In this issue:

Debate Over War Rages in Germany

Chirac, Schroeder Reiterate: 'No' to War

Spain May Join Anglo-Americans with Troops in War in Iraq

Aznar Urged Bush To Muzzle Rumsfeld

British Treasury Emergency Plans Central to Preparations for Iraq War

Ari Fleischer Arrogantly Treats Vatican as Just Another State

From Volume 2, Issue Number 9 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Mar. 3, 2003

Western European News Digest

Debate Over War Rages in Germany

The debate in Germany continues to rage: Can the Iraq war be justified? Can it be prevented? During a prime-time talk show Feb. 23 on ARD-TV, a real knock-down, drag-out fight erupted between the warmonger faction—led by Wall Street Journal-Europe editor Frederick Kempe—and the anti-war faction, Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse, Trier Bishop Rheinhard Marx, and UN inspector (1991-97) Rolf Ekeus. The debate showed that the German anti-war faction is fighting hard.

Thierse expressed his hope that the war could be avoided even at this late hour, through peaceful disarmament of Iraq. He argued for continued inspections, citing their success in the 1990s, and then argued, "Whoever wants to use violence, whoever wants to drops bombs, has the burden of proof, that it would not work with other, diplomatic and political means.... This was the fundamental conviction of the world community, and international law is based on this." Thierse rejected the charge made by Journal editor Kempe, that German Chancellor Gerhard "Schroeder's policy made a war more probable, because Saddam Hussein no longer feels challenged." Thierse replied, on the contrary, "The German position, with the French and others, has thus far prevented the war from having already started."

Ekeus said, "I believe the time given for inspections has not been sufficient.... After four years of no inspections.... Experience has shown that at least one, if not two, years are required, to show where Iraq stands today, in order to be really sure that those weapons have been destroyed."

Regarding the missiles Iraq is being asked to destroy, retired NATO Gen. Klaus Rheinhardt said, he thought it was not a question of strategic significance, but of Iraq's "credibility." On the other hand, Ekeus pointed out that it is not a matter of the weapons' range; the Al-Samoud 2 missiles would be required by Iraq in case of an attack, for self-defense. Although he did not say so explicitly, he implied that that was the reason why they were slated for destruction.

All the participants showed uneasiness about what the situation would look like after a war, pointing to the ethnic conflicts that could explode. Thierse reported on what Mubarak had told him in Berlin: "I talked to Egyptian President Mubarak. He told me it would be disastrous if an American General were named as Protector [in Iraq]. That would create such an Islamist-fundamentalist movement in the whole Middle East, that one cannot imagine."

Interestingly, Bavarian Interior Minister Beckstein (CSU), who had defended Christian Democratic Union chairman Angela Merkel and her propitation of Washington (saying he didn't think Russia or China would be such good partners or friends), came out strongly in favor of deploying German military inside Germany, to fight terrorism. He said that 9/11 had been planned years in advance, and that more attacks are "in the pipeline."

Chirac, Schroeder Reiterate: 'No' to War

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, meeting in Berlin last week, reiterated their "no" to war, endorsing inspections instead. In a press conference following their meeting, speaking of the U.S.-British-Spanish "second resolution" now before the UN Security Council, Chirac said: "We see no reason in this context to change our logic, which is a logic of peace, and to switch to a logic of war." Before the meeting, Chirac described the new resolution as "neither useful nor necessary."

This War May Be Stopped—But What About Scripts for Long-Term Geopolitical Interventions?

Whereas numerous German experts and politicians see a viable chance for preempting the war, in spite of the worst armtwisting by the war lobby, concerns are being increasingly voiced about the underlying geopolitical designs driving the Iraq issue. It is also being pointed out in this debate, that the oil issue is not at the center of U.S. moves.

Germany's former Assistant Foreign Minister Ludger Volmer told DLR radio last week that if Iraq complied with all UNSC requests and if the Bush Administration were willing to accept military restraint if Iraq complied, war could be prevented, and disarmament would proceed through inspections. "But then, you also hear unofficial voices saying they will march in no matter what Iraq does," Volmer said, adding that this issue is at the core of the dispute among Security Council members. Several days ago, Volmer also warned that if certain strategic scenarios written up in the backrooms in Washington, become reality in policy-making, world peace as a whole is at stake.

Udo Steinbach, director of the German Oriental Institute in Hamburg, also warned that what seems to dominate U.S. policy now is a design for strategic control over the belt from eastern Africa to western China, via the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, and South and Central Asia. That is why the huge military buildup is occurring right now. The Americans want to stay there, he claimed, and the British hope to regain, marching at their side, positions they had given up in 1967. For Steinbach, all the propaganda and buildup against Iraq is in reality aimed at Iran, which, because of its much greater political, economic, and military potentials, U.S. geopoliticians consider a far worse obstacle to their designs. Ever since Bush took office, these scenarios have moved more and more to the core of U.S. policy-making, Steinbach insisted.

Blair Says, 'I Believe It'

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, defending himself against charges that he is nothing more than George Bush's poodle in the matter of war on Iraq, told the Guardian in an interview published March 1: "It's worse than you think. I believe in it. I am truly committed to dealing with this, irrespective of the position of America. If the Americans were not doing this, I would be pressing for them to be doing so."

Spain May Join Anglo-Americans with Troops in War in Iraq

The Spanish daily El Mundo hinted Feb. 24 that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar made promises to President George W. Bush in Texas, that were more concrete than just statements of "solidarity" with the U.S. cause against Saddam Hussein.

On Feb. 25, the daily leaked that Aznar is thinking of deploying a naval task force around the aircraft carrier Prince of Asturia to the Persian Gulf, as well as an unspecified number of F-18 aircraft. It is not even ruled out that ground forces that have been accustomed through training to service in extremely hot and arid areas in Spain, will be deployed to the Gulf region.

However, Spanish citizens, like Britons, strongly oppose the war in Iraq, as was emphasized in Feb. 26 coverage in El Mundo and El Pais. After 240,000 demonstrators hit the streets of Madrid Feb. 23 to protest against Aznar for the Prestige affair (the oiltanker that broke up and sank off the Iberian coast), as well as against his Iraq policy, Foreign Minister Ana Palacio—who like Aznar is peddling the U.S. warhawk line on Iraq—was confronted with harsh criticism in Parliament coming from all parties. This, of course, had been preceded by the gigantic anti-war demonstrations in Spain—the largest in Europe—on Feb. 15, involving nearly 4 million people.

After the Parliamentary debate Feb. 23, Aznar rushed to the U.S., meeting with President Bush and working with him to edit the second Iraq resolution subsequently presented to the UN Security Council.

The Spanish opposition parties—PSOE, CIU,IU PNV, Coalition Canaria, and Grupo Mixto—are now working on a motion inspired by the German-French memorandum which was put forward in the UN Security Council. A debate is to take place beginning this week, in which the opposition wants Aznar to explain his policy.

Aznar Urged Bush To Muzzle Rumsfeld

Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Feb. 27, said he told President Bush during their Feb. 22-23 meeting in Crawford, Texas, "We need a lot of Powell and not much of Rumsfeld." "The more Powell speaks and the less Rumsfeld speaks, that wouldn't be a bad thing altogether," Aznar told the Journal.

British Treasury Emergency Plans Central to Preparations for Iraq War

The plans for emergency measures released by the British Treasury (See ECONOMICS NEWS DIGEST) are central to the psychological operations for the Iraq war, but also indicate that something very big, leading to a "meltdown," may soon erupt in the financial system, stated a well-informed City of London source last week.

He told EIR Feb. 26: "This is a Treasury 'Green Paper,' a consultative document, asking for comment from City practitioners. On the surface, what it is about, is that the Treasury, with Army personnel, could take over the City, and run it topdown, if the City is hit with a dirty bomb, or some other big terror outrage.

"But," he went on, "it also reflects concern, that there could be a disturbance somewhere else, where the markets melt down. Most dicey is the insurance sector. What happens if there is a mega-disaster, really big terrorism, for example, and there are $100 billion in insurance claims, which drive the insurance companies under?

"Then there is the clear element, that this is an attempt to get us into a mood for war. It is the management of psychology that is typical of the Blair government. They are trying to create an emergency atmosphere. They are especially worried, because there are significant indications that there will be a large degree of opposition to Blair, in the Parliament debate tonight." (There was.) "This is politically risky for Blair. And the way this government operates, is by control of mass psychology."

The City of London source then pointed to one other, most important factor: "I can tell you, that there is some puzzlement in official circles, about where the losses in the bond markets have ended up. The suspicion is that it ended up in the already shaky pension/insurance sector. But there have been so many corporate bond defaults, that this must end up somewhere. There could be something lying in the accounts, that current accounting rules have covered up. This could indicate, that something very ominous is happening out there in the financial system, and it will break publicly, soon."

Ari Fleischer Arrogantly Treats Vatican as Just Another State

In a White House press briefing Feb. 26, spokesman Ari Fleischer answered a question on the Vatican's opposition to the Iraq war by saying that "The Vatican is considered a sovereign nation" and that "The Pope has historically played an important role in international dialogue and has the right to participate in it," but President Bush "will take a decision in light of what he considers most appropriate to protect Americans."

Officially, the Vatican played down the statement, but the bishops' daily Avvenire characterized it as offensive. La Stampa reported that, "for a long time, the Vatican has had strong doubts of the Presidential staff's ability to assess the role and influence of the Catholic Church in these events. 'When Condoleezza Rice claims that she does not understand the Pope's position, has she really read what John Paul II says?' a collaborator of the Pope said."

Meanwhile, the Vatican continues to exercise moral pressure on world governments. Monsignor Tauran visited Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, Feb. 26, where he insisted against saying "yes" to any U.S. request. Lithuania is a member of the European bloc supporting the U.S. against Iraq. The next day, he briefed all ambassadors to the Holy See on the Pope's position on the Iraq war. In the morning, Archbishop Renato Martino had done the same with 20 ambassadors of European nations, in a meeting organized by the Greek ambassador.

The Pope received Spanish Premier Aznar and the deputy chairman of the Iranian Parliament, Seyed Mohammed Reza Khatami, on Feb. 27.

All rights reserved © 2003 EIRNS