1. BLOODY ROAD TO BAGHDAD
Stalled 50 miles south of Baghdad in their advance north from Kuwait, US
forces are meeting greater resistance than apparently anticipated--from
both Iraqi regular troops and the Fedayeen militia run by Saddam Hussein's
son Odai. "The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd
war-gamed against," Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, senior commander of Army
ground forces in Iraq, was quoted by the Washington Post March 27 during a
visit to the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in central Iraq. The road
to Baghdad has become known as "Ambush Alley," with Iraqi forces repeatedly
attacking the supply lines connecting the advancing forces of the 101st
Airborne and 1st, 5th and 7th Marine regiments with the rearguard in
Kuwait. Saddam's elite Republican Guard units are clustered around Baghdad,
poised to repulse an attack. The Pentagon is preparing to double troop
strength in Iraq to 200,000 over the next month, sending in more troops now
stationed in Kuwait, as well as soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division in
Texas, the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Colorado and 1st Armored
Division in Germany. On March 25, Bush asked Congress to pass a $74.7
billion war bill with no amendments or conditions.
The US has also escalated air strikes. Baghdad is shrouded in smoke from
oil-filled trenches set alight by the regime to block US remote guidance
systems and obscure targets. On Tuesday March 25, US and allied bombers
flew over 1,400 missions across Iraq, with several air-strikes on Baghdad,
including on the TV station, as well as raids on Republican Guard positions
outside city. The 25th also saw a battle in a sandstorm 100 miles south of
capital, near Najaf, when US troops came under fire from Iraqi Fedayeen and
regulars. The battle reportedly left up to 450 Iraqis dead, and no
Americans. Fedayeen attacks prompted British forces to take Basra, instead
of merely surrounding it and proceeding north as planned. Britain's
"Desert Rat" units are still engaged in a battle for Basra, which has no
electricity and little water following air strikes that hit power lines and
water mains. The port of Umm Qasr to the south is also low on food and
water, and refugees are beginning to flee the cities.
On Wednesday March 26, an attack on US forces at Nasiriya on the Euphrates
River left several vehicles destroyed, despite US claims to have the city
under control. At Nasiriya's military HQ, US troops discovered a mural
depicting jetliners crashing into twin skyscrapers, which the New York Post
dutifully splashed on the front page of the next days' edition. A seized
Iraqi air base at Tallil, four miles from Nasiriyah, has been informally
renamed "Bush International Airport" by US forces. Newsday reported that
military traffic jams have slowed the advance north to a crawl, making
Iraq's major highways look like "the Long Island Expressway at rush hour."
In an attempt to open a northern front, 1,000 army paratroopers of 173rd
Airbone, based in Vicenza, Italy, parachuted into Kurdish territory on the
26th
On Thursday March 27, US Ambassador John Negroponte "stormed" out of the UN
Security Council after Iraq's UN envoy Mohamed al-Douri accused the US of
"aggressive, criminal military actions," according to the next day's NY
Sun. Air raids again escalated, with 1,500 missile strikes throughout the
day. Also that day, Kurdish peshmerga militia fighters--presumably with the
help of 173rd Airbone paratroopers--surged into government-controlled Iraq,
taking the town of Chamchamal and extending Kurdish control to within 150
miles of Kirkuk.
Friday March 28 saw further airstrikes on Baghdad, including a
super-powerful "bunker buster" dropped on the information ministry from a
B2 stealth bomber. 58 civilians were killed when a missile exploded in
crowded market. Iraq blamed the US; Pentagon Central Command said it is
investigating, while raising the possibility that Iraq's own government was
responsible as a propaganda tactic. Claiming that US POWs are being
"brutalized and executed" by Iraqi forces, President George Bush announced:
"Every Iraqi atrocity has confirmed the justice and urgency of our cause."
Also Friday, the long-deadlocked UN Security Council ruled unanimously to
approve a massive humanitarian aid package for Iraq. The British ship Sir
Galahad docked at Umm Qasr with water and other relief supplies--but allied
authorities admit that getting supplies to the needy will be a challenge.
After a one-day hiatus, massive aerial bombardment, focused on Republican
Guard positions near Baghdad, continued on Sunday March 30. A Baghdad
shopping mall was reported in flames.
At a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in
Washington March 27, Bush responded to a reporter's question about the
war's duration: "However long it takes to win. That's the answer to your
question, and that's what you've got to know. It isn't a matter of a
timetable, its a matter of victory."
As of Friday, the casualty count stands at 18 US soldiers dead in combat,
and two allied troops; 20 US soldiers dead in accidents and "friendly fire"
incidents, and 7 allied troops. 18 US soldiers are missing, and two allied
troops; and 7 US soldiers are POWs, and two allied troops. The US media has
not been keeping track of Iraqi civilian or military casualties. (See
related story, this issue.)
(From combined sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, New York
Post, New York Sun, wire services)
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2. DID U.S. MISSILE HIT KUWAIT CITY?
A missile exploded near a popular Kuwait City shopping mall March 29,
shattering windows and causing other property damage before falling into
the sea. Although initially reported as an Iraqi Silkworm missile, the New
York Times quotes unidentified Kuwaiti officials as saying that both the
behavior of the missile and its markings lead them to believe it was a US
missile that somehow went off course. "It was an American cruise missile,
we know from the markings and writing on it," an unidentified Kuwaiti
police colonel told the Times. "It doesn't go up, it comes in low from the
sea, and that's why there was no alert." Chief Pentagon spokeswoman
Victoria Clarke told the Times that it is too early to tell what happened
or whose missile it was. (NYT, March 29)
[top]
3. DID U.S. MISSILE HIT TURKISH VILLAGE?
The US stopped firing missiles at Iraq through Turkish airspace March 28
after a missile fell in southeastern Turkey, a Turkish official said. No
one was reported injured. Turkish airspace was not closed to US and British
aircraft, the official said, speaking anonymously. The missile broke into
several pieces and fell outside Dagyani, a village in Sanliurfa province,
180 miles west of the Iraqi border. A cylinder-shaped, metallic object
resembling a missile could be seen lying in a field. U.S. military officers
are headed to the region to investigate, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Bob
Thompson said. On March 23, two Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a ship
in the eastern Mediterranean also landed in an unpopulated area of
Sanliurfa without exploding. Pentagon officials said they may have
malfunctioned in flight. Turkey has opened its airspace to U.S. and British
warplanes heading toward Iraq despite fierce opposition by Turkey's public,
but refused requests to base 62,000 US troops in the country. Some 2,000
demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers in Istanbul to shout slogans
against the war. They also burned U.S. and Israeli flags. "We stand by
Baghdad," the protesters shouted. (AP, March 28)
[top]
4. IRAQ PROMISES MORE SUICIDE ATTACKS
Four US soldiers with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division were killed March 29
in a suicide attack at a military checkpoint in the central Iraqi town of
Najaf. At a news conference, Iraq's Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan
identified the bomber as Ali Jaafar al-Noamani, a father of several
children. He also warned that more such attacks would follow. "This is just
the beginning. You'll hear more pleasant news later,'' Ramadan said. "It
will be routine military policy. We will use any means to kill our enemy in
our land and we will follow the enemy into its land.'' (AP, March 29)
[top]
5. DOLPHIN GOES AWOL
Takoma, an Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin employed by the US military to
clear mines for ships entering the seized Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, has been
missing for 48 hours as of March 29. His handlers consider 24 hours normal.
Wrote the London Times: "Takoma has now been missing for 48 hours and the
solitary figure of Petty Officer [Taylor] Whitaker could be seen yesterday
patting the water, calling his name and offering his favourite fish, but
there was no response."
6. DON'T GIVE BUSH ANY IDEAS, THANK YOU!
Karl Esser, the German architect who helped design one of Saddam Hussein's
main bunkers in Baghdad, told the BBC March 30 the Iraqi leader can survive
anything short of a direct hit with a nuclear bomb if he stays within its
four-feet-thick walls.
7. WHITHER AL-QAEDA?
Australia's Sydney Morning Herald reported March 28 that British military
interrogators claim captured Iraqi troops have told them that al-Qaeda
terrorists are fighting on the side of Saddam Hussein's forces against
allied troops near Basra, especially in the suburb of Az Zubayr. British
forces are still besieging Basra and skirmishing in the suburbs, but have
delayed entry into the city, fearing what the paper called a
"Stalingrad-style street battle." US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said
the coalition had solid evidence that senior al-Qaeda operatives have
visited Baghdad in the past, and that Saddam has an "evolving" relationship
with the terror network.
On March 30, BBC reported that an al-Qaeda camp in northern Iraq was taken
by US and Kurdish forces after being bombed by US warplanes. Tunnels and
compounds in the camp are still being explored. A supposedly
al-Qaeda-linked group, Ansar al-Islam, had seized a piece of ground in
northern Iraq in recent months. Both Saddam and Bush accuse each other of
secretly controlling the group. The US claimed nerve gas antidotes were
found in the camp, pointing to this as evidence that Iraq has weapons of
mass destruction--despite the fact that the camp lies well outside
territory controlled by the Baghdad government.
8. SADDAM PREPARING SYRIAN EXILE?
Saddam Hussein has made extensive preparations to flee Iraq, and he and
several of his most senior aides--including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq
Aziz--have already smuggled their families out to Syria, the UK's Daily
Telegraph reported March 27. The paper claimed that Saddam has been selling
off property to raise millions for his exile and has an aircraft waiting on
24-hour-a-day standby to fly him out of the country. The report also claims
Saddam's first wife Sajida fled to Damascus days before the Baghdad attack
began, along with three truckloads of possessions and 60 bodyguards, the
paper reported. She is reportedly staying with Iraq's ambassador to Syria.
Syria is also said to be granting free passage across its border with Iraq
to volunteers seeking to join the fight against the US and British forces.
Thus far, dozens of volunteers, primarily Palestinians from the refugee
camps in Lebanon, have crossed over into Iraq through Syrian-controlled
border posts. Syrian military analyst Hitham al-Kilani, said in a March 24
interview on al-Jazeera TV that "the Syrian border was opened to Syrian,
Arab and Muslim volunteers wishing to reach Iraq and participate in the
fighting against the American invasion ." (Haaretz, March 28)
[top]
9. SYRIA, IRAN NEXT?
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Syria of failing to stop
cross-border sales of military equipment, including night-vision goggles,
to the Iraqi armed forces, calling the shipments "hostile acts" and
threatening to "hold the Syrian government accountable." He refused to say
if he meant military action. He also harshly condemned Iran for letting
state-sponsored anti-Saddam militants flood into Iraq, interfering in
allied war plans. (UK Guardian, March 29)
US Secretary of State Colin Powell became the second cabinet official in
three days to issue a warning to Syria when he told an audience at the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on March 30, "Syria can
continue direct support for terrorist groups and the dying regime of Saddam
Hussein, or it can embark on a different and more hopeful course," Powell
said. "Either way, Syria bears responsibility for its choices and for the
consequences." (Washington Post, March 31)
For his part, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Lebanese Daily A-Safir,
"We will not wait until we become the next target." (Ha'aretz, March 27)
Syria is the only Arab country that has not closed its border with Iraq,
and has refused to kick Iraqi diplomats out of Damascus, or freeze Iraqi
assets in Syria. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) says that
Al-Jazeera TV has broadcast video of Syrian fighters in Mosul, who recently
arrived to fight against the US-led coalition. It showed them holding
weapons and portraits of Saddam Hussein. Palestinian Islamic Jihad also
claims it has also sent fighters to Iraq. (ABC, March 30) Meanwhile, top
Syrian cleric Sheikh Ahmed Kaftaro, called on Muslims March 27 to resort
to "martyrdom operations" against coalition forces waging war on Iraq.
(UPI, March 27)
10. U.S. TROOPS DETAIN, BEAT ISRAELI, PORTUGUESE JOURNALISTS
US troops in Iraq detained two Israeli journalists and a Portuguese
colleague on suspicion of espionage March 26 and beat one of them, their
relatives claimed. They were released after 48 hours. The journalists, Dan
Scemama, of Israel's Channel One TV and Boaz Bismuth of the Yedioth
Aharonoth newspaper entered Iraq without proper accreditation. Scemama said
earlier in the week that he had been denied accreditation because he
represented Israeli television.
The two teamed up with the Portuguese TV reporter, rented a jeep, and
entered Iraq on their own, driving alongside US convoys, before they were
arrested by US troops. Speaking to Channel One news from Kuwait, Dan
Scemama said March 28 that the Americans treated them as spies and
terrorists for the 48 hours of their detention. "We were humiliated for
many hours. They did not let us eat and they took all the means of
communication we had on our persons." The Portuguese journalist was
reportedly beaten after he asked to phone home and suffered broken ribs. He
is now said to be hospitalized . (Haaretz, March 28)
[top]
11. AL-JAZEERA TV PROTESTS CENSORSHIP
Qatar's worldwide Al-Jazeera TV network, which angered Washington by
showing footage of dead and captured US soldiers, voiced concern after two
of its reporters were banned from the New York Stock Exchange and its Web
sites were hacked. The stock exchange stopped al-Jazeera broadcasts, saying
credentials were only for networks that provided "responsible" coverage.
Al-Jazeera was also denied a request to broadcast live from New York's
Nasdaq exchange. "There has to be a national effort to protect the freedom
of the press even more," al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said. "We
appeal to authorities to pay attention to this." "Clearly, it is a
violation of press freedom," agreed Jeffrey Chester, executive director of
the Center for Digital Democracy, a media watchdog group in Washington, DC.
But US Secretary of State Colin Powell responded to National Public Radio:
"Al-Jazeera has an editorial line and a way of presenting news that appeals
to the Arab public. They watch it and they magnify the minor successes of
the [Iraqi] regime. They tend to portray our efforts in a negative light."
Al-Jazeera's new English-language Web site
and its Arabic-language site were both downed by
a hacker attack this week. (Reuters, March 28)
[top]
When Iraqi TV offices in Baghdad were hit by a US missile strike on March
25, the targeting of media was strongly criticized by press and human
rights groups. The general secretary of the International Federation of
Journalists, Aidan White, suggested that "there should be a clear
international investigation into whether or not this bombing violates the
Geneva Conventions." White told Reuters, "Once again, we see military and
political commanders from the democratic world targeting a television
network simply because they don't like the message it gives out."
The Geneva Conventions forbid the targeting of civilian installations--
whether state-owned or not-- unless they are being used for military
purposes. Amnesty International warned that the attack may have been a "war
crime" and emphasized that bombing a television station "simply because it
is being used for the purposes of propaganda" is illegal under
international humanitarian law. "The onus," said Amnesty, is on "coalition
forces" to prove "the military use of the TV station and, if that is indeed
the case, to show that the attack took into account the risk to civilian
lives."
Likewise, Human Rights Watch affirmed that it would be illegal to target
Iraqi TV based on its propaganda value. "Although stopping enemy propaganda
may serve to demoralize the Iraqi population and to undermine the
government's political support," said HRW, "neither purpose offers the
'concrete and direct' military advantage necessary under international law
to make civilian broadcast facilities a legitimate military target."
Some U.S. journalists, however, have not shown much concern about the
targeting of Iraqi journalists. Prior to the bombing, some even seemed
anxious to know why the broadcast facilities hadn't been attacked yet. Fox
News Channel's John Gibson wondered (March 24): "Should we take Iraqi TV
off the air? Should we put one down the stove pipe there?" Fox's Bill
O'Reilly (March 24) agreed: "I think they should have taken out the
television, the Iraqi television.... Why haven't they taken out the Iraqi
television towers?" MSNBC correspondent David Shuster offered: "A lot of
questions about why state-run television is allowed to continue
broadcasting. After all, the coalition forces know where those broadcast
towers are located." On CNBC, Forrest Sawyer offered tactical alternatives
to bombing (March 24): "There are operatives in there. You could go in with
sabotage, take out the building, you could take out the tower."
On NBC Nightly News (March 24), Andrea Mitchell noted that "to the surprise
of many, the U.S. has not taken out Iraq's TV headquarters." Mitchell's
report cautioned that "U.S. officials say the television headquarters is in
a civilian area. Bombing it would further infuriate the Arab world, and the
U.S. would need the TV station to get out its message once coalition forces
reach Baghdad. Still, allowing Iraqi TV to stay on the air gives Saddam a
strong tool to help keep his regime intact." She did not offer the Geneva
Conventions as a reason to avoid bombing a media outlet.
After the facility was struck, some reporters expressed satisfaction. CNN's
Aaron Brown (March 25) recalled that "a lot of people wondered why Iraqi TV
had been allowed to stay on the air, why the coalition allowed Iraqi TV to
stay on the air as long as it did." CNN correspondent Nic Robertson seemed
to defend the attack, saying that bombing the TV station "will take away a
very important tool from the Iraqi leadership--that of showing their face,
getting their message out to the Iraqi people, and really telling them that
they are still in control." It's worth noting that CNN, like other US news
outlets, provides all these functions for the US government.
New York Times reporter Michael Gordon appeared on CNN (March 25) to
endorse the attack: "And personally, I think the television, based on what
I've seen of Iraqi television, with Saddam Hussein presenting propaganda to
his people and showing off the Apache helicopter and claiming a farmer shot
it down and trying to persuade his own public that he was really in charge,
when we're trying to send the exact opposite message, I think, was an
appropriate target."
According to the New York Times (March 26), Fox's Gibson seemed to go so
far as to take credit for the bombing of Iraqi TV, suggesting that Fox's
"criticism about allowing Saddam Hussein to talk to his citizens and lie to
them has had an effect." Fox reporter Major Garrett declared (March 25),
"It has been a persistent question here, why [Iraqi TV] remains on the air."
Given such attitudes, perhaps it's not surprising that discussions of the
legality of attacking Iraqi TV have been rare in US mainstream media. Yet
when the White House accused Iraq of violating the Geneva Conventions by
airing footage of American POWs, media were eager to engage the subject of
international law. It's a shame US media haven't held the US government to
the same standards.
[top]
13. CIVILIAN CASUALTIES: WHO'S COUNTING?
While civilian casualties of the bombardment of Iraq are conveniently
invisible to stateside TV viewers, the web site Iraq Body Count is
monitoring world press reports to arrive at a daily update of the dead so
far. Each incident is listed separately, noting the location, number dead,
weaponry used and media source. At press time, the minimum estimate stands
at 433 and the maximum at 541.
By most estimates, 1991's Operation Desert Storm resulted in 100,000
civilian dead. See WW3 REPORT #67
Cathy Breen, a registered nurse from New York City now on the scene in
Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team, offers daily e-mail posts on the civilian
impacts of the bombing in her series of on-line Baghdad Diaries. Her March
26 dispatch reads:
"Let me tell you about Amar, a 7 year old boy whom I saw in the hospital
this morning. He has an emergency chest tube to drain blood as he suffered
multiple shell injuries. His mother, Hannah, died in the direct hit to
their house this morning. He is from a farming village on the outskirts of
Baghdad. Then there is Mueen, 8 years old also the son of a farmer, but
from another area. He is in the bed alongside Amar and also has a drainage
tube. But his is from the abdomen. The doctor showed us a plastic bag
holding parts of his small intestine which had to be removed during surgery
in order to try and get to all of the shrapnel. His father died in that
bombing, and his 6 year old brother Ali was wounded in the head. Shall I go
on? Ten year old Rusel was wounded in an explosion outside her door. We saw
the shrapnel in her chest on the X-ray and she too has a chest tube. Her
right hand is fractured. I had seen her yesterday and to my surprise she
remembered me... I told her that I was going to tell other children what a
brave little girl she is. Her father said 'Bush said he'd bring democracy
to Iraq. This is not democracy. This is terrorism!' Nada Adnan is a 14 year
old high school student who came in with a deep gash and fracture to her
right forehead. She also has a hunk of shrapnel in her upper thigh..."
US peace observers also reported that a children's hospital in Rutbah was
bombed March 26, leaving several dead and injured. The report confirmed
that by Iraqi authorities. The peace observers said they saw no significant
Iraqi military presence near the hospital or elsewhere in Rutbah. US
Central Command said Sunday it had no knowledge of a hospital bombing in
Rutbah. (AP, March 30)
Meanwhile, the US press features front-page stories such as "DEADLY
DILEMMA: In Trying to Spare Civilians, US Troops Put Themselves at Even
Greater Risk" (Newsday, March 28), claiming troops are restrained from
using heavy artillery in populated areas.
[top]
14. DESERT STORM VICTIMS SUE BUSH PERE, CHENEY, POWELL
Several Iraqi families have announced they are suing former US President
George Bush and other US politicians for human rights violations in a
Belgian court, sparking protests from Washington. Families of those who
died in the US attack on the Amiriyah air raid shelter in Baghdad during
1991's Operation Desert Storm, are to file suit against the former
president under a law enabling Belgian courts to hear human rights cases.
Belgium's "universal competence" legislation allows proceedings against
people accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide,
regardless of their nationality or location.
"We have cautioned our Belgian colleagues that they need to be very careful
about this kind of effort, this kind of legislation, because it makes it
hard for us to go places that put you at such easy risk," said US Secretary
of State Colin Powell. "If you show up, next thing you know you're being...
Who knows?" Powell (head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1991) is among the
accused in case, along with Vice President Dick Cheney (then Secretary of
Defense), and former US army commander Norman Schwarzkopf. Over 400 people
died in the Amiriyah attack, when US planes attacked the shelter. The US
maintains it was a military command center, and that it did not know it was
being used to shelter civilians.
Powell protested that another case is already being prepared in relation to
the current Iraq war against President Bush and his Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld "even before anything has happened." (BBC, March 19)
15. WMD MIRAGE EVAPORATING?
The New York Times reported March 28 that "Statements from Iraqi prisoners
of war and electronic eavesdropping on Iraqi government communications
indicate that Saddam Hussein has moved chemical weapons to the Medina
Division," an elite force south of Baghdad, and is preparing to "use the
weapons as allied troops moved toward Baghdad to oust him and his
government." Officials with the Army's V Corps said intelligence
information pointed to Saddam deploying 155-millimeter artillery weapons
with shells carrying mustard gas as well as sarin, or nerve agents.
Meanwhile, the US case that Saddam is seeking nuclear capabilities is
rapidly unraveling. Iraq's supposed deal to purchase uranium from Niger was
cited by Bush in his January State of Union Address, when he said, "The
British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa... Saddam Hussein has not
credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide." But on
March 27, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed El-Baradei, the
top nuclear inspector in Iraq, announced that the documents involving the
supposed uranium deal were forged. "The IAEA has concluded, with the
concurrence of outside experts, that these documents...are in fact not
authentic," he said. One IAEA official told Seymour Hersh, writing in The
New Yorker magazine: "Somebody got old letterheads and signatures and cut
and pasted." (The New Yorker, March 31)
On the quest for Saddam's supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Gen.
Tommy Franks, commander of the so-called "Operation Iraqi Freedom," told an
interviewer from Infinity Radio March 27: "We have not found any
yet--excuse me-- but then again, we have not been to the places where we
believe these weapons may be located. Each place that--each place we
liberate where we think there's a possibility, then we exploit the sites,
we exploit the documents. There is a great deal of information that's under
study right now, but I can't sit here and tell you that we have uncovered
the smoking gun, so to speak. We're not in that particular point of this
war fight yet. It'll come."
A commentator on New York's "all-news" radio station, WINS, paraphrased the
general's remarks after the interview was broadcast by saying US forces are
"hot on the trail" of weapons of mass destruction. (WINS, March 27)
16. HALLIBURTON CEDES TOP IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION CONTRACT--
BUT SCORES OTHER LUCRATIVE DEALS
Energy and construction giant Halliburton--formerly managed by Vice
President Dick Cheney--is ceding a $600 million rebuilding contract in
postwar Iraq, Newsweek reported. Timothy Beans, chief acquisition officer
for the US Agency for International Development, told the weekly that
Halliburton is not one of the two finalists to be prime contractor for the
reconstruction of Iraq, though the Houston-based firm could take part as a
subcontractor. The contract is to be awarded next week.
Halliburton was one of five companies that the Bush administration asked in
mid-February to bid on the 21-month contract. On March 24, the US Army
announced it had awarded a contract to extinguish oil fires and restore oil
infrastructure in Iraq to Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown & Root engineering
and construction division. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, later
sent a letter to Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers, commander of the Army Corps of
Engineers, questioning why other oil-service companies had not been allowed
to bid.
Wendy Hall, a Halliburton spokesperson, referred questions on the contract
to US AID. But a UN official who follows the issue told Newsweek that the
Iraq reconstruction contract probably wasn't worth the bad publicity for
Halliburton, which depends on maintaining a favorable image both in
Washington and the Arab world. "This kind of political controversy was not
in their corporate interests," the official said. Halliburton may prefer to
quietly work as a subcontractor rather than be in the spotlight as prime
contractor, the official predicted.
The other companies asked to bid include California engineering giants
Bechtel and Parsons. The contract remains mired in controversy even now
that Halliburton has stepped down, because only US firms were asked to bid.
(MSNBC, March 29)
In related news, Halliburton has agreed to look into its operations in Iran
to make sure it isn't indirectly supporting terrorism. Company spokesperson
Wendy Hall said Halliburton will designate a committee to look into
concerns raised by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. on
behalf of the Police and Fire Pension Funds. The request by the funds came
last fall amid concern that corporations might be indirectly supporting
terrorist activity. The funds, which have over $18 million in holdings in
Halliburton, passed a resolution demanding the investigation, which the
company would have had to put before its shareholders at its May 21
meeting. Halliburton said it would review its operations in Iran days after
the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it would not rule out taking
action against the oilfield services company if it omitted the pension fund
proposal from its 2003 proxy materials. (AP, March 21)
17. UNION-BUSTERS CONTRACTED TO RUN SEIZED IRAQI PORT
The Bush Administration is rushing forward with plans to reopen Iraq's key
Persian Gulf port of Umm Qasr. On March 24, the US Agency for International
Development announced that Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) has been
awarded a $4.8 million contract to manage the port. SSA has never worked
in a war zone, but has been in the midst of another kind of struggle--that
between labor and management in the West Coast ports of the USA.
Seattle-based SSA--the largest marine terminal operator in the US--was
considered the main corporate culprit in the lockout of dockworkers last
fall. The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) accused the
company of union-busting. "While most employers want to work with us to
implement new technologies," ILWU President James Spinosa said last
September, "SSA is undermining negotiations because their primary interest
is breaking the union." ILWU spokesman Steve Stallone was quoted in the
San Francisco Chronicle as saying, "It's ideological with these people.
They are ideologically anti-union and anti-ILWU." In February, SSA was one
of four companies cited by Washington state authorities for requiring
longshore workers to remain on the job as much as 17 hours straight without
adequate rest time.
SSA has also been at the center of controversy in Bangladesh, where it
wants to build a $500 million containerized terminal in the port of
Chittagong. The project faces opposition from trade unions, who fear that
the new terminal will result in large job losses, and have staged hunger
strikes, work stoppages and other actions in protest. Last year, the US
Ambassador to Bangladesh, Mary Ann Peters, spoke out publicly in support of
the SSA, implying that the country would pay a price if the project did
not go forward. She told Agence France Presse: "Future investments in
Bangladesh by American companies might be threatened if the plan for the
SSA port is not approved by the Bangladesh government." In November, the
High Court of Bangladesh ruled that the project was illegal because of
inadequate feasibility studies, but the company can appeal that ruling to
the country's supreme court.
SSA, a privately-held company with annual revenues of about $1 billion, is
headed by Jon Hemingway, a member of one of the two families that have
controlled the firm since 1949. SSA now has operations in Chile, India,
Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, South Africa and Vietnam. The company has
received dozens of contracts from the Pentagon for cargo handling at US
ports.
18. GLOBAL PROTESTS KEEP ON COMING
On March 29, Rome's historic bridges were draped in black by anti-war
protesters. Hundreds of thousands rallied against the war in cities
throughout France, Italy and Germany that day. In a symbolic action, around
30,000 Germans formed a human chain between the northern cities of Munster
and Osnabrueck, a 35-mile route taken in 1648 by negotiators who ended
Europe's Thirty Years War. In Stuttgart, some 6,000 protesters encircled
the US military's European Command, releasing blue balloons adorned with
white doves as they joined hands to form a chain. Further north, police
detained 100 demonstrators as they ended a sit-down protest outside the
main gate of the Rhine-Main air base near Frankfurt, a key transit point
for US military traffic to the Persian Gulf. On March 26, tens of thousands
again marched in Barcelona.
Poland, which has committed up to 200 troops to the war, saw its largest
demonstration yet March 29, as 2,000 mostly young protesters marched to the
US Embassy in Warsaw, banging drums and chanting "No Blood for Oil." In
Hungary, another nation that has supported the war, about 2,000 people
whistled and jeered as they marched past the U.S. and British embassies in
Budapest on their way to parliament. Some 6,000 people demonstrated in
front of the US Embassy in Moscow.
Police in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, used tear gas to break up hundreds of
demonstrators outside the Australian Embassy March 29, while authorities in
Bangladesh rolled out barbed wire to keep marchers from the US embassy.
Students in the South Korean capital, Seoul, scuffled with riot police that
day as thousands marched down four lanes of an eight-lane boulevard,
chanting "Stop the bombing! Stop the killing!" Thousands marched earlier
that week in Santiago, Chile. The Mexican daily La Jornada reported that
25,000 marched in Puebla March 26.
Hundreds of women, some carrying placards declaring that "the United
States and Britain are the axis of evil," protested in the streets of Sana,
Yemen, March 29. On March 25, protesters in Amman, Jordan, waved pro-Saddam
placards and chanted "Iraq! Saddam! We will spend our blood for you!" In
Saudi Arabia, protests are officially banned, but invocations to Allah to
''strike the Americans,'' ''bring down their planes'' and ''burn them with
their own fire'' are now heard at Saudi mosques
following daily prayers.
New York's Fifth Ave. was blocked by protesters for two consecutive days.
On the 26th, 18 protesters locked arms across the avenue near the entrance
to the city headquarters of Israel's Bank Leumi, blocking traffic for over
an hour before they were arrested. (See story, this issue.) On the 27th,
over 200 were arrested blocking traffic on the avenue near Rockefeller
Center. (Newsday, March 28)
On March 24 in Hartford, CT, 11 were arrested in an anti-war protest
targeting Sikorsky, makers of the Blackhawk attack helicopters now being
used in both Iraq and Colombia. Held on charges of criminal trespass and
disorderly conduct, their bail was initially set at $5,000, but the
following day a deal was struck in which they were released on a pledge to
perfom one day of community service. (ASEJ press release, March 24, update
March 25)
A boycott of US products is also taking off in several European cities.
Waiters in many bars and restaurants throughout Germany are telling
patrons, "Sorry, Coca-Cola is not available any more due to the current
political situation." One web site, www.consumers-against-war.de, calls
for boycotts of 27 top US firms from Microsoft to Kodak while another,
www.adbusters.org, urges the "millions of people against the war" to
"Boycott Brand America." (Reuters, March 25)
[top]
19. SLOVENIA: KEEP US OUT OF IT!
The US mistakenly named Slovenia as a partner in its war against Iraq and
even offered it a $4.5 million share of the money budgeted for the
conflict, the tiny Alpine nation announced March 27. A day after hundreds
of Slovenes hit the streets to protest the inclusion of their nation in
Bush's proposed war budget, Prime Minister Anton Rop said Washington made
an error. "When we asked for an explanation, the State Department told us
we were named in the document by mistake as we are not a member of the
coalition against Iraq," Rop told a hastily arranged news conference. "We
are a part of no such coalition. We are a part of a coalition for peace."
(Reuters, March 28)
[top]
THE PALESTINE FRONT
1. FIFTH AVENUE DIE-IN PROTESTS ISRAELI WAR CRIMES
New York's Fifth Avenue was shut down for an hour at a busy midtown
intersection
by 19 Palestine solidarity activists on March 26. The demonstrators,
predominately Jewish, but also Palestinian and queer, chained themselves
together and lay down across the street. They were covered in fake blood,
and wore signs saying, "Witness to Israeli war crimes," referring to the
murder of US peace activist Rachel Corrie by the Israeli army in Gaza on
March 16. A cardboard mock Caterpillar bulldozer with an Israeli flag stood
in the middle of the street. Chanting, "Occupation is a Crime, from Iraq to
Palestine," the protestors were roughly removed by police. The protest
occurred outside the offices of Israel's Bank Leumi. The
bank was shut for the rest of the day, citing a risk of terror.
"Bank Leumi is a pillar of Israeli finance, with $51 billion in assets. The
illegal occupation of Palestinian towns and the killing of civilians are
supported by Bank Leumi's investments in the Israeli military economy,"
said protester Rachel Fineberg, a Jewish human rights activist. "Enough is
enough we're shutting this war machine
down."
"This war is realizing the worst fears of Palestinians," said protester
Mark Field, a New York activist. "While the world's attention is focused on
Iraq and Arabs are cast as the enemy, Israel has stepped up its assaults on
Palestinian towns. Under cover of war, Israel is freer than ever to label
every Palestinian a terrorist, to detain civilians indefinitely, to
demolish civilian homes and seize additional Palestinian lands."
The site of the protest, 47th and Fifth Avenue, is near New York's diamond
district. Many of the onlookers that gathered and watched were orthodox
Jews and Chasidim. Some were quite angered by what they saw, spitting on
the protestors, and tossing hot coffee on them. A man wearing a skull cap
destroyed the protestor's plywood Israeli bulldozer, apparently not
grasping the irony of his actions.
Jewish anti-occupation activists were angered at the labeling of the
protest as "anti-Jewish" by police chief Ray Kelly. A Jewish activist had
this response to Kelly's remark: "The protest raised concerns about the
behavior of a state, not a people. While Israel identifies itself as a
Jewish state and many Jews feel strongly about the State of Israel,
criticism of Israel's government is not anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish any
more than criticism of Iraq's government is anti-Muslim."
The protest garnered much media attention. Stories about it appeared on
CNN, BBC America, National Public Radio, Fox, CBC, and in The New York Sun,
Ha'aretz, AP, and Newsday, among others. (Protest press release, March 26;
WW3 Report sources; AP, March 26; New York Sun, March 27) (David Bloom)
"This name will remain ever lasting in every Palestinian's heart. This
young American lady who came from Washington [state] to witness what is
happening in Palestine because of the Americans' illegal policy in
Palestine. Since she has arrived to Palestine she was active in front of
all the demonstrations against the Israeli aggressive occupation. This
young lady has proved that...humanity is the strongest thing in our life.
Also she has proved that dialogue and solidarity among nations are the only
guarantee to establish the world peace everywhere... Rachel has sacrificed
in her body and soul to prevent devastating a Palestinian family. But the
Israeli bulldozer has changed her from eyewitness to martyr... At last I
like to say that I and all the peace supporters all over the world will
appreciate this courageous martyr of peace and justice in the world."
(Adwan in Jayyous, Palestine, March 25) (David Bloom)
3. CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMAN: INVESTIGATE CORRIE'S DEATH
Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) has called for an independent investigation
into the death of Rachel Corrie. He will introduce a resolution,
co-sponsored by the six Democratic congressman of Washington state. Amnesty
International and the US Green Party have also called for an independent
investigation. The US says it will rely on Israel's investigation. On March
16, US peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) bulldozer while engaging in an act of non-violent civil disobedience.
(US Campaign to End the Occupation, March 26) (See WW3 REPORT #77) (David Bloom)
The US Campaign to End the Occupation urges calls on concerned citizens to
urge Members of Congress to support this resolution. Background information
can be found at:
1. U.S. TROOPS KILLED IN AFGHAN AMBUSH
An ambush that killed two US soldiers and wounded a third is a sign rebel
activity is increasing in Afghanistan following the start of the war in
Iraq, said Army spokesman Col. Roger King. "This helps paint the picture
for future operations," King told reporters. The March 29 ambush attack on
a four-vehicle Special Forces convoy in the southern province of Helmand
was the first fatal combat encounter for US forces in Afghanistan since
December. US B-52 bombers and helicopter gunships later pounded the area.
The following day, a rocket hit the headquarters of the international
peacekeeping force that patrols Kabul, the Afghan capital. No injuries were
reported. Afghan authorities say remnant Taliban/al-Qaeda forces are
behind the attacks. (AP, March 30)
[top]
2. PRISONERS BEATEN TO DEATH AT U.S. MILITARY CAMP?
Two prisoners who died while being held for interrogation at the US
military base in Afghanistan had apparently been beaten, according to a
military pathologist's report. The two men, both Afghans, died last
December at the US base at Bagram, where prisoners have been held for
questioning. The autopsies found they had suffered "blunt force injuries"
and classified both deaths as homicides. One of the dead prisoners, known
only as Dilawar, died as a result of "blunt force injuries to lower
extremities complicating coronary artery disease", according to the death
certificate signed by Major Elizabeth Rouse, a pathologist with the
Washington-based Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The dead man was aged
22 and was a farmer and part-time taxi-driver. He was said to have had an
advanced heart condition and blocked arteries. The other death being
investigated is that of Mullah Habibullah, the brother of a former Taliban
commander. His death certificate indicates that he died of a pulmonary
embolism, or a blood clot in the lung. (UK Guardian, March 7)
[top]
3. ATTACK ON RAWA VOLUNTEER IN PAKISTAN
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) has
condemned an attempt on the life of one of its employees working in a
charity hospital for Afghan refugee women and children in
Khayaban-i-Sir-i-Syed, Pakistan. A RAWA volunteer was shot and injured on
March 18 by three assailants as he was leaving the Malalai Hospital. A RAWA
spokesperson said the motive of the attack was to discourage the group from
continuing its campaign to win the rights of Afghan women. "We know such
attacks are planned with the notion of making RAWA stop its activities.
But, if the martyrdom of our leader could not discourage in carrying
forward our goal then such attacks can in no way weaken our resolve and
determination," the spokesperson said . (Dawn, Pakistan, March 19)
4. RAWA: AFGHAN LESSONS FORGOTTEN IN IRAQ
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) termed the
Hamid Karzai government a total failure as far as women's rights are
concerned, and demanded the establishment of a truly representative
government in Afghanistan. Addressing a seminar entitled "Women Rights in
Afghanistan" at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, on March 17, RAWA
representatives urged the international community to fulfil its pledges to bring democracy to Afghanistan. Said a RAWA
statement: "We demand that all the Afghan warlords, included in the Hamid
Karzai government and outside, should be presented before an international
tribunal and put on trial for their long history of intrigues and bloodshed
on the Afghan soil. We don't think that the present government is
acceptable to all the Afghan people. If the international community and
neighboring countries really want to see stability and peace in the region,
the Afghan people should be allowed to elect their representatives in a
free and fair manner."
The RAWA statement also took a strong stance against the US invasion of
Iraq: "The US has no right to bring a regime change in Iraq. It is the
right of the Iraqi people to either accept or reject Saddam Hussain's
government. On the one hand, the US has adopted criminal silence over the
killing of the innocent people at the hands of the Israeli forces in
Palestine and, on the other, it has become the champion of democracy and
human rights. This double standard will lead the country to a new
holocaust."
1. THREE U.S. CONTRACT PERSONNEL KILLED IN COLOMBIA
Three unnamed US citizens, apparently employees of a private company
contracted by the US for military-related missions in Colombia, were killed
when their Cessna crashed in Caqueta department after taking off from
Larandia air base March 24. They were on a mission related to the search
for three other US citizens taken prisoner by FARC guerillas in February.
The captured men were identified as employees of California Microwave
Systems, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman working under contract to the
Pentagon. Colombian military sources said the men were on an espionage
mission. The US has offered a $300,000 reward and a new life in the US for
information leading to the release of the captives. (NYT, March 27)
2. U.S. CONTRACT PILOTS IMPLICATED IN DEADLY BOMB RAID
Two US contract pilots helped direct a bombing attack that killed 18
civilians, including seven children, in a Colombian village, according to
court records and a recently discovered videotape. The two men, identified
as Joe Orta and Charles Denny, were flying in a surveillance plane owned by
AirScan Inc., of Florida, with a third crewman, Maj. Cesar Gomez of the
Colombian air force. The men were helping
direct an attack against suspected guerrilla positions near the village of
Santo Domingo on Dec. 13, 1998. The three men, who were videotaping the
operation from the air, can be heard discussing the best place for a Huey
helicopter to drop a US-made cluster bomb, providing air cover for ground
troops. The videotape recently surfaced in court proceedings.
Last fall, Colombia's inspector general sanctioned two air force crew
members in the Huey, Capt. Cesar Romero and technician Hector Mario
Hernandez, concluding that they intentionally dropped the bomb on the town.
In February, Colombia's Supreme Court ordered the case transferred from a
military tribunal to a civilian court.
In court testimony, Romero asserted he dropped the bomb in the jungle
between the town and nearby bridge, saying he believed that distance to be
between 1,000 and 1,500 yards from the town. But the bridge lies only 600
yards from the town. In the tape, Gomez tells other pilots firing in the
jungle between the bridge and the town to aim for a site about 300 meters,
or 325 yards, north of the town. If Romero intended to drop his bomb 325
yards away, the town would have fallen well within range of the device,
which would have traveled about 550 yards horizontally from the point of
launch.
Santo Domingo lies about 30 miles south of a petroleum complex operated by
California-based Occidental Petroleum. The army and air force used
Occidental's facility as a base to plan a rescue operation for army units
trapped near a bridge by guerrilla forces, according to testimony . (AP,
March 16)
3. VENEZUELAN TROOPS VS. COLOMBIAN PARAS
Venezuela's military exchanged gunfire with Colombian paramilitaries and
bombed a zone close to the border as a warning to the fighters, President
Hugo Chavez announced March 30. In his weekly TV broadcast, Chavez said
Colombian paramilitaries recently "invaded Venezuelan territory" and fired
on an army patrol in the border area, hitting their helicopter. A 90-minute
gun battle ensued and the assailants retreated to Colombian territory.
Chavez also said armed forces recently dropped bombs near where Colombian
paramilitaries were hiding. "I said to bomb the area, not on direct targets
but over the adjacentarea so as to warn them and establish a security
cordon," Chavez said. "We did it, it was effective, and they withdrew
toward Colombian territory." (AP, March 30)
[top]
4. U.S. MILITARIZES DARIEN GAP
Gen. James Hill, head of the Southern Command, said March 10 that Panama
could experience a possible "invasion of narco-terrorists" in the Darien
Gap jungle region along the Colombian border, and affirmed that Panama and
the US are exploring new mechanisms of support for the protection of the
Colombian border. One move being contemplated is to initiate a second phase
of "New Horizons," a military maneuver program involving US National Guard
troops--this time for the Darien region. The first phase earlier this year
was in the Chiriqui region. Hill also broached training Panamanian security
forces to patrol the Gap: "We are discussing with them [Panamanian
authorities] training and helping the National Police of Panama so that
they'll be better equipped to work on the border, especially in the Darien.
Because there is a problem there and there is a growing understanding that
something needs to be done accordingly." Hill predicted that with the "hard
hand" of President Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, "narco-terrorists" would cross
the border into Panama and other neighboring countries. (La Prensa, Panama
City, March 11. Trans.: Brendan O'Neill of ACERCA)
2. U.S. MARINES IN CHIAPAS
On March 20, four US military officials and a group of US Marines
participated in Mexican military exercises on the Mexico-Guatemala border
dubbed "Strengthening Security and Vigilance," according to La Jornada
reporter Hermann Bellinghausen. The "good faith visit" by the Marines
coincided with the first day of military action in Iraq. (La Jornada, March
24)
2. MUNICIPAL REVOLT IN CHIAPAS
An ongoing occupation of the entrance to the municipal building in the
Chiapas village of Teopisca ended after three days when town authorities,
adherents of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) political machine,
agreed to enter into dialogue with the protesters, representing the
left-opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and indigenous groups
demanding the town be run by a traditional Indian council. (Cuarto Poder,
Chiapas, via Melel Xojobal Press Synthesis, March 27)
[top]
WATCHING THE SHADOWS
1. "PRINCE OF DARKNESS" PERLE RESIGNS
Former Pentagon official Richard Perle resigned March 27 as chairman of the
Defense Policy Board, a group that advises Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on
policy issues. Perle said he was stepping aside voluntarily to avoid a
controversy over his business dealings. ''I have seen controversies like
that before and I know that this one will inevitably distract from the
urgent challenge in which you are now engaged,'' Perle wrote in a
resignation letter. The controversy centers on Perle's deal with bankrupt
Global Crossing Ltd. to win government approval of its purchase by a joint
venture of two Asian firms. Perle would receive $725,000 for his work,
including $600,000 if the government approves the deal, according to
lawyers and others involved in the bankruptcy case. The deal is under
review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a
government group that includes representatives from the Defense Department.
The merger was stalled after the FBI raised concerns about its impact on
national security.
Perle became involved in another controversy stemming from an article in
The New Yorker magazine that said he had lunch in January with Saudi-born
businessman Adnan Khashoggi and a Saudi industrialist. The industrialist,
Harb Saleh Zuhair, was interested in investing in a venture capital firm,
Trireme Partners, of which Perle is a managing partner. Nothing ever came
of the lunch in Marseilles. But the New Yorker story, written by Seymour M.
Hersh, suggested that Perle, a longtime critic of the Saudi regime, was
inappropriately mixing business and politics. Perle called the report
preposterous and ''monstrous.''
The Defense Policy Board is a bipartisan group that advises the secretary
of defense on a wide range of policy issues. Its 30 members are a mix of
former military and government officials. They include former CIA Director
James Woolsey, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger and former Air Force Chief of Staff Ronald Fogleman.
Perle, 61, was so strongly opposed to nuclear arms control agreements with
the USSR during his days in the Reagan administration that he became known
as ''the Prince of Darkness.'' (AP, March 27; NYT, March 28)
Perle had become increasingly identified with a maximalist agenda to go
beyond mere "regime change" in Iraq to topple regimes and even redraw
borders throughout the Arab world. Last Oct. 1, the Israeli daily Haaretz
reported on a recent meeting in which Perle told Pentagon officials that
Iraq was just a tactical goal, while Saudi Arabia was the strategic goal
and Egypt was the great prize. Another idea he reportedly put forth was
permanent Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territories, a Palestinian
state in Jordan, and a Hashemite monarchy in Iraq. Opined Egypt's Al-Ahram
weekly Feb. 11: "What all this makes clear is that the future map of the
region is a subject of discussion in Washington and dialogue with Israel.
The Arab countries are not party to the talks. The scene brings to mind the
events of the World War I and how the victorious countries reshaped the
region after the Ottoman Empire's defeat, divvying it up among themselves
in a secret deal by the name of Sykes-Picot in 1916." (World Press Review,
April 2003)
2. HUDSON INSTITUTE CONFAB: SYRIA NEXT?
A March 7 event on the future of democracy in Lebanon at the Washington DC
offices of the Hudson Institute, co-sponsored by the institute and the
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, brought out Lebanon's most
bitter opponents of the Syrian military presence in their country--at a time when
Pentagon hardliners insinuate that Syria could be next for attack. The
conference was one among six planned events at the institute on the future
of Middle East democracy. The other countries in the series are Iraq, the
Palestine Authority, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. WW3 REPORT
attended the Lebanon confab.
Many of the Lebanese who attended the event were Maronite Christians, while one
identified himself as Druze. No Muslims identified themselves. A
representative of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) was there; also
seen were lapel pins identifying members of JINSA, the Jewish Institute for
National Security Affairs.
Two panels were presented, both moderated by the Hudson Institute's Meyrav
Wurmser, director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Introductions were made by Nir Boms, vice-president of the Foundation for
the Defense of Democracy, and who spoke with an Israeli accent. WW3 REPORT
sat in the first row, directly in front of Boms and Wurmsor, and heard the
two whispering in Hebrew throughout the event.
The first panel consisted of Dr. Josepsh Gebily, representing the Lebanese
Forces, a Maronite Christian militia headed by Samir Geagea, and Ziad
Abdelnour, a Lebanese-American businessman and Maronite activist. Both men
expressed the need to end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, by force if
necessary. Abdelnour added that Hezbollah must be dealt with as well.
WW3 REPORT was invited to the event by partisans of Gen. Michel Aoun,
Lebanon's former prime minister and armed forces chief. Aoun's backers at
the event told WW3 REPORT they felt the general was the best hope for a
non-sectarian future in Lebanon. They didn't like what they heard from the
first panelists, saying they represented the old, sectarian order that
unraveled into civil war in Lebanon. Dr. Joseph Hitti, president of New
England Americans for Lebanon, claimed that Aoun, coming from a
lower-middle class Maronite background, was a Lebanese patriot, and not a
sectarian partisan.
The second panel consisted of Gen. Aoun, US Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY), and
Frank Gaffney, former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan
and a neo-conservative on the board of several Washington think-tanks such
as the Center for Security Policy (CSP). Engel, the author of the Syria
Accountability Act, expressed qualified support for the coming war with
Iraq, but worried the ensuing US occupation of that country would keep
America from being able to take on what he feels should be the real focus
of US counter-terrorism efforts in the Middle East--Syria. He expressed
dismay that the State Department refused to meet with Gen. Aoun, claiming
that "Gen. Aoun has been a continued friend of the United States and
freedom and democracy."
However, according to Sandra Mackay, author of "Lebanon: Death of a Nation"
(Doubleday, 1991), the US and Aoun have not always seen eye-to-eye. In the
summer of 1989, during the Aoun-led revolt against the Syrian occupation,
the general, Lebanese Prime Minister at the time, appealed to the West to
"Save the Christians." Aoun was "stunned," Mackay wrote, when George Bush
senior ignored the plea. "Picking up the sword of intimidation, Aoun
weilded an ugly anti-American propaganda campaign. At the same time, his
gunners harassed US helicopters flying in supplies to the American mission
in Beirut. And on two occasions, Aoun's supporters created a human blockade
around the American ambassador's residence while chanting that nothing
would go in or out until Aoun's demands for greater American involvement in
solving Lebanon's crisis were met. On Sept. 2, Aoun, caught up in his own
propaganda, told the French newspaper Figaro that perhaps he should settle
Lebanon's problems through 'Christian terrorism' by taking 'twenty American
hostages.' It was the final straw. On Sept. 5, three United States Military
helicopters landed at the American compound in the hills overlooking East
Beirut and plucked Ambassador John McCarthy and the thirty other staff
members from the embassy. There was a chilling paradox in the event. After
pro-Iranian Muslims bent on forcing the United States out of Lebanese
territory had twice bombed the American embassy, killed 241 Marines, and
held American citizens hostage for years, it was the pro-Western Christians
who finally drove Uncle Sam out of Lebanon."
WW3 REPORT noted the irony that much of the anti-occupation rhetoric
employed by Gaffney, Engel and others against Syria was very similar to
that used by activists against the Israeli occupation and colonization of
Palestinian territories. Pro-Israel hawk Gaffney opened his remarks by
saying: "It is certainly true that we are dealing at the moment with one of
the last colonial outrages of the residue of the twentieth century. The
colonial power, of course, being Syria. The colony, unwilling, as is
usually the case, Lebanon."
Gaffney attacked the Clinton administration for promoting a peace
settlement between Syria and Israel. "It even at some points envisioned the
placement of American troops on the Golan Heights as a lubricant for
returning those heights to Syrian control," said
Gaffney. "An initiative that I believe would have been an absolute
disaster, emboldening Syria into the belief that the [vision of a] greater
Syria that causes it to be in Lebanon was going to continue to make
progress." Gaffney said that current events "made possible a great new
opportunity for peace in the region, a goal that will be greatly enhanced,
if not openly assured, by freeing, in due course, the Syrian people as
well."
Rep. Engel said, "I believe that after Sept. 11, the main thrust of United
States policy, certainly foreign policy, but domestic as well, should be in
fighting the war against terror. And therefore I think, that if we are
going to make decisions to have military incursions, we ought to look at
which states are aiding and supporting terrorism. I think Syria, and I said
this before, has a worse record than Iraq when it comes to terrorism,
support for terrorism. I believe Iran has a worse record than Iraq when it
comes to support for terrorism."
Gaffney echoed remarks made previously by President Bush that regime change
in Iraq would lead to comprehensive Middle East peace, because Saddam
Hussein would no longer be giving money to the families of suicide bombers.
He scooted out of the room before questions could be asked, so WW3 REPORT
put the following question to Meyrav Wurmser. "President Bush identified
Iraqi and Syrian support for suicide bombers as being a cause for such
attacks. Do you think the continuing Israeli repression of Palestinians,
the active colonization and theft of their occupied lands may also be
driving these desperate people to desperate acts?" Wurmser appeared
agitated.
"I'm declining to answer the question, I'm not going to answer the
question. No comment," she replied. (David Bloom on the scene)
1. "DEADLY FORCE" THREAT AT VANDENBERG AFB
Security forces at Vandenberg Air Force Base may use "deadly force''
against protesters if they enter the military complex. They asserted that
anti-war activists plan to trespass onto base grounds in hopes of
disturbing Vandenberg's mission and vandalize sensitive equipment that
helps guide the war effort. "This is not fun and games anymore,'' said Maj.
Stacee Bako. "We're living in post 9-11. We don't know what's going to
happen with the war effort in Iraq. These folks have got to realize their
actions... They're illegal intruders.''
The deadly force policy will not deter protesters, said Peter Lumsdaine of
the Vandenberg Action Coalition, one of the organizers of the planned
trespassing. "I think it does underline that people in the nonviolent
resistance movement are willing to take some risks,'' Lumsdaine said. On
March 14, one activist jumped onto the base's entrance sign and sprayed it
with 4 ounces of his own blood. Dennis Apel, 52, later pleaded guilty to
misdemeanor counts of trespassing and vandalism. (AP, March 17)
[top]
2. OREGON POL: PROTESTERS ARE TERRORISTS
Days after critics called Portland anti-war protesters "terrorists," Oregon
state senator John Minnis introduced a bill to "create the crime of
terrorism" and apply it to people who intentionally cause injury while
disrupting commerce or traffic. If convicted, they would face imprisonment
for life . (The Oregonian, March 24)
[top]
3. NYPD INTERROGATES ARRESTED PROTESTERS
Sarah Ferguson reports for the Village Voice that many of the over 200
protesters arrested for blocking traffic in midtown Manhattan March 27 were
grilled by police about their political affiliations while being held.
"They asked me whether I'd been to other demonstrations and what groups I
belonged to and said that if I didn't answer those questions, I'd be there
all night," said Stephen Durham, 55, an organizer for the Freedom Socialist
Party who was finally sprung at 1:30 a.m. Friday, nearly 17 hours after his
arrest on Thursday.
[top]
4. BLACK HELICOPTERS OVER NEW YORK CITY
Federal Homeland Security Department Black Hawk helicopters are patrolling
the skies over New York City to enforce the Air Defense Zones which now
restrict air traffic in a 30 mile radius from each of the metropolitan
area's three airports. (Newsday, March 27)
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5. U.S. CLAIMS: IRAQI AGENTS PLOT TERROR
Iraqi intelligence agents posing as diplomats have been arrested in a
suspected plot to carry out terrorist attacks against US targets in two
foreign countries, the State Department told the Washington Times March 29.
The unidentified agents, members of the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS),
also known as the Mukhabarat, were detained and "terrorist material was
confiscated," mainly explosives, the department said. Specific information
on where they were apprehended or what targets had been selected was not
released. Earlier this month, federal authorities said they were looking
for Iraqi "sleeper cells" that might have targeted for attack the Palo
Verde nuclear power plant 50 miles west of Phoenix. The threat prompted the
deployment of
National Guard troops to the facility.
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6. DAVID DUKE SUPPORTS A.N.S.W.E.R.
David Duke's European-American Unity and Rights Organization announced that it
was supporting International ANSWER's anti-war rally in Washington March
15. Read the white supremacist organization's March 8 press release: "The
European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) today officially
announced that it plans to join efforts with Internationanswer.org and
support a rally in Washington DC on March 15 against the planned Iraqi War.
EURO is calling on all activists and supporters to support and attend the
planned rally in Washington DC and is planning a series of smaller protests
in conjunction with NoWarForIsrael.com around the country."
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