[Peace-discuss] News notes 040222 (part 2 of 2)

[C. G. Estabrook]

[continued from part 1]

[2] OCCUPIED IRAQ

MURDER THEN AND NOW. In the first attack of its kind in the south since
the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime last spring, an oil pipeline was
targeted near Karbala, 70 miles south of Baghdad on the
Kirkuk-Baghdad-Basra pipeline. Saboteurs have frequently targeted oil
pipelines in oil-rich northern Iraq, where a gunbattle on Saturday night
left one Iraqi dead and another seriously wounded when they attacked the
home of a police chief, a police officer said. An Iraqi civilian was also
killed Sunday morning in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul by a makeshift
bomb planted beside a road used by military convoys. And police said two
bodyguards were wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire in the city,
while in Baghdad three Iraqi policemen were wounded in a bomb blast. Also
in the Iraqi capital, two suspects carrying grenades were arrested during
a funeral attended by hundreds of people paying their respects to a Sunni
Muslim cleric assassinated late Saturday, a local sheikh said. Sheikh
Thamer Suleiman al-Zari was shot dead on the doorstep of his Baghdad home
by unknown assailants. Fueling fears of imminent communal strife, police
in the northern city of Kirkuk said a Kurd and a Sunni Arab were arrested
Saturday for plotting attacks against the Shiite Muslim majority during
the upcoming Ashura religious celebration. Ashura, nine days away,
commemorates the assassination of Hussein, the revered grandson of the
prophet Mohammed, in 680 AD. [AFP 2/22]

SORRY 'BOUT THAT. The Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged that it
did not provide the United Nations with information about 21 of the 105
sites in Iraq singled out by American intelligence before the war as the
most highly suspected of housing illicit weapons. The acknowledgment, in a
Jan. 20 letter to Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, contradicts
public statements before the war by top Bush administration officials.
Both George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, and
Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, said the United States
had briefed United Nations inspectors on all of the sites identified as
"high value and moderate value" in the weapons hunt. [NYT 2/20] THIS
WEEK'S NEWS BLACK HOLE EVENT.

PRIVATIZE THIS PRIVATE. Britain's elite special forces are facing an
imminent crisis because record numbers of men are asking to leave their
units early, lured by high wages on offer in a growing security industry
in Iraq.

THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SEE STRAIGHT. The Los Angeles Times reports that,
according to current and former CIA officers, "a series of stumbles and
operational constraints have hampered the agency's ability to penetrate
the insurgency in Iraq, find Osama bin Laden and gain traction against
terrorism in the Middle East." The head of the CIA in Baghdad was recently
removed for incompetence. The CIA's Baghdad station has become the largest
in agency history, eclipsing the size of its post in Saigon at the height
of the Vietnam War. [LAT 2/21]

SO WE LIED; SO WHAT? Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern calls the 2002
National Intelligence Estimate "the centerpiece of an incredibly cynical
campaign playing on the trauma of 9/11 to deceive our elected
representatives into forfeiting to the president their constitutional
prerogative to declare war. One is left wondering: How did they think they
could get away with it?" [CURSOR 2/21]

SO WE LIED, SO WHAT -- YOU STILL PAY US. In an interview with London's
Telegraph, Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi said: "As far as
we're concerned we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone
and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."
[CURSOR 2/21] The Department of Defense is continuing to pay millions of
dollars for information from the former Iraqi opposition group that
produced some of the exaggerated and fabricated intelligence President
Bush used to argue his case for war. The Pentagon has set aside between $3
million and $4 million this year for the Information Collection Program of
the Iraqi National Congress, or INC, led by Ahmed Chalabi, said two senior
U.S. officials and a U.S. defense official. They spoke on condition of
anonymity because intelligence programs are classified. [KR]

BET RTI STILL GETS ITS MONEY ($168M->$466M). The Bush administration is
abandoning the core idea of its plan to hold regional caucuses for an
Iraqi provisional government and will instead work with the United Nations
and Iraqis to develop yet another plan for the transfer of political power
by June 30, U.N. and U.S. officials said Thursday. [WP]

AND THEY NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT. William E. Jackson says a New York Times
editorial on Iraq intelligence distortion was so sharp, that its "logical
implication might well have been to charge senior officials -- in
particular the vice president -- with an impeachable offense. However,
strangely missing... was any indictment of the national press, starting
with the Times, for its obvious role in gravely misleading the
institutions of government and the public when hyping the WMD threat."
[E&P 2/18]

JUST CAN'T RECALL. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he did not
recall British Prime Minister Tony Blair's prewar claim that Iraq could
deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. "I don't remember
the statement being made, to be perfectly honest." The chairman of the
joint chiefs of staff, General Richard Myers, didn't remember it either.
[SYDNEY MORNING HERALD]

SURPRISINGLY, HE DOES. Bill O'Reilly of Fox News apologized on national
television for his uncritical support of the Bush Administration's claims
that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "I was wrong," he said. "I am
not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned
about this." [SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE]

[3] OCCUPIED PALESTINE

OUR CLIENT CONTINUES. A Palestinian suicide bomber killed eight people on
a crowded Jerusalem bus on Sunday on the eve of World Court hearings into
a controversial barrier Israel says will ensure its security against such
attacks... The World Court begins hearings in The Hague on Monday on the
legality of the West Bank barrier that Israel says keeps suicide bombers
out, but which Palestinians call a land grab. The militant group al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, part of President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed
responsibility for the bombing and released a farewell video showing the
bomber in front of the group's flag. But it later denied involvement. The
top Palestinian security body vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Arafat's office condemned the bombing and called the timing deliberate and
harmful for the diplomatic campaign against the barrier... When one
Israeli minister suggested at Sunday's cabinet meeting that the attack
could be seen as a protest against the barrier, Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon said: "We don't have to look for a reason why Jews are killed and
they won't stop killing Jews ever"... Al-Aqsa named the bomber as Mohammed
Zaal, 23, from Hussan village near the West Bank town of Bethlehem. It
said the attack was a reaction to the barrier and to an Israeli raid that
killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza City on February 11.  Israeli troops sealed
off Bethlehem after the attack. A Palestinian security official said
soldiers arrested the bomber's wife, mother, father and four brothers.
Palestinian groups have killed 867 Israelis since an uprising for
statehood began in 2000. At least 2,350 Palestinians have been killed in
the conflict. A suicide bomber last struck in Jerusalem on January 29,
killing 11 people on a number 19 bus. Israel has sent the wreckage to The
Hague as part of its public relations offensive for the World Court
hearings. [REUTERS 2/22] A press release from the Israeli Coalition
Against the Wall said, "The terrible attack in Jerusalem today strengthens
our opinion that the policy of Occupation and dispossession of the
Palestinians, as expressed in the building of the Wall within the
Palestinian Territories, does not bring us peace." [GUSH SHALOM]

SURPRISING CONDEMNATION. The International Committee of the Red Cross has
condemned Israel's construction of a West Bank barrier as "contrary" to
international law. The aid agency said the barrier, whose proposed route
cuts into Arab areas, went "far beyond what is permissible for an
occupying power". [BBC 2/18]

PURITY OF ARMS. It sometimes seems the Gaza Strip has become the central
shooting range of the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF's firing zone and
training field. The weapons in use there are of dubious legality, the
rules of engagement lack the element of restraint, and punitive measures
that Israel would not conceive of inflicting in the West Bank are par for
the course, in a region that produces far less terrorism than the West
Bank. The operation last Wednesday, in the Sajiyeh quarter of Gaza City,
in which 15 Palestinians were killed - including at least seven civilians
- was the latest illustration, for the time being, of what Israel allows
itself to do in Gaza. [Gideon Levy, HAARETZ 2/15]

[4] OCCUPIED EUROPE

POODLE BITES. Sweeping new powers in UK war on terror. Terror suspects
could be convicted on the evidence of 'electronic eavesdropping' of phone
calls and emails under sweeping moves to combat the threat of an al-Qaeda
atrocity. In a blunt admission that the risk of attack remains 'real and
serious', Home Secretary David Blunkett will pledge a massive staffing
boost for MI5. Priorities will include linguists, translators and
surveillance to help infiltrate overseas-sponsored terror networks in
Britain. Blunkett will also flesh out highly controversial plans for new
anti-terrorism powers which would see suspects convicted on lower
standards of proof than the criminal courts and of crimes not yet even
committed -- such as an intent to execute a suicide bombing ... Blunkett's
first efforts at explaining his thinking, during a trip to India earlier
this month, led Labour peers to condemn him as a 'shameless
authoritarian'. [OBSERVER 2/22]

POODLE STOPS BITING. The prosecution is preparing to abandon the case
against a former GCHQ [SIMILAR TO THE NSA] employee charged with leaking
information about a "dirty tricks" spying operation before the invasion of
Iraq, the Guardian has learned. Katharine Gun, 29, is due to appear at the
Old Bailey next week where she has said she will plead not guilty to
breaking the Official Secrets Act. She has said her alleged disclosures
exposed serious wrongdoing by the US and could have helped to prevent the
deaths of Iraqis and British forces in an "illegal war". The case is
potentially hugely embarrassing for the government and would open up GCHQ
operations to unwelcome publicity. Also damaging and politically
threatening is her plan to seek the disclosure of the full advice from the
attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, on the legality of the war against Iraq.
[GUARDIAN]

AN AMERICAN JEWISH LOBBY AT THE EUROPEAN UNION. Last Thursday a gala
evening was held [in Brussels] to celebrate the opening of the
Transatlantic Institute, a Jewish research institute whose declared aim is
no less than strengthening the ties between the United States and the
countries of the European Union (the undeclared aim is to serve as a
lobby). After a formal dinner, there were speeches by the European Union's
Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana,
and by Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. Both of them showered
compliments on the heads of the body that established the institute, the
American Jewish Committee, and heaped praise on the importance of good
relations. The person who insisted on spoiling the conciliatory and
relaxed atmosphere was in fact the United States Ambassador to the
European Union, Rockwell Schnabel, who told the guests that to the best of
his understanding, the problem of anti-Semitism has reached the point
where it was in the 1930s. Later, in the wake of the tempest caused by
Schnabel's remarks, the ambassador's spokesman published a clarification,
saying that the ambassador was relating to assessments by other bodies and
was not expressing his own opinion or that of his government. [HAARETZ]

[5] OCCUPIED EARTH

HEGEMONY OR SURVIVAL? An Air Force report is giving what analysts call the
most detailed picture since the end of the Cold War of the Pentagon's
efforts to turn outer space into a battlefield. For years, the American
military has spoken in hints and whispers, if at all, about its plans to
develop weapons in space. But the U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight
Plan (PDF) changes all that. Released in November, the report makes U.S.
dominance of the heavens a top Pentagon priority in the new century. And
it runs through dozens of research programs designed to ensure that
America can never be challenged in orbit -- from anti-satellite lasers to
weapons that "would provide the capability to strike ground targets
anywhere in the world from space." [WIRED]

WE DIDN'T LIE, WE JUST DIDN'T TELL YOU. A secret report, suppressed by US
defense chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European
cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a
'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and
widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that
abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as
countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food,
water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses
that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. 'Disruption
and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon
analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.' The findings will
prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied
that climate change even exists ... The report was commissioned by
influential Pentagon defense adviser Andrew Marshall, who has held
considerable sway on US military thinking over the past three decades. He
was the man behind a sweeping recent review aimed at transforming the
American military under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. [OBSERVER 2/22]

LIKE WMD? YOU'LL LOVE TEDAC.  The new acronym in succession to WMD, It
stands for Terrorist Explosive Device Analytic Center, the U.S.
intelligence operation that tells of a "global bomb-making network" – as
in car-bombs.: requires a GWOT. [NYT 2/22] Donald Rumsfeld, US defence
secretary, arriving on an unannounced visit to the Gulf, said on Sunday
that al-Qaeda guerrillas were among insurgents launching deadly attacks in
Iraq to spark civil war there. [FT 2/22]

AND ELSEWHERE. The global network for stomping out disobedient
governments, a.k.a the US, is active in Haiti, using embargo and thuggish
opposition to tell its president, Aristide, that he must accept a
government the US likes. With the recent examples of Georgia, Serbia, (and
Panama in Bush I) before him, Aristide accepts.  Venezuela and Cuba wait
in the wings. [CGE] The United States demanded on Friday that Haiti's
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide form a new Cabinet with the opposition to
break a political standoff that is fueling a deadly revolt, U.S. officials
said. U.S. Ambassador James Foley met Aristide and told him to accept a
plan, backed by the United States, Canada, France and other nations, to
install a new prime minister who could choose Cabinet members as a way of
ending the impasse. [REUTERS]

OCTOBER SURPRISE CANDIDATE I -- BOMB IRAN. European majors including Royal
Dutch/Shell may join a $2 billion Japan-led project to develop Iran's
Azadegan oil field, a Japanese official said on Thursday. Azadegan, about
the size of Tokyo, is estimated to have reserves of 26 billion barrels and
is the world's second-biggest oil field to have been discovered since the
1980s, Trade Ministry official Tetsuhiro Hosono told a briefing.  A
Japanese consortium led by government-affiliated oil exploration firm
INPEX Corp sealed a deal in Iran on Wednesday to develop the oil field,
located near the border with Iraq, after nearly four years of negotiations
... INPEX was the main body for the negotiations and has been looking for
partnersâ"to develop and operate the oil field," Hosono said. It had been
in close contact with the government-affiliated Japan Petroleum
Exploration Company (JAPEX), trading house Tomen Corp, also a member of
the Japanese consortium, and Shell. Hosono said European majors may
participate in the project and that Shell was considering doing so. A
Shell spokesman in London declined to comment. â"We are consultants,
advisers to the consortium," the Shell spokesman said, adding that its
position has not changed.  INPEX will have a 75 percent interest and Iran
25 percent in the development of the field. JAPEX and Tomen may invest in
the project later, an INPEX spokesman said. The INPEX spokesman said that
Japan, which depends on overseas sources for the majority of its energy
needs, plans to import all the crude oil produced at Azadegan. Production
will start at 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2007, INPEX said, and is
expected to reach 150,000 bpd in 2008 and a full flow of 260,000 bpd by
early 2012. INPEX said the investment will be recoverable with some
profits within 12-and-a-half years after production starts. In 2003, Japan
imported 4.28 million bpd of crude oil. Azadegan at full capacity could
account for 6 percent of Japan's annual crude oil imports. Iran is already
Japan'S third-largest oil supplier.
	The agreement was signed in Tehran by Iranian Deputy Oil Minister
Mehdi Mirmoezi and INPEX President Kunihiko Matsuo. The oil industry has
been skeptical about the profitability of Azadegan because it is highly
fragmented. Oil has been found in small pockets and many wells may have to
be dug to make it worthwhile, and costs could be high.â"INPEX wouldn't
have signed the final agreement if (the project) was not commercially
feasible," Hosono said. But he did not rule out chances that the
investment could exceed $2 billion.
	He said about six exploration wells had been dug so far, and the
duration of the contract could be extended if needed. Hosono also
suggested a new government-backed body that will take over Japan National
Oil Corporation's investment operations could become involved in the
project. Japan National Oil Corp (JNOC), which has administered Japan's
national oil reserves and provided financial assistance for crude oil and
gas exploration projects, will be dismantled on Feb. 29 after booking 2.34
trillion yen ($21.3 trillion) in debt as of the fiscal year ended March
2003. Starting March 1, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp will take
over JNOC's exploration investment and assistance services operations. "It
is highly possible that Azadegan will become the new unit's first job,"
Hosono said.
	Japan was given preference to negotiate on Azadegan when Iran’s
President Mohammad Khatami visited Japan in November 2000. Japan has been
juggling its desire to strike a deal with a major Middle East producer
against US pressure to wait amid concerns in Washington that Tehran is
developing nuclear weapons. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
said on Wednesday Washington was "disappointed" the deal had gone through
and had made its views known to Japan.
	â"We hadn't expected the US would say 'well done' about this
(Azadegan) agreement," METI's Hosono said. "Since the beginning of the
talks we had explained (to the US) about our national situation, that
Japan has to secure a stable energy supply and also Japan has a special
feeling about nuclear issues, so we would closely monitor Iran (about
that)."
	Iran has denied it is developing nuclear weapons but has promised
to cooperate with inspectors from the UN's watchdog International Atomic
Energy Agency.
	Japan has felt less pressure from the US as it joined them in
sending troops to Iraq. Meanwhile, US concerns about Iran's nuclear
weapons program have eased slightly. Japan also acted before the Feb. 20
parliamentary election in Iran, after which the reformers could lose power
and political infighting in Tehran could delay any signing of contracts
with foreign firms.
	In many cases it participates in oil development projects by
investing in projects operated by majors, such as Exxon Mobil and
RoyalDutch. [REUTERS, AFP]
	U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton on Thursday tried to play
down any disagreements between the U.S. and Japan over Tokyo's oil
development deal with Tehran. "I am not troubled by (Japan's decision) at
all," Bolton said in Tokyo. "I'm very confident that the view of Japan and
the United States on the Iranian nuclear weapons program is essentially
the same." Bolton apparently worried that Wednesday remarks by U.S. State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher created an unanticipated stir in
Japan. Boucher expressed concern toward the Japan-Iran oil deal because
the Islamic state is suspected of developing nuclear weapons and
supporting terrorist groups. "Our policy has been, with respect to Iran,
to oppose petroleum investment there," Boucher said in Washington. "We
remain deeply concerned about deals such as this, and disappointed that
these things might go forward." Bolton said Japan's decision will not
damage bilateral efforts to urge Iran to abide by its obligations under
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy
Agency.A source meanwhile said the U.S. currently has no plans to invoke a
U.S. law that requires Washington to impose sanctions on international
firms doing business with Iran and Libya. [JAPAN TIMES 2/20]

OCTOBER SURPRISE CANDIDATE II -- BOMB NORTH KOREA. The NYT goes inside
with a bellicose demand the U.S. will reportedly make during negotiations
with North Korea in Beijing next week: The country must agree to dismantle
its entire nuclear weapons program before the U.S. will talk about aid.
[SLATE]

AND FINALLY, THE WAYLAND SMALLEY CAMPAIGN FOR CONGRESS (2ND DIST. OF OK)  
-- "BY GOLLY, SMALLEY IS STRONG ON DEFENSE."  Last week Wayland explained
that harems lead to terrorism (with Osama bin Laden as Exhibit A).  But
this week the horse-breeder tuned politician worries me a little:  
Wayland posted a bio on his website that I read a couple of times, and
each time it seemed to suggest that, uh, Wayland's a product of incest --
but that may just be to concretize a metaphor.  Read it and see what you
think:
	â"Great-grandpa Cox married Emma Jane to get her land.  Like her
other husbands Emma Jane buried him, but not before they had grandpa
Bob.  Great-grandma and grandpa Reiter came to northeast Oklahoma on a
buckboard for the good weather and good land, here they had grandma
Helen.  Bob and Helen owned the store on highway 60 just west of Vinita,
where they had Carol, my mom.  Bob's store attracted the likes of Clem
McSpadden, who would come by to shoot the breeze.  Grandma and grandpa
Cox had the only phone in the area, and the first TV which attracted many
friends and family for "I Love Lucy" nights.  Grandma and grandpa Smalley
had a farm outside of Powell, Wyoming, where my dad and his brother grew
up.  That was where mom met dad.  Grandma Helen had moved to Cody to
work in the Hospital there.  My brother and I grew up in Billings,
Montana, where we spent a lot of time at grandma and grandpa's farm riding
horses, and hoeing corn.  Mom and dad moved back to Vinita in the early
90's.  After finding a place in Chelsea, they called me home to manage
the family horse breeding operation."

  ==============================================================
  C. G. Estabrook
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [MC-190]
  109 Observatory, 901 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana IL 61801 USA
  office: 217.244.4105 mobile: 217.369.5471 home: 217.359.9466
  ===============================================================