Western European News Digest
No French Troops for Iraq, Foreign Minister Says
In what is seen as a direct rebuff to President Bush's call on July 23 for broader international military engagement in Iraq, France's Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in a radio interview with France-Inter July 24 that sending more troops makes no sense.
"To build on a system that now exists and to add foreign forces to the coalition forces, doesn't appear to us the best way to guarantee security in Iraq," he said. "Adding to the other forces present on the ground, runs the risk of seeing the present situation perpetuated."
Instead, a swift return to a UN-backed administration in Iraq, with a central role of the UN there, is what France is preferring to military deployments, de Villepin said.
German Population Has Doubts About Official 9/11 Story
A survey conducted for the leading German weekly Die Zeit, and released July 23, showed that 19% of all Germans, and as many as 33% of all Germans under age 30, would not rule out that the 9/11 terrorism was actually carried out by people in the present Bush Administration.
Among western Germans, 16% think so, and among eastern Germans, 29%. The full report on the survey will be published in the new issue of the weekly, released July 24.
Think-Tank Director Says Bush Doctrine at Risk Over WMD
Jeffrey Gedmin, director of the Aspen Institute in Berlin, said in an interview with the July 21 Focus magazine that if the Bush Administration fails to "find weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq], this will likely be the end of Bush's doctrine of preemptive strikes." Finding WMDs is also crucial in getting the U.S. population's support for the military presence in Iraq, Gedmin said. "I could imagine that the biggest problem in the coming years will be that we simply pull our troops out of there." Gedmin himself has been a staunch supporter of the military intervention in Iraq.
British Mood Is Like a Powderkeg, Yet Some Play with Matches
An astute observer from Glasgow, Scotland reports that Britain "is like a powderkeg, while some people are playing with matches." There is gigantic mistrust of Prime Minister Tony Blair, especially in the wake of the shocking death of senior weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly. Blair's high-profile diplomacy of the past daysfirst his receiving the adulation of the U.S. Congress, and then his visits to Japan, South Korea, and Chinahave had no effect whatsoever on reversing this.
The main thing that is keeping Blair afloat, is a widespread fear about what would happen after himi.e., a variant of what LaRouche has often called "the Hamlet problem." The form this takes in certain British Labour Party circles is that people recall what happened to the Conservative Party with the fall of Margaret Thatcher. She fell in 1990, and was followed by the inept John Major, during and after whose rule as Prime Minister, the Conservative Party fell into shambles. There is fearfrankly, irrationalthat something similar would happen to a post-Blair Labour Party.
Social Psychologist Agrees with 'Powderkeg' Diagnosis
"There is a lot of anger in this country," said a British social psychologist to whom we recently spoke. "People are sick and tired of the lying, on top of the fact that the economic situation in Britain is getting worse and worse, with many losing their jobs, and a vast cheating on pensions. The situation, frankly, could explode, and this reality goes far beyond the fate of Blair, whether he stays in power or not."
This individual went on: "I think back to the 1980s miners' strike, the last failed, significant attempt by the British working class to engage in such massive protest. But next time, the ferment will be far more effective, because lessons will have been learned. And it will spread, this time, to the middle classes, who are becoming increasingly angry. That, to me, is an important factor about the death of this man Kelly. He was a quiet, intelligent man, of the middle class. His death could catalyze certain things. I tell you, people all over are so fed up with the lying, especially now that it has become so crude."
Behavior of British Leaders Disgraceful
One of Britain's leading strategic-military experts commented to EIW July 22 that the behavior of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his media czar Alastair Campbell in the case of senior weapons inspector David Kelly has led to a big shift in the popular mood toward great distrust in Tony Blair. "He and Alastair Campbell are now in the greatest political difficulty."
He emphasized: "What was done to Kelly, goes against the entire civil service ethos that has prevailed in Britain for an extremely long time. Here you have a scientist, a quiet family man, unused to political controversies and the public limelight, suddenly dragged out in public, under pressures. From that standpoint, I am personally convinced that he committed suicide, because he cracked, under what was done to him. Who ever heard of a public servant being treated this way in Britain? Normally, when a problem like this comes up, the department chief, for example in the Ministry of Defence, would come out, to explain what is going on, not a man working deep in the background."
The British strategist also expressed utter contempt for Blair's current so-called "international diplomacy," in the United States and Asia: "Look at this amazing contrast. Blair appears on television, or his picture is in the newspapers, looking haggard beyond belief. The next minute, he is shown enthusiastically, on this ridiculous world tour, as the international salesman. Frankly, I think this man is now mentally ill. All he is, is persona, and there is no substance."
Chinese Students Grill Britain's Prime Minister
In a dialogue with students at China's Tsinghua University July 22, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was grilled over Britain's support for the war in Iraq.
One student asked Blair: "You are the same age as my father. Can you tell me honestly, like you were talking to your own child, that you never lied about the Iraq war?"
Another, referring to the death of Dr. David Kelly, asked: "Can you tell us frankly what was your feeling when you heard the news of the death [of Kelly] on the way to Japan? How do you get through this and regain people's trust?"
After Blair refused to reply, another student asked if this were the toughest time of Blair's political career, citing Kelly's death and the lack of hard evidence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This forced Blair to retreat to his "Iraq was trying to develop these weapons" line.
Asked if he regretted the war on Iraq, Blair stated emphatically "No."
But then he was hit by another student, who asked if it were right for the government of one country to "liberate" the people of another, and finally, Blair had to face a question on whether his Asian tour was an attempt to distract attention from the Iraqi weapons question.
China's Press Did Not Spare Blair Over Iraq and Kelly
During Tony Blair's trip to China, the Chinese press did not spare Britain's Prime Minister, The Times of London noted in its coverage, describing his reception as a "pointed display of discourtesy." The widespread opposition to the Iraq war in China, has fuelled this coverage, The Times reported. On the eve of his arrival July 19, China Daily ran a nasty commentary, stating that Blair "has paid a political price for his unbending partnership with George Bush."
The China Daily, the "household newspaper for the diplomatic community," as The Times called it, ran an editorial headlined "Scientist's death rocks the United Kingdom," referring to the death of David Kelly. Other press covered a British journalist's probing question to Blair in South Korea, when he asked Blair if he had "blood on his hands," referring to Kelly. Xinhua cited the claims that Alistair Campbell had "sexed up" reports on Iraq, while the state television, CCTV, invited British correspondents yesterday to a 30-minute discussion program on the death of Dr. Kelly.
French Ambassador to Niger Refutes Uranium Story
Denis Vene, France's Ambassador to Niger, insisted that it would have been impossible for Iraq to have secretly obtained uranium from the country without French officials being aware of it, London's Independent reported July 21.
France has a substantial stake in the two companies that mine, process, and export uranium, and any movements are "perfectly controlled," Vene said. "The mining companies check and monitor the amounts that leave Niger all the way from the mines to the ports," he said. "If any were to go missing, it would be very obvious and the inspectors would pick it up straight away."
Ambassador Vene's statements were supported by Rabiou Hassanne Yari, Niger's Minister of Mines, who said that he was "sure and certain" that his country had never sold uranium to Iraq. Regarding Tony Blair's claim that 270 tons had been purchased in the 1980s, he said: "It's not true. The Iraqis asked, but there were never any transactions." The Iraqi request was not a secret, he said, but it was "officially made and officially turned down." He also pointed out that Niger's uranium production was subject to scrutiny by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Spanish Foreign Minister: No Proof of Iraq WMD
Ana Palacio said there was "no proof" Saddam Hussein had an active nuclear weapons program, there was just a "presumption." Mrs. Palacio's comments mark a shift from Spain's heretofore steadfast backing of Vice President Cheney's pro-war stance. In an interview with the Washington Times, Spain's Foreign Minister also cited IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's March 7 report, which concluded that there was no indication of resumed nuclear activities in buildings monitored by satellite imagery.
Weapons Inspector's Family Seeks Thorough Investigation
The July 20 Sunday Herald reported that the wife and daughters of British weapons inspector David Kelly issued a joint statement July 19, read by Kelly's brother-in-law Derek Vawdrey: "Those who are responsible for what has happened can be sure that we will not let the matter rest here." Vawdrey's wife, who is Kelly's sister, added, "I think the politicians, especially the government, have a lot of questions to answer."
Kelly was remembered at a civic service at Lichfield Anglican Cathedral July 20, with the Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham presiding. He said: "It distresses me deeply to think that there are people in positions of eminent public responsibility who know the answer to the questions Dr. Kelly was being asked. Yet they remain silent, believing that the confidentiality of their sources is more important than one man's life. I think not."
Nichols added: "Nor do we know the kind of political and personal pressure put on Dr. Kelly ... When public life and the media are so devoid of compassion, and become cavalier with the truth, they become a distortion of their true purpose."
Kelly Was Preparing for a Trip to Iraq
David Kelly was preparing a trip to Iraq, the Observer's Martin Bright reported July 20. Kelly, Britain's senior scientific adviser on Iraqi WMD, was preparing to lead a British team to hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and had contacted former UN inspectors as recently as two weeks ago to form a new mission, before his death July 19, shortly after his grilling over the allegedly "sexed-up" report on Iraqi WMD.
A former UN inspector said he had received an e-mail from Kelly two weeks ago asking him to join a survey group mission. Kelly was working directly under Brig. Gen. John Deverell, the British second in command of the survey group. Kelly was regarded as the British government's most senior chemical and biological weapons scientist.
British Press Picks Up on Possible Threats to Kelly
Shortly before his death on July 19, Dr. David Kelly had written in an e-mail warning about "dark actors playing games" against him. Subsequently, British press have picked up on this theme.
The Evening Standard Online edition July 21 raised the possibility that Kelly was "threatened with loss of pension, or prosecution under the Official Secrets Act." Neither of these is a small thing. Kelly, 59 years of age, was due to retire in a year or so, and was married, with three children. The financial loss alone, from having his pension lifted, would be great, but even worse would be the massive humiliation to a man who had served his country for decades, often operating, with courage, in very difficult circumstances, in very sensitive assignments, as a leading expert on biological and chemical weapons.
Should he have been prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act, this could have meant imprisonment, and other serious consequences.
But undoubtedly, the threats went beyond that. The fact is, Dr. Kelly was the classical case of the "man who knew too much," and the Cheney-Blair mob would have wanted him out of the way. Now that BBC has formally stated, on July 20, that he was the main contact for BBC Defense Correspondent Andrew Gilligan, who had charged that Blair media czar Alastair Campbell had "sexed up" the September 2002 Iraq weapons dossier, it is clear, and most extraordinary given who he was, what Kelly was up to (although Kelly himself, appearing before a Parliamentary panel days before his death, had seemed to deny that he was the source for Gilligan's charges). And it matters not a bit, whether Gilligan somewhat exaggerated Kelly's account.
Kelly had been in Iraq 38 times, and was preparing to go again. According to his friend Tom Mangold, himself a former BBC journalist, Kelly was the man most feared by Saddam Hussein, and hated by the Iraqi Muhkharabat secret service, because he was the most persistent and insistent, among weapons inspectors, in tracking down leads. That such a man would go to Gilligan and encourage him to debunk, on the government-owned BBC, the Blair government's propaganda about Iraqi weaponsif in fact Kelly did someans that Kelly was irate, that his life's work was being misused and abused, to start a war. Such a man, alive, would be very dangerous for Cheney and Blair.
In any case, two facts are irrefutable. First, the desperate Blair-Cheney cabal would have wanted Dr. Kelly silenced. Second, he is now dead.
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