Archived news and commentary: April 19 - 25, 2004

2004/06/28 - 2004/07/04
2004/06/21 - 2004/06/27
2004/06/14 - 2004/06/20
2004/06/07 - 2004/06/13
2004/05/31 - 2004/06/06
2004/05/24 - 2004/05/30
2004/05/17 - 2004/05/23
2004/05/10 - 2004/05/16
2004/05/03 - 2004/05/09
2004/04/26 - 2004/05/02
2004/04/19 - 2004/04/25
2004/04/12 - 2004/04/18
2004/04/05 - 2004/04/11
2004/03/29 - 2004/04/04

Sunday, April 25, 2004

News and commentary:

"In the Darfur region of Sudan, refugees flee the Janjaweed militia"
(Francesco Zizola, Magnum Photos/The New York Times, 2004/04/25)
(See also the gallery: "Sudan-Chad. 2004." (Francesco Zizola, Magnum Photos, 2004))

"The Anti-American Century" (Ivan Krastev, Journal of Democracy, from the April 2004 issue)
Post-Cold War anti-Americanism II: "Indeed, the era we are now entering may well come to be recalled as “the anti-American century.” The rise of anti-Americanism around the globe is a distinctive feature of the post–September 11 world. The expressions of anti-Americanism vary from acts of terrorism against American citizens or property to dramatic increases in the global public’s negative attitudes toward the United States and its policies, as registered in the latest global polls conducted by the Pew Research Center.1 Burning American flags, boycotting American commercial products, and mobilizing electoral support through unrestrained anti-American rhetoric are common in many parts of the world. ...
What is new is the way in which anti-Americanism is becoming an instrument in post–Cold War politics. Decoupled from communism, which gave it a certain strength but also placed limits on its appeal, anti- Americanism has worked its way more than ever before into the mainstream of world politics. In a sense, Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history” has come to pass, with democracy and capitalism today lacking powerful ideological rivals. But as we arrive at the end of history, we can see anti-Americanism there waiting for us. It has turned into a conjurer’s hat, where pieces of different ideologies, anxieties, and political strategies come together to be recombined and recycled for a new life. The appeal of anti-Americanism transcends Left-Right divisions, and it works equally well with anxious governments and angry publics. It fits the definition of an all-purpose ideology." (Hat tip: Larry Allen.)

"The New Anti-Semitism?" (Rob Foot, Quadrant, from the April 2004 issue)
Post-Cold War anti-Americanism I: "Conceivably, then, Bush should have been on a roll when he visited Australia in 1993. The war had been an astonishing success. A small, defenceless country had been liberated, civilian casualties had been minimised through the use of precision weapons, Arab sensitivities had been respected, and Hussein was, as was then thought, well on the way to being comprehensively disarmed of his WMD munitions (years of playing cat-and-mouse with the UNSCOM weapons inspectors still lay ahead). Bush's own leadership of the whole enterprise had been greatly praised, especially in Asia, where it was viewed as a model of international statesmanship.
But in Australia, the Left reacted to his presence not with opposition or reasoned objection, but with visceral, unremitting ideological hatred. The particular circumstance was irrelevant; any old excuse would do. America was the world's whipping boy, simply because it was America. That's what was different then, and it stayed different.
This hatred has been the hallmark of the Left's attitude to the USA throughout the ten years since, steadily strengthening, not at all mitigated — on the contrary, noticeably sharpened — by the events of September 11, and hugely exacerbated by the recent, second, war against Iraq, about which there was some real moral ambiguity. Today, it has reached the proportions of an epidemic, with disturbing additional characteristics.
Anti-Americanism has become a superstition. Fear, loathing, fury and resentment have combined to produce something that resembles nothing so much as a new form of virulent anti-Semitism." (Hat tip: Malcolm Smordin.)

"The Scent of Democracy" (Amir Taheri, New York Post, 2004/04/25)
"Starting this year, the Muslim world has witnessed a string of conferences, all devoted to the issue of democratization.
Some of these conferences — e.g., in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia; in Istanbul; in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa; in Alexandria, Egypt — have come out with clear statements that democratic reform is the only way out for Muslim nations caught in "an historic quagmire." The issue will be at the center of another conference next month in Jordan held under the auspices of the World Economic Forum. ...
There is a growing sentiment in the Muslim world that their political systems have reached a dead end, with some form of democratization as the only way out. The old debate on whether Islam is compatible with democracy is hardly engaged these days. The issue now is the necessity of democracy for Muslims rather than its compatibility with Islam. Even the most conservative of Muslim regimes are now committed to the creation of elected organs of government. ...
Muslim politics limited to palaces, barracks, mosques and streets has led to what must be regarded as the most glaring collective failure for any group of nations in history. It is, perhaps, time to envisage other institutions — notably political parties, parliaments and law courts — as the focal points of political life in the Muslim world."

"Arafat Among the Ruins" (David Rieff, The New York Times Magazine, 2004/04/25)
"Less easy to explain is [Arafat's] apparent interest in a book called ''The Bible Code'' and its sequel, ''Bible Code II,'' which claim that contemporary political events were secretly predicted in code in the Pentateuch. Its author, a former Wall Street Journal reporter named Michael Drosnin predicts the imminent destruction of humanity (and claims to have predicted the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as well as the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11); he also asserts that the codes contained in the Bible must have been the work of a superior (read extraterrestrial) species. Arafat has received Drosnin at the Mukata — a cause for embarrassment even among his staunchest supporters. ...
In their isolation, they may have a less and less clear idea of what is actually going on in Israel — a distortion I had not understood until, at lunch in Ramallah with some Palestinian notables, I found myself being asked about the curfew in Tel Aviv in the aftermath of Sheik Yassin's death. When I told them there was no curfew in Tel Aviv and that, indeed, I left a crowded beachfront restaurant there at 1 in the morning and the place was packed with young couples lining up to get in, it was clear they were not sure whether to believe me. Palestinians, in a very important sense, are living in a dream world." (See also: "The Bible (or Torah) Code" (The Skeptic's Dictionary): "Thomas also did an ELS analysis on Drosnin's Bible Code II: The Countdown (2002) and found the message 'The Bible Code is a silly, dumb, fake, false, evil, nasty, dismal fraud and snake-oil hoax.'")

"Gobble Revival" (Tim Blair, timblair.spleenville.com, 2004/04/25)
"Just when the George W. Bush fake turkey fantasy seemed to have been completely played out, along comes Mark Lawson — the pale pundit who began the whole fakeness debacle in the first place — to revive it:

George Bush has so far struggled to locate his chosen photo: the turkey he was pictured serving in Iraq proved embarrassingly to be fake ...

Once again: the turkey was decorative, but real. Bush was pictured holding it, not serving it. Mark Lawson is a 100-kilogram albino axolotl, not a journalist. Pray continue, axo-dude: ...

The publication of the cadaver montage - in which Bush's face is made up of squares containing smiles and stares of military men and women who are now all dust - threatens to become one of the most powerful propaganda images in history.

It won’t. Besides which, it isn’t a cadaver montage; that would be a montage composed of pictures of cadavers. Lawson is incredibly stupid.

And now the coffin shots are out. Forced to explain how it can simultaneously be heroic to die for your country, but necessary to be shipped back in a silence and secrecy generally associated with shame, Bush may be on the way to becoming a president whose administration was snapped by photographs."

(Note: I have to admit that I completely failed to appreciate the significance of the montage that, according to Lawson, might become "one of the most powerful propaganda images in history": "War President" (American Leftist, 2004/04/04).
Personally, I much prefer the Ashcroft montage ["Here's a picture of John Ashcroft's face..." (HubLog, 2004/04/07)], which actually says something quite profound about the mindset of crusading moralists. Or something. The fact that soldiers die in a war is certainly tragic, but hardly very revealing or shocking in itself. See also: "A Mosaic made from the portraits of victims..." (Jason Reed, Reuters, 2004/03/23)
Also: "Bring out your dead" (Mark Lawson, The Guardian, 2004/04/24)

"Slain Israeli Arab's father begs for sanity in PA" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/04/25)
"The father of George Khoury, the Israeli Arab student who was gunned down while jogging in French Hill last month, on Sunday appealed to the Palestinian Authority and Muslim religious leaders to stop the campaign of incitement and to work towards restoring law and order.
Elias Khoury, a prominent lawyer from the Galilee who has been living in Jerusalem for 30 years, made his appeal in reaction to the arrest of three young Palestinians who have confessed to the killing of his son. The three claimed that they shot Khoury, a student at Hebrew University, after they mistook him for a Jew. ...
"What is very painful for me here is the clear-cut evidence that there is a state of complete anarchy, disorder and chaos, in addition to the loss of values and people taking the law into their own hands in order to serve, as it were, the Palestinian cause, or supposedly God's interests." ...
In response to the suspects' argument that they committed the murder in order to appease God, Khoury said: "Religious leaders need first and foremost ... to see how these young people are influenced to take religious issues and distort them in the ugliest manner. This contradicts the will of God, the Koran, and Islam because they are taking matters into their own hands."
The father said he was extremely worried by the disrespect for human life, warning that the killings were destroying the interests of the Palestinians. "There is a complete loss of human values," he stressed." (See also: "Militia Sorry for Killing Arab in Jerusalem Attack" (Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2004/03/20))

"Oil-for-food inquiry says 'key' is $1bn UN paid itself in fees" (Charles Laurence and Inigo Gilmore, The Sunday Telegraph, 2004/04/25)
"More than $1 billion (£560 million) collected by the United Nations as its "commission" on Iraq's oil-for-food programme has become a fresh focus for the inquiry into the biggest scandal ever to engulf the organisation. ...
Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a management consultant and adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council, who testified to the House Committee on Government Reform in Washington last week, said that tracking what happened to the estimated total of $1.1 billion in fees levied by the United Nations was a "key" to untangling the corruption scandal. ...
A senior UN official who is closely involved in uncovering evidence of the scandal admitted: "The UN was not doing this work just for the good of Iraq. Cash from Saddam's government was keeping the UN going for a few years.
"No one knows exactly what sums were involved because an audit has never been done. That is why they are wriggling and squirming now in New York." ...
"What the UN did with these administration fees is a pointer to corruption on a scale never seen before," [Hankes-Drielsma] said."

Saturday, April 24, 2004

News and commentary:

"Burqa, Afghanistan"
(Traditional women's costume in muslim countries)
(Note: This interesting, but rather bizarre gallery, hailing the beauty of the burqa, runs under the motto: "Diversity is one of our most precious wealth on earth." See also: "Saudi Arabia, Negev" (Traditional women's costume in muslim countries) and "Saudi Shopping, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh" (Traditional women's costume in muslim countries))

"Sudan welcomes UN rights panel's weak text on Darfur atrocities" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2004/04/24)
Darfur III: "Khartoum welcomed a UN human rights panel's mildly worded text on alleged government-backed atrocities in western Sudan adopted over US objections.
"It is a victory for law," Information Minister Al-Zahawe Ibrahim Malik said of the vote Saturday on what the United Nations has called the world's worst ongoing humanitarian disaster.
He thanked "the brother countries who supported Sudan" during the vote.
On Friday in Geneva, the top UN human rights forum adopted a softly worded text on the alleged atrocities during the civil war in the Darfur region.
Fifty members of the UN Commission on Human Rights approved the document drawn up as a compromise between the European Union and a bloc of African nations, prompting the United States to demand in vain a second vote for stronger action.
Washington voted against the text, and there were two abstentions." (See also: "'Mass execution' in western Sudan" (BBC News, 2004/04/23))

"Arafat takes Sharon threat seriously" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/04/24)
"Addressing the crowd, a defiant Arafat said he was not afraid because he considers himself a "martyr" for the Palestinian cause. He also referred to himself as a mountain that could not be moved by any wind.
"All of us are martyrs-in-the-waiting," Arafat said. "I want to stress to all that the threats made by Sharon and his gang will not prevent our people from pursuing their struggle until they achieve all their rights. Everyone must know that we are determined to march toward Jerusalem and to sacrifice millions." ...
Jibril Rajoub, Arafat's national security advisor, warned that 'the blood of Arafat will chase the Jews forever, the same as Christ's blood.'" (See also: "'I am free from pledge not to harm Arafat' warns Sharon" (Steve Weitzman, The Scotsman, 2004/04/24))

"Roadside Bomb Kills 13 Iraqis, Wounds 17" (AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/04/24)
"A roadside bomb exploded near a bus south of Baghdad on Saturday, killing 13 Iraqis, including at least one child, and wounding 17 people, a hospital official said.
The blast occurred on a main road in the town of Haswa, 30 miles south of the capital, police said. The bomb was planted in the ground and went off as a bus carrying 21 people was passing, said police officer Ali Mahmoud.
The dead included passengers and bystanders, among them a 4-year-old boy, said Wasan Nasser, a doctor at Iskan Hospital in neighboring Iskandariyah."

"Dozens of Iraqis Killed by Rockets, Bomb" (Jim Krane, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/04/24)
"Volleys of rockets struck the capital's crowded Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Sadr City on Saturday, hitting a busy market, smashing into a home and killing at least seven Iraqis. Outside Baghdad, insurgents rocketed a U.S. military base, killing five soldiers. ...
Hours later, a volley of three rockets was fired into Sadr City, a slum of more than 1 million people. One hit the neighborhood's crowded souk, known as Chicken Market, where hundreds had gathered for morning shopping. Human flesh could be seen among scattered merchandise and burned cars.
At least six Iraqis were killed and 38 wounded, said Yassin Abdel-Qader, a doctor with the area's Health Directorate.
A few hours later, a rocket struck a two-story house in Sadr City, smashing through the roof and down to the ground floor, killing a woman as she took an afternoon nap and wounding her daughter. At least two more rockets exploded later on a main street on the edge of Sadr City, breaking windows but causing no casualties."

"The Next Chapter: What to be done in Iraq?" (Francis Fukuyama, The Wall Street Journal, 2004/04/24)
"Everyone is understandably focused on the June 30 transfer of sovereignty, a mere 75 days away. But much less will happen that day to shift real power than on the day that the first democratic elections are held, presumably by the end of this year. Only elections — not the U.N., not the Arab world, nor any coalition of foreign countries — can legitimate a new Iraqi government. It is only the realistic prospect of elections that will motivate the Iraqis themselves to organize political parties, step forward as leaders, and take greater responsibility for their own affairs. It is preparing for these elections that should increasingly be the focus of our efforts.
If we make progress in solving these four problems, and if we get through the two elections outlined by President Bush, we should not kid ourselves about what will emerge at the end of the process. The new Iraqi state will be more legitimate than any other state in the Arab world, but it will also likely be very weak and dependent on outside assistance. ...
Thus if part of the vision being offered to the American people is the prospect that we will be able to disengage militarily from Iraq in less than two years, the administration should think again. It will be extremely difficult to stick to the timetable outlined by the president, and even if the U.S. do it will have big lingering commitments. The American public should not be blindsided about the total costs of the reconstruction, as it was about the costs of the war itself. For all of the reasons offered by President Bush, it is absolutely critical that America stay the course and ensure that Iraq becomes a stable, democratic country."

"Ethnic cleansing in desert of death for black Muslims" (Adrian Blomfeld, The Daily Telegraph, 2004/04/24)
Survivors describe the massacre at Har 'Janga in Sudan: "The village had been surrounded by armed Arabs on horses and camels - members of the Janjaweed militia, who, with the backing of the Khartoum government, are apparently intent on "whiting out" Darfur's black majority, despite both sides being Muslim.
The mounted Arabs, in military fatigues, charged into the village, wheeling precisely between the huts and firing indiscriminately. The Janjaweed were followed by government infantry who gathered Har 'Janga's young men into a group and executed them, each with a single shot in the back of the head.
Ismael's family were singled out and taken to a well. The Janjaweed accused them of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army, the rebel movement that began an uprising against the government a year ago.
"They took a knife and cut my mother's throat and they threw her into the well," said Ismael. "Then they took my oldest sister and began to rape her one by one. My father was kneeling, crying and begging them for mercy." Ismael escaped by hiding under a dead mule, from where he saw the Janjaweed rape his three other sisters, among them Khadija, her face now unrecognisable, before slitting their throats.
"After that they killed my brother and my father," he said. 'They threw all the bodies in the well.'"

"Radical Cleric Is Unwanted by His Neighbors" (Abdul Razzaq Al-Saeidy and Edward Wong, The New York Times, 2004/04/24)
A report from Najaf: "'It's not brave to take refuge in the house or the mosque or the markets and use women and children as human shields,' [Sadr al-Din al-Kubanchi] said of the Mahdi Army. "They are people who are trying to cheat you, and they are people from the regime of Saddam Hussein, former intelligence officers. They want to drag you into battle to be destroyed. If that happens, the soldiers will attack Najaf, and our enemies will happily see our blood flow."
The standoff in Najaf has turned into a showdown between the clerics of the city and Mr. Sadr, as the religious and tribal leaders here try to nudge their unwanted neighbor out of town.
They are men of the book rather than of the bullet, so they are seeking to pry Mr. Sadr loose through their powers of rhetoric. ...
Gingerly, since Mr. Sadr now runs the city, they have handed out flyers and given speeches urging the Mahdi Army to take its fight elsewhere. They have done so while their mosques and homes are surrounded by undisciplined militiamen. ...
Even as Mr. Kubanchi began his tirade in Najaf against the Mahdi Army, Mr. Sadr walked into a mosque full of worshipers pumping their fists in the air."
"We will be human time bombs which will explode in their faces," Mr. Sadr said. "They have humiliated us, so how will we react? We believe we can humiliate them."
Mr. Sadr delivered his sermon wrapped in the kind of white cloth usually draped over a Muslim's body before burial." (See also: "Iraq's Sadr Warns of Suicide Bombs if U.S. Attacks" (Reuters, 2004/04/23))

"U.S., U.N. Seek New Leaders For Iraq" (Robin Wright and Walter Pincus, The Washington Post, 2004/04/24)
"The United States and the top U.N. envoy to Iraq have decided to exclude the majority of the Iraqi politicians the U.S.-led coalition has relied on over the past year when they select an Iraqi government to assume power on June 30, U.S. and U.N. officials said yesterday. ...
At the top of the list of those likely to be jettisoned is Ahmed Chalabi, a Shiite politician who for years was a favorite of the Pentagon and the office of Vice President Cheney, and who was once expected to assume a powerful role after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, U.S. officials acknowledged.
Chalabi has increasingly alienated the Bush administration, including President Bush, in recent months, U.S. officials said. He generated anger in Washington yesterday when he said a new U.S. plan to allow some former officials of Hussein's ruling Baath Party and military to return to office is the equivalent of returning Nazis to power in Germany after World War II." (See also: "Iraq official: Letting Baathists back like Germany allowing Nazis" (AP/WCNC.com, 2004/04/23): "Ahmed Chalabi says letting former Baath Party members into the interim government 'would be the same as Nazis taking part in a German government.'")

Friday, April 23, 2004

News and commentary:

"In Central Asia, an American Professor Finds Hostility Spiked With Cynicism" (Elinor Burkett, The Chronicle Review, from the 2004/04/23 issue)
Burkett on anti-Americanism in Kyrgyzstan: "'She doesn't belong here,' one philosopher opined (at least that's how my students characterized her statement). Other faculty members, I was told, warned students to beware of "the American": "She must be an agent," they cautioned. "CIA or FBI."
Nike maintained no sweatshop anywhere in the country. U.S. troops had never despoiled Central Asian soil. Few Kyrgyz had ever seen an American. Still, the wariness was palpable.
Over the past three years, I have often wondered how I would have explained such suspicion if I had arrived in Kyrgyzstan after September 11, 2001. Would I have simply assumed that the hostility was a result of the United States' bombing of Afghanistan or its invasion of Iraq? But I landed in Central Asia in August 2001. ...
Even the verbal abuse heaped on me during class by students, and the daily glares from the key lady, felt too empty and passionless to be very revelatory. The students weren't militant about their anti-Americanism, or about much of anything. History had rendered them too cynical for any level of fervor. Their antagonism felt vestigial, the persistently acrid smell of the cold war tinged with envy and the bitter odor of half-truth doled out by a sleazy press. ...
I'd moved to Central Asia to train journalists, not to strike a blow for Uncle Sam. Yet every word I uttered — about critical thinking or the news media's responsibility to promote information above opinion — was drowned out by the steady din of political fables and tabloidesque truths unalloyed with skepticism, nuance, or even fact."

"'I am free from pledge not to harm Arafat' warns Sharon" (Steve Weitzman, The Scotsman, 2004/04/24)
"The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has said he is no longer bound by a promise to the United States president, George Bush, not to harm Yasser Arafat - the strongest sign yet that Israel could target the Palestinian leader.
In an interview with Israel TV’s Channel Two, broadcast last night, Mr Sharon said he told president Bush about his change of position during a meeting in Washington last week.
"I told the president the following: ‘In our first meeting about three years ago, I accepted your request not to harm Arafat physically,"’ Mr Sharon told the TV channel.
'I told him I understand the problems surrounding the situation, but I am released from that pledge.'"

"Danish defence minister resigns" (BBC News, 2004/04/23)
"Denmark's defence minister has resigned amid criticism of government reports about alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Days earlier, lawmakers questioned whether Denmark's military intelligence agency gave accurate reports on Saddam Hussein's possession of WMDs.
"I don't want to burden the government and my family with the smear campaign," Svend Aage Jensby said in a statement.
The Danish government backed the US-led war on Iraq.
It recently declassified intelligence reports compiled before the Iraq war which show officials thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
The extracts appear to contradict claims leaked to a newspaper that there was no evidence to back up the theory."

"Iraq's Sadr Warns of Suicide Bombs if U.S. Attacks" (Reuters, 2004/04/23)
"Rebel Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Friday he could unleash suicide bombers if U.S. forces attacked the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, and called on the whole nation to unite to expel Iraq's occupiers. ...
Speaking at Friday prayers in Kufa, next to Najaf where he also preached last week, Sadr told thousands of Shi'ites Najaf would never fall to the occupiers.
"We will shed blood to keep our holy city," he said. "Lots of believers, men and women, came to me and asked permission to become martyrs and to execute martyrdom operations." ...
Sadr likened Iraq's situation to that of the Palestinians, saying Iraqis faced the same enemies and must unite to defeat them.
"We should be united for one ultimate goal, to liberate our country and remove the filth from Iraq," he said.
The congregation chanted "Long live Sadr" and denounced not only the occupation forces but the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, saying "America and the Council are infidels."

"Top UN envoy calls Israel 'the great poison'" (AP/CTV.ca, 2004/04/23)
"The United Nations attempted Friday to distance UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from his top envoy's description of Israel as "the great poison" in the Middle East but Israel said it wasn't satisfied and is considering a formal protest.
The flap erupted when Lakhdar Brahimi, who is trying to help Iraqis agree on a transitional government to take power June 30, gave an interview to France Inter radio Wednesday criticizing Israel's policy and U.S. support for it. ...
Brahimi stressed an eventual solution in Iraq is tied to the wide problem of peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
"The problems are linked," he said.
"There is no doubt that the great poison in the region is this Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians, as well as the perception of all of the population in the region and beyond of the injustice of this policy and the equally unjust support...of the United States for this policy." ...
In the France Inter interview, Brahimi said: "There's an obligation of all of us to see how we can cohabit on this small planet with this superpower which is the United States."
"There are quite a few other people on this planet and the Americans should also make an effort to learn how to live with them," he said."

"Bremer announces moves to reinstate some former Baathist members" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2004/04/23)
"The US civil administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer announced steps to reinstate some former members of Saddam Hussein's disbanded Baath party in the new army, as well as in schools and universities.
Bremer made the announcement in a rare televised address to the nation that appeared aimed at rallying Iraqi support as the US-led coalition battles a dogged insurgency by both Sunni and Shiite Muslim militants.
Amid mounting concern over the poor performance of Iraqi security forces during recent attacks, the US overseer said more former members of Saddam's military would be allowed to join the ranks of the new army.
He also announced measures to speed up the reinstatement of thousands of teachers who lost their jobs because they were once Baathists, even though they were often forced to join the former dictator's party. ...
As the coalition struggles to rebuild a country shattered by years of war and mismanagement, the "debaathification" policy, which Bremer admitted was at times "unjust", has also left Iraq with an acute shortage of teachers."

"Palestinian Militants Free Bomb Suspects" (Ibrahim Barzak, AP/The Guardian, 2004/04/23)
"Palestinian militants stormed a Palestinian police station in Gaza City and released three men with possible links to a deadly bombing of a U.S. diplomatic convoy, an American official said Friday.
A fourth man refused to leave with the three, saying he was waiting to be formally released by Palestinian authorities in accordance with a March decision by a Palestinian court.
"We succeeded in freeing three of our brothers," Abu Abir, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees militant group, told The Associated Press. "An effort is being made with the Palestinian Authority to release the one who remains behind bars."
Although news of the incident only emerged on Friday, Abu Abir said it took place on Tuesday.
"This is another sign of the lack of seriousness that the Palestinians have shown in this investigation since the beginning," said the American official, speaking on condition of anonymity."

"Terrorist cell in Sweden?" (Martin Lindeskog, EGO, 2004/04/23)
"In the news:

"Swedish radio reported that the three Iraqis and one Swede of Lebanese origin were involved in Feb. 1 suicide bombings in Irbil, Iraq, that killed 109 people. Authorities would not confirm the report.
Court documents released Friday identified them as Ferman Abdulla, Ali Berzengi and Shabo Shabab of Iraq, and Lebanese-born Bilal Ramadan. They were arrested in police raids Monday and ordered held Friday for a week on suspicions of terrorism." (Boston Herald/AP, 04/23/04.) ...

The Guardian notes how ill-fated the situation is in Sweden:

"The arrests surprised many in this placid Scandinavian country, which didn't support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has been historically neutral since 1814. But intelligence officials told The Associated Press that Sweden could be an attractive location as a center for terrorist support groups coordinating attacks outside of Europe." (Matt Moore, 04/23/04.)"

(See also: "Terror suspects identified in Sweden" (AP/The Boston Herald, 2004/04/23) and "Agents Raid Terror Cells in Global Sweep" (Matt Moore, AP/The Guardian, 2004/04/23). Also: "Bomb attacks shatter Kurdish city" (BBC News, 2004/02/01))

"Former NFL Player Killed in Afghanistan" (John J. Lumpkin, AP/My Way, 2004/04/23)
"Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan after walking away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army Rangers, U.S. officials said Friday.
Tillman, who served with the Army Rangers, was 27. ...
Beevers said the soldier died after a firefight with anti-coalition militia forces about 25 miles southwest of a U.S. military base at Khost, which has been the scene of frequent attacks.
Two other U.S. soldiers on the combat patrol were injured, and an Afghan soldier fighting alongside the Americans was killed. ...
Tillman played four seasons with the Cardinals before enlisting in the Army in May 2002. The safety turned down a three-year, $3.6 million deal from Arizona."

"Iraqi services hit hard as contractors curtail work" (James Drummond and Joshua Chaffin, Financial Times, 2004/04/23)
"Puddles of untreated sewage wash around a square in central Baghdad and the household generators are running again through the day as the power cuts lengthen.
With roads from the north, south and west virtually closed to traffic and foreign contractors curtailing operations throughout Iraq due to violence, basic services in Baghdad have begun to deteriorate for the first time since the end of the war last year.
Motorola, which is constructing central Iraq's mobile telephone network, has sought refuge at the airport. ...
A number of companies involved in Iraq say that the security situation has severely limited their ability to travel to work sites and carry out tasks. General Electric and Siemens are said to have halted most of their work rebuilding electricity plants. ...
"The economic and political reforms will be washed away like a sand castle if they don't get the security taken care of," said James Dobbins, who served as the Bush administration's special envoy to Afghanistan, and also led rebuilding efforts in the Balkans, Haiti and Somalia."

"Myth or Reality?" (Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 2004/04/23)
"The Palestinians will, in fact, get their de facto state, though one that may be now cut off entirely from Israeli commerce and cultural intercourse. This is an apparently terrifying thought: Palestinian men can no longer blow up Jews on Monday, seek dialysis from them on Tuesday, get an Israeli paycheck on Wednesday, demonstrate to CNN cameras about the injustice of it all on Thursday — and then go back to tunneling under Gaza and three-hour, all-male, conspiracy-mongering sessions in coffee-houses on Friday. Beware of getting what you bomb for.
Perhaps the absurdity of the politics of the Middle East is best summed up by the recent visit of King Abdullah of Jordan, a sober and judicious autocrat, or so we are told. As the monarch of an authoritarian state, recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual American aid, son of a king who backed Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, and a leader terrified that the Israeli fence might encourage Palestinian immigration into his own Arab kingdom, one might have thought that he could spare us the moral lectures at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club — especially when his elite Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers were just about to murder American citizens in Kosovo while terrorists in his country tried to mass murder Americans with gas.
Instead we got the broken-record Middle East sermon on why Arabs don't like Americans — as if we had forgotten 9/11 and its quarter-century-long precursors." (See also: "The Road Ahead: The Need For Vision And Visionaries" (King Abdullah II of Jordan, commonwealthclub.org, 2004/04/16))

"Sorry Spectator" (Denis Boyles, National Review, 2004/04/23)
Boyles on The Spectator: "In recent weeks, the magazine's writers have excoriated the Coalition as "international vigilantes" and ridiculed Blair for warning about the dangers of terrorism (the item appeared within hours of the bombings in Madrid, alas). The magazine claimed that "the war on Iraq has done nothing to damage Islamic terrorism: quite the reverse" and then proclaimed in an editorial titled "We Are Not at War" that terrorism would never be defeated anyway.
This shrill little crescendo peaked in last week's big peacenik issue, featuring a piece by Rod Liddle headlined "Things Were Better Under Saddam," a concept that not even Mrs. Saddam would buy. "As a result of our actions," Liddle claimed, "many more people have lost their lives (or, for that matter, been maimed or made homeless) than would have been occasioned by another ten years of Saddam's rule." Liddle had no source for that clever stat, but it doesn't matter. He just types it; The Spectator just prints it. ...
In fact, the magazine is so non-contrarian, that for the last several months, The Spectator has fallen in step with the The New Statesman — the earth-shoe of political mags, home to some of the planet's most trite leftwing ideas — where an issue almost exactly like The Spectator's may be read this week, last week, apparently any week.
In fact, the lineups of the two mags have started to match with a kind of eerie precision. Last week, John Pilger played the role of Liddle, and this week Andrew Stephen visits the same topic Kiley covered. The New Statesman's current cover story is an argument in favor of appeasement ("only another name for the willingness to negotiate" — or another word for nothing left to lose) in response to the al Qaeda offer of amnesty to those who surrender." (See also: "The cynicism of the defeatists" (William Shawcross, The Spectator, from the 2004/04/24 issue) and "Appeasement: Should we strike a deal?" (John Gray, The New Statesman, from the 2004/04/26 issue): "In this neoconservative fantasy world, only an uncompromising refusal to have any truck with terrorism stands any chance of defeating it, but in the real world things are done rather differently. Appeasement has been present wherever terrorist violence has been controlled successfully. ...
Appeasement is only another name for the willingness to negotiate. Where this is lacking, as it is at present in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and has been until recently in Kashmir, terrorism is uncontrollable.")

"Democracy Inaction: Understanding Arab anti-Americanism" (Lee Smith, Slate, 2004/04/23)
"Anti-Americanism is how Arab leaders play the Arab people and the United States against each other to preserve their own hides. There is no incentive to be anything but anti-American, and it is very dangerous not to follow the pack. In Iraq, Arabs who work with Americans to rebuild their country are targeted for death. Anti-Americanism is the coin of the realm and has been for many years now. It is not growing. When Americans talk about rising Arab anti-Americanism, we are saying we do not understand how Arab regimes work. In effect, we are collaborating with dictators who will not allow Arabs a voice in their own governance. ...
For instance, a Syrian friend CCs me on e-mails he writes to the U.S. Embassy in Damascus or to American officials here in the States. This came from him last week after Ted Kennedy compared Iraq to Vietnam:

Dear Senator Ted Kennedy,
I am a pharmacist from Syria and I am 56 years old. I still remember when your brother was assassinated in 1963 and we all cried. He had a dream for the whole world not just for America. We suffered under totalitarian regimes in the Middle East for the whole of our lives. We look for America as our Savior. Please Mr. Kennedy you have to know that America has a burden in freeing the other peoples of the world from tyranny. I have no right to comment on internal U.S. issues but as a citizen of the world I have the right to ask the American legislators to help other peoples in the world because this is the principle that America stands for.

Arab anti-Americanism is easy to get used to — it's been around for close to half a century. What's hard is living up to the Arabs' best expectations of America." (See also: "Mubarak: Arabs Hate U.S. More Than Ever" (Reuters, 2004/04/20))

"Anniversaries" (Martin Peretz, The New Republic, 2004/04/23)
Peretz on Kofi Annan: "During these last weeks, he would have us believe, his soul has been in constant doubt and self-reproach. Why these weeks especially? Because we have just observed the tenth anniversary of the Hutu extermination of the Tutsi, as many as 800,000 of them, in Rwanda, which Annan, as head of the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on several occasions ordered his personnel not to impede — except if it were "essential for the evacuation of foreign nationals."
It wasn't as if the military force needed to block the vast machete genocide was unavailable. (Samantha Power tells us convincingly in "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" that, with appropriate and easy maneuvers, the United Nations could have both staged rescue operations and confronted the killers.) What was unavailable was international will, for whose flaccidity Annan was both incarnation and tribune. He played a similar role in the Serbian carnage of the Bosnians. Showy apologies from such a man are a bit indecent, rather like Robert McNamara's sermons about just wars. If I had stood by in the face of the mass murder of 800,000 Tutsi, as Annan did, I'd be doing penance rather than lecturing others. One useful form of penance would be for Annan to do something serious about another genocide going on right now on his home continent — in Sudan, where Arab militias are slaughtering or deporting hundreds of thousands of Africans from their own country. Typically, Annan has uttered some high-minded words. But he and his organization have done almost nothing." (See also: "Annan responsible for genocide" (Per Ahlmark, Dagens Nyheter/Watch, 2004/03/04 [2004/02/05]))

"Leading Egyptian Journalist: The Jews are Behind Every Disaster or Terrorist Act" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 700, 2004/04/23)
"In an article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya titled 'The Secret Israeli Weapon,' deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab 'Adas accused the Jews of perpetrating all terrorism throughout the world, including the Madrid bombings. The following are excerpts from the article: ...
'If you want to know the real perpetrator of every disaster or every act of terrorism, look for the Zionist Jews. They are behind all the violent and terror operations that have occurred everywhere in the world. [They do this] first of all in order to slap [the label of the attacks] on the Arabs and Muslims, and second to harm them, distort their image, and represent them to the world as terrorists who endanger innocents. What is even more dangerous is that after every terror operation they perpetrate, they leave a sign, clue, or traces meant to show that the perpetrators are Arab Muslims. ...
It is the Jews, with their hidden filthy hands, who play their part with expertise in order to harm the Arabs and Muslims and to intensify hatred towards them. They have experience in this area. All precedents attest to this. Their black history is the best possible proof that hatred toward the Arabs and the Muslims fills their hearts and blinds their eyes. They are behind all troubles, disasters and catastrophes in the world.'"

"Rutgers' president wants apology for Holocaust cartoon" (AP/Newsday.com, 2004/04/23)
"The student editors of an alternative Rutgers campus newspaper should immediately apologize for publishing a cartoon that mocked the Holocaust, the university's president said.
Richard L. McCormick said the full-page drawing on the cover of Wednesday's issue of the Medium, a student-funded weekly publication, was "outrageous in its cruelty." It shows a man throwing a ball at another man sitting on an oven at the campus' spring fair. The text reads, "Knock a Jew in the oven! Three throws for one dollar! Really! No, REALLY!"
Ned Berke, 19, the editor who selected the cartoon, said he made a last-minute decision to use it as a substitute for another cover that was not working.
"I appreciated that (the cartoon) was clever. It took a serious situation and made it ridiculous," Berke, who is Jewish, told The Star-Ledger of Newark.
Responding to critics who have called on the school to shut down the publication, Berke said he had relatives who died in the Holocaust.
"Humor is a way of honoring them and trying to get over it and to laugh," the sophomore journalism major said. 'The Holocaust has been taboo for years.'" (See also: The Medium, where the latest issue is currently unavailable. UPDATE: Now the site is "hACKZE0RD BY THU AdL", which seems unlikely, but "hACKZE0RD" it is.)

"The charred remains of the village Abu Sheik..."
(Ben Parker, UNICEF, 2004/04/16)
"The charred remains of the village Abu Sheik in the Dafur region of Sudan, is seen in this Friday, April 16, 2004, photo. The village is now virtually deserted after the on the village raid by anti government rebels."

"'Mass execution' in western Sudan" (BBC News, 2004/04/23)
Darfur II: "Dramatic new allegations have been made about a massacre allegedly committed by pro-government forces in western Sudan.
New York-based group, Human Rights Watch says it has established that pro-government militias executed 136 men in a coordinated operation last month.
The allegation comes as the United Nations Human Rights Commission adopted a watered down statement on Darfur.
The United States is continuing to press for a harder hitting resolution criticising Sudanese Government abuses.
The more softly-worded compromise expresses concern at the situation in the Darfur region, welcomes plans to send a high-level team there to investigate and urges all sides in the conflict to comply with a ceasefire agreement.
However, it was voted against by the US.
"Ten years from today the only thing that will be remembered about the 60th Commission on Human Rights is whether we stand up on the ethnic cleansing going on in Sudan," US delegation head Richard Williamson told AFP news agency." (See also: "Sudan: Government and Militias Conspire in Darfur Killings" (Matthew Rosenber, AP/The Guardian, 2004/04/02) and "Compromise resolution on Darfur" (HRC/BBC News, 2004/03/19). Also: "Human Rights Group Blasts Sudan Gov't" (Matthew Rosenber, AP/The Guardian, 2004/04/02) and "Mass rape atrocity in west Sudan" (BBC News, 2004/03/19))

"Rape, torture, and one million forced to flee as Sudan's crisis unfolds. Will we move to stop it?" (Declan Walsh, Independent, 2004/04/23)
Darfur I: "This is where some of the world's worst human rights abuses are occurring and nothing is being done to stop it. This is ethnic cleansing Sudanese-style. A government-sponsored campaign, led by Arab tribesmen against their black African neighbours, has triggered the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time and - with the world's eyes fixed on Iraq - its most forgotten calamity. ...
More than one million people have been displaced since war erupted in Darfur - a remote western province the size of California - early last year. Another 110,000 people have crossed into the mine-strewn deserts of eastern Chad. ...
Human rights groups say the spectre of ethnic cleansing, driven by province-wide panic and fear, hangs over the co-ordinated government attacks. The Intermediate Technology Development Group estimates that up to 60 per cent of villages have been 'destroyed, burnt or abandoned because of attacks from the warring parties.'"

"Saudis Support a Jihad in Iraq, Not Back Home" (Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times, 2004/04/23)
"'When people see Israeli operations in Palestine and the American cruelty in Iraq, they feel angry and frustrated,' said Abdullah Bejad al-Oteibi, a former fundamentalist now working as a legal researcher. "They cannot control their anger and they admire bin Laden, so that is why many people volunteer for jihad. But when there are operations here, people feel angry and betrayed." ...
"Young people are wearing T-shirts with bin Laden's picture on them just the way people used to wear pictures of Che Guevara," said Tufful al-Oqbi, a student at King Saud University. "It's simply because he is the only one resisting. Even if we reject his methods, it's because there is no other way, because this is the only way."
Fowziyah Abukhalid, a sociology professor at the university, has noticed a parallel phenomenon among her students. "Many young women are saying 'My God, bin Laden is so charming,' or 'My God, bin Laden is so handsome,'" she said. "He is politically appealing, that is why they view him as handsome."
Such feelings are volatile though, depending on whether the attacks are inside or outside the kingdom. "People literally change their minds and feelings every day about bin Laden," Mr. Oteibi said."

"Iraqi security forces 'worked against' U.S." (Lourdes Navarro, AP/The Washington Times, 2004/04/23)
"A U.S. military commander said 10 percent of newly trained Iraqi security forces "worked against" U.S. forces in the past three weeks of fighting in Fallujah and the southern city of Najaf, a sign of how difficult it will be to assemble an Iraqi army and police force.
An additional 40 percent of the Iraqi security forces walked off the job because they did not want to fight fellow Iraqis, said Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Army's 1st Armored Division."

Thursday, April 22, 2004

News and commentary:

"The cynicism of the defeatists" (William Shawcross, The Spectator, from the 2004/04/24 issue)
Shawcross on Andrew Gilligan's and Rod Liddle's articles in last weeks issue of the magazine: "Liddle’s most awful claim (which headlined his article) is that Iraqis were ‘better off’ under Saddam Hussein. He asserts that 14,000 Iraqis have been killed since the war began (he does not source this claim) and goes on to say that it is ‘my guess’ that that was more than Saddam would have killed in a year.
Why on earth would Mr Liddle want to make such an odiously casual ‘guess’? Has he read anything at all about Saddam’s rule or does he just not give a damn? Max Van der Stoel, the UN special rapporteur on human rights for Iraq, said that the brutality of the regime was ‘so grave that it has few parallels in the years that have passed since the second world war’. Did Liddle see the thousands of bereaved people scrabbling in Saddam’s mass graves this time a year ago? Did he care about the losses of their husbands, fathers, mothers, sons? ...
The more progress, the more violence to stop it. Mario Vargas Llosa has written of ‘the various sects and movements bent on provoking the Apocalypse in order to prevent Iraq from soon becoming a free and modern country ...a perspective that rightfully terrifies and drives insane the gangs of murderers and torturers [of Saddam Hussein’s rule] along with the fundamentalist commandoes from al-Qa’eda.... All of them, totalling only a few thousand armed fanatics, but with extraordinary tools for destruction, know that if Iraq becomes a modern democracy, their days are numbered.’
Vargas Llosa is right. How sad it is that two senior writers of The Spectator prefer to resort to meretricious, sneering commentary. The ‘trahison des clercs’ is truly upon us." (See also: "Things were better under Saddam" (Rod Liddle, The Spectator, from the 2004/04/17 issue) and "The sound of rockets in the morning" (Rod Liddle, The Spectator, from the 2004/04/17 issue))

"Kaddoumi: PLO charter was never changed" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/04/22)
"Farouk Kaddoumi, the PLO's hard-line "foreign minister," said Thursday that when Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat talks about the need to pursue the struggle against Israel, he is referring to the armed struggle. Kaddoumi said the armed struggle was the only way to force Israel to accept the demands of the Palestinians.
Kaddoumi's remarks were made in an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab. ...
Kaddoumi said that, contrary to what many people believe, the PLO charter was never changed so as to recognize Israel's right to exist. "The Palestinian national charter has not been amended until now," he explained. "It was said that some articles are no longer effective, but they were not changed. I'm one of those who didn't agree to any changes."
Asked about US and Israeli demands to halt terror attacks as a condition for resuming the peace process, Kaddoumi replied: 'They can go to hell!'"

"Just Think of All the Money We Didn't Steal!" (James Taranto, Best of the Web Today, 2004/04/22)
"The left-wing site ZMag.org has a piece by Anjum Niaz that contains a revealing quote from a U.N. official implicated in the Oil-for-Food scandal:

Before [Benon] Sevan's recent mysterious disappearance into the nether world, facilitated by boss [Kofi] Annan, who shrewdly packed him off on long leave before retirement, Sevan nonchalantly admitted, "that as much as 10 percent" of the programme's revenues may have been "ripped off," telling a TV channel: "Even if 10 percent of the revenue was stolen, 90 percent got to the people it was intended for. Why does nobody report that?" he asked peevishly."

(See also: "Corruption at the UN" (Anjum Niaz, ZNet, 2004/04/20) and "Monumental Rip-Off?" (Brian Ross, ABC News, 2004/04/20))

"Only Bush can save Europe" (Mark Steyn, The Spectator, from the 2004/04/24 issue)
"The other day, who should show up at the airport in Toronto but the son and widow of Ahmed Said Khadr, known as ‘al-Kanadi’ because he was the highest-ranking Canuck in al-Qa’eda. One of Pop Khadr’s sons was captured in Afghanistan after killing a US Special Forces medic. Another has just been released from Guantanamo. Another blew himself up while killing a Canadian soldier in Kabul. Pop Khadr died in an al-Qa’eda shoot-out with Pakistani forces a few weeks back, in the course of which his youngest son was paralysed. So Mrs Khadr and her boy have now returned to Canada so he can enjoy the benefits of Ontario healthcare. ‘I’m Canadian, and I’m not begging for my rights,’ she declared. ‘I’m demanding my rights.’
Treason’s hard to prove in court, but given the circumstances of Mr Khadr’s death it seems clear that he had taken up with what we used quaintly to call the Queen’s enemies. Nonetheless, the Prime Minister of Canada thought this was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate his deep personal commitment to ‘diversity’. Asked about the Khadrs’ return to Toronto, he said, ‘I believe that once you are a Canadian citizen, you have the right to your own views and to disagree.’ That’s the wonderful thing about multiculturalism: you can choose what side of the war you want to fight on. Just tick ‘home team’ or ‘enemy’ when the draft card arrives. Like many enlightened Western leaders, the Canadian Prime Minister will be congratulating himself on his boundless tolerance even as the forces of intolerance consume him."

"Email of the day" (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, 2004/04/22)
"I can't verify this first-hand but it comes from a source I know and trust. It's from a military chaplain in Fallujah: ...

We have a battle hand-off going on here. The largest in recent American history. The Army is passing the baton to the Marines in this area. There is uncertainty among the populace and misinformation being given out by the bad guys. As a result there is insecurity and the bad guys are testing the resolve of the Marines and indirectly you, the American people. The bad guys are convinced that Americans have no stomach for a long haul effort here. They want to drive us out of here and then resurrect a dictatorship of one kind or another.
Okay, what do we do? Stay the course. The Marines will get into a battle rhythm and, along with other forces and government agencies here, they will knock out the crack houses, drive the thugs across the border and set the conditions for the Falujans to join the freedom parade or rot in their lack of initiative. Either way, the choice will be theirs. The alternative? Turn tail, pull out and leave a power vacuum that will suck in all of Iraq's neighbors and spark a civil war that could make Rwanda look like a misdemeanor.
Hey, America, don't go weak kneed on us: 585 dead American's made an investment here. That's a whole lot less than were killed on American highways last month. Their lives are honored when we stay the course and do the job we came to do; namely, set the conditions for a new government and empower these people to be the great nation they are capable of being."

"Oil-for-food scandal probe begins" (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, 2004/04/22)
"Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has begun a high-level investigation into allegations of kickbacks and bribes in the U.N.-run oil-for-food programme for Iraq.
Volcker assumed his post as head of a three-man team after he was assured that all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution to back the investigation, which will include a probe of contracts with Iraq around the world.
"We will be following the money as well as we can," Volcker Volcker told a news conference.
"I wanted a resolution to make sure that member governments and member states knew what they were getting into," he said.
The council's resolution called "on member states, including their national regulatory authorities, to cooperate fully by all appropriate means with the inquiry." ...
Volcker said he would have his first report within three months but predicted the investigation would take much longer.
"I didn't agree to do this lightly," Volcker said.
"But there are some important accusations made about the U.N., accusations about the administration of the programme, accusations about activities outside the U.N. that need to be resolved."
The most important task, Volcker added, was to find out if there was substance to the allegations. 'If there is substance, get it out there, get it out in a hurry and cauterise the wound.'" (See also: "The Oil-for-Food Scam: What Did Kofi Annan Know, and When Did He Know It?" (Claudia Rosett, Commentary, from the May 2004 issue) and "UN orders Iraq corruption inquiry" (BBC News, 2004/04/22): "The now-defunct scheme was designed to help Iraq buy humanitarian goods and ease the impact of sanctions. But [Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British adviser to the US-backed Governing Council] told the BBC it allowed Saddam Hussein to buy influence abroad. He said the former Iraqi leader spent billions of dollars bribing foreign businesses, journalists and officials.")

"Arafat expels 21 Fatah fugitives from Mukata" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/04/22)
"Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat early Thursday expelled 21 Fatah Tanzim fugitives from his Mukata headquarters in Ramallah, fearing that the IDF was about to raid the compound and arrest the wanted men.
The fugitives, all members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, have been hiding in the compound these past three months. Israel has repeatedly demanded they be kicked out.
A fugitive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that last week, Israeli security officials summoned Ismail Jabber, commander of the Palestinian national forces, and told him if the fugitives were not forced out they would invade, and if necessary, pull them out of "Arafat's desk drawer."
Following the warning, five of the fugitives left voluntarily. Overnight, at about 3 a.m., Arafat personally told the 21 remaining men to leave, the fugitive said."

"U.S. Aimed For Hussein As War Began" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/22)
The last of five articles adapted from Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack": "On the day President Bush led the United States to war in Iraq, he met with the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room, linked by secure video with Gen. Tommy R. Franks and nine of his senior commanders. It was the morning of Wednesday, March 19, 2003. ...
"For the peace of the world and the benefit and freedom of the Iraqi people," Bush said, "I hereby give the order to execute Operation Iraqi Freedom. May God bless the troops."
"May God bless America," Franks replied.
"We're ready to go," the president said. "Let's win it." He raised his hand in a salute to his commanders, and then abruptly stood and turned before the others could jump up. Tears welled up in his eyes, and in the eyes of some of the others as Bush left the room. When he reached the Oval Office, he went outside for a walk.
"It was emotional for me," Bush recalled in an interview last December. "I prayed as I walked around the circle. I prayed that our troops be safe, be protected by the Almighty, that there be minimal loss of life." He prayed for all who were to go into harm's way for the country." (See also: "Blair Steady in Support" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/21), "Cheney Was Unwavering in Desire to Go to War" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/20), "With CIA Push, Movement to War Accelerated" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/19) and "Behind Diplomatic Moves, Military Plan Was Launched" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/18))

"Japanese Hostages Return From Iraq to Hostility, Not Hero Status" (Bruce Wallace, Los Angeles Times, 2004/04/22)
"A wide swath of Japanese public opinion blames Watanabe and four other former hostages released by Iraqi insurgents for bringing their troubles upon themselves — and wants to hear them say they're sorry for the kidnappings that swiftly turned into a national trauma. ...
In this country that remains sharply divided over what role to play in the occupation of Iraq, the debate centers on what the Japanese call jiko sekinin, or personal responsibility. The government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has wielded the term like a fist against the freed hostages — all of them civilians — accusing them of endangering more than their own lives by ignoring official warnings against traveling through a war zone. ...
On Wednesday, officials said they were still considering billing the five hostages, released after as much as a week in captivity, for the costs of returning them. The government says it spent about $18 million flying negotiators to the Middle East — it says no ransom was paid — and that the hostages have a moral responsibility to foot at least a portion of the cost, even if only the air fare back. ...
On the same day, when freelance journalist Junpei Yasuda, 30, was captured along with Watanabe outside Fallouja, Yasuda's father, Hideaki, told reporters: "I just wanted to hit him and say, 'You idiot!'" (See also: "Released hostages get rough treatment in Japan" (Mark Simkin, ABC Lateline, 2004/04/23): "It's even been suggested that the harrowing footage of the trio being threatened with knives and swords was staged for the camera. ... Japanese TV refused to show these images while the hostages were being held, now the government and media are suggesting the scenes were staged.")

"Schoolgirl sees all her friends perish in blast" (Luke Harding and Mohammad Haider, The Guardian, 2004/04/22)
Basra atrocity III: "There wasn't much left yesterday of the school minibus that had been waiting outside Basra's white-coloured al-Saudi police station. Inside the incinerated vehicle were a couple of charred textbooks and a burned school bag.
At 7.13am the schoolgirls inside, aged 14 and 15 and dressed in black uniforms with white headscarves, had been on their way to Al Amjad intermediate school for girls when a Chevrolet saloon drove past.
The car would have attracted little attention as it approached the station's front gate. Seconds later it blew up, flinging a fireball of metal and other debris across the street.
The girls, who had been waiting for a classmate to clamber aboard, stood little chance. Their minibus and another taking younger children to kindergarten was incinerated. ...
Only one girl, Ala'Muhamad, 15, who was about to board the bus, escaped the fireball. "I had just left the house," she said. "I opened the door and went out. I could see the bus. I found myself flying in the air and falling on the ground. I saw fire and smoke. It was a huge explosion. I couldn't get up again."
Shivering, shaking and weeping, she said: 'I can't believe all my friends have been killed. I'm the only one left.'"

Added in archive:
"Which Nations Will Go Forth and Multiply?" (Phillip Longman, Fortune, from the 2004/04/19 issue)

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

News and commentary:

"Iraqi fireman rush to extinguish a burning minibus..."
(Nabil Al-Jurani. AP, 2004/04/21)
"Iraqi fireman rush to extinguish a burning minibus at the scene of one of three explosions which hit the city of Basra, southern Iraq , early Wednesday April 21, 2004."

"Suicide Bombers Kill 68 in Southern Iraq" (Abdel-Razzak Hameed, Reuters, 2004/04/21)
Basra atrocity II: "Two minibuses were caught in the blast at Basra's al-Saudia police station. Ali Abdul-Sadiq, a hospital official, said nine schoolgirls and their driver were killed in one vehicle. Eight kindergarten children were killed in the other.
A wounded Iraqi, Amin Dinar, said he had heard a huge explosion as he stood at the door of his house.
"I looked around and saw my leg bleeding and my neighbor lying dead on the floor, torn apart," he said from his hospital bed. 'I saw a minibus full of children on fire.'"

"Car Bombs Leave 60 Dead in Southern Iraq" (Abbas Fayadh, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/04/21)
Basra atrocity I. Michael Moore's Minutemen strikes again: "A series of car bombs ripped through police stations and an academy during rush hour Wednesday morning, killing at least 60 people, including schoolchildren, and wounding scores in the bloodiest attacks to hit this mainly Shiite city since the U.S.-led occupation began a year ago.
Iraqis pulled charred and torn bodies from mangled vehicles in front of the Saudia police station, located by Basra's crowded main street market. Two vans carrying schoolchildren were destroyed, one carrying kindergardeners, the other carrying middle-school girls. Dead children, burned beyond recognition, were taken to hospital morgues. ...
Basra Police Commander Mohammed Kadhim al-Ali said the cars were packed with missiles and TNT.
Casualty figures were hard to determine amid the chaos. Al-Sumeidi said more than 60 people were killed and 100 wounded, but Basra Gov. Wael Abdul-Latif said the death toll was at least 68, including 16 children and nine policemen, with 200 injured." (See also: "Basra Car Bombs Kill 40, Wound Scores" (Reuters, 2004/04/21): "[British military spokesman, Squadron Leader John Arnold] said heavy casualties were feared but he had no exact figures, partly because emergency vehicles and British troops who control Basra could not reach two of the police stations. "They are being stoned," Arnold said, adding that no casualties among British forces had been reported.")

"'Terrorist' Car Bomb Kills at Least 10 in Saudi" (Dominic Evans and Fahd al-Frayyan , Reuters, 2004/04/21)
"At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded Wednesday when a car bomb destroyed a Saudi security service building in the capital, witnesses said.
Saudi officials described it as a "terrorist attack" and Arab television said the body of suicide bomber had been found.
"The front of a building is blown off and smoke is still rising," a Reuters correspondent said from the scene.
Local people said they saw 10 bodies and dozens of wounded being carried into ambulances."

"France expels radical Muslim prayer leader" (AP/The Jerusalem Post, 2004/04/21)
"An Algerian Muslim prayer leader whose comments condoning wife-beating sparked an uproar in France was deported Wednesday, officials said. ...
Bouziane, 52, imam of a mosque in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux, told the April edition of Lyon Mag that a man could beat his wife "under certain conditions, notably if the woman cheats on her husband." He claimed that the Quran, the Muslim holy book, "authorizes" such punishment, an interpretation rejected by most Muslims.
Asked if he was in favor of stoning, he replied, "yes." ...
Bouziane reiterated the comments to reporters Tuesday, but specifying that blows to a woman's face and upper body should be avoided.
"Don't aim at the face, don't aim at the eyes, the ears, the nose," he said on LCI television. 'Hit low, that is, on the bottom.'" (See also: "Imam who praised bombers deported" (Henry Samuel, The Daily Telegraph, 2004/04/17))

"Defiant Vanunu celebrates freedom" (BBC News, 2004/04/21)
When traitors are hailed as "peace heroes" you know you have entered the twilight zone of the bizarro world:
"A defiant Mordechai Vanunu has been enjoying his first hours of freedom after serving an 18-year jail sentence for leaking Israel's nuclear secrets.
A Christian convert, Mr Vanunu's first act was to go to pray at St George's Anglican cathedral in Jerusalem.
A crowd of anti-nuclear supporters had cheered as he emerged from prison, while some Israeli critics angrily hurled abuse and death threats.
He said he was proud of what he had done and had suffered "great cruelty". ...
Speaking briefly in Hebrew, he accused Israel of being a dictatorship and an apartheid country because of restrictions imposed on him preventing him speaking to foreigners. ...
Supporters had gathered outside the jail, waving banners and calling Vanunu a "hero of peace". Critics' banners had messages like 'Death to the spy, Death to Vanunu.'" (See also: Free Mordecai Vananu and, for example, "The Case of Mordechai Vannunu: Preeminent Hero of the Nuclear Age" (Mark Gaffney, CounterPunch, 2003/01/23))

"Blair Steady in Support" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/21)
The fourth of five articles adapted from Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack": "On Sunday, March 9, 2003 — 10 days before launching war with Iraq — President Bush was increasingly worried about the political peril of his chief ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. ... He called Blair for one of their regular conversations. They explored the possibilities, which other countries on the U.N. Security Council they could get to support or at least acquiesce in a war. His last choice, said Bush, would be "to have your government go down. We don't want that to happen under any circumstances. I really mean that."
If it would help, Bush said, he would let Blair drop out of the coalition and they would find some other way for Britain and its 41,000 military personnel in the region around Iraq to participate.
"I said I'm with you. I mean it," Blair replied.
Bush said they could think of another role for the British forces — "a second wave, peacekeepers or something. I would rather go alone than have your government fall."
"I understand that," Blair responded, "and that's good of you to say. I said, I'm with you."
Bush said he really meant that it would be all right for Blair to opt out. "You can bank on that."
"I know you do," Blair said, "and I appreciate that. I absolutely believe in this, too. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's good of you to say that," the prime minister repeated in his very British way. 'But I'm there to the very end.'" (See also: "Cheney Was Unwavering in Desire to Go to War" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/20), "With CIA Push, Movement to War Accelerated" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/19) and "Behind Diplomatic Moves, Military Plan Was Launched" (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2004/04/18))

"U.S. sees Syria 'facilitating' insurgents" (Rowan Scarborough, The Washintgon Times, 2004/04/21)
"Syria is "facilitating" the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq and helping supply them with arms, according to U.S. military officials with access to intelligence reports.
The sources said the reporting has not been clear on whether hard-line Syrian President Bashar Assad is involved directly in ordering the aid. But they say he has much to lose if Iraq becomes a pro-U.S. democratic country.
Foreign fighters from Syria have become a major stumbling block to stabilizing Iraq and turning over sovereignty by June 30.
The bloody fighting in Fallujah, for example, is inspired, in part, by well-armed foreign jihadists who crossed the Syrian border and have committed some of the most gruesome attacks against Americans and their allies.
Officials said Syrian help includes facilitating their border crossing, arming them and allowing them to return for fresh supplies.
Asked how conclusive U.S. intelligence is on Syrian aid, one official said, 'No doubt about it.'"

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

News and commentary:

"Terror on the dole" (David Cohen, The Evening Standard, 2004/04/20)
"Four young British Muslims in their twenties - a social worker, an IT specialist, a security guard and a financial adviser - occupy a table at a fast-food chicken restaurant in Luton. Perched on their plastic chairs, wolfing down their dinner, they seem just ordinary young men. Yet out of their mouths pour heated words of revolution.
"As far as I'm concerned, when they bomb London, the bigger the better," says Abdul Haq, the social worker. "I know it's going to happen because Sheikh bin Laden said so. Like Bali, like Turkey, like Madrid - I pray for it, I look forward to the day." ...
"I agree with you, brother," says Abu Yusuf, the earnest-looking financial adviser sitting opposite. "I would like to see the Mujahideen coming into London and killing thousands, whether with nuclear weapons or germ warfare. And if they need a safehouse, they can stay in mine - and if they need some fertiliser [for a bomb], I'll tell them where to get it."
His friend, Abu Musa, the security guard, smiles radiantly. "It will be a day of joy for me," he adds, speaking with a slight lisp. ...
But it was the events of 11 September that crystallised Sayful's worldview. "When I watched those planes go into the Twin Towers, I felt elated," he says. "That magnificent action split the world into two camps: you were either with Islam and al Qaeda, or with the enemy. I decided to quit my job and commit myself full-time to al-Muhajiroun." Now he does not consider himself British. 'I am a Muslim living in Britain, and I give my allegiance only to Allah.'"

"Balanced BBC (updated)" (Norman Geras, normblog, 2004/04/20)
"Here's a nice piece of background analysis on the BBC site, under the name of Paul Reynolds. It goes from the Sharon plan and Bush's backing for it to this:

In 1917, the then superpower Great Britain, through the Declaration named after the Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour, promised a "national home for the Jewish people in Palestine".
The Balfour Declaration, bitterly recalled to any British visitor to any Palestinian refugee camp, set the scene for large scale Jewish immigration and settlement while supposedly safeguarding the "civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities".
This dual aim proved impossible to sustain and in 1939, Britain reshaped the terms again with a White Paper which severely restricted Jewish immigration for five years and then gave Palestinians a veto on any more, thereby aiming to prevent the emergence of a State of Israel.
This plan, too, eventually collapsed and Britain withdrew.
Then the Israelis started creating further facts on the ground.

And that's it, nothing more; from there it's back to Sharon." (See also: "Analysis: Sharon changes Mid-East equation" (Paul Reynolds, BBC News, 2004/04/19))

"Monumental Rip-Off?" (Brian Ross, ABC News, 2004/04/20)
"At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multi-million dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime, U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABC News. ...
Most prominent among those accused in the scandal is Benon Sevan, the Cyprus-born U.N. undersecretary general who ran the program for six years.
In an interview with ABC News last year, Sevan denied any wrongdoing. ...
But documents have surfaced in Baghdad, in the files of the former Iraqi Oil Ministry, allegedly linking Sevan to a pay-off scheme in which some 270 prominent foreign officials received the right to trade in Iraqi oil at cut-rate prices. ...
Investigators say the smoking gun is a letter to former Iraqi oil minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed, obtained by ABCNEWS and not yet in the hands of the United Nations. ...
In the letter, dated Aug, 10, 1998, an Iraqi oil executive mentions a request by a Panama-based company, African Middle East Petroleum Co., to buy Iraqi oil — along with a suggestion that Sevan had a role in the deal. "Mr. Muwafaq Ayoub of the Iraqi mission in New York informed us by telephone that the abovementioned company is the company that Mr. Sevan cited to you during his last trip to Baghdad," the executive wrote in Arabic.
A handwritten note indicated that permission for the oil purchase was granted by "the Vice President of the Republic" on Aug. 15, 1998.
The second page of the letter contains a table entitled "Quantity of Oil Allocated and Given to Mr. Benon Sevan." The table lists a total of 7.3 million barrels of oil as the "quantity executed" — an amount that, if true, would have generated an illegal profit of as much as $3.5 million."

"U.S. pulls troops back from brink in Najaf" (P. Mitchell Prothero, UPI, 2004/04/20)
"U.S. troops began to withdraw from a base near the city of Najaf Monday, signaling an unwillingness to enter the Shiite holy city in pursuit of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose militia the U.S.-led coalition has vowed to crush, and to capture the rebel cleric "dead or alive."
Some 2,500 U.S. Army soldiers encircled the home of the holiest shrine of Shiite Islam last week after Sadr — who also faces murder charges for the death of a rival cleric last year — openly defied U.S. occupation authorities and let his Mehdi Army fight coalition troops in Baghdad and several southern Iraqi cities. ...
"The real center of mess is right here," Sanchez said. "The problem is that if we launch you into the city of Najaf and we get you into a major firefight. And if we get into destroying the holy shrines, it will create a backlash."
Although the troops will be pulled away from their forward operating base about 10-miles outside Najaf, Sanchez vowed to confront Sadr in future conflicts and repeated the desire of U.S. forces to "kill or capture" the 31-year old cleric."

"Attack on U.S.-Run Baghdad Jail Kills 22" (Louis Meixler, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/04/20)
"Insurgents fired 12 mortars into Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison Tuesday, killing 22 detainees and injuring 92, U.S. military officials said.
To the west in Fallujah, meanwhile, Iraqi security forces and civilians who fled days of street fighting with Marines began to return Tuesday in a critical test of an agreement between U. S. officials and local leaders to fend off an all-out assault by American forces.
All of those killed or injured in the mortar attack on the U.S.-run prison were security detainees, said Col. Jill Morgenthaler, meaning they were held for suspected involvement in the anti-U.S. insurgency or remnants of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baathist regime."

"The Oil-for-Food Scam: What Did Kofi Annan Know, and When Did He Know It?" (Claudia Rosett, Commentary, from the May 2004 issue)
"What lies at the core of this story is the United Nations, and how it came to pass that an institution charged with bringing peace and probity to the world should have offered itself up — willingly, even eagerly — as the vehicle for a festival of abuse and fraud. ...
Annan’s studied bewilderment is itself an indictment not only of his person but of the system he heads. If anyone is going to take the fall for the Oil-for-Food scandal, Sevan seems the likeliest candidate. But it was the UN Secretary-General who compliantly condoned Saddam’s ever-escalating schemes and conditions, and who lobbied to the last to preserve Saddam’s totalitarian regime while the UN Secretariat was swimming in his cash. ...
The final perfidy, though, is not personal but political. The UN, in the name of its own lofty principles, and to its rich emolument, actively helped sustain and protect a tyrant whose brutality and repression were the cause of Iraqi deprivation in the first place. ...
Perhaps, then, the complicity was there all along, built in, and was merely reinforced year after year as the UN collected the commissions and processed the funds that transformed Oil-for-Food into the sleaziest program ever to fly the UN flag and the single largest item on every budget of all nine UN agencies involved, plus the Secretariat itself. That, in the end, may be the dirty secret at the center of the Oil-for-Food scandal."

"Fables of the Reconstruction" (Jason Vest, Village Voice, 2004/04/20)
"But according to a closely held Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) memo written in early March, the reality isn't so rosy. Iraq's chances of seeing democracy succeed, according to the memo's author — a U.S. government official detailed to the CPA, who wrote this summation of