Bush's 'Transfer of Power' Gambit/Asia Times---New World Media Watch

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 23, 2004

1//The Independent, UK--1, 700 EXTRA TROOPS COULD BE SENT TO IRAQ TO REPLACE SPANIARDS (Britain's military planners are drawing up contingency plans to send up to 1,700 extra troops to Iraq in response to the escalating violence. Senior defence sources have told The Independent that lead elements could be flown out at very short notice if there were more bombings such as the ones that killed 68 people, including 17 children, in the south of the country on Wednesday…Tony Blair insisted yesterday that there were no immediate plans to reinforce British forces. But just a few hours earlier, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said: "The troop numbers are kept under review; the Prime Minister made this clear yesterday in the House of Commons.)



2//The Guardian, UK--US WANTS BRITISH TO MOVE NORTH INTO HEART OF IRAQ FIGHTING (The Ministry of Defence is resisting US pressure on Britain to extend its sphere of military influence in Iraq to some of the most violent parts of the country, including the capital Baghdad. Britain is being leant on by the US military, although no formal request has been issued, to provide a new headquarters unit in south-central Iraq to replace Spanish troops being pulled out by the new Madrid government…British defence sources said they were unenthusiastic about filling the vacuum created by the quicker than expected departure of Spanish troops, triggered by the unexpected election victory of the anti-war Socialist government.)



3//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--BUSH’S ‘TRANSFER OF POWER’ GAMBIT (The White House is creating a parallel political regime in Baghdad. It has ordered construction of the largest American embassy in the world to accommodate an extraordinary 3,000 employees, far larger than any other US diplomatic mission. Many of these "diplomats" will be assigned to the various Iraqi government departments as "advisers," or co-equal authorities, effectively sharing in the operations of the Iraqi government. According to the progressive British journalist and film-maker John Pilger, writing in the New Statesman on April 17: "There will be no handover . The new regime will be stooges, with each ministry controlled by American officials and with its stooge army and stooge police force run by the Americans." Evidence that the US plans to impose itself on future Iraqi governments is embedded in the interim constitution passed by the IGC: all laws and regulations emanating from the CPA must be recognized as valid in the future. Whether this clause is to be retained in the permanent constitution is not known. Many CPA regulations are designed to control the economy.)



4//The Daily Times, Pakistan--US GENERAL SAYS PAKISTAN ARMY CAN HANDLE OPERATIONS IN TRIBAL AREAS (Gen Barno said the two sides “share concerns about foreign fighters” and added that Islamabad should “continue operations to capture or kill inside Pakistan’s sovereign territory”. Taking a different line from the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, Gen Barno said, “We are all trying to do more against terrorism” and “have set high standards for ourselves”. Ambassador Khalilzad had asked Islamabad to do more on April 17 when he met the same group of Pakistani journalists, prompting the Pakistan Foreign Office to hit back the next day and describe Mr Khalilzad as suffering from ‘Attention Deficit Disorder’.)



5//The Daily Star, Lebanon--PALESTINIANS DEVASTATED BY ID REVOCATION (Hundreds of Palestinians received a hard blow earlier this week when Interior Minister Elias Murr said he was preparing measures aimed at withdrawing Lebanese IDs from them. The minister said that up to 4,000 IDs awarded in 1996 were earmarked for cancellation. The Palestinians most likely to be affected by the cancellation are those hailing from the seven border villages with Lebanon…Many believe that the minister's decision was prompted by political considerations…Meanwhile, Ahmed Hajj, who is a young man living in the complex, said that he had made plans to do his compulsory Lebanese military service. "What shall I do now. Shall I wait for the unknown? Moreover, what happens to the naturalized people that have already completed their compulsory military service, married and had children? Is it possible for this to end with a mark of a pen? We call on Lebanese officials to do us justice," he said.)

[teryang]

1. Biden ripped the "Gambit" to shreds today

After calling the so called coalition a major league team with one player and 8 little leaguers, he went on to say "tell me what changes on July 1?"

To call it a gambit is to give it a status it doesn't deserve. The chimp regime doesn't have a plan and has taken no initiatives. The state department spokesman actually was looking to UN officials to do something to clarify the form of the interim government.

Biden's response was, "give me a break, give me a break! Do you know how these things are done?"

The administration must have known he was laying in wait for them after his major policy speech before the CSIS. I don't agree with Biden's policy goals but he has done his homework and made this second string team from pentagon, state, and USAID look like completely unprepared amateurs.

I'd gather from Hagels approach that he's in a hurry to declare sovereignty in Iraq and have everyone come home.

[joanski01]

2. I'm so glad that Biden is

on top of this. I saw his interview with Judy Woodruff yesterday. He really told it like it was. Apparently, the White House has shut Dick Lugar completely out. They are angry. I believe I heard Judy say that she would be interviewing Lugar today 4/23.

[dusty64]

4. Glad to see Biden

actually opposing something.

[teryang]

5. Actually Biden supports the neo-con goals

...which were actually little more than window dressing and propaganda for the invasion. Biden actually thinks we should go ahead and try to establish a stable representative government in Iraq and pour in the hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of billions of dollars to do it. And he says they should be honest with the American people about what it's going to cost in treasure and lives. Of neo-cons Biden says "these are brilliant people, these are smart people." He is advocating undertaking an effort to build Iraq that goes way beyond anything the neo-cons ever contemplated.

Biden wants NATO and the UN to pick up a big part of the tab. Personally, I think he's way off base. While he is right about the need for international stewardship, any country that signs on for this dangerous mission, fraught with political and military risks, is going to need to be paid off. This is where the neo-cons in their neo-colonial competition with old europe balk. They just won't give Europe a piece of the pie. Do you think the Europeans would get a fair offer of participation from Cheney or Rumsfeldt? They only deal with pathetically weak countries (Biden calls them the little leaguers) to whom they can dictate terms and buy off cheaply.

[July]

3. And no-one in Congress wants to know why Iraq merits the

largest U.S. embassy in the world.

Of course, the average American is completely unaware of this fact.