Voice from the Commonwealth
Commentary, World Views and Occasional Rants from a small 'l' libertarian in Massachussetts

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams
.

Saturday, February 08, 2003

An analysis of the political situation in Iran. I'm not encouraged by the solution they see.

In a Faustian bargain with what it once called the 'Great Satan', Iran could concede to Washington on issues like terrorism and the Palestinian question in return for non-aggression.

A key figure in this calculus would be former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has been variously cast as reformer, pragmatist and conservative.

Analysts note that Mr Rafsanjani could well find a 'third way' between Iran's reformers and conservatives.

The business-savvy politician is a chameleon: When he was president in the 1980s, he introduced liberal economic reforms and invited American companies to explore Iran's oil fields.


Rafsanjani is the man who said that the day Iran becomes a nuclear power is the day Israel ceases to exist. He points out that one nuke will destroy Israel and the Jews whereas the Israeli nukes may take out a mere 100 million or so Arabs. This is the man that is seen as bringing a 'third way'. Excuse me for not feeling hopeful. I think the only hope is that the concessions forced by the students and youth so far will form the cracks that can be used to destroy the theocracy and men like Khamenei and Rafsanjani.

< email | 2/08/2003 01:05:00 AM | link


Another reason to be thankful that the Taliban is now gone and on the run. The healing of the land that has been ravaged by constant warfare for the past twenty-plus years.

< email | 2/08/2003 12:54:00 AM | link


Friday, February 07, 2003

Bill Clinton forgets that this same exact deal landed us where we are today.

The answer to the North Korean nuclear standoff is for an East Asian coalition to offer Pyongyang food, energy and the technology to grow food in exchange for an end to its nuclear programs, former U.S. president Bill Clinton said Thursday.

Hey, didn't work from 94-02, let's try it again.

"North Korea is a poor country. They can't grow their own food. it's the most isolated society in the world. Their only cash crops are bombs and missiles,"

Of course Bill doesn't mention that their famine is man-made. It is the choice of the Kim regime that no food will be grown. Just as in Zimbabwe and the Soviet Union before millions are starved to death in the name of Communism.

"What we should do," said Clinton, "Is get their neighbors, beginning with the South Koreans and then the Japanese and the Chinese and the Russians and get them all together and say (to Pyongyang): "look, here's the deal. If you'll end both nuclear programs we'll make sure you've got enough food and energy, we'll teach you how to grow food and we'll give you a non-aggression pact."

What a load of crap. As long as Kim and his million man army kill murder and rape the people of N Korea they will never allow the people to be fed let alone grow their own. And the offer of food and fuel was the same exact deal that got us into this mess. We gave them the deal, sent food and fuel build them nuclear reactors and Kim continued building nuclear weapons, abducting Japanese citizens, starving North Koreans, and selling weapons to anyone ho will buy. How does Clinton think offering the same deal now will shut down the covert nuclear production, political starvation and arms dealing? Of course he kicked the can for the next administration so he has no moral qualms about telling Bush to kick it along for whoever may come next.

< email | 2/07/2003 11:31:00 PM | link


Mahathir Mohamad may do a lot of anti-American (but rarely in the screedish and petulant tone you see from some European leaders) and anti-globo ranting. But he never holds back when it comes to Islam.

The Prime Minister said Islam was a religion for all times and by trying to change the world back, they portrayed that Islam was only compatible with ancient times. “We need to prove that Islam is a religion that is suitable in whatever condition and environment and a religion that can form the foundation for a great civilisation,” In Malaysia, he said, Islam was regarded as a religion appropriate to all situations and not one that was suitable for the Seventh Century.

Today, he said, Islam was looked down by many, not because the religion was bad but because of the actions of some Muslims who disregarded the true teachings of the religion by interpreting it according to their personal inclination and interests.

“To these people, the bad image suffered by the religion and the sorry fate that has befallen many Muslims is not important so long as what they view as true Islamic teachings are upheld. They are only interested in showcasing the aggression of Islam because to them that is Islam.

“Thus, a thief, who resorts to stealing because he is too poor and should be given leniency, is not given due consideration. What they are more interested in is the chopping off of hands – as if Islam is a religion that does not care for social problems faced by the community,” he said.


Of course he really needs to attack the corruption that eats away at Malaysian civil society, while he's at it.

< email | 2/07/2003 11:13:00 PM | link


The Communist Party of the Philippines is vowing violence in response to an American led assault on Saddam. So, Communists and terrorists around the world are in support of Saddam's regime. You would think it would give some of the protestors pause to consider who they are aligned with.

"We can help shield Iraq by voicing opposition to the US war and vigorously opposing the Philippine government’s all-out puppetry," Rosal said in a statement to news organizations.

He said the CPP’s 9,000-member armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), "will contribute to this effort by launching tactical offensives against the mercenary troops of the (military) and (police) in order to weaken the puppet Macapagal-Arroyo regime."

< email | 2/07/2003 11:06:00 PM | link


Religion of peace update.

"The Islamic ummah (nation) is facing many challenges from its enemies," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, the Saudi Grand Mufti, was quoted as saying in a lecture here. "They claim that the Islamic ummah is terrorist, violent and does not respect treaties," he said, without identifying the enemies he had in mind. "They are liars ... Our religion is the faith of mercy and has been established on noble values. "Our enemies want to spread in the ummah the spirit of extremism, which deviates people from the right path."

Then the clincher.

"Strong belivers are not scared of death regardless of how loud the enemies beat the drums" of war, Sheikh Saud Al Shraim told the pilgrims as he prayed for God to help Muslims achieve victory.

"Believers are aware that life has a limit and that the Almighty controls our destiny ... They should expect either victory or martyrdom, both of which should be sought,"

< email | 2/07/2003 10:51:00 PM | link


Another message to the French and Germans. From the Dutch, this time. If you will not allow NATO to defend an ally, we will do it on our own.

The Dutch government has agreed to provide Turkey with a Patriot defense system in case of war in Iraq, the Defense Minister said Friday. The missile system will be supplied under a bilateral agreement, not through NATO, according to an Air Force official.

On Friday, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero reiterated France's view that launching military preparations would send the wrong signal while U.N. efforts to avert war against Iraq continued.

Yes, because, heaven forbid that the Iraqis should think that the UN actually meant that Saddam has to disarm or face 'serious consequences'.

< email | 2/07/2003 03:17:00 PM | link


Four Cuban coast guardsmen drove their boat to a dock in Key West and defected.

"My impression is that it was a last-minute decision," Koenig said. "They were patrolling, talking about living at the poverty line when they said 'You know what, the United States is only 90 miles that way.' So they set the heading on their boat, terminated communication with Cuba and headed straight here."

Still no reports of masses of people trying to defect to el Jefe's Socialist Paradise.

< email | 2/07/2003 03:06:00 PM | link


Didn't anyone tell David Dale (a name too close to David Duke for mere coincidence) that The Two Towers is a very old book and the movie had been in production since well before September 11th? And that Peter Jackson isn't even an American (Dale being Australian, you think he'd know that)? In a head to head matchup of 'left-wing' vs. 'right-wing' movies Dale rants about the 'right-wing' Two Towers:

The very title of The Two Towers is a reminder of why America is so active in the world. It shows the fair-skinned forces of the West arrayed against swarthy enemies called Uruk-hai and Orcs - words too close to Iraqi and Iraq to be mere coincidence. The Orcs are so evil that mass slaughter is the only suitable treatment. They worship a dictator called Saddam, sorry, Sauron, and use a suicide bomber to breach the wall of WASP Central.

< email | 2/07/2003 11:33:00 AM | link


Thursday, February 06, 2003

Rumsfeld hasn't let up. In Congressional testimony Wednesday he gave German lawmakers a little something else to chew on.

Rumsfeld was asked at the congressional hearing what kind of cooperation the Bush administration could expect from other nations in the event of a war. He listed several he considered supportive and others he thought might come around to backing the operation.

"And then there are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything. I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are the ones that I have indicated won't help in any respect," Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee.


Interesting that he spared France.

< email | 2/06/2003 09:34:00 PM | link


Follow up. The Iraqi who tried to talk to the UN Inspectors has a name and family.

THE family of an Iraqi man hauled from the vehicle of a UN inspector in Baghdad have appealed to Amnesty International to help to save him.
Like television viewers around the world, Adnan Abdul Karim Enad’s relatives were shocked to see him clambering into a UN inspector’s jeep on January 25 clutching a notebook and screaming “Save me! Save me!” in Arabic. A UN inspector sat motionless in the front seat as Iraqi guards pulled the 29-year-old man out of the car and carried him away by his arms and legs.

Abidalrahim Al-Nuimi, a relative living in America, said the family was involved with the Iraqi opposition abroad and Adnan may have feared retaliation by Iraqi authorities.

“We just want to make sure he is alive. We tried to call. Our relatives in Baghdad cannot say anything.” Mr AlNuimi, who asked that his precise relationship with Adnan not be disclosed, said the family feared not just for his well- being but also for the fate of other family members in Iraq. They have written to President Bush and Amnesty International seeking their help.

Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector, appeared flummoxed when questioned about the case this week but said that he would consider raising it in his talks tomorrow in Baghdad.


Go read the whole thing and stay angry at the UN.

< email | 2/06/2003 09:16:00 PM | link


Another America hater calls for fellow leftists to admit that the liberation of the Iraqi people, even if it is done by the US, is a worthy goal.

Picture the scene: protesters clog the streets of Washington, London, New York and Sydney, chanting: "Bush is an empty warhead. Stop the war!" US public opinion shifts; Tony Blair, crumbling in the face of domestic opinion and his backbenches, refuses to go along with the war; the US troops are brought home; the American bombs are safely parked back in their bunkers. I know this is virtually impossible, but it is, presumably, what most anti-war campaigners want to see.

Do you think the Iraqi people would be dancing in the streets of Baghdad on such a day? Do you think the 5 million Iraqi exiles scattered across the globe would be jubilant that, once again, their country had been brought within inches of freedom from Saddam Hussein, only to be betrayed by another Western coalition led by a man called George Bush? Do you think the political dissidents – most of them democrats – rotting in Saddam's torture chambers would weep tears of joy? Do you think the Kurds, who have inhaled his poison gas more than once, would be delighted that Saddam was free to gather as many biological and chemical weapons as he likes? Do you think the Marsh Arabs, ethnically cleansed by Saddam from the swamps they had lived on for millennia, would rejoice in their pathetic desert shacks? Would you celebrate the fact that hatred for Dubya had overwhelmed the desire to help the Iraqi people to overthrow one of the worst dictators on earth?

It is perfectly legitimate, however, for you to be sceptical about the US's willingness to build a democracy in Iraq. Isn't this the country that describes Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace" and offers effusive words of praise to the House of Saud? But we do not need to talk in the abstract about the political structures that will follow Saddam's Baathist totalitarianism. There is an existing example that demonstrates clearly what will be built. Following the Gulf War, northern Iraq – where the Kurds were sheltering in the mountains from Saddam's thugs – was not handed back to Baghdad. It became an independent statelet guarded by, yes, US and British military might.

What does it look like 10 years later? Is it governed by another mini-Saddam circa 1980, a cheap pro-American puppet? No. It is a self-determining democracy. It elects, freely, its own leaders. It has freedom of speech and of the press (in Sulaymaniyah alone, there are 138 media outlets, including literary magazines and radio channels). It lives under the rule of law, upheld by both male and female judges.

As Barham Salih, the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government in Sulaymaniyah, explained recently: "In 1991, we had 804 schools. Today we have 2,705. We started with one university in Arbil in 1991; today we have three. In 10 years of self-government, we built twice as many hospitals as was built for us in seven decades. Then we had 548 doctors. Today we have 1,870 doctors. I'm not going to tell you that everything is rosy... but it's remarkable what we have achieved."

If it were not for US military power, this democratic entity would not have existed for the last 10 years. Without US military power, it will not be extended throughout Iraq. Of course, it would be far better if we could establish a democratic Iraq without a war that will kill many thousands of innocent people. War is horrendous, but a small number of things are even worse: Saddam's tyranny is one. Has the left really forgotten the fundamental principle that it is worth fighting to free 23 million people from tyranny and to help them to build democracy? What has become of us?

Some people argue that the US is too morally compromised by its own often tyrannical foreign policy to have any right to act in Iraq. A Chilean, Palestinian or Vietnamese person will understandably respond with a cynical snort to the idea of the US as a liberator of oppressed peoples. The people of northern Iraq do not feel that way. Nor do the peoples of Eastern Europe – it is no coincidence that Vaclav Havel, the former President of the Czech Republic, joined with Blair in supporting America. He remembers what it is like to live under an oppressive dictator and to look to America as the only hope for liberation. So the US can act in both good and bad ways. That many figures on the left deny this is a sign that they are blinded by hatred.

Of course, the US is morally compromised. I wish there were a pristine, perfect state with no oil interests and the military power to help the people of Iraq, but there isn't one. Remember: many people on the British left argued in the 1930s that Britain was too compromised by its disgraceful colonial occupation of India, and that our motives for joining the war were far from pure. They had some important points, but if they had prevailed, we would have squabbled among ourselves about our own immorality while Jews burned. We must not repeat that mistake by turning our gaze from those living in the open prison of Saddam's Iraq.

< email | 2/06/2003 08:45:00 PM | link


Missile Defence news. Orbital successfully tested the first prototype of an interceptor boost vehicle.

In a mission that originated from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Orbital's GMD boost vehicle was launched at 4:00 p.m. (EST). It flew a ballistic trajectory over the Pacific Ocean, reaching an altitude of approximately 1,125 miles and traveling about 3,500 miles down range from the launch site.

Following preliminary post-flight analysis of the data collected from the mission, Orbital confirmed that all the primary objectives for the first launch of the GMD boost vehicle were achieved. These included the verification of the vehicle design and flight characteristics, the gathering of flight data through comprehensive onboard instrumentation, and the confirmation of the expected performance of the propulsion system.

"With the successful launch of our inaugural GMD boost vehicle, we have completed the first step toward the full development of a high-performance, reliable booster to help defend our nation," said Mr. Ron Grabe, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Orbital's Launch Systems Group.

< email | 2/06/2003 07:51:00 PM | link


A former North Korean spy says Pyongyang has nukesa and has shared technology with Pakistan, Iran and Iraq

Kinki Aoyama, who uses this pseudonym to protect his identity, said Japan allowed him to return - after years he claims he spent spying for Pyongyang in China - on condition that he trade in his knowledge of North Korea's nuclear programme. He said he has also handed the Japanese foreign ministry information about intelligence services and drug trafficking in North Korea.

Aoyama, who has a background in engineering, claimed he operated as an industrial spy in China for North Korea during the 1990's.

Aoyama also alleged that North Korean nuclear facilities have leaked and accidents occurred causing tens of thousands of deaths and severe illness in local populations.

< email | 2/06/2003 07:29:00 PM | link


Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar weighs in.

"If we do not act firmly, it is only a question of time until these weapons are used by terrorists to a devastating effect,"

< email | 2/06/2003 07:26:00 PM | link


Has Saddam lost the Arab Street?

On January 7, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan confidently predicted that "the Arab masses and their vanguard forces" will rise up to confront an American-led invasion of Iraq "by any available means." While Iraqi officials have been known to miscalculate in the past, similar predictions have been made by senior government officials throughout the Arab world. During a televised speech last year, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak went so far as to warn the United States, "If you strike at the Iraqi people because of one or two individuals and leave the Palestinian issue [unresolved], not a single ruler will be able to curb the popular sentiments . . . a state of disorder and chaos may prevail in the region."

Expectations that the Arab street will rise up in protest against an American war in Iraq are informed by three considerations. First, anti-American sentiment is at an all-time high in the Arab world (along with much of the non-Arab world). Second, most observers make explicit or implicit comparisons to the first Gulf War, when mass demonstrations erupted in many Arab countries. Even in Mauritania, on the political and cultural fringe of the Arab world, some 20,000 demonstrators marched on the American and French Embassies in January 1991. Hospitals throughout the Arab world delivered children with names like "Scud Hussein," while street vendors sold out of mass-produced desk ornaments, lapel pins, and wristwatches bearing the Iraqi leader's likeness. Third, pundits point to (relatively) large-scale anti-Israeli demonstrations that have erupted around the Arab world during the current Palestinian uprising against Israel as evidence that a raucous "Arab street" will not passively accept an American war in the Middle East.

An uninitiated observer of Arab politics might be tempted to conclude from Mubarak's bold warning that the Egyptian people are seething with outrage about the prospect of a US march into Baghdad. On the contrary, while demonstrations in support of the Palestinian uprising against Israel have drawn tens of thousands of Egyptians into the streets, efforts to organize mass anti-war demonstrations have been a dismal failure. "The Arab Street is apathetic on the issue of Iraq," says Hisham Qassem, editor-in-chief of the English language daily Cairo Times. "Egyptians main sympathy is with the Palestinians," explains Wahid Abdel Meguid, deputy director of Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, "Iraq is a marginal issue for them."

The same is true, to varying degrees, throughout the Arab world. "In stark contrast to the widespread demonstrations that came out in many Western cities to protest US plans for war on Iraq, the Arab street has on the whole been mute and indifferent," observed Jordanian journalist Muna Shuqair, with a hint of disgust. Columbia University Professor Edward Said, one of the leading Arab intellectuals in the United States, expressed astonishment at this phenomenon. "It is impossible to believe," he wrote in a recent article. "How can a region of almost 300 million Arabs wait passively for the blows to fall without attempting a collective roar of resistance? Has the Arab will completely dissolved?"

Rhetoric aside, Said is well aware that the muted reaction of the "Arab street" to the impending war with Iraq does not stem from either a lack of willpower or a lack of collective Arab identity. There is every reason to believe that the Arab masses identify strongly with their Iraqi brethren. But the Iraqi people want American troops to liberate their country. According to a recent survey of public opinion in Iraq by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), most Iraqis support an American invasion. "I found very few people who were against American intervention," said the ICG researcher who interviewed dozens of Iraqis in Baghdad, Mosul and Najaf for the study. The small minority of Iraqis who expressed opposition to American military action either had a direct stake in the regime or did not trust the United States to follow through on its pledge to oust the Iraqi dictator. Considering that the interviews were conducted in public places (e.g. a beauty parlor), where Iraqis are often reluctant to express opposition to Saddam, the ICG report probably understates popular support for the entry of US troops into the country. Another indication that an American invasion is viewed positively by Iraqis was the massive appreciation of the Baghdad stock market when the UN Security Council passed a resolution in November warning the Iraqi regime of "serious consequences" for failing to cooperate with arms inspectors.

One of the first Arab intellectuals to predict that an outpouring of pro-Saddam sympathies would not materialize in the Arab world was US-based Egyptian political scientist Mamoun Fandy. "No single Arab that I can think of will shed a tear" if Saddam Hussein is ousted, he explained in a September 2002 interview with CNN. "The Arabs will not walk into the attack with the United States, but they will walk in[to] the funeral, and they will be very happy."10

"People look for real heroes who can deliver and Saddam is only a drowning, defeated ruler who is clinging to the wreckage," says Jordanian political analyst Raja Talab, adding that many Arabs blame Saddam for "leading the area to the edge of another catastrophe."11 Open expressions of such hostility to the Iraqi leader remains taboo in many Arab countries, in part because, like Mubarak, Arab heads of state have sought to convince the West that invading Iraq will produce popular unrest and thereby destabilize the region. In reality, Arab leaders are more concerned that the ouster of Saddam will produce popular jubilation - followed by demands for political reforms at home. The claim that the Arab street is bursting at the seams with pro-Saddam sympathies is a convenient justification for increased restrictions on civil liberties.

Most Arab regimes also have more direct interests in the preservation of Saddam's regime. The Kuwaiti government worries about his departure because Iraq's pariah status is an impediment to the country's rearmament. The Saudis fear that the establishment of a pro-US government in Baghdad will diminish their status as a strategic American ally and guarantor of moderate oil prices. Syria's cash-strapped regime has benefited from illicit oil imports from Saddam, which bring in up to $1 billion in annual revenue. Egypt has always competed with Iraq for leadership of the Arab world and does not relish the thought of its rehabilitation.

That most Arabs do not share their governments' reservations about regime change in Baghdad is mainly evident from their tepid response to appeals for action by antiwar campaigners. However, overt expressions of support for Saddam's ouster are becoming more common as war approaches. In early January, Arab intellectuals circulated a petition calling for "the immediate resignation of Saddam Hussein, whose rule for over three decades has been a nightmare for Iraq and the Arab world," and for the "rule of democracy" in Iraq. "There has been a tragic silence on the fate of the Arab world by the Arab world," said Chibli Mallat, a Lebanese professor of international law who signed the petition. "Our lives are at stake with all these chemical weapons." Other signatories include Kuwaiti MP Hassan Jawhar, Egyptian film director Yousri Nasrallah, and Kamel Labidi, a prominent Tunisian journalist and human rights activist.

While the petition framed the call for Iraq regime change as an endeavor to avoid an American-led invasion of Iraq, some intellectuals in the Arab world have begun to express guarded optimism about impending US military action. "I feel a positive outcome might ensue from the coming war," wrote Saudi political analyst Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi. "[It] promises a new free, democratic and stable Iraq instead of today's fragmented dictatorship; a constitutional and tolerant Iraq run by the rule of law; an Iraq at peace with its neighbors; an Iraq that would pursue development in the interests of the prosperity and happiness of its people."

< email | 2/06/2003 02:54:00 PM | link


Japan is edging toward support of a US backed move to take out Saddam.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suggested Thursday that the government will support a possible U.S. attack on Iraq over its alleged development of weapons of mass destruction.

"We must fulfill our responsibility as a member of the international community and as an ally in responding (to a U.S. attack on Iraq)," Koizumi told a House of Representatives Budget Committee session Thursday. He was responding to a question by Taro Aso, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council.

< email | 2/06/2003 01:28:00 PM | link


Happy Birthday President Reagan. He turns 92 today.

< email | 2/06/2003 01:08:00 PM | link


People who are saying that Saddam isn't a threat and just because we prove that he is ignoring every binding resolution and agreement he has signed still doesn't prove he is an immanent threat are doing exactly what they denounced the Administration and Intelligence agencies of doing with far more disparate information in the years leading up to Sept 11th. They are not connecting the dots that are right in front of their faces. The aggression, human rights nightmares, environmental nightmares (in Kuwait and the marshes of Iraq), the constant deception and hampering of inspections, the lies about WMD programs, the support of regional terrorists, emerging ties to al-Qaeda and more, are all part of a distinct pattern. To ignore it is to be willfully ignorant of the situation.

And if, as a result of their howling, we do not remove Saddam Hussein, they will be the first to stand up and shout "Bush Knew. Why didn't the President do more to protect us from this threat?" when an al-Qaeda terrorist unleashes Iraqi designed smallpox on America.

< email | 2/06/2003 12:48:00 PM | link


Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel says that Iraq attempted to buy equipment that can be used to enrich uranium from Slovene companies in 1999 & 2000. The Romainian Foreign Minister said that Saddam had approached them in 1995, 1996 & 1999.

"There were attempts (by Iraq) of commercial dealings, but we were quick in preventing them," Srakar quoted Rupel as saying.

< email | 2/06/2003 11:35:00 AM | link


How did the US tie Mussab al-Zarqawi to Iraq? This rpeort says it was only a break in the last few weeks that provided the proof.

Critical information about this network emerged from interrogations of captured cell members conducted under unspecified circumstances of psychological pressure, the coalition official said. But a lucky break also figured prominently -- a satellite phone conversation gave away the location of Zarqawi's deputy, driving out of Iraq.

Until three weeks ago, Powell was said to be reluctant to go before the Security Council with a case connecting al Qaeda with the Iraqi leadership.

"Colin did not want to be accused of fabricating or stretching the truth," a coalition official said. "But that all changed" when the interrogation of Zarqawi's deputy began to yield the first detailed account of the network's operations in Iraq, the Mideast and Europe, the official said.

The network was planning terrorist attacks in a half dozen European countries, Powell said, adding that recent police raids in France and Britain, where one officer was killed, stem from the disruption of the Iraq-based network. Some 116 operatives have been connected to it, he said.

Powell withheld some critical details on Wednesday, such as the discovery by the intelligence agencies that a member of the royal family in Qatar, a key ally providing air bases and a command headquarters for the American military, had operated a safe house for Zarqawi when he transitted the country going in and out of Afghanistan.

The Qatari royal family member was Abdul Karim Al-Thani, the coalition official said. The official added that Al-Thani had provided Qatari passports and more than $1 million in a special bank account to finance the network.

The unraveling of the al Qaeda story in Iraq, still under way, took on some of the drama of an espionage thriller when, following the murder of Foley, Zarqawi's deputy suffered a lapse of communications discipline. As he drove across northern Iraq to the Turkish and Syrian frontiers, he could not resist using his satellite phone to call Foley's murderers to congratulate them and tell them he was on his way to meet with them.

"The captured assassin says his cell received money and weapons from Zarqawi for that murder," Powell said. In December, Jordan announced that it had two men in custody who had confessed to killing Foley on the instructions of Zarqawi.

Western intelligence is withholding the name of the captured Zarqawi deputy.

However, they swiftly detected the satellite phone signal and tracked the operative to Syria and then into Turkey, where he was arrested and transported to one of the interrogation centers that the CIA is operating in the region.

The decision to identify Zarqawi as the leader of an al Qaeda cell will put his life in immediate jeopardy because Hussein has insisted that Baghdad has no links with Osama bin Laden's network.

"A half hour after Powell mentioned his name, I'll wager he disappears or is killed," said a coalition official, recalling the death in Baghdad in 2001 of Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal after intelligence reports suggested than he might be activating his own terrorist network.

< email | 2/06/2003 11:24:00 AM | link


Jack Straw gives a deadline.

The British Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, immediately reinforced the February 14 deadline, saying: "This council will have further reports from the inspectors on Friday week. "If non-co-operation continues, this council must meet its responsibilities."

< email | 2/06/2003 11:03:00 AM | link


Have I said it lately? Screw the French.

But Mr. de Villepin told European radio Thursday the time is not yet right to discuss a new U.N. resolution that would authorize the use of force to disarm Iraq.

Mr. de Villepin said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation Wednesday at the United Nations provided no surprises or concrete proof that Iraq has banned weapons. Following Mr. Powell's address to the Security Council, the French Foreign minister proposed significantly increasing the number of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq.

< email | 2/06/2003 10:48:00 AM | link


David Warren assesses yesterday's presentation at the UN.

Colin Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council yesterday was a waste of time and energy. While his show was effective enough in itself, and met the demanding criterion of entertainment, by holding its audience, no one was swayed by it one way or the other.

He demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that Iraq is in flagrant breach of each of the three requirements of Resolution 1441.

Iraq has failed: 1. to declare promptly and truthfully the extent of its illegal weapons programs and stocks; 2. to co-operate fully and candidly with UN inspectors; and 3. to publicly and verifiably disarm.

Punches were nevertheless pulled. The media have avoided explaining to the general public the constraints under which the Bush administration must operate, in providing such evidence. By doing so they expose war targets, they provide not only Saddam but other evil regimes with the means to assess U.S. intelligence sources, which in turn means putting the lives of brave people at additional risk. The publication of sensitive security material moreover creates a legal nightmare, for much of the declassification is itself prevented by U.S. law. The President himself could be open to legal challenge in authorizing such disclosures.

This is the fact. The appeasers of Saddam have used the same arguments and the same language as the appeasers of Hitler. They have relied on the same fundamental reasoning -- that there is no price too high, if we can win "peace in our time" -- and under the same inspiration, a pant-wetting fear. They want to believe, in the face of any evidence that is presented to them, that security can be obtained by some kind of negotiation. They chant all the old thirties mantras about "collective security," and invoke the United Nations as their grandfathers invoked the League of Nations.

An element that is different is George W. Bush. In my judgment, though he may not be the equal in mind and spirit of Winston Churchill -- the one man growling the night Prime Minister Chamberlain came home with the Munich treaty, when all Europe cheered -- he is proving a worthy successor. A Clinton, a Gore, indeed any "normal" politician in President Bush's shoes would have noted all the alarm bells ringing, and have done what Chamberlain did. They would "go the extra mile" to Munich, or in this case Baghdad.

And just as the shame of Germany is no longer acknowledged by a later generation of Germans, the shame of Munich is no longer acknowledged by our peace constituency. Only men as old as Alistair Cooke can still remember.

Another element that is different is that, today, we face not one Hitler, but an assemblage of them, so that each can be used as an excuse for avoiding confrontation with each other. We cannot deal with Iraq, because we must more urgently deal with North Korea; or vice versa once interest is shown in Pyongyang. The U.S. and its allies are by necessity caught up in a thankless game of "monkey in the middle" -- to which the only possible response can be to eliminate the monkeys, one by one.

Nobody, or at least nobody who is properly informed, said it was going to be easy. But it is going to be done, and as would now appear, done over the dead body of the United Nations.

< email | 2/06/2003 10:47:00 AM | link


Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Mandela wastes no time. He dismissed Powell before his presentation even started.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela said Wednesday Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations undermined the U.N.'s own efforts to determine whether Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction. Speaking before Powell's speech to the world body, Mandela said chief UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei were the only ones with the authority to determine whether Iraq was complying with U.N. resolutions, regardless of what Powell said. ``We are going to listen to them and to them alone. We are not going to listen to the United States of America. They are not telling us how they got that information,'' Mandela told reporters.

Mandela has repeatedly criticized the United States and Britain, saying they were ignoring the will of the United Nations and pursuing their own belligerent policies against Iraq.

Last week, the Nobel Peace laureate lashed President Bush, calling him arrogant and shortsighted and saying he wanted a war to get his hands on Iraqi oil. ``One power with a president who has no foresight and cannot think properly is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust,'' Mandela said last week. On Wednesday, he said he did not regret those comments. ``I'm not changing a word, not even a comma, of what I said, because I said so because I believe it,'' he told reporters.

< email | 2/05/2003 04:50:00 PM | link


Who did Reuters turn to for comment on Powell's speech at the UN today? Why the center of the diplomatic world, fo course. Yasser Arafat's PA.

"Powell's speech is intelligence reports that give no concrete evidence on the ground," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "We can say that this speech launches a new phase for U.S. control over the world and the question remains whether other international groups will accept this unilateral U.S. guardianship over the Middle East," he said.

< email | 2/05/2003 04:37:00 PM | link


Bahrain is on board. Bush met with the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa yesterday.

King Hamad said he traveled to Washington to show the president Bahrain's friendship is solid. "I came all the way from Bahrain to here, really, to show this warm relationship, and to support the president in what he is doing for our stability and progress," he said.

< email | 2/05/2003 04:25:00 PM | link


The Saudis would love that. They submitted their plan to the UN today. An offer of amnesty to any Generals that may rise up and overthrow Saddam. I'm sure the Saudi proposal doesn't call for any proof of Saddm's demise doesn't call for any major changes within Iraq. In other words, 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss'. I think what most proponents of the 'coup' idea don't realize is that it would still require an occupation of Iraq. In order to insure Saddam is truly gone, to root out WMD's and to offer protection and peacekeeping operations as the intelligence and military units loyal to Saddam were cleaned out.

< email | 2/05/2003 04:17:00 PM | link


Meanwhile in Comrade Bobland things are getting interesting in the trial of the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. There is a witness claiming to be a one time Israeli agent who was involved in an offer by the British Government to pay for the assassination of Mugabe. And there is a video (which the defense claims is heavily edited) purporting to show Mr. Tsvangirai talking about the plot.

< email | 2/05/2003 03:22:00 PM | link


Nelson Mandela is, apparently, more concerned about cricket being played in Zimbabwe than he is about the millions that Mugabe is threatening to starve to death.

"They must respect what the international cricket committee says," Mandela told reporters outside his home. "We must show discipline. If we refuse to follow what the international body says, we introduce chaos in cricket.

"They have examined the matter they have conducted research and so on. They know what is dangerous for cricketers. If they say cricketers must go to Zimbabwe, must go to Kenya, that is what they must do."

< email | 2/05/2003 03:18:00 PM | link


Check and mate. The only 'defense' that Saddam and his supporters have is 'they're lying, believe us'.

< email | 2/05/2003 02:18:00 PM | link


Tuesday, February 04, 2003

Ill today. Come back tomorrow.

< email | 2/04/2003 03:42:00 PM | link


Monday, February 03, 2003

Adm. C. Turner Joy's 1955 book ("How Communists Negotiate") recounting his negotiations with North Korea. Gives us insight we should remember when we see the situation in North Korea today.

Joy's observations might serve the United States if it ever sits down for negotiations with North Korea about its pledge to prove that it is not developing nuclear weapons. In return, North Korea wants a nonaggression treaty with its former battlefield foe, as well as economic aid.

It took two years for armistice talks over the Korean War to end, and Joy was eventually replaced as chief negotiator. In the current nuclear crisis, the North Koreans might not have that kind of time, particularly if Washington wins a possible war against Iraq and focuses more intently on the standoff.

``They're not going to want to bluff and delay and not get to the negotiating table with the United States in the next month or so,'' said Bruce Bennett, an analyst at the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Rand Corporation. But he said it wasn't certain that North Korea was willing to give up its nuclear programs.

Negotiations offer a level playing field of sorts, where North Korean officials can probe for weaknesses in delegates of the world's only superpower.

U.S. military officials, all students of Joy's book, say North Korean tactics include setting arbitrary deadlines and agreeing in principle but not in practice. They make preconditions as a prelude to a deal, though the preconditions are the real goal.

Another North Korean strategy, officials say, is to generate a crisis and create momentum that leads to a breakthrough in talks. Since last month, North Korea has expelled U.N. inspectors, prepared to reactivate nuclear facilities and withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

< email | 2/03/2003 01:26:00 PM | link


The leader of the Iraqi exile community in Iran has announed that if a US led war against Saddam begins, his militia will march into Iraq. He still thinks it should be an Iraqi effort with allied air and logistical support. I see some issues with that, among them the fact that the Republican Guard is a real military unit as opposed to the Taliban that we helped the Northern Alliance scatter. Secondly, while there may be some resentment of foreign troops liberating them (although, historically this hasn't happened) how will they feel about Iraqis who haven't got ot coming back and setting up a new government? It may be nice to not have to put Allied ground troops in the line of fire, doing so would make the war much faster and less destructive. Training, equipment and fighting style would see to that.

< email | 2/03/2003 01:19:00 PM | link


Hypocrite.

Clinton backs Blair on Iraq

Mr Clinton spoke about international affairs and gave his support to Prime Minister Tony Blair over his stance on Iraq.

Of course, he has never offered the same support of Bush. Nor has he bothered explaining where Bush and Blair diverge on the issue that would lead him to support Blair but denounce Bush.

< email | 2/03/2003 01:01:00 PM | link


Geoff Hoon annouced today, as a warning to Saddam, that Britain stands ready to use nuuclear weapons under the right circumstances.

"We have always made it clear that we would reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in conditions of extreme self defence." "Saddam can be absolutely confident that in the right conditions we would be willing to use nuclear weapons."

< email | 2/03/2003 12:02:00 PM | link




<< Designed by Ryon



Western Civilization and Democracy Net Ring

The Western Civilization and Democracy Net Ring celebrates Western civilization and its universal values of individual freedom, political democracy and equal rights for all. All sites promoting human rights and democracy are welcome.

[Prev Site] [Stats] [Random] [Next 5 Sites] [List Sites] [Next Site]