In this issue:

Palestinian Cabinet Agreement Sends Neo-Cons Scrambling

Former UN Weapons Inspector Says Iraq War Comparable to Nazi Invasion of Poland

Neo-Cons and Sharonists Want To Provoke Chaos in Iraq

NATO Role for Iraq Occupation Being Pushed

Are IDF Hit Teams Targetting Iraqi Scientists?

Apparent Cholera and Typhoid Break Out in Iraq

Blix Says U.S. Made Effort To Undermine UN Weapons Inspectors

Jordan's King Warns Against Cantonization of Iraq

Sharon Continues Isolation of Arafat

IDF Continues Sturm und Drang in Occupied Territories

From Volume 2, Issue Number 17 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Apr. 28, 2003
Mideast News Digest

Palestinian Cabinet Agreement Sends Neo-Cons Scrambling

[The following item, datelined April 24, is adapted from the April 25th issue of New Federalist newspaper.]

April 24 (EIRNS)—A press conference in Ramallah today, by President Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister-nominee Mahmoud Abbas, "Abu Mazen," announced that they had reached an agreement on a Cabinet, which will now go before the Palestinian Legislative Council to be approved. PLC Speaker Ahmed Qorei said he would convene the 88-member council within a week for the vote.

"I am very pleased that my Cabinet has received the support of President Arafat," stated Abu Mazen. "The agreement ... marks a victory of the Palestinian people, as it demonstrates our commitment to democracy, even as we live under Israeli occupation." In a later press release, Abu Mazen added that he will work with "the President's office, the PLC, and other Palestinian institutions" to create a government that meets the needs of the people, and ends "the Israeli occupation of our country."

In many ways, this is "the moment of truth," for the United States. What President Bush does now, will show whether the U.S. government still functions under the Constitution, or if the neo-conservative warmongers, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, succeeded in consolidating a "coup d'etat" in the aftermath of Sept. 11 attacks, which U.S. Democratic Party Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche has called America's "Reichstag Fire."

Over the last month, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Bush himself, personally promised world leaders that the "road map" worked out by the U.S., the UN, the European Union, and Russia, would be officially presented, when a reformed Palestinian government was formed. As condemnation of Bush's preemptive war on Iraq did not abate, and skepticism increased that Bush's stated motivation for the war—the threat of weapons of mass destruction—was a lie, even forces within Bush's own Republican Party pressured the Administration to move for Middle East peace to repair the damage from the war. These voices of sanity include James Baker III, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, and Lawrence Eagleburger, all of whom served in the Administration of this President's father, Bush "41."

The neo-con fanatics have also escalated to stop discussions of a Palestinian state. The first phase was to attempt to drive the nation into immediate war with Syria—which would be sure to destabilize the Middle East, and prevent peace talks. When that failed, with President Bush approving a trip by Powell to meet Syrian President Bashir Assad, the neo-cons went into overdrive—and launched a plan to replace Powell with the discredited "cry-baby" of the Conservative Revolution, former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. On April 22, at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Gingrich denounced Powell for sabotaging the war on terrorism and the "real" policies of President Bush.

Gingrich is not acting alone. According to the Washington Post, Gingrich's plan to oust Powell, and turn the State Department into an imperial body appended to the Defense Department, was actually drawn up with other members of the Defense Policy Board, headed until recently by Likud agent Richard Perle—who drafted the 1996 plan to scuttle the Oslo peace accord, the "Clean Break" policy. But Gingrich's maneuver backfired, and could actually serve to bring down the neo-cons themselves.

The same crisis is about to hit Ariel Sharon's government. According to Ha'aretz reporter Akiva Elder, Sharon's woes are just beginning. If Bush drops the "road map" on Sharon's desk, as promised, there is a great likelihood that the ultra-right coalition partners of the National Religious Party of Effi Eitam, and the National Union of Avigdor Lieberman, will bolt. Eitam and Lieberman are typical of the Jabotinskyite fascists who, contrary to statesmen like the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, say that a Palestinian state is an act of treason against the right of Israel to exist. Elder also reports that several members of the Shinui Party, the centerpiece of Sharon's coalition, held meetings discussing a peace framework with members of the Meretz Party, including Oslo Accords negotiator Yossi Beilin, and with leading Palestinians.

Another Ha'aretz reporter, Aluf Benn, on April 24, warned the world that "it's time for universities to establish faculties for the study of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in which scholars will examine the guessing of his intentions." In plain English, translating Benn, Sharon is not a truth-teller. Benn warns about the motif of "the seven-stage torpedo" that Sharon has successfully used with Bush to, first, wait to hear details, then accept the initiative "as a basis for discussion," the posing of "comments and corrections," and so forth. Through this trick, the Mitchell plan, the Jordanian plan, and the Abdullah peace plan, have all been buried.

Without protection from Washington, this Sharon strategy will no longer work. However, there are already signs that Sharon's other trick—to stage, or allow to occur, a major terrorist action—as an excuse to stop peace talks, has already occurred, with the April 24 suicide bombing attack at a commuter train station.

So serious is the Israeli-Palestinian peace issue, that Egypt, Russia, the European Union, Japan, the Arab League, the U.K., and others all personally called or met with Arafat, to urge him to accept the Abu Mazen government. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman arrived in Ramallah in person to meet with Arafat and Abu Mazen.

The Goebbels-style propaganda machine of the Anglo-American empire faction is spreading the lie that the new government means "Arafat is irrelevant." To the contrary—it is the neo-con haters of Arafat and the Palestinian state, who are chewing the rug.

Former UN Weapons Inspector Says Iraq War Comparable to Nazi Invasion of Poland

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, during remarks at the Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. on April 27, demonstrated that his opposition to the Bush Administration's war policy remains unbowed by a major operation to discredit him. While showing absolutely no remorse over the demise of Saddam Hussein, he nonetheless minced no words in blasting the illegality of the war itself. He described the war policy as being like a "West Texas lynch mob," and vigilante justice. He also called it a "defeat for the rule of law if the foundation of legality turns out to be a framework of lies."

He then proceeded to build a case that the war is, in fact, illegal, because the legal argument made by the United States, in the form of the March 20 letter to the UN Security Council by U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte, claiming that Iraq was in material breach of UN resolutions because of its ongoing weapons of mass destruction programs. In particular, Ritter made reference to the charge that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Niger, a charge made on the basis of crudely forged documents. Did President Bush know these documents were lies when he used them to justify the attack on Iraq? Ritter asked. He also went after Vice President Cheney, for saying that inspections never work, when the old UN Special Commission, which Ritter worked on for seven years, had, in fact, destroyed huge quantities of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons.

Ritter didn't stop just by exposing the lies, however. He said that what is happening in Iraq is that the Bush Administration is implementing a new imperial doctrine of American unilateralism, which is spelled out in the Bush Administration's national security doctrine. He called the invasion of Iraq "a case study of the violation of international law," and warned that if the U.S. does not find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it will appear that the U.S. has waged a war of aggression, which, Ritter noted, U.S. Judge Robert Jackson, at the 1946 Nuremberg war crimes trial, called the greatest of all war crimes, because all others flow from that one. Therefore, Ritter said, if there was no justification, the U.S. is really no better than the Nazis who invaded Poland in 1939, or Saddam Hussein, when he invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Ritter's comments make clear how important it is for the UN Security Council to send UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq to verify any find of WMD. Ritter did say that all chemical and biological weapons bear a trace that can be scientifically determined, to discover their origin. However, without UN weapons inspectors, there may be no opportunity to uncover this.

Neo-Cons and Sharonists Want To Provoke Chaos in Iraq

A long-time Egyptian source of EIW said on April 23 that there is a growing view in the Arab world that the neo-con faction in the Bush Administration, as well as the Sharon gang in Israel, want the Iraq situation to degenerate into chaos. The source pointed to the sudden about-face, in the past week, on the part of the civilians at the Pentagon (Feith, Wolfowitz, et al.), who now wish to see the U.S. quickly pull out of Iraq and pass the reins of power to an interim Iraqi government, as one key indicator that the goal is chaos.

For one thing, the source explained, Sharon is panicked over the looming public release of the road map document, setting a timetable for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. What's more, the source concluded, the neo-cons and their Likudnik partners have no desire to see Iraq succeed, with American assistance, in rebuilding, and establishing an effective, modern nation-state in the Arab world. So chaos is, for them, perfectly acceptable, he concluded.

NATO Role for Iraq Occupation Being Pushed

Discussion is taking place within NATO circles to have NATO take over the peacekeeping or occupation in Iraq. In fact, the International Herald Tribune of April 24 reports that this was one of the topics of discussion between President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac in their recent so-called icy telephone call.

The Financial Times of the same date reports, "NATO forces would take over the main security role in Iraq under plans being drawn up by the Pentagon, which remains opposed to a long-term peacekeeping presence for U.S. troops," according to an unnamed "senior official" in the Bush Administration. The fact that NATO—including France—has agreed to take over the peace-keeping role in Afghanistan opens the way for using this, potentially, as a model. Although all the countries in NATO were said not to be opposed to the idea in principle, it nonetheless would require a United Nations mandate. A French official is quoted as saying that France would not deploy troops without an UN mandate.

According to the Financial Times article, Paul Wolfowitz suggested this last December, but it was unacceptable to the Europeans at the time. The issue was taken up last month by Secretary of State Colin Powell when he was in Brussels.

The Tribune quotes James Dobbines, head of the RAND Corp., as having pushed it recently at an European Union Institute for Security Studies meeting.

For the Leo Strauss-trained Wolfowitz, at least, whose fellow "Chickenhawks" are reported to be promoting chaos in Iraq, this may be one way of getting back at "Old Europe." Former Saudi Ambassador Chas Freeman has stated that the U.S. would look for the "first sucker" to take over the job. And he said that his friends in Saudi Arabia, where he had been Ambassador during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, would be funding insurrection. From the standpoint of the "Chickenhawks," this may permit them—unless LaRouche's call for them to be summarily fired is carried out—to move onto the next target in their "perpetual war" plans.

Are IDF Hit Teams Targetting Iraqi Scientists?

According to an unidentified retired French general, there are currently some 150 Israeli commandos inside Iraq with orders to assassinate 500 Iraqi scientists. In statements to French TV Channel 5 made on April 11, as reported by the Israeli paper Ma'ariv and other sources, the French military source said these scientists are the same ones listed by UN weapons inspectors for interviews while the UN team was still inside Iraq. Ma'ariv reported on the interview, saying these scientists were all said to be involved in atomic-biological-chemical weaponry.

The French general said the Israeli commandos might be operating within the ranks of American Marines now occupying Iraq, but apparently did not cite his own sources. A number of the Iraqi scientists sent an e-mail to various sources in the international community earlier this month, calling for protection from U.S. aggression, and warning that their lives were endangered by American occupation forces.

Apparent Cholera and Typhoid Break Out in Iraq

According to an AP report of April 23, Iraqi doctors suspect hundreds of children suffering from dehydration and diarrhea caused by the lack of clean water, who were brought in for treatment at the city's Al-Iskan children's hospital, had cholera and typhoid. But, with no labs fully working, the physicians said they could only treat the cases, not confirm them. Some children suffered from stomach infections due to unclean water, draining fluids from their bodies. "An epidemic," said Dr. Ahmed Abdul Fattah, the hospital's assistant director. "We suspect it's cholera, but can't test, because we have no lab facilities left," said acting director Dr. Gassim Rahi Esa.

Meanwhile, other sources report that electricity that is essential for water and sewage treatment is only slowly being restored. And the Red Cross has stated that at least half of Iraqis are about to run out of food. Clearly, with all the rhetoric about "liberation," the U.S. is not out "to win the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi citizens. Under Saddam Hussein, the UN had praised Iraq for having one of the best food distribution systems. And, as EIW has previously reported, the sanctions imposed after the 1991 War are estimated to have killed 1.5 million people, especially children under 5—including through cholera and typhoid—as civilian infrastructure such as electricity, water, and sewage treatment were bombed.

Blix Says U.S. Made Effort To Undermine UN Weapons Inspectors

In an interview aired on BBC radio on April 24 just before he was due to address the Security Council, Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix stated that U.S. officials had tried to deliberately discredit the work of inspectors in Iraq to further their own case for war.

Blix said that in the run-up to war, the U.S. had seized on his alleged failure to include details of a drone and cluster bomb found in Iraq in his presentations to the Council. "The U.S. was very eager to sway the votes in the Security Council, and they felt that stories about these things would be useful to have, and they let it out," he said. "And thereby they tried to hurt us a bit and say that we had suppressed this." "It was not the case, and it was a bit unfair, and hurt us. ... [We] felt a little displeased about it." Asked whether the U.S. had leaked the information to sway UN votes, Blix responded: "It looked like that." It is notable that these are not even Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the U.S. used both against Iraq during the Second Persian Gulf War, according to U.S. media reports.

He also reiterated his disquiet at how documents the International Atomic Energy Agency "had no great difficulty finding out were fake" managed to get through U.S. and U.K. intelligence analysis. "Is it not disturbing that the intelligence agencies that should have all the technical means at their disposal did not discover that this was falsified? I think that's very disturbing. Who falsifies this?" He said: "I think it's been one of the disturbing elements that so much of the intelligence on which the capitals built their case seemed to have been shaky."

Jordan's King Warns Against Cantonization of Iraq

In a long interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on April 25, Jordan's King Abdallah II warned against a disintegration of Iraq, which would result from allowing too much autonomy to the northern and southern regions. "I think it is important to have a national umbrella, because if you concentrate administration in the north, in the center, and in the south of Iraq, you create de facto the cantonization of the country. We already see, in the Shi'ite south, a conflict of power." Later on, Abdallah added that the "power struggle in southern Iraq ... could go out of control if we do not pay attention. If I were in the coalition's shoes, I would be very worried."

King Abdallah also warns against putting Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi in power, a man who "has legal troubles in Jordan, Lebanon, Geneva. In other words, he has many problems to solve. I believe that the rule of law is important." Better, he suggests, would be to appoint "a general, or somebody who has served under the previous government without having blood-stained hands."

Abdallah then says that the test for Bush is the Palestinian issue. "Many Arabs say: Okay, you Americans say that you came to liberate Iraqis from an oppressive regime, and let us suppose we are convinced of your good intentions. Then, prove it: Liberate the Palestinians from oppression too. If you show that there is no clear future for Iraq, if you do not show resolve in the Palestinian issue, and all you do is think about oil and military bases, then the people will be suspicious, and will feel betrayed. And they will think: today Iraq, tomorrow Syria, the next day Iran?"

Sharon Continues Isolation of Arafat

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has let it be known that he will not meet any high-level foreign official who meets Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, according to Ha'aretz of April 25. This is made known just at the time when international diplomacy around the question of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is about to go into high gear. Sharon claims he has the okay from the Bush Administration on this. Everyone knows that there can be no peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians if Yasser Arafat does not approve. The idea that newly empowered Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas could make an agreement—or would even want to make an agreement- without Arafat's approval, is not serious.

The policy was already implemented when a U.S. Congressional delegation came to the region. They met Arafat, and then Sharon refused to meet them. This new policy will be tested again when Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi arrives in Israel en route to Washington. In the next few weeks, Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana are expected in the region, so it will be interesting to see what they do.

Earlier this month, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer met with Arafat as well as Sharon.

IDF Continues Sturm und Drang in Occupied Territories

On April 20, Israeli forces swept through the Palestinian city Nablus in the West Bank, and the Yabna refugee camp in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, blowing up homes and shops, electrical lines and other infrastructure, and murdering any civilians that got in their way or journalists who might serve as witnesses to their butchery, according to wires and the New York Times.

Although the Times points out that the Israelis have been conducting almost nightly arrest raids, the Rafah operations seemed on a much larger scale. The camp houses 60,000 Palestinians. Witnesses said the Israelis brought empty buses with them, apparently with the intention of conducting mass arrests. According to Islamonline.net, more than 100 Israeli tanks and bulldozers covered by Apache attack helicopters raided the Rafah camp at midnight. The main hospital in Rafah was "pandemonium," according to the Times, with both Palestinian civilians and militants pouring in. Israeli troops reportedly prevented ambulances from reaching the injured.

In Nablus in the north, an Associated Press cameraman wearing a fluorescent green jacket reading PRESS was deliberately targetted and shot through the forehead by an Israeli soldier while filming the stoning of a stalled Israeli tank by a group of Palestinians. Several other journalists were with the cameraman, and Reuters video footage reveals the shooting was deliberate.

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