by Gloria R. Lalumia
World
Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
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//TurkishPress.com, USA--OUTFITTED FOR IRAQ (Franks and Ralston didn't have any concrete requests for Ankara, because Washington itself hasn't made a final decision yet. As Franks told those he spoke to during the meeting at the General staff, 'We're waiting for President Bush's decision.'... Ankara's impression is that Bush will give the order following US congressional elections in November.)
2//The Jordan Times, Jordan--KUWAITI, US, GERMAN, CZECH FORCES HOLD CHEMICAL WARFARE DRILL (Colonel Mustafa Juma, deputy director of the civil defence, rated Monday's exercise a 70 per cent success...US Ambassador Richard Jones, who toured the area, said holding the drill was not a sign that US strikes on Iraq were imminent... Last week air raid sirens were tested around the country, while gas masks and NBC protective tents selling at $13,000 apiece can be bought.)
3//The Dawn, Pakistan--26 STINGERS RETREIVED, 200 STILL MISSING (US army has retrieved 26 missing Stinger missiles from various former heads of warring factions after making hefty payments through a middleman during the arms recovery drive in Kandahar, a party privy to the deals confided to this correspondent... He claims that one of the tasks before the coalition forces in Afghanistan is to retrieve maximum number of deadly weapons before launching a full-scale war against their enemy and also starting rehabilitation work in the war-torn country.)
4//The Straits Times, Malaysia--BUSH AND JIANG'S CRUCIAL HOUR ALONE (They will talk in complete privacy on board a boat on a lake in the US leader's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where Mr Jiang is scheduled to arrive on Thursday...Most observers believe that Mr Jiang would offer a Chinese abstention in any United Nations Security Council voting on resolutions aimed at giving the US cover for its planned attacks against Iraq - in return for a US pledge not to support any Taiwanese move towards independence.)
5//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--NORTH KOREA: CHINA ALSO TO BLAME, REMINDS INDIA (According to Nalapat, professor of geopolitics at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, Beijing uses Pakistan and North Korea as "proxy nuclear and missile states" to further its own strategic interests. This raises the obvious question of how the United States could have missed this proliferation axis that links Beijing to its two closest allies in Asia - except deliberately.)
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1//TurkishPress.com
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=7452
OUTFITTED FOR IRAQ
STAR- Columnist Murat Celik comments on a possible operation by the US against Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
'Gen. Tommy Franks, the US commander for the Persian Gulf region, said that the US didn't have any requests to Turkey concerning the Iraq issue. Gen. Joseph Ralston, who commands NATO's forces in Europe, completed his contacts and left Ankara.' These words belong to yesterday's Anatolia news agency's reports. These American leaders' contacts at Chief of General Staff headquarters in Ankara topped yesterday's news. Gen. Franks is the commander who will likely lead the 'Big Broom' operation in Iraq. In other words, he will be the top-ranking officer for US operation against Iraq. Franks and Ralston didn't have any concrete requests for Ankara, because Washington itself hasn't made a final decision yet. As Franks told those he spoke to during the meeting at the General staff, 'We're waiting for President Bush's decision.'
(SNIP)
As no political decision has yet been made, the US Army can do nothing but review possible scenarios and battle plans, just as the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have been doing. The operation plans will be given their final shape after Bush gives the order. Bush's command to the US army will set off a 'state of war.' However, this situation won't mean the actual start of a war. After the state of war begins, the launch of the first bullet, rocket or bomb will still be a long time in coming. Ankara's impression is that Bush will give the order following US congressional elections in November. Considering the coming holy Muslim month of Ramadan, starting Nov. 6 and ending with December's 'Sugar Bayram' holiday, speculation is running that the war won't actually begin until early next year.
While the US has been preparing for an Iraqi operation, it has taken special measures to guard against the threat of nuclear and biological weapons. I'm talking about some half-a-million special suits to protect against the effects of bio-terrorist attacks. Hidden in this measure, which was put together due to the anthrax scare, is a detail that will affect the timetable of the operation. If these special outfits prepared by Americans were used today during an operation on Iraqi territory, the temperature inside the clothes would reach a boiling 60 degrees Celsius due to the region's climate. In other words, carrying out an operation today in the region with those clothes would be impossible. Such clothes would be practically wearable only in December, January and February, when the Iraqi deserts will be cold enough to freeze a person. In other words, the US is faced not only with crucial factors such as swaying international opinion and its own elections, but also with a timetable dictated by technical equipment.
2//The Jordan Times Tuesday, October 22, 2002
http://www.jordantimes.com/Tue/news/news4.htm
KUWAITI,
US, GERMAN, CZECH FORCES HOLD CHEMICAL WARFARE DRILL
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Under a hot desert sun, US, Kuwaiti, German and Czech
forces on Monday conducted a mock drill in nuclear, biological and chemical
(NBC) warfare to increase the emirate's level of preparation in the event
of Iraqi retaliation if Washington were to launch a strike on Baghdad.
The exercise, organised by the Kuwaiti Civil Defence, was the first grouping units of all four countries under the Cooperation Defence Initiative (CDI) programme, sponsored by US CENTCOM.
"It's impressive, and the first time all four have done it together," said Captain Christopher Logan of the US Marine Corps.
"It's a big joint effort but essentially a Kuwaiti exercise to determine themselves, but we all like to assist," Logan told AFP.
In an NBC warfare scenario, two vehicles were sent off to simulate an explosion and chemical release. The Kuwaitis then activated their emergency services and called for assistance, bringing the US, German and Czech troops to the scene to help in vehicle and personnel reconnaissance and decontamination.
(SNIP)
The CDI programme involves US forces working with the Gulf Cooperation
Council states - Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain,
Qatar and Oman - as well as Egypt and Jordan, in improving consequence
management, Rook said.
Colonel Mustafa Juma, deputy director of the civil defence, rated Monday's exercise a 70 per cent success.
(SNIP)
US Ambassador Richard Jones, who toured the area, said holding the drill was not a sign that US strikes on Iraq were imminent.
"You prepare for the worst, hoping for the best," Jones told reporters.
(SNIP)
The civil defence has been intensively training in NBC response while also briefing schools, hospitals and government institutions on emergency plans in the event of any Iraqi retaliatory attack.
Last week air raid sirens were tested around the country, while gas masks and NBC protective tents selling at $13,000 apiece can be bought.
Around 10,000 US troops are currently based in Kuwait, mostly at Camp Doha, where the US army stockpiles heavy equipment, including tanks and artillery.
German and Czech NBC specialist units have been in the emirate since early this year.
3//The Dawn 22 October 2002 Tuesday 15 Shaban 1423
http://www.dawn.com/2002/10/22/nat16.htm
26
STINGERS RETREIVED, 200 STILL MISSING
By Abdul Sami Paracha
KOHAT, Oct 21: US army has retrieved 26 missing Stinger missiles from various former heads of warring factions after making hefty payments through a middleman during the arms recovery drive in Kandahar, a party privy to the deals confided to this correspondent.
There are still more than 200 stingers missing in Afghanistan, which were supplied by the CIA to different warlords during the Russian war, the source confirmed.
(SNIP)
All the deals are being made at Kandahar through a Pakistani tribesman Nasir Afridi on the payment of $120,000 per Stinger to the owner. Back in early nineties the price of a Stinger was set at $65,000 including the middleman's commission.
The laser-guided anti-aircraft stingers have lost their shelf life but they remain a potential threat to coalition forces inside Afghanistan.
Nasir Afridi, who nowadays travels frequently between Khost, Kandahar and Pakistan, told this correspondent early this month that his father and an uncle incidentally became party to the deals when they purchased some spares of a Stinger for selling them to the US authorities in Islamabad a year back.
He claims that one of the tasks before the coalition forces in Afghanistan is to retrieve maximum number of deadly weapons before launching a full-scale war against their enemy and also starting rehabilitation work in the war-torn country.
4//The Straits Times Oct 22, 2002 Tue
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,150354,00.html?
BUSH
AND JIANG'S CRUCIAL HOUR ALONE
The two leaders, meeting a third time this year on Thursday, are likely
to reach agreement on highly significant issues
By Ching Cheong
HONGKONG - World attention is likely to focus this week on what one Chinese newspaper has described as 'the most significant hour in Sino-US summitry'.
According to Global Times, a paper affiliated to the authoritative People's Daily, that will be the one hour when Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his American counterpart George W. Bush will be alone with one interpreter each.
They will talk in complete privacy on board a boat on a lake in the US leader's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where Mr Jiang is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.
If history is any guide, the two leaders, who will be meeting for a third time this year, are likely to arrive at tacit agreement on some highly significant issues.
(SNIP)
Most observers believe that Mr Jiang would offer a Chinese abstention in any United Nations Security Council voting on resolutions aimed at giving the US cover for its planned attacks against Iraq - in return for a US pledge not to support any Taiwanese move towards independence.
China might even go so far as to say it will resolve the Taiwan issue peacefully, provided that the US will declare, on its part, not to arm or co-defend the island.
Some observers say Beijing is confident that once the US commits itself to strict neutrality, there will not be any need for China to resort to force.
(MORE)
5//Asia Times Online October 23, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DJ23Df03.html
NORTH
KOREA: CHINA ALSO TO BLAME, REMINDS INDIA
By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI - Although Pakistan is being blamed for supplying North Korea with critical equipment for Pyongyang's nuclear program in exchange for missile capability, analysts say that China must have blessed the barter deal between the countries that they describe as Beijing's satellites.
"Given the primitive technological infrastructure in both countries [Pakistan and North Korea], only the credulous would believe that both these countries developed their offensive capabilities indigenously," contends M D Nalapat.
According to Nalapat, professor of geopolitics at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, Beijing uses Pakistan and North Korea as "proxy nuclear and missile states" to further its own strategic interests. This raises the obvious question of how the United States could have missed this proliferation axis that links Beijing to its two closest allies in Asia - except deliberately.
India's outspoken Defense Minister, George Fernandes, has minced no words in denouncing China as the "mother of Pakistan's bomb" and New Delhi has acknowledged that its own missile and nuclear programs are aimed at China rather than Pakistan.
India's anxieties regarding China and Pakistan, with both of which it has fought costly wars, has been to support - and seek protection under - Washington's restructured national missile defense system under US President George W Bush.
Bush said on Monday that meetings on what he called the "troubling" development of North Korea's nuclear weapons program will be held with Russia, China, Japan and South Korea. China's cooperation is seen as key, since Beijing is believed to have more leverage over North Korea than any other nation. China is the leading supplier of cheap or free food and fuel for its impoverished neighbor, and it is also North Korea's main trading partner, and one of its only socialist allies.
(MORE)
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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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