Western European News Digest
Italian Senators: Open the Books on 9/11 Evidence
On May 19, Sen. Oskar Peterlini of Italy, and 16 Senators from different parties, including some in the majority coalition, signed a Parliamentary Inquiry to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, demanding that he inform the Parliament and the Italian nation on the contents of the Bush-Cheney memorandum containing the evidence on who committed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and why.
The memo has since been called into question, as the world learned that Washington has lied many times on a number of crucial issues used to justify the Iraq war and political and military decisions. Italian military forces are in Iraq as part of the "coalition of the willing," because all information coming from Washington had been accepted and presented as true.
The signers represent the opposition parties Democracy of the Left (DS) (Margherita, Verdi), Autonomous South-Tyrol Peoples Party, and the Italian Communists. Also signing were three leading Senators of the Christian Democratic Union (UDC), of the government coalition; Forlani, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the son of Arnoldo, the historic Christian Democracy leader; Aldo Moro's colleague Tomaso Zanoletti, President of the Labor Committee; and Renzo Gubert, a member of the Defense Committee.
The text of the Parliamentary Inquiry was written in collaboration with Paolo Raimondi, President of the Movimento Solidarietà, the organization of LaRouche in Italy.
A crucial test is pending on the Italian troop deployment in Iraq. Prime Minister Berlusconi, who is under strong pressure at home, met with Bush May 19 in the USA. He also paid a visit to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan first, to stress the urgency of a UN leading role in Iraq after the June 30 hand-over date. Berlusconi knows that he has already lost the European elections, unless he presents himself as more independent from the Bush-Cheney war faction, he may follow Spain's ousted José María Aznar into political irrelevance.
European Elections Are a Vote on U.S. Policy
Helga Zepp-LaRouche's campaign in the European elections was featured in the Westfalen-Blatt newspaper May 19. "We will win, because only with our concept, will we get out of the present systemic crisis," the article quoted Mrs. LaRouche, who is chairwoman of the BueSo (Civil Rights Solidarity) party. The paper added that she "does not lack self-consciousness, only votes."
The theme of Mrs. LaRouche's BueSo campaign is her husband Lyndon LaRouche's "Southwest Asia Doctrine," the daily wrote, adding that Zepp-LaRouche expects a "crash," in the "whole hemisphere," the "explosion of all financial bubbles in the next months, if not weeks. The U.S. Administration will fly forward into a 'kind of fascism,' with emergency laws, she said."
The paper adds that alleged "hostility to democracy and anti-Semitism, which critics like to charge [the BueSo] with, cannot be documented from the many BueSo publications. "The BueSo claims to be the only party in this campaign that can generate a shift in the policy of the USA. It claims to be the only party to defend international law on the basis of the Treaty of Westphalia. Through a 'New Bretton Woods' and a return to fixed-exchange rates, it wants to save the financial system. A 'Eurasian Land-Bridge' is to become the core of a global reconstruction program, in the coming 25 to 50 years."
Quoting Helga directly, again, the article wrote: "We possess the optimism that the people are capable of a dialogue of civilizations, and that we finally will overcome war as a means of conflict." The article also identified to local BueSo candidates, Joerg Langenohl and Rolf Bobbenkamp running in East Westphalia.
Swedish Citizen Sues U.S. Army Over Abu Ghraib Torture
An Iraqi-born Swede has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army, charging that he was tortured by U.S. personnel in Abu Ghraib prison. Saleh, whose full name is being withheld by his lawyer, was imprisoned by Saddam Hussein from 1980-85, left Iraq, became a Swedish citizen, and returned last September. According to the account published in the International Herald Tribune May 18, Saleh was then stopped by U.S. military, who confiscated the $79,000 he had brought with him, and the car he was driving, put him in Abu Ghraib on Oct. 4, where, among other things, subjected to sexual humiliation, and other forms of physical abuse and torture. He was released in December, and told to seek legal recourse in the U.S.
Iraqi Employees of British and U.S. Media Tortured
Three Iraqi employees of Reuters news agency and one NBC employee were tortured by U.S. troops in Fallujah in January 2004. The four Iraqi newsmen were covering the downing of a U.S. helicopter near Fallujah when they were arrested, on Jan. 2, and brutally tortured in Forward Operating Base Volturno near Fallujah. They were released on Jan. 5, and reported the torture to Reuters and NBC. The companies filed complaints immediately, first to Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the First Armored Division, and then, when the Army claimed to have investigated and found no torture, they complained directly to Rumsfeld. The investigators never interviewed those who had been tortured.
When the men saw the Abu Ghraib pictures, they decided to go public. Reuters' Global Managing Editor, David Schlesinger, released the letter he sent to Sanchez on Jan. 7, and the response he received on Jan. 8, saying that the detainees "were purposefully and carefully put under stress, to include sleep deprivation, in order to facilitate interrogation; they were not tortured."
The Reuters employees described various forms of sexual and other degradation, as well as beatings and other physical and psychological abuse, including threats they would be taken to Guantanamo.
Schlesinger wrote to Rumsfeld's spokesman Larry DiRita on Feb. 3, demanding a review of the investigation, calling it "woefully inadequate," and stating that the failure to even interview the victims, "along with other inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the report, speaks volumes about the [lack of] seriousness with which the U.S. government is taking this issue." NBC News vice president Bill Wheatley said that "despite repeated requests, we have yet to receive the results of the Army investigation" into the case of the NBC employee.
European Leaders Favor Islamic Peacekeepers in Iraq
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who took part in a Belgian cabinet session in Brussels May 18, also met separately with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt to discuss the Iraq and Palestine issues.
Both leaders told the press, afterwards, that they would not veto a NATO peacekeeping mission, but definitely would not contribute any troops to such a force in Iraq. Schroeder and Verhofstadt share the view that peacekeepers from the Islamic states neighboring Iraq would "better be able to be met with the necessary confidence by the Iraqi population."
Troops from non-Islamic western states would always be viewed as occupiers, and they would never be able to build confidence with the Iraqis, they said. "I have my doubts whether NATO is the right instrument to contribute to the stabilization of Iraq," the German Chancellor said. NATO troops would not get a better welcome in Iraq than the forces of the occupying powers now.
Schroeder's view on the subject are known to be shared by the French and Belgians.
The German Chancellor also expressed similar views on the popular "Maischberger" television program May 17. And reportedly discussed the idea with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, at a meeting in Hanover, April 16, and in a meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice in Berlin, May 17.
Remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in media interviews after the G-8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Washington over the weekend of May 15-16, indicate that the proposal for an international peacekeeping force, with at least a strong Arab or Islamic component, rather than NATO troops, has been discussed among Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, as well.
Britain's New Labour Links Up with Kerry Campaign
Two "most senior" British Labour Party strategists will go to the United States this summer to build ties with the Kerry campaign and will likely attend the Democratic Convention in July.
Tony Blair is under heavy pressure to loosen his politically suicidal ties to George Bush. These visitsyet to be confirmedare most likely the work of Blair's biggest rival, Gordon Brown, who is known to be close to Kerry and to banker Felix Rohatyn, and the Massachusetts Kennedy machine. Rupert Murdoch's London Times has recently been reflecting the views of Gordon Brown. It also published an interview with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott last week, indicating Blair could be on the way out.
Labour Party spokesmen are denying the political rifts, but the cat is out of the bag.
The Times cites a "well-placed source" saying that Pat McFadden, one of three political directors at 10 Downing Street, is expected to attend the Democratic Convention.
Douglas Alexander, Cabinet Office Minister and election coordinator for the Labour Party, is reportedly going to "spend time" with the Kerry campaign this summer. Alexander has worked with other Democratic campaigns in the past.
A Downing Street spokesman tried to downplay the importance of the visits, asserting this was "not sending out a signal about our relations with Bush," which Blair would not want done.
Half of British Voters Say Tony Blair Should Leave
A May 15 opinion poll cited by Reuters showed that nearly half of British voters think Prime Minister Tony Blair should step down before the next general election. Blair's public ratings have plummeted since the Iraq war, and growing numbers of Labour members of Parliament are openly wondering whether he has become an electoral liability. The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times found 46% of those surveyed said Blair should quit before the next election, expected in about a year's time. Another 22% want him to go soon after an election, while just 20% say he should stay, according to the poll. Asked whether they trust Blair, 61% said "no" and 36% "yes."
On May 14, Blair called speculation about his future "froth." But the following day the Times ran an interview with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on its front page, under the headline "Race to seize Blair's crown is under way." Prescott was quoted as saying senior ministers had discussed a future without Blair. "I think it is true that, when plates appear to be moving, everyone positions themselves for it," Prescott said. Asked whether senior ministers were preparing for a new leader or had discussed it, Prescott said: "Yes, people do talk about it and you get that discussion.... [E]very British prime minister goes eventually."
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