MIDEAST NEWS DIGEST
To Stop the Iraq War, Go With LaRouche
There is no question that the utopian imperial "molehill" in the Bush Administration (see INDEPTH Special Report this week) has succeeded in assuring that the Iraq war is "on." This week, U.S. Presidential pre-candidate for the Democratic Party Lyndon LaRouche commented that there are two conditions under which the near-term Iraq war could be averted: the success of the LaRouche movement around LaRouche's own leadership in stopping that war, or the shock of a paralyzing global financial crash, possibly triggered in the United States itself.
LaRouche has criticized the opposition voiced both in Europe, and among Arab and Islamic countries, for sticking to the existing "rules of the game," and refusing to say that "the Emperor has no clothes." Meanwhile, LaRouche has levelled that criticism even more strongly at those forces inside the United States, like the Democratic Party, which are leading the imperial war drive, while pretending to be an "opposition" to Bush. For more on this, see this week's Flash! by Lyndon LaRouche: "The Real CorruptionMcCain and Lieberman."
London Meeting of 'Iraqi' Contras Another Indication of Near-Term War
The three-day "Iraqi exile military officers" gathering in London on July 12-14 is being attended by officials of the U.S. White House, State Department, and Pentagon, as well as the British Foreign Office, according to both British press reports and EIR contacts in Europe and Washington, D.C. Attempts by the U.S. to get a continental European nation to host the meeting were flatly rejected earlier this spring. And the meeting occurs as infighting continues among the Iraqi groups over who gets the most money from the United States.
But despite this infighting, and despite earlier reports coming from the U.S., of uniformed military and Congressional opposition to such a war, EIW's assessment is that the Iraq war is "on." Reports this weekend indicate that Tony Blair's government is on board.
The London meeting is being hosted by the Iraqi National Coalition, a completely different entity than fraudster Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, although it seems hardly less dubious, and does maintain close liaison with Chalabi's outfit. The Coalition is headed by Maj.-Gen. Tawfiq Yassiri, a former Army commander who was wounded in an uprising against Iraqi forces in southern Iraq in 1991, in the aftermath of the Gulf War.
The Coalition's main figure is Gen. Nizar Khazraji, former Chief of Staff of the Iraqi military, now resident in Denmark. He is often dubbed "Iraq's Hamid Karzai," after the puppet President of Afghanistan, and is a figure himself of some controversy, frequently charged with having ordered the use of chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians and Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq war. In fact, because he is being investigated for such war crimes, he is unable to attend the London meeting!
According to British press reports, some 300 Iraqis, including some 90 former Iraqi generals and senior officers, will participate in the gathering, at the Kensington Town Hall.
In his interview with the United Kingdom's Channel 4 on July 11, former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter ridiculed the weekend gathering of exiles, declaring that "anybody who meets in Kensington will have a zero future in Iraq." Interestingly, among the many Daily Telegraph articles hyping the coming war on Iraq, there is also one by their Istanbul correspondent Amberin Zaman, who writes that the meeting is being roundly denounced by such figures as the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) spokesman Hoshyar Zebari, who tells Zaman that "We do not take any of this seriously, it is a big joke." Zaman writes that such sentiments are "a further display of the disunity that traditionally bedevils Iraq's unwieldy array of opposition figures." Zaman says that more credibility should be given to the "Group of Four" opposition configuration that recently travelled to Washington, composed of the KDP, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and the Iraqi National Accord Movement.
London's Imperial Media Voices Call for Iraq War
On Thursday, July 11, The Times of London (owned by the U.S.-based Rupert Murdoch) pointed to an extraordinay intensification and escalation of war plans against Iraq. In a manner not seen since the events of Sept. 11 and the ensuing attacks in Afghanistan, the daily devotes a front-page article, and then two entire pages, to the coming war. There is also an ad for a July 12 Times feature, "War on Iraq: The buildup continues."
The front-page article is entitled, "Jordan To Let U.S. Troops Use Bases for War on Iraq," and asserts in wartime propaganda fasion that the reality supposedly divulged to The Times, is that King Abdullah "has consented to a limited U.S. presence," including a U.S.-manned radar station, and search and U.S. Navy Seal rescue teams, on Jordanian territory. [While the government of King Abdullah II has denied in the strongest terms that Jordan has agreed to be a base for an Iraq war, observers note that Prince Hassan, brother of Jordan's late King Hussein, and uncle to the present King, is in London, attending the meeting of the Iraqi exiles at Kensington.]
Inside The Times, there are no less than seven articles on the coming Iraq war. The main one is entitled, "Exiled Generals Prepare for March on Baghdad," to hype this weekend's meeting convened "to discuss overthrowing Saddam Hussein." This article is accompanied by a giant map of Iraq, depicting alleged Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" sites, for production of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. There are also photos of nine leading opposition figures. Underneath this, is an article titled, "Iraq Building Up Deadly Arsenal, Say Defectors."
On the next page, there are several other whoppers, the most shameless of which is headlined, "West Sees Glittering Prize Ahead in Giant Oilfields," which begins: "The removal of Saddam Hussein would open Iraq's rich new oilfields to Western bidders, and bring the prospect of lessening dependence on Saudi oil." This is a proposal first floated as a solution to the U.S. economic collapse, which, as reported by EIW, appeared in an op-ed by Sebastian Mallaby in the Washington Post.
On July 8 The Times had already reported in an article entitled, "Britain To Offer Military Force," by defense correspondent Michael Evans, that Britain had begun redeploying forces out of Afghanistan and into the Balkans in order to provide backup for U.S. military operations against Iraq.
According to a senior British Ministry of Defence (MoD) official, speaking with EIW, the MoD is involved in "re-balancing" of troops, warships and combat aircraft, to ensure that Britain "can play its part in any offensive. Troops from Afghanistan and the Balkans are being withdrawn," not only because of the end or reduction of their missions, but also "because the MoD knows it will have to have sufficient forces, if a decision is taken to attack Iraq."
Arafat Says the 'Fanatic Group Which Is In Power Now in Israel' Killed Rabin
In an interview with CNN reporter Brent Sadler, reported on July 12, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat asserted the sovereignty of the Palestinian people, and made a devastating condemnation of Ariel Sharon's obsessions.
Arafat said, "First of all, no one can bypass the Palestinian people and their choice of their leader," as one of the first tenets of sovereignty and his view of the "reform" process.
Asked if the impasse on the peace process boils down to a "personal battle" between him and Sharon, Arafat replied, "For me, no, but for him, I think so.... Look, Sharon is making a big mistake against me. But he's not understanding that ... he hasn't the ability to stop my works with all levels of work which I'm doing now. The most important thing is my people and my cause.... Toward the peace of the land which I had signed with my friend [former Israeli Prime Minister] Rabin." He added, "I cannot forget ... no one can forget, this friend had been killed by the fanatic group which is in power now in Israel [emphasis added]. They hold our land. I cannot forget and no one can forget ... Rabin had signed the peace pact.... not only our people but the majority of the Israeli people are with the peace of the brave."
Arafat also denounced, strongly, the suicide bombing attacks against Israelis, saying, "We have to stop directly what is going on for our children, and for the Israelis and for the Palestinians, and for the Arabs and for ... the Middle East."
He added that peace is "very important for the biggest power all over the worldAmerica." He passed up an opportunity to attack George Bush, who the reporter said had called for Arafat's ouster, saying, "Officially no. [Bush] didn't mention my name at all.... Not to forget, he was the first American President who mentioned in the General Assembly of the United Nations a Palestinian independent state."
Iraq War Drive Connected to Turkey Destabilization
On July 9, combined wires reported that the Turkish government of ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit had begun to disintegrate, threatening to blow out Turkey's already unstable financial system. At present, Turkey has $150 billion in public foreign debt, and EIW does not know how much corporate foreign debtwhich would also blow out, if the country were to default on its public debt. The IMF has thrown $31 billion at the Turkey in the past two years, to keep up the appearance of solvency.
There are enormous strategic implications, as well. As Associated Press put it: "The political chaos comes as Turkey has taken over leadership of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan and Washington is considering military action against Iraq." Turkey is crucial both for its Incirlik Air Base and border with Kurdish-occupied northern Iraq, and for any Iraq war development.
As of midday July 9, five ministers had quit the government, and 21 legislators had left Ecevit's party, after Ecevit criticized Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan on July 7, charging he was arranging to drive out Ecevit, who has been ill since May. Ecevit replaced the ministers who quit, and was adamant that he intends to stay, but later in the week, there were more resignations after Ecevit put out a plea for help to Husamettn Ozkan, his former right-hand man and troubleshooter.
Ozkan was viewed as "the glue" that kept Ecevit's three-party coalition government together. Those resigning, such as Deputy PM Mesut Yilmaz, are calling for early elections. While Bloomberg and Reuters speculate obsessively on how a new government coalition might be cobbled together around current Economics Minister Kemal Dervis, the former World Bank Vice President who returned to Turkey in 2001 to oversee the IMF program, a Dervis victory would be a real feat, as his IMF program led to the 9.4% contraction in the Turkish economy last year, and ensured 1.5 million people were thrown out of work! These financial voices worry that other possible contenders are likely to overturn the IMF program. The party said to be leading in the polls is the Islamist Justice and Development Party.
The Turkish currency, the lira, fell 4.3% on July 8, hitting somewhere near 1.7 million to the dollar! The benchmark stock market index fell by 4.7%. Reuters says "all eyes" are on the next Treasury auction of 154- and 238-day paper. Bond yields have already risen 25 points since Ecevit fell ill, to almost 80%, raising the specter of a GKO-style blowout.
The IMF, however, plans to go ahead with its progress review as scheduled for July 11. On that day, when Ecevit issued his distress call to Ozkan, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem quit, and he subsequently announced the formation of an opposition party many believe will be dedicated to the IMF-style "austerity reforms," that might bring Turkey closer to the EU. On July 13, the Washington Post published a lead editorial strongly endorsing Cem's move to oust Evecit and replace him with a "pro-Western" government.
Mofaz Out, Ya'alon Worse, Says Israeli Press
Israel's 17th Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Moshe "Bugi" Ya'alon, who took office this week, will be "tested" immediately by Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran, reports the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, in an article by Amir Oren, the reporter who exposed that IDF officers were studying the Nazi battleplan that wiped out the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.
In a July 10 commentary, senior military and security correspondent Oren wrote:
"Ya'alon starts his term with fighting underway in the territories, but already in his first year, perhaps in the first half of it, he could be tested by two other frontsIraq and the Syrian-Lebanese front."
Oren revealed the type of thinking going on at the new Chief of Staff's headquarters when he wrote, "A senior General Headquarters officer, observing Damascus, said this week that Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are trying to trap Israel in a 'strategic ambush' and that Israel has to evade that ambush by setting one of its own, under circumstances convenient to it. Those circumstances could be created during or near the end of an American offensive against Iraq."
In commenting on this report, a senior Israeli intelligence source told EIW that this is exactly the type of thinking that is being discussed behind the scenes in Israel. The source reports that over the last two weeks the situation in the West Bank has "stabilized" enough, in the view of the generals, to launch a war against other targets, including a joint U.S.-Israeli operation against Iraq. He also said that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon might not even wait till a war is launched against Iraq before deciding to attack Syria.
And, it seems, in addition to possible strikes against Iraq, Syria, and Iran, that during his trip to Washington, D.C. one month ago, Lt. Gen. Ya'alon told U.S. officials that Israel would strike into the Gaza Strip (one of the most densely populated regions of the world) in force, if need be, should terrorism erupt from Gaza into Israel. Apparently, Ya'alon's predecessor as Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, had twice sought permission for many operations in Gaza of the sort that have re-occupied the West Bank territories, but was turned down by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who feared breaking the consensus in Israel and angering Washington.
IDF: Arafat Is 'Dead Man Walking'
According to the July 10 issue of Ha'aretz, when Israeli intelligence briefed incoming Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, it referred to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat as being a "Dead Man Walking" (the phrase used to describe a condemned prisoner as he walks to his execution). Israeli intelligence further says that the Arafat government is entering the twilight zone, with Arafat's confidantes preparing for "a succession struggle."
Another article in Ha'aretz the same day states IDF commanders are becoming more optimistic than they have been for some time, thanks especially to the fact that Arafat's power is waning, since President George Bush's June 24 speech, which Ha'aretz says "delegitimized the Palestinian Authority chairman."
Condi Rice Says 'Only Elections' Can Oust Arafat
In a disappointment to U.S. and Israeli fanatics who want the United States to back the expulsion or assassination of Yasser Arafat, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told Israel's Channel Two television that Arafat's ouster can only be accomplished through elections.
Public Security Minister Freaks Out in Jerusalem
There is international blowback against Israel Public Security Minister Uzi Landau's order on July 9 to raid the administration office of al-Quds University in Jerusalem; the University's president is Palestinian peace leader Sari Nusseibeh. Landau claimed that the University was part of the "long arm of the Palestinian Authority, operating against the law." All computers and records were seized in the raid, drawing a rare rebuke from the Bush White House when White House spokesman Ari Fleischer commented that "This action does not contribute to the fight against terror." He added that it does not enhance the "reform" of the Palestinian Authority that the U.S. wants.
After the rebuke, even members of Sharon's Cabinet condemned the action, including Matant Vilnai, who is the Minister for Culture and Sport, and a member of the Security Cabinet. However, Vilnai threw in a dig against Arafat, saying Nusseibeh is "one of the Palestinian leaders with whom it will apparently be possible to talk, when the Arafat era ends." Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh also criticized Landau's action.
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