Mideast News Digest
Erbakan Warns About U.S. Actions Against Iran
Former Turkish Prime Minister and Saadet Party chairman Necmettin Erbakan gave an explosive press conference on June 25, in which the echo of his meeting with Democratic Party Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche was more than visible. Erbakan warned the Turkish public about the danger Turkey will face if it opens air bases and sea ports to the U.S. Army for attacks on Iran. According to Milli Gazete, Erbakan related: "They are busy with preparing to intervene in Iran. They are against building of Iranian nuclear facilities and Turkey is supporting [the] U.S. on that issue."
He criticized the Turkish representative in the International Atomic Energy Agency for using a double standard, since he dared to question Iran, but never Israel, which possesses an enormous nuclear weapons arsenal, widening his criticism to the AKP government, which Erbakan holds responsible for any confrontation with peaceful neighbor Iran. Erbakan emphasized negatively the behavior of the Turkish government which allowed U.S. troops just recently to use its air bases and sea ports, a violation of the Turkish Parliament's decision, taken during the Iraq crisis this year, not to allow the U.S. Army to use Turkish territory. "This is a first step to locate 60,000 U.S. soldiers on our soil ... [which] are going to be used for action against Iran...."
U.S.-Based TV Stations Beam into Iran
Four satellite television broadcasters run by Iranian exiles and based in Los Angeles, are beaming calls for anti-government action into Iran, according to a New York Times story June 22. The operation began as a call on Iranians to support university students protesting government privatization of their schools, but rapidly spread to calls for demonstrations aimed at toppling the Ali Khamenei mullahs who dominate Iran.
The foreign stations, according to the Times, are nonetheless viewed by the students "with suspicion, because of their explicit support for Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran." Said one political scientist in Iran, although the domestic media are seen as fully controlled by the government, these foreign-based stations "do not have reporters on the ground, they are incapable of understanding the real situation in the country, and so their major role becomes stirring noise and spreading rumors." Precisely what the Chickenhawks in Washington ordered, it would seem.
Scowcroft/Eagleburger Group Calls for Talks With Iran
The Forum for International Policy, whose president is Brent Scowcroft and whose chairman is Lawrence Eagleburger, is circulating a short paper which says, referring to Iran, "a policy of 'regime change' ... runs the risk of creating an unintended but powerful reaction, that not only unifies the contending factions and stifles debate, but also stirs an intensified Iranian nationalism that slows and undermines the very forces on which we are pinning our hopes.
"Given the stakes, risks, and uncertainties, we need better insight into how Iraq has affected politics and policy in Tehran. One way to do so would be to resume the exchanges we had been having with the Iranians in Geneva, but have now suspended. These talks have been held under UN auspices, and have been focussed on practical issues arising from the war in Afghanistan and, most recently, Iraq. We should be open to expanding the agenda to address other issues and concerns, and should be willing to engage in a bilateral dialogue as well as in UN-sponsored meetings. We should also be willing to explore hints from some Iranian officials that were the U.S. to agree to such direct exchanges, 'everything' would be on the table.
"An immediate payoff could be to constrain Iranian mischief-making in Iraq. The larger purpose would be to ensure that the Iranians understand that the threats they believe we pose to their security and regime survival, stem directly from their pursuit of WMD, support for terrorist opponents of Mideast peace, and now, their potential challenge to our objectives for post-Saddam Iraq. In doing so, we can test whether, in fact, 'everything is on the table,' by making clear that as they reduceor increasethe threats they pose to our interests, we will reciprocate. Put differently, we can try to convince them that our problem with Iran is with what they are doing, not with who they are."
Author Arnold Kanter is a senior fellow at the FIP, and a former Undersecretary of State.
UN Found No al-Qaeda-Iraq Ties
The UN terrorism committee, charged with investigating al-Qaeda operations worldwide, has found no al-Qaeda ties to Iraq, Michael Chandler, the committee's chief investigator, reported June 26. "Nothing has come to our notice that would indicate links between Iraq and al-Qaeda," he said. Another committee investigator, Abaza Hassan, said such ties "had never come to our knowledge before [Colin] Powell's [February] speech [to the UN], and we never received any information from the United States for us to even follow up on." The committee, which is charged with investigating al-Qaeda and the Taliban, circulated its draft report on progress made to shut down Osama bin Laden's network globally.
Iraqi Nukes in the Backyard Story: Another Fizzle
After an initial flurry of hype that an Iraqi nuclear scientist had "nukes" buried in his backyard, the whole story appears to undermine, rather than support, Dick Cheney's argument on Iraq's nuclear program.
The story, as reported June 26 in the Washington Times, is that the scientist, who headed Iraq's nuclear enrichment program in the late 1980s and early 1990s, turned over documents and parts of a centrifuge machine to U.S. officials in Baghdad. He said he had buried the materials in his backyard in 1991 on orders of Saddam Hussein's son Qusay. There they remained, as he never received orders to do anything with them. This is "not a smoking gun," said a U.S. official quoted in the Washington Times. An official of the Institute for Science and International Security, which negotiated the handover of the materials, said that if the order had been given, the materials could have been used to restart Iraq's nuclear program, but the scientist "did not receive that order."
Last August, Cheney stated that "Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.... Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon." And Cheney, on March 16, stated, "We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."
Blix: Iraq May Have Destroyed All WMDin 1991
Hans Blix, speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations on June 23 in Washington, D.C., said that it is conceivable Iraq did destroy all WMD after 1991. "It is sort of fascinating that you can have 100% certainty about weapons of mass destruction and zero certainty about where they are." He also told the CFR that "three-and-a-half months for new inspections was a rather short time" before calling it quits, "especially when we now see the U.S. government is saying 'look, you have to have patience, you know these things take time.' " Blix also told the press, "I'm simply saying that the longer we are in this situation without finding anything, the more we have to ask ourselves, is it conceivable that they did destroy in '91?"
Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's Highest Shi'ite Authority, Questions U.S. Occupation
In a written answer to questions from the Washington Post, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest Shi'ite authority in Iraq, wrote from Najaf, "We feel great unease over their goals, and we see that it is necessary that they should make room for Iraqis to rule themselves by themselves without foreign intervention." He also warned that the biggest threat facing the Arab country is "the obliteration of its cultural identity." The report was published on June 26.
Though invited by Paul Bremer to meet, Sistani has refused to meet with U.S. officials.
The Post commented, "His statements about the U.S. occupation do not carry the weight of a fatwa, the only such edict that would be binding. But his remarks come at a time, when some of his supporters in Najaf have complained about his reclusiveness, particularly as two other groups, with a distinctly more political agenda, are vying for the support of the country's majority." The Post reports a Sistani follower saying, "If he made a fatwa tomorrow to act, no one would remain in their home."
American forces have been leading raids against the offices of the Shi'ite Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), in Baghdad and Kut, making arrests and confiscating materials. This will further heat up the conflict. The Arabic press has played up Sistani's remarks, and reported as well on continuing demonstrations and armed clashes not only in the Sunni area of the north, but, increasingly, in the south of Iraq as well.
'Insurgency': Iraq Conflict Entering Qualitatively New Phase
The U.S. occupation of Iraq has entered a qualitatively new phase, with higher numbers of U.S. casualties, and different types of military attacks. As reported in the International Herald Tribune, one U.S. special operations forces soldier was killed and eight were wounded on June 26 in southwest Baghdad. Then, it was reported June 28 that the remains of two other U.S. soldiers, who were reportedly kidnapped while travelling in their military Humvee, were found. During the night between June 25-26, the paper reports, "assailants blew up a U.S. military vehicle with a roadside bomb, dropped grenades from an overpass, destroyed a civilian SUV travelling with U.S. troops, blew up an oil pipeline and fired what appeared to be a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. army truck." In addition, two American soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were killed in another conflict, and six U.S. troops were injured. And, according to Arab sources, two U.S. tanks were destroyed, killing up to 19, just west of Baghdad.
Arab sources report that the attacks are occurring all over Iraq, and not only in Sunni areas. Kufah, Najaf and Amara are among the areas concerned. Many of the attacks are not being reported officially.
At the same time, the London Times reports that "Saddam loyalists" have begun killing Iraqis considered "collaborators" of the occupying forces. One senior engineer in charge of electricity distribution in an area of Baghdad was shot dead in front of her home, and the driver of a senior reconstruction official was killed in a grenade attack.
The IHT writes: "Officials continued to play down the violence, saying there was no nationally coordinated insurgency." However, the pattern of attacks point in another direction. One highly placed regional source, an expert on military affairs, told EIR, on condition of anonymity, that there are between 2 and 4 million members of the Iraqi security services still armed and ready. They are an organized force, and constitute an intact network. They are considered capable of organizing massive terrorist attacks, capable of eliminating the U.S. presence, if deployed at once. There are 20,000 officers of this network, located in the Kurdish region, Baghdad and Basra. A command center exists, but it is not known what role, if any, Saddam Hussein could be playing, if he is still in the country.
In addition to this organized force, considered responsible for the ongoing killings and sabotage, there are growing ranks of Iraqi citizens who are taking up arms against the occupying forces, especially in response to the intrusive search operations which are being run. One Arab diplomat confirmed that those conducting the search operations either have no understanding whatsoever of the culture of the population, or are deliberately insulting it. They are using dogs, and are deploying men to search women inside their homes.
The case of the British soldiers killed in al-Majir, was such a case of rage following such searches.
A further indication of the escalation in tensionswith U.S. soldiers being attacked dailyis that U.S. "Viceroy" Paul Bremer decided to give in to the ultimatum issued during the third week of June, by leaders of the former military men in Iraq. They had said either Bremer should give them back pay, or rehire them, by June 23, or they would "take up arms" and fight. It was announced on June 23, that the U.S. would build a new Iraqi Army, initially of 12,000 troops, ready by next year, and that some "pensions" would be paid. As press reports note, that is a far cry from the 400,000 or more demobilized soldiers; it is a token gesture showing more concern about growing Iraqi resistance, than about constituting an army.
Battle Where British Soldiers Were Killed Could Mean 'Nationwide Insurrection'
The battle in Al-Majar in Southern Iraq, where six British soldiers died, is much larger than had been reported, writes the London Observer on June 29. An official investigation has begun.
Conflicting reports of what occurred surround the June 24 incident in Al-Majar Iraq where six British soldiers were killed, and 12 injured (updated figures) in the worst single incident since the May 1 "end of major combat" declared by President Bush. The six soldiers were members of the Royal Military Police (RMP), and were training Iraqis to be policemen when they came under siege, and were shot, after they ran out of ammunition. The incident involved the police headquarters being surrounded by an angry mob.
But there are many questions. One major question is why the heavily armed and supplied Parachute Regiment, which was reportedly just outside the city, did not come to the aid of the besieged British Royal Military Police. "Why Were Six Britons Left To Die in an Iraqi Marketplace?" asks the headline of The Observer. The paper also says that five Iraq citizens were killed, and a dozen injured, including women and children, by the "Paras" who were in the town, but then escaped by helicopter, which came under heavy fire, injuring eight soldiers. The British "softly-softly" approach (based on "200 years of colonial" experience) compared to the American counterforce may be "misconceived" says The Observer, but more importantly, The Observer admits that this occupation may be facing a "nationwide insurrection." This incident has heaped more hatred on Tony Blair, who is already under intense criticism for his role in spreading false intelligence about the threat level from Iraq.
Peace, Not Free Trade, Should Be Mideast Priority
At the Davos free-trade shindig in Shuneh, Jordan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abdel Maher said, "We do not believe this is the timing or the venue or the circumstances where this thing [free trade] should be given precedence, when the precedence should be given to saving lives." The meeting last weekend was the occasion for Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Elizabeth, a State Department official in charge of the U.S. free-trade, democracy initiative for the Mideast, to wave the free-trade "carrot" before Arab countries, which are still distrustful of the U.S. war policy.
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