Missouri.

It is understood that any direct British involvement in an attack would be limited but may extend to the use of the RAF's highly secret airborne early warning aircraft.

(MORE)

2//GulfNews.com, United Arab Emirates Published: 04/03/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)

REGION ‘COULD BE FIRST VICTIM OF IRAN’S NUKE PROGRAMME’
By Jumana Al Tamimi, GCC & Middle East Editor

Kuwait: Tehran's uncompromising stance over its nuclear programme is reflected with rising concern among Gulf states, including Kuwait where analysts share Western suspicions that the programme includes military ambitions, and say the region will be its first victim, let alone any escalation between Iran and the big powers.

However, analysts differ in assessing the weight of "cards Iran is betting on", which some say include the Shiite citizens in Sunni-ruled Gulf countries, though all are looking at the Iranian programme with fear.

"The Gulf states' position is not satisfying me, nor do I feel at ease about it," said Abdullah Bishara, former GCC secretary-general in an interview with Gulf News.

"Because it correlates the Iranian nuclear programme with the environment and fears of an environmental disaster, while this is not the case".

The case is that, Bishara continued, Tehran's nuclear programme "totally turns over the balance of power, and makes Iran the master of the region and the influential instrument in its decisions-- the GCC position should be united, strong and clear," added Bishara, president of the Diplomatic Centre for Strategic Studies in Kuwait. He described the present GCC position as "hesitant".

GCC countries called to make the region free of nuclear weapons and said the Iranian nuclear programme is worrisome if it is of a military nature.

Tehran, on the other hand, has repeatedly said its programme serves only civilian purposes.

But many Kuwaiti analysts seemed unconvinced. Kuwaiti analysts also based their view that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons on Western intelligence information.

"I don't buy this," said Bishara, while describing the Iranian statements as "contradictory and aiming to divide the international community".

Iran "does not say the truth," said Ahmad Al Rubei, leading Kuwaiti political analyst.

"Iran has to meet the demands of the international community and to stop many of its heated statements that we have many experiences with," said Sami Al Nisf, prominent columnist, referring to statements of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain before the 1991 and 2003 wars.

"Accordingly, Iran has to learn the lesson and realise that confronting the international community will definitely harm Iran and the region," he added.

(SNIP)

"Iran is betting on its power, [as] it has four cards in its hands," said Shamlan Al Eisa, Director, Centre for Strategic and Future Studies at the Kuwait University.

Iranian influence in Iraq, Tehran's relations with Syria, its influence on Lebanese group Hezbollah, and the "Shiites in the Gulf states", are these cards, explained Al Eisa.

The latter, he said, requires "strengthening national unity", mainly in Bahrain, and providing citizens from both Islamic sectors with equal opportunities.

While all GCC states hope the Iranian nuclear issue will be solved diplomatically, some Kuwaiti analysts do not exclude the possibility of a "preventive" Western or even Israeli attack on Iran.

In such a scenario, "the Iranians would retaliate by attacking the American interests and bases in the region. Here boosting the national unity is required particularly in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait because there are Shiite citizens", said Al Eisa.

According to Al Eisa's estimates, Shiites constitute between 25-30 per cent, 60 per cent and between 10-15 per cent of the populations of Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively.

However, other analysts present different interpretations and exclude the Shiite factor, saying previous "more difficult" experiences proved that national loyalty prevailed among Shiites in the Gulf.

"At least in Kuwait....During the Iraq-Iran war there was a clear religious sectarian separation," said Al Rubei. "Yet it passed off peacefully".

(MORE)

3//The News International, Pakistan Monday April 03, 2006-- Rabi-ul-Awwal 04, 1427 A.H.

PAKISTAN MAY BUY US, CHINESE AND SOVIET PLANES
By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to purchase state-of-the-art Chinese F-10 (Jian-10) multi-role fighter-cum-bomber planes while the decision pertaining to purchase of US made ultra modern F-16 planes would be made in July next.

Meanwhile Moscow has signalled to Pakistan that like the US, it could also de-hyphenate its ties with Pakistan and India. As a result of this change in thinking, Pakistan could also go for Russian made planes for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

The first batch of high-profile JF/Thunder-17 aircraft jointly being manufactured by Pakistan and China will be ready for induction early next year, ahead of the schedule. These planes would be flying in the same year in the skies of Pakistan and China as part of their respective air forces. Air Chief Marshal Tanveer Mahmood Ahmad Chief of the Air Staff will visit China shortly to inspect the project. It will be his first foreign trip as the Air Chief.

Highly placed defence production sources revealed to The News here the other day that Federal Secretary for Defence Production Lt Gen Ali Jan Orakzaie who had gone to China last month has now returned to Islamabad after an extremely fruitful visit. He was tasked by President Musharraf with exploring the possibilities of acquiring the high-tech planes and other weaponry systems for the three services preferably with transfer of technology basis.

During his visit to China in February this year, President General Pervez Musharraf was shown the F-10 (also called as J-10 or Jian-10) considered to be the Chinese most secret flying machine. He was the first foreign dignitary/head of the state who chanced to see the demonstration of the multi-role fighter. It is the part of Chinese fourth generation fighter programme which sent waves of worry in India. Indian sources used to say that the programme had the collaboration of Pakistan, Israel, Russia, France and Italy. The rumour based Indian speculation was never owned or denied by the Chinese who love to maintain their peculiar style. The Indians used to say that Israeli input was visible on design while electronics and weapon technology had the mark of French assistance. The F-10 also has the similarities with Israel's Lavi fighter, but predominantly it has the edge like Russian Sukhoi Su-30 MK multi-role aircraft that has in some aspects outsmarted the US made F-16. Russians have supplied 100 such planes to China recently for induction in Peoples Chinese Air Force (PCAF).

(SNIP)

In another related development Pakistan has planned to buy US made F-16 in less number and in all likelihood the number would be cut to half of what Islamabad had initially planned to purchase. Pakistan had made up its mind to buy 55 brand new F-16, but now the number which Pakistan is expected to ask is 25 while 30 used planes will be bought from sources that the United States will identify. The second-hand planes will be later upgraded by the Americans and they could be provided by the US Air Force (USAF) or from any third country, the sources added.

F-16 are considered to be a passion of the PAF since they were the first high-tech flying machines that were inducted in its fleet. Pakistan had made up its mind to buy 75 new F-16 last year. The matter was at its final stage and the required legislation was about to be tabled in the US Congress for facilitation of the supply, but the devastating earthquake of October 8 last year forced Pakistan to request shelving the plan for the time being and Pakistan requested the US to keep the matter pending.

Meanwhile Pakistan is also eying the Russian defence production market. When President General Pervez Musharaf visited Moscow in February 2003, the Russians offered to Pakistan choppers but the deal could not materialize for certain reasons and now Islamabad has received positive signals from Moscow that could encourage it to buy some Russian planes. The Russian technology is very close to that being used by the Chinese and it would not be a difficult proposition for Pakistan to maintain such a system if Russians agree to supply Pakistan, the sources hinted. The Russian defence products are comparatively cheaper than the Western products.

Sources said that Islamabad and Moscow have started making contacts to initiate cooperation in the field of defence in some way. The Russians stakes are high in the case of defence supplies for the Indians but ever since New Delhi has opted to go in Washington's orbit in a big way, Moscow is considering Pakistan's request favourably, the sources added.

A visit of Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzaie to Washington in July next is on the cards.

(MORE)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Apr 1, 2006

AUSTRALIA’S DISCRIMINATORY URANIUM POLICY
By Purnendra Jain
(Purnendra Jain is a professor and head of Adelaide University's Center for Asian Studies in Australia)

ADELAIDE - China's Premier Wen Jaibao is scheduled to arrive in Australia this Friday, where he will sign two agreements allowing Australia to supply uranium to China. They would also allow Chinese entities to explore for new uranium deposits and open mines in Australian territory.

These agreements are being hailed as ground breakers between the two nations that have seen their bilateral trade soar over the last 10 years, reaching close to $US28 billion last year.

The two countries form a natural partnership. Australia has some 40% of the world's uranium deposits but no nuclear power plants. China has nine civilian nuclear power plants and is planning to build 30 more over the next 15 years to meet a rapidly growing appetite for energy. However, supplying uranium to China will have serious strategic implications for regional geo-politics, indeed for the world. Therefore these agreements should not be seen as strictly commercial arrangements.

Australia's foreign office negotiators have concentrated on making sure that none of the exported yellow cake winds up in Chinese (or any other country's) nuclear bombs. That may not pacify opponents of uranium exports. The Australian Labor Party still officially opposes exporting uranium to anyone. It is in opposition at the national level but still controls the governments of several states, including Western Australia, where many deposits are located.

Some have questioned Canberra's decision to supply uranium to China but deny access to India - another rising Asian giant with a growing appetite for energy. That decision has already created a great deal of consternation across the region. The Australians argue that China being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) makes it eligible to receive its uranium, whereas India's refusal to sign the treaty is why the government will not supply uranium to India.

(SNIP)

Australia's decision to supply uranium to China and not to India certainly pleases the Chinese leadership. China is unimpressed by the recent agreement between the US and India on the transfer of civilian nuclear technology. In Beijing's view Washington is supporting New Delhi as a counterbalance to the "peaceful rise" of China. In an interview with The Australian newspaper this week, Premier Wen is reported to have given his support to Australia's selling uranium to India for "peaceful purposes". Nevertheless, the Chinese leadership views India as a competitor for power and jealously defends its position as Asia's main nuclear power and sole permanent representative on the UN Security Council.

Supplying uranium to China opens a new era in Australia-China relations, but it also inaugurates a new race between India and China in the field of nuclear technology and nuclear energy. Such sales also have the potential to aggravate the already complex issues related to the nuclear proliferation as has recently been witnessed in North Korea and Iran. If international regulatory regimes are not effective and China uses Australian uranium to build weapons and make them available to her "friends" and "allies" in the region, as it has done in the past, this week's agreement will have major consequences for world politics.

5//WorldPress.org, U.S. March 31, 2006

DEPORTATION FEEDS A CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Sam Logan with Ben Bain and Kate Kairies
Americas Program, International Relations Center (I.R.C.)

Since the early nineties, criminal gang networks operating across the border between the United States and Central America have exploded in power and number. The gangs take advantage of loopholes in international immigration and deportation policies to spread their influence through extreme violence.

The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, has become one of the "Most Wanted" of these gangs. What began as a loosely-connected group of Salvadoran immigrant youth banded together for protection in the join-or-die gang culture of Los Angeles has now grown into a transnational criminal hydra involved in murder, extortion, and some gun and drug smuggling.

U.S. deportation policies aggressively send undocumented gang members back to their home countries in Central America. They export U.S. gang culture and hardened criminals to countries whose internal security forces are ill-equipped to deal with the new threat. The street gangs have rapidly grown beyond being just a neighborhood problem to presenting a real national security threat in these countries.

Criminal deportees bring tactics, organization, and other criminal skills learned in U.S. prisons. These abilities translate into more sophisticated networks that have created a web that spans across Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Over time this network has made some links with organized crime, acting at times like foot soldiers to help with smuggling, assassination, and other duties.

Street gangs remain distinct from organized crime. But they have become a leading cause of insecurity in Central America. The region's history with clandestine death squads, drug and gun smuggling, corruption, and violence during the U.S.-supported "dirty wars" provided a propitious culture for the gangs' insertion into society. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as national police in three Central American countries actively seek solutions to break this 20-year-old cycle, but U.S. authorities and their Central American colleagues face a difficult game of catch-up.

Born in the U.S.A.

The civil wars that ravaged Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador in the 1980's displaced tens of thousands of Central Americans from their homes into Mexico and the United States. Many of these families settled in cities in the United States close to the Mexican border. Cities such as Los Angeles absorbed large communities of Central Americans who sought to carve out a space in the city's poor neighborhoods that had been controlled by Mexican street gangs since as early as the 1950's.

The word "mara" loosely translated from Spanish means group or gang. Salvatrucha, in Salvadoran Spanish slang, means a streetwise Salvadoran. Mara Salvatruchas is a term that refers to Salvadoran immigrants who formed gangs in the 70's and 80's to protect themselves from their rivals in the street gangs that dominated Los Angeles at that time.

The number 13 marks the position of the letter "m" in the alphabet and is a nod to the Mexican Mafia, a gang that controls the prisons in Southern California. Put together, the name "MS-13" states membership of a gang, primarily made up of Salvadorans, that holds allegiance to the Mexican Mafia in Southern California.

The MS-13 formed in California, but over the years has spread into Central America due to transnational movement of gang members through choice or deportation. Since the mid-90's, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I.N.S.) has actively deported tens of thousands of convicted criminals back to their countries of birth in Central America.

After Sept. 11, 2001, the I.N.S. was absorbed into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE, working with the other Homeland Security Department components, presents a more comprehensive approach to tackling transnational gang violence. However, years of questionable deportation policies have left the organization with a formidable challenge.

In many cases, deported individuals were brought to the United States at a young age. So when they are deported to Central America, they have little to depend on in their home countries, outside of gang connections.

The MS-13 is now an established presence in Central America. It actively recruits young men and women, who in turn eventually find themselves back in the United States as illegal immigrants. This cycle, fed in part by U.S. deportation strategies, has increased MS-13 numbers in both Central America and the United States, where there is now a significant MS-13 presence on both the east and west coasts.

Over the years, the MS-13 grew and members moved beyond Los Angeles into other U.S. cities. MS-13 presence has been spotted in over 33 U.S. states as well as the District of Colombia. There are an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 MS-13 members in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

As the MS-13 grew throughout the United States their clashes with rivals from the M-18 gang, as well as other street gangs, earned MS-13 members a strong reputation for brutal violence. It is widely known that the MS-13 weapon of choice is a machete.

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