World Media Watch for September 11, 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--US AND THE TRIUMPH OF UNILATERALISM (When excerpts of the document first appeared in the New York Times in the spring of 1992, it created quite a stir. One senator described it as a prescription for "literally a Pax Americana". Indeed, the draft Defense Policy Guidance (DPG), which set forth the underlying assumptions for US grand strategy into the next century, was pretty astonishing…But the draft's strategy clearly retained a central place in the hearts and minds of its two authors and their boss, then-Pentagon chief Dick Cheney, until new circumstances might offer a more auspicious moment. That moment came on the morning of September 11 last year.)

2//The Independent, UK--PARLIAMENT TO BE RECALLED AFTER BLAIR BOWS TO PRESSURE FOR DEBATE (The Commons is likely to sit for one or two days the week after next, possibly on the day when the Government publishes its long-awaited dossier of evidence about Saddam Hussein's efforts to obtain chemical, biological and nuclear weapons…The dossier on President Saddam's weapons has not been finished and there are disagreements over how much intelligence-based evidence should be included. The Government, worried that the much-vaunted report may prove to be a damp squib, is keen to include as much fresh information as possible but has met resistance from the intelligence services in Britain and America.)

3//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--KINGDOM DENIES ROLE IN 9/11 (Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, said yesterday that the Kingdom accepts no responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The blame must be borne by individuals and not the state for the "dramatic day" when thousands of "innocents were killed", he said.

4//The Times of India, India--US AND INDIA SIDELINE PAKISTAN'S ANTICS (Powell was also less supportive - if not obliquely critical - of Pakistan while appearing to endorse the Indian view that the country's military regime was trying to derail the electoral process in Kashmir by resuming terrorist infiltration.)

5//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting, USA--SAUDI ARABIA: POLICY SHIFT CONCERNING ATTACK ON IRAQ? (and other notes from subscriber-only article summaries)

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1//Asia Times Online September 10, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DI10Ak03.html

US AND THE TRIUMPH OF UNILATERALISM
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - When excerpts of the document first appeared in the New York Times in the spring of 1992, it created quite a stir. One senator described it as a prescription for "literally a Pax Americana". Indeed, the draft Defense Policy Guidance (DPG), which set forth the underlying assumptions for US grand strategy into the next century, was pretty astonishing.

Written by two relatively obscure political appointees in the Pentagon's policy office after the Gulf War, it boldly called for permanent US military pre-eminence over virtually all of Eurasia - to be achieved by "deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role" and by pre-empting states believed to be developing weapons of mass destruction.

It foretold a world in which US military intervention would come to be seen "as a constant fixture" of the geo-political landscape and Washington would act as the ultimate guarantor of the international order. Indeed, the draft failed to even mention the United Nations.

"While the US cannot become the world's 'policeman' by assuming responsibility for righting every wrong, we will retain the pre-eminent responsibility for addressing selectively those wrongs which threaten not only our interests, but those of our allies or friends, or which could seriously unsettle international relations," the draft said.

The paper was essentially a vision of a world dominated by the unilateral use of US military power to ensure international stability, promote the US national interest, and prevent the rise of any possible challenger for the foreseeable future.

The leak, apparently arranged by someone in the military brass worried about the costs of enforcing such an imperial vision, sparked major controversy. At the insistence of then-National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Secretary of State James Baker, the final DPG was toned down to the point of unrecognizability.

But the draft's strategy clearly retained a central place in the hearts and minds of its two authors and their boss, then-Pentagon chief Dick Cheney, until new circumstances might offer a more auspicious moment. That moment came on the morning of September 11 last year.

At that moment, Cheney had already become the most powerful vice president in US history, while the draft's two authors, Paul Wolfowitz and I Lewis Libby, had risen to the posts of deputy defense secretary and Cheney's chief of staff, respectively.

(MORE)

2//The Independent 11 September 2002
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=332248

PARLIAMENT TO BE RECALLED AFTER BLAIR BOWS TO PRESSURE FOR DEBATE
By Andrew Grice and Ben Russell

Tony Blair is expected to bow to pressure to recall Parliament from its three-month summer break to discuss plans for military action against Iraq.

The Commons is likely to sit for one or two days the week after next, possibly on the day when the Government publishes its long-awaited dossier of evidence about Saddam Hussein's efforts to obtain chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

(SNIP)

The dossier on President Saddam's weapons has not been finished and there are disagreements over how much intelligence-based evidence should be included. The Government, worried that the much-vaunted report may prove to be a damp squib, is keen to include as much fresh information as possible but has met resistance from the intelligence services in Britain and America.

(SNIP)

There was a mixed reaction to Mr Blair's speech from union leaders, who welcomed his commitment to the UN but demanded further guarantees that he would not sanction military action without its support.

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, said: "He concentrated on the things that unite us, but avoided two difficult issues. He did not give us a categorical assurance that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair would not bilaterally start a war in the Middle East."

Bob Crow, the left-wing general secretary of the RMT rail union, said: "He didn't convince me. He talks about consultation, but he is clearly hell-bent on war with Iraq. He does everything that George Bush tells him to."

Graham Allen, a Labour MP, was refused permission yesterday to hire the Commons chamber for an unofficial session of Parliament. Parliamentary authorities declined the request on the basis that the House of Commons was the only body that could hire the chamber.

Instead, Mr Allen has called a meeting of MPs at Church House, Westminster, on Thursday next week. It will be chaired by Lord Weatherill, a former Commons Speaker, and televised live on the BBC Parliament channel. Hiring the room will cost the BBC up to £2,800, on top of broadcasting costs.

Mr Allen, MP for Nottingham North, said: "We are actually moving into a war situation and people are standing on ceremony in order to deny Parliament the right to meet. The person doing the most of that is the Prime Minister."

3//Arab News 10 September 2002/3 Rajab 14231010
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=18521

KINGDOM DENIES ROLE IN 9/11
By a Staff Writer

JEDDAH/WASHINGTON, 11 September - Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, said yesterday that the Kingdom accepts no responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The blame must be borne by individuals and not the state for the "dramatic day" when thousands of "innocents were killed", he said.

"If some Saudi nationals abandoned the teachings of Islam and their nationalism then they must bear the blame and not" the country, Prince Sultan said on the eve of the first anniversary of the attacks.

They "had waged a war against their own country more than any other country and the whole world knows what they did in Saudi Arabia," the minister was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.

"Some from these groups went (to Afghanistan) to fight communism...and became criminals, saboteurs and evil-doers, and that is the truth. The Kingdom shelters no criminal or terrorist...because our religion and our nationalism prevent us from doing so. Islam rejects and condemns any criminal activity or terrorism, because they are against Islamic Shariah," Prince Sultan added.

(MORE)

4//The Times of India Wednesday, September 11, 2002
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=21754527

US AND INDIA SIDELINE PAKISTAN'S ANTICS
Chidanand Rajghatta

WASHINGTON: The United States and India have agreed to impart greater momentum to bilateral ties while treating New Delhi's problem with Pakistan as a side issue.

India's External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday demonstrably emphasised bilateral relations and de-emphasised Pakistan while they drew up the agenda for the meeting with between President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee in New York later this week.

Powell was also less supportive - if not obliquely critical - of Pakistan while appearing to endorse the Indian view that the country's military regime was trying to derail the electoral process in Kashmir by resuming terrorist infiltration.

(SNIP)

Indian officials said the outcome of Tuesday's meeting meant the two sides had "virtually sidelined Pakistan's antics of conjuring up war scenarios to invite US and international attention."

(SNIP)

Indeed, Powell was visibly less gung-ho about Pakistan and refrained from asserting, as he has done in recent days, about reduction in infiltrations across the border. Instead, he said he had reaffirmed to Sinha that the US would continue to press the Pakistani government to stop the cross-border infiltration and not interfere with the elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi has been challenging assertions by Pakistan that it has plugged infiltrations and produced evidence, including radio intercepts, to show that it has increased in recent days with an intent to disrupt the political process in Kashmir.

Indian officials were particularly incensed by what one mandarin called "mealy-mouthed pronouncements" by General Musharraf that "nothing is happening on the line of control."

"He is all about semantics and grandstanding. By implication, he is signalling that he will keep up the terror camps running behind the LoC and the terror pot boiling in front of the LoC in Kashmir.

We want to expose that," one official said, joining issue with a report in these columns on Monday about the failure of India's public diplomacy.

(MORE)

5//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting September 10, 2002
http://www.stratfor.com/

Notes from subscriber only article summaries:

SAUDI ARABIA: POLICY SHIFT CONCERNING ATTACK ON IRAQ?
Sep 10

Saudi Arabia may be subtly shifting its stance concerning a U.S.-led attack on Iraq. If so, even tacit political backing by Riyadh would make U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf considerably easier.

IRAQ WAR PLANS I: AIMS, PERCEPTIONS, AND ISSUES
Sep 09

All wars begin with war plans. Behind all war plans are war aims. Normally, the simpler the war aim, the greater the likelihood of success…Paradoxically, the same operations that are the basis for U.S. confidence also are fueling an Iraqi sense of confidence.

IRAQ WAR PLANS II: OPERATION DESERT STUN
Sep 10

The operational paradigm of American war fighting since Desert Storm has been the three-stage attack, the third stage being the ground attack. In Afghanistan, indigenous forces carried out the ground attack. But in Iraq the only armed and trained indigenous force is the Iraqi Army. Operation Desert Stun would call for a powerful first phase air attack followed by an attempt to induce regional military commanders to turn against Saddam Hussein.

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

Updated listings of Radio for Progressives on the internet at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical

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