Mideast News Digest
Syria Accountability Act Should be Repealed
Syria will be hit with U.S. sanctions, within 7-10 days, as required by the Syria Accountability Act (SAA), according to a statement on March 10 by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, to the House International Relations Committee.
Burns testified just after a completing a disastrous trip to Israel, during which Burns's delegationcontrolled by National Security Council neo-cons Stephen Hadley and Elliot Abramsmet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After the trip, Sharon announced he will he will never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority leadership.
Ending all peace negotiations and annexing the occupied territories has been Sharon's plan all along. But now is the time he can get away with it, because of the upcoming Presidential election. With rampant terrorism showing the failures of the "war on terrorism," and the American occupation of Iraq in shambles, Sharon knows that the White House does not dare confront him, and lose the support of its fanatical supporters: the Christian fundamentalists and right-wing Zionists who support expulsion of the Palestinians, and say there will never be a Palestinian state.
Congressman Eliot Engel, a neo-conservative Democrat from New York, who sponsored the "Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act" (SAA), supports exactly this policy of never allowing a Palestinian state, which he cleverly disguises as part of the war against terrorism. Participating in the October, 2003 "Jerusalem Summit" conference, with Israeli Tourism Minister Benny Elon, who wants to expel all Palestinians, and with U.S. Cheneyacs, Richard Perle and Daniel Pipes, Engel endorsed the declaration calling for Israel to annex the Palestinian territories, permanently. This dream of "Greater Israel" also favors the invasion of Lebanon.
Sharon's White House collaborators, entrenched in Vice President Dick Cheney's office (Lewis Libby, former attorney for Marc Rich, the fugitive financier known for "helping" the Mossad; and David Wurmser, a former think-tanker for former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), want to implement a war against Syria, as they laid out in the 1996 strategy paper for then-Prime Minister Netanyahu, "Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm." In this plan, both Iraq and Syria were to be conquered in a war that destroyed the Ba'ath Party and installed new regimes. That report was co-authored by Wurmser, and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Doug Feith.
In April 2003, these neo-cons tried to push through an invasion of Syria as an adjunct to the war on Iraq. It was stopped by firm institutional pressure on President Bush. The neo-cons then began a step-by-step approach, using the SAA to impose sanctions and isolation of Syria.
Phase I is economic war against Syria, in fulfillment of the provisions of the SAA, which was signed into law by President Bush last December. This includes sanctions that are mandatory, unless Bush waives them on grounds of "national security interests." Washington sources indicate the neo-cons want the most stringent measures:
* prohibit the export of products from the U.S., other than food or medicine;
* prohibit U.S. businesses from investing or operating in Syria;
* block any transactions in any property in which the government of Syria has any interest.
But, there also a "Phase II" in the neo-cons' plan: military actionwhich is not contained in the SAA. Sources in the intelligence community report that war exercises concerning an invasion of Syria have already taken place in the last few weeks.
And, there is evidence that the charges against Syria, written into the bill by Engel, were being "sexed up" by the neo-cons inside and outside the government, in the same way that the reports against Iraq were. The key channels for this disinformation to Congress appear to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, and Feith's Office of Special Plans, run by another former Cheney aide, Bill Luti.
100,000 U.S. Troops To Stay in Iraq After July 1
The U.S. military is not leaving Iraq after the "transfer" of sovereignty to an appointed government on June 30, reported Associated Press, citing unnamed British and American occupation officials. Instead, the Bush Administration is frantically seeking an "invitation" from the non-existent Iraqi interim government.
Iraq's future defense ministry will have fewer than 100 employees, led by a civilian approved by "Iraq's U.S. overseer, L. Paul Bremer," AP reported March 14, citing its British sources. Negotiations are underway now for the "transitional" government to "invite" the U.S. military to "stay in control of Iraq's security." They expect to sell this as "technically ending America's status as occupier."
The Pentagon is insisting that the American military must be "free to continue to kill insurgents, interrogate prisoners, and command Iraq's new security forces," but there is "no treaty ... and no Iraqi government to approve it." An unnamed official said of this mockery, we are negotiating "with ourselves."
Given the escalating violence in Iraq, the military presence is an impossible dilemma for the American occupierswho want to have a dictatorship in Iraq, but do not want to be called "occupiers." The weekend of March 13-14 saw the highest number of U.S. troop deaths in many months, with six U.S. soldiers killed by roadside bombs in Tikrit and Baghdad. On March 17, a car bomb killed at least 27 people, and wounded 41 others, in front of the Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad. U.S. Army officers estimated the bomb, which blew a 20-foot crater, 10-feet deep, contained a ton of explosives. The explosion occurred in the Karrada neighborhood, which has a mix of residential and commercial buildings. At least six buildings were damaged, and the resulting fires led journalists to speak of "scenes of Armageddon," and "Hell."
As with the question of elections, the U.S. is already in conflict with its own appointed Iraqi Governing Council. Hamed Al-Bayati, a spokesman for IGC member Abdel Aziz al-Hakim (head of the Shi'ite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq), said that foreign troops will be needed, but, "If we have a sovereign government, we can't put our forces under the command of another country's forces."
A British official told reporters, on condition of anonymity, that a small Iraqi "Defense Ministry," and the command really being under U.S. control is "the scheme being planned at the moment. The Americans will announce it when it is all ready." Earlier this week, it was announced that NSC Deputy, Robert Blackwell was in Iraq consulting with viceroy Bremer about what to do with the "transition."
Secret Hand Alleged Behind Kurdish Riots In Syria
At least 14 people were killed in northeastern Syria on March 12-13, in riots which began at a soccer match in the town of Kameshli, near the border with Turkey. Interior Minister Ali Haj Hammoud travelled to the Kameshli area to take charge of efforts to end the disturbances.
Syrian Kurds make up 12% of the government of Al Hassaka, where the violence occurred. Khaled Kheder, deputy governor of Al Hassaka, accused Kurdish political groupings of instigating the rioting. "The parties that instigated [the violence], which have internal and external affiliations, have deployed some poor Kurds to use them and exploit them in what happened," he said.
The Syrian government has declared that the Kurdish riots were the result of an outside effort to destabilize Syria. Regional sources have told EIR that links to the U.S.-allied Iraqi Kurdish organizations that aided in the war against Saddam Hussein are important.
Since March 12, the violence has escalated. The Turkish Anatolia news agency reported that Syrian forces had killed seven Kurds in Aleppo and Afrin, during a commemoration of the victims of Iraqi gas attacks in Halabja in 1988. Five were killed and 30 injured in Ras al-Ain on March 15. Kurds attacked a police station in Amouda, killing a police chief and four officers. In Doumar, 300 Kurds were arrested that day.
According to an Arab regional expert, with good contacts in Syria, this has to be seen in the context of the deteriorating U.S. position in Iraq, and, therefore, the entire region. "The Americans are panicked about the situation in Iraq," he said, "and are trying to neutralize Turkey and Syria, by sending signals that there is 'no one next,' " after Iraq. (This refers to the widespread view, based on threats by Bush Administration neo-cons, that after Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran "are next" on the U.S. target list.) The source continued, saying, "The Americans are trying to ease tensions," at least ostensibly. However, at the same time, there are American circles behind the Kurdish uprising. "The Kurds never moved without an okay from the U.S.," he said. The Turks are on military alert in the south, because they fear that the Kurdish violence could escalate and spread.
"What has happened," he said, "is a result of Bashar al Assad's historic visit to Turkey," just recently, the "first Syrian President to visit Turkey." He pointed out that Turkey "is now uniting with other neighbors of Iraq, in opposition to the U.S. policy there. This has led to a Turkey-Syria-Iran triangle, which "has the blessing of Egypt and the Saudis." Mubarak was also recently in Damascus for a meeting with President Bashar.
IAEA Nuclear Inspectors Return to Iran
Iran has agreed to let United Nations inspectors into the country by the end of March, reversing an earlier decision to stop inspections, said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency. Tehran had put off inspections scheduled for early March, to protest a tough resolution by the IAEA watchdog against the country, for hiding sensitive parts of a weapons program that the United States claims is devoted to developing nuclear arms.
"I was informed this morning by the Iranian authorities that the new date for inspectors' arrival in Iran would be on March 27," El-Baradei told reporters in Washington, on March 15. "Although this delay is regrettable, nonetheless, it is still within our time schedule for the conduct of investigations" leading up to a June meeting of the IAEA board of governors that is to rule on Iran's cooperation. "I hope and trust there will be no further delays.... It is clearly in the interest of Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA," ElBaradei added.
On March 17, following a cabinet meeting, Iranian President Khatami presented more of the picture, when he told reporters that Washington had "tried its utmost" at the last IAEA meeting to move the Iran case to the UN Security Council, which would be the first step towards imposing sanctions on Iran. "We will continue our cooperation with the agency," he said, "as long as we know the U.S. plots are not effective," Khatami said.
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