Iraq in Need of Funding for Sewage, Water Infrastructure--New WMW

[Gloria]

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


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR OCTOBER 8, 2004

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--NOW FOR THE REAL BATTLE OF SAMARRAH (Toby Dodge monitors developments in Iraq at Queen Mary College at the University of London. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC), he said establishing effective civilian control of such Iraqi trouble spots will be the government's most challenging task. He said the US military may be able to occupy towns and cities, but that there needs to be civilian institutions in place to run them. Dodge said Samarrah will likely be the least difficult of the Sunni cities north of Baghdad to get back under government control because it has a history of opposition to Saddam Hussein. Dodge said Samarrah could be called "an easy first stage" in the whole operation.)



2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAQ IN NEED OF FUNDING FOR SEWAGE, WATER INFRASTRUCTURE (Iraq only has 10 percent of the money needed over the next six years to fix its sewerage and drinking water systems, a dilemma worsened by a US proposal to shift two billion dollars earmarked for the sector to security, the public works minister said on Thursday…The US government promised to pump 18.4 billion dollars (15 billion euros) into reconstruction projects in Iraq after last year's invasion. But a month ago it revealed a plan to shift some of this cash into beefing up the country's security forces in response to a violent insurgency there. Barwari said this move would affect her ministry of municipalities and public works the most, with two billion dollars of four billion initially promised set to be siphoned off.)



3//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--MAJORITY OF NEWSPAPERS BACK COALITION’S RETURN (Australia's major newspapers have overwhelmingly endorsed Prime Minister John Howard's re-election…The Sydney Morning Herald made a historic move to end its tradition of endorsing a party to win government. "There comes a time when a newspaper, having expressed its voting preference for more than 170 years, must renew and reassess its claim on independence so that its pursuit of truth is not only free of partisanship and without fear or favour but is seen to be so," it said. "From today, the Herald will no longer endorse a political party.")



4//The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines--ABOLISH CONGRESS FOR 3 YEARS, SAVE P67B—ARROYO LAWYER (Yesterday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's election lawyer proposed that the country go "Congress-less" for three years -- from 2007 to 2010 -- to save at least P67.7 billion that could help the country squeeze itself out of financial difficulties. In a statement sent to the Inquirer, lawyer Romulo Macalintal noted that there hasn't been a shortage of suggested solutions, "but nothing seems to attract attention and implementation." Macalintal proposed the "radical" step of amending the Constitution so that the election of new members of Congress and 12 senators in 2007 would not be held as scheduled.)



5//The Daily Times, Pakistan--RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN PLANS TO VISIT IRAN(Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Iran where Russia will continue to assist in development of a civilian nuclear programme, a senior Russian official said here Thursday. “We do not have a concrete date for a visit by the president to Iran, but there is a firm agreement with the Iranian side that this visit will take place in the foreseeable future,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alekseyev said.)

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