Under the
circumstances, the news for 2-8/9/01, arriving a week late, may
look
like prehistory. But some mildly interesting things did happen in the
days
leading up to Armageddon: continued bombing raids; the expulsion of UN
employees;
a 'gas mishap' (under the heading Inside Iraq) which, if the
story
is true, would provide evidence of Iraqi production of chemical
weapons;
a terrorist bomb in the middle of Baghdad (but now that Mr Bush and
Mr
Blair have declared war on all terrorism of this sort we may expect firm
action
in support of the internationally recognized government of Iraq.
Mayn't
we?); another defection on the part of a member of S.Hussein's
family. A more up to date news compilation will, I
hope, follow shortly.
NO FLY
ZONES
* Russia denounces U.S. airstrikes on Iraq
[relating to the attack on Basra
airport,
Wednesday, August 30]
* Iraqi missiles intercept raiding warplanes
[apparently on Monday, 4th
September]
* U.S. planes attack southern Iraq-Pentagon
[Tuesday, 5th September]
* Raids destroy a portable [SIC - PB.
'potable'?] water pipe in Iraq
[apparently
on Thursday, 7th September]
IRAQI/UN
RELATIONS
* Iraq can purchase equipment [Extracts this
refers to telecom equipment
from
France since the Master of the World allowed a similar deal with China
in
order to get 'smart sanctions' through]
* Iraq Urges UNIKOM to Report Airspace
Violations by US, British Warplanes
[includes
the following bizarre statement: 'UNIKOM Commander John A. Vize
said on
August 30 that a total of 195 military monitors can not identify the
warplanes
that fly over the Iraqi Kuwaiti border. "If I, or any of my
soldiers,
identified a US or a British or whatever aircraft by its makings,
then we
will report this," he said. Annan said in February that the UNIKOM
had
recorded more than 200 aerial violations of the border since 1991, but
it
could not determine the nationalities.']
* Expelled UN employees leave Iraq quickly for
safety
* Eight UN staff expelled for spying - Iraq
* Expulsion of Six Staffers by Iraq Roils
[Security Council] Meeting
* UN: Iraq must explain spy charges against 8
staff
IRAQI/INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
* Stolen computers worth £20m 'destined for
Iraq' [The article says that '
countries
such as Iraq, Libya and Syria are barred under United Nations
sanctions
from importing sophisticated computers'. Is Syria under UN
sanctions
of this sort?]
* Iraq keen to boost ties with India
* Baghdad calls on Finland to reopen its
embassy in Iraq
* Iran, Iraq at football war, China prepare in
secrecy
* Iran beats Iraq 2-1
* An Iraqi project to the Inter- Parliamentary
conference [a very
reasonable
and moderate proposal that some sort of appeals system should be
established
with regard to decisions of the Security Council]
* Iraq uses the Euro in its trade deals
and, in
News, 28/9/01 (2)
CAMPAIGNING
* Eleven years of sanctions [general
reflections on the effect of the
blockade,
but centred on the Voices in the Wilderness fast in New York]
US
POLICY
* Why Saddam Likes Getting Bombed [welldrawn
argument that present US
policy
serves S.Hussein's interest]
* Book Reports on Secret U.S. Biological
Weapons Research [but the article
does
convey the naive impression that this very advanced research is being
done
entirely with a view to knowing what sort of wickedness an enemy might
get up
to]
INSIDE
IRAQ
* Poison gas mishap kills 20 Iraqi soldiers
* WHO concludes visit to Baghdad
* Saddam relative 'seeks asylum'
* Life in Sanctions-Hit Iraq Is Harsh and
Short
* Several hurt in Baghdad bomb blast
* Iran strongly rejects Iraq's claims on blast
involvement
OIL
& GAS
* Iraq's Rasheed: Iraq says world oil prices
still too low
* Gas pipeline between Turkey, Iraq
NORTHERN
IRAQ/SOUTHERN KURDISTAN
* Kurds alarm over 'smart sanctions'
IRAQI/MIDDLE
EAST-ARAB WORLD RELATIONS
* Iraq says pilot's body proves its sincerity
on POWs
* Turkish firms to hold medical fair in Iraq
This is
the news WITHOUT items relating to the aftermath of the recent
attack
on Manhattan and the Pentagon. A small (relative to what has been
published)
selection of these will appear shortly in a separate supplement.
In the
meantime, before more terrible evils fall upon the world, let us
admire
the more subtle evil of requiring Iraq to pay for the the World
Health
Organisation probe into the effects of depleted uranium (under
'Inside
Iraq') as well as the continuing air raids which may well soon
appear
to be rather insignificant. Note also how well things were going from
an
Iraqi point of view in terms of increasing international relations (see
e,g.
the article 'Trade becomes Iraq's strongest weapon') and so how very
unlikely
it is that Iraq would have been behind the events in New York.
INSIDE
IRAQ
* Iraq foils bid to smuggle out 500-year-old
Quran
* 5 m students return to school in sanctioned
Iraq
* Babel artistic festival in Baghdad
* Iraq Blames UN Embargo for Black Fever
Outbreak
* Iraq ordered to pay for uranium probe
* Iraqi cabinet decides to establish new
universities, faculties
IRAQI/INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
* Iraq seeks cellphones supplier
* Indian official outlines trade deals with
Iraq
* Trade becomes Iraq's strongest weapon
* Iraq backs Arroyo gov't, Mindanao peace
process [in Philippines]
IRAQIMIDDLE
EAST/ARAB WORLD RELATIONS
* Iraqi Oil Ministry plans gas exports to
Syria, Jordan, Lebanon
* Iraq to use the Lebanese ports
* The US obstructs Syrian request on Iraq
* Fire out on sanctions-busting ship
* Iraqi ship towed into southern Iranian port
* Iran, Iraq to Resume Searching for Missing
Soldiers
* A Message from [Tunisian] President Bin Ali
to the Iraqi President
* Several Iraqis wounded by attacks from
missiles against Iranian Mujahidi
Khalq
* Iran prefers to run railway with Iraq
through Khorramshahr
MILITARY
MATTERS
* US, UK bomb Iraqi SAM sites
* Iraq poses growing threat: Rumsfeld
* 8 killed in US-British air raids over
southern Iraq
* Iraq: Unmanned U.S. spy plane shot down
* US warplanes strike in northern, southern
Iraq
* Iraq announces, US denies bombardment of
positions in Southern Iraq
IRAQI/UN
RELATIONS
* 10 UN staff withdrawn from Iraq
* Impasse on Iraq oil prices going to UN
council
It
takes two minutes thought to recognise that the outrage felt at one day
of
murder and destruction in New York and Washington might resemble the
outrage
felt at years of subjection to overwhelming force, terror, murder,
destruction
and humiliation at the receiving end of US weaponry in other
parts
of the world. A handful of the writers who follow are capable of that
two
minutes' thought. They seem to be in a minority.
* Saddam Says 'Evil' U.S. Policy to Blame for
Attacks
* The value of pre-emptive force [This is most
probably the logic that led
S.Hussein
to engage in the Iran/Iraq war]
* Beyond the numbers: The aroused giant must
act [The Jerusalem Post urges
a final
solution to the Arab question]
* Don't fight fire with fire [Simon Jenkins on
the ineffectiveness of
revenge]
* A time to kill [Jerusalem Post again. Arabs
are inferior beings and
should
be crushed mercilessly, like the Germans and the Japs, for their own
good]
* America has become sacrificial lamb for
terrorists [America is the
passive
suffering, innocent victim of hordes of sneaky, cowardly Arabs]
* They can run and they can hide. Suicide
bombers are here to stay [Robert
Fisk.
Excellent article on the difficulties of dealing with suicide bombers]
* Arab states torn on coalition against Bin
Laden [The limits of their
possibilities
given the power of public opinion which of course we, in
principle,
as democrats, support. Don't we?]
* For Bush's Veteran Team, What Lessons to
Apply? [Extracts. Quite a
thoughtful
account of the practical problems facing the Pentagon planners.
For
example, on Afghanistan: 'It is not a target rich environment']
* America ready for Armageddon [A view from
India]
* Carter urges caution in assault on terrorism
[Carter warns that the
attack
was 'an attempt to incite a holy war between Arabs and Americans'. As
such,
it looks likely to succeed.]
* Ex-CIA chief sees Iraqi fingerprints [James
Woolsey. The article refers
to a
piece by Laurie Mylroie in the Wall Street Journal which supposedly
gives
evidence, but I was unable to access it].
* Russian Secret Services: Masterminds Of
Attacks On U.S. Same As Those Of
Moscow
And Volgodonsk Blasts 2 Years Ago
* Hussein says Americans can learn from Iraqis
[S.Hussein's second, rather
more
dignified and statesmanlike statement]
* Arabs pay lip service [The New York Post
doing its bit to stir up
anti-Arab
feeling]
* Turkey Nervously Awaits US Response
I'm finding
it difficult to know how to deal with the present crisis. I
agree
with Seb Willis' view that we should try to keep the focus on Iraq and
on
sanctions, but when there is a mad elephant loose in the backyard it is
difficult
to ignore. The following does keep the emphasis on Iraq but it
will be
followed by a very cumbersome supplement on the American jihad
against
'terrorism'. There aren't that many articles but most of them are
long.
It will have no pretentions to being either comprehensive or a
selection
of the best material available and I hope that in future if I
continue
with anything like it, it will be greatly shortened.
FINGER
POINTING AT IRAQ
* Attacks backed by Saddam? [Lays out roughly
the case for implicating Iraq
in the
1993 World Trade Centre bombing]
* Old enemies of Saddam point finger at Iraq
[Opinion in Kuwait]
* Yalmas [Deputy Prime Minister of
Turkey]denies reports on attacking Iraq
* Israelis believe Iraq had role in US
attack-Jane's [Account of article in
Jane's
Defense Weekly arguing that the real culprit is Hizbullah's Imad
Moughniyeh.
No precise connection with Iraq is given]
* Tel Aviv points to Iraq [very short extract
in continuation of above]
* Kids angry over Iraqi full-staff flag insult
URLS
ONLY
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/264/oped/Reinstitute_Iraq_weapons_inspecti
ons+.shtml
* REINSTITUTE IRAQ WEAPONS INSPECTIONS
by
Leonard S. Spector & Jonathan B. Tucker
Boston
Globe, 21st September
[Rehearses
reasons for doing this almost as though the US hadn't been trying
to do
it for the past three years]
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=politicsnews&StoryID=238715
* HELMS SAYS IRAQ, SADDAM SHOULD BE U.S.
TARGETS
Reuter's,
22nd September
Jesse
Helms of course. No great surprises there.
IRAQI
REACTIONS
* Saddam says U.S. response is misguided
* Iraq Denies Involvement in Suicide Attacks
* Iraqi deputy premier cables condolences to
American charity organization
[Voices
in the Wilderness] on attacks victims
* Iraq says it got relief expertise thanks to
US strikes
* Iraq urged to be neutral [The Iraqi
newspaper Babel thinks, probably
rightly,
the Iraqis should keep their heads down just at the moment]
* Saddam Criticizes Bush Over Remark [about
either being with the US or
with
the terrorists]
and, in
News, 16-22/9/01
(2)
INSIDE
IRAQ
* The sons who promote Saddam's cruel legacy
[This article by Robert Fisk
goes
back to 8th September but I missed it. It seems a good idea to produce
it now
when Fisk, who is approaching greatness in the quality of his
reporting,
is likely to be seen in some quarters as an apologist for
'terrorism'.]
* Ex Iraqi official shot
* Gulf War Mine Kills Three, Injures Three -
INA
IRAQI/MIDDLE
EAST - ARAB WORLD RELATIONS
* Egypt to export 250m dollars' worth of food
to Iraq
* Iraq, Iran agree to coordinate on
"imperialism"
* Very soon a common market between Syria,
Egypt, Iraq and Libya
* Iraq Accuses Kuwait of Violating Conventions
on Joint Oil Fields
* Kuwait rejects Iraq's accusation of
"excessive exploitation" of joint
oilfield
NO FLY
ZONES
* British Warplanes Strike Southern Missile
Site [Near Basra. Reported on
Wednesday
19th Sept]
* Iraq says it hit two US or British
planes[Near Basra and Shahban.
Thursday]
* US, British warplanes strike Iraq over
no-fly zone threat [Al-Amrah and
Talil.
Friday]
IRAQI/INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
* German Industry to Uphold Ties with Iran,
Iraq International trade
* Wheat export to Iraq might be delayed
IRAQI/UN
RELATIONS
* UN sanctions committee bans Iraq from
importing helicopters for
agricultural
purposes
NORTHERN
IRAQ/SOUTHERN KURDISTAN
* Bin Laden's Plan to Destabilize
Kurdistan [Important article on radical
Islam
in the autonomous Kurdish zone. Interesting to note that it seems to
be
particularly strong in the region of Halabja, victim of the chemical
warfare
attack at the end of the Iran/Iraq war]
Jihad against 'Terrorism', 16-22/9/01 (1)
At the
moment of writing, it is still not clear what our governments are
going
to do to the people of Afghanistan. One of the articles below ('Secret
US
plans revealed', oddly enough from Pravda) suggests it might not be as
bad as
we all expect it to be: that there will be a battle to win hearts and
minds,
more carrot than stick. Clearly and very understandably under the
circumstances
the nation has gone mad, and Bush has to do something. On a
very
optimistic reading he may simply be prolonging the moment of non-action
until a
more considered and reasonable approach becomes possible.
But it
seems unlikely, both on past performance and on the rhetoric that is
being
employed though this has still not descended to the level of
gangster
obscenities favoured by Bush Sr during the Gulf Massacre.
Already
with the departure of the aid organisations it seems that we have
guaranteed
the deaths of many more people than were killed at the World
Trade
Centre and a slow, lingering death of starvation and disease
probably
worse than that we have already inflicted over the past ten years
on at
least tens of thousands of people in Iraq.
The
ultimatum Bush has given the Afghans far outdoes in its brutality and
arrogance
the famous ultimatum of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Serbs
in
1914, which precipitated the First World War (and the circumstances are
comparable.
The assassination of the heir to the throne of the great
historical
empire of Europe was the equivalent of killing the Vice President
of the
United States).
Bush
demanded that the Afghans hand over all 'terrorists', as if that word
(which
no honest commentator should ever use without wrapping it in inverted
commas)
has any meaning in that part of the world; as if Osama bin Laden's
camps
are not full of people training to fight in Kashmir, or in Chechnya.
Are
they all 'terrorists'? The ultimatum was meaningless and designed to be
so.
And
what about the means by which the United States has established itself
in
Pakistan? Does that not resemble Hitler's ultimatum to Yugoslavia when he
wanted
access to Greece in 1941? And when the Yugoslav government decided to
give in
to Hitler, did it not provoke a desperate, suicidal wave of
revulsion
among the Serb population, just as is now happening in Pakistan?
And
does the whole operation not rather resemble ... Saddam Hussein's
invasion
of Kuwait? Except that Saddam Hussein made a serious effort to
negotiate
with the Kuwaitis beforehand. In that case, it was the Kuwaitis,
the
victim, who refused to negotiate. In the present case it is the
aggressor
who is refusing to negotiate.
Taken
as I am with historical analogies I've long thought the Muslim
struggle
against the US Empire resembles the struggle of Jewish zealots
against
the Roman Empire the desperate struggle of a great religious
culture
against an immensely powerful but spiritually empty
material/technical
civilisation which is crushing it to death. The Jewish
zealots
too had a suicidal streak and the Romans regarded them as terrorist
fanatics.
Is Afghanistan fated to become the Muslim Masada?
In this
whole unpleasant spectacle there is one little flash of something
resembling
poetic genius, and that is the name 'Operation Infinite Justice'.
If the
Americans are serious about their professed aim then they are indeed
embarked
on a process that will be endless. It is as if they were to
proclaim
a war to eliminate all the evil in the world the sort of thing
the
Taliban might think to do.
Realistically,
they can only achieve it by putting the entire world under
military
occupation and 24 hour surveillance, and that is what seems to be
implied
when, with superb (and largely justified) contempt for the United
Nations
and 'International Justice', Bush says to the entire world: 'You're
either
with us or you're with the terrorists.' Either you accept our
tutelage
or you become a legitimate target.
Is that
not the end of a pluralist world? Is Bush not, to near unanimous
applause,
staking a claim to world domination that goes beyond anything
Hitler
ever imagined the whole world to be to the US as Europe would have
been to
Germany had Hitler won the 'clash of civilisations' giving way to
the
'end of history'?
US
POLICY
* The fight of their lives [Article from an
Israeli point of view asking if
the US
is too effete to sustain a real war. Provides a rare glimpse of
Madeleine
Albright pre Gulf Massacre as peacenik]
* It's Really War Against The Islamic Axis
[Another article from an Israeli
point
of view. The US should treat the Arab world as it treated Germany and
Japan
in the Second World War]
* Should U.S. forces strike back hard? [More
of the same]
* U.S. Contacts Sudan, Cuba for Help
* Pressure mounts on US to get UN involved
[But ask not what the US can do
for the
UN but what the UN can do for the US]
* Robert Fisk: 'Smoking them out' is not new
in the Middle East [This is
just
one of the many excellent pieces by Fisk since the crisis began. Here
he
indicates that the problems faced by the US in the region are much the
same as
those that have been faced for a long time by the governments
already
there. The country that has dealt most effectively with them is
Syria -
and he might have added Iraq and their method was the application
of
overwhelming terror]
* Sanctions - Do They Help or Hurt?
[Consideration of the effectiveness of
the
sanctions already imposed on Afghanistan and Pakistan]
* Scarcity of Afghan Targets Leads U.S. to
Revise Strategy [Rumsfeld
proposes
to 'drain the swamp they live in', ie, presumably, a scorched earth
policy
applied to the whole of Afghanistan. There is also a reference to
'any
revenue they derived from the sale of drugs'. No mention of the fact
that
one of the reasons for the present unimaginable degree of poverty and
famine
in Afghanistan is that the Taliban have put a complete stop to the
cultivation
of the opium poppy]
* Secret US plans revealed [Surprisingly
benign view of 'Operation Noble
Eagle'.
Perhaps 'Operation Noble Eagle' is Colin Powell's plan and
'Operation
Infinite Justice' is the Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz plan]
and, in
Jihad against
'Terrorism', 16-22/9/01 (2)
WORLD
OPINION
* Druze leader blames Mossad, CIA [Good ol'
Walid, never misses a trick]
* African voices caution US against rash reply
[African press less than
enthusiastic
about US vengeance]
* Iran Advises U.S. Against Attacking Afghans
* Israel Says It Won't 'Pay Price' of
Coalition [Israel nervous about
possible
US concessions to conciliate Arabs. The problems of the definition
of
'terrorism' start here]
* Black Tuesday: the view from Islamabad
[Sensible Pakistani viewpoint,
arguing
that the US 'must extend its definition of humanity to cover all
peoples
of the world' and that Muslims in western countries must cease their
refusal
to mix with the society around them]
* Fears and expectations in Turkey
* Japan may change pacifist constitution
* US revenge action can never be called war
against terrorism [Talk by
Indian
Muslim leader reported in the Iranian press]
* US attacks raise mixed feelings in Africa
[Contrast between concern for
US
suffering and lack of concern for African suffering]
* US strikes will split Arab world, says
Mubarak
* Waging war against terrorism [An excellent
article from India, published
in the
Pakistani paper, Dawn. The most genuinely 'philosophical' article
I've
yet seen on the subject]
* Russian Orthodox Church blesses bombardments
[And, by way of contrast,
here is
Metropolitan Cyril of Smolensk, denounced by the Russian press in
1996 as
head of the tobacco smuggling mafia in Russia]
* Iran refuses to allow US planes to use
airspace
* 'Today we are all Americans' [Benjamin
Netanyahu seizes the time]
and, in
Jihad against 'Terrorism', 16-22/9/01 (3)
REMNANTS
OF A CRITICAL SPIRIT
* BBC apologises for anti-US remarks
* Letter from Tam Dalyell
* Storm over Calif. congresswoman's anti-war
stand [Barbara Lee, the only
member
of Congress who voted against giving full power to the President to
engage
the country in war]
* Politicians befooling Americans, says author
[Susan Sontag, in Germany]
* U.S. Pacifists Speak Up as America Braces
for War [Hague Appeal for Peace
and
International Action Centre]
* Anne McElvoy: Anti-Americanism blinds the
left to what's at stake [AM is
pleased
that Bush, who had shown signs of isolationism, is now going to be
obliged
to act 'as a force for good in the world.'
Well, that's one way of
looking
at it. The article is in this section because it is a critique of
the
anti-war position, at least in its cocktail party-style manifestations.]
The
News is still centred on the aftermath of the attacks in New York and
Washington,
and the question of possible involvement on the part of Iraq,
and possible
reprisals whether they are involved or not. The 'Finger
Pointing
at Iraq' section is a series of articles arguing for Iraq's
involvement,
with one surprising, but superficial, exception of the Israeli
secret
service. A lot of this is a matter of who met who where but there is
also a
new defector with stories of germ warfare research. In the Supplement
(shorter
than last week's!) I have put some articles on the general
character
of US policy; and also on those countries whose co operation is
necessary
if Iraq is to get round the provisions of the Oil for Food Scheme.
There
is an interesting article on the problems posed by the enormous stocks
of
chemical weapons held by the US army.
FINGER
POINTING AT IRAQ
* Alert by Saddam points to Iraq ['"He was
clearly expecting a massive
attack
and it leads you to wonder why." ...' Perhaps it was something to do
with
newspaper speculation that the increased rate of bombing raids was
building
up to a massive attack.]
* 'No Baghdad connection' [according to the
chief of Israeli military
intelligence,
also downplaying the likelihood of a direct Iraqi strike on
Israel]
* Unholy trinity [bin Laden, Iraq and Sudan]
in chemical weapons pact
[according
to a paper by Yossef Bodansky - date not given - for the US
Congress
Task Force on Terrorism and unconventional weapons]
* Drain the ponds of terror [extract from
Jerusalem Post article saying
toppling
Saddam would be easy]
* Was bin Laden working with Iraq? [Laurie
Mylroie]
* Bite the bullet and target Iraq [William
Safire. His argument is largely
centred
on the presence of a fundamentalist Islamic movement in the
autonomous
Kurdish region which, he says, is supported by Iraq]
* Washington's hawk [Paul Wolfowitz] trains
sights on Iraq [extracts giving
some
details on Wolfowitz's background]
* Eyes turn to Iraq in attack on U.S. [More
details on the Woolsey/Mylroie
thesis]
* 1998 Bin Laden meeting with Iraqi
intelligence officer investigated
[Meeting
in Afghanistan and meeting between Atta and Iraqi intelligence
officer]
* Hotel clue points to an Iraqi connection
[Osama bin Laden seen in Baghdad
in
1998]
* Saddam has germ warfare arsenal, says
defecting physicist ['Dr al Sabiri
(not
his real name)'. Nasty tales. Nasty if they're untrue. Nastier if
they're
true.]
IRAQI
REACTION
* Iraq Considers Itself a U.S. Target [Short
extracts giving strong
statement
against attacking Iraq from the Secretary General of the Arab
League]
* Iraq warns US against a 'suicidal war sans
limits'
* Saddam says condolences to US would be
hypocrisy
and, in
News, 23-29/9/01
(2)
IRAQI/MIDDLE
EAST-ARAB WORLD RELATIONS
* Iraq: Iranian forces use missiles to attack
mujahedin near Baghdad [Was
this
'terrorism'?]
* Rafsanjani says Iraq is blocking
implementation of UN resolution ending
imposed
war [and some Iranian responses to Sept 11, including Ayatollah
Khameini:
"America does not have the competence to guide a global movement
against
terrorism, and...Iran will not participate in any move which is
headed
by the United States."]
* Egyptian- Iraqi telecommunications
* Israeli jets in Turkey to bombard Iraq
* 4 Alleged Iraqi Spies Reportedly Arrested
OIL
* Iraq urges OPEC not to increase oil output
* UN to keep tabs on alleged Iraq oil
kickbacks [Question of shortening
price
setting period still rages]
* Rilwanu Lukman is OPEC new president [with
OPEC reactions to Sept 11
attacks]
* War-risk cover hits Iraqi crude
competitiveness [Adverse effects of Sept
11 attacks
on Iraqi economy]
* Shaky Foundations: The US in the Middle East
[Short extract from
interesting
MERIP analysis outlining Iraqi strategy to become an economic
power
even under Oil for Food]
IRAQI/UN
RELATIONS
* U.N. Approves $365 Million in Gulf War
Reparations [The sorry tale
continues.
It includes Palestinians forced to flee Kuwait. By the Iraqis? Or
by the
Kuwaitis? And why does the article seem to suggest that there were
only
1,200 Palestinians in Kuwait at the time of the invasion?]
NO FLY ZONES
* Iraq says it fired on US, British warplanes
[Raids on Dohuk, Erbil and
Nineveh
on Monday]
* Western Warplanes Hit Iraq Targets-US
Spokesman [Raids on Sahban and
Nassiryah,
Thursday]
INSIDE
IRAQ
* Iran's under-20 basketball team arrives in
Iraq
* Thai, Iraqi World Cup campaigns end
NORTH
IRAQ/SOUTHERN KURDISTAN
* Fearing strike, Iraq dismantles refineries,
rations fuel [Economic
effects
of Iraqi security measures on the Kurdish autonomous zone]
* PUK Kicks Islamic From Halabja , Iran Interferes
and, in
Jihad against
'terrorism', 23-29/9/01 (1)
At the
beginning of my screed last week against the American jihad I put in
a
paragraph evoking the possibility that, under all the noise, a more
cautious
and reasonable policy might be evolving. To my great surprise, this
speculation
is still holding good. Of course, anything might happen at any
moment
but, at the time of writing, it looks as though the Powell wing in
the US
government is gaining the upper hand and that G.W.Bush is getting a
better
understanding of the complexities of the world. It even looks as
though
Mr Blair's alliance building has been useful since, as the
fundamentalist
terrorist faction of the US press often point out, allies
have a
way of limiting your freedom of action.
The
resulting disarray in these circles is reflected in some of the articles
below.
Which, I admit, is a pretty poor selection. Those wanting to compile
a
serious archive on recent events would be better just gathering together
the
excellent articles Robert Fisk has been producing for the Independent.
I have
not covered the most important matter the famine in Afghanistan and
the
withdrawal of the aid agencies. I record the fact that the government
seem to
be aware of the problem.
US
POLICY
* Toppling Taliban should not be a war aim
[extract from editorial by Max
Hastings
in the Evening Standard advocating caution]
* Isolating the Isolationists [Russian view
arguing in favour of a broad
coalition]
* The War: A Road Map [Charles Krauthammer in
the Washington Post
(extracts).
1. Destroy Afghanistan. 2. Terrorise Syria. 3. Destroy Iran and
Iraq.
'The war on terrorism will conclude in Baghdad.' Paper, as Stalin once
remarked,
will bear anything one chooses to put on it.]
* Powell is calling it wrong once again
[Apoplectic attack on Powell. We
get a
mention too as 'the West's peacenik boobs' lining up 'to denounce the
Americans
for systematically starving Iraqi children'.
* Tense times in the bunker [Contradictions in
US policy and more
discontent
with Powell]
IRAQ'S
FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS
* A trap? [Possible unfortunate consequences
for the US of its war against
terrorism.
From a Yemeni point of view]
* Massive Arrest Campaign Against Arab-Afghans
[in the Yemen]
* Arabs reluctant to join war [Arab League
General Secretary: "Clearly, we
would
never accept a strike against an Arab country, no matter what the
circumstances."]
* Blow to US hopes for backing from key border
countries [Pakistan worried
about
US support for the Afghan Northern Alliance]
* Why China is taking America's side [This and
the following, two
interesting
articles from the Asia Times on the implications for China]
* China, US, and the future of Pakistan
* Baharain opposes terrorism [but also
strongly opposes any attack on Iraq]
* Venezuela's Chavez defends ties with Iraq,
Libya ["So if Chavez is a
friend
of this country, and a partner of that one, which is the same as the
other,
then Chavez ends up being a terrorist too ... Osama bin Chaven!"]
* Set the Saudis straight [Tough talkin' from
the New York Post outlining
many
ways in which the Saudis have been misbehaving themselves]
* Turkey signs up, but fears Iraq is next US
target
URL
ONLY
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=1205996548
* Text of Saudi kingdom's announcement [on
co-operation with the United
States]
Times
of India, 24th September
and, in
Jihad against
'terrorism', 23-29/9/01 (2)
GENERAL
INTEREST
* Century of biological and chemical weapons
[General account from the BBC
of the
history of these weapons]
* Disposal of Chemical Arms in U.S. Lags as
Costs Mount [Amazing story of
the US
army's problems in disposing of 31,496 tons of chemical weapons at an
estimated
cost of $24 billion]
* Get educated [Bibliography of books on Osama
bin Laden, Central Asia,
terrorism,
fundamentalism]
FINGER
POINTING AT IRAQ
* Powell hints US campaign could target Iraq
* Iraq removed from US target list
* Iraq Accuses U.S. of 'Terrorizing' the World
* 'Hijacker met Iraqi diplomat in Prague'
[Fairly detailed account of
possible
Iraqi connection to Mohammad Atta]
* Hussein overthrow could be risky, lawmakers
told [Also features ex-'UN'
my
inverted commas, PB weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, saying: 'In its
war
against Iran, Iraq "survived and prevailed in that war because of their
possession
of weapons of mass destruction."' Which amounts to saying that
Iraq
needs WMDs; and we can only assume Mr Duelfer approves, unless, of
course,
he wanted Iraq to be taken by revolutionary Iran?]
* Other US anti terrorism attacks expected in
Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran
[Sounds
like Clinton's famous 'pinpricks' which were so lustily ridiculed by
Bush's
present team when they were in opposition]
* Testing the mood in Iraq [Iraqi public
demonstrations going easy on the
anti-Americanism]
URLs
ONLY:
http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-10-01/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a
126994.asp
* Iraqi's Mission: To Get Bin Laden a Nuke
by BOB
PORT and GREG B. SMITH
New
York Daily News, 1st October
Story
of Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, Iraqi-trained electrical engineer, from
testimony
in Embassy bombing trial. Iraq as such does not appear to be
implicated.
Chemical factories in Sudan usually given as linked to Iraq and
bin
Laden are here given as being linked to Iran and bin Laden.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,248-2001342151,00.html
* The twin towers trail leads to Saddam
by
DANIEL FINKELSTEIN
The
Times, 3rd October
The
Laurie Mylroie thesis about Iraq's possible involvement in the 1993 WTC
bombing,
which has been given much publicity in the US, comes to the The
Times.
Whatever happened to Abdul Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who was
supposed
to have been the mastermind behind the 1993 bombing?
IRAQIMIDDLE
EAST/ARAB WORLD RELATIONS
* Iraq-Kuwait border said calm despite
violations
* Iraq, Iran exchange remains of their war
victims [So far as I know the US
and
Kuwait have never offered to return the remains of Iraqi war victims on
the
road to Basra]
* Oman firms urged to boost trade with Iraq
* Saudi Arabia Beats Iraq 2-1 [in the final
round of Asian qualifying for
next year's World