Archived
news and commentary: October 4 - 10, 2004
2004/11/01 - 2004/11/07
2004/10/25 - 2004/10/31
2004/10/18 - 2004/10/24
2004/10/11 - 2004/10/17
2004/10/04 - 2004/10/10
2004/09/27 - 2004/10/03
Sunday,
October 10, 2004
News and
commentary:
"Tape of Bigley Decapitation Posted on Web" (AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/10/10)
"Bigley made a brief statement, saying "I am not a difficult person. I am a simple man who wants to live a simple life." Addressing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he then said: "More than ever I need your help."
"Here I am again, Mr. Blair," Bigley added. "Very, very close to the end of my life. You do not appear to have done anything at all to help me."
One of the hooded men then spoke, saying the British government "pretended to care about its people" but "they are lying." The speaker said the kidnappers extended the deadline for Bigley's death to allow time for coalition authorities to meet their demand to release all female prisoners held in Iraq.
"Britain is not serious," the speaker said. "So this malicious Britons has nothing except the sword."
Suddenly the speaker drew a knife from his belt, and three of the others grabbed Bigley, who pivoted to his left. The men shoved Bigley to the floor and cut of his head, which the killer then lifted for viewers to see." (Note: Northeast Intelligence Network hosts this video and others of executed hostages in Iraq. See also: "Militants in Iraq Kill UK Hostage, Video Shows" (Maher Nazih, Reuters, 2004/10/08))"Israel accused of masterminding attacks" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/10/10)
Sinai Massacre VII. Blaming Israel: "General (Ret.) Muhammad Abdel Fattah Omar, a former senior official with the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for the country's security services, was one of the first Egyptians to accuse Israel of masterminding the attacks.
"In each operation, we should first try to find out who benefits from it," he said. "Israel is the only party that benefits from the Sinai attacks. The Israelis and their agents are the only ones who are able to enter this area without difficulty."
University professor Salwa Hussein vehemently defended the conspiracy theories as a "historic fact." She explained: "The Arab world lies in the heart of the globe and if its power continues to grow, the Arabs will control the other countries as was the case with the Islamic state... Today the conspiracy against Islam is continuing and even spreading."
Abdullah al-Ashal, a former top official with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, said he had no doubts that Israeli hands were involved in the bombings. "Israel's ultimate plan is to bring Egypt to its knees and eliminate its regional role," he told the IslamOnline Web site.
Ashal, who served as assistant foreign minister, went on to claim that by pointing a finger at al-Qaida, Israel was seeking to include Egypt in the US-led war on terror.
The Muslim Brotherhood organization issued a statement in Cairo in which it accused the Mossad and Jews of planning and carrying out the attacks. The group said the attacks were designed to divert attention from Israel's "brutal massacres" against the Palestinians and the 'barbaric attacks by the American occupation forces in Iraq.'" (See also: "Palestinians blame Israel, US for Sinai bombings" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/10/09))"Baghdad Car Bombs Kill 11, Including GI" (Sabah Jerges, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/10/10)
"A suicide attacker detonated a minibus packed with explosives near an eastern Baghdad police academy, police Cap. Ali Ayez said at the scene. At least four mangled bodies lay on the street amid scattered shoes, papers and a handbag. Police collected body parts on stretchers.
The dead included three police academy students and a female officer, Ayez said. ...
Another car bomb exploded as an American military convoy was passing near a small market in east Baghdad, police Lt. Ahmed Hussein said at the scene. An American soldier wounded in the attack was evacuated for treatment but died at a nearby military medical facility, a military statement said.""Afghan vote boycott 'collapsing'" (BBC News, 2004/10/10)
Afghanistan XI: "Several candidates in Afghanistan's presidential election appear set to drop calls for a boycott of the result.
Confusion clouded the historic vote on Saturday when 15 of the 18 candidates alleged flaws in the voting procedure would produce a fraudulent result.
But many of their representatives have now told the BBC they will accept the findings of an official inquiry into the alleged irregularities.
More than 10 million people voted in the polls, despite fears of violence.
International bodies have endorsed the elections, with the largest monitor group there describing them as 'fairly democratic.'""The sordid truth about the oil-for-food scandal" (Con Coughlin, The Sunday Telegraph, 2004/10/10)
Duelfer XIV: "The real scandal contained in the long-awaited report of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) that was published last week concerns the fecklessness of the United Nations, not to mention the treacherous conduct of some of its security council members, in its dealings with Saddam's regime between the end of the 1991 Gulf war and last year's Operation Iraqi Freedom. ...
Between them, France and Russia received 45 per cent of the vouchers, with China coming third. In late 2002 and early 2003, France, Russia and China led the anti-war movement at the UN. In France, the vouchers were given to a number of politicians with close links to Mr Chirac, while in Russia they were paid directly to Mr Putin's private office, providing him with his own ready-made slush fund. ...
By November 2001 — just two months after the 9/11 attacks — Saddam was so confident of breaking the UN's sanctions stranglehold that Baghdad hosted a trade fair that attracted hundreds of foreign companies in the expectation that they would soon be able to establish lucrative trade links with Saddam's regime. As Charles Duelfer, the author of the ISG report commented, by 2001 Saddam's 'long struggle to outlast the containment policy seemed tantalisingly close.'"See also:
"The Duelfer report's case for war in Iraq" (Michael Barone, USNews.com, 2004/10/09)
"The Report That Nails Saddam" (David Brooks, The New York Times, 2004/10/09)
"Quai d'Orsay 'Astonished' at U.S. Report" (Eli Lake, The New York Sun, 2004/10/08)
"Saddam’s Sugar Daddy" (Claudia Rosett, National Review, 2004/10/08)
"Saddam's web: the network he used to fool a corrupt UN" (Fraser Nelson, The Scotsman, 2004/10/08)
"France disputes Iraq bribe claims" (BBC News, 2004/10/07)
"Saddam's Personal Involvement in WMD Planning" (USA Today, 2004/10/07)
"Saddam and the French Connection" (Fraser Nelson and James Kirkup, The Scotsman, 2004/10/07)
"Report links U.N. to Iraq bribes" (CNN.com, 2004/10/07)
"A Leader With an Eye on His Legacy" (Bradley Graham, The Washington Post, 2004/10/07)
"U.S. 'Almost All Wrong' on Weapons" (Dana Priest and Walter Pincus, The Washington Post, 2004/10/07)
"U.S. Report Finds No Evidence of Iraq WMD" (Ken Guggenheim, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/10/06)"The wisdom of nations" (Anne Bayefsky, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/10/10)
"This year's General Assembly has got off to a roaring start with the usual priorities. In mid-September, the well-funded UN apparatus dedicated to the Arab side of the Arab-Israeli conflict swung into full gear. The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held its annual Conference of Civil Society in Support of Palestinian People. ...
This year the proceedings included a media workshop, which was concerned with the "US media[s] ... commitment to such sterile paradigms as 'Israel's self-defense'" — their quotations, not mine. ...
The Secretary-General's turn arrived the following week. Kofi Annan opened the General Assembly on September 21 by naming only one country on earth as guilty of violating international law through the "excessive use of force."
You guessed it — Israel. A previous version of the speech, which was distributed to journalists, condemned "Israeli operations presented as 'self-defense'" — Annan's quotations, not mine." (See also: "Secretary-General's address to the General Assembly" (Kofi Annan, United Nations, 2004/09/21))"Kerry's Undeclared War" (Matt Bai, The New York Times Magazine, 2004/10/10)
"The Kerry Doctrine." A revealing article on John Kerry's view of the war on terror:
"When I asked Kerry what it would take for Americans to feel safe again, he displayed a much less apocalyptic worldview. "We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance," Kerry said. "As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life." ...
When Kerry first told me that Sept. 11 had not changed him, I was surprised. I assumed everyone in America — and certainly in Washington — had been changed by that day. I assumed he was being overly cautious, afraid of providing his opponents with yet another cheap opportunity to call him a flip-flopper. What I came to understand was that, in fact, the attacks really had not changed the way Kerry viewed or talked about terrorism — which is exactly why he has come across, to some voters, as less of a leader than he could be. He may well have understood the threat from Al Qaeda long before the rest of us. And he may well be right, despite the ridicule from Cheney and others, when he says that a multinational, law-enforcement-like approach can be more effective in fighting terrorists. But his less lofty vision might have seemed more satisfying — and would have been easier to talk about in a political campaign — in a world where the twin towers still stood." (UPDATE: See also "Terrorism and prostitution" (Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy, 2004/10/10), "Pillar of Salt" (wretchard, Belmont Club, 2004/10/11) and "A nuisance?" (James Lileks, The Bleat, 2004/10/11))"Man of the World: Michael Ledeen's adventures in history" (Jeet Heer and Dave Wagner, The Boston Globe, 2004/10/10)
A profile of Michael Ledeen: "In a March 2003 speech at the American Enterprise Institute, Ledeen dismissed worries that the American public would lose heart if there were too many casualties in the then-imminent Iraq war. "All the great scholars who have studied American character have come to the conclusion that we are a warlike people and that we love war...," Ledeen declared. "What we hate is not casualties but losing."
The Ledeen enigma -- extolling democracy while calling for iron political discipline -- can be traced back to what he has called "the usual Machiavellian paradox: Compulsion -- or necessity, as he terms it -- makes men noble, and enables them to remain free, while abundant choice is dangerous, leads to chaos, and leaves men at the mercy of their enemies." Ledeen fears that some elements of society have forgotten the virtue of such compulsion. "The generals, the businessmen, and the athletic coaches know this, but the political leaders and journalists often forget it."
Ledeen, however, claims his own politics are perfectly mainstream. "I think of myself as a fairly typical American," he claimed in the e-mail interview. 'I hate tyranny, and I dread mass movements because they often produce the worst sort of tyrannies, the ones that genuinely inspire passionate followers. I love freedom and clearly have a strong anarchist streak, which I come by honestly. My uncle Izzy Brody was a Russian anarchist who came to America in search of freedom, and found it.'""Israel Trades One Nightmare for Another" (Steven Erlanger, The New York Times, 2004/10/10)
"One of the major winners of America's war on terrorism has been nuclear-bound, terrorism-supporting Iran, and it is giving the Israelis nightmares.": "In the short run, Israel has gained enormously from the ouster of Mr. Hussein, said Michael B. Oren, a historian and senior fellow at Jerusalem's Shalem Center. ...
But in the long run, the situation in Iraq "is very uncertain, hazardous and possibly catastrophic," he said. Even an American success in democratizing Iraq "will almost definitely entail majority Shia rule, linked to a rapidly nuclearizing Iran, causing upheaval and increased expectations among Shias throughout the Gulf." He imagines a Shiite belt from the Persian Gulf through southern Lebanon, organized against America and Israel. "That's scary, because the raison d'être of the Iranian regime is to export holy war," he said. Also, Mr. Oren said, "there's a genuine fear here that if America withdraws precipitously from Iraq, the initial message, that the West will stand up to terror, is not only lost, but supplanted by: 'You shoot at Americans and Westerners long enough and they'll retreat, so don't stop shooting.'""Get Me Rewrite. Now. Bullets Are Flying" (Dexter Filkins, The New York Times, 2004/10/10)
"Reporters Under Fire In Baghdad": "In the writing of this essay, a three-hour affair, two rockets and three mortar shells have landed close enough to shake the walls of our house. The door to my balcony opens onto an Iraqi social club, and the roar from the blasts set the Iraqis into a panic, their screams audible above the Arabic music wafting from the speakers.
In my time here, I have marked significant events here, like the drafting of a new Iraqi Constitution and the formal end of the American occupation, and I have marked a number of personal ones, too.Oct. 27, 2003: Attacked by a mob.
Dec. 19, 2003: Shot at.
May 8, 2004: Followed by a car of armed men.
Aug. 28, 2004: Detained by the Mahdi Army. ...The real consequence of the mayhem here is that we reporters can no longer do our jobs in the way we hope to. Reporters are nothing more than watchers and listeners, and if we can't leave the house, the picture from Iraq, even with the help of fearless Iraqi stringers, almost inevitably will be blurry and incomplete.
Some of my colleagues have given up. Most of the European reporters, like the French and Italians and Germans, are gone. And there are far fewer American reporters here than was the case just a few months ago." (See also: "The Green Zone" (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, 2004/09/30))"Woman part of terror attack" (Inigo Gilmore and David Harrison, The Sunday Telegraph/The Washington Times, 2004/10/10)
Sinai Massacre VI: "A female suicide bomber is believed to have taken part in the terrorist attack on the Red Sea hotel in which at least 31 persons died, Israeli and Egyptian military officials said last night.
A woman, whose decapitated body was found at the back of the Hilton, is thought to have been acting with two other terrorists who rammed explosives-laden cars into the front of the Hilton Hotel in the Sinai resort town of Taba on Thursday night. ...
Egyptian investigators said they suspected eight to 10 terrorists targeting Israeli tourists carried out the attacks, possibly slipping in from Saudi Arabia or Jordan on speedboats.
They also said there was a chance a local sleeper cell of Egyptians might have been activated to stage the attacks, Egypt's first terrorist strike in seven years. ...
Egyptian police said they had arrested "dozens" of Bedouin men suspected of helping to supply explosives to the bombers.""The Other Weapons Threat in Iraq" (Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times, 2004/10/10)
Duelfer XIII: "Insurgent networks across Iraq are increasingly trying to acquire and use toxic nerve gases, blister agents and germ weapons against U.S. and coalition forces, according to a CIA report. Investigators said one group recruited scientists and sought to prepare poisons over seven months before it was dismantled in June.
U.S. officials say the threat is especially worrisome because leaders of the previously unknown group, which investigators dubbed the "Al Abud network," were based in the city of Fallouja near insurgents aligned with fugitive militant Abu Musab Zarqawi. ...
For now, the leaders and financiers of the network "remain at large, and alleged chemical munitions remain unaccounted," the report says. It adds that other insurgent groups are "planning or attempting to produce or acquire" chemical and biological agents throughout Iraq, and says the availability of chemicals and munitions, as well as sympathetic former Iraqi weapons scientists, 'increases the future threat.'""After a Long Wait, Afghan Women Step Up to Vote" (Hamida Ghafour, Los Angeles Times, 2004/10/10)
Afghanistan X: "KABUL, Afghanistan — It began as a slow, cautious trickle, but by midmorning Saturday the line of voters at Zarghona High School had become a great surge of pale blue burkas as hundreds of Afghan women exercised their right to vote for president for the first time. ...
The women came from all walks of life. Some were teachers or civil servants; others were illiterate homemakers. Some wore burkas, the head-to-toe coverings; others wore Western-style fashions. Some of the younger voters came with their friends, and others with small children. ...
Kouki, a mother of 12 who uses only one name, waved her registration card and appeared slightly confused about the nature of a presidential election.
"We would like a king who will build schools for us," she said. "We are deaf from the rockets, our children are deaf and we want a new king to help us."
As the crowd of voters grew more aggressive, the all-female staff in the polling room finally lost their patience.
"Wait your turn!" one yelled at the crowd. "Only two voters in the room at a time. You want the entire hallway in here?"
Wahidullah Safarzada, a dazed-looking security guard, gave up trying to control the crowd.
"What should I do?" he asked. 'They are not listening. They are dangerous. I'm scared of them.'""Afghans take democratic step" (Kim Barker, Chicago Tribune, 2004/10/10)
Afghanistan IX: "KABUL, Afghanistan -- The 80-year-old woman limped up to the front of the line, demanding to be the first woman to vote. Amir Bigum hunched over her cane, made from the stem of an umbrella, and yelled out her sorrows. Two sons and a daughter had died in the country's 23 years of war. She had no money, no food.
"I came today for freedom of my country," Bigum shouted. "I came today to get rid of warlords and guns. I came today for stability. I came today to find a bite of food." ...
The people who voted Saturday morning braved threats from insurgents and the Taliban. The morning was crisp, and the capital was covered in a cloud of dust. People rode their bikes and walked several miles to vote. They came on crutches, in wheelchairs, even pushing carts. Many women came in blue burqas, the sheath that became the symbol of the Taliban, covering everything, even a woman's face.""At the Polls in a Southern Village, Afghans Vote With Confidence and Yearn for Security" (Carlotta Gall, The New York Times, 2004/10/10)
Afghanistan VIII: "TARINAN, Afghanistan, Oct. 9 - The first villagers cast their votes on time at 7 a.m. Saturday, amid jokes and excitement in this small village of vineyards and pomegranate orchards in southern Afghanistan. ...
"It is a very important day," said a toothless man, Muhammad Hussein, 75, in an old black turban. "We are very happy. It is like independence day, or freedom day. We are bringing security and peace to this country." ...
Three women shrouded in burkas walking from Bayanzai to their home nearby complained that they had wanted to vote but their men had not allowed it.
"We wanted to vote but they do not let us, so what can we do?" said one woman, a mother of eight, who declined to give her name, saying her husband would forbid it. ...
"People are talking about it, we know all about the election," she added, before hurrying on."Added in archive:
"The Legend of the Squandered Sympathy" (John Rosenthal, Transatlantic Intelligencer, 2004/10/06)
"To be a Jew in Baghdad" (Orly Halperin, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/09/29)
"NGOs Make War on Israel" (Gerald M. Steinberg, Middle East Quarterly, from the Summer 2004 issue)
Saturday,
October 9, 2004
News and
commentary:
"THANK YOU PRES BUSH FOR DEMOCRACY IN AFGHANISTAN"
(Paul Sakuma, AP, 2004/10/09)
"A sign is displayed at a movie theater about the Afghan elections next to a Afghan restaurant in the Little Kabul area of Fremont, Calif. Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004. Residents of Little Kabul, the nation's largest concentration of Afghan emigres, are watching closely as their homeland prepares to hold its first direct presidential election.""A tragic parody of democracy" (Wolfgang Hansson, Aftonbladet, 2004/10/09)
Afghanistan VII. Zahooba and millions of her compatriots might be happy, but the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet's "political analyst" Wolfgang Hansson is depressed. And the reason is, as always, Bush. This is a translated excerpt from a Swedish article:
"The reason that the election is held in spite of all problems is Bush.
For the American president the Afghanistan election is an important feather in the cap. On election meetings Bush uses Afghanistan as a positive example on how the war on terror can leave a string of pearls of newly fledged democracies in its wake.
Now Afghanistan and soon Iraq is Bush's motto.
No one can demand a perfect election in a mangled Afghanistan. But the only real benefit of having the election now is as a signal that the terrorists cannot stop it.
On many other points the election is a tragic parody of democracy." (Note: For more on Hansson, see also "A round-up of Swedish news on the "Snow White" scandal" (Watch, 2004/01/18))"Bush: Afghan Election a 'Marvelous Thing'" (Jennifer Lofen, AP/The Intelligencer, 2004/10/09)
Afghanistan VI: "President Bush said Saturday that the voting in Afghanistan was a remarkable achievement due in some part to his administration. "A marvelous thing is happening in Afghanistan," Bush told a breakfast fund-raiser for local Republican candidates. 'Freedom is powerful. Think about a society in which young girls couldn't go to school, and their mothers were whipped in the public square, and today they're holding a presidential election.'""Joyous Afghans cast their vote" (AFP/news.com.au, 2004/10/10)
Afghanistan V. A report from Kandahar: "Jubilation reigned today in the former stronghold of Afghanistan's hardline Islamic Taliban regime, as thousands of voters streamed into polling stations in defiance of threats.
"Finally the day has arrived. I am so happy, it's like a dream. I feel that we are finally human," said Zahooba, a toothless old woman of 65 who walked half an hour on shaky legs to the polling station to cast her vote for President Hamid Karzai. ...
Rahgul, a 45-year-old matriarch came with 11 women from her family to cast her vote for Hamid Karzai.
"Our father said we should come early and vote. We are so happy. I can't belive today is the election," she said adding that the men in her family were also voting for Karzai. ...
However, voters were overwhelmingly enthusiastic, calling polling day the happiest day of their lives and saying that they hoped it would usher in big changes.
"Today we can vote. We change the future of our country and our lives. After decades of war I know that now things will change," said 25-year-old Abdul Haq.""Afghan Poll Ends Peacefully; Opposition Claims Fraud" (Simon Cameron-Moore, Reuters/My Way, 2004/10/09)
Afghanistan IV: "Ahead of the poll, security had been the overriding worry for election organizers fearing attacks by Islamic fundamentalist Taliban militants, who vowed to disrupt what they called a U.S.-orchestrated sham.
But the mood in most places appeared irrepressibly upbeat.
"This is one of the happiest days of my life," said Sayed Aminullah as he cast his vote at Eid Gah Mosque in the capital.
"I don't care about the result. All I care is that we are having an election. This is a sign that things are improving for Afghanistan."
"Afghan women wearing the traditional burqa..."
(Desmond Boylan, Reuters, 2004/10/09)
"Afghan women wearing the traditional burqa wait in a queue to cast their ballot outside a polling station in Kabul on October 9, 2004.""Woman in Pakistan is first to vote in Afghan poll" (Zeeshan Haider, Reuters, 2004/10/09)
Afghanistan III: "A 19-year-old Afghan woman living as a refugee in Pakistan made history on Saturday by casting the first vote in Afghanistan's first direct presidential election.
Moqadasa Sidiqi, a science student who fled Kabul with her family in 1992, cast her ballot at a polling station at a primary school, not in Afghanistan, but in Islamabad, capital of neighbouring Pakistan.
"I am very happy, I am very happy," Sidiqi told reporters after voting.""Palestinians blame Israel, US for Sinai bombings" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/10/09)
Sinai Massacre V. The Palestinian Curriculum: "Fayez Ibrahim, a student at Bir Zeit University, said he and many of his colleagues were hoping that there would be more attacks like the ones in Sinai. "We want to see such attacks in the heart of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv," he said. ...
Other Palestinians told the Post that they did not rule out the possibility that Israel was behind the bombings.
"I think the Israeli government is behind the attacks in Taba in order to drive a wedge between the Palestinians and Egypt and show the world that we are terrorists," said Abu Haitham, a teacher at an UNRWA school.""Sinai Massacre – an Iranian-Hizballah-al Qaeda Co-production" (DEBKAfile, 2004/10/09)
Sinai Massacre IV: "The triple terrorist attack in Sinai Thursday night, October 7, was aimed against Israelis and Egyptians. Its central targets were:
1. The Taba Hilton which was crowded with Israelis.
2. The Nueiba resort, further south on the Red Sea coast of Sinai. DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources reveal the bomb car was timed for the arrival of a group of 40 high-ranking Egyptian officials, most of them close friends of Gemal Mubarak, son and heir apparent of the Egyptian president. Twenty were hurt, some very seriously, and flown out by one of the two presidential planes sent over to remove them from danger without delay. Among them was the head of the ruling party’s economy committee, the director general of Egyptian airports and a son of a former deputy prime minister who is now a leading financial figure. That the terrorists had advance knowledge of this high-powered group’s private visit to the resort is a measure of their efficient and well-placed intelligence, not only in Sinai, but in Cairo too.
3. Ras al-Satan between Taba and Nueiba boasts a cluster of straw-thatched restaurants, popular with Israelis and Egyptians alike. Some witnesses report two suicide cars, not one, exploded at its center.""Australian PM wins fourth term" (BBC News, 2004/10/09)
"Australia's Prime Minister John Howard has claimed victory in the federal election, shortly after his Labor rival Mark Latham conceded defeat.
With 70% of the votes counted, results indicate Mr Howard's Liberal-National coalition has won an easy majority.
Australia's 13m voters had a choice between Mr Howard, a staunch supporter of the Iraq war, and the younger Mr Latham, who opposed the intervention. ...
John Howard's conservative government vowed to keep Australia's 850 troops in the Gulf indefinitely, while Mr Latham said he would withdraw them by Christmas.""Al-Sadr Followers Will Hand Over Weapons" (Nadia Abou El-Magd, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/10/09)
"Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Saturday they will begin handing weapons over to Iraqi police next week in a major step toward ending weeks of fighting with American soldiers in Baghdad's Sadr City district. ...
A senior al-Sadr aide, Ali Smeisem, said the handover of medium and heavy weapons would start Monday at three police stations in Sadr City and last for five days." (See also: "Militia of Rebel Iraqi Shi'ite Cleric Offers Truce" (Alistair Lyon, Reuters, 2004/10/07))"Briton Escaped Briefly Before His Killing in Iraq" (Alistair Lyon, Reuters, 2004/10/09)
"British hostage Kenneth Bigley escaped briefly from his captors shortly before they beheaded him in Iraq, insurgent sources said Saturday.
They said Bigley managed to get away for about half an hour with the help of one of his captors before he was caught in farmland near the town of Latifiya, southwest of Baghdad.
Bigley was beheaded in the same area soon after his desperate bid for freedom ended on Thursday afternoon, one source said, adding: 'He never made it to the main road.'" (See also: "Militants in Iraq Kill UK Hostage, Video Shows" (Maher Nazih, Reuters, 2004/10/08))"Karzai rivals set to boycott poll" (CNN.com, 2004/10/09)
Afghanistan II: "Afghanistan's first direct election has been thrown into chaos after all the candidates challenging President Hamid Karzai said they would boycott the results due to voting irregularities.
Hours after voting began in Saturday's election — taking place almost three years after the hard-line Taliban regime was ousted by a U.S.-led military campaign — there were complaints at several polling stations when officials realized ink used to mark voters' fingers could be washed off.
The boycott by 15 of the 18 candidates in Saturday's election effectively leaves Karzai as the only one standing. Two other candidates withdrew in Karzai's favor earlier in the week.""A 5,000-Year First: Afghans vote today, and Americans should be proud" (Zalmay Khalilzad, The Wall Street Journal, 2004/10/09)
Afghanistan I. Khalilzad is "special presidential envoy and U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan": "More than 10 million Afghans have the opportunity to cast ballots for president today, in the first direct election for head of state in the nation's 5,000-year history. ...
The best market test to understand how Afghans view the future is the fact that 3.3 million refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran since 2002 — the largest voluntary repatriation in history. These refugees would not return unless they believed the quality of life for their families is better in Afghanistan. ...
In speaking with Afghans, they say that life is immeasurably better than under the Taliban, and that they are profoundly grateful for the help received from the United States and the rest of the world. However, we all know that, to succeed fully in Afghanistan, we must sustain the positive momentum developed to date for at least five years.
If we do so, Afghanistan will realize its enormous upside potential, both by improving the lives of a people who have suffered immense tragedy for a quarter-century, and by consolidating a landmark victory in the war against extremists and terrorists. This will be a major step toward the necessary political transformation of the wider region.""The Duelfer report's case for war in Iraq" (Michael Barone, USNews.com, 2004/10/09)
Duelfer XII: "'U.S. 'Almost All Wrong' on Weapons' read the headline on the October 7 Washington Post. "Report on Iraq Contradicts Bush Administration Claims" read the subhead. But these headlines conceal the real news in the report of Iraq Survey Group head Charles Duelfer. For the report makes it plain that George W. Bush had good reason to go to war in Iraq and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. ...
If the weapons inspectors had been given more time to conduct inspections, as John Kerry has on occasion advocated, we now know they would not have found any WMDs. Nor does it seem possible that they would have uncovered Saddam's attempts to maintain WMD capability. There would have been heavy pressure then from France, Russia, and China — whose companies were given kickbacks and windfall profits from the Saddam-administered U.N. Oil for Food program, Duelfer reports — to disband U.S. military forces in the Middle East and to end sanctions. And once sanctions were gone, there would have been nothing to stop Saddam from developing WMDs." (See also: "U.S. 'Almost All Wrong' on Weapons" (Dana Priest and Walter Pincus, The Washington Post, 2004/10/07))"The Report That Nails Saddam" (David Brooks, The New York Times, 2004/10/09)
Duelfer XI: "I have never in my life seen a government report so distorted by partisan passions. The fact that Saddam had no W.M.D. in 2001 has been amply reported, but it's been isolated from the more important and complicated fact of Saddam's nature and intent.
But we know where things were headed. Sanctions would have been lifted. Saddam, rich, triumphant and unbalanced, would have reconstituted his W.M.D. Perhaps he would have joined a nuclear arms race with Iran. Perhaps he would have left it all to his pathological heir Qusay.
We can argue about what would have been the best way to depose Saddam, but this report makes it crystal clear that this insatiable tyrant needed to be deposed. He was the menace, and, as the world dithered, he was winning his struggle. He was on the verge of greatness. We would all now be living in his nightmare.""Anti-Zionist Arab Books Criticized at Fair" (Edward Wyatt, The New York Times, 2004/10/09)
Guests of Honour in Frankfurt: "Publishers from Arab countries came to the Frankfurt Book Fair as the guests of honor, seeking understanding and tolerance as well as a greater appreciation of Arab culture and literature. But several publishers, as well as the book fair itself, have attracted criticism and charges of anti-Semitism for their display of at least a dozen books with strong anti-Zionist themes. ...
On the cover of one of the books, displayed by the Dar Tlass publishing house of Damascus, Syria, was a photograph of the World Trade Center exploding in flames during the 9/11 attacks. Overlaying the photo of the Twin Towers is a Star of David and a fingerprint.
Nearby, another book showed a Star of David covering the Statue of Liberty, which held, instead of a torch, a sword that dripped blood." (See also: "Wiesenthal Center calls for removal of Frankfurt Book Fair displays that include 'extinction of Israel in 2021 as word of Holy Koran'" (Simon Wiesenthal Center, 2004/10/06): "- Merit Publications, Cairo is selling copies of "Sins of the Jews & Judaism" with a cover showing a Hasidic Jew, wearing a Star of David, furtively turning into a dark street. ...
- Alongside, the Dar Tlass Publishing House of Syrian Defense Minister, Mustapha Tlass (notorious for his antisemitic blood-libel "The Matzoh of Zion") is marketing two texts on 'The Jewish Role in the 9/11 Destruction of the World Trade Center.'")"A Debate on Iraq and the Home Front" (Dan Balz and Mike Allen, The Washington Post, 2004/10/09)
"President Bush and Democratic challenger John F. Kerry tangled again over Iraq in a series of pointed exchanges Friday night, with the president charging that Kerry would have left Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in power and made the world more dangerous. Kerry responded that it was Bush's war policies that have left the world less safe. ...
The debate repeatedly turned personal, reflecting the heated rhetoric the two have used on the campaign trail over the past week, with Bush accusing Kerry of a record studded with inconsistency and liberal values. "I can see why people think that he changes position quite often, because he does," Bush said.
The senator from Massachusetts responded that Bush's campaign has become a "weapon of mass deception" designed to dupe voters and hide a record of failure at home and abroad. "The president's just trying to scare everybody here," Kerry said." (See also: "Full Transcript: Second Presidential Debate" (The Washington Post, 2004/10/08))"In Taba, Freeze Frames of Horror" (Molly Moore, The Washington Post, 2004/10/09)
Sinai Massacre III: "In the space of a few horrific minutes Thursday night at the Taba Hilton, a woman fell eight stories in a bathtub.
The charred and twisted skeleton of a car flew from the front driveway into an empty banquet hall. Every window in the hotel blew out.
In the aftermath of the apparent car bombing that killed at least 30 people, the ruined hotel looked like a freeze frame from a macabre movie. ...
A month ago, the same hotel provided me and my family with an escape from the daily fears of living in Israel, the persistent threat of suicide bombings.
It was an oasis of palm-lined sidewalks and bougainvillea-covered gardens. A short wade into the nearby Red Sea, the azure water teams with brilliant neon-colored fish. Swimmers could dive into the enormous saltwater pool and swim to an island bar. Beside the pool, thin Russian women in thong bikinis sunbathed next to Arab women swathed head-to-toe in scarves and robes.
On Thursday night, body parts floated in the pool, according to a hotel cook."Added in archive:
"Britons secretly kept in postwar French camps" (Jon Henley, The Guardian, 2004/10/04)Note: ActivistChat.com has a new blog, with the same name as its campaign — BLOG-IRAN!: "It has been well over a year since the BLOG-IRAN campaign began, and since that time, hundreds of bloggers from all corners of the planet and all political leanings have united in this noble effort to hear the Iranian people's cries for freedom and to relay their message, their struggle, their hopes and dreams, to the citizens and governments of the world."
Friday,
October 8, 2004
News and
commentary:
"Tears at the border"
(Guy Geva, AFP, 2004/10/08)
"Tears at the border: Israeli girls cry after crossing the border between Egypt and Israel following the attack on the Hilton Taba Hotel in the Egyptian Red sea resort.""Militants in Iraq Kill UK Hostage, Video Shows" (Maher Nazih, Reuters, 2004/10/08)
"Militants in Iraq beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley, three weeks after kidnapping him to press a demand for the release of women held by U.S.-led forces, a video seen by Reuters showed on Friday.
Guerrilla sources in the rebel-held city of Falluja said earlier that Bigley, who had been seized by a militant group led by alleged al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed on Thursday afternoon in Latifiya, just southwest of Baghdad. ...
A video seen by a Reuters journalist in the office of a foreign news organization in Baghdad showed the 62-year-old engineer appearing to plead for his life as six men stood behind him. One read a statement, then cut his head off with a knife.""War, Lies, and Videotape: A Viewer’s Guide to Fahrenheit 9/11" (EPPC, 2004/10/08)
A comprehensive critique of Fahrenheit 9/11, which covers the film almost frame by frame: "This assessment reveals that Moore’s film is profoundly dishonest and misleading on a scale that even the very skeptical viewer cannot begin to appreciate without a careful analysis of each of the individual pieces that make up the narrative. For the most part, the movie does not proceed by outright false assertions: Moore is careful — often through a lawyerly precision in word choice — to avoid the simplest lies and to steer barely clear of claims that are plainly libelous. Instead, he chops up the truth and rearranges the pieces to form a thoroughly false picture of reality that is composed of genuine video and audio clips that in reality often have little or nothing to do with the point being advanced in the film, and of facts out of context and figures misrepresented. This means that while Moore’s “facts” are not all false, essentially none of his “arguments” turns out to be true." (Hat tip: Heretical Librarian.)"Neoconservatism and Foreign Policy" (Charles Krauthammer, The National Interest, from the Fall 2004 issue)
Krauthammer responds to Francis Fukuyama's critique of the essay "Democratic Realism":
"One of the reasons I gave this speech ["Democratic Realism"] is that I thought the universalist bear-any-burden language of both Blair and Bush to advance the global spread of democracy is too open-ended and ambitious. The alternative I proposed tries to restrain the idealistic universalism with the realist consideration of strategic necessity. Hence the central axiom of democratic realism:We will support democracy everywhere, but we will commit blood and treasure only in places where there is a strategic necessity — meaning, places central to the larger war against the existential enemy, the enemy that poses a global mortal threat to freedom. ...
Any serious threat to what was once known as the “free world” as a whole is “global.” In the 1930s and 1940s, that meant fascism. In the second half of the 20th century, that meant communism. Today it means Arab/Islamic radicalism. ...
Whether a change in the political direction of a state or territory will have an important, perhaps decisive, effect in defeating Arab/Islamic radicalism. Afghanistan meets that test. So does Iraq." (See also: "The Neoconservative Moment" (Francis Fukuyama, The National Interest/AIB, 2004/06/01) and "Democratic Realism: An American Foreign Policy for a Unipolar World" (Charles Krauthammer, AEI, 2004/02/12))"The Buried Truth" (Christopher Hitchens, Slate, 2004/10/08)
Hitchens on "The Bomb In My Garden", a memoir by Saddam Hussein's chief nuclear physicist Mahdi Obeidi:
"Apart from its insight into the workings of the Saddam nuclear project, it provides a haunting account of the atmosphere of sheer evil that permeated every crevice of Iraqi life under the old regime. It is morally impossible to read it and not rejoice at that system's ignominious and long-overdue removal. ...
His conclusion is that, given an improvement in the economic and political climate, Saddam could and would have done one of two things: reconstitute the program or share it with others. Had it not been for 9/11, it is sobering to reflect, there would have been senior members of even this administration arguing that sanctions on Iraq should be eased. And, through the open scandal of the oil-for-food program, there were many states or clienteles within states who were happy to help Saddam enrich himself. Moreover, within the "box" that supposedly "contained" him were also living Kim Jong-il, A.Q. Khan, and Col. Qaddafi. We know from the Kay report that, as late as March of last year, Saddam's envoys were meeting North Korea's team in Damascus and trying to buy missiles off the shelf. It would never have stopped: this ceaseless ambition to acquire the means of genocide. If anything, we underestimated that aspect of it.""Sizing Up Iraq" (Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 2004/10/08)
"If an aggregate $50 billion in aid to Egypt; billions more to the Palestinians and Jordanians; the removal of the bloodthirsty Saddam Hussein and the Taliban; $87 billion invested in Iraq and an attempt to relieve its international debt; saving the Kuwaitis; protecting the Saudis; stopping the genocide of Muslims in the Balkans; and keeping the Persian Gulf safe gets us sky-high cartel oil prices and poll data showing that 95 percent of the Middle East does not like America, it is time to try something else.
I could start with the modest suggestion of a gradual cutting off all aid to Egypt, halting most immigration to the United States from the Middle East (in the manner we once did with Communist Eastern Europe), and announcing a carrot-and-stick non-interventionist Bush Doctrine II. All future Middle East military and economic aid would be predicated on the recipient's having a democratic government, while evidence of either terrorist bases or weapons of mass destruction would earn sustained U.S. bombing.""Chirac Against America" (John J. Miller and Mark Molesky, National Review, 2004/10/08)
An excerpt on Jacques Chirac from "Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France":
"One of the most significant developments in Chirac's political career was the close personal bond he formed in the 1970s with an ambitious Iraqi official. Vice President Saddam Hussein had come to France during those years to shake hands and sign oil contracts — and few were as keen to accommodate him as Chirac. Over several years, the two men met frequently in Baghdad and Paris while brokering a massive set of trade agreements that had Iraq supplying France with 700 million barrels of oil over ten years and spending billions on French military equipment, including tanks, missiles, and Mirage F-1 fighters. In addition, Iraq agreed to buy 100,000 French-made cars and invited French companies to develop a billion-dollar resort complex near Baghdad. Hussein, of course, wanted something in return: French assistance in building a nuclear reactor plus a source of weapons-grade uranium to use as starter fuel. Chirac was so eager to oblige that Hussein's infamous Osirak nuclear reactor earned the nickname O'Chirac among French critics of the deal.
There was ample cause for concern. "The agreement with France is the first concrete step toward production of the Arab atomic bomb," said Hussein, ominously. In 1981, Israel came to believe the plant posed a threat to its national survival and destroyed it in a daring airstrike. Although many now view the raid as an act of providential foresight, at the time most governments (including the United States) criticized the attack. Few issued more vituperative condemnations than Paris: "Unacceptable, dangerous, and a serious violation of international law," said foreign minister Claude Cheysson." (See also: "The Age of Terror" (John J. Miller and Mark Molesky, National Review, 2004/10/07) and "French Resistance" (John J. Miller and Mark Molesky, National Review, 2004/10/06))"Quai d'Orsay 'Astonished' at U.S. Report" (Eli Lake, The New York Sun, 2004/10/08)
Duelfer X: "The French foreign ministry spokesman, Herve Ladsous, said he was "astonished" by the charges that a former French interior minister, Charles Pasqua, had received Iraqi vouchers to sell 11 million barrels of oil as part of an extensive network of bribes. The spokesman protested that the charges were "against exclusively non-American companies and individuals without having made the effort to verify them in advance, either with the people themselves or with the authorities of the countries concerned."
The French ambassador to the United Nations was blunter. "These allegations are unacceptable," Jean Marc de la Sabliere said. "I'm talking about the whole allegation." ...
Meanwhile Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovksy, who Mr. Duelfer's reports says received vouchers to sell 53 million barrels of Iraqi crude, as saying "I never took a single dollar from Iraq or any other country."
One American diplomat told The New York Sun yesterday that the allegations were "a diplomatic nuclear bomb." The diplomat added, "Most of our ambassadors pleaded with the White House not to release the information." State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said "the report looked solid to us." (See also: "France disputes Iraq bribe claims" (BBC News, 2004/10/07))"Saddam’s Sugar Daddy" (Claudia Rosett, National Review, 2004/10/08)
Duelfer IX: "The standard U.N. defense, offered up periodically by Annan and his subordinates since Annan finally conceded this past March that there had been, perhaps, quite a lot of "wrong-doing," is that Oil-for-Food performed as well as possible under difficult circumstances. A little corruption, we are given to understand, can creep into even the loftiest humanitarian endeavors.
This was not simply a little corruption, however. And it was not vague, and it was not faceless, and it was anything but benign. The Duelfer report takes us right into the caverns of corruption, political rot, arms traffic, and U.N. complicity that under cover of a relief operation was allowing Saddam to to prosper. As we begin to absorb the details, the very least Kofi Annan can contribute is to pursue — with the same kind of zeal he brought to expanding Oil-for-Food — a campaign for the kind of U.N. transparency that should have been the first line of defense against this monstrous travesty ever happening in the first place.""Stay on offense" (Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/10/08)
Glick on "Two Peoples, One State", an op-ed by the PLO's lawyer Michael Tarazi published in The New York Times:
"In the essay, Tarazi argued that the world must move beyond the "two-state" solution to the Palestinian conflict with Israel to a "one-state" solution that would end Israel's existence as a Jewish state.
Since the destruction of Israel has been the aim of the PLO since its founding in 1964, it is not clear why the Times felt the fact that the PLO remains committed to its 40-year-old official policy is noteworthy. ...
The fact that the Times would provide a stage for an author who seeks to baselessly criminalize the Jewish state, while ignoring the racist agenda of the writer himself, is not really news. The Times's record in covering the Middle East in general and Israel in particular for the past several decades has made clear that from the Gray Lady's perspective, Israel is not to receive fair coverage. Just this week, the paper did not devote a specific, full article to two major stories — either on its news or editorial pages – that would provide its readers with important information about what Israel is up against.
The first of these was that, in a major interview, former PA prime minister Mahmoud Abbas — who is consistently championed by the Times as a "reformer" — said that, at the Camp David talks in 2000, he had protested Israel's decision to cancel the Absentee Property Fund for reparations to Palestinian "refugees" with a retort to the effect that the Holocaust was justified. In his words, he told Elyakim Rubinstein: 'If that's the case, then Hitler's decisions were right.'" (See also: "Two Peoples, One State" (Michael Tarazi, The New York Times, 2004/10/04) and "Abu Mazen: The Whole Intifada Was a Mistake" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 793, 2004/10/05))"Oops . . . They Did It Again" (Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard, 2004/10/08)
"The Nobel Prize for Literature goes to Elfriede Jelinek: sensationalist, communist, and anti-American hack":
"The infamous snobs of the Swedish Academy, brooding in the land of military cowardice, interminable winter, and one of the highest suicide rates in the world, have returned to their habit of awarding the Nobel Prize for Literature to an unknown, undistinguished, leftist fanatic: The 2004 prize has gone to Elfriede Jelinek, of Austria. This time they got a two-fer shot at destroying literary standards, since Jelinek's writings mainly verge on gross pornography.
Ms. Jelinek's main recent work is a play, Bambiland, described as "a strident attack" on the U.S. intervention in Iraq. Published in Austria in 2003, it has been translated into English and will doubtless soon appear on the Anglo-American stage. Swedish Academy representative Horace Engdahl, laboring under the belief that the whole world can be fooled forever, disingenuously announced that the award should not be considered a political one. "When that play came out, this decision was — if not already made — then well under way," he said.
But Engdahl went on to describe Bambiland as showing "how patriotic enthusiasm turns into insanity," adding, 'she's completely right about that.'"
"Rescue workers stand in front of the destroyed facade..."
(Sebastian Scheiner, AP, 2004/10/08)
"Rescue workers stand in front of the destroyed facade of the Hilton Taba hotel, Egypt, Friday Oct. 8, 2004 after an explosion sheared outer rooms off a 10-storey wing of the hotel.""Israel Says al-Qaida Behind Resort Attacks" (Sarah El Deeb, AP/My Way, 2004/10/08)
Sinai Massacre II: "Rescuers Friday dug through the debris of a luxury hotel for victims of a series of bombs at resorts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that are popular with Israelis. At least 27 people were killed, with more than 100 wounded, and officials feared the death toll would rise.
Israel's intelligence chief told Cabinet ministers Friday that the bombings at Egyptian resorts were most likely carried out by al-Qaida. ...
The most devastating of the bombings was at the Hilton, where a car laden with explosives crashed into the lobby and detonated, an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity. There were reports of a second or third explosion in the compound, one of which may have been a suicide bomber.
Two smaller blasts quickly followed in Ras Shitan, a camping area near the town of Nuweiba, 35 miles south of Taba.""Three Explosions Strike Sinai Resort Towns in Egypt" (Steven Erlanger, The New York Times, 2004/10/08)
Sinai Massacre I: "Three explosions shook three Egyptian Sinai resorts popular with vacationing Israelis on Thursday night, killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 100, Israel Radio said.
Israeli officials said they believed the blasts were caused by terrorist bombs.
In the largest explosion, early reports suggested that a truck bomb was driven into the Taba Hilton, a large hotel in a village just across the border and near the Israeli town of Eilat. Israel Radio said Friday morning that officials thought there was also a suicide bomber in the Hilton. The hotel was badly damaged by the blast and an ensuing fire, and 10 floors in the complex collapsed. There were reports of people buried in the rubble.
The two other explosions took place to the southwest, in the resort villages of Ras al-Sultan and Nuweiba. At least seven people died at Ras al-Sultan, most of them Egyptian workers, according to the Egyptian news media." (See also: "At least 37 killed in Taba, Ras a-Satan car bombings" (Margot Dudkevitch, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/10/08): "The deadly blast at the Hilton hotel in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Taba on the border with Israel was claimed by the previously unknown "World Islamist Group", in a telephone call to AFP in Jerusalem.
"Jamaa Al-Islamiya Al-Alamiya (World Islamist Group) claims responsibility for the explosion at the Taba Hotel, carried out in revenge for the Palestinian and Arab martyrs dying in Palestine and Iraq," the caller said.")"Terrorists' Candidates?" (Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post, 2004/10/08)
"An electoral repudiation of President Bush would be seen by the world as a repudiation of Bush's foreign policy, specifically his aggressive, preemptive and often unilateral prosecution of the war on terrorism, most especially Iraq. It would be a correct interpretation because John Kerry has made clear that he is fighting this election on precisely those grounds. ...
The enemy is nonetheless far more likely to understand that the way to bring down Bush is not by attack at home but by debilitating guerrilla war abroad, namely in Iraq. Hence the escalation of bloodshed by Zarqawi and Co. It is not just aimed at intimidating Iraqis and preventing the Iraqi election. It is aimed at demoralizing Americans and affecting the American election.
The Islamists and Baathists in Iraq are conducting their own Tet Offensive with the same objective as the one in 1968: to demoralize the American citizenry, convince it that the war cannot be won, and ultimately encourage it to reject the administration that brought the war upon them and that is the more unequivocal about seeing it through.
It is perfectly true, as Bush critics constantly point out, that many millions around the world -- from Jacques Chirac to the Arab street -- dislike Bush and want to see him defeated. It is ridiculous to pretend that bin Laden, Zarqawi and the other barbarians are not among them.""The Big Freeze" (Ari Shavit, Haaretz, 2004/10/08)
The controversial interview with Ariel Sharon's senior advisor, Dov Weisglass:
"From your point of view, then, your major achievement is to have frozen the political process legitimately?
"That is exactly what happened. You know, the term 'political process' is a bundle of concepts and commitments. The political process is the establishment of a Palestinian state with all the security risks that entails. The political process is the evacuation of settlements, it's the return of refugees, it's the partition of Jerusalem. And all that has now been frozen."
So you have carried out the maneuver of the century? And all of it with authority and permission? ...
'Because what I effectively agreed to with the Americans was that part of the settlements would not be dealt with at all, and the rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns. That is the significance of what we did. The significance is the freezing of the political process. And when you freeze that process you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and you prevent a discussion about the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda indefinitely. And all this with authority and permission. All with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress. What more could have been anticipated? What more could have been given to the settlers?'" (See also: "U.S. asks Israel to clarify comments made by top PM aide" (Ari Shavit et al., Haaretz, 2004/10/07))"What I Really Said About Iraq" (L. Paul Bremer III, The New York Times, 2004/10/08)
"I believe it would have been helpful to have had more troops early on to stop the looting that did so much damage to Iraq's already decrepit infrastructure. The military commanders believed we had enough American troops in Iraq and that having a larger American military presence would have been counterproductive because it would have alienated Iraqis. That was a reasonable point of view, and it may have been right. The truth is that we'll never know.
But during the 14 months I was in Iraq, the administration, the military and I all agreed that the coalition's top priority was a broad, sustained effort to train Iraqis to take more responsibility for their own security. ...
For the task before us now, I believe we have enough troops in Iraq.
The press has been curiously reluctant to report my constant public support for the president's strategy in Iraq and his policies to fight terrorism. I have been involved in the war on terrorism for two decades, and in my view no world leader has better understood the stakes in this global war than President Bush." (See also: "Bremer Critique on Iraq Raises Political Furor" (Elisabeth Bumiller and Jodi Wilgoren, The New York Times, 2004/10/06))"Pentagon Sets Steps to Retake Iraq Rebel Sites" (Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, The New York Times, 2004/10/08)
"Pentagon planners and military commanders have identified 20 to 30 towns and cities in Iraq that must be brought under control before nationwide elections can be held in January, and have devised detailed ways of deciding which ones should be early priorities, according to senior administration and military officials. ...
For each of the cities identified as guerrilla strongholds or vulnerable to falling into insurgent hands, a set of measurements was created to track whether the rebels' grip was being loosened by initiatives of the new Iraqi government, using such criteria as the numbers of Iraqi security personnel on patrol, voter registration, economic development and health care.
And for each city, a timeline was established for military action to establish Iraqi local control if purely political steps by the central government proved insufficient.
"We're working on them by population size, by importance to the election," said one senior administration official, who added that the ultimate objective was to make sure that the main Sunni Muslim cities were able to take part in free elections.""Saddam's web: the network he used to fool a corrupt UN" (Fraser Nelson, The Scotsman, 2004/10/08)
Duelfer VIII: "Saddam Hussein believed that the United Nations system was so corrupt that it would protect his dictatorship from American aggression and allow him to complete quickly his quest for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). ...
His officials believed they could make WMD within two years — but the only flaw in their strategy was to think that Tony Blair and President George Bush would not invade Iraq without explicit UN permission. ...
His strategy was to use Iraq’s vast oil reserves as a lever to pull apart the international community, by bribing Russian and French officials. The report shows this policy carried out to a breathtaking degree.
Given that only 15 of Iraq’s 73 proven oilfields were being developed, Saddam’s officials started to offer lucrative deals to Russian and French oil companies, while personally targeting politicians considered corrupt.
Jacques Chirac, the president of France, was top of the list. Some 11 million oil-for-food vouchers were allocated to a businessmen named Patrick Maugein, who was "considered a conduit to Chirac", according to the report.
It also claims that Saddam’s officials paid the equivalent of £600,000 to the ruling French Socialist Party — and that Baghdad’s then ambassador to Paris handed the money to Pierre Joxe, the then French defence minister." (See also: "Saddam and the French Connection" (Fraser Nelson and James Kirkup, The Scotsman, 2004/10/07))
Thursday,
October 7, 2004
News and
commentary:
"School Warning: School Plans, Security Information Gathered by Suspected Iraq Insurgent Focus Concern on Schools in Six States" (Brian Ross, ABC News, 2004/10/07)
"Schools in six states in particular are being watched closely based on information uncovered by the U.S. military in Baghdad this summer, law enforcement and education officials told ABC News.
A man described as an Iraqi insurgent involved in anti-coalition activities had downloaded school floor plans and safety and security information about elementary and high schools in the six states, according to officials.
School officials in Fort Myers, Fla.; Salem, Ore.; Gray, Ga.; Birch Run, Mich.; two towns in New Jersey; and two towns in California have been told to increase security in light of the discovery.
Law enforcement officials say information on both elementary schools and high schools was included on the insurgent's disc, and that some of the schools involved were under construction this summer.
The ongoing construction was of particular interest to law enforcement officials. The terrorists who attacked the school in Beslan, Russia — where nearly 340 people were killed, many of them children — are thought to have hidden weapons in that school while it was under construction this summer.""Chirac warns of 'catastrophe' of world 'choked' by US values" (AFP/Expatica, 2004/10/07)
"French President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday of a "catastrophe" for global diversity if the United States' cultural hegemony goes unchallenged.
Speaking at a French cultural centre in Hanoi ahead of Friday's opening of a summit of European and Asian leaders, Chirac said France was right to stand up for cultural and linguistic diversity.
The outspoken French president warned that the world's different cultures could be "choked" by US values.
This, he said, would lead to a "general world sub-culture" based around the English language, which would be 'a real ecological catastrophe.'""France disputes Iraq bribe claims" (BBC News, 2004/10/07)
Duelfer VII: "Allegations that French officials were offered bribes by Saddam Hussein are unverified, France has said.
An official US report said that the former Iraqi leader sought to influence world figures with "oil vouchers" in an attempt to get UN sanctions lifted.
French businessmen and politicians were among the recipients, it said. ...
The report, published on the CIA's website, claims the French recipients included the former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua and businessman Patrick Maugein - both of whom deny the allegations.
Other officials include Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Benon Sevan, the former head of the oil for food programme for Iraq, who have also denied accepting bribes.
The report does not say if any attempt was made to verify the data, and notes that some vouchers were issued legitimately.
The French foreign ministry said that it was important to first discover if there was any truth behind the accusations.
"As far as we understand it, the accusations... are unverified either with the persons concerned or the authorities of the countries concerned," spokesman Herve Ladsous said.""A Simple Question" (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, 2004/10/07)
"Returning to Bremer. One of his early complaints was insufficient troop numbers to stop looting, restore order and protect unguarded weapon sites. Leave everything aside and focus on the latter. The war was launched because we feared Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. The main fear was that these weapons might be transferred to terrorists who could use them against us. And yet in the invasion, there was little or no effort to secure these sites! And there was no effort to seal the borders to prevent their being exported, or purloined by terrorists. Why? I've long pondered this, but Bremer's gaffe brings it back into focus. Why would you launch a war that failed in its very planning to avoid the disaster that you went to war to prevent? I don't understand. We were lucky in retrospect that Saddam didn't have any WMDs. The way this war has been run, it would have actually increased the chances of such weapons getting to America via terrorists rather than reduced them. At least, that seems to me to be the logical inference." (See also: "Bremer Critique on Iraq Raises Political Furor" (Elisabeth Bumiller and Jodi Wilgoren, The New York Times, 2004/10/06))"The Age of Terror" (John J. Miller and Mark Molesky, National Review, 2004/10/07)
"Last year, shortly before the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, Vice President Cheney asked the French ambassador a pointed question: "Is France an ally or an adversary of the United States?" In the 1980s, President Reagan wondered the same thing." An excerpt from "Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France":
"President Francois Mitterand flatly denied permission for U.S. warplanes to fly over his country on their way to Libya. "The refusal upset me," wrote Reagan in his memoirs, "because I believed all civilized nations were in the same boat when it came to resisting terrorism." Others remembered the incident with more anger: "Everyone connected with the attack was furious with [Mitterand's] casual refusal," wrote Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.
Yet France remained defiant. In a fit of moral equivalence following the raid, the foreign ministry announced that it 'deplores the intolerable escalation of terrorism which has led to an action of reprisal which in itself renews the chain of violence.'" (See also: "French Resistance" (John J. Miller and Mark Molesky, National Review, 2004/10/06))"Militia of Rebel Iraqi Shi'ite Cleric Offers Truce" (Alistair Lyon, Reuters, 2004/10/07)
"A rebel Shi'ite Muslim militia led by Moqtada al-Sadr pledged on Thursday to disarm in what could be a major advance for U.S.-Iraqi efforts to calm violence in Iraq ahead of elections due in January.
The proposal, which meets a key demand of the interim government, was announced by Ali Smeism, a top Sadr adviser, on Arabic al-Arabiya television. It followed the release of a pro-Sadr cleric from U.S. detention in Abu Ghraib jail.
Smeism said that in return for any weapons surrender, the government must guarantee that Sadr's followers are not "persecuted" and the U.S. military must free more of his aides.
He said the proposed deal focused on militiamen holed up in the Baghdad slum district of Sadr City, a hotbed of anti-U.S. activity, but could be extended to other 'areas of tension.'""Saddam's Personal Involvement in WMD Planning" (USA Today, 2004/10/07)
Duelfer VI: "The Iraq Survey Group recovered this recording of Saddam and senior officials discussing the use of WMD. This discussion was part of a more general meeting that appears to have taken place during the second week of January, 1991. ...
Saddam: I want to make sure that — close the door please [door slams] — the germ and chemical warheads, as well as the chemical and germ bombs, are available to the "concerned people," so that in case we ordered an attack, they can do it without missing any of their targets? ...
What is it doing with you, I need these germs to be fixed on the missiles, and tell him to hit, because starting the 15th, everyone should be ready for the action to happen at anytime, and I consider Riyadh as a target. ...
We will never lower our heads as long as we are alive, even if we have to destroy everybody."
"Saddam and the French Connection" (Fraser Nelson and James Kirkup, The Scotsman, 2004/10/07)
Duelfer V: "Saddam Hussein believed he could avoid the Iraq war with a bribery strategy targeting Jacques Chirac, the President of France, according to devastating documents released last night.
Memos from Iraqi intelligence officials, recovered by American and British inspectors, show the dictator was told as early as May 2002 that France — having been granted oil contracts — would veto any American plans for war. ...
Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy prime minister, told the ISG that the "primary motive for French co-operation" was to secure lucrative oil deals when UN sanctions were lifted. Total, the French oil giant, had been promised exploration rights.
Iraqi intelligence officials then "targeted a number of French individuals that Iraq thought had a close relationship to French President Chirac," it said, including two of his "counsellors" and spokesman for his re-election campaign.
They even assessed the chances for "supporting one of the candidates in an upcoming French presidential election." Chirac is not mentioned by name.
A memo sent to Saddam dated in May last year [sic] from his intelligence corps said they met with a "French parliamentarian" who 'assured Iraq that France would use its veto in the UN Security Council against any American decision to attack Iraq.'""Report links U.N. to Iraq bribes" (CNN.com, 2004/10/07)
Duelfer IV: "The alleged schemes included an Iraqi system for allocating lucrative oil vouchers, which permitted recipients to purchase certain amounts of oil at a profit.
Benon Sevan, the former chief of the U.N. program, is among dozens of people who allegedly received the vouchers, according to the report, which said Saddam personally approved the list.
The secret voucher program was dominated by Russian, French and Chinese recipients, in that order, with Saddam spreading the wealth widely to prominent business men, politicians, foreign government ministries and political parties, the report said.
The report names former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri, and the Russian radical political figure Vladimir Zhirinovsky as voucher recipients, for example, and other foreign governments range from Yemen to Namibia.
The governments of Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Egypt did a brisk illicit oil trade with Iraq as well — more than $8 billion from 1991 until 2003, the report said.""A Leader With an Eye on His Legacy" (Bradley Graham, The Washington Post, 2004/10/07)
Duelfer III: "Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was so worried that a phone call might be detected by the United States and pinpoint his location for an attack that he used a phone only twice after 1990. Toward the end of his rule, he grew more reclusive, fearing increasingly for his own safety and relying more than ever on members of his Tikriti clan.
But even as he felt threatened by U.S. military power, Hussein showed a fondness for U.S. movies and literature, one of his favorite books being Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." He hoped for improved relations with the United States and, over several years, sent proposals through intermediaries to open a dialogue with Washington. ...
Indeed, Duelfer says, Hussein views himself "as the most recent of the great Iraqi leaders like Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar and Saladin." In the reconstruction of the historic city of Babylon, for instance, bricks were molded with the phrase "Made in the era of Saddam Hussein" — mimicking the ancient bricks forged in Babylon and demonstrating Hussein's "assumption that he will be similarly remembered over the millennia," Duelfer writes.""U.S. 'Almost All Wrong' on Weapons" (Dana Priest and Walter Pincus, The Washington Post, 2004/10/07)
Duelfer II: "The 1991 Persian Gulf War and subsequent U.N. inspections destroyed Iraq's illicit weapons capability and, for the most part, Saddam Hussein did not try to rebuild it, according to an extensive report by the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq that contradicts nearly every prewar assertion made by top administration officials about Iraq. ...
"We were almost all wrong" on Iraq, Duelfer told a Senate panel yesterday. ...
Duelfer concluded that while the U.N.-imposed sanctions kept Hussein in check and devastated the country, Hussein had become more successful in finding ways to bypass them and worked to erode international support for the trade restrictions.
"The sanctions were in free fall," Duelfer told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday." (See also: "Corrections" (The Washington Post, 2004/10/08): "An Oct. 7 article and the lead Page One headline incorrectly attributed a quotation to Charles A. Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq. The statement, "We were almost all wrong," was made by Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Jan. 28.")"Conspiracy Theories Flourish on the Internet" (Carol Morello, The Washington Post, 2004/10/07)
"For 2 1/2 years, the attack on the Pentagon has been discussed and researched by members of Knight-Jadczyk's online group, the Quantum Future School.
The group's talks formed the basis for articles in which Knight-Jadczyk argues that after the attack on the World Trade Center, eyewitnesses at the Pentagon were predisposed to see a large airliner. She believes that the Pentagon was attacked by a smaller plane and that members of the Bush administration were somehow complicit because it was beneficial for war-profiteers and Israel.
Interviewed by telephone from what she said is a 17-bedroom castle outside Toulouse, where she lives with her Polish physicist husband and five children, Knight-Jadczyk acknowledged that her group is considered "fringe."
Knight-Jadczyk, 52, a Florida native, has been a psychic and a channeler. She is now involved in experiments in what she calls "superluminal communication," which she described as involving "time loops" that would enable people to communicate with their former selves.""Martin Indyk: Assad offering to make peace with Israel" (AP/Haaretz, 2004/10/07)
"Syrian President Bashar Assad is offering to make peace with Israel and says he is ready to cooperate with the United States in stabilizing Iraq, a former senior State Department official said Wednesday.
"Something is going on in Syria and it is time for us to pay attention," said Martin Indyk, assistant secretary of state for the Near East and U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration.
In a three-hour meeting with the Syrian president last month in Damascus, Indyk said he detected a "clear change" in Assad's views on a number of fronts.
On peacemaking, Assad offered to hold talks with Israel without preconditions, Indyk said, and had made several overtures to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the latter rebuffed. ...
On Iraq, Assad "figured out he was on the wrong side" and has switched to cooperation with the U.S. occupation forces in the country, Indyk said.""U.S. asks Israel to clarify comments made by top PM aide" (Ari Shavit et al., Haaretz, 2004/10/07)
"The United States on Wednesday evening asked Israel to clarify statements made by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior advisor, Dov Weisglass, in an interview with Haaretz that the disengagement plan means a "freezing of the peace process," Israel Radio reported.
"The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process," Weisglass, one of the initiators of the disengagement plan, said in an interview for the Haaretz Friday Magazine.
"And when you freeze that process," Weisglass added, "you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem.
'Effectively, this whole package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda. And all this with authority and permission. All with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress.'""Car Bomb Kills at Least 39 in Central Pakistan" (Khalid Tanveer, AP/The Washington Post, 2004/10/07)
"Two bombs exploded at a gathering of Sunni Muslim radicals in the central Pakistan city of Multan before dawn Thursday, killing 39 people and wounding about 100, police said.
Police immediately suspected a sectarian attack. The bombing comes less than a week after a suicide attack left 31 dead at a Shiite mosque in an eastern city.
About 3,000 people had gathered in a residential area of Multan to mark the first anniversary of the killing of the leader of the outlawed Sunni radical group, Sipah-e-Sahaba." (See also: "Bomb carnage at Pakistan mosque" (BBC News, 2004/10/01))
Wednesday,
October 6, 2004
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