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Versus die Presse
von Robert Fisk
New Zealand Herald / ZNet 24.09.2003
BAGDAD. Abwasser dringt aus den Kanaldeckeln, und immer noch gibt
es nur 15 Stunden am Tag Strom, Anarchie hält die Straßen Bagdads
im Griff. Aber am gestrigen Tag brüllte der zahnlose amerikanische
Irak-'Interimsrat' wie ein Löwe und gab eine Reihe Restriktionen
und Drohungen bekannt - natürlich gegen die Presse gerichtet.
In erster Linie gemeint waren die arabischen Satellitensender
'Al Dschasiera' und 'Arabia', die alle Bandaufzeichnungen Saddam
Husseins senden. Die (neuerlassenen) Regeln erinnern fast schon
an Orwell. Jede Regel beginnt mit den Worten: "Do not...", soll
heißen, jede ausländische oder irakische Nachrichten-Presse oder
Nachrichten-TV-Organisation kann geschlossen werden, sollte sie
"sich für die Rückkehr der Bath-Partei einsetzen oder irgendeine
die Bath direkt oder indirekt repräsentierende Erklärung" herausgeben
(!)
Der Rat, eingesetzt vom amerikanischen Prokonsul Paul Bremer, gab
gestern zu, man habe sich mit Bremers Rechtsberatern konsultiert,
bevor man die Restriktionen herausgab. Typisch für das Chaos,
das in Bagdad derzeit herrscht: Zunächst hatte der Sprecher des
Interimsrats, Intefadh Qanbar - ein Mann Ahmed Chalabis - verlautet,
'Al-Dschasierah' und 'Arabia' werden im Irak geschlossen. Nach zwei
Stunden war klar, bei der Strafe (für die angeblichen Vergehen)
der beiden arabisch-sprachigen Sender geht es (nur) darum, dass
ihnen der 'Interimsrat' für zwei Wochen jede Kooperation verweigert eine
Strafe, die sich so mancher Journalist hier sogar wünschen
würde. Dennoch reflektiert die Liste auf kompromittierende Weise,
welche Art von 'Demokratie' Bremer dem Irak schenken will. Immerhin
hat Bremer schon Ende Frühjahr von seinen Rechtsberatern Zensurregeln
erarbeiten lassen.
Einige der Restriktionen sind so selbstverständlich, dass man sie
schon als naiv bezeichnen muss:
"Rufen Sie nicht zur Gewalt gegen irgendeine Person oder Gruppe auf".
Eine Regel wie diese könnte in jedem bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch stehen,
dazu braucht es keine Liste mit Presse-Restriktionen. "Rufen Sie
nicht zur Gewalt gegen Behörden oder gegen Personen in verantwortlicher
Position auf" - fällt in dieselbe Kategorie. Geht es hingegen
um die Bath-Partei, wird die Absicht deutlich, die Iraker daran zu
hindern, Saddams Stimme zu vernehmen. Beide arabischen Stationen
haben Saddams Bänder ja in voller Länge ausgestrahlt - einschließlich
seines sehr, sehr düsteren Grußes inklusive einer beklemmenden
Liebeserklärung an das Bagdader Volk: "Ich vermisse Euch, meine
Lieben". Die (diesbezügliche) Regel beweist andererseits, wie sehr
sich die US-Behörden inzwischen vor Saddams Sympathisanten fürchten.
Nachdem man der Welt erzählt hat, die meisten Irakis seien über
ihre 'Befreiung' entzückt bzw. über die sich entwickelnde 'Demokratie',
ist den Behörden nun wohl offensichtlich klar, viele Iraker
fühlen ganz und gar nicht so.
Zudem werden Journalisten und andere dazu aufgefordert, die
Behörden über "jeden Akt der Sabotage, über kriminelle Aktivitäten,
über Terrorismus oder jede Gewaltaktion zu informieren... vor oder
nach einem Angriff". Aber kein Journalist - auch keiner von Al
Dschasiera - weiß im voraus über Anschläge Bescheid. Im Endeffekt
verlangt die Richtlinie also, dass Journalisten zu Assistenten
der Besatzungsbehörden werden. Viele Irakis würden mit gutem Grund
behaupten, dass die schreckhaften US-Truppen, die schon so viele
unschuldige Iraker - vor, während oder nach Anschlägen auf ihre
Konvois - getötet haben, für sie eine ebenso große Gefahr darstellen
wie die Guerillas, die Amerikaner angreifen. Ganz klar,
die Restriktionen betreffen jeden Reporter im Irak - wenigstens
kann man sie so interpretieren. Ein Bericht, in dem Saddam zitiert
wird oder der die manchmal brutalen Hausrazzien der Amerikaner
beschreibt, könnte so als "Repräsentierung" der Bath-Partei bzw.
als Aufruf zur Gewalt an die Irakis gewertet werden. Die blühende,
freie, neue irakische Presse - mittlerweile gibt es allein in
Bagdad über hundert Zeitungen-, kennt durchaus Beispiele, wo zum
'Dschihad' gegen die Besatzungsbehörden aufgerufen wird bzw. wo
komplett falsch über das Verhalten von US-Soldaten informiert
wird. In dieser Hinsicht würde allerdings die Eröffnung einer
Journalistenschule wesentlich mehr helfen als die gestrige
'Verbotsliste'. Und so wie die Dinge liegen, dürfte selbst die
Berichterstattung über die gestrige Tötung - respektive Tötungen nahe
der sunnitischen Stadt Falludschah, durch Raketenfeuer eines
amerikanischen Helikopters, in die Kategorie 'Aufruf zur Gewalt'
fallen. Das US-Militär behauptet, es sei von einem Haus in der
Stadt aus unter Feuer genommen worden und hätte "einen Feind"
getötet. Aber Krankenhausärzte gaben die Namen von 3 getöteten
Männern bekannt - alle aus derselben Familie: Ali, Saad u. Salem
al-Jumaili. Von einem (der Getöteten) wird gesagt, es handle um
einen unschuldigen Bauern; auch zwei seiner Kinder sind bei dem
tödlichen Vorfall verletzt worden. Später hat man amerikanische
Soldaten dabei beobachtet, wie sie in den beiden getroffenen
Häusern Fotos schossen. Überall auf dem Fußboden Blutlachen.
Übersetzt von: Andrea Noll
Orginalartikel: "Against the Press"
http://www.zmag.de/article/article.php?idf0
Annan erwägt kompletten Abzug aus Irak
25.09.2003
Wie Reuters am Donnerstag berichtete, erwägt der UN-Generalsekretär
Kofi Annan einen vollständigen Abzug des UN-Personals aus dem Irak.
Annan hat Quellen innerhalb der UNO zufolge am Donnerstag seine
höchsten Mitarbeiter zusammengerufen, um über die Möglichkeit
zu sprechen, sämtliche internationalen Mitarbeiter aus dem Irak
abzuziehen, bis sich die Sicherheitslage in dem Land verbessert
hat.
Am Montag war das UN-Gebäude in Baghdad erneut Ziel eines Bombenanschlags
geworden, dabei wurde ein irakischer Polizist getötet
und 19 Menschen, unter ihnen irakische UN-Mitarbeiter, verletzt.
Am 19. August war das Gebäude schon einmal mit einer Bombe angegriffen
worden. Damals starben 22 Menschen, unter ihnen der damalige
Leiter der UN-Mission im Irak und enge Freund Annans, Sergio Vieira
de Mello.
Nach dem zweiten Anschlag hatte die Gewerkschaft der UN-Mitarbeiter
eine wütende Erklärung abgegeben, in der sie die Frage stellte "Wie
viel können unsere Leute im Irak noch ertragen?" und die Forderung
für einen Abzug der Angestellten wiederholte.
Das Treffen wurde von Annan anberaumt, nachdem seine Beratergruppe
für den Irak, geleitet von der stellvertretenden UN-Generalsekretärin
Louise Frechette, die Empfehlung für einen sofortigen Abzug ausgesprochen
hatte.
Derzeit arbeiten 110 ausländische UN-Mitarbeiter im Irak. Vor dem
ersten Anschlag waren es noch 600.
Ein vollständiger Abzug der UN aus dem Irak hätte nicht nur für den
Irak selbst schwerwiegende Folgen. Auch die USA dürften dem zumindest
mit gemischten Gefühlen gegenüber stehen. Zwar würde dies den Wegfall
einer internationalen Instanz bedeuten, die bisher den US-Soldaten
"auf die Finger geschaut" hat, andererseits wäre der Abzug aber auch
eine starke Aussage über die Sicherheitslage im Irak.
Da die USA derzeit versuchen, eine breitere internationale Unterst
ützung für die Besatzung und den "Wiederaufbau" des Iraks zu
gewinnen, wäre eine derartige Aussage der Vereinten Nationen
sicherlich wenig hilfreich.
http://www.freace.de/artikel/sep2003/un250903.html
Nation Building? Which Nation Building?
26.09.2003
Toepi
Ein Rückblick auf die Rede des US-Präsidenten vor der 58. Generalversammlung
der UNO am Dienstag läßt keine Zweifel daran aufkommen,
daß sich in Amerika die Uhren etwas anders drehen als im dem Rest
der Welt. Der kategorische Imperativ der "Neocons made in America"
avanciert zu neuer, geradezu brennender Aktualität: Wer nicht
für uns ist, ist gegen uns. Neutralität ist Schnee von vorgestern.
Schwarz-Weiß-Schablonen werden zum Kaleidoskop der letzten verbliebenen
Weltmacht. Geradezu in den Worten der Roosevelt-Maxime
"Er mag ein Bastard sein, aber er ist unser Bastard" mutiert der
"Kampf gegen den Terror" zum Paradoxon seiner eigens erzeugten
Zwiespältigkeiten, Widersprüche und anderer pathologischer Züge,
in denen die naive Differenz zwischen dem Code gut/böse nun mit
den jüngsten Ereignissen ein neues Kapitel in der schizoiden
Chronik eines Kriegs nach dem Krieg erfährt.
In einer neuen Umfrage des Senders "NBC" und des "Wall Street
Journal", welche am Mittwoch veröffentlicht wurde, zeigt diese
erneut die dramatischen Einbrüche für Bush. Danach sind gerade
noch 49 Prozent der Amerikaner mit der Politik ihres Präsidenten
einverstanden - der tiefste Stand seit seinem Amtsantritt.
Reichlich Unmut und Mißtrauen macht sich in der Bevölkerung nicht
nur bei Themen wie Afghanistan und dem Irak, dem Rekorddefizit
und der hohen Arbeitslosigkeit breit. Auch die ubiquitären Einschr
änkungen der Freiheit und Meinungsäußerung vor allem durch
den Patriot Act und der beispiellosen Ineffizienz der "Homeland
Security" lassen allmählich immer mehr Amerikaner erkennen, daß
die gegenwärtige Regierung kaum mehr tragbar ist und diese den
11. September bis zum Erbrechen für ihre eigenen Interessen ausgebeutet
hat. Wenn jetzt schon Präsidentschaftswahlen wären, würde
jedenfalls der frühere NATO-Oberbefehlshaber und hochfavorisierte
Kandidat der Demokraten Wesley Clark mit 49 Prozent um knapp 3
Prozentpunkte vor Bush diese gewinnen.
Zudem hat sich Bush mit seiner Rede bei der UN-Vollversammlung
nicht gerade neue Freunde gemacht. Was sich der gute Texaner so
alles unter einem "demokratischen Prozeß", "freien und fairen
Wahlen" im Irak und anderen aufgeblasenen rhetorischen Ausrutschern
vorstellt, wird wohl ewig das Geheimnis von ihm oder wohl eher
seines Redenschreibers bleiben. Kanzler Schröder zeigte sich
gestern gelassen, bewitzelt, war doch alles gar nicht mal so
schlimm, wie es aussah, ein paar leere Worthülsen von "mutigen
Reformen" bis zur "Ausweitung der Multilateralismus" zum Thema
Restaurierung der UN für die Daheimgebliebenen und schon sind
Germany und Uncle Sam wieder die guten alten Freunde von eh und
je. So what? Wesentlich weniger sanft und dafür angriffslustiger
gab sich da der französische Staatspräsident Jacques Chirac,
offenbar hat man ohnehin nichts mehr zu verlieren, da zumindest
was die Außenpolitik angeht, Frankreich mittlerweile seine eigene
Position gefunden hat und sich nicht mehr so leicht wie andere
zum Vasallen der Amerikaner machen läßt. Die Hetzkampagnen einiger
amerikanischer Medien gegen das Land in der letzten Zeit haben
dazu ihr übriges beigetragen.
Auch eine aktuelle Gallup-Umfrage, an der 1178 Iraker teilnahmen,
mit 67 Prozent bestätigt, daß die Menschen im Irak freilich gegenw
ärtig in ihrem Land glücklicher sind als unter der Dikatur von
Saddam Hussein, und im Gegensatz dazu gerade mal 8 Prozent dagegen
sprechen, sind das zwar alles positive Meldungen, geben aber wenig
über die Realität dieses Landes Aufschluß, in dem kaum ein Tag
ohne einen neuen Anschlag vergeht und die Infrastruktur in weiten
Teilen des Landes noch immer weit mehr als ruinös ist. Die USA
werden kaum, was ja auch in den letzten Wochen sehr deutlich gesagt
wurde, eine politische Machtabgabe an die UNO leisten. Klar ist
zumindest, daß von Zeit zu Zeit die Stabilität des Iraks immer mehr
unter diesen diplomatischen Geplänkeln leidet und überdies der Irak
zum neuen Dreh- und Angelpunkt für Terrorgruppen mutiert.
Bush hat in den Verhandlungen mit anderen Ländern zweifellos versagt,
weitere internationale Truppen für den Irak anzuwerben. Frankreich
werde zwar kein Veto gegen das geplante UN-Mandat einlegen und
Schröder sagte heute, Deutschland werde zwar keine eigenen Truppen
in den Irak schicken, biete aber an, hier die Ausbildung bei der
Polizei für den Irak zu unterstützen, doch dies aber ist freilich
nicht das, was man sich einst erhoffte. Ansonsten sieht es auch
bei anderen Ländern nicht gerade rosig aus, selbst der es mit den
Menschenrechten nicht so genau nehmende Verbündete der USA Pakistan
fordert erst mehr politische Stabilität im Irak, bevor seine Truppen
in das Land einziehen. Zudem würde die pakistanische Bevölkerung
auch nicht davon besonders begeistert sein. Bei Indien ist es ebenso.
Der Türkei bietet die USA dagegen eben mal 8,5 Milliarden US-Dollar
an, wenn diese bereit sind, ihre Truppen zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Die türkische Opposition lehnte dies allerdings sofort ab und
beschuldigte Washington, die Außenpolitik der Türkei zu verpfänden.
Bereits vor dem Irak-Krieg Anfang März hatte die dortige Regierung
zunächst für eine Bereitstellung von Truppen für den Irak-Krieg
gestimmt, welche aber nur wenige Stunden später wieder rückgängig
gemacht wurde, da die Mindestbeteiligung bei der Abstimmung nicht
gegeben war.
Derweil gibt im Pentagon nach dem Scheitern der Verhandlungen auch
Überlegungen mehr Einheiten in den Irak zu schicken. Peter Prace,
Vizepräsident der Versammlung der Stabschefs warnte, daß noch mehr
Truppen in den Irak müssten, sofern nicht innerhalb von 6 Wochen
der Nachschub von 15.000 bis 20.000 Truppen gesichert sei. Im Irak
zeigten sich zudem die amerikanischen Soldaten von Bushs Ansprache
bei den UN sehr enttäuscht, weil immer noch nicht klar wurde, wann
sie endlich wieder nach Hause können. Gegenwärtig befinden sich
116.000 amerikanischen Truppen und 22.000 aus anderen Ländern,
einschließlich Großbritannien, im Irak. Gewissermaßen können die
Iraker sich nur selbst helfen, doch die Rekrutierung der irakischen
Armee geht schleppend voran. Immer wieder gibt es Mutmaßungen über
ehemalige Loyalisten von Saddam Hussein. So sprach die New York
Times in einem Bericht vor wenigen Tagen von einer gerade mal 735
Mann starken Truppe.
Trotzdem werden alleine mehr Truppen - ob aus Amerika oder anderswo
- kaum etwas bringen. Der wichtigste Faktor bleibt nach wie vor
die politische Stabilität, die die Iraker selbst in die Hand nehmen
müssen, es aber noch nicht können, was nicht zu bestreiten ist. Der
Chef des BND, August Hanning warnte am Dienstag vor einem neuen Netz
islamistischen Terrors im Irak. Die am "Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government" lehrende Politikwissenschaftlern Jessica Stern schrieb
auch vor kurzem in der New York Times in einer Kolumne, daß es
Amerika fertig gebracht hat, den Irak in einem "Terrorhafen" zu
verwandeln, wo früher nicht mal der ein Hauch eines solchen zu
finden war, auch wenn es vor dem Krieg immer wieder versucht wurde,
Verbindungen mit Al-Qaida zu knüpfen. Der Traum von einem freien
Irak wird immer mehr zum Albtraum für die Besatzer. Der eigentliche
Krieg hat erst nach dem Krieg begonnen. Gewiß ist der Irak nicht
Afghanistan und ganz sicher nicht ein zweites Vietnam, trotzdem
spiegeln die Anschläge, der lahmende Aufbau der Infrastruktur,
Menschenhandel, Kinderarbeit, Korruption, der weitverbreitete
Drogenkonsum und der gestrige Tod von Akila al-Haschimi, eine von
den drei Frauen des Regierungsrats und der Anschlag auf das Journalistenhotel
in Bagdad die fragile und prekäre Sicherheitslage und
politische Instabilität des Landes wieder. Schon vor dem Krieg
gab es mehrere Berichte, selbst von der CIA, die besagten, daß das
"nation building" alles andere als leicht würde. Aber dafür hatte
man nur wenig offene Ohren. Was die Wirtschaft angeht, sieht
man dies natürlich wieder ganz anders und da kann es bekanntlich
nicht schnell genug gehen. So habe der Finanzminister am Sonntag
beschlossen, daß ausländische Investoren bald vollständigen Zugriff
auf den Irak haben werden - ausgenommen der Ölindustrie. Ob dann
auch das Kapital angesichts der derzeitigen Lage dieses Lands kommen
wird, darf bezweifelt werden.
Wenig verwunderlich ist jetzt auch die Erwägung von UN-Generalsekret
är Kofi Annan nach dem erneuten Anschlag mit einer Autobombe
auf das UN-Hauptquartier in Bagdhad am Montag, das gesamte UNPersonal
vollständig abzuziehen. Diese Überlegung würde den auch
so schon prekären Wiederaufbau des Iraks nun erneut torpedieren.
Bereits nach dem schweren Anschlag auf das Gebäude am 19. August,
bei dem es zu 23 Toten kam, sind nahezu 90 Prozent des UN-Personals
gezwungen gewesen zu gehen. Lediglich einige tausende irakische
UNO-Mitarbeiter bleiben an Ort und Stelle. Nicht wenig zu der Überlegung
des vollständigen Abzugs beigetragen haben wird sicherlich
die nicht gerade offene Haltung des US-Präsidenten gegenüber der
UNO, wobei "Brainwashington" eben mal wieder deutlich werden ließ,
daß sie nur dann von Bedeutung ist, wenn es den eigenen Interessen
dient, sofern sie hinderlich ist, wird sie nur noch zu einem lästigen
Überbleibsel, wenn nicht gar - wie man es so schön vor dem Irak-Krieg
zu sagen pflegte - "irrelevant". Dies zeigte auch letzte Woche wieder
einmal der Gebrauch des Veto-Rechts der Amerikaner gegen die Resolution
zur Verurteilung der Ausweisung von Arafat durch Israel.
Alles wirkt in letzter Zeit ein wenig irrational, nicht nur für
die Iraker, auch für den Rest der Welt. Da soll der Krieg nach Bush
durch Saddam Husseins "Greueltaten" gerechtfertigt sein, dann doch
nicht, schließlich will man dem gestern festgenommenen Verteidigungsminister
Immunität bewilligen und hofft von ihm so zu erfahren, daß
der Irak Massenvernichtungswaffen besessen hat - und wenn nicht da
ß er wenigstens Hinweise auf Dokumente und Akten geben kann, die
das Vorhaben des Iraks, diese zu entwickeln, belegen, da soll es
auf einmal sogar ausreichen, daß der Irak die Wissenschaftler, die
in der Lage waren ABC-Waffen herzustellen, hatte. Are you kidding?
Selbst die heute an die Öffentlichkeit gelangte Informationen über
den Bericht des CIA-Beraters David Kay belegte noch mal deutlich,
daß man einfach nicht in der Lage ist, einen "rauchenden Colt" zu
präsentieren, möglicherweise werden zudem einige Teile des Berichts
aufgrund von Bedenken geheim gehalten. An Amerikas Wesen soll die
Welt genesen. Oder auch nicht. Der Kampf gegen den Terrorismus ist
ein absurdes Unterfangen. Bin Laden erfreut sich wie man letztens
sah bester Gesundheit und auch Saddam Hussein wird es sicherlich
nicht gerade schlecht gehen. Derweil erntet man den Terror, den man
unlängst gesät hat. Afghanistan darf sich zu den größten Drogenhochburgen
der Welt zählen, die Taliban reorganisieren sich, auch SaudiArabien
will sich nicht mehr alles von Uncle Sam gefallen lassen,
Nordkorea läßt nicht daran zweifeln, daß sie auch eine Atommacht
werden wollen, eventuell auch der Iran, zumindest hat man eine Atombombe
im April noch als "nationales Recht" angesehen und befindet
sich jetzt in Verhandlungen mit der IAEA in Wien, wenn auch bisher
so gut wie nichts eindeutiges bei den Gesprächen herauskam. Die Welt
bleibt ein gefährlicher Ort.
So schön Einigkeit und Konsens in Mediendemokratien auch aussehen
mag, mit der neuen Achse Berlin, Paris und Moskau und ihrer
Forderung nach einer möglichst schnellen Abgabe der Souveränität
an die Iraker, dient diese wohl eher als symbolischer Akzentwechsel,
um den lieben US-Präsidenten ein wenig zu besänftigen und ihn
eventuell doch noch mal zum Nachdenken darüber zu bringen, daß er
mit seinen derzeitigen Kurs kaum - weder im eigenen Land noch in
anderen Teilen der Erde - punkten kann. Wie immer es auch weitergeht,
bleibt festzuhalten, daß es auch anders hätte gehen können.
Festzuhalten ist allerdings auch, daß die neue "Einheit" kaum
darüber hinwegtäuschen wird, daß der Irak zwar ein anderes Land
als vorher ist, mitnichten aber eine Demokratie werden wird, egal
ob das nun Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld oder auch Chirac, Schröder oder
Putin mit Hand aufs Herz und mit voller Optimismus in alle Herren
Länder hinausposaunen - Errare humanum est.
http://www.freace.de/artikel/sep2003/nation260903.html
Resistance Has Changed the Balance of Power in Iraq
Seumas Milne
The Guardian, Arab News
LONDON, 27 September 2003 - "Is this what they mean by freedom ?"
asked Zaidan Khalaf Mohammed on Tuesday after the US 82nd Airborne
Division had killed his brother and two other family members in
Sichir, central Iraq, in an air and ground assault on their onestory
home. The Americans had come, he said, "like terrorists",
while US forces claimed they had only attacked when they came under
fire. No evidence was offered and none found.
These killings are after all merely the latest in a string of bloody
"mistakes" by US occupation forces, including the repeated shooting
of demonstrators, murderous attacks on carloads of civilians at
roadblocks and this month's massacre of members of the US-controlled
Iraqi police force. In most countries, any of these incidents would
have provoked a national or even an international outcry. But in
occupied Iraq, US officials feel under no pressure to offer more
than the most desultory explanation for the destruction of expendable
Iraqi lives. Six months after the launch of the invasion, it has
become ever clearer that the war was not only a crime of aggression,
but a gigantic political blunder for those who ordered it and who
are only now beginning to grasp the scale of the political price
they may have to pay. While US President George Bush has squandered
his post-Sept. 11 popularity, raising the specter of electoral
defeat next year as American revulsion grows at the cost in blood
and dollars, Prime Minister Tony Blair's leadership has been fatally
undermined by the deception and subterfuge used to cajole Britain
into a war it didn't, and once again doesn't, support.
Every key calculation the pair made - from the response of the UN to
the number of troops needed and the likely level of popular support
and resistance in Iraq - has proven faulty.
Whatever the formal outcome of the Hutton inquiry and the
displacement activity of the government's row with the BBC
over an early-morning radio broadcast, it has unquestionably
confirmed that Alastair Campbell and other Downing Street
officials did strain every nerve to create the false
impression of a chemical and biological weapons threat from
Iraq, a threat that it is increasingly obvious did not exist.
Even more damagingly, the inquiry has revealed Blair's reckless
dismissal of the February warning by the joint intelligence
committee that an attack on Iraq would increase the threat of
terrorism.
Combined with the failure to find any weapons, the admission by the
former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix that he now believes
Iraq long ago destroyed them and the discrediting of a litany of
propaganda ploys (links with Al-Qaeda, the forged Niger uranium
documents, the 45-minute weapons launch claim), Hutton has helped
to strip the last vestige of possible legal cover from the aggression
and shift opinion against the war. So has the chaos and resistance
on the ground in Iraq, where guerrilla attacks on US soldiers are
running at a dozen a day and US casualties are now over 300 dead
and 1,500 wounded. Latest estimates of Iraqi civilian war deaths
are close to 10,000, while in the security vacuum hundreds more are
now being being killed every week, a point driven home by Tuesday's
bomb attacks in Baghdad and Mosul. In Baghdad alone, there has been
a 25-fold increase in gun-related killings since the invasion, from
20 to more than 500 last month.
Paul Bremer, the head of the US occupation authority, insists "there
is enormous gratitude for what we have done", and the dwindling band
of cheerleaders for war have seized on contradictory and questionable
Baghdad opinion surveys conducted by Western pollsters to back the
claim.
But it is not the story told by US Defense Department officials, who
last week conceded that hostility to the occupation and support for
armed resistance was growing and spreading well beyond Iraq's Sunni
heartlands. Hence George Bush's humiliating return to the UN this
week. But any attempt to prettify US-led colonial rule in Iraq in
the colors of the UN (already the target of armed attacks) is no more
likely to work than the League of Nations mandate Britain secured
in Iraq in the 1920s. As then, the US and Britain insist in true
colonial style that Iraqis "are not ready" to rule themselves, and
the hostility to President Chirac's demand for an early transfer
of sovereignty confirms that the US will willingly hand over power
only once it is confident of controlling the political outcome.
The real meaning of US promises of freedom and democracy was spelled
out this week by two decisions of the US-appointed, and increasingly
discredited, Iraqi Governing Council. The first was to put the entire
economy, except oil, up for sale to foreign capital, combined with a
sweeping free-market shock therapy program, pre-empting the decisions
of any elected Iraqi government. The second was to impose restrictions
on the Arabic satellite TV stations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya for
their reports on the resistance to the occupation.
The reality is that the occupation offers no route to democracy,
which is unlikely to favor US interests. What is needed is a
political decision to end the occupation, a timetable for early
withdrawal and the temporary replacement of the invading armies
with an acceptable security force, perhaps provided by the Arab
League, while free elections are held for a constituent assembly
under UN auspices.
But none of that is likely to happen unless the US, the UK and their
allies find the burden of occupation greater than that of withdrawal.
Unpalatable though it may be, it is the Iraqi resistance that has
transformed the balance of power over Iraq in the past six months,
as it has frustrated US efforts to impose its will on the country
and the US public has begun to grasp the price of military rule over
another people.
By demonstrating the potential costs of pre-emptive invasion, the
resistance has also reduced the threat of US attacks against other
potential targets, such as Iran, North Korea, Syria and Cuba. Bush,
Blair and the newly cowed BBC absurdly describe those defending
their own country as "terrorists" - as all colonialist and occupation
forces have done - and accuse them of being "Saddam loyalists".
In fact, the evidence suggests a much more varied political make-up,
but if Bush and Blair have managed to achieve a partial rehabilitation
of Baathism in Iraq they have only themselves to blame.
There is now a popular majority in Britain against the war and the
occupation. Blair has repeatedly emphasized his personal judgment
in the decision to join Bush's war - and that judgment has been
shown to be fatally flawed. Iraq has become the crucible of global
politics and the testbed for the US drive to global domination. It
is in the interests of the security of us all that there is now a
political reckoning at home and in the US for that aggression.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/27o/Resistance%20Has%20Changed%20the%
20Balance% 20of%20Power%20in%20Iraq,%20Seumas%20Milne.htm
Baghdad safer under Saddam
Baghdad is a much more dangerous place under US occupation than
it was when Saddam Hussein was in charge, according to statistics
released Friday by a research group.
Soaring violence on the streets of Iraq's capital since the US-led
war on Iraq has killed an extra 1519 civilians.
The Iraq Body Count (IBC) said its study of violent deaths recorded
at the main city morgue confirmed anecdotal evidence of "terror"
and "mayhem" on the streets of Baghdad.
From mid-April to the end of August, 2846 violent deaths were
recorded by the Baghdad morgue, the IBC said.
After subtracting the average pre-war death rates, "a total of at
least 1519 excess violent deaths in Baghdad emerges," it added.
Death rate triples
"Although the majority of deaths are the result of Iraqi on Iraqi
violence, some were directly caused by US military fire," the IBC
said in a statement.
The IBC said the daily violent death rate recorded at Baghdad's main
morgue virtually tripled from around 10 per day in mid-April to more
than 28 during August.
Before the war, gunshot wounds accounted for approximately 10% of
bodies brought to the morgue, but now make up more than 60%.
The IBC said responsibility for the violence plaguing Baghdad's
five million residents lay with the occupiers.
"The US may be effective at waging war but the descent of Iraq's
capital city into lawlessness under US occupation shows that it
is incompetent at maintaining public order and providing security
for the civilian population," researcher Hamit Dardagan said.
Domestic weapons
"Ordinary Iraqis may justifiably feel ungrateful for a 'liberation'
that has removed the fear of Saddam but left them under military
occupation and living in terror of their own streets."
The majority of Iraqis keep weapons - mainly AK-47 rifles
or pistols - and have been readier to use them since Saddam
Hussein's government was toppled on 9 April.
Gunfights are frequent on Baghdad streets and revenge killings
are also common as people settle old scores knowing murders
will probably go unpunished.
Residents also live in fear of being caught in firefights between
US soldiers and Iraqi resistance fighters.
Some have been shot accidentally by soldiers and their own police.
Amnesty criticism
The IBC report was confirmed by human rights group Amnesty
International.
Amnesty said five months since the end of the major military
operations, no one feels safe in Iraq.
Among the concerns raised by the organisation were continuing use
of excessive force by US soldiers, arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment
in detention centres, and impunity for past and current human
rights violations.
"It is unacceptable that the coalition forces appear to continue
to use excessive force on a wide-scale resulting in civilian
deaths. The Iraqi people deserve security and peace not more
bloodshed."
The US-led occupiers and governing authorities acknowledge the
violence problem.
But they insist they are doing their best to control it by
confiscating weapons, detaining criminals and getting the
Iraqi police force back on its feet.
Aljazeera + Agencies
Friday 26 September 2003 11:17 AM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
Baghdad+safer+under+Saddam.htm
US holding '250 foreign fighters' in Iraq
US forces in Iraq are holding 19 al-Qaida suspects among 248 foreign
fighters captured there, the US occupation administrator has claimed.
And amid continuing reluctance by other countries to send their troops
to assist the US-led occupation, Washington has activated 10,000 Army
National Guard troops and put 5000 more Army Guard soldiers on alert
for probable duty in Iraq.
Paul Bremer said on Friday precisely 19 al-Qaida members were in US
custody in Iraq, Reuters reported. He told reporters in Washington
he did not have the nationalities of the al-Qaida suspects.
But he said a total of 248 foreigners were being held, among them 123
Syrians and a large number of both Iranians and Yemenis.
"That's been a matter that has come out in their interrogations or
in their documents," he responded when pressed on how he knew the
19 prisoners in question were members of al-Qaida, the group accused
of the September 2001 attacks on the US.
Washington has said foreign fighters moving into Iraq to oppose USled
occupation forces have become a major "terrorist" problem. But
the US has not provided any evidence that al-Qaida is present in
Iraq.
Syria accused
The United States has accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters
to infiltrate into neighbouring Iraq, a charge that Damascus has
repeatedly denied.
Bremer said the 123 Syrians among the 248 detained foreign fighters,
formed the largest non-Iraqi contingent.
"I think ... the next two countries are Iran and Yemen," he said.
He said he did not know if any of the 19 al-Qaida suspects were
members of the Ansar al-Islam group in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and others in the Bush
administration have previously said the two groups were closely
linked.
Pressure
Aljazeera's correspondent in Baghdad, Jawad al-Umari, says Bremer's
announcement is an attempt to put pressure on the countries he
mentioned, such as Syria and Iran.
"His announcement may also be considered as a call for many countries
to send troops to Iraq, as US forces are facing continuous attacks
there," he added.
The US blames Iraqi supporters of former President Saddam Hussein for
daily attacks on its troops.
But the Bush administration also says foreign Arab fighters are
moving into Iraq, making it a primary front in its so-called War
on Terrorism.
Critics of White House policy on Iraq, however, say the US occupation
itself has provided the reason why foreigners may be going there to
fight.
Part-time soldiers
With other countries rejecting George Bush's plea for help in
controlling Iraq, the US activated 10,000 National Guard troops
for service in Iraq and put 5000 others on alert on Friday.
The 30th Infantry Brigade, from North Carolina, and the 39th Infantry
Brigade, from Arkansas, each with 5000 soldiers, were ordered to
join the active duty force on 1 and 12 October respectively, Reuters
reported.
They will undergo about three months of training before going to Iraq
early next year for 12 months.
The Army also put the 5000-member 81st National Guard Brigade from
Washington state on notice for active duty in Iraq.
The part-time soldiers from North Carolina and Arkansas had been
alerted earlier about the likelihood of duty in Iraq, where the
United States already has 130,000 troops.
There are two multinational divisions in Iraq, each led by Britain
and Poland, and the US has been calling for other countries to help
form a third multinational division.
Aljazeera + Agencies
Saturday 27 September 2003 8:04 AM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/GlobalNews/
US+claims+19+al-Qaida+detainees+in+Iraq.htm
U.S. Troops Kill 4 Iraqis, Hold 248 "Foreign" Fighters
Additional Reporting By Subhy Haddad Hadad, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD, September 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Few
hours after American occupation forces gunned down four Iraqis,
a rocket-propelled grenade was fired early Saturday, September
27, at the landmark Rashid Hotel in central Baghdad, housing
many U.S. occupation officials.
The four Iraqi civilians, including two women, were killed when U.S.
troops opened fire on cars at the entrance to the hotspot town of
Fallujah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
An AFP correspondent at Fallujah Hospital said eight other Iraqis
were wounded, four seriously, after the incident at 10:45 pm (GMT
1845) outside the town.
Rafeh Issawi, a doctor at the hospital, said four people were
pronounced dead from gunshot wounds and their bodies taken away
by relatives.
The dead were identified as Biajia al-Jumaili, 65, her daughter
Amal, 40, her son-in-law Zamel, 45, and Khalil Jadduh al-Jumaili,
40.
Witnesses said that local mosques broadcast a call for blood,
drawing some 2,000 people to Fallujah Hospital, chanting:
"America is the enemy of God."
But the U.S. army argued Saturday that its troops shot dead only
two Iraqis and wounded four others.
"An Iraqi vehicle ran a checkpoint in Fallujah. Soldiers from the
82nd Airborne Division opened fire. They killed two and wounded
four," an American military spokesman told AFP. He gave no further
details.
RPG Attack
Meanwhile, an RPG attack targeted early on Saturday Rashid Hotel in
downtown Baghdad which is housing many U.S. occupation officials.
A U.S. military spokesman said the RPG was fired about 6:40 am
(0240 GMT) in the first such coordinated attack on the facility
since Baghdad fell to invading U.S.-led forces in April.
"There was an RPG attack against the Rashid Hotel," said a U.S.
spokesman, who asked not to be named.
An occupation official said the rocket caused superficial damage to
the 14-story building, which is under tight security and ringed with
sand bags and barbed wire, adding that no casualties were reported.
"This is the first coordinated, intentional, targeted attack against
the Rashid Hotel," said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kevin
Gainer. Other minor incidents occurred there but no details were
available.
The attack came two days after a small bomb at a hotel housing
the Baghdad offices of the U.S. television network NBC killed a
maintenance man in the first such attack on foreign journalists
in the occupied country.
The Rashid Hotel, built in 1983, used to house most of the foreign
press, diplomats and many visiting Western businessmen before U.S.-
led forces invaded the country in March.
A mosaic of former U.S. president George Bush, who led the campaign
that chased Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in 1991, used to adorn the
floor at the entrance, bearing the legend "The Criminal."
But since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April, the picture is
gone and the hotel houses officials of the occupying forces.
It stands next to the Baghdad convention center, where the military
press offices are located.
On the other hand, the airport of Mosul some 420 kms to the north of
Baghdad, came under mortar attack launched by the Iraqi resistance
early on Saturday, eyewitnesses told IOL by telephone.
They said the 3-pronged mortar attack that took place at 05:15
am (01.15 GMT) caused serious damage to the airport premises
and destroyed at least 7 vehicles belonging to the U.S. forces
stationed in the airport.
The eyewitnesses said the mortar attack left an unspecified number
of U.S. soldiers wounded, but gave no further details.
Also on Saturday, the Iraqi Al-Sabah newspaper revealed that 35
Iraqi civilians were killed last week when three ammunition depots
had exploded at No'maniya town, some 130 km south of Baghdad.
It said that the explosion was caused by a spark ignited by torches
used by Iraqis, who were to steal the ammunition and a number of
missiles stored in the said depots.
A number of ammunition depots at No'maniya were bombarded during
the U.S.-British war against Iraq, but other depots remained intact
and free-for-all on an area stretching to 2,000 hectares of land.
248 Foreign Fighters
On Friday, U.S. overseer in Iraq Paul Bremer said his forces were
currently holding 248 foreign fighters, including 19 alleged members
of Al-Qaeda, claiming that "about half of the foreigners in custody
are Syrians."
"I think the next two countries are Iran and Yemen," he told a
Pentagon press conference, adding he "may be wrong" on the figures.
But on the number of Al-Qaeda detainees, Bremer said "it's 19, to
be precise," stopping short of specifying their nationalities.
Bremer said the foreign fighters who allegedly infiltrated Iraq
since the end of the war fell into two broad categories.
One was Ansar-al-Islam, an "Al-Qaeda oriented group that has
reconstituted and re-infiltrated after the war and has now got
probably several hundred members in Iraq," he claimed.
The other, he argued, included "foreign terrorists who are
infiltrating in largely through the Syrian border."
Some of them "may also be Al-Qaeda," while some "may just be
terrorists for hire. We're not entirely sure," claimed Bremer.
More Troops
In another development, the Pentagon announced Friday that it
mobilized two U.S. Army National Guard brigades for deployment to
Iraq and put a third on standby as U.S. calls for international
troop contributions go unheeded.
The 30th Infantry Brigade from North Carolina and the 39th Infantry
Brigade from Arkansas -- 10,000 soldiers in total -- will mobilize
October 1 and October 12, respectively, the Department of Defense
said in a statement.
"These units can expect to be in the Iraqi theater for up to
12 months. The total length of mobilization is up to 18 months
to allow time for equipping, training, mobilizing, leave and
demobilizing activities," it added.
The two brigades were notified in July that they could be tapped
for service as part of a major force rotation plan to ease pressure
on U.S. soldiers already deployed in Iraq.
At the time the Pentagon said the rotation would not affect the
total number of U.S. troops serving in Iraq.
Also on Friday, the Pentagon alerted another 5,000 soldiers -- the
81st Army National Guard Infantry Brigade from the western US state
of Washington -- that they may be next.
U.S. defense officials had given numerous indications over the past
few days that the U.S. could be forced to deploy additional troops
of its own to Iraq if no other countries agreed to aid the U.S.-led
occupation.
U.S. President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State Colin
Powell held bilateral meetings with leaders of several countries
on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York
in the hopes of convincing them to contribute troops to Iraq.
Several countries -- in particular Turkey, South Korea, India and
Pakistan -- have been asked to commit forces, but have so far not
agreed to do so.
Nearly 160,000 foreign soldiers are present in Iraq, including
140,000 Americans and 10,600 British.
Britain controls the southern part of the country, while Poland
directs a division of 9,000 soldiers in the center-south. The
U.S. troops are deployed in the center and the north of Iraq.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-09/27/article01.shtml
US troops kill more Iraqis in Fallujah
US troops have once again opened fire in the Iraqi town of Fallujah,
killing at least four Iraqis and wounding several others.
Locals said the US soldiers opened fire on cars at the entrance to
the town that has been the hotbed of Iraqi resistance against the
occupation.
A correspondent of the French news agency AFP reported seeing eight
wounded Iraqis being taken to hospital.
Locals said at least 11 civilians were wounded, including four
seriously.
The US military said it had no information on the incident.
But witnesses said that US soldiers opened fired about 10.45 pm
(18:45 GMT) on cars at the eastern entrance to Fallujah, some
50km west of capital Baghdad.
US forces barred the route and allowed only ambulances onto the
site.
Rafeh Issawi, a doctor at the hospital where the wounded were taken,
said four people were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds.
Witnesses earlier reported a man, woman and a child in extremely
serious condition. It was not known if they were among the victims
who died.
Hostile population
The incident fuelled anger among the local population, already
hostile to the occupying forces.
Local mosques broadcast calls for blood donations, drawing some
2,000 people to Fallujah Hospital, where they chanted anti-US
slogans such as "America is the enemy of God."
Under intermittent attacks in and around the town, edgy US soldiers
have opened fired in Fallujah at the slightest of provocations in
previous weeks.
The worst incident to date was when trigger-happy US soldiers gunned
down nearly a dozen Iraqi security men on Friday 12 September.
Agencies
Friday 26 September 2003 9:38 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
US+troops+kill+more+Iraqis+in+Fallujah.htm
Iraq Attacks Kill U.S. Soldier, 8 Iraqis, U.N. Cuts Staff
BAGHDAD, September 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - In a clear
sign of the deteriorating security situation in occupied Iraq, 3
different attacks on Thursday, September 25, night left one U.S.
soldier killed and two wounded in Kirkuk, 8 Iraqi civilians killed
and 18 wounded in Baqubah and at least 10 Iraqis wounded in Baghdad
as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered more staff cutbacks in
Iraq.
'Kirkuk'
One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded Thursday evening in
a rocket attack on a military convoy in the northern oil center
of Kirkuk, the U.S. military said Friday, September 26, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A military spokeswoman said the dead soldier was from the 1-73rd
Airborne Brigade and was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade
(RPG) which was fired at the convoy near Kirkuk, 255 kilometers
(153 miles) north of the capital.
She said the attack occurred about 11:00 pm (1900 GMT) Thursday.
Another U.S. soldier from the 4th Infantry Division died and one
more was injured in a fire in an abandoned building near Tikrit,
175 kilometers (105 miles) north of Baghdad, she said.
It was not known whether the fire, which ignited about 7:15 pm
(1515 GMT), was caused by hostile action.
U.S. troops have been attacked almost daily since an end to major
combat operations was declared on May 1.
'Baqubah'
The U.S. military also confirmed that eight Iraqi civilians were
killed and 18 wounded Thursday night when a mortar bomb fell
on a crowded square in Baqubah, northeast of Baghdad, AFP said.
It said soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division rendered first
aid and evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital. There were
no occupation forces casualties.
"Eight civilians were killed and 18 wounded when a mortar round hit
the al-Burtuqala market at approximately 9:08 pm (1708 GMT)," a U.S.
military spokeswoman told AFP.
The bomb fell on the al-Burtuqala square, a teeming area filled
with shops and cafes in the center of Baqubah, 70 kilometers (40
miles) from the capital.
U.S. troops around Baqubah have come under frequent mortar attack,
particularly near the airport, four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the
town that houses an American command post for the region.
Police Lieutenant Abbas Khodeir said authorities did not know who
had fired the mortar. He had earlier reported seven Iraqi civilians
were killed and 13 wounded.
'Baghdad'
In Baghdad, mortar fire which targeted a U.S. military position in
the capital wounded at least 10 Iraqis late Thursday, Iraqi police
said.
"At least 10 Iraqis were injured in a mortar attack on a U.S. army
position which missed its target and hit houses in the Al-Rissalah
district", a police officer told AFP Friday.
He said the casualties had been taken to Al-Yarmuk hospital.
U.N. Cutting Staff
Meanwhile, the United Nations ordered more staff out of Iraq on
Thursday, cutting their number to a fraction of a month ago after
two deadly suicide attacks on its Baghdad offices.
Annan ordered another pullback of the U.N.'s international staff,
sending them to neighboring Jordan in the face of the escalating
bloodshed.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said it was not a total "evacuation"
but did not say how many would stay. Thousands of Iraqi staff
will continue working.
"The security situation in the country remains under constant
review," Eckhard said.
"Today, there remain 42 in Baghdad and 44 in the north of the
country, and those numbers can be expected to shrink over the
next few days."
There were around 650 international personnel in Iraq before an
August 19 suicide attack killed 22 people, including Annan's top
envoy to Baghdad. A second bombing Monday, September 22, killed
an Iraqi security guard.
The White House said it wanted the world body to "continue to play
a vital role" in Iraq.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-09/26/article01.shtml
Anti-U.S. Camp On Iraq Is Dead: Russian Media
MOSCOW, September 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As the
Russian media said Friday, September 26, that the anti-Iraq-war
camp between France, Germany and Russia is dead, in response to
President Vladimir Putin's speech at the U.N. General Assembly,
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington aims to
have a new Iraqi constitution in place within six months and a
new government some time next year.
Putin's address in New York Thursday, September 25, in which he
pointedly refrained from direct criticism of the U.S.-led war
on Iraq, "has shown that the troika of opponents to the war in
Iraq is definitively in ruins," the liberal daily Gazeta wrote,
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Putin "avoided commenting on American actions in Iraq," the
paper noted, adding that his former allies in Berlin and Paris
had failed to convince him to take a "more demanding stand."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has also adopted a "more
moderate tone and shown a warmer approach" in his talks with
U.S. President George W. Bush, it said, noting that French
President Jacques Chirac remains "the only intransigent party."
For the business daily Kommersant, the meetings in New York mark
"important changes in U.S. relations with its main opponents over
Iraq."
Moscow, the paper commented in an editorial, has always been at
pains not to endanger its good relations with the United States,
and Washington "has made it clear that the differences (over
Iraq) are a thing of the past."
Henceforth "there is only France remaining in opposition to the
United States," it said.
The other main business daily, Vedomosti, highlighted the very
"diplomatic" stance taken by Putin, noting that he had backed
"neither Bush nor Chirac" while at the same time avoiding giving
offence to either.
Putin's U.N. address argued for a strong United Nations role
in Iraq, in line with European demands, while steering clear
of demands - voiced most strongly by France - that the U.S.-
led occupation forces set a date for handing over power.
Powell's "Hopeful Remarks"
Powell, whose country has drawn further fire from leading war
opponents for failing to set a timetable for transferring power
in Iraq, said Washington intended to set a six-month deadline
for an Iraqi constitution with a view to elections in 2004,
according to AFP Friday.
"We would like to put a deadline on them," Powell told the
New York Times. "They've got six months. It'll be a difficult
deadline to meet, but we've got to get them going."
He raised the possibility that the Iraqis themselves could
soon set a timetable, adding that the U.S. government has
asked Iraqi leaders to estimate how long it would take them
to write a constitution and conduct elections.
Powell said the constitution would spell out whether Iraq should
be governed by a presidential or parliamentary system and clear
the way for elections and the installation of a new government in
2004.
Not until then, Powell stressed, would the United States transfer
authority from the U.S.-led occupation to Iraq itself.
Powell's comments followed U.S. contacts this week with fellow
U.N. Security Council members on a U.S.-sponsored draft resolution
to muster international help, both financial and military, to
stabilize and rebuild Iraq.
Powell said it was unlikely that the new U.N. resolution on Iraq
sought by the United States would include the idea of a timetable,
which is being negotiated.
However, it could include such general principles as the drafting
of a constitution, elections and the installation of a new
leadership, he said.
The United States would consult with Britain and other close allies
to redraft the U.S. resolution, adding that a new draft would be
"shopped" to council members. He expressed confidence the resolution
would be approved.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-09/26/article02.shtml
Eight dead in Iraq mortar attack
Eight Iraqi civilians were killed and 13 were wounded overnight
Thursday when a mortar fell on a crowded square in Baqubah,
northeast of Baghdad, the US military has said.
The mortar attack came at the end of a bloody day that saw the death
of a US-backed Iraqi Governing Council leader, a bombing at a Baghdad
hotel and an attack on US soldiers.
Concern over security led the United Nations to announce it was
scaling back its international staff, dealing a fresh blow to
US claims the situation was under control in Iraq. UN offices in
Baghdad have twice come under attack.
Police Lieutenant Abbas Khodeir said the mortar hit about 9.10pm
(1710 GMT) in the town nearly 70km from the capital, but could
not say who fired it.
Officials of Baqubah's general hospital said they treated seven
wounded in the blast, including a 12-year-old boy.
Six other wounded people were taken to the Diyala hospital.
Eight soldiers were wounded, three seriously, when their convoy
came under attack in the northern city of Mosul.
A Somali security guard was killed at a Baghdad hotel when a bomb,
left on the pavement beside it, shattered windows and sent debris
flying.
The hotel housed journalists from US television network NBC. The
network said it would continue covering events in Iraq.
UN pulls staff out
The United Nations said it was withdrawing 19 of its 105
international staff in Iraq due to concerns over security.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard called the shift of the staffers to nearby
Amman, Jordan, "a temporary redeployment of international staff in
Iraq".
He said 42 international staff remained for now in Baghdad and 44
in northern Iraq, down from 105, and "these numbers can be expected
to shrink further over the next few days."
"This is not an evacuation, just a further downsizing, and the
security situation in the country remains under constant review,"
Eckhard told reporters.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agonised over staff security
since a 19 August bomb attack on UN Baghdad headquarters killed
22 people, including head of mission Sergio Vieira de Mello.
A second bombing on the compound on Monday killed an Iraqi policemen
and wounded 19 others including local UN workers.
Before the 19 August bombing, about 600 international staff worked
in Iraq, helped by around 4000 Iraqi employees.
UN's vital role - Washington
The White House said it still wanted the United Nations to play a
vital role in Iraq despite the staff withdrawals.
"We certainly understand their concerns and understand their reasons
for pursuing a reduction, but they have a vital role to play and we
want them to continue to play that vital role," White House spokesman
Scott McClellan said.
Thursday's attacks occurred ahead of a report expected to lay
open US President George Bush to further criticism over his main
justification for launching a pre-emptive war without the UN's
blessing and over the objections of traditional allies, France
and Germany, and of Russia.
As Washington reaches out to the United Nations for help to find
countries willing to join its efforts to stabilise and rebuild
Iraq, a senior American official said the eagerly awaited US
report was expected to say there was no proof Iraq had chemical
or biological weapons.
Such a report would provide powerful ammunition for the rising
number of critics to attack Bush and his most forthright ally,
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, over their decision to invade
Iraq on the premise that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction posed an imminent threat.
US forces have been searching unsuccessfully for chemical,
biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq for more than five
months.
A senior official said Washington hoped Iraq's former defence
minister, who was given effective immunity from prosecution
when he surrendered to US forces last week, may be able to help
track down the weapons.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that there was
"some convergence of views" among the members of the UN Security
Council on a new resolution for Iraq.
"I am pleased and I think my colleagues in the P5 are pleased
that we're seeing some convergence of views with respect to
the resolution," Powell said after the foreign ministers of
the permanent five Security Council members met over a lunch
at the United Nations headquarters.
Transatlantic split still open
France and Germany want a swifter handover of power to Iraqis as
a condition for supporting Washington's efforts. The United States
says it would be rash to hurry the process.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Russian President
Vladimir Putin avoided the Iraqi dispute, focusing on the need
for tougher action to fight acts of "terrorism", whether they
are in Baghdad or Russia's rebel Chechnya.
Some Governing Council members have also pressed for a quick return
to Iraqi self-rule. Members of Iraq's delegation at the United
Nations denied any rift with the United States, but said they
hoped a new constitution could be ready by May, paving the way for
democratic elections and self-government.
Agencies
Thursday 25 September 2003 7:44 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
Bloody+day+in+Iraq+as+UN+pulls+out.htm
UN support could boost Iraq funding
International agreement on Iraq would encourage donors to pledge
more money for reconstruction of the war-ravaged country at a
conference in Spain in October, United Nations and Iraqi officials
said in Dubai.
The US, which has rejected rapidly handing Iraq back to the Iraqis
under a UN timetable, is seeking backing from the international
body to enlist help and ease the strain on US-led occupation forces.
"It will help some countries which still have some doubts about
their own position," an unidentified UN official told Reuters on
the sidelines of a donor discussion.
"A pat on the back from the UN is always very useful," he added.
US plea
A UN-sponsored pledging conference is due to take place in Madrid
on 23-24 October.
Faced with mounting casualties and a sky-rocketing bill in
Iraq, the US wants the 15-member Security Council to authorise
a multinational force so that other countries can help share
the reconstruction costs.
Still, the illegality of the US-led invasion has meant that
France, Germany, Russia amongst others have demanded America
should implement a timetable for restoring Iraqi sovereignty.
They have also insisted on a larger role for the UN.
US President George Bush urged other nations to share the burden
of rebuilding Iraq at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and
rejected a speedy transfer of power to Iraqis.
Cash
"In New York there is an intensive discussion about a new resolution
and I hope it comes with positive results," Iraqi Planning Minister
Mahdi Hafiz also said a new UN resolution would push donors to
produce more cash, according to Reuters.
The US government has estimated that the rebuilding bill could cost
as much as $75 billion.
Agencies
Thursday 25 September 2003 3:33 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/UNIraq.htm
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