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USA ziehen 400 Waffensucher ab
08.01.2004
Wie die New York Times am Donnerstag berichtete, haben die USA
ein 400 Mitglieder umfassendes Team, das den Irak nach Massenvernichtungswaffen
durchsuchen sollte, abgezogen.
Dies kann als klares Zeichen gewertet werden, daß die USA die
Hoffnung, Beweise für die Existenz von Massenvernichtungswaffen
im Irak zu finden, endgültig aufgegeben haben. Die durch die
USA vorgebrachte Anschuldigung, daß der Irak im Besitz von chemischen
und biologischen Waffen sei und an der Entwicklung von
Atomwaffen arbeitete war nach der ursprünglichen US-Darstellung
der Hauptgrund für den Krieg gegen den Irak.
Erst am Mittwoch hatte die Washington Post einen Artikel mit
dem Titel "Iraks Arsenal war nur auf dem Papier" veröffentlicht.
In dem Artikel wird detailliert dargelegt, daß der Irak seit 1991
nicht mehr im Besitz von Massenvernichtungswaffen war und auch
kein Programm zu ihrer Herstellung oder Entwicklung existierte,
ebensowenig, wie ein Programm zur Entwicklung von Mittel- oder
Langstreckenraketen.
In Interviews bestehen US-Stellen zwar nach wie vor darauf, daß
die Suche nach Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak weitergehen müsse
und daß noch immer Waffen gefunden werden könnten, tatsächlich
spricht der Abzug eines Teams von 400 Spezialisten hier aber eine
andere Sprache.
Die Tatsache, daß US-Stellen die Aufgabe der "Joint Captured
Materiel Exploitation Group" als "erledigt" bezeichnen, da
sie "alles eingesammelt haben, was es wert war eingesammelt zu
werden" unterstreicht dies noch. Nicht nur, daß dies besagt,
daß nach Ansicht der USA alle Orte im Irak untersucht worden
sind, offenbar hält man es auch nicht für sinnvoll, die 400
Mitglieder des Teams mit anderen Aufgaben im Rahmen der Suche
zu betrauen.
Darüber hinaus wird mittlerweile ein großer Teil der Mitglieder
der "Iraqi Survey Group", die die Suche im Irak durchführen soll,
dazu eingesetzt, den Widerstand im Irak zu bekämpfen, sagte ein
hochrangiger Beamter des US-Verteidigungsministeriums.
http://www.freace.de/artikel/200401/mvw080104.html
Verteidigung
Arabische Anwälte setzen sich für Saddam ein
Das Gezerre um Saddams Verteidigung geht los. Eine Gruppe arabischer
Rechtsanwälte bereiten sich auf die Verteidigung Saddam Husseins
vor. Nach einem Treffen in Kairo forderten sie, die USA sollen den
Aufenthaltsort des irakischen Ex-Präsidenten preisgeben und dem
Internationalen Roten Kreuz Zugang zu ihm gewähren.
Hamburg - Die Vereinigung arabischer Anwälte hatte Rechtsexperten
aus Ägypten, Libanon und Jordanien für den 4. Januar nach Kairo
eingeladen, berichtet die Online-Redaktion des arabischen TV-Senders
al-Dschasira. Die Anwälte einigten sich darauf: Der irakische ExDiktator
müsse von den Amerikanern als Kriegsgefangener behandelt
werden. Sie forderten auch, Saddams Aufenthaltsort müsse bekannt
gegeben werden. Um sicher zu stellen, dass er unter angemessenen
Haftbedingungen gefangen gehalten werde, müsse dem Internationalen
Roten Kreuz Zugang zu Saddam gewährt werden.
Nach Angaben des Online-Dienstes waren sich die Anwälte auch darin
einig, dass Saddam noch immer der verfassungsgemäße Präsident des
Irak sei. Die USA hielten ihn somit rechtswidrig fest. Die Vereinigung
beschuldigten die Bush-Regierung ferner, mit der Besatzung
im Irak internationales Recht zu brechen. Auch sei die Festnahme
irakischer Bürger ohne internationalen Haftbefehl illegal.
Hasan Umar, ägyptischer Anwalt für internationales Recht, stuft
Saddams Festnahme laut "al-Dschasira.net" gar als "Kidnapping"
ein.
Mitte Dezember hatte der französische Staranwalt Jacques Vergès
mitgeteilt, Saddam verteidigen zu wollen. Der Jurist, der Slobodan
Milosevic, Klaus Barbie und Klaus Croissant zu seinen Mandanten
zählte, war von der Familie des ehemaligen irakischen Außenministers
Tarik Asis darum gebeten worden.
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 09. Januar 2004, 14:20
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,281159,00.html
Freiheit für Palästina!
Freiheit für den Irak!
Demonstration zum Jahrestag des Zweiten Golfkriegs
Samstag, 17. Jänner 2004
Treffpunkt 15.00 Uhr
Wien 1; Universität Wien - Unirampe (Dr. Karl Lueger Ring)
Anschließend Demo zur US-Botschaft.
14, Dezember, 2003
Schluß mit der Besetzung - Freiheit für den Irak!
Am 17. Jänner jährt sich zum dreizehnten Mal der Beginn des US--
Angriffs auf den Irak 1991. Aufgrund des neuerlichen Krieges und
der Besetzung des Iraks durch die USA und ihre Verbündeten sehen
wir diesmal einen doppelten Anlaß, an diesem Jahrestag unseren
Widerstand gegen den permanenten US-Kriegsfeldzug zum Ausdruck zu
bringen. Wir sehen uns als Teil einer breiten Widerstandsbewegung
im Irak und weltweit gegen die kolonialistische Kriegs- und
Besatzungspolitik der USA.
Es kann keinen Frieden für den Irak und die gesamte Region geben,
solange Besetzung und Unterdrückung den Alltag prägen. Unzählige
Beispiele in der Geschichte - vom Warschauer Ghetto und dem
besetzten Balkan im 2. Weltkrieg über Vietnam bis zu Palästina -
- lehren
-
Unterdrückung führt zu Widerstand. "No justice, no peace!"
Wir rufen daher für den 17. Jänner 2004 zu einer Protestaktion gegen
die Besetzung des Iraks auf.
- danach
-
Diskussion zur Lage im Irak
mit Dr. Noori al Moradi, ICP(cadre)
18.00 Uhr
Amerlinghaus, Stiftgasse 8, 1070 Wien
Schluß mit der Besatzung!
Sofortiger Abzug aller US-Streitkräfte und ihrer
Verbündeter aus dem Irak!
Freiheit für den Irak!
Freiheit für Palästina!
http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a9507511/Demonsaktuell.htm
http://www.intifada.at/
Der nächste Krieg kommt bestimmt
07.01.2004
Viele Menschen glauben mittlerweile, daß die USA vor den Präsidentschaftswahlen
im Herbst diesen Jahres einen weiteren Krieg
beginnen werden, um so die Wiederwahl des derzeitigen Präsidenten
George W. Bush zu sichern.
Es gibt allerdings noch einen mindestens ebenso wahrscheinlichen
Grund, der dazu führen könnte, daß die USA in absehbarer Zeit
Krieg gegen ein weiteres Land führen werden.
Angesichts des sinkendes US-Dollars - da gegenüber dem US-Dollar
praktisch alle Währungen seit ungefähr einem Jahr steigen, kann
kaum von einem "steigenden Euro" gesprochen werden - dürfte es nur
eine Frage der Zeit sein, bis sich wieder ein erdölexportierendes
Land entschließt, diese Exporte in Zukunft statt in US-Dollar in
Euro abzuwickeln.
Die abschreckende Wirkung der Eroberung des Iraks durch die USA -
Saddam Hussein hatte den Wechsel vom US-Dollar zum Euro im November
2002, also nur wenige Monate vor Kriegsbeginn, vollzogen - ist zwar
sicherlich nicht zu unterschätzen und wird in den entsprechenden
Ländern sicherlich auch so verstanden, andererseits wächst aber auch
der Druck durch den stetig weiter fallenden US-Dollar immer weiter.
Ein "ungestrafter" Wechsel eines erdölexportierenden Landes hin zum
Euro ist kaum anzunehmen, da dies eine Signalwirkung für weitere
Länder hätte. Dies könnte sehr schnell zu einem vollständigen Umschwenken
des internationalen Rohölgeschäfts hin zum Euro führen.
Damit würde der US-Dollar seine Vorherrschaft auf dem Währungsmarkt
verlieren, was zu einer weiteren, deutlichen Abwertung führen würde.
Als Folge würde die amerikanische Wirtschaft als auch der Staat
selbst in eine äußerst schwere Krise gestürzt werden.
Mit Venezuela, Rußland, Indonesien und Iran denken vier weitere Ölexportl
änder schon seit längerem mehr oder weniger intensiv über einen
Wechsel zum Euro nach. http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BLA310A.html
Nordkorea hat diesen bereits schon vollzogen, was dank mangelnder
Ölvorkommen aber nur zu einem Spitzenplatz auf der Liste der
"Schurkenstaaten" geführt hat.
Möglicherweise wollten die Länder ursprünglich die Präsidentschaftswahlen
in den USA abwarten, in der Hoffnung, daß Bush nicht wiedergew
ählt wird. Sollte sich der Kursverlauf der letzten Wochen allerdings
weiter fortsetzen - und wenig Anzeichen sprechen dagegen - so
dürfte die Schmerzgrenze schon früher erreicht werden.
http://www.freace.de/artikel/200401/euro070104.html
Hamburg: Fehlinformationen der CIA
08.01.2004
Wie der norwegische Fernsehsender TV2 bereits am Dienstag meldete,
http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article170292.ece handelte
es sich bei der amerikanischen Warnung vor Terroranschlägen, die
in Deutschland zu hektischer Betriebsamkeit, vorrangig in Hamburg,
geführt hatte, offenbar um Fehlinformationen.
Quellen innerhalb eines deutschen Geheimdienstes haben dem Sender
gegenüber gesagt, daß sie überzeugt sind, daß die Informationen
der CIA falsch waren und daß sie befürchten, daß ihnen diese ganz
bewußt von der CIA gegeben wurden.
"Wir haben keine Beweise dafür gefunden, daß die Terrorwarnung
gerechtfertigt war, aber wir haben auch keine Beweise dafür gefunden,
daß sie es nicht war", sagte Heino Vahldieck, Leiter des Hamburger
Landesamts für Verfassungsschutz, gegenüber TV2. "Es ist natürlich
möglich, daß es eine Fälschung war, aber das wissen wir bisher nicht
sicher."
Er bezweifelte allerdings, daß dies absichtlich geschehen ist.
"Es ist möglich, daß sie uns falsche Informationen gegeben haben,
aber es ist nicht wahrscheinlich, daß sie dies absichtlich getan
haben", sagte er.
Nach Informationen von TV2 ist der deutsche Geheimdienst hier
allerdings anderer Ansicht.
Gegenüber dem Spiegel distanzierte sich Vahldieck von der TV2-
Meldung, gab aber zu, daß die Richtigkeit der CIA-Warnung für
die Hamburger Behörden nicht überprüfbar war. Seine Aussage
"Einen so konkreten Hinweis bekamen wir noch nie" scheint ihm
allerdings auszureichen.
Kurz nach der "Terrorwarnung", am vergangenen Freitag, war in
Norwegen einer der Gründer der Organisation Ansar al-Islam, Mullah
Krekar, verhaftet worden. Berichten zufolge sollte der Anschlag
in Hamburg von zwei Mitgliedern dieser Organisation verübt werden.
Wie TV2 berichtete, wurde befürchtet, daß Krekar Anweisungen zu
den Anschlägen über das Internet gab.
Das Gerichtsverfahren gegen Krekar und 14 weitere des Terrorismus
beschuldigte Personen in Jordanien hat hingegen ein überraschende
Wende genommen, berichtete TV2 am Donnerstag unter Berufung auf
einen Artikel der Jordan Times vom Mittwoch.
http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article170910.ece
Ahmad Mahmoud Riyati, auf dessen Zeugenaussage hin Krekar vorgeworfen
wird, an der Planung von Terroranschlägen in Jordanien
beteiligt gewesen zu sein, hat seine Aussage vor Gericht zurückgezogen
und gesagt, diese wäre nur durch Folter durch Amerikaner,
Kurden und Jordanier zustande gekommen. Sieben Mitgefangene
Riyatis sagten vor Gericht als Zeugen aus, daß sie Wunden
an Riyati gesehen haben, die darauf schließen ließen, daß er
gefoltert worden war.
http://www.freace.de/artikel/200401/hamburg080104.html
Nine killed in US chopper crash in Iraq
Nine US soldiers have been killed when their Blackhawk helicopter
went down in Iraq as the military reports a cargo jet carrying 63
passengers and crew has been attacked before making a safe landing.
The chopper came down on 1 Thursday during a "routine" mission near
Falluja, a hotbed of anti-occupation attacks, said a US military
spokesman, giving no details as to the cause of the crash.
But witnesses told our correspondent: "The warplane was hit by a
missile and we rushed to the area to see a trail of smoke billowing
up in the air from the burning chopper."
Two choppers landed by the crash site, while another two hovered
overhead.
In the deadliest single attack on US forces since the Iraq invasion
began in March, 17 soldiers were killed on 15 November when two
Black Hawk helicopters collided above Mosul.
Plane hit
Meanwhile, a US Air Force C-5 cargo plane carrying 63 passengers
and crew was apparently hit by a missile on Thursday as it took
off from Baghdad airport, but landed safely, said a senior US
defense official.
A surface-to-air missile hit the plane but it was able to land,
said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
US helicopters down in Iraq since President George Bush declared
major combat over on 1 May:
- 12 June - Apache shot down in western Iraq, crew unharmed.
US military declines to say if it shot down.
- 25 Oct - Black Hawk downed by a rocket-propelled grenade
near Tikrit. One soldier wounded.
- 2 Nov - Chinook shot down near Falluja. Sixteen US troops
killed and 21 others on board injured.
- 7 Nov - Black Hawk comes down near Tikrit, probably hit by
a rocket-propelled grenade. All six people aboard killed.
- 15 Nov - Two Black Hawks collide under fire in Mosul,
killing 17 soldiers. It remains the bloodiest single incident
for US forces since they invaded Iraq on March 20.
- 9 Dec - Kiowa crashes near Falluja after coming under fire.
Both crew walk away with slight injuries.
- 2 Jan, 2004 - OH-58 observation helicopter shot down in central
Iraq, killing one pilot and injuring another.
- 8 Jan- Black Hawk on medical evacuation mission comes down
near Falluja, killing all eight people aboard.
An investigation was under way with experts sent from Europe, said
the air force's Air Mobility Command.
"Initial reports indicate the incident is the result of hostile
action from the ground but the type of weapon and other details
are unknown," the command said in a statement.
Earlier, the air force said the C-5 declared an inflight emergency
"because of excessive engine vibrations in their number four
engine."
There were no injuries reported among the 11 crewmembers and 52 US
military personnel.
It would be the third time since May 1, when major combat operations
were declared over, that a plane has been hit by a surface-to-air
missile while flying out of Baghdad international airport.
In December an Air Force C-17 cargo and troop transport plane was
hit by a surface-to-air missile after takeoff from Baghdad with a
crew of three and 13 passengers.
And in November, a DHL cargo plane was hit by a shoulder-fired
SA-14 surface-to-air missile as it took off from Baghdad airport.
DHL temporarily suspended flights into Iraq after the incident.
Kirkuk tense
Elsewhere in the country, a Kurd was shot dead by unidentified
attackers and two bombs were defused in the ethnically-tense
northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Thursday, said police.
US occupation troops defused bombs that were placed in front of the
Jumhuriya Bank and the Kirkuk Technical School, said Colonel Khatab
Abd Allah Araf of the city's civil emergency service.
He said five Russian Strella rockets were also found in an office
building in the city.
US military leaders also met with the heads of Arab, Kurd, Turkmen
and Assyrian parties in the city that reflect the city's four main
ethnic groups.
The parties were asked to limit the number of armed security
guards outside their offices to four or five, and not to stage
any demonstrations in Kirkuk without prior approval from the
US military, said a local police official.
Kirkuk, which Kurds want to incorporate into an autonomous Kurdish
region has been hit since the start of the year by deadly unrest
between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen.
Agencies
Thursday 08 January 2004 12:39 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1E3CE71F-D1B3-494AB
0C4-3028B6459EB5.htm
U.S. Helicopter Downed In Iraq, Nine Soldiers Killed
BAGHDAD, January 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A U.S. Black
Hawk helicopter went down in western Baghdad on Thursday, January 8,
killing nine American soldiers aboard in an apparently fresh missile
attack in the violence-scarred country, press reports said.
"The warplane was hit by a missile, and we rushed to the area only
to see a trail of smoke billowing up in the air from the burning
chopper," eyewitnesses told Al-Jazeera television.
The eyewitnesses said they saw at least six bodies doting the scene
in Fallujah city, with no word whether they are all Americans.
Mohammed Ahmed al-Jamali, a farmer who lives close to the crash
site, told Associated Press he heard the whoosh of a rocket, saw
it hit the helicopter in the tail and watched the chopper crash
in flames.
Al-Jamali, 27, said he rushed to the scene but found all aboard
dead.
"I was in the farm, I heard the sound, looked up and I saw the
rocket hit. It hit it in the tail," he elaborated.
Waleed Kurdi, 23-year-old student, told the agency he heard "a loud
explosion and I saw the fire in the air."
He said the aircraft exploded in two before it hit the ground.
U.S. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters that there were
"nine personnel aboard the aircraft_there here were no survivors."
"We are working under the presumption that they are all American
soldiers," the military commander was quoted as saying by Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
AFP earlier quoted an unnamed U.S. military spokesman said earlier
that those who died on the helicopter were "killed in action".
If the deaths are confirmed as U.S. military personnel, the
fatalities will take to 225 the number of U.S. soldiers killed
in combat since an end to major hostilities in Iraq was announced
on May 1, said the AFP.
The attack is a fresh setback for occupation forces, one day after
one American soldier was killed and 34 others injured in a mortar
attack on a U.S. military base also west of Baghdad.
'Emergency Landing'
The U.S. military announced earlier that the plane plunged for
"emergency landing" reasons.
"A UH-60 helicopter had an emergency landing near Fallujah,
there were four crew and four passengers on board, eight killed
in action," a spokesman said.
The Blackhawk was flying a medical evacuation when it crash
landed at 2:22 pm (1122 GMT), the spokesman said.
Smoldering debris littered the crash site in the village of Nuamiya
five kilometers (three miles) southeast of Fallujah, said an AFP
correspondent at the scene.
Witnesses said two helicopters were seen in the skies overhead
when one suddenly plunged from the sky.
Two choppers later landed by the crash site, while another two
hovered overhead.
Falluja has long been a trouble area for occupation forces since
the death of more than 15 people in demonstration against occupation
in April.
On November 2, a Chinook helicopter was shot down near Fallujah,
killing 16 American soldiers and injuring 26.
The military believes a SA-7 shoulder-fired missile slammed into
one of the chopper's rear-mounted engines.
In the last such incident on January 2, resistance fighters shot
down an OH-58 observation helicopter in central Iraq, killing one
pilot and injuring another.
It was the deadliest aircraft incident since November 15 when two
Blackhawks, the main workhorse of U.S. combat troops, collided over
the northern city of Mosul, killing 17 on board.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-01/08/article03.shtml
US releases Iraqi prisoners
Around 80 Iraqi prisoners have been released from prison under a new
US amnesty programme.
Witnesses said two army truckloads were seen leaving Abu Ghraib
prison, west of Baghdad, on Thursday.
Hundreds of Iraqis have been waiting since early in the morning
for the release of friends and relatives they hope are part of
the amnesty.
As the army trucks left, scores of Iraqis jumped into waiting
vehicles to follow the convoy.
US-led occupation forces in Iraq pledged to release around 100
people on Thursday under the programme.
Resistance attacks
The 100 are the first batch of 500 "low-level security threat"
prisoners the US military plans to release in the coming weeks.
The Americans have detained around 9000 Iraqis in the eight months
since overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Many have been rounded up in raids and are suspected of carrying
out resistance attacks against US-led forces.
But hundreds of others were detained merely for being in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
Agencies
Thursday 08 January 2004 2:12 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9EF75E71-0543-4282-
B666-9E0F5D347633.htm
US military 'overstretched'
The US military is overstretched by deployments around the world,
with thousands of soldiers and reservists kept long beyond their
release dates, experts say.
Stressing the potentially dangerous effects on morale, the director
of the Centre for Research on Military Organisation said "there is
no question that the force is stretched too thin".
Speaking from the University of Maryland on Thursday, David Segal
added: "We have stopped treating the reserves as a force in reserve.
Our volunteer army is closer to being broken today than ever before
in its 30-year history."
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US commanders concede that
the 1.4 million-member active duty armed forces, which have been
cut by about a third since the end of the Cold War, are stretched.
Deployments in South Korea and Europe as well as post-2001 wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq are a huge drain on resources.
But Rumsfeld says he has seen no evidence so far in a major ongoing
Pentagon study to support calls from analysts and some Army officials
to boost the service's strength by perhaps 20,000 troops to 500,000.
Recruitment difficulties
Signs of strain are appearing, however. Segal said the National
Guard finished last year around 10,000 below its recruitment
target and he predicted more severe recruitment and retention
problems next year.
To stem losses, the army has started offering re-enlistment bonuses
of up to $10,000 to soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
At the same time, it is preventing soldiers rotating home from
retiring or leaving the service for up to 90 days after returning
to their home bases.
The Army alone has blocked the departure of more than 40,000
soldiers, about 16,000 of them National Guard and reserve members
who were eligible to leave the service this year, the Washington
Post reported this week.
The Pentagon said that 187,746 National Guard and Reserve troops
were mobilized as of 31 December 2003. About 20% of the troops
in Iraq are reservists or Guard members but this proportion is
expected to double next year.
Emotional issue
Their enforced service has created major financial and emotional
difficulties for many.
Last month, a group of angry reservists sent out an e-mail entitled
"Chained in Iraq" complaining that their businesses and careers in
the civilian world were being ruined by their enforced absence.
Karen, 28, an air traffic controller, was supposed to leave the
Navy in December 2001 but her retirement was frozen after the
September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre.
Eventually she signed on for two extra years after being promised
she would be posted to the same base as her husband. Instead, she
wound up in Iraq.
The two years have expired but she recently received notice of
another eight-month deployment there starting next month. After
five years of marriage, Karen, who did not want to be named or
directly quoted, has never lived with her husband.
Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, a non-partisan thinktank,
said: "The fact that the force is stretched so thin creates
conditions that make more people anxious to leave. We're darned
close to this becoming a serious operational issue."
Pentagon response
Rumsfeld said this week the number of troops being prevented from
leaving was relatively small and the military had been able to
retain the numbers of people it needed.
"We've got a number of programmes underway to reduce stress on the
force today. I think that there's been a very positive response to
the way that this is being managed," he said.
Analysts believe some strains are inevitable as the force is
remodelled to make it more flexible and based more on high
tech weapons than boots on the ground.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
added: "We're asking extraordinary things from the force and
their families.
"I think most individuals understand and their families understand
what we're asking them to do. We're asking them a lot. They're
responding magnificently."
Reuters
Thursday 08 January 2004 8:57 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7982BEFC-74A4-49A1-
BBE8-A286C0519DDE.htm
Russia`s Switch into the Euro signals
Decline of US Dollar as a Global Currency
The Global Redlining of America:
Bush Plunges U.S. into Rapid Decline
http://www.blackcommentator.com/ 16 October 2003
www.globalresearch.ca 21 October 2003
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BLA310A.html
The previously unthinkable is now on the table. Russia, the world's
second largest oil exporter, is giving serious consideration to
trading its black gold in euros, a switch that would surely set
dominos in motion among other oil producing nations and, ultimately,
knock the dollar off its global throne.
Americans can thank George Bush and his Pirates for accelerating a
process that might have taken decades to evolve, but which now looms
as a "catastrophe" on the horizon. "There are already a number of
countries within OPEC that would prefer to trade in euros," said
oil analyst and U.S. Council on Foreign Relations member Youssef
Ibrahim, in an interview with the Moscow Times, October 10. "Putin's
putting a big card on the table."
A switch to the euro "is really possible," according to Russian
economist and Putin advisor Yevgeny Gavrilenkov. "Why not? More
than half of Russia's oil trade is with Europe. But there will
be great opposition to this from the United States."
Gayrilenkov can be forgiven his understatement. Russian President
Vladimir Putin dropped his bombshell as if casually stating the
time of day. Is Russia considering a switch from dollar-pricing of
petroleum? "We do not rule out that it is possible. That would be
interesting for our European partners," Putin told reporters at a
joint news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in
the Ural Mountains region of Russia.
Interesting, indeed. Even more important than the huge and
immediate boost that a Russian oil-euro arrangement would provide
to the European Union, the move would signal the definitive end of
America's artificial dollar-domination of the planet, a privileged
status the U.S. has abused as a weapon since the end of World War
II.
As Dr. Sonja Ebron wrote in , February 20, "Given the highly
leveraged and fragile state of our economy, an OPEC switch from
the dollar to the euro would bring a quick and devastating dollar
and Wall Street crash that would make 1929 look like a $50 casino
bet." (See "Why African Americans Should Oppose the War.")
One month before the U.S. invasion, Dr. Ebron warned of the
monstrous blowback that would result:
"War is not the answer. It's a shortsighted desperation play that
is doomed to failure. Our military forces may take but cannot hold
Iraq's oil, as they have failed to tame Afghanistan's land. Far
from staving off disaster, our arrogance may instead compel OPEC
to 'go euro' en masse, taking many oil-consuming nations with them
by force of economics. And a trade war with Europe will lend the
coup de grace to our economy."
The shrinking superpower
The Bush men launched their offensive largely to ensure that oil
would continue to be priced in dollars. American military dominance
of the Middle East and a series of "regime changes" would eliminate
the euro-threat - or so the theory went. An opposite chain of
events has occurred, with the impetus coming, not from OPEC, but
from an increasingly confident and assertive Russia, for whom Shock
and Awe is mere fireworks.
Putin displayed his card to the world - a bargaining chip with the
EU and an implicit threat to the United States - because he could.
The "sole superpower" cannot stop him, but must instead come up with
terms that outweigh the benefits of euro-logic. The Bush Pirate's
quest for a global market subordinate to American fiat has failed.
This shift in the global relationship of forces should have been
expected when Bush declared war against world order. It is the
logical result of, and answer to, the president's 2002 ultimatum,
"either you are with us, or against us." The planet now prepares
to turn on its own axis. Once set in motion, the effects will be
irreversible, no matter which party wins the White House in 2004.
Henry C. K. Liu got it right in his far-sighted April 5 Asia Times
piece, "The War that may end the age of superpower."
"This war has succeeded in pushing Russia, France, Germany and
China closer, in contrast if not in opposition to US interests
worldwide, a significant development with long term implications
that are difficult to assess at presentS.
"This war will end from its own inevitable evolution, even without
anti-war demonstrations. It will not be a happy end. There is yet
no discernible exit strategy for the US. After this war, the world
will have no superpower, albeit the US will remain strong both
economically and militarily."
Saudi Arabia is the number one oil exporter. Having severed its
military alliance with the U.S., the Saudi royal family may be
ready to drop the other shoe. "The Saudi Crown Prince [Abdullah
Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud]'s visit to Russia was of great significance
and the regime is talking about closer cooperation with LUKoil and
other Russian companies," says Council on Foreign Relations oil
analyst Youssef Ibrahim.
No nation is eager to upset the global currency regime. ("We do not
want to hurt prices on the market," President Putin was quick to
add, at his Urals press conference.) The Saudi princes, who value
their dollar-denominated wealth more highly than the teachings of
Wahhabi Islam, are by inclination among the least likely candidates
to lead an OPEC euro-shift. Yet relentless pressures from Ariel
Sharon's Israel, its lobbyists and allies on Capitol Hill, and
from the Likkud group within the Bush administration, have pushed
the Saudis closer to the breakpoint. If Russia goes euro, they
will likely follow - sooner, if there is one more military outrage
against a sovereign Arab state. (In that sense, the fate of the
dollar may be in Sharon's hands.)
Iran, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, would go euro in
an instant, once it saw others headed for the door. Venezuela's
President Hugo Chavez relishes the idea. His nation exports
about as much oil as Iran.
Muslim Indonesia, the oil giant of the Pacific with huge contracts
to supply the Chinese, actively debates the merits of the euro. In
an April 17 report filed by Bloomberg's Tokyo bureau ("Indonesia May
Dump Dollar; Rest of Asia, Too?"), Indonesian Vice President Hamzah
Haz was quoted: "One thing is for sure, the adoption of the euro as
an alternative means of payments could be an effective solution to
speculative dollar-oriented dealings."
Rule by idiots
Iraq - the invasion and resistance - has worked a sea change in
global relations. History is galloping ahead of every scenario
that could have been envisioned before the Bush Pirates set out on
their hegemonic mission. However, the scheming fools at the Project
for a New American Century must be given their due; only the most
monumental stupidity, arrogance and willful ignorance could have
set the reigning superpower on such a calamitous course toward
political isolation, economic instability, and shrinking relevance
to the designs of mankind.
Saddam Hussein began trading Iraqi oil in euros in November 2000.
"This was another reason [why the U.S. attacked]," said analyst
Ibrahim in his Moscow Times interview. "There is a great political
dimension to this. Slowly more power and muscle is moving from the
United States to the EU, and that's mainly because of what happened
in Iraq."
The Bush men also saw the Iraq invasion as a world-remaking,
catalytic event. They destroyed Iraq's infrastructure, so that
corporate cronies could reap billions "reconstructing" the
nation along the Houston model, as a base for further penetration
of the Middle East and Central Asia. The unraveling came quickly.
Now, even the handpicked, non-governing Iraqi Governing Council
looks forward to voiding the criminally exorbitant reconstruction
contracts imposed by the occupation authorities. George Bush
"has signed many papers," said Ammar Abdul Aziz, son of prominent
Shi'ite Council member Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. "But one day the
occupiers will leave. The Iraqi people will not allow any of
these contracts." (See "A Shi'ite Warning to America," Asia Times,
October 11.)
Having painfully experienced America's way of doing business, a
sovereign Iraq could be expected to join the euro-rush.
Renowned political journalist and author Tariq Ali, speaking on
Democracy Now! October 10, peers through the Iraqi end of the
tunnel: "The big thing will happen when the Shi'ite groups in the
south of Iraq decide enough is enough and join the resistance and,
when they do, it really will be the beginning of the end. There's
no way they can carry on."
The inevitable collapse of the U.S. occupation and the looming
shift to the euro will dictate the broad outlines of world affairs
in the near term, and dramatically impact conditions of life in
the United States.
Journalist Sydney Schanberg, writing in the current issue of the
the Village Voice, wonders what happened to the Pentagon's sevennation,
five-year Middle East-North Africa war campaign - the plan
Wesley Clark learned of in November, 2001, but didn't get around
to telling the public about until publication of his latest book,
last month. (See , "Wesley Clark: Dishonest to the Core, and
Probably Nuts," October 9.) "How far has the White House taken
this plan?" asks Schanberg. "And how long can the president keep
the nation in the dark, emerging from his White House cocoon
only to speak to us in slogans and the sterile language of pep
rallies?"
The Project for a New American Century folks are still in charge,
Condoleezza Rice's new duties, notwithstanding. It is their plan
that has plunged the U.S. into premature and precipitous decline,
and presents a catastrophic threat to the dollar.
On April 3, before the taking of Baghdad, we wrote of the predictable
consequences of the Iraq invasion:
In self-defense, the world will be forced to reorganize itself,
to create new mechanisms of trade and security in place of the
institutions that the Bush men are deliberately savaging. The
Americans will be left out of these arrangements..
A kind of international redlining will increasingly make itself
felt, but not seen. The Bush men believe they are willing into
existence a New American Century, while in reality they are
creating an America-phobic planet in which the U.S. has earned an
invisible but powerfully consequential non-favored nation status.
Having invented the concept of globalism, the United States will
be consigned to pariah status - and shrink, until it learns to
live by human norms and scales.
Think of an oil-producer switch to the euro as the redlining of
America.
+ Copyright Black Commentator 2003 For fair use only/ pour
usage équitable seulement .
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BLA310A.html
«CIA misinformed about Ansar»
Av Geir Selvik , Carin Pettersson og Ole Dag Kvamme 06.01.04 20:52,
ny 08.01.04 08:43
Sources at the German intelligence bureau claim that CIA misinformed
them about the alleged planned terror action in Hamburg December 30.
Ansar al-Islam was accused of being behind the attempt.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen by German
intelligence, they are convinced that the CIA information
is wrong, and they allegedly fear that American authorities
planted the information.
German police have started an investigation after the terror alarm
at the hospital in Hamburg December 30. So far, no evidence has
been located that indicates that the terror alarm was genuine.
Also German police who were tipped off by the CIA, doubt that the
terror alarm was real.
Might be fake
«We have not found any proof that the terror alarm was genuine,
but we haven't found any evidence that states it was not,» said
Vahldiecker, officer at Landesamt fûr Varfassungsschutz in Hamburg
to TV 2 Nettavisen. «It is of course possible that it was fake,
but we do not know that for certain yet.»
Vahldiecker confirms that they received information regarding the
planned terror attack from American sources, but he said that he
did not believe they provided fake information on purpose, if this
might be the case.
«It is possible that they gave us the wrong information, but it is
not likely that they did it on purpose,» Vahldiecker said.
However, that notion is not supported by German intelligence.
According to our sources, they are surprised both by the way
the case has been handled and by the large leaks to the press.
Lots of mistakes
Only a couple of hours after CIA had given the tip to German police,
the case was reported on Der Speigel Online. Ansar al-Islam was
named as the most likely organization behind the terror attempt.
In addition, sources at German intelligence points out that
there are several factual mistakes in the terror tip given
to Verfassungsschutz in Hamburg.
According to information given by Norwegian intelligence, Norwegian
authorities were also informed of the terror alarm in Hamburg due
to Mullah Krakars former position as leader of Ansar al-Islam, in
addition to Mullah Krekars activity on the Internet.
¥kokrim informed
Erling Grimstad, assistant director at ¥kokrim, the central unit
for investigations of economic and environmental crime, stated
to the Norwegian daily Aftenposten that he did not want to confirm
or disprove that Norwegian authorities were contacted in connection
with the terror alarm.
Grimstad confirms that ¥kokrim is working with several foreign
police authorities, but he does not wish to name what nations.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen, the information
regarding the terror alarm in Hamburg was one of the main reasons
why Mullah Krekar was arrested Friday January 3. The police
allegedly feared that Mullah Krekar gave orders of suicide missions
over the Internet.
Not surprised
«I'm not surprised by this information,» said Brynjar Meling.
Mullah Krekar's lawyer, to TV 2 Nettavisen. «I have all along
claimed that the terror alarm in Hamburg was the trigger for
¥kokrim's arrest of Krekar . What other reason would it be for
¥kokrim to make the arrest at this time after such a long time
since the charge was filed October 30.»
He stated that he wished to present the information provided TV 2
Nettavisen in court.
«This is important for us,» Mekling stated. «This indicates the
type game Norwegian authorities have been exposed to in this case.»
Denne artikkelen er skrevet ut fra:
http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article170292.ece
Witness states torture made him implicate Krekar
Av Geir Selvik, Kjetil Mæland og Carin Pettersson 08.01.04 11:29,
ny 08.01.04 13:04
The witness, who named Mullah Krekar in the on-going trial against
the Mullah in Jordan, claims that he was tortured by Americans
and Kurds to confess. Ahmad Mahmoud Riyati has now retracted his
confession.
The trial against Mullah Krekar and 14 other alleged terrorists in
Jordan has just taken a sharp, unexpected turn.
Jordan demanded Mullah Krekar extradited because of this case when
he was first arrested in Amsterdam, September 12, 2002, however,
now new questions regarding the credibility of the demand has
surfaced.
In the on-going case at the state security court in Jordan, Mullah
Krekar and 14 others alleged members of the groups Ansar al-Islam
and al-Qaeda are charged for planning an attack against tourists
and Jordanian security forces.
Retracted his confession
Riyati claims he was tortured by the Americans, Kurds and Jordanians
in order to confess and implicate the Mullah. Krekar was pulled into
the case due to Riyati's confession.
Jordan Times published a story Wednesday stating that Riyati had
withdrawn his confession. Furthermore, Riyati claims that he was
tortured by Americans, Kurds and Jordanians. Seven persons, who
allegedly were jailed with Riyati, have stated that they saw wounds
on Riyati's body that would indicate that he had been subjected
to torture. According to Jordan Times, this new information will
be treated in court during the next couple of weeks.
Norway refuses
Norwegian authorities have already refused to extradite Mullah
Krekar to Jordan.
Initially, Jordan demanded that Mullah Krekar was extradited from
the Netherlands based on the current terror charge, but later
Jordanian authorities changed the reason to narcotics charges.
Questionable charges
TV 2 Nettavisen exposed earlier that the narcotics charge was
fake. The charge was fabricated by the prosecutor and Major
General Mamoun Khassawneh, head of the state security court,
allegedly in order to use the UN convention in order to get
Mullah Krekar extradited.
Apparently the recent findings put a question mark at the current
terror charge, and it may just be of the quality same as the
former narcotics charge.
According to Amnesty International, several people have "confessed"
in the Jordanian state security court after torture.
American pressure
The two writers Newsweek writers, Michael Isikoff and Mark
Hosenball, claim in the latest issue of the weekly magazine
that the US played a definite part in the last arrest of
Mullah Krekar in Oslo, Norway.
According to Newsweek, sources in the Bush administration have
confirmed that American authorities assisted Norwegian police
to collect evidence which was used in the last arrest of Mullah
Krekar.
TV 2 Nettavisen has previously revealed that the US have for a
long time been putting pressure on Norwegian authorities in order
to get Mullah Krekar behind bars and have several times expressed
their discontent with the way Norway is handling the case. The
American Attorney General John Ashcroft was allegedly one of the
representatives sent to Norway to express the Bush administrations
view of the situation.
Denne artikkelen er skrevet ut fra:
http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article170910.ece
Arab lawyers plan Saddam defence
by Ahmed Janabi
A group of Arab lawyers are planning to defend Saddam Hussein when
the former Iraqi president stands trail for alleged crimes committed
in office.
The Union of Arab Lawyers invited legal experts from Egypt, Lebanon,
and Jordan to Cairo on 4 January to discuss forming a defence
committee.
At the end of the meeting, they concluded that Saddam should be
treated as prisoner of war, and his whereabouts must be disclosed.
They demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross be
allowed to visit him to ensure proper imprisonment conditions.
And they agreed that as he is still the constitutional president of
Iraq, the US cannot legitimately incarcerate him.
Breaching international law
The lawyers also accused the US of breaching international law by
occupying Iraq and arresting Iraqi citizens without a warrant from
an international body.
Hasan Umar, the Egyptian international law counsel told
Aljazeera.net that according to international law, US forces
had kidnapped the Iraqi president.
"In 1960 the UN criminalised occupation by military force, and
considered occupation as an anti-human rights act. Resolution 3013
of the General Assembly considers any foreign forces on another
country's soil as mercenary units."
He added: "Accordingly, such units are not allowed to take prisoners
of war, so what they are doing is actually kidnapping people."
Illegal war
Daniel Joyner, an international law expert at Britain's Warwick
University, told Aljazeera.net that he agreed the Iraq war was
illegal.
"In 1960 the UN criminalised occupation by military force, and
considered occupation as an anti-human rights act. Resolution 3013
of the General Assembly considers any foreign forces on another
country's soil as mercenary units"
Hasan Umar, Egyptian international law council
But he is not convinced there is any authority the Arab lawyers can
appeal to.
He said: "It's a serious point that I understand, but who can they
make this point to, the International Court of Justice? First of
all, it would have to be the government of Iraq bringing the case.
"If Saddam Hussein from his jail cell were to write a letter to
the Hague saying he wanted to bring a case then you would get an
interesting legal battle.
"They would first have to decide if he was still the legitimate
leader before they studied the legal merits of the case."
No kidnap
However, Joyner dismissed the assertion that Saddam was kidnapped
because UN General Assembly resolutions cannot proscribe
international law.
But he agreed that Saddam should be afforded POW status.
"The US has so far denied any POW status," he said. "The reason is
obvious - it's so they can interrogate him longer. But I think he
should be protected by the 1949 Geneva Convention."
He added: "International law is not one big regime - there are
different sources of law. The question of the legality of war
itself can be separated from questions about what happened after
the occupation began.
"As long as Saddam Hussein is afforded POW status his arrest should
be governed by international humanitarian law."
Aljazeera
Thursday 08 January 2004 9:15 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D71600B6-F085-42A9-
B093-002870AA84A8.htm
PRESS RELEASE
OF IRAQ COMMITTEES
INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
The "International Action to Defend the President Saddam Hussein"
(IADSH) and the "Iraq Committees", in total solidarity, support the
call launched in France by the "AMITIES FRANCO-IRAKIENNES" (FrenchIraqi
Friendship) for the respect of the rights of the legitimate
President of Iraq.
SADDAM HUSSEIN: PRISONER OF WAR
APPEAL FOR THE RESPECT
OF THE 1949 CONVENTIONS OF GENEVA
The unworthy treatment reserved to President Saddam Hussein
violates all the principles of international law : drugged and
manhandled by his abductors, he has been exhibited before medias
and has been interrogated illegally by the occupation troops and
their collaborators. He is sequestrated in a place held secret
without representatives of the Red Cross being able to meet him.
With the exception of the Vatican that deplored the revolting lot
reserved to the Iraqi head of state and condemned that he is treated
"like an animal", the international community closes indulgently
its eyes on the questionable intrigues of the United States hose
leaders behave like the decadent Caesars who delivered prisoners of
war to public condemnation.
Trampling on the enemy has never made anybody grow in stature. In
the ase in point, the treatment reserved to Saddam Hussein has only
accentuated the feeling of humiliation and anger felt by the Iraqi
people and a big part of the Arab and Moslem people.
In these conditions, it is advisable to apply strictly the
arrangements of the international law to President Saddam Hussein
and the other Iraqi prisoners, civilian and military. Article 13
of he Convention of Geneva on prisoners of war stipulates notably
that they "must be treated in all time with humanity" and that
they must "be protected in all time notably against all act of
violence or intimidation, against abuses and the public curiosity".
It is prohibited publishing photographs that could give of the
prisoner a degrading picture. Finally, according to article 14
"prisoners of war have right in all circumstances to the respect
of their person and their honour". Otherwise, the international
Committee of the Red Cross must have access to all persons protected
by the Convention of Geneva.
Signers recall solemnly that President Saddam Hussein is a prisoner
of war and that to this title he has the right to fully benefit of
the 1949 Conventions of Geneva.
Name:............................................................
Surname:.........................................................
Title either function: ..........................................
Address: ........................................................
City: ...........................................................
Zip Code : ......................................................
Phone : .........................................................
E-mail : ........................................................
Date and signature :
Answer to:
IADSH - Luc MICHEL - 39 Maagdenstraat - B/1000 Brussels (Belgium)
defendsaddamhussein@yahoo.com
Fax : + 32 22187359
For more information :
Site of the "IRAQ COMMITTEES" : http://comitesirak.free.fr
Free subscription to the Newsletter "AL BA'ATH AL IRAQI" (Iraqi
Resurrection) :
comitesirak@yahoo.fr
http://comitesirak.free.fr/cp/cp040106eng.htm
http://comitesirak.free.fr/present.htm
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