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//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates--BRITISH LAWMAKER WARNS AGAINST ATTACK ON IRAQ (An attack on Iraq will be linked to its massive oil reserves and will turn into a devastating war, said a prominent British politician and expert on Middle East politics. Tam Dalyell, UK Labour Party member and parliamentarian for 41 years, who is visiting the UAE, criticised British Prime Minister Tony Blair's policy on Iraq and his support of the Bush administration... He said the armed forces are not supporting Blair's policy, warning that the war against Iraq has no military objectives.)
2//Asia
Times Online, Hong Kong--FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS ON WAR (...So, the thinking
goes, it may be unpleasant, but there really is no other choice. Or is
there? In fact, the assumptions underlying that thinking are highly debatable.
The most recent prominent critique of those assumptions is a study released
last month by the Committee of International Security Studies of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences: "War with Iraq: Costs, Consequences,
and Alternatives.")
3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--ARABS SPLIT ON US DEMOCRACY PLAN (Arab countries
offered a mixed response Friday to Washington's $29 million initiative
to foster democracy in the Middle East, with some saying the key to the
region's problems is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Egypt, one of Washington's
closest allies, offered the harshest criticism of the plan unveiled Thursday
amid heavy fanfare by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Egypt said if
Washington really wanted to promote a stable, prosperous Middle East it
should tackle the Palestinian issue before offering any program to bolster
democracy.)
4//The Independent, UK--DOCUMENTS EXPOSE FARCICAL RESPONSE TO NUCLEAR ATTACK (A top-level exercise to simulate a jumbo jet crashing into a nuclear power station ended in high farce, an unpublished report obtained by the Independent on Sunday reveals... The failure to cope with the simulated attack further undermines confidence in the Government's ability to handle a catastrophic terrorist attack. As reported in last week's IoS, confidential Downing Street documents disclosed that the nation's civil defence "effectively no longer exists". ... Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, called the exercise a "grotesque farce".)
5//The Hindu, India--EDITORIAL: HARVEST OF HATRED (The stupendous victory the Bharatiya Janata Party under Narendra Modi has registered in the Gujarat Assembly elections clearly suggests that its strategy of retaining political power through deliberate and aggressive communal polarisation - brought about by the Sangh Parivar outfits' no-holds-barred anti-Muslim campaign post-Godhra - has indeed paid off ...the poll verdict...is not merely unfortunate but extremely ominous for the country's future as a truly secular and pluralist polity and, therefore, a matter of grave concern for the millions of people who remain committed to the liberal democratic values enshrined in the Constitution.)
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1//Gulf
News Online 15-12-2002
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=71125
BRITISH
LAWMAKER WARNS AGAINST ATTACK ON IRAQ
Abu Dhabi |By Barbara Bibbo'
An attack on Iraq will be linked to its massive oil reserves and will turn into a devastating war, said a prominent British politician and expert on Middle East politics.
Tam Dalyell, UK Labour Party member and parliamentarian for 41 years, who is visiting the UAE, criticised British Prime Minister Tony Blair's policy on Iraq and his support of the Bush administration.
"For the first time in my life I have broken my rule of never criticising British policy abroad," he said in a lecture at the Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-Up yesterday.
"I believe the British prime minister has no clear idea about the consequences of such a war on Europe and the UK, although public opinion in the UK and many of my colleagues are against such a move."
Dalyell said Blair never consulted Parliament regarding the possible strike on Iraq on the grounds he was justified, citing his successful policies in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
However, Dalyell added: "After the respective invasions, Afghan-istan became a leading producer of opium and Kosovo a leading distributor."
He said the armed forces are not supporting Blair's policy, warning that the war against Iraq has no military objectives.
"The army is warning about the dangers of a war with no objectives or tasks, whose modalities remain unclear. Whether the attack turns into a permanent presence of UK forces on Iraqi soil or not is also one of the major unanswered questions."
(SNIP)
"Any regime imposed by the U.S. and the Western countries will be opposed by a resenting population and therefore is destined to fail. Only the Iraqis can topple their regime. An attack will only make the people stand by the regime and make it more cohesive against the Western threat."
On the role to be played by those in the West opposing the war, Dalyell said he doubts that the opposition will be able to stop military action.
"But we will try our utmost and do whatever we can to make Bush and Blair change their minds."
2//Asia Times Online December 14, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL14Ak02.html
FLAWED
ASSUMPTIONS ON WAR
By David Isenberg
The view that there simply is no alternative to invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam Hussein is one that is largely accepted by the US media and public. Over and over the administration points out certain, inarguable points: that Saddam is a brutal, despicable dictator responsible for horrific human rights abuses; that he has repeatedly threatened and attacked his neighbors; that he has violated international law and treaty commitments; that he continues to seek nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the missiles to deliver them.
So, the thinking goes, it may be unpleasant, but there really is no other choice. Or is there?
In fact, the assumptions underlying that thinking are highly debatable. The most recent prominent critique of those assumptions is a study released last month by the Committee of International Security Studies of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: "War with Iraq: Costs, Consequences, and Alternatives."
The review received some mention when a shortened version of one of its chapters, by Yale economics professor William Nordhaus, was run in the New York Review of Books. But it is the second chapter, by Professor Steven Miller of Harvard University, that offers some of the most detailed critiques to date of Bush administration thinking.
Miller finds that "when the potential costs, risks and consequences are fully assessed, the war looks very much like a dangerous gamble that could well be damaging to American (and Western) interests and the cause of a safe and congenial international order."
(MORE)
3//The Daily Star Beirut, Saturday December 14, 2002. Updated 08:30
AM +2GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/14_12_02/art27.asp
ARABS
SPLIT ON US DEMOCRACY PLAN
Egypt criticizes $29 million offer, but Qatar expresses enthusiasm
'One
wonders whether $29 million is enough' to deal with such problems as political
freedoms, education and stalled economies
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Arab countries offered a mixed response Friday to Washington's $29 million initiative to foster democracy in the Middle East, with some saying the key to the region's problems is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt, one of Washington's closest allies, offered the harshest criticism of the plan unveiled Thursday amid heavy fanfare by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Egypt said if Washington really wanted to promote a stable, prosperous Middle East it should tackle the Palestinian issue before offering any program to bolster democracy. "Despite certain positive points in the US program, we observe that it does not deal with the main problem, which is at the root of all other problems in the region," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, whose own government has had to fend off charges of being authoritarian.
It was time "to settle the conflict, put an end to the Israeli occupation, and give a chance to the people of the region to live in peace and security," he added, in a jibe at Washington's hands-off approach to the 26-month-old Palestinian intifada.
Announcing the plan, Powell said transforming Palestinian leadership was the cornerstone for Middle East peace, reinforcing the US administration's desire for a fresh leader to replace Yasser Arafat. The plan, entitled the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative, received a warmer reception in Jordan, although the media there took a wait-and-see approach. "It is high time for the US administration to implement its 'vision' and translate into concrete steps the figures and numbers contained in its partnership initiative," said the pro-government daily Al-Rai.
(SNIP)
On Wednesday, CIA Director George J. Tenet pledged in a speech that the United States would draw closer to the Muslim world. Tenet said it was a "strategic imperative" to support democracy and reform in Muslim nations. Otherwise, he said, they will be vulnerable to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Agencies
4//The Independent 15 December 2002 22:13 GMT
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=361656
DOCUMENTS
EXPOSE FARCICAL RESPONSE TO NUCLEAR ATTACK
By Geoffrey Lean and Severin Carrell
A top-level exercise to simulate a jumbo jet crashing into a nuclear power station ended in high farce, an unpublished report obtained by the Independent on Sunday reveals.
Designed to test Britain's readiness to respond to a large-scale terrorist attack, the operation focused on Bradwell atomic power station in Essex, and exposed an astonishing series of failures in emergency responses.
Warnings about the disaster were incomplete, key staff could not find the control room, phones did not work, there were long delays in controlling the catastrophe and protecting the public. At one stage, officials were even dealing with the wrong power station. It was found planning was based on "assumptions", and there was little data on the nature of the release of the radioactivity.
Instructions from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate caused "a considerable delay in putting out the reactor fire" and there was a delay of more than five hours before the public was given potassium iodate tablets to protect against radioactivity.
The failure to cope with the simulated attack further undermines confidence in the Government's ability to handle a catastrophic terrorist attack. As reported in last week's IoS, confidential Downing Street documents disclosed that the nation's civil defence "effectively no longer exists".
(SNIP)
The report on the exercise, however, describes it as a chaotic shambles.
Last night, Stewart Kemp, chief executive of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities, group blamed the fiasco on "decades of underfunding" of the emergency services.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, called the exercise a "grotesque farce".
5//The Hindu Monday, Dec 16, 2002
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002121600531000.htm
EDITORIAL: HARVEST OF HATRED
The stupendous victory the Bharatiya Janata Party under Narendra Modi has registered in the Gujarat Assembly elections clearly suggests that its strategy of retaining political power through deliberate and aggressive communal polarisation - brought about by the Sangh Parivar outfits' no-holds-barred anti-Muslim campaign post-Godhra - has indeed paid off and this is borne out particularly by the fact that the region hit most by the communal rights has returned a sizable number of its candidates. Even a cursory look at the numbers and their regional distribution would show that the impact of the hate campaign has been so overwhelming and sweeping as to drown the admittedly strong anti-incumbency sentiments.
(SNIP)
What the BJP has harvested now are verily the fruits of hate which it chose to spread assiduously and aggressively in pursuance of its agenda of majoritarian communalism. As such, the poll verdict, which is already being gloatingly characterised by the Sangh Parivar camp as a major success of the so-called `Gujarat experiment' - distinguished as it is by the `Modi brand' of Hindutva - is not merely unfortunate but extremely ominous for the country's future as a truly secular and pluralist polity and, therefore, a matter of grave concern for the millions of people who remain committed to the liberal democratic values enshrined in the Constitution.
(MORE)
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©
2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com
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