World Media Watch for June 21, 2002

BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--NEW PHASE IN AFGHANISTAN (Under a twofold strategy to pin down US forces in Afghanistan and to strengthen the hand of dissident forces in Pakistan, al-Qaeda fighters have refined their operations to deepen the crisis in South Asia…In terms of this plan, any one action will serve as a signal for another action elsewhere. For instance, it has been agreed that a bomb blast in Khost will be the signal for a rocket attack on a US base in Paktia. These activities were decided after reviewing US air force and army movements for some time, and indeed, in the past week in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Hilmand and Kandahar exactly this has happened. Sources said that the same plan had been adopted for Pakistan, aided by disgruntled former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials who have tapped into their underworld links to offer protection to many prominent al-Qaeda fighters.)

2//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting, USA--IRAQI ARMS-BUYING SPREE GEARED TOWARD QUICK, HEAVY IMPACT (Iraq is rushing to buy arms… that could inflict serious damage on U.S. forces -- enough to give Iraq the battle advantage.)

3//Asia Times Online, Thailand--IRAQIS NOT READY TO LIE DOWN YET (Wamid Nathmi, professor of political science at Baghdad University, says nothing is certain. "If the Americans are taking the Kurds and the Shi'ites for granted in their endeavor to overthrow the regime, they are making an awful mistake," he said…Iraq is also beefing up military positions in the far south, and vacating key buildings. At the same time, Iraq is attempting diplomatic reconciliation on other fronts. Talks on the return of United Nations arms inspectors to Iraq have been scheduled for Vienna in early July, ...)

4//The Globe and Mail, Canada--CANADIANS LESS TRUSTING OF GOVERNMENT THAN AMERICANS (When it comes to border security, however, the majority of Canadians and Americans support a common policy and believe that better security is more important than ensuring that trade moves easily between the two countries, says a survey released by the non-partisan Centre for Research and Information on Canada. More than half of Canadians [51 per cent] surveyed said that they have little, if any, trust in the federal government, compared with 30 per cent in the United States.)

5//The Independent, UK--MEDIA ON 'EDGE OF INSANITY,' SAYS BLUNKETT (The Home Secretary's outburst caused concern at Downing Street because it derailed Tony Blair's attempt to switch the media spotlight back to policies after a series of damaging rows about "spin".)

6//Asahi Shimbun, Japan--EDITORIAL: PRIVACY VS. DISCLOSURE (But personal information is being leaked by government agencies and business and is being used for profit without the subjects being aware of it. This is an intolerable situation.)

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1//Asia Times Online June 21, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DF21Df03.html

NEW PHASE IN AFGHANISTAN
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Under a twofold strategy to pin down US forces in Afghanistan and to strengthen the hand of dissident forces in Pakistan, al-Qaeda fighters have refined their operations to deepen the crisis in South Asia.

Well-placed intelligence sources confirm the strong presence of Arab (al-Qaeda) fighters all along the Pakistan-Afghan border near Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces in eastern Afghanistan. These fighters have recently been engaged in heavy strikes on US forces, inflicting some casualties.

(SNIP)

Although largely unreported, sources within Afghanistan say that in the past few weeks guerrilla strikes against US forces have visibly increased. The shattered al-Qaeda and Taliban groups have begun to restore communications, which has allowed them to implement their new strategy against US forces.

Asia Times Online reported that after their retreat from the Shah-e-Kot region of Gardez in eastern Afghanistan in the face of Operation Anaconda in March, that the next theater of conflict between US forces and al-Qaeda would be in southern Afghanistan. This is now happening, with fighters emerging from Pakistan, where they had taken shelter with the help of the local population.

The US-based Christian Science Monitor published a story on April 1 about the southern village of Zerok, where Taliban and al-Qaeda members had infiltrated. The villagers were at first in their favor, but they became afraid that US military strikes would devastate their crops (poppy) and their houses. As a result, the villagers refused to cooperate with their foreign visitors.

This forced the Taliban and al-Qaeda to rethink a new strategy under which they gave up all activities for a while and quietly worked to restore their communication links. They agreed that all future activities would be coordinated with the aim of engaging US forces in many areas at the same time.

In terms of this plan, any one action will serve as a signal for another action elsewhere. For instance, it has been agreed that a bomb blast in Khost will be the signal for a rocket attack on a US base in Paktia. These activities were decided after reviewing US air force and army movements for some time, and indeed, in the past week in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Hilmand and Kandahar exactly this has happened.

Sources said that the same plan had been adopted for Pakistan, aided by disgruntled former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials who have tapped into their underworld links to offer protection to many prominent al-Qaeda fighters. And as in Afghanistan, all actions will be carefully scripted.

For instance, a high-profile murder in Karachi will be the signal for al-Qaeda to detonate bombs in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The motive is to destabilize the country and give room for the anti-Musharraf lobby to grow in strength. Many in Pakistan bitterly resent that President General Pervez Musharraf sided with the US in its war in Afghanistan, at the expense of the Taliban, which the ISI had nurtured into power.

(MORE)

2//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting June 20, 2002
http://www.stratfor.com/

IRAQI ARMS-BUYING SPREE GEARED TOWARD QUICK, HEAVY IMPACT
(Summary of subscription-only article)

Intelligence from STRATFOR sources abroad indicates Iraq is rushing to buy arms with a focus on those weapons, such as air-defense systems and surface-to-surface missiles, that could inflict serious damage on U.S. forces -- enough to give Iraq the battle advantage.

3//Asia Times Online June 21, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/front/DF21Aa01.html

IRAQIS NOT READY TO LIE DOWN YET
By Kim Ghattas (Inter Press Service)

BAGHDAD - Iraqis are getting back to business in the face of uncertainty over what the US plans to do next in their war against terrorism. They ask every foreigner in town whether Iraq will be bombed soon, only to add that not much can happen they have not already seen.

Iraqis are trying to survive the best they can, and it seems to be working, at least in Baghdad. Everything is on sale in the popular Shorja market in the center of the capital: rice, sugar, pasta, baby milk powder and even imported US cola. For a country facing embargoes, the market keeps bustling.

(SNIP)

To ease the flow of civilian goods and to restrict those that could be used for military purposes, the Iraqi government introduced a new sanctions regime. The effect of this is not yet clear, for the moment, though, a slow trickle down effect is visible, with more and more goods on sale. Baghdadis are the first beneficiaries.

The money trickles down from hundreds of new businesses and contracts. These have brought in goods ranging from food to computers and steel. Foreign companies, mostly Arab, are opening offices in Baghdad and employing Iraqis. Restaurants are full, with businessmen leaving large tips. Rehabilitation and construction works are employing a growing number of laborers.

Many of these contracts are independent of the oil-for-food-program administered by the US; instead, they are signed between Iraq and its neighbors, including the Gulf states. This brings goods into Iraq unchecked at the border.

Abdel Razzak el Hashimi, advisor to President Saddam Hussein and leading member of the ruling Baath party, says that the US has tried to portray Iraq as a threat to the region, but the trade agreements are evidence of the opposite. Iraq has diplomatic relations with all countries in the region except Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, he added. Hashimi brushed aside calls by the US for a change of the regime in Iraq, calling it a breach of international law, and state terrorism instigated by the US.

"The US should learn from its recent experience in Venezuela," he says. "When they had some of their stooges trying to overthrow [President Hugo] Chavez, the people put him back. When the people [of a nation] support their president no one can do anything about it, not even the United States."

How much the Iraqis support Saddam Hussein is hard to tell. State propaganda shapes most public opinion, freedom of the press is non-existent, and all opposition gets ruthlessly smashed.

(SNIP)

Wamid Nathmi, professor of political science at Baghdad University, says nothing is certain. "If the Americans are taking the Kurds and the Shi'ites for granted in their endeavor to overthrow the regime, they are making an awful mistake," he said. "It's true the Americans gave support to the Kurds, but nothing more than that. The Kurds were hoping for an independent state. The situation in the south is worse and the Iraqis have come to blame the US for their suffering."

For the moment, however, the Iraq issue has gone on the backburner for the US, though talk of toppling Saddam Hussein remains frequent. Iraq is taking advantage of the Middle East crisis not only to strengthen mostly business-related ties with its neighbors, but also to portray itself as the only Arab country that supports the Palestinians effectively.

Iraq sends $25,000 to families of Palestinian "martyrs". This is a drastic increase from the previous amount of $10,000 per family. This will ensure more support for Iraq from the common Arab once the Americans launch a campaign. Iraq is also beefing up military positions in the far south, and vacating key buildings.

At the same time, Iraq is attempting diplomatic reconciliation on other fronts. Talks on the return of United Nations arms inspectors to Iraq have been scheduled for Vienna in early July, and Iraqis hope something positive will come of the meeting. "I don't think that it would do any harm if Iraq accepted the return of the arms inspectors," says Professor Nathmi. This would pre-empt US efforts to justify a military strike, he says.

But just as the US is unlikely to accept a return of the inspectors on the condition that sanctions be lifted, Saddam Hussein will not accept the US demand for unconditional return of the inspectors. The conditions look set to provoke a crisis.

4//The Globe and Mail POSTED AT 2:27 PM EDT Thursday, June 20
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/C/20020620/wtrust
06202?hub=homeBN&tf=tgam%252Frealtime%252Ffullstory.html&cf=tgam/realtime/con
fig-neutral&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&slug=wtrust06202&date=20020620&archive=RT
GAM&site=Front&ad_page_name=breakingnews

CANADIANS LESS TRUSTING OF GOVERNMENT THAN AMERICANS
By Allison Lawlor

Canadians are less trusting of government than their U.S. neighbours, a poll released Thursday indicates.

When it comes to border security, however, the majority of Canadians and Americans support a common policy and believe that better security is more important than ensuring that trade moves easily between the two countries, says a survey released by the non-partisan Centre for Research and Information on Canada.

More than half of Canadians (51 per cent) surveyed said that they have little, if any, trust in the federal government, compared with 30 per cent in the United States.

Canadians are more trusting of their provincial governments, with 51 per cent saying they have a great deal of trust in them. South of the border, 65 per cent trust their state governments.

When asked about their trust in local government, Canadians and Americans share similar sentiments. Sixty-four per cent of Canadians surveyed said they trust their local governments, compared with 67per cent of Americans who do.

The survey also looked at regions within Canada and found some interesting differences.

"Canada does look more regionally differentiated than the U.S.," Andrew Parkin, assistant director of the CRIC, told globeandmail.com on Thursday.

(SNIP)

Canadians lack of trust in government started in the early 1990s at the end of the Progressive Conservative government under Brian Mulroney and has continued since then, Mr. Parkin said, adding that one way this lack of confidence rears itself is in lower voter turnout.

Canadians and Americans are close to agreeing on the idea of a common border-security policy, with 66 per cent of Canadians saying it is a good idea because it will increase the security of both countries. In the United States, 69 per cent of respondents said it was a good idea. While the majority of Canadians surveyed supported the idea, 31per cent of Canadians said it is a "bad idea because Canada will have to give the United States some say in our border-security policy."

(SNIP)

Fifty-nine per cent of Canadians said "making sure that border security is improved to help keep undesirable people out of Canada and the United States" is more important than trade. That sentiment was echoed by 72 per cent of Americans.

The survey also asked about attitudes toward taxes and found that there is a striking difference between the two countries. When asked "which do you think is the worst tax - that is the least fair," 46 per cent of Canadians pointed to sales taxes. This reflects the public's dislike of the GST, the survey said. By comparison, only 12 per cent of Americans see sales taxes as being the worst tax.

The least liked tax in the United States is local property tax, followed closely by federal income tax.

(MORE)

5//The Independent 20 June 2002
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=307128

MEDIA ON 'EDGE OF INSANITY,' SAYS BLUNKETT
By Andrew Grice Political Editor

David Blunkett fuelled the row between the Government and journalists yesterday by accusing the media of being "almost on the edge of insanity".

The Home Secretary's outburst caused concern at Downing Street because it derailed Tony Blair's attempt to switch the media spotlight back to policies after a series of damaging rows about "spin".

Although Mr Blunkett's aides suggested later that he had been joking, his off-the-cuff remarks took the strained relationship between the Government and the media to a new low. He told a conference on criminal justice: "I have the misfortune every day - and I shouldn't really do it - to read Britain's newspapers and commentaries and leader writers, and we are almost on the edge of insanity."

The Home Secretary, who has been criticised by the Tories for launching some 50 initiatives since last year's general election, complained that discussing an idea that had been raised before led to accusations of spin and recycling. He said: "We really are going crackers."

He said he was considering "hiding myself away" in the Home Office to live a "hermit-like" existence to avoid the "abuse and ridicule" of the press by making only occasional announcements.

(MORE)

6//Asahi Shimbun June 18, 2002
http://www.asahi.com/english/op-ed/K2002061800555.html

EDITORIAL: PRIVACY VS. DISCLOSURE
Law should focus upon information objectives.

Now that it is almost certain that legislation to safeguard personal information will not get through the Diet in the current session, it is time to reconsider just what the best form for such legislation should take.

The bill the government presented to the Diet was criticized on two points. One was that it might compromise freedom of the press and freedom of expression. That was because the basic principle applicable to persons and organizations was made to apply even to the spheres of the media and academia without any exception.

The other point of criticism was that people have no idea that others have certain information about them, or how the information is being used or changing hands, since the legislation contained no clear obligation of those who hold such information to report the fact to those they have information about.

In short, the bill drew fire for covering what did not need covering, and for lacking enough detail to be of any practical value. It was useless either way.

(SNIP)

But personal information is being leaked by government agencies and business and is being used for profit without the subjects being aware of it. This is an intolerable situation.

We encourage legislation that would regulate information in specific fields, beginning with areas in which a body of personal information is held and unauthorized disclosure would cause the most damage if leaked or exploited without the knowledge of the subjects of the data.

Through that approach, the first need to be addressed is to determine what government agencies do with the vast amount of personal information they already hold. Recent revelations of the Defense Agency compilation of background records on people seeking information from the agency clearly demonstrate that the existing law protecting personal information government agencies hold is useless. The public cannot feel comfortable with the bill presented to the Diet to amend the existing law, since it has no provisions for punishing government agencies that violate it.

The first need is for a law to regulate the way government agencies handle personal information. Other laws should follow that regulate the way such information is handled in specific private fields. The government study group that prepared the preliminary draft of the most recent bill addressed information about a person's credit rating, medical records and content of telecommunications as areas in which the need for regulation is most important. Such recommendations are useful in considering the priority for legislation to regulate certain kinds of information.

(MORE)

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© 2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com

Web Radio for Progressives listings at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical

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