OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Haaretz: The Day The Road Map Died
Sharon used delaying and evasive tactics, and presented firm reservations about the map, but was careful to avoid conflict with the U.S. administration... Sharon's tactics paid off. The Americans blame the Palestinians for the failure."
The "road map" for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict died last Thursday. The funeral took place in the office of Condoleezza Rice in the White House, during a pleasant conversation among the U.S. national security adviser and her aides and on the Israeli side, the prime minister's bureau chief Dov Weisglass, Ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon and the prime minister's foreign policy adviser, Shalom Tourgeman. It had a short life, did the road map, which was cut short before it was realized. In its place the "Bush vision" has returned to diplomatic discourse, as the political goal of Israel and the United States.
The public may have difficulty distinguishing between the concepts, but for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon the death of the road map is a great political victory. The plan for an imposed international agreement has already been removed from the path, the political process has been frozen until the departure of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and Israel is enjoying freedom of action.
Sharon spoke of several months of waiting, during which he will try to implement the road map, before he abandons it and goes over to unilateral disengagement. But the waiting period has been drastically shortened, and Washington is now willing to hear about disengagement steps, on condition that they suit the Bush vision.
In his June 2002 speech, President George W. Bush called for a change in leadership as a condition for Palestinian independence. Israel rejoiced at the public letter of dismissal to Yasser Arafat.
"CHECK IT"
Thursday, January 29, 2004
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Haaretz: IDF Indiscriminate Killing
"Reality shows that under Ariel Sharon's government, violent friction has become the only contact between Israelis and Palestinians and the government is doing nothing to instruct the army to behave in a restrained manner in its ongoing security operations."
The dry account provided by the army said an armored force entered the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza early yesterday morning to strike at Islamic Jihad activists. According to the Israel Defense Forces report, a firefight ensued between armed Palestinians and the armored force and the IDF identified direct hits on 10 armed men. The result is that at least nine Palestinians were killed in the incident, five of them from the Islamic Jihad. The Palestinians said an 11-year-old boy and three workers were killed and an ambulance driver was wounded.
It was another one of those routine reports that the Israeli public has grown used to. Apparently the public is accepting a situation in which military activity in Palestinian towns is accompanied by indiscriminate killing.
With a kind of collective shrug, the killing is excused as something self-evident in the circumstances of the war, in which it is difficult to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians. Nobody disputes the need to chase down activists from terror groups that want to strike in Israeli population centers, and the circumstances of the incident are such that occasionally innocent civilians can be accidentally harmed because terrorists operate in their midst.
Haaretz: IDF Indiscriminate Killing
"Reality shows that under Ariel Sharon's government, violent friction has become the only contact between Israelis and Palestinians and the government is doing nothing to instruct the army to behave in a restrained manner in its ongoing security operations."
The dry account provided by the army said an armored force entered the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza early yesterday morning to strike at Islamic Jihad activists. According to the Israel Defense Forces report, a firefight ensued between armed Palestinians and the armored force and the IDF identified direct hits on 10 armed men. The result is that at least nine Palestinians were killed in the incident, five of them from the Islamic Jihad. The Palestinians said an 11-year-old boy and three workers were killed and an ambulance driver was wounded.
It was another one of those routine reports that the Israeli public has grown used to. Apparently the public is accepting a situation in which military activity in Palestinian towns is accompanied by indiscriminate killing.
With a kind of collective shrug, the killing is excused as something self-evident in the circumstances of the war, in which it is difficult to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians. Nobody disputes the need to chase down activists from terror groups that want to strike in Israeli population centers, and the circumstances of the incident are such that occasionally innocent civilians can be accidentally harmed because terrorists operate in their midst.
UK: HUTTON WHITEWASH
Scotsman: Hutton Inquiry Whitewashes
Blair Government Over Iraq War
WSWS: Hutton Inquiry Whitewashes
Blair Government Over Iraq War
AFP: Judge Who Cleared Blair,
Blamed BBC Accused Of Whitewash
Greg Palast: Lord Hutton Blesses Blair's Attack on BBC's Investigation Of Iraq War Claims CHECK IT
Scotsman: Hutton Inquiry Whitewashes
Blair Government Over Iraq War
WSWS: Hutton Inquiry Whitewashes
Blair Government Over Iraq War
AFP: Judge Who Cleared Blair,
Blamed BBC Accused Of Whitewash
Greg Palast: Lord Hutton Blesses Blair's Attack on BBC's Investigation Of Iraq War Claims CHECK IT
UK: HUTTON INQUIRY
Independent: Demands grow for inquiry into the case for war as Hutton is accused of a 'whitewash'
The BBC chairman Gavyn Davies became the first casualty of the inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly as Lord Hutton was accused last night of presiding over a "whitewash".
Tony Blair, his former director of communications Alastair Campbell and the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon were all cleared of any improper behaviour leading up to the suicide of the weapons expert, bringing barely disguised relief in Government circles
The 740-page report sent shockwaves through the BBC. Lord Hutton said that the BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan's allegation that the Government had "sexed up" its dossier on Iraqi weapons and included intelligence it knew to be probably wrong or questionable was "unfounded
Independent: Lord Hutton's statement
Media Guardian: Press rounds on Hutton
The government may have won the battle but it appears to have comprehensively lost the war against the media, which today leapt instinctively to the BBC's defence in the face of what they widely consider to be a "whitewash" report into the Kelly affair.
In a powerful statement the Independent has a plain white front page with the word "Whitewash?" in red taking centreplace.
It asked was "all this an establishment whitewash?", adding "what of the central issues which Lord Hutton felt it could not address?".
The Daily Mail also delivered an unequivocal front page with former Telegraph editor and military author Sir Max Hastings on the front page. "We have the wretched spectacle of a BBC chairman resigning while Alastair Campbell crows from the summit of his dunghill" are his words above a picture of David Kelly's rose-strewn grave.
The Mirror also went for the jugular with two headlines: "UNFOUNDED... the charge they 'sexed up' dossier" above a picture gallery of the Labour threesome - Geoff Hoon, Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell. Beneath is "UNFOUND... the WMD they took us to war over" with full story across pages 2,4,5,6,8 and 9.
Independent: Demands grow for inquiry into the case for war as Hutton is accused of a 'whitewash'
The BBC chairman Gavyn Davies became the first casualty of the inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly as Lord Hutton was accused last night of presiding over a "whitewash".
Tony Blair, his former director of communications Alastair Campbell and the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon were all cleared of any improper behaviour leading up to the suicide of the weapons expert, bringing barely disguised relief in Government circles
The 740-page report sent shockwaves through the BBC. Lord Hutton said that the BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan's allegation that the Government had "sexed up" its dossier on Iraqi weapons and included intelligence it knew to be probably wrong or questionable was "unfounded
Independent: Lord Hutton's statement
Media Guardian: Press rounds on Hutton
The government may have won the battle but it appears to have comprehensively lost the war against the media, which today leapt instinctively to the BBC's defence in the face of what they widely consider to be a "whitewash" report into the Kelly affair.
In a powerful statement the Independent has a plain white front page with the word "Whitewash?" in red taking centreplace.
It asked was "all this an establishment whitewash?", adding "what of the central issues which Lord Hutton felt it could not address?".
The Daily Mail also delivered an unequivocal front page with former Telegraph editor and military author Sir Max Hastings on the front page. "We have the wretched spectacle of a BBC chairman resigning while Alastair Campbell crows from the summit of his dunghill" are his words above a picture of David Kelly's rose-strewn grave.
The Mirror also went for the jugular with two headlines: "UNFOUNDED... the charge they 'sexed up' dossier" above a picture gallery of the Labour threesome - Geoff Hoon, Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell. Beneath is "UNFOUND... the WMD they took us to war over" with full story across pages 2,4,5,6,8 and 9.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
BREAK DANCE
CNN: Papal blessing for break-dancers
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- In an unusual spectacle at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II presided over a performance of break-dancers who leaped, flipped and spun their bodies to beats from a tinny boom box.
The 83-year-old pontiff seemed to approve, waving his hand after each dancer completed a move, then applauding for the entire group. He watched the performance from a raised throne.
"For this creative hard work I bless you from my heart," he said.
CNN: Papal blessing for break-dancers
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- In an unusual spectacle at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II presided over a performance of break-dancers who leaped, flipped and spun their bodies to beats from a tinny boom box.
The 83-year-old pontiff seemed to approve, waving his hand after each dancer completed a move, then applauding for the entire group. He watched the performance from a raised throne.
"For this creative hard work I bless you from my heart," he said.
USA VS. CUBA
Herald Tribune: Klayman says Castro has biochemical weapons in Cuba
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Larry Klayman stepped up his call Tuesday to forcibly remove Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whom he described as "a master terrorist" and a primary threat to U.S. security.
Five Republican and three Democratic candidates seeking the vacant Senate seat created by the retirement of three-term U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Miami Lakes, spoke about their campaigns Tuesday during a two-hour forum at the 10th annual planning meeting hosted by The Associated Press
"Mr. Klayman geht wohl vorallem um die Stimmen de Exil-Kubaner in Florida"
Herald Tribune: Klayman says Castro has biochemical weapons in Cuba
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Larry Klayman stepped up his call Tuesday to forcibly remove Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whom he described as "a master terrorist" and a primary threat to U.S. security.
Five Republican and three Democratic candidates seeking the vacant Senate seat created by the retirement of three-term U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Miami Lakes, spoke about their campaigns Tuesday during a two-hour forum at the 10th annual planning meeting hosted by The Associated Press
"Mr. Klayman geht wohl vorallem um die Stimmen de Exil-Kubaner in Florida"
USA
Information Clearinghouse: US denies ' imminent' threat warning
THE White House today denied it ever warned that Saddam Hussein posed an "imminent" threat to the United States.
It is already smarting from the failure so far to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"I think some in the media have chosen to use the word 'imminent'. Those were not words we used. We used 'grave and gathering' threat," spokesman Scott McClellan said.
But if US President George W. Bush never called Saddam's Iraq an "imminent threat" in so many words, he said it was "urgent".
Vice President Dick Cheney called it "mortal" and it was "immediate" to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
In an October 7, 2002 televised speech to the nation, Bush likened the standoff with Iraq to the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when Soviet missiles were revealed to be based just 145km off US shores.
In that same speech, he warned that Saddam "could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists" like the al-Qaeda network behind the September 11, 2001, attacks
Information Clearinghouse: US denies ' imminent' threat warning
THE White House today denied it ever warned that Saddam Hussein posed an "imminent" threat to the United States.
It is already smarting from the failure so far to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"I think some in the media have chosen to use the word 'imminent'. Those were not words we used. We used 'grave and gathering' threat," spokesman Scott McClellan said.
But if US President George W. Bush never called Saddam's Iraq an "imminent threat" in so many words, he said it was "urgent".
Vice President Dick Cheney called it "mortal" and it was "immediate" to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
In an October 7, 2002 televised speech to the nation, Bush likened the standoff with Iraq to the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when Soviet missiles were revealed to be based just 145km off US shores.
In that same speech, he warned that Saddam "could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists" like the al-Qaeda network behind the September 11, 2001, attacks
IRAQI RESISTANCE
ADN News: Car bomb explodes in front of Baghdad hotel
BAGHDAD, Iraq (January 27, 9:03 p.m. AST) - A car bomb exploded in front of a hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday, partially destroying the three-story building and killing at least three people, police said.
At least three gutted cars were seen in front of the al-Shaheen hotel, only their metal skeletons remaining. Another car was half burned a little distance away in the street in Karadah district. What looked like pieces of flesh lay on the ground in front of the hotel.
Karadah police chief Kadhim Khalas said three people were killed and four injured
ADN News: Car bomb explodes in front of Baghdad hotel
BAGHDAD, Iraq (January 27, 9:03 p.m. AST) - A car bomb exploded in front of a hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday, partially destroying the three-story building and killing at least three people, police said.
At least three gutted cars were seen in front of the al-Shaheen hotel, only their metal skeletons remaining. Another car was half burned a little distance away in the street in Karadah district. What looked like pieces of flesh lay on the ground in front of the hotel.
Karadah police chief Kadhim Khalas said three people were killed and four injured
IRAQI RESISTANCE
AP: Six US Soldiers Killed In Iraq Road Bombings
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The United Nations agreed Tuesday to send a team to Iraq to help break the impasse over electing a new government, as the deaths of six more American soldiers in roadside bombings underscored concerns about security in the volatile nation.
A bomb that exploded south of Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded three others Tuesday night, hours after another bombing west of the capital killed three U.S. paratroopers and wounded one, the military said. In addition, two employees of Cable News Network died in a shooting south of Baghdad.
AP: Six US Soldiers Killed In Iraq Road Bombings
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The United Nations agreed Tuesday to send a team to Iraq to help break the impasse over electing a new government, as the deaths of six more American soldiers in roadside bombings underscored concerns about security in the volatile nation.
A bomb that exploded south of Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded three others Tuesday night, hours after another bombing west of the capital killed three U.S. paratroopers and wounded one, the military said. In addition, two employees of Cable News Network died in a shooting south of Baghdad.
USA
Guardian: The US is now in the hands of a group of extremists by George Soros
Fundamentalism has spawned an ideology of American supremacy
The invasion of Iraq was the first practical application of the pernicious Bush doctrine of pre-emptive military action, and it elicited an allergic reaction worldwide - not because anyone had a good word to say about Saddam Hussein, but because we insisted on invading Iraq unilaterally without any clear evidence that he had anything to do with September 11 or that he possessed weapons of mass destruction.
The gap in perceptions between America and the rest of the world has never been wider. Abroad, America is seen as abusing the dominant position it occupies; opinion at home has been led to believe that Saddam posed a clear and present danger to national security. Only in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion are people becoming aware they have been misled
Guardian: The US is now in the hands of a group of extremists by George Soros
Fundamentalism has spawned an ideology of American supremacy
The invasion of Iraq was the first practical application of the pernicious Bush doctrine of pre-emptive military action, and it elicited an allergic reaction worldwide - not because anyone had a good word to say about Saddam Hussein, but because we insisted on invading Iraq unilaterally without any clear evidence that he had anything to do with September 11 or that he possessed weapons of mass destruction.
The gap in perceptions between America and the rest of the world has never been wider. Abroad, America is seen as abusing the dominant position it occupies; opinion at home has been led to believe that Saddam posed a clear and present danger to national security. Only in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion are people becoming aware they have been misled
USA
San Francisco Gate: Are Parallels To Nazi Germany Crazy?
The customers always write. I get about 400 e-mails in response to my columns every week, which might explain why I didn't answer yours. Here, slightly edited, is one of the more interesting ones from last week. It's from Herr Moellers in Germany:
"Dear Mr. Sorensen,
"I have many American friends and used to go on business travel to the U.S. a lot (I stopped doing that after even our European governments have given in to Uncle Sam's appetite for information about individuals traveling to God's Own Country), and I am shocked by the deterioration of democracy in a country that I used to love. This administration is a shame and the destabilization they have brought to the world is scaring the s** out of me.
"My father was a Nazi soldier and he realized during the war what he and most of his generation was led into. I have learned from him that a nation can be guilty and that we must stop the arrogance of the powers at the very beginning. To me, America is becoming truly scary and the parallels to the development in Germany of the thirties (although the reason behind it are totally different) are sickening.
"Thank you for writing about this development. The world is waiting for signs of opposition in the Unilateral States of America!"
Herr Moellers' e-mail is typical of a half dozen or so I've received over the past year from people with intimate knowledge of Nazi Germany.
I respect experience, so I'm inclined to believe what these people are telling me. Perhaps their memories help explain the attitude of Germans toward the Bush administration these days.
They've been there, they've done that. They know what a corrupt government smells like.
But are they "over the top"? Are they overreacting to a normal swing of the pendulum in American politics?
To make a comparison between Germany in the 1930s and America now, I relied on a Web site called "A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust." The passages in quotations below are taken from the site.
"With Adolf Hitler's ascendancy to the chancellorship, the Nazi Party quickly consolidated its power. Hitler managed to maintain a posture of legality throughout the Nazification process."
Whether by chance or design, George W. Bush is the most powerful American president in modern history. Not only does he have both houses of Congress beholden to him, but the majority of the Supreme Court is acting like a quintet of Bush lapdogs. And it all appears legal.
"Domestically, during the next six years, Hitler completely transformed Germany into a police state."
Civil libertarians insist that this is happening here now, with the USA Patriot Act in force and Patriot II on the table.
"Hitler engaged in a 'diplomatic revolution' by negotiating with other European countries and publicly expressing his strong desire for peace."
Nobody can accuse Bush of being overly diplomatic, but, like all political leaders, he is an apostle for peace, even while starting two wars during his brief tenure.
In 1933, the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building, was burned to the ground. Nobody knows for sure who set the fire. The Nazis blamed communists. "This incident prompted Hitler[,then Germany's chancellor,] to convince [German President Paul von] Hindenburg to issue a Decree for the Protection of People and State that granted Nazis sweeping power to deal with the so-called emergency."
The Reichstag fire parallels the Sept. 11 attacks here, and Hindenburg's decree parallels our USA Patriot Act.
Soon after Hitler took power, the concentration camp at Dachau was created and "the Nazis began arresting Communists, Socialists and labor leaders ... . Parliamentary democracy ended with the Reichstag passage of the Enabling Act, which allowed the government to issue laws without the Reichstag."
"CHECK IT"
San Francisco Gate: Are Parallels To Nazi Germany Crazy?
The customers always write. I get about 400 e-mails in response to my columns every week, which might explain why I didn't answer yours. Here, slightly edited, is one of the more interesting ones from last week. It's from Herr Moellers in Germany:
"Dear Mr. Sorensen,
"I have many American friends and used to go on business travel to the U.S. a lot (I stopped doing that after even our European governments have given in to Uncle Sam's appetite for information about individuals traveling to God's Own Country), and I am shocked by the deterioration of democracy in a country that I used to love. This administration is a shame and the destabilization they have brought to the world is scaring the s** out of me.
"My father was a Nazi soldier and he realized during the war what he and most of his generation was led into. I have learned from him that a nation can be guilty and that we must stop the arrogance of the powers at the very beginning. To me, America is becoming truly scary and the parallels to the development in Germany of the thirties (although the reason behind it are totally different) are sickening.
"Thank you for writing about this development. The world is waiting for signs of opposition in the Unilateral States of America!"
Herr Moellers' e-mail is typical of a half dozen or so I've received over the past year from people with intimate knowledge of Nazi Germany.
I respect experience, so I'm inclined to believe what these people are telling me. Perhaps their memories help explain the attitude of Germans toward the Bush administration these days.
They've been there, they've done that. They know what a corrupt government smells like.
But are they "over the top"? Are they overreacting to a normal swing of the pendulum in American politics?
To make a comparison between Germany in the 1930s and America now, I relied on a Web site called "A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust." The passages in quotations below are taken from the site.
"With Adolf Hitler's ascendancy to the chancellorship, the Nazi Party quickly consolidated its power. Hitler managed to maintain a posture of legality throughout the Nazification process."
Whether by chance or design, George W. Bush is the most powerful American president in modern history. Not only does he have both houses of Congress beholden to him, but the majority of the Supreme Court is acting like a quintet of Bush lapdogs. And it all appears legal.
"Domestically, during the next six years, Hitler completely transformed Germany into a police state."
Civil libertarians insist that this is happening here now, with the USA Patriot Act in force and Patriot II on the table.
"Hitler engaged in a 'diplomatic revolution' by negotiating with other European countries and publicly expressing his strong desire for peace."
Nobody can accuse Bush of being overly diplomatic, but, like all political leaders, he is an apostle for peace, even while starting two wars during his brief tenure.
In 1933, the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building, was burned to the ground. Nobody knows for sure who set the fire. The Nazis blamed communists. "This incident prompted Hitler[,then Germany's chancellor,] to convince [German President Paul von] Hindenburg to issue a Decree for the Protection of People and State that granted Nazis sweeping power to deal with the so-called emergency."
The Reichstag fire parallels the Sept. 11 attacks here, and Hindenburg's decree parallels our USA Patriot Act.
Soon after Hitler took power, the concentration camp at Dachau was created and "the Nazis began arresting Communists, Socialists and labor leaders ... . Parliamentary democracy ended with the Reichstag passage of the Enabling Act, which allowed the government to issue laws without the Reichstag."
"CHECK IT"
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Guardian: Insurgents Attack Polish Forces in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents attacked the headquarters of Polish
forces in a southern city, triggering a gunbattle that killed one Iraqi
policeman. In Baghdad, guerrillas fired a rocket into the U.S. compound but caused
on casualties. As attacks continued, Iraq's interim interior minister
blamed Osama bin Laden's terror network al-Qaida for many of the suicide car
bombings in the country in recent weeks.
"Es gibt nach wie vor keinen einzigen ausländischen Kämpfer den die Amerikaner vorzeigen könnten um ihre behauptungen von Al-Quida Terroristen im Irak zu untermauern."
Guardian: Insurgents Attack Polish Forces in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents attacked the headquarters of Polish
forces in a southern city, triggering a gunbattle that killed one Iraqi
policeman. In Baghdad, guerrillas fired a rocket into the U.S. compound but caused
on casualties. As attacks continued, Iraq's interim interior minister
blamed Osama bin Laden's terror network al-Qaida for many of the suicide car
bombings in the country in recent weeks.
"Es gibt nach wie vor keinen einzigen ausländischen Kämpfer den die Amerikaner vorzeigen könnten um ihre behauptungen von Al-Quida Terroristen im Irak zu untermauern."
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Asia Times: Targeting weak points: Iraq's oil pipelines
As with all models of asymmetrical warfare, a central element in the strategy of the Iraqi insurgency has been to attack weak point targets of least resistance, mainly through rudimentary attacks on supply lines, transports, or convoys and sabotage of the most vulnerable points of the Iraqi infrastructure. Seeking to enhance the disruptive effects of their attacks, the insurgents have also implemented specific attacks on the networks of oil pipelines.
Tactically, these attacks seek to disrupt the overall reconstruction effort and, with the Iraqi oil sector playing such a significant role both in terms of post-conflict economics and regional geopolitics, also serve as a major psychological blow to the stabilization effort
Asia Times: Targeting weak points: Iraq's oil pipelines
As with all models of asymmetrical warfare, a central element in the strategy of the Iraqi insurgency has been to attack weak point targets of least resistance, mainly through rudimentary attacks on supply lines, transports, or convoys and sabotage of the most vulnerable points of the Iraqi infrastructure. Seeking to enhance the disruptive effects of their attacks, the insurgents have also implemented specific attacks on the networks of oil pipelines.
Tactically, these attacks seek to disrupt the overall reconstruction effort and, with the Iraqi oil sector playing such a significant role both in terms of post-conflict economics and regional geopolitics, also serve as a major psychological blow to the stabilization effort
IRAQ
Islamonline: U.S.-Occupied Iraq Ready To Cooperate With Israel
BAGHDAD, January 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A minister appointed by the U.S.-handpicked Iraqi Interim Governing Council (IGC) said Sunday, January 25, his "country" was ready to sell electricity to Israel.
Interim Electricity Minister Aiham al-Samarrai was quoted by the Qatari news agency as telling reporters "it was necessary to change the old mindset that banned dealing with them (Israel). It is a democratic world." "Der kleine Zyniker hat nur vergessen, dass er nicht vom Irakischen Volk, sondern von den Amerikanern gewählt wurde...wie demokratisch"
Islamonline: U.S.-Occupied Iraq Ready To Cooperate With Israel
BAGHDAD, January 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A minister appointed by the U.S.-handpicked Iraqi Interim Governing Council (IGC) said Sunday, January 25, his "country" was ready to sell electricity to Israel.
Interim Electricity Minister Aiham al-Samarrai was quoted by the Qatari news agency as telling reporters "it was necessary to change the old mindset that banned dealing with them (Israel). It is a democratic world." "Der kleine Zyniker hat nur vergessen, dass er nicht vom Irakischen Volk, sondern von den Amerikanern gewählt wurde...wie demokratisch"
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Santa Fe News: Seven Iraqi Police Killed In Attacks; Search Continues For Americans Missing In Mosul
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents fired a rocket at the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition after gunmen killed seven Iraqi policemen in a pair of attacks west of Baghdad. A senior Iraqi official blamed al-Qaida for many of the suicide bombings around the country in recent weeks.
In the north, military divers searched Monday the muddy waters of the Tigris River for three missing U.S. soldiers, including two pilots of an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter that crashed Sunday in Mosul during rescue operations after a patrol boat capsized.
It was the fifth U.S. helicopter lost in Iraq this month, three of which were downed by hostile fire.
Santa Fe News: Seven Iraqi Police Killed In Attacks; Search Continues For Americans Missing In Mosul
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents fired a rocket at the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition after gunmen killed seven Iraqi policemen in a pair of attacks west of Baghdad. A senior Iraqi official blamed al-Qaida for many of the suicide bombings around the country in recent weeks.
In the north, military divers searched Monday the muddy waters of the Tigris River for three missing U.S. soldiers, including two pilots of an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter that crashed Sunday in Mosul during rescue operations after a patrol boat capsized.
It was the fifth U.S. helicopter lost in Iraq this month, three of which were downed by hostile fire.
IRAQI WMD
SMH: Nearly all WMD claims wrong: Kay
The Central Intelligence Agency's outgoing chief weapons inspector, David Kay, has concluded that the US was almost certainly wrong in its pre-war belief that Iraq had any significant stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Kay, who headed the US search for WMDs after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime until he resigned on Friday, based his views on his team's interviews with Iraqi scientists, reviews of documents and examinations of facilities and other materials.
"I'm personally convinced that there were not large stockpiles of newly produced weapons of mass destruction," he said on Saturday. "We don't find the people, the documents or the physical plants that you would expect to find if the production was going on. I think they gradually reduced stockpiles throughout the 1990s."
SMH: Nearly all WMD claims wrong: Kay
The Central Intelligence Agency's outgoing chief weapons inspector, David Kay, has concluded that the US was almost certainly wrong in its pre-war belief that Iraq had any significant stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Kay, who headed the US search for WMDs after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime until he resigned on Friday, based his views on his team's interviews with Iraqi scientists, reviews of documents and examinations of facilities and other materials.
"I'm personally convinced that there were not large stockpiles of newly produced weapons of mass destruction," he said on Saturday. "We don't find the people, the documents or the physical plants that you would expect to find if the production was going on. I think they gradually reduced stockpiles throughout the 1990s."
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
IRAQ WAR
Independent: No humanitarian case for Iraq war, says rights group
The United States and Britain had no justification for invading Iraq either on the grounds of alleged threats from illicit weapons and terrorism, or as a humanitarian mission, an international civil rights group said yesterday.
The failure to find Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction has left President George Bush and Tony Blair claiming that the invasion was on humanitarian grounds, said a hard-hitting annual report of Human Rights Watch. It said that the West had done nothing when Saddam massacred Kurds and Shias in the past, and there was no evidence of any continuing mass killings at the start of the war in March 2003.
The report claimed that the US and British occupation forces had "sidelined human rights... as a matter of secondary importance. The rule of law has not arrived and Iraq is still beset by the legacy of human rights abuses of the former government, as well as new ones that have emerged under the occupation." The reasons given for war by Mr Bush and Mr Blair - WMD and Saddam's alleged links with international terrorism - hadnot been proved, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the organisation
Independent: No humanitarian case for Iraq war, says rights group
The United States and Britain had no justification for invading Iraq either on the grounds of alleged threats from illicit weapons and terrorism, or as a humanitarian mission, an international civil rights group said yesterday.
The failure to find Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction has left President George Bush and Tony Blair claiming that the invasion was on humanitarian grounds, said a hard-hitting annual report of Human Rights Watch. It said that the West had done nothing when Saddam massacred Kurds and Shias in the past, and there was no evidence of any continuing mass killings at the start of the war in March 2003.
The report claimed that the US and British occupation forces had "sidelined human rights... as a matter of secondary importance. The rule of law has not arrived and Iraq is still beset by the legacy of human rights abuses of the former government, as well as new ones that have emerged under the occupation." The reasons given for war by Mr Bush and Mr Blair - WMD and Saddam's alleged links with international terrorism - hadnot been proved, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the organisation
UK
News of the World: Cash-Strapped Student
Auctions Virginity For Tuition
A student is so hard up she has decided to make the ultimate sacrifice ...she is selling her virginity to the highest bidder on the internet.
So far more than 400 men, many of them sickos, have placed bids offering 18-year-old Rosie Reid up to £10,000 for sex.
The drastic action has left Rosie's parents sickened. Her doctor dad has told her she "is selling her soul". Her nurse mum is outraged.
And Rosie is even willing to sleep with a man despite it being abhorrent to her"she is a LESBIAN.
But she would rather prostitute herself than see her studies suffer
News of the World: Cash-Strapped Student
Auctions Virginity For Tuition
A student is so hard up she has decided to make the ultimate sacrifice ...she is selling her virginity to the highest bidder on the internet.
So far more than 400 men, many of them sickos, have placed bids offering 18-year-old Rosie Reid up to £10,000 for sex.
The drastic action has left Rosie's parents sickened. Her doctor dad has told her she "is selling her soul". Her nurse mum is outraged.
And Rosie is even willing to sleep with a man despite it being abhorrent to her"she is a LESBIAN.
But she would rather prostitute herself than see her studies suffer
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES:
Palestine Chronicle: Israel's 'Wall' and Why It's Not a 'Fence'
Israelis claim that since most of the length of the 'Wall' is made up of barbed wide, it should be called a 'fence' .."
By RAY HANANIA
The Palestine Chronicle
The Palestinians call it the Wall. Israelis cleverly give it a softer spin as "the fence." Palestinians say it's intended to destroy Palestine. The Israelis hide their reasons for building it behind the broad claim that it will somehow prevent "terrorism."
This week, I had a chance to understand the "Wall" close-up, described in detailed photographs and personal testimonies from three Palestinians who spoke at the Palestinian American Congress conference in Chicago.
And what I learned about the Wall shocked even me.
Mohammed Alatar, a member of Palestinians for Peace and Democracy in Dallas, Texas, presented a lengthy Power-Point display on the true insidious nature of the Wall. (By the way. Alatar's poignant power point presentation is on my web page at www.hanania.com and you can download your own copy and see it for yourself.)
Let me address the issue of the word "fence" head on. Israelis claim that since most of the length of the "Wall" is made up of barbed wide, electrical wire and a fence, it should be called a "fence." But my response is simple. So what? Many of the concentration camps erected by the Nazis during World War II were bordered not by walls, but by fences, too. Does it make it any more innocent?
Palestine Chronicle: Israel's 'Wall' and Why It's Not a 'Fence'
Israelis claim that since most of the length of the 'Wall' is made up of barbed wide, it should be called a 'fence' .."
By RAY HANANIA
The Palestine Chronicle
The Palestinians call it the Wall. Israelis cleverly give it a softer spin as "the fence." Palestinians say it's intended to destroy Palestine. The Israelis hide their reasons for building it behind the broad claim that it will somehow prevent "terrorism."
This week, I had a chance to understand the "Wall" close-up, described in detailed photographs and personal testimonies from three Palestinians who spoke at the Palestinian American Congress conference in Chicago.
And what I learned about the Wall shocked even me.
Mohammed Alatar, a member of Palestinians for Peace and Democracy in Dallas, Texas, presented a lengthy Power-Point display on the true insidious nature of the Wall. (By the way. Alatar's poignant power point presentation is on my web page at www.hanania.com and you can download your own copy and see it for yourself.)
Let me address the issue of the word "fence" head on. Israelis claim that since most of the length of the "Wall" is made up of barbed wide, electrical wire and a fence, it should be called a "fence." But my response is simple. So what? Many of the concentration camps erected by the Nazis during World War II were bordered not by walls, but by fences, too. Does it make it any more innocent?
USA
Alternet: America's Empire of Bases
As distinct from other peoples, most Americans do not recognize – or do not want to recognize – that the United States dominates the world through its military power. Due to government secrecy, our citizens are often ignorant of the fact that our garrisons encircle the planet. This vast network of American bases on every continent except Antarctica actually constitutes a new form of empire – an empire of bases with its own geography not likely to be taught in any high school geography class. Without grasping the dimensions of this globe-girdling Baseworld, one can't begin to understand the size and nature of our imperial aspirations or the degree to which a new kind of militarism is undermining our constitutional order.
It's not easy to assess the size or exact value of our empire of bases. Official records on these subjects are misleading, although instructive. According to the Defense Department's annual "Base Structure Report" for fiscal year 2003, which itemizes foreign and domestic U.S. military real estate, the Pentagon currently owns or rents 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries and has another 6,000 bases in the United States and its territories.
Alternet: America's Empire of Bases
As distinct from other peoples, most Americans do not recognize – or do not want to recognize – that the United States dominates the world through its military power. Due to government secrecy, our citizens are often ignorant of the fact that our garrisons encircle the planet. This vast network of American bases on every continent except Antarctica actually constitutes a new form of empire – an empire of bases with its own geography not likely to be taught in any high school geography class. Without grasping the dimensions of this globe-girdling Baseworld, one can't begin to understand the size and nature of our imperial aspirations or the degree to which a new kind of militarism is undermining our constitutional order.
It's not easy to assess the size or exact value of our empire of bases. Official records on these subjects are misleading, although instructive. According to the Defense Department's annual "Base Structure Report" for fiscal year 2003, which itemizes foreign and domestic U.S. military real estate, the Pentagon currently owns or rents 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries and has another 6,000 bases in the United States and its territories.
IRAQ
Seattle Times: Iraq may be on path to civil war, CIA officials warn
WASHINGTON — CIA officers in Iraq are warning that the country may be on a path to civil war, current and former U.S. officials said yesterday, starkly contradicting the upbeat assessment President Bush gave in his State of the Union address.
The CIA officers' bleak assessment was delivered orally to Washington this week, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified information involved.
The warning echoed growing fears that Iraq's Shiite majority, which until now has accepted the U.S. occupation grudgingly, could turn to violence if its demands for direct elections are spurned.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Kurdish minority is pressing for autonomy and shares of oil revenue.
"Both the Shiites and the Kurds think that now's their time," one intelligence officer said. "They think that if they don't get what they want now, they'll probably never get it. Both of them feel they've been betrayed by the United States before."
Seattle Times: Iraq may be on path to civil war, CIA officials warn
WASHINGTON — CIA officers in Iraq are warning that the country may be on a path to civil war, current and former U.S. officials said yesterday, starkly contradicting the upbeat assessment President Bush gave in his State of the Union address.
The CIA officers' bleak assessment was delivered orally to Washington this week, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified information involved.
The warning echoed growing fears that Iraq's Shiite majority, which until now has accepted the U.S. occupation grudgingly, could turn to violence if its demands for direct elections are spurned.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Kurdish minority is pressing for autonomy and shares of oil revenue.
"Both the Shiites and the Kurds think that now's their time," one intelligence officer said. "They think that if they don't get what they want now, they'll probably never get it. Both of them feel they've been betrayed by the United States before."
WAR ON TERROR
CNS News: US War on Terror May Spread to Syria, Report Says
new report indicates that Syria may be the next target in the U.S. war on terror.
In a report released Friday by the London-based Jane's Intelligence Digest, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was quoted as saying that the U.S. is considering "multi-faceted attacks," which could be conducted against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, controlled by Syria.
According to the report, the U.S. move would "almost certainly involve a confrontation" between American Special Forces and Syrian troops.
The report highlights potential military action against Somalia as well as Syria. According to the Jane's report, "Covert U.S. forces have periodically infiltrated Somalia over the past two years to conduct surveillance and even potentially snatch suspects wanted for the November 2002 suicide bomb attacks in Mombassa, Kenya."
CNS News: US War on Terror May Spread to Syria, Report Says
new report indicates that Syria may be the next target in the U.S. war on terror.
In a report released Friday by the London-based Jane's Intelligence Digest, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was quoted as saying that the U.S. is considering "multi-faceted attacks," which could be conducted against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, controlled by Syria.
According to the report, the U.S. move would "almost certainly involve a confrontation" between American Special Forces and Syrian troops.
The report highlights potential military action against Somalia as well as Syria. According to the Jane's report, "Covert U.S. forces have periodically infiltrated Somalia over the past two years to conduct surveillance and even potentially snatch suspects wanted for the November 2002 suicide bomb attacks in Mombassa, Kenya."
IRAQ WAR
Globe and mail: 'It's just wrong what we're doing'
In an exclusive interview, repentant Vietnam War architect Robert McNamara breaks his silence on Iraq: The United States, he says, is making the same mistakes all over again
'Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why."
With those words, written nine years ago, Robert McNamara began an extraordinary final phase of his career -- devoted to chronicling the errors, delusions and false assumptions that turned him into the chief architect and most prominent promoter of the Vietnam war.
No historic figure has put so much effort into self-examination: At the age of 87, he has now written three very detailed and analytical books, and starred in one very good movie, devoted to the fundamental mistakes that led the United States into the most politically costly and least successful war in its history.
What, then, does he think about Iraq? Until now, the former secretary of defence has avoided comment on the actions of that job's current occupant, Donald Rumsfeld. The two are often compared to each other in their autocratic leadership styles and in their technocratic, numbers-driven approaches to war. And their wars, of course, are often likened. But Robert McNamara has insisted in staying out of the fray.
He decided to break his silence on Iraq when I called him up the other day at his Washington office. I told him that his carefully enumerated lists of historic lessons from Vietnam were in danger of being ignored. He agreed, and told me that he was deeply frustrated to see history repeating itself.
Globe and mail: 'It's just wrong what we're doing'
In an exclusive interview, repentant Vietnam War architect Robert McNamara breaks his silence on Iraq: The United States, he says, is making the same mistakes all over again
'Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why."
With those words, written nine years ago, Robert McNamara began an extraordinary final phase of his career -- devoted to chronicling the errors, delusions and false assumptions that turned him into the chief architect and most prominent promoter of the Vietnam war.
No historic figure has put so much effort into self-examination: At the age of 87, he has now written three very detailed and analytical books, and starred in one very good movie, devoted to the fundamental mistakes that led the United States into the most politically costly and least successful war in its history.
What, then, does he think about Iraq? Until now, the former secretary of defence has avoided comment on the actions of that job's current occupant, Donald Rumsfeld. The two are often compared to each other in their autocratic leadership styles and in their technocratic, numbers-driven approaches to war. And their wars, of course, are often likened. But Robert McNamara has insisted in staying out of the fray.
He decided to break his silence on Iraq when I called him up the other day at his Washington office. I told him that his carefully enumerated lists of historic lessons from Vietnam were in danger of being ignored. He agreed, and told me that he was deeply frustrated to see history repeating itself.
Monday, January 26, 2004
IRAQ: "DEMOCRACY"
Guardian: Of course the White House fears free elections in Iraq by Naomi Klein
"The people of Iraq are free," declared President Bush in his state of
the union address on Tuesday. The previous day, 100,000 Iraqis begged to
differ. They took to Baghdad's streets, shouting: "Yes, yes to
elections. No, no to selection."
According to Iraq occupation chief Paul Bremer, there really is no
difference between the White House's version of freedom and the one
being demanded on the street. Asked whether his plan to form an Iraqi
government through appointed caucuses was heading towards a clash with Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani's call for direct elections, Bremer said he had no
"fundamental disagreement with him".
It was, he said, a mere quibble over details. "I don't want to go into
the technical details of refinements. There are - if you talk to experts in
these matters - all kinds of ways to organise partial elections and
caucuses. And I'm not an election expert, so I don't want to go into
the details. But we've always said we're willing to consider refinements."
I'm not an election expert either, but I'm pretty sure there are
differences here that cannot be refined. Al-Sistani's supporters want
all Iraqis to have a vote and the people they elect to write the laws of
the country - your basic, imperfect, representative democracy.
Bremer wants his Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to appoint the
members of 18 regional organising committees. These will then choose
delegates to form 18 selection caucuses. These will then select
representatives to a transitional national assembly. The assembly will
have an internal vote to select an executive and ministers, who will form
the new government. This, Bush said in the state of the union address,
constitutes "a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty".
Got that? Iraqi sovereignty will be established by appointees
appointing appointees to select appointees to select appointees. Add the fact that
Bremer was appointed to his post by President Bush and Bush to his by
the US Supreme Court, and you have the glorious new democratic tradition of
the appointocracy: rule by an appointee's appointee's appointees'
appointees' appointees' selectees.
Guardian: Of course the White House fears free elections in Iraq by Naomi Klein
"The people of Iraq are free," declared President Bush in his state of
the union address on Tuesday. The previous day, 100,000 Iraqis begged to
differ. They took to Baghdad's streets, shouting: "Yes, yes to
elections. No, no to selection."
According to Iraq occupation chief Paul Bremer, there really is no
difference between the White House's version of freedom and the one
being demanded on the street. Asked whether his plan to form an Iraqi
government through appointed caucuses was heading towards a clash with Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani's call for direct elections, Bremer said he had no
"fundamental disagreement with him".
It was, he said, a mere quibble over details. "I don't want to go into
the technical details of refinements. There are - if you talk to experts in
these matters - all kinds of ways to organise partial elections and
caucuses. And I'm not an election expert, so I don't want to go into
the details. But we've always said we're willing to consider refinements."
I'm not an election expert either, but I'm pretty sure there are
differences here that cannot be refined. Al-Sistani's supporters want
all Iraqis to have a vote and the people they elect to write the laws of
the country - your basic, imperfect, representative democracy.
Bremer wants his Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to appoint the
members of 18 regional organising committees. These will then choose
delegates to form 18 selection caucuses. These will then select
representatives to a transitional national assembly. The assembly will
have an internal vote to select an executive and ministers, who will form
the new government. This, Bush said in the state of the union address,
constitutes "a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty".
Got that? Iraqi sovereignty will be established by appointees
appointing appointees to select appointees to select appointees. Add the fact that
Bremer was appointed to his post by President Bush and Bush to his by
the US Supreme Court, and you have the glorious new democratic tradition of
the appointocracy: rule by an appointee's appointee's appointees'
appointees' appointees' selectees.
IRAQ: NO WMD
Guardian: New WMD blow for Blair
Survey chief resigns saying Iraq never had stockpiles
Tony Blair last night suffered a blow on the eve of the most testing week of his premiership when the US official at the helm of the hunt for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction asserted Iraq did not have large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
Resigning from his post after nine fruitless months in charge of the Iraq Survey Group he said he did not think there had been a large-scale weapons programme inside Iraq since 1991.
David Kay, a hardline CIA of ficial close to the Republicans also criticised President George Bush for failing to give him adequate support.
Guardian: New WMD blow for Blair
Survey chief resigns saying Iraq never had stockpiles
Tony Blair last night suffered a blow on the eve of the most testing week of his premiership when the US official at the helm of the hunt for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction asserted Iraq did not have large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
Resigning from his post after nine fruitless months in charge of the Iraq Survey Group he said he did not think there had been a large-scale weapons programme inside Iraq since 1991.
David Kay, a hardline CIA of ficial close to the Republicans also criticised President George Bush for failing to give him adequate support.
UK: HUTTON INQUIRY/DAVID KELLY
GLOBE INTEL: EXPLOSIVE HUTTON REPORT WILL SHATTER UK/US POLITICAL AND INTELLIGENCE RELATIONSHIPS (complete) by Gordon Thomas
In Court 78, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London's Strand at 11am next Wednesday (January 28), Lord Hutton will deliver his report into the death of Dr David Kelly, Britain's weapons expert.
"The Hutton Report must clearly show both President Bush and Tony Blair were seriously misleading in the way they used original raw intelligence for their own political ends to go to war with Iraq."
That is the stark conclusion of a detailed evaluation prepared by analysts of Britain's security services.
Their conclusions are based on the same review of evidence Lord Hutton conducted to produce his own report.
The analysts also had the input of security service psychologists. They evaluated the body language of witnesses and their choice of words in giving evidence before Hutton.
They judged Blair's appearance before Hutton as "cold about Dr Kelly's death and imbued with a lawyer's cockiness".
Britain's Secretary of Defence, Geoff Hoon, is described as "shifty".
John Scarlett, the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee - the bridge between the intelligence services and Downing Street - is likened to "an intelligence officer who has acquired the evasive technique of a politician".
The analysts report is now in the hands of Sir Richard Dearlove, director-general of MI6, and Eliza Manningham-Buller of MI5.
Dearlove, predict the analysts, can expect to be "mildly criticised" by the Hutton report for failure to prevent raw intelligence from becoming politicised.
But Hutton's most damaging judgement could leave Britain's Secretary of Defence, Geoff Hoon, resigning and Prime Minister, Tony Blair, fighting for his political life.
A senior MI5 officer, who has seen a copy of the intelligence service report, said: "it predicts no one involved in the death of Dr Kelly will escape. The BBC and its reporter, Andrew Gilligan, will be severely censured for its lack of news-gathering controls over the way it handled Gilligan's story about Kelly. In the political arena, Alastair Campbell, Downing Street's former communications director, will be severely censured".
The MI6 analysts reserve praise for Dr Kelly's widow, Janice - "a courageous woman who knew very little of her husband's work". They predict she will "be a shining light in the otherwise dark pages of Hutton".
The MI5 officer predicted the Hutton Report will stun both London and Washington for its "ice cold ferocity".
He said: "the analysts concluded Blair and Bush spoon-fed each other intelligence they knew had been spun to make a case for war with Iraq. Hutton will destroy what credibility they have left. Blair is a man standing at the edge of the gallows trapdoor. He could hang himself by his evasions and half-truths".
Hutton, Britain's most distinguished Law Lord, will undoubtedly lay bare many of the so far unresolved machinations behind the claim of the president and prime minister of why they had to go to war with Iraq.
For Blair, already deeply embattled in a quagmire of evasions and, at times, untruths, it could finally mark the end of his premiership. He may not even survive to see George Bush achieve his dream of being re-elected in November.
And, for the president, Hutton's findings could be equally uncomfortable - finally exposing the fact there were no weapons of mass destruction.
Hutton could also be the spectre that will shadow all Bush says and does in the coming months on the stump.
"But both prime minister and president will undoubtedly look for scapegoats. One will be George Tenet, director of the CIA", said the MI5 officer.
Dearlove has already said he is resigning soon after the Hutton Report is published.
"Tenet may finally decide that he, too, has had enough of increasingly politicised intelligence work. He has told friends he does not plan to serve in any future Bush Administration", confirmed a CIA officer in Washington.
For the intelligence chiefs, the Hutton Report will make bitter-sweet reading.
On the evidence given before him, Lord Hutton will have to pronounce on such key issues as how far politicians in London and Washington spun raw intelligence to promote the need to go to war.
He will also have to pronounce on the relationship between the CIA and MI6.
"When he gave evidence by audio link from his office, Dearlove maintained his service's traditional stiff upper lip. But behind the scenes, we had no doubt about his concern at the way pressure had come from Washington and Downing Street", said the officer.
Hutton will also reveal embarrassing details about the secret life of the central figure in the report: Dr David Kelly.
Kelly had close links with MI6, the CIA, and MI5. He had also worked with Mossad, providing advice on Iraq's capability to launch biological and chemical weapons.
Those links could be exposed in explosive detail in the Hutton Report. Kelly was more than a £63,000 a year scientist. Lord Hutton may conclude Kelly had informed Dearlove the weapons did not exist. Dearlove told Tenet and John Scarlett. He told Tony Blair. Blair told Bush.
Hutton will likely pronounce on why Kelly, who had been a key member of the team preparing what became known as the "sexed up dossier", had suddenly found himself out of the Downing Street loop.
More than any scientist, Kelly knew about types and strains of micro-organisms, numbers of shells and aerial bombs filled with botulinum toxin. He knew the latest figures for the production of bio-weapons material in China, the gallons of growth material in Syria, Pakistan - and which countries had sold the material. He knew what Saddam did not have - and had not possessed for some time: biological and chemical weapons.
Almost uniquely, Kelly kept a large amount of his secret data in his study at home. There, on his desktop computer, were tens of thousands of secret documents and photographs.
Colleagues concerned about this were reassured by Kelly that his bosses in the Ministry of Defence or the Foreign Office were happy with his unorthodox methods. Hutton is also likely to criticise this laxness.
"In reality, Kelly was an academic who had escaped the dull confines of academia to live in the ever-dangerous world of secret intelligence and the hunt for weapons of mass destruction", said the MI5 officer, quoting from the intelligence analysts' report.
It predicts Hutton will have to consider such issues:
Why Dr Kelly's involvement in intelligence work had placed him on the hit list of Saddam's Hussein's notorious death squads.
Why Scotland Yard's Special Branch and the Thames Valley police, who had day-to-day responsibility to protect Kelly's home in the picture postcard village in Oxfordshire where he lived, did not provide Dr Kelly with protection at the outset of the Iraq War.
The intelligence analysts also predict Hutton will closely focus on:
Why did Dr. Kelly arrive home so upset the night before his death that his wife, Janice, was visibly shocked at his manner and appearance?
Why did Kelly leave his home suddenly on that Friday afternoon of his death.
Why, after his body was discovered, did MI5 officers and forensic scientists from Porton Down, Britain's bio-chemical research establishment, search the Kelly home? They left with a number of items sealed in bags. The police would not say what the items had to do with Kelly's death. Hutton may well reveal them.
Such issues will ensure that Kelly's death will be increasingly linked to his secret work for spy agencies, including Mossad.
Kelly's involvement with Mossad dated from April 1995. He travelled with two MI6 officers from London to New York. At the city's Israeli consulate they met two Mossad officers. Present, were officers of the Canadian Secret Intelligence Services and agents from the FBI.
The purpose of the meeting was to track how 32 tonnes of bacterial growth medium - essential for manufacturing lethal germs - was being illegally exported to Iraq from Montreal.
Dr Kelly - already a world-ranking expert on biological weapons - had played a "crucial role" in identifying the growth medium.
While many of the details to this day remain secret, Shabtai Shavit, who had been Mossad director-general at the time of the operation, would later pay tribute to Dr. Kelly's "great skills".
The scientist was first choice when the United Nations came to appoint a senior advisor to supervise the break-up of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme after the first Gulf War.
Kelly's ability to do so placed him on Saddam's hit list. But in the end Saddam turned out to be too frightened of the repercussions to have assassinated a senior UN official at the time Iraq was rebuilding itself after the 1991 war.
In between working in Iraq, Dr Kelly was also in charge of the programme to dismantle Russia's biological warfare weapons programme under the trilateral agreement brokered between Russia, the United States and Britain.
In Moscow, Kelly met Russia's top microbiologist Vladimir Pasechnik. He was then a 53-year-old chemist who was director of the Ultra Pure Biopreperations Institute in St Petersburg.
The two men had become friends to the point where Pasechnik told Kelly - according to an MI5 document - he was "part of the Biopreparat, a large secret programme, which is developing biological weapons like plague and smallpox".
Kelly knew that plague, or Yersinia pestis, had brought the Black Death that wiped out a third of the population of Europe in 1348. It was air-transmitted, propelled by pneumonia like coughing.
Kelly reported what he had been told to Christopher Davis, then an MI6 officer.
"Davis was a close friend of Dr Kelly's. He could have thrown considerable light on Kelly's mindset. But curiously, Davis was not called by Hutton to give evidence", said the MI5 officer.
But others who did stand before the Law Lord cannot be looking forward to how he judges them when he speaks in Law Court 78 next Wednesday.
Ironically, it is only a short distance from the hotel lobby where Dr Kelly met BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan to set in motion the "sexed up dossier" story that Gilligan broadcast. The news report ultimately led to Dr Kelly's suicide.
"Unlike the on-going saga of Princess Diana's death, you can be certain that Lord Hutton will show conclusively that Dr Kelly did kill himself. But what Hutton will also show is the role played by all those who combined to drive him to do so", concludes the evaluation of the intelligence analysts.
The MI5 officer said he understood that details in the intelligence analysis had been fed to a Tory politician with long-time contacts to the intelligence world.
Those details may have helped Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard, to focus in the House of Commons Prime Minister's Questions for two weeks running on the same question to Blair about lying in his role about naming Dr Kelly.
The prime minister has already said he would resign if Hutton judged that he had named the scientist.
GLOBE INTEL: EXPLOSIVE HUTTON REPORT WILL SHATTER UK/US POLITICAL AND INTELLIGENCE RELATIONSHIPS (complete) by Gordon Thomas
In Court 78, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London's Strand at 11am next Wednesday (January 28), Lord Hutton will deliver his report into the death of Dr David Kelly, Britain's weapons expert.
"The Hutton Report must clearly show both President Bush and Tony Blair were seriously misleading in the way they used original raw intelligence for their own political ends to go to war with Iraq."
That is the stark conclusion of a detailed evaluation prepared by analysts of Britain's security services.
Their conclusions are based on the same review of evidence Lord Hutton conducted to produce his own report.
The analysts also had the input of security service psychologists. They evaluated the body language of witnesses and their choice of words in giving evidence before Hutton.
They judged Blair's appearance before Hutton as "cold about Dr Kelly's death and imbued with a lawyer's cockiness".
Britain's Secretary of Defence, Geoff Hoon, is described as "shifty".
John Scarlett, the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee - the bridge between the intelligence services and Downing Street - is likened to "an intelligence officer who has acquired the evasive technique of a politician".
The analysts report is now in the hands of Sir Richard Dearlove, director-general of MI6, and Eliza Manningham-Buller of MI5.
Dearlove, predict the analysts, can expect to be "mildly criticised" by the Hutton report for failure to prevent raw intelligence from becoming politicised.
But Hutton's most damaging judgement could leave Britain's Secretary of Defence, Geoff Hoon, resigning and Prime Minister, Tony Blair, fighting for his political life.
A senior MI5 officer, who has seen a copy of the intelligence service report, said: "it predicts no one involved in the death of Dr Kelly will escape. The BBC and its reporter, Andrew Gilligan, will be severely censured for its lack of news-gathering controls over the way it handled Gilligan's story about Kelly. In the political arena, Alastair Campbell, Downing Street's former communications director, will be severely censured".
The MI6 analysts reserve praise for Dr Kelly's widow, Janice - "a courageous woman who knew very little of her husband's work". They predict she will "be a shining light in the otherwise dark pages of Hutton".
The MI5 officer predicted the Hutton Report will stun both London and Washington for its "ice cold ferocity".
He said: "the analysts concluded Blair and Bush spoon-fed each other intelligence they knew had been spun to make a case for war with Iraq. Hutton will destroy what credibility they have left. Blair is a man standing at the edge of the gallows trapdoor. He could hang himself by his evasions and half-truths".
Hutton, Britain's most distinguished Law Lord, will undoubtedly lay bare many of the so far unresolved machinations behind the claim of the president and prime minister of why they had to go to war with Iraq.
For Blair, already deeply embattled in a quagmire of evasions and, at times, untruths, it could finally mark the end of his premiership. He may not even survive to see George Bush achieve his dream of being re-elected in November.
And, for the president, Hutton's findings could be equally uncomfortable - finally exposing the fact there were no weapons of mass destruction.
Hutton could also be the spectre that will shadow all Bush says and does in the coming months on the stump.
"But both prime minister and president will undoubtedly look for scapegoats. One will be George Tenet, director of the CIA", said the MI5 officer.
Dearlove has already said he is resigning soon after the Hutton Report is published.
"Tenet may finally decide that he, too, has had enough of increasingly politicised intelligence work. He has told friends he does not plan to serve in any future Bush Administration", confirmed a CIA officer in Washington.
For the intelligence chiefs, the Hutton Report will make bitter-sweet reading.
On the evidence given before him, Lord Hutton will have to pronounce on such key issues as how far politicians in London and Washington spun raw intelligence to promote the need to go to war.
He will also have to pronounce on the relationship between the CIA and MI6.
"When he gave evidence by audio link from his office, Dearlove maintained his service's traditional stiff upper lip. But behind the scenes, we had no doubt about his concern at the way pressure had come from Washington and Downing Street", said the officer.
Hutton will also reveal embarrassing details about the secret life of the central figure in the report: Dr David Kelly.
Kelly had close links with MI6, the CIA, and MI5. He had also worked with Mossad, providing advice on Iraq's capability to launch biological and chemical weapons.
Those links could be exposed in explosive detail in the Hutton Report. Kelly was more than a £63,000 a year scientist. Lord Hutton may conclude Kelly had informed Dearlove the weapons did not exist. Dearlove told Tenet and John Scarlett. He told Tony Blair. Blair told Bush.
Hutton will likely pronounce on why Kelly, who had been a key member of the team preparing what became known as the "sexed up dossier", had suddenly found himself out of the Downing Street loop.
More than any scientist, Kelly knew about types and strains of micro-organisms, numbers of shells and aerial bombs filled with botulinum toxin. He knew the latest figures for the production of bio-weapons material in China, the gallons of growth material in Syria, Pakistan - and which countries had sold the material. He knew what Saddam did not have - and had not possessed for some time: biological and chemical weapons.
Almost uniquely, Kelly kept a large amount of his secret data in his study at home. There, on his desktop computer, were tens of thousands of secret documents and photographs.
Colleagues concerned about this were reassured by Kelly that his bosses in the Ministry of Defence or the Foreign Office were happy with his unorthodox methods. Hutton is also likely to criticise this laxness.
"In reality, Kelly was an academic who had escaped the dull confines of academia to live in the ever-dangerous world of secret intelligence and the hunt for weapons of mass destruction", said the MI5 officer, quoting from the intelligence analysts' report.
It predicts Hutton will have to consider such issues:
Why Dr Kelly's involvement in intelligence work had placed him on the hit list of Saddam's Hussein's notorious death squads.
Why Scotland Yard's Special Branch and the Thames Valley police, who had day-to-day responsibility to protect Kelly's home in the picture postcard village in Oxfordshire where he lived, did not provide Dr Kelly with protection at the outset of the Iraq War.
The intelligence analysts also predict Hutton will closely focus on:
Why did Dr. Kelly arrive home so upset the night before his death that his wife, Janice, was visibly shocked at his manner and appearance?
Why did Kelly leave his home suddenly on that Friday afternoon of his death.
Why, after his body was discovered, did MI5 officers and forensic scientists from Porton Down, Britain's bio-chemical research establishment, search the Kelly home? They left with a number of items sealed in bags. The police would not say what the items had to do with Kelly's death. Hutton may well reveal them.
Such issues will ensure that Kelly's death will be increasingly linked to his secret work for spy agencies, including Mossad.
Kelly's involvement with Mossad dated from April 1995. He travelled with two MI6 officers from London to New York. At the city's Israeli consulate they met two Mossad officers. Present, were officers of the Canadian Secret Intelligence Services and agents from the FBI.
The purpose of the meeting was to track how 32 tonnes of bacterial growth medium - essential for manufacturing lethal germs - was being illegally exported to Iraq from Montreal.
Dr Kelly - already a world-ranking expert on biological weapons - had played a "crucial role" in identifying the growth medium.
While many of the details to this day remain secret, Shabtai Shavit, who had been Mossad director-general at the time of the operation, would later pay tribute to Dr. Kelly's "great skills".
The scientist was first choice when the United Nations came to appoint a senior advisor to supervise the break-up of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme after the first Gulf War.
Kelly's ability to do so placed him on Saddam's hit list. But in the end Saddam turned out to be too frightened of the repercussions to have assassinated a senior UN official at the time Iraq was rebuilding itself after the 1991 war.
In between working in Iraq, Dr Kelly was also in charge of the programme to dismantle Russia's biological warfare weapons programme under the trilateral agreement brokered between Russia, the United States and Britain.
In Moscow, Kelly met Russia's top microbiologist Vladimir Pasechnik. He was then a 53-year-old chemist who was director of the Ultra Pure Biopreperations Institute in St Petersburg.
The two men had become friends to the point where Pasechnik told Kelly - according to an MI5 document - he was "part of the Biopreparat, a large secret programme, which is developing biological weapons like plague and smallpox".
Kelly knew that plague, or Yersinia pestis, had brought the Black Death that wiped out a third of the population of Europe in 1348. It was air-transmitted, propelled by pneumonia like coughing.
Kelly reported what he had been told to Christopher Davis, then an MI6 officer.
"Davis was a close friend of Dr Kelly's. He could have thrown considerable light on Kelly's mindset. But curiously, Davis was not called by Hutton to give evidence", said the MI5 officer.
But others who did stand before the Law Lord cannot be looking forward to how he judges them when he speaks in Law Court 78 next Wednesday.
Ironically, it is only a short distance from the hotel lobby where Dr Kelly met BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan to set in motion the "sexed up dossier" story that Gilligan broadcast. The news report ultimately led to Dr Kelly's suicide.
"Unlike the on-going saga of Princess Diana's death, you can be certain that Lord Hutton will show conclusively that Dr Kelly did kill himself. But what Hutton will also show is the role played by all those who combined to drive him to do so", concludes the evaluation of the intelligence analysts.
The MI5 officer said he understood that details in the intelligence analysis had been fed to a Tory politician with long-time contacts to the intelligence world.
Those details may have helped Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard, to focus in the House of Commons Prime Minister's Questions for two weeks running on the same question to Blair about lying in his role about naming Dr Kelly.
The prime minister has already said he would resign if Hutton judged that he had named the scientist.
SYRIA/ISRAEL
Antiwar.com: The Syrian Threat
Letter from Israel by Ran HaCohen
"Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land" (Jer 1:14) is a verse every Israeli pupil learns by heart. This biblical truth has never been more true than these days: the Syrian President, in a major threat to the Jewish state, offers Israel to resume peace talks. A blatant crime against war itself. Israel, understandably, is forced to defend itself.
There are several convincing reasons why Israel should reject the peaceful Syrian hand. First of all, Syria should come to the negotiation table without any preconditions. When Assad proved evil enough to accept this, Israel demanded that Syria stop it alleged support for "terrorism" (and accept the Israeli-American definition of terrorism, to include resistance to occupation). Fair enough: both sides, except the Israeli side, should come to the negotiation table without any preconditions. Imagine Syria demanding that Israel end its occupation, or just dismantle its death squads, as a precondition to resume peace talks.
Then we are told that president Assad is young and inexperienced. A problem indeed. A good solution would be to reject his offer for a few more decades of hostility, when all our "experts for Arab issues" will be able to claim safely that he is too old to change, and/or that his days are counted. Then we can wait for his successor, hopefully a young and inexperienced one.
Antiwar.com: The Syrian Threat
Letter from Israel by Ran HaCohen
"Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land" (Jer 1:14) is a verse every Israeli pupil learns by heart. This biblical truth has never been more true than these days: the Syrian President, in a major threat to the Jewish state, offers Israel to resume peace talks. A blatant crime against war itself. Israel, understandably, is forced to defend itself.
There are several convincing reasons why Israel should reject the peaceful Syrian hand. First of all, Syria should come to the negotiation table without any preconditions. When Assad proved evil enough to accept this, Israel demanded that Syria stop it alleged support for "terrorism" (and accept the Israeli-American definition of terrorism, to include resistance to occupation). Fair enough: both sides, except the Israeli side, should come to the negotiation table without any preconditions. Imagine Syria demanding that Israel end its occupation, or just dismantle its death squads, as a precondition to resume peace talks.
Then we are told that president Assad is young and inexperienced. A problem indeed. A good solution would be to reject his offer for a few more decades of hostility, when all our "experts for Arab issues" will be able to claim safely that he is too old to change, and/or that his days are counted. Then we can wait for his successor, hopefully a young and inexperienced one.
SYRIA/ISRAEL
Forward: U.S. Advice To Israelis: Don't Start Syria Talks
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration recently advised the Israeli government against taking up the offer of Syrian President Bashar Assad to resume peace negotiations, Israeli and American diplomats in Washington confirmed.
The administration, according to sources, voiced several concerns regarding Assad's recent public claims that he is willing to resume peace negotiations with Israel. The main concern, sources said, is that negotiations with Syria, which have slim chances of yielding an agreement anytime soon, would divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian track and impede efforts to implement the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.
"Die Usa gibt Israel den Ratschlag keine Friedensgespräche mit Syrien zu führen, da Sie eine eigene Syrien-Politik machen wollen um weiterhin Druck auf die Regierung Assad auszüben..soviel zu den Amerikanischen Friedensbemühungen im Nahen Osten"
Forward: U.S. Advice To Israelis: Don't Start Syria Talks
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration recently advised the Israeli government against taking up the offer of Syrian President Bashar Assad to resume peace negotiations, Israeli and American diplomats in Washington confirmed.
The administration, according to sources, voiced several concerns regarding Assad's recent public claims that he is willing to resume peace negotiations with Israel. The main concern, sources said, is that negotiations with Syria, which have slim chances of yielding an agreement anytime soon, would divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian track and impede efforts to implement the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.
"Die Usa gibt Israel den Ratschlag keine Friedensgespräche mit Syrien zu führen, da Sie eine eigene Syrien-Politik machen wollen um weiterhin Druck auf die Regierung Assad auszüben..soviel zu den Amerikanischen Friedensbemühungen im Nahen Osten"
Sunday, January 25, 2004
SITE OF THE DAY
CHECK: http://www.propagandacritic.com/
Created eight years ago, when the world-wide web was in its infancy, the propaganda site is inspired by the pioneering work of the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA). From 1937 to 1942, the IPA was dedicated to promoting the techniques of propaganda analysis among critically-minded citizens.
CHECK: http://www.propagandacritic.com/
Created eight years ago, when the world-wide web was in its infancy, the propaganda site is inspired by the pioneering work of the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA). From 1937 to 1942, the IPA was dedicated to promoting the techniques of propaganda analysis among critically-minded citizens.
PR-WATCH
hrainford: Why is the Internet not controlled by the authorities?
For Public Relations to be successful it must be perceived as information independent from the originator. This gives it credibility not there if it is perceived as self promotion.
The reason there is so much promotion of the “free press” is because if it was widely known that the “free press” was really advertising the concepts of the elite the masses would be more suspicious of the content. The media does allow some miscellaneous uncontrolled content but only to maintain credibility.
hrainford: Why is the Internet not controlled by the authorities?
For Public Relations to be successful it must be perceived as information independent from the originator. This gives it credibility not there if it is perceived as self promotion.
The reason there is so much promotion of the “free press” is because if it was widely known that the “free press” was really advertising the concepts of the elite the masses would be more suspicious of the content. The media does allow some miscellaneous uncontrolled content but only to maintain credibility.
UK
Independent: 'Jewish Lobby' Now An
Anti-Semitic Term - US Diplomat
A senior US diplomat in London has ruffled feathers in Britain's foreign policy establishment by publicly implying that a reference to the "Jewish lobby" in the United States is an anti-Semitic remark.
The incident happened yesterday at a Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) lecture on US foreign policy given by David Johnson, who is the second in command at the American embassy in London.
During the question-and-answer session he was asked: "Will the US ever be willing to impose an equitable peace settlement in the Middle East, or is it perhaps that the Jewish lobby in America is too strong to make that feasible?"
Mr Johnson responded indignantly, saying: "I am highly resentful of the last part of your remarks, just because of its ethnic slur." And he went on: "During my time here I have become increasingly troubled by the willingness of European audiences to skirt up to the side of anti-Semitic language as a political criticism."
Independent: 'Jewish Lobby' Now An
Anti-Semitic Term - US Diplomat
A senior US diplomat in London has ruffled feathers in Britain's foreign policy establishment by publicly implying that a reference to the "Jewish lobby" in the United States is an anti-Semitic remark.
The incident happened yesterday at a Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) lecture on US foreign policy given by David Johnson, who is the second in command at the American embassy in London.
During the question-and-answer session he was asked: "Will the US ever be willing to impose an equitable peace settlement in the Middle East, or is it perhaps that the Jewish lobby in America is too strong to make that feasible?"
Mr Johnson responded indignantly, saying: "I am highly resentful of the last part of your remarks, just because of its ethnic slur." And he went on: "During my time here I have become increasingly troubled by the willingness of European audiences to skirt up to the side of anti-Semitic language as a political criticism."
911
Guardian: German Trial Hears
How Iranian Agent Warned US Of Impending al-Qaida Attack
The United States was warned of impending September 11 terrorist attacks by an Iranian spy, but ignored him, German secret service agents testified yesterday in the trial of an alleged al-Qaida terrorist.
The spy, identified as Hamid Reza Zakeri, tried to warn the CIA after leaving Iran in 2001, but was not believed, two German officers who interviewed him told the Hamburg court.
Guardian: German Trial Hears
How Iranian Agent Warned US Of Impending al-Qaida Attack
The United States was warned of impending September 11 terrorist attacks by an Iranian spy, but ignored him, German secret service agents testified yesterday in the trial of an alleged al-Qaida terrorist.
The spy, identified as Hamid Reza Zakeri, tried to warn the CIA after leaving Iran in 2001, but was not believed, two German officers who interviewed him told the Hamburg court.
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