MIDEAST NEWS DIGEST
World Condemns Israeli Attacks as War Crimes
An Israel F-16 jet dropped a one-ton bomb on an apartment block in the Gaza Strip, killing 16 people, including four infants and seven small children, and wounding 145 others on July 23. This massacre was ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who called the operation "a great success." It is the prelude to launching a larger war in the Middle East.... See EIW's INDEPTH section this week for a full report on the Gaza massacre, and Ariel Sharon's war crimes.
Iran's President Khatami Calls for International Coalition Of Peace
Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 23, where he was making a four-day visit, Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami has called for an international coalition to promote peace, one that is truly intended to eradicate violence, terrorism, and warmongering. This idea, proposed in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedy, is a thematic extension of Iran's "Dialogue Among Civilizations," which is not aimed at forming a coalition against any particular country or power. In his keynote address to a conference called "Dialogue Among Civilizations and Its Challenges," Khatami said:
"The pioneers of this coalition will be scholars, intellectuals, civil institutions, international organizations, media and educational networks that will play active parts in the eradication of violence tainting the face of human thought, religion, and culture.... This world according to our faith is nothing but the manifestation of God's love and compassion."
One day earlier, at a news conference covered by Agence France Presse, President Khatami condemned plans for U.S. military action against Iraq to oust President Saddam Hussein, warning against the pervasive "environment of war" that is being pushed from Washington.
"We live in a very frightening situation today. In the course of world history, we have never witnessed war being promoted so much. Even in the course of the two world wars and the very difficult era of the Cold War, never has such an environment of war been created in the world by the U.S. and the U.S. Administration."
While terrorism is a "very horrendous and dangerous phenomenon," he said, U.S. behavior in the aftermath of last September's terror attacks was misguided. "Terror is a global issue, and the entire world should be mobilized against it..., but the war environment created today is very worrying."
"The behavior of the U.S. today is neither in the interest of the U.S. nor of the world...."
During his trip, Khatami also urged that the U.S. and other nations learn from Iran's long, debilitating war with Iraq. He said that the U.S. should accept that other nations have a right to choose their own paths. "We had eight years of war in Iran and we had a lot of problems with Iraq. We still believe that Iraq should abide by UN Security Council resolutions and by the public opinion of the world....
"But at the same time, we condemn any foreign interference in Iraq and we recognize their sovereign integrity. No one has the right to decide for the people of Iraq, they should decide for themselves."
Russia and Iran Talk on Nuclear Cooperation, Regional Stability
Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Trubnikov, visiting Tehran, said July 20 that Russia is ready to receive and accept new proposals to build more nuclear plants in Iran. Speaking to press after talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohsen Aminzadeh, Trubnikov said cooperation on the Bushehr nuclear power plant does not violate international accords, and would continue. Asked about Bush's criticism of the cooperation, and the U.S. President's attacks on Iran, Trubnikov said, "Russia's stance is clear; we do not accept the U.S. President's view on the axis of evil. Iran has had good cooperation in regional developments generally, especially in realization of peace and the campaign against terrorism."
Trubnikov was in India before arriving in Iran. At the end of his New Delhi visit, he stressed Moscow's desire for a trilateral cooperation scheme among Iran, Russia, and India, in the matter of Afghanistan.
The Tehran Times carried an editorial emphasizing the importance of such a triangular relationship, and added that Russia and Iran must also discuss ways and means of preventing a U.S. strike on Iraq. The editorial proposed that Russia persuade Iraq to accept the UN inspectors, to deprive the U.S. of a pretext for attacking. It said the attack against Iraq was clear; the only question was the timing. The editorial also stressed the need for Russia to reaffirm its commitment to nuclear cooperation, and to consolidate the "Tehran-Moscow defense cooperation and joint infrastructure development projects."
On July 27, the Washington Post reported that Russia and Iran have laid out plans to produce a total of five nuclear energy plants.
Wolfowitz Crazies Targetting Iran for Military Strikes
A retired U.S. counterintelligence specialist has warned that the neo-conservative crazies in the Bush Administration, led by Paul Wolfowitz, may be immediately targetting Iran for a military strike after their demands that Russia stop cooperation with Iran were rejected.
The source, who has had repeated run-ins with the "cabal" because of his opposition to a new war against Iraq, told EIR that the same crowd that is fanatically pushing the war with Iraq, is putting so much pressure on the Iran question that a "surgical" bombing of Iran could actually precede an Iraq war, and could come this summer. The Wolfowitz empire gang is saying that if the Iranian nuclear energy plant goes on line as scheduled next year, "then the plutonium can be used to supply terrorists to make a dirty bomb." Therefore, a preemptive attack (along the lines of Israel's 1981 bombing of the Iraqi Osirik reactor) has to be carried out. This drive has become especially pronounced since discussions between the U.S. and Russia about the Iranian nuclear plant broke down.
Despite the substantial opposition from the Pentagon uniformed services, and others against an Iraq war, this source explained that Defense Department neo-cons, Doug Feith, and Wolfowitz are so aggressive that they are overpowering the resistance, and will go to any lengths to get the war with Iraq. For example, when Wolfowitz was told that Turkey will not participate in the Iraq war, a new plan was floated to go to war against Iraq with no ground basing at all. Considered by military professionals to be an insane, utopian idea, this would mean massive air strikes from fighter planes deployed from aircraft carriers, combined with B-1 and B-2 attacks against Iraq.
This report about Iran is especially interesting given a Washington Post "signal piece" which appeared on the front page of the July 23 edition, indicating that the Bush Administration is ending probes and discussions with Iranian moderates around President Khatami, in exchange for supporting "street revolution." To further this end, Wolfowitz cabal ally and NSC official Zalmay Khalilzad, taped an interview in Farsi for Voice of America to broadcast inside Iran, supporting opposition to the government.
Defense Minister Warns That Iran Will Retaliate Against U.S. Attacks
According to IslamOnline, Iranian Defense Minister Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani was reported in the Jam-e-Jam daily newspaper of July 23, to have warned that "Iran would answer in minimum time, reciprocally and in a powerful way, any military attack against its political, military, media and social bodies." He added, "Any fast and short-term action of the U.S. against the Islamic Republic will receive multiple and varied responses." The Defense Minister's statements were published several days after reports circulated in the Iranian media that the U.S. has plans to invade Iran.
Only U.S. Cutoff of Aid Has Stopped Sharon in the Past
Washington Post veteran columnist Jackson Diehl reports on "Sharon's Stealth Plan," to publicly lie about wanting a peace agreement with the Palestinians, while pursuing an expansion of the occupation of the territories.
Diehl writes that the only time Ariel Sharon was really challenged by the U.S. on the issue, was when President George H.W. Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker III cut off a U.S. loan-guarantee program, over Congressional opposition, an act which contributed to voting Sharon and Shamir out, and voting Yitzhak Rabin in. Today, says Diehl, Sharon is nothing if not absolutely consistent, in pursuit of sinking any possibility of, or inclination for, side-by-side Israeli and Palestinian states through his new settlements policy. Repeatedly, Sharon agrees publicly with Bush, but keeps right on building new settlemetns illegally in the West Bank.
Sharon has achieved this expansion, despite a serious budget crisis in Israel. He is so blatant that, four days before Bush gave his "peace initiative" speech in June, tenders were announced for construction of 957 new units. And when Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer announced with fanfare that the Army would shut down 11 new settlements in July, Peace Now showed that only three unpopulated outposts were dismantled, but not a single settler was moved.
When confronted on the issue, Sharon's response is that there is no expansion, only "natural growth."
Sharon Is the Obstacle to Peace
Before the deadly massacre of civilians by the Israeli defense forces in Gaza on July 23, a number of leading Arab officials were warning President Bush that Sharon stands in the way of peace.
On July 18, speaking to reporters in Washington after his meeting with Bush, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal stated that the prospects for Middle East peace would improve were Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "not there." The Saudi Foreign Minister stated, "[The Sharon government] must be changed by the Israelis themselves, those who want peace.... If the Israelis can stand firm for this peace, then they will achieve the security they need. If they leave it to Sharon, he will lead the Middle East only to tragedy and conflict." Saud al-Faisal stated, "[Sharon] is a man who thinks still on the lines of Fortress Israel, that the only good Arab is a dead Arab, and that Israel is facing enemies from all sides...."
The same warning was being made by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in a series of diplomatic meetings. Mubarak met July 19 with Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, at his residence near Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting dealt with the escalating situation in the Middle East, Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and efforts underway for bringing the peace process back on track. Mubarak was on a two-day visit to Switzerland for talks with King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Zayed. On July 22, in Cairo, Mubarak began a series of meetings with other Arab leaders during national celebrations, where he accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of blocking peace negotiations, and said that the only path to peace is an independent Palestinian state.
'Baghdad by Christmas'?
A rabid article appears in the British Hollinger Corporation's July 20 Spectator magazine, under the headline "Baghdad by Christmas." In it, Bruce Anderson says that, after a period of hesitation and disagreement, the U.S. has now accepted the idea that if they want to get rid of Saddam Hussein, they will have to go in and get him. Saddam can't be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, or to use other weapons of mass destruction. Anderson proclaims: "There will be risks in preventing him; we are about to enter into a most dangerous period in world history. But those risks are manageable and ultimately containable." Saddam "has thrown down a fundamental challenge to us, to our way of life, and to our hopes for a peaceful future.... He cannot be allowed to prevail. Saddam delenda est."
While Anderson is just a writer, Hollinger's stable of operatives includes members of the war coalition "molehill" inside the Bush Administration, including Richard Perle. Hollinger also keeps on tap Zbigniew Brzezinski, advocate of the "Clash of Civilizations" showdown.
Occupation Causes Malnutrition Among Palestinians
Palestinian children under 5 are severely malnourished. A study sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development has surveyed 1,000 Palestinian homes, and found that for children under 5 years old, 30% suffer from chronic malnutrition, and 21% from acute malnutritionthus, over 50% of Palestinian children under 5 are malnurished.
This horrific reality is directly attributable to Israel's war drive. In 2000, the comparable numbers were 7.5% of children under 5 suffering from chronic malnutrition, and 2.5% suffering acute malnutrition. The economic strangulation of the Palestinian people with Israeli-imposed curfews, closed borders, refusal to allow Palestinians to travel to Israel for work, and withholding of $600 million of tax monies due to the Palestinians, have all contributed to intolerable conditions.
The survey is not yet complete, and therefore the statistics for the entire population may eventually change. However, the results so far show:
*The World Bank says 70% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live below the poverty line of less than $2 per dayand this is up from 50% as of 90 days ago in April 2002;
*Some 30% of 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza depend on food handouts, and the number increases daily;
*The March-April 2002 incursions led to a 50% increase in the number of home demolitions since the beginning of the intifada;
*Increased risk of communicable disease outbreak exists due to lack of potable water, residence overcrowding, etc.
Meanwhile, according to the Jerusalem Post July 21, there are bread shortages in Israel, following a flourmillers' strike that began last week, to protest the high price of imported wheat. The costs have soared, as the Israeli shekel has depreciated against other currencies. The owner of one bakery supplying a third of the bread consumed in Jerusalem, said he can't recall this bad a bread shortage, even in 1948, when the city was under siege during warfare. The Industry and Trade Minister is to meet July 21 with millers and bakers, on whether to approve a bread price rise.
Von Sponek: 'Go On, Call Bush's Bluff'
Writing in the London Guardian of July 22, Hans von Sponeck says there is absolutely no basis for a U.S. war against Iraq, nor is there any support for it, whether in the Arab world or internationally. Von Sponeck was the UN humanitarian aid coordinator for Iraq, from 1998-2000, and has just returned from a two-week stay in Iraq. In the commentary, he enumerates how Iraq has been normalizing its relations throughout the Middle East, to the extent that "Iraq's political and economic isolation" in the region "is all but over."
But, he goes on, "a wave of senior U.S. visitors has tried to dislocate these trends toward normalization and reconciliation in this troubled region," especially by effectively undermining the negotiations with the UN on weapons inspectors. This attitude has made Europe, Turkey and the Arab states "increasingly uncomfortable.... An entire region is being destabilized to suit American preferences for political change in Iraq."
Von Sponeck goes on: "Concurrently, a systematic dis- and mis-information campaign, one of the biggest ever undertaken by the U.S. authorities, is intensifying. The U.S. and the international public are being sedated daily, with increasing doses of propaganda about the threat Iraq poses to the world in 2002. In the forefront of those advocating war against Iraq has been the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who sees a military solution as the only option...."
Von Sponek is the second top UN official to speak out against the war on Iraq lies. For documentation, see EIW's INDEPTH this week for former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter's presentation to the British Parliament.
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