Western European News Digest
Witness Who Testified About Tony Blair's Iraq Dossier Found Dead
On Friday, July 18, a key figure in the ongoing investigation of forged documents and false intelligence used by the U.S. and British governments leading up to the war with Iraq was found dead, after being reported missing by his family. The victim, Dr. David Kelly, a former member of the United Nations' UNSCOM weapons inspection team in Iraq, was one of the world's leading experts on weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Kelly was suspected to have been the senior British Defense Ministry source for the BBC's story that the February 2003 dossier released by the Prime Minister's office on Iraq weapons of mass destruction had been "sexed-up."
Kelly had been reported missing by his family the night of July 17, because he had not shown up for hours, after having left his home for a walk on Thursday afternoon. His cause of death has not been determined, and police say they are treating it as an "unexplained death" until the coroner's report is filed.
Earlier this week, Kelly had denied before a parliamentary foreign affairs committee, that he was the source for the BBC story. Kelly was the Ministry of Defense's scientific advisor to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, prior to which he had been a weapons inspector in Iraq. Kelly was a very senior arms control expert, and often represented the British government at Pugwash conferences. A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair (who was en route to Japan) said an official inquest would be made into the death, and that a judge was expected to be named within 24 hours, but there is already a firestorm raging against Tony Blair, who was in the United States for a high-profile visit when Kelley disappeared.
On July 18, Iain Duncan Smith, the head of the British Conservative Party, called for Blair to return immediately to Britain, and cancel the remainder of his international tour.
"There are very many questions that will need to be asked over the coming days, and I think if I were the Prime Minister, I would want to be back here to deal with these." Duncan Smith added, "I don't want to rule out the recall of Parliament. There are still undecided issues about the circumstances of this tragic death and until we are certain of those I would wish to reserve my position."
On hearing of the death of David Kelly, Lyndon LaRouche said that "the sudden death of this key person will suggest to onlookers that those covering up for Cheney and Blair are becoming increasingly desperate."
LaRouche told associates that he wanted it to be known that he said that he does not believe in "accidents" in these kinds of circumstances. Usually there would be a desire to avoid a backfire effect as a result of such a death. This would usually function as a deterrent to "wetwork" activity. Therefore, when someone goes ahead and does it under these circumstances, it is an indication that the perpetrators are dead serious.
There is a natural reluctance on the part of intelligence services to engage in such activity. They usually try to avoid such actions, because they could trigger war between intelligence agencies. Therefore, the question is, who let it happen?
French President Calls for Easing Maastricht Rules
In a television interview on Bastille Day, July 14, French President Jacques Chirac said that whereas the Maastricht Stability Pact as such should stay in place, "what seems important is that the countries of the euro-zone be encouraged to jointly review the conditions for a temporary easing of the rules. The finance ministers shall find a regulation that complies with the requirements of the Stability Pact, but at the same time avoids strangling growth."
The 12 euro-zone finance ministersthose countries which can use the single currency, by complying with the Maastricht budget regulationswere scheduled to convene July 14, to prepare for the July 15 session of all 15 European Union finance ministers. Further discussions about the European Commission's Van Miert Plan and the Tremonti proposals for greater funding of public infrastructure projects are on the agenda.
German Chancellor: Chirac's Remarks on Maastricht 'Important'
At a press conference in Berlin July 16, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that Jacques Chirac's call for a softening of Maastricht Stability Pact rules, was "great and really very important. He made clear that the pact is called the Pact for Stability and Growth for a good reason. But everyone ever only talks about the stability aspect." "But in reality, it is called the Pact for Stability and Growth. And because of that, it is possible and also necessary, and here I agree with Chirac, to stimulate growth," Schroeder said. Similar remarks were made by France's Finance Minister Francis Mer in Paris, when he said that his message to the other EU finance ministers at their July 15 session was that growth had priority. He said that everything would be done by his government to observe the stability aspect, but in a difficult economic situation like the present one, a balanced budget would hardly be possible to achieve.
Le Monde on the Conundrum That Is Europe's Stability Pact
Le Monde's Economic Supplement, published July 8, says that "there is at least one economic theme upon which everybody is in agreement today: the budget stability pact as it had been adopted originally is no longer fit" for the current situation. Author Delhommais cites several political leaders to this effect, among them Italian European Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione, who on June 27 called for a "reasonable and transparent reform" of the Pact which could "reinforce it and make it more flexible."
"Many things which seemed sure at that time are no longer sure," Delhommais told the Berliner Zeitung. He cited German Chancellor Schroeder and French Finance Minister Francis Mer, who have made statements to the effect: We will do our best to respect the pact, but....
Indicative of the ambiguities, Delhommais says, is the fact that there is no longer a fixed date on which everybody has to come to equilibrium. "Whether it be in 2006, 2007 or 2008, everybody recognizes today that there is no point in fixing a date just for the pleasure of it," Francis Mer said recently.
Delhommais also points to a strong faction in favor of toughening up Stability Pact criteria, mainly among ECB people like Ernst Welteke. The majority, however, oppose the pact. Delhommais concludes that the latest fad among European leaders is to "find the smart ways to extract themselves from the 3% maximum deficit rule" without necessarily burying the pact. Delhommais says the Italians want to have their growth plan financed by the EIB outside of budget deficit constraints; the Germans believe that their tax cuts should also be "off deficit"; and the French think that military spending should be pulled out as well.
EIB To Provide 100 Billion Euros for Infrastructure
At the Brussels meeting of EU Finance and Economics Ministers July 15, European Investment Bank (EIB) president Philip Maystadt presented a memorandum, outlining preliminary proposals of how the EIB could help to finance investments into Trans-European networks (TENs) and technology programs. The memorandum states that such investments, which are key for "boosting European long-term growth in general," require a "sustained, appropriately resourced and comprehensive approach." Obviously, the EIB, due to its long-standing role as the major financier of TENs, will have to play a crucial role in planning and financing these investments. Since 1993, the EIB emphasizes, it has provided 73 billion euros of loans for TEN projects. In addition, it has approved 18 billion euros in loans for public-private partnerships related to infrastructure construction. Furthermore, the EIB has provided 15 billion euros for R&D projects in the recent three years, and on that basis just launched its "Innovation 2010 Initiative."
However, in view of the requirements identified by the Van Miert report235 billion euros for the priority TEN transport projects and 600 billion euros for the overall TEN projectsmuch more is obviously needed. In a first response, the EIB therefore says thatin line with the decisions at the EU Thessaloniki summitit is willing to provide a TEN Investment Facility (TIF) of up to 50 billion euros for public- and private-sector borrowers.
See this week's InDepth for a full report.
France's 'Circle of Economists' Releases Pro-Growth Plan
Leading French economists presented some ideas at their last conference in Aix en Provence, under the heading, "Europe, a new economy." In a publication Cahier N°3, this group, which includes Patrick Arthus (Deposit and Consignment Office), Pierre Jacquet of the French Institute for International affairs, and Jean Pisani-Ferry of the National Economic Council, which advises France's Prime Minister, proposes to reorient European investment toward an industrial, high-tech, and high R&D content.
In their view, to be competitive Europe must develop: 1) industry and "protected sectors," which create enough jobs; and 2) have strong investments into productivity, through which strong growth can be generated in industry, sparking rapid rise of demand. Furthermore, investments in R&D cannot be sacrificed, quite to the contrary, and innovation must be supported.
German Foreign Minister's Charm Offensive in the USA
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's four-day visit to the United States began July 14 with meetings with unnamed "influential" business representatives in New York.
His trip to Washington, D.C. began July 15, where Fischer met the majority leaders of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. On July 16 he met Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, followed by a meeting on July 17 with Vice President Richard Cheney.
Fischer also participated in three television talk shows: the Charlie Rose Show; CNN's Judy Woodruff and Inside Politics July 16; and Meet the Press.
German Cross-Party Consensus: No Troops to Iraq
Although German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had already rejected sending troops to Iraq at the London "Modern Governance" meeting of (nominally) leftist leaders, he reiterated that position before his flight back to Germany, in discussions with German journalists, July 14.
Chancellor Schroeder said that three conditions had to be met, before he would consider the troop issue seriously: 1) a central role of the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq; 2) a legitimate Iraqi government, elected by the people of Iraq; 3) UN support and recognition of such a government.
A similar list of conditions had been presented also by leading speakers of the Christian Democratic opposition in Germany: notably, Friedbert Pflueger, formerly a pro-Bushite, said that a UN role in, and mandate for Iraq, would be the necessary precondition of any German engagement.
Government officials meanwhile leaked to the media, that instead of a military engagement in Iraq, Germany prefers deployment of the emergency relief agency THW (Technisches Hilfswerk) to Iraq, to help in the restoration of water and energy supply.
Polish Officials Embarrassed by Scandal Over Phony Intelligence on Iraq WMD
In an exclusive interview with BBC July 16, Polish State President Alexander Kwasniewski said he and many others who supported the war in Iraq were embarrassed by the latest revelations on the flawed nature of the Iraq WMD dossier: "It is a frustrating surprise that the secret agencies passed on false information. In Poland, we used that information because, after all, it came from sources of the British foreign intelligence."
As far as ongoing developments in Iraq were concerned, Kwasniewski criticized the Anglo-Americans indirectly, saying that "the Polish public needs positive news from Iraq," news of a kind that "the Polish soldiers will return in a foreseeable future."
Latest opinion polls showed that 90% of Poles are not in favor of seeing their troops in Iraq. It is also reported that among the Polish military, criticism has been voiced of the usefulness of the Polish presence in Iraq.
Gordon Brown Feeds Off Blair's Personal WMD Disaster
Political allies of Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordan Brownfrom inside Tony Blair's own Labour Partyhave unleashed a brutal campaign against the Prime Minister over his handling of the Iraq war. On July 18, Independent political editor Andrew Grice wrote, "supporters of the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, have launched an extraordinary attack on Tony Blair, portraying him as a 'psychopath' and 'psychotic.' Blair loyalists are furious."
Grice wrote that a headline in the latest edition of New Statesman reads, "What Is the Point of Tony Blair?" Another article states that "the question of Tony Blair's sanity can no longer be avoided."
The latter New Statesman piece quotes Sidney Crown, a former consultant psychotherapist at the Royal London Hospital, claiming that Tony Blair "does not exist," but is just an actor. He says that Blair is attracted to his media czar Alastair Campbell, because the latter represents "Blair's dark side.... The psychopathic personality is very quick to pick things up and shift and move about."
Crown further claims that Blair did not really lie about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, but was rather "highly selective" about the intelligence, picking material that appealed to him: "With all forms of psychotics, if you ask people about the consequences of what they've done, they can't tell you, because they've no ability to see the future."
Grice also cites parts of the New Statesman coverage, openly promoting Gordon Brown, as next British Prime Minister, to replace Blair.
Allies of Blair are trying to salvage his future. Home Secretary David Blunket declared July 18, in an interview with Channel 4 News, "The people who we have to worry about most, are those that you would describe as being loyal, who stab us in the back. We know who our opponents are in front of us, we know they're tribal. We know that they have very powerful voices through the media."
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