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//The Independent, UK--UK TASK FORCE TO HEAD FOR IRAQ IN FOUR WEEKS (A massive British task force will be heading for Iraq within four weeks even if there is no proof that Saddam Hussein's government is in material breach of the UN resolution on weapons of mass destruction. More than 40,000 Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel, as well as about 100 tanks, will contribute to a US-led coalition army of more than 250,000, which could go into action as early as the end of next month.)
2//TurkishPress.com, USA-(PRESS SCAN) U.S. SOLDIERS DO NOT COME (The United States would like to send soldiers to Turkey for a possible operation against Iraq. According to some sources, Turkish soldiers are positive for the coordination and cooperation with U.S. soldiers but negative for their taking position in Turkey.)
- EYES ON IRAQ (U.S. started its military concentration in Northern Iraq for a possible operation against Iraq. A total of 50 TIRs carrying military equipment brought to Incirlik base, entered Northern Iraq from Habur border gate. The government in Turkey this week is on the brink of giving an important decision regarding a possible U.S. operation against Iraq.)
3//Asia
Times Online, Hong Kong--KURDS VOW: '10,000 MEN IN BAGHDAD' (For the most
part, Kurdish leadership has remained tight-lipped about their ultimate
ambitions. But occasionally, they have gone on record with candor, and
the vision they disclose predicts a potentially chaotic scramble for power
once an invasion gets under way.)
4//The Times of India, India--US AID ENCOURAGING PAK TO PURSUE TERRORISM:
ADVANI (Asking the international community not to help those nations which
practiced terrorism as an instrument of state policy, Deputy Prime Minister
L K Advani on Tuesday said US economic aid was encouraging Pakistan to
pursue it...He said the US economic aid to Pakistan "encouraged it
to pursue that policy".)
5//The Moscow Times, Russia--PRESS WATCHDOG SEES KREMLIN CRACKDOWN (Adding its voice to the simmering debate about the role of the media in the theater siege, the Russian Union of Journalists' press freedom watchdog said Tuesday that an assessment of media actions and government response shows the Kremlin is still on a drive to control journalists... Panfilov said the main problem for the media is the overall passiveness of the journalism community. "Unlike journalists in Eastern Europe, Russian journalists never fought for their freedom," Panfilov said. "The freedom was granted to them, and it is being taken away from them. And they are indifferent.")
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1//The
Independent 17 December 2002 22:41 GMT
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=362590
UK
TASK FORCE TO HEAD FOR IRAQ IN FOUR WEEKS
By Kim Sengupta
18 December 2002
A massive British task force will be heading for Iraq within four weeks even if there is no proof that Saddam Hussein's government is in material breach of the UN resolution on weapons of mass destruction.
More than 40,000 Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel, as well as about 100 tanks, will contribute to a US-led coalition army of more than 250,000, which could go into action as early as the end of next month.
Senior defence officials disclosed yesterday that the deployment was unlikely to wait for evidence that the Iraqis were trying to use subterfuge in their weapons programmes.
A large force parked on Iraq's borders would have a "coercive and persuasive" effect on Baghdad, officials said. And since Iraq had already made its "full declaration" to the UN, the troops were likely to be used for a military strike.
The Ministry of Defence said preparations for a conflict had reached their final stages and contracts for charter ships to carry troops and equipment had already been awarded.
(MORE)
2//TurkishPress.com Anadolu Agency: Monday, December 16, 2002
ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories
in Turkey's press on December 16, 2002. The Anadolu Agency does not verify
these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
PRESS
SCAN
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
------------------
U.S. SOLDIERS DO NOT COME
The United States would like to send soldiers to Turkey for a possible operation against Iraq. According to some sources, Turkish soldiers are positive for the coordination and cooperation with U.S. soldiers but negative for their taking position in Turkey.
(SNIP)
REFERENDUM SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN CONSTITUTION
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said that public voting about important subjects and about war should be included in Constitution. However, Deputy Prime Minister Ertugrul Yalcinbayir said that a referendum cannot be done about war. Cicek said, ''Referendum exists in Constitution. It is for a few limited subjects which are given to President.'' adding that taking the view of public about some certain important subjects helps politicians in giving their decisions easier.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
---------------
EYES ON IRAQ
U.S. started its military concentration in Northern Iraq for a possible operation against Iraq. A total of 50 TIRs carrying military equipment brought to Incirlik base, entered Northern Iraq from Habur border gate. The government in Turkey this week is on the brink of giving an important decision regarding a possible U.S. operation against Iraq. The government has to give an official decision regarding the visit of the American technical delegation which will visit Incirlik, Diyarbakir, Batman, Mus and Malatya Erhac airports which the U.S. wants to use during such an operation.
3//Asia Times Online December 16, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL17Ak01.html
KURDS
VOW: '10,000 MEN IN BAGHDAD'
By Ian Urbina
This weekend saw the close of an important conference in London of more than 300 delegates from the various groups of the Iraqi opposition forces. The point of the meeting was to present a new image of unity for the fractious and ever-bickering collection of anti-Saddam Hussein organizations. But ironically one of the few things that everyone at the US-sponsored meeting could agree on was that they did not want the US running Baghdad after Saddam. Far less clear was what sort of government they did want.
It was an accomplishment in and of itself that a wide array of organizations attended the two-day meeting. The main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - who fought each other for years - sat alongside the Iranian-backed Shi'ite group Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI). Also in attendance were the Constitutional Monarchy Movement and the National Accord Movement. One of the main organizers of the event was the Iraqi National Congress (INC), headed by Ahmad Chalabi, who draws strong backing from Washington.
(SNIP)
There was, however, one important and contentious matter resolved, officially
at least. The conference organizers ruled against forming a government-in-waiting.
Despite the lobbying of the INC, which contended that forming a transitional
government ahead of time would help limit US control of Baghdad post-Saddam,
most other parties were skeptical, instead arguing that Chalabi intended
to have the US parachute him into leadership. Some groups believe that
Chalabi is still plotting behind the scenes, and while the INC strongly
denies such accusations, it is also quick to point out the need for a
"political authority" to be in place to avoid a "sovereignty
vacuum" in Iraq.
The US strongly opposes the formation of a government-in-exile, arguing that it will alienate serving Iraqi generals who might mutiny once a war starts. Surely, the US also does not want to tie its own hands in advance concerning Iraq's political fate, and more importantly the economic status of its oil reserves.
Nevertheless, there are reasons other than the potential US occupation of Iraq for Chalabi and the INC to favor an early settling of the terms of any post-Saddam government. For all of his stated concern over the possibility of a power vacuum, Chalabi is more specifically worried that the Kurds will be the ones to fill it.
For the most part, Kurdish leadership has remained tight-lipped about their ultimate ambitions. But occasionally, they have gone on record with candor, and the vision they disclose predicts a potentially chaotic scramble for power once an invasion gets under way. While touring Iraqi Kurdistan, Chris Kutschera of Middle East Report magazine interviewed a number of high-level Kurdish military personnel and most admitted that it is not just the oil-rich city of Kirkuk - the so-called Kurdish Jerusalem - that the Kurds seek.
(MORE)
4//The Times of India PTI [ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2002 08:48:58
PM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=31587617
US
AID ENCOURAGING PAK TO PURSUE TERRORISM: ADVANI
NEW DELHI: Asking the international community not to help those nations
which practiced terrorism as an instrument of state policy, Deputy Prime
Minister L K Advani on Tuesday said US economic aid was encouraging Pakistan
to pursue it.
"If the international community does not support us, we expect that they should not help those who are encouraging terrorism," Advani said in reply to a debate on the internal security situation in the Lok Sabha.
"Terrorist organisations are dangerous, but countries encouraging terrorism or pursuing terrorism as their state policy are even more dangerous," he said.
He said the US economic aid to Pakistan "encouraged it to pursue that policy".
(MORE)
5//The Moscow Times Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002. Page 3
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/12/18/011.html
PRESS
WATCHDOG SEES KREMLIN CRACKDOWN
By Andrei Zolotov Jr.
Staff Writer
Adding its voice to the simmering debate about the role of the media in the theater siege, the Russian Union of Journalists' press freedom watchdog said Tuesday that an assessment of media actions and government response shows the Kremlin is still on a drive to control journalists.
"I would like to warn that the position of the Russian media remains alarming," Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations head Oleg Panfilov said at a presentation of the watchdog's report into the October hostage crisis. "The authorities have not given up on their attempts to create new constraints for the work of journalists."
The report -- which for the first time lists all journalists who were taken hostage in the Dubrovka theater and names two who died, former Stavropolskaya Pravda editor Tamara Voinova and Kaliningrad Public Radio director Mikhail Maximov -- concedes that the media bear responsibility for some mistakes made during the crisis. It spells out the initial confusion over crisis policies, cases when hostage-takers were allowed or nearly allowed to speak on the air, when derogatory comments that could have ignited violence in the theater were aired or when journalists allowed themselves to be used as a mouthpiece for the government.
However, the report is highly critical of the government backlash that followed the crisis. The government lambasted the media for their coverage, while parliament swiftly adopted amendments to the media law that, if interpreted broadly, would have crippled the media's ability to criticize the government's actions in crises and coverage of the Chechnya war. After a plea from a wide group of national media managers and rival journalists' associations, President Vladimir Putin vetoed the amendments last month -- but still castigated journalists, saying they had put a priority on ratings rather than human lives.
(MORE)
Panfilov said he was concerned about the Media Industry Committee, a lobby group that is dominated by state-controlled media managers and does not include any representatives of the regional media. The committee, which is developing crisis guidelines for journalists, met last week with top security officials and they agreed to work on the guidelines together. The committee is also drafting a new version of the media law.
Panfilov said the main problem for the media is the overall passiveness of the journalism community. "Unlike journalists in Eastern Europe, Russian journalists never fought for their freedom," Panfilov said. "The freedom was granted to them, and it is being taken away from them. And they are indifferent."
The
report is posted on the center's web site, www.cjes.ru
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©
2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com
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