| Author | Message | | Guest-400c | | Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2003 7:04 am Post subject: War for Iraq and Control of Middle East well Underway |
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Subj: War for Iraq and Control of Middle East well Underway
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THE WAR IS ALREADY WELL UNDERWAY
Iran and Turkey sending troops into Iraq as regional war escalates
Israelis preparing to start expelling Palestinians
MID-EAST REALITIES - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 2/19/2003: With US and Israeli Special Forces already operating in parts of Iraq; with nearly a quarter-million American and UK Troops already positioned to attack, with Iraq already divided on the ground and by 'no-fly zones' in the air, the war for Iraq and for control of the Middle East is already well underway. All that remains is the massive bombing campaign -- itself now set to 'shock and awe' in ways never before seen on Planet Earth -- followed by the ground invasion to take actual control of the country and kill/capture its current leadership. Meanwhile the Israelis are attacking the Palestinians more and more brutally, the apartheid-regime more firmly in place than ever, and clear signs of Israeli planning to 'expel' initially at least many thousands of Palestinians now evident. As for the Bush Regime in Washington, the President is more cocky than ever, General Powell has now largely discredited himself, and National Security Adviser Rice showed on TV over the weekend her weak, nervous, and dangerously simplistic personality. Iranian and Turkish troops are now on the move it appears. And let's not forget North Korea and what may be plans by the US to strike at that country's nuclear-processing plants also in the weeks ahead. As Walter Cronkite publicly warned some months ago now, the Bush Regime, in tandem with the Israelis, is risking igniting World War III.
U.S. LOSES PATIENCE AS SHIPS NEAR TURKEY CAN'T UNLOAD TROOPS
ANKARA - 19 February - WorldTribune — The United States has threatened to review its strategic relationship with Turkey unless Ankara immediately approves the deployment of tens of thousands of American troops now waiting on ships near Turkish ports.
The new U.S. approach was in reaction to yet another Turkish delay of a request by Washington for the deployment of up to 40,000 American troops in Turkey.
Turkey's parliament has not received a government request for U.S. troop deployment, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Gul will not ask for a parliamentary vote until negotiations over a U.S. compensation package with Turkey are completed.
"The United States has thousands of troops on ships waiting outside of Turkish ports and Ankara won't come to a decision," a Western diplomatic source said. "This situation is quickly coming to a head. It's a matter of hours and days."
[On Wednesday, NATO approved the deployment of early-warning aircraft, PAC-2 systems and NBC [nuclear-biological-chemical] response units to Turkey. The decision ended weeks of a stalemate over alliance help to Turkey.]
Turkish sources said the latest delay has infuriated the Bush administration. They said Washington is threatening to review its strategic relations with Ankara unless it quickly decides to allow U.S. combat troops in the country.
"If parliament doesn't pass the proposal, we will review our relations and they could suffer enormous damage," the Ankara-based Hurriyet daily quoted a U.S. official in Washington as saying. "We wouldn't forget such a thing."
On Tuesday, the Gul government relayed to U.S. ambassador Robert Pearson a new proposal for a compensation package for Turkey. Ankara was said to have asked for up to $25 billion in economic and military aid to compensate for losses incurring from a war against Iraq. The Sabah daily reported that the Turkish request would include $10 billion in grants.
In contrast, the United States is said to have offered no more than $4 billion in grants, with another $8 billion loan guarantees. Washington is expected to respond to the latest Turkish proposal by early Thursday.
"The other side must meet our demands, and if they do, then we shall see," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the ruling Justice and Development Party and regarded as the leading civilian authority in Turkey. "After this is finalized, the authorization will come to parliament."
Turkish President Ahmet Sezer said his country could not allow the deployment of foreign troops without a UN decision. He cited Turkey's constitution, which restricts the entry of foreign troops.
US CONCERN AS IRANIAN-BACKED TROOPS ENTER IRAQ
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Guy Dinmore in Washington
[Financial Times - UK - 18 Feb]: Iranian-backed Iraqi opposition forces have crossed into northern Iraq from Iran with the aim of securing the frontier in the event of war, according to senior Iranian officials.
The forces, numbering up to 5,000 troops, with some heavy equipment, are nominally under the command of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, a prominent Iraqi Shia Muslim opposition leader who has been based in Iran since 1980 and lives in Tehran.
A US State Department official said he was aware of reports that part of Ayatollah Hakim's Badr brigade had crossed into northern Iraq but declined further comment. Analysts close to the administration of President George W. Bush said the US was concerned about the intentions of this new element in an increasingly complicated patchwork of forces in northern Iraq.
Turkey has long had a limited military presence in northern Iraq, and US special forces began moving into the region several months ago. The Badr brigade has been trained and equipped by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and could be regarded as a proxy force of the Iranian government.
Iranian officials insist that force's role in the north is defensive but its presence will exacerbate the concerns of the US and especially the Arab world that military intervention in Iraq will lead to a permanent disintegration of the country. Through inserting a proxy force, Iran is underlining that it cannot be ignored in future discussions over Iraq's make-up.
Ayatollah Hakim's forces had previously been based in southern Iran, close to Iraq. Two months ago they began moving into the area of northern Iraq governed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of two Kurdish parties that rule an area the size of Switzerland outside Baghdad's control.
A senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named, said the presence of Ayatollah Hakim's troops was defensive and aimed at countering a possible attack on Iran by the People's Mujahideen Organisation (MKO), an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq and strongly supported by President Saddam Hussein.
Another official said the Badr force had moved into an area near Darbandikhan, a depopulated and rugged stretch of hills and ravines about 15 miles from the closest point on the Iranian border.
The MKO used Iraqi territory to mount attacks on Iran during the 1980-88 war between Iran and Iraq. The Kurdish parties controlling northern Iraq have also expressed fears that Mr Hussein would try to use the MKO against them in the event of a US-led invasion of Iraq.
Ayatollah Hakim is the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), a mainly Shia Muslim group that fought in the failed 1991 uprising against Baghdad in southern Iraq. More recently Sciri has taken part in talks between the Iraqi opposition and the US.
His office in Tehran denied that the Badr brigade had moved into northern Iraq but said Sciri had maintained forces in that region for several years, gathered from Iraqi Shia who had fled the Iraqi regime. A representative of the PUK also denied there had been a recent movement across the border but confirmed a presence of Sciri forces.
U.S.-TURKISH TENSIONS MOUNT OVER AID, TROOPS
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters - 19 Feb) - The United States said on Wednesday it had made a final offer of economic aid to Turkey to secure access to its bases for a possible invasion of Iraq, and was preparing to deploy American troops elsewhere in the region if Ankara rejected it.
"There comes a moment when plans must be made, decisions must be made, and (negotiations) cannot stretch on indefinitely," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, issuing what amounted to a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum.
While Turkish bases would be "desirable" as a springboard for a possible invasion of Iraq from the north, Fleischer said the U.S. military had the flexibility to carry out its mission without Turkey's help.
With Washington indicating a possible invasion could be just weeks away, U.S. war planners were counting on a quick agreement.
But Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday there were no plans for a parliamentary vote this week on allowing U.S. troops on Turkish soil for a possible attack.
"A date for the motion has not been set either for during the week or the weekend," Erdogan told NTV television.
Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul spoke by telephone with Secretary of State Colin Powell, but a written statement from Gul's office indicated the two NATO allies were no closer to reaching an agreement.
In exchange for Turkish help, the United States has offered Ankara an economic aid package that includes $6 billion in grants and U.S. government backing for up to $20 billion in loans that Ankara could secure through private banks.
But Turkey has, so far, balked at the offer, demanding more than $30 billion in assistance. Much to Washington's displeasure, Ankara deferred any decision to ask parliament to approve U.S. troop deployments pending an agreement.
Frustrated by Ankara's demands, White House officials dug in, describing the $26 billion aid package as final.
"There's not a lot of time left," Fleischer said. "Turkey has heard authoritatively what the position of the United States government is. And now Turkey has a decision to make and we look forward to hearing that decision."
With U.S. navy ships steaming into the region, U.S. officials said the possibility is growing that Washington will redirect forces southwards to join a main invasion force gathering near Iraq's southern borders.
"Turkey, of course, is desirable from a strategic point of view for any military staging, but the military of the United States is sufficiently flexible that whatever decision is made the United States will still be successful in carrying out any military operations," Fleischer said.
Facing record U.S. budget deficits, Bush is under pressure at home to limit the size of any aid package, which must be approved by Congress.
Congressional committees were told last month that the United States was offering no more than $14 billion to Turkey.
The package has since doubled in size and congressional sources say the administration has yet to brief them on the details. One congressional aide described the amounts sought by Turkey as "mind-boggling."
A complete breakdown in negotiations could hurt Turkish relations with the United States, which has backed Ankara through two recent economic crises and pressed its case for European Union membership.
But U.S. officials said it was premature to speculate about any diplomatic fallout.
"There's a long-standing strategic relationship that we have had with Turkey. And there's a real recognition that in the event of any basing of American forces out of Turkey, it will carry risks for Turkey economically," Fleischer said.
The United States is demanding that the proposed loans fall under the terms of Turkey's program with the International Monetary Fund, a condition Ankara resisted.
Officials are also sparring over the command structure for U.S. and Turkish troops that could enter northern Iraq.
U.S. officials acknowledge that Turkey is in a bind politically. Opinion polls show four out of five Turks oppose a possible war. Many fear the fallout could undermine the country's weak economy and stir unrest among Turkey's Kurds who mainly live in a region bordering northern Iraq.
But Turkish support could prove critical in shortening any war and cutting any American casualties by allowing U.S. troops to launch a secondary, northern front into Iraq to relieve a main invasion from Kuwait.
MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org
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To start or stop receiving MER (there is no cost) - http://www.MiddleEast.Org/subscribe | |  | | Guest-400c | | | | Guest-400c | | | | Guest-400c | | | | Guest-400c | | Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2003 7:32 am Post subject: JINSA Zionist Extremists Contributed to N. Korea Crisis |
| Zionist (David Frum) Associated with JINSA Zionists Wrote "Axis of Evil" Mention for President Bush, so the JINSA Zionist Extremists have contributed to our current problems with North Korea as well:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/08/jinsa-jewish-zionist-wrote-axis-of-evil-speech.php
The Threat of "Transfer" (Ethnic Cleansing) in Israel and Palestine:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2002/12/15/the-threat-of-transfer-in-israel-and-palestine.php
JINSA Zionist Extremists at Pentagon to Control Iraq:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/04/radical-jinsa-zionists-at-pentagon-to-control-iraq.php
War on Iraq: Conceived in Israel:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/10/the-war-on-iraq-conceived-in-israel.php
JINSA Zionist Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' before Bush Presidency:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2002/12/31/bush-planned-iraq-regime-change-before-becoming-president.php
Israeli sources say war imminent; Iran and Syria next:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/15/israeli-sources-say-war-imminent-iran-and-syria-next.php
Washington's Zionist Chicken Hawks to Reshape Mid East for Israel:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2002/10/25/washington-s-zionist-hawks-to-reshape-mid-east-for-israel.php
JINSA Zionist Extremist Richard Perle Does Not Speak for the Majority of Americans:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/05/every-patriotic-american-needs-to-access-this.php
John Pilger: Urgency of Saving Lives:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/uk-and-europe/2003/02/16/john-pilger-urgency-of-saving-lives.php
TOO MANY SMOKING GUNS TO IGNORE: ISRAEL, US JEWS, IRAQ:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/01/28/too-many-smoking-guns-to-ignore-israel-us-jews-iraq.php
UN REMARKS by Foreign Affairs Ministers of Syria and France (especially comments by Syria about US/UN double standard in not enforcing paragraph 14 of UN Security Council Resolution 687 against Israeli weapons of mass destruction as well):
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/14/un-remarks-by-foreign-affairs-ministers-of-syria-and-france.php
Iraqi Ambassador: UN/US Double Standard with Israeli Nuclear Weapons:
The UN (US) double standard for Israel with paragraph 14 of UN Security Council Resolution 687 against Iraq (which calls for the Middle East to be a zone free of weapons of mass destruction as mentioned below by the Iraqi UN Ambassador) is completely unjust (especially when it comes to Israeli weapons of mass destruction):
Iraq Turns Spotlight on Israel at U.N. Arms Body:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/01/31/iraq-turns-spotlight-on-israel-at-u-n-arms-body.php
The Return of Zionist Extremist Elliott Abrams:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/01/04/return-of-zionist-extremist-elliott-abrams.php
We'll give UN inspectors more time, says Blair:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=378501
Israeli Spy Rumors Fly on Gusts of Truth with 9/11:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2003/02/16/israeli-spy-rumors-fly-on-gusts-of-truth-with-9-11.php
HISTORY MADE AS MORE THAN A MILLION MARCH FOR PEACE:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12646938&method=full&siteid=50143
http://www.maxlogan.com/the_nation.htm#The%20Whole%20World%20is%20Against%20This%20War.
"The Whole World is Against This War."
by John Nichols
"The whole world is against this war. Only one person wants it," declared South African teenager Bilqees Gamieldien as she joined a Cape Town antiwar demonstration on a weekend when it did indeed seem that the whole world was dissenting from George W. Bush's push for war with Iraq.
Millions of protesters marched into the streets of cities from Tokyo to Tel Aviv to Toronto and Bush's home state of Texas to deliver a message expressed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to a crowd of more than one million in London: "It's not too late to stop this war."
Crowd estimates for demonstrations of the kind being seen this weekend are always a source of controversy, especially when nervous politicians -- like British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- try to convince journalists and the public to dismiss the significance of the protests even before they begin. But, faced with a historic show of dissent, even the constantly spinning Blair had to acknowledge that the cost for his unwavering support of the Bush administration on Iraq is turning out to be "unpopular" in his own land.
Britain's Guardian newspaper described the London march as the largest peace demonstration in the country's history. The headline on Sunday morning's Observer newspaper read, "One million. And still they came," and announced that the "massive turnout surpassed the organizers' wildest expectations and Tony Blair's worst fears." Organizers of the British march estimated that as many as 1.5 million were cheering as London Mayor Ken Livingstone told the crowd, "So let everyone recognize what has happened here today: that Britain does not support this war for oil. The British people will not tolerate being used to prop up the most corrupt and racist American administration in over 80 years."
German police said 500,000 marched in Berlin, while organizers put the number considerably higher. In Rome, an estimated one million marched on a day when newspapers reported that polls show 85 percent of Italians do not support a war to disarm Iraq. Organizers put the size of the Madrid crowd at 600,000, while city officials said as many as 1.3 million took to the streets in Barcelona. At least 300,000 people gathered in cities across France.
The protests spread around the globe, to Canada and Mexico, to Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands and Russia, and to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Iraq, South Korea Thailand.
New York's streets were jammed by a crowd that stretched 20 blocks down the city's First Avenue and overflowing onto Second and Third avenues. Estimates of the actual turnout varied wildly, but it seemed reasonable to suggest that at least 300,000 protesters converged for the midtown rally site where Archbishop Desmond Tutu, actors Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover, singers Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte and US Rep. Dennis Kucinich appeared. "Peace! Peace!" shouted Tutu. "Let America listen to the rest of the world -- and the rest of the world is saying: 'Give the inspectors time.'"
Among those expressing opposition to plans for war was Adele Welty, whose son, Timothy, was a firefighter killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. "Timothy was at the World Trade Center on September 11 to save lives," said Welty. "I don't feel that he would sanction innocent lives either in this country or in Iraq being shed in his name."
The larger-than-expected crowds that rallied around the world fed a renewed confidence among peace activists that the message of signs carried at one of the weekend's first rallies -- in Auckland, New Zealand -- might yet turn out to be right: "We can stop this war."
As yachting's America's Cup opened Saturday in that New Zealand city, a plane chartered by Greenpeace circled over the harbor pulling a huge banner with the words: "No War, Peace Now."
"Bugga off bully boy Bush" was the chant on the streets of Auckland as thousands of anti-war demonstrators proudly launched a weekend of protests. "Millions of people around the world are rallying today to say no to war and New Zealand is the first country to send this message," said Greenpeace's Robbie Kelman. "Countries like New Zealand must add their weight to efforts for a peaceful solution to this crisis."
The point of the global protests, according to Kucinich, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who will travel to Iowa this week to launch a bid for the Democratic presidential race as an explicitly anti-war candidate, was to add grassroots pressure to the diplomatic push to avoid war.
Echoing the view of French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who successfully thwarted a Bush administration to ramp up support for war at Friday's United Nations Security Council meeting, the protests around the world argued that war is not justified at a point when evidence indicates that U.N. inspectors are making progress toward disarming Iraq.
Dramatic early evidence of global antiwar sentiment came from Australia, where an estimated 200,000 people filled the streets of Melbourne Friday to protest their government's support of US plans to attack Iraq.
"This is a huge statement by the people of Melbourne, and the people of Australia to John Howard: that he's gone the wrong way and should turn around," said Australian Senator Bob Brown, a Green, who last week led a successful effort by senators to censure Australian Prime Minister John Howard for dispatching troops to the Persian Gulf region. "The people of Australia don't see this as our war."
Organized by labor, religious and student groups, the Melbourne protest was so large that commentators were speculating on the prospect that Howard could face serious political turmoil over his decision to back US President George W. Bush's push for war with Iraq. Signs at the demonstration Friday announced that this would be "Howard's End." And Australian Senator Natasha Stott Despoja told the crowd, "It is an amazing scene here with you today in a show of solidarity to send a strong message to Prime Minister Howard and the Australian government that Australians don't want war."
The Australian demonstration was described by reporters on the scene as the largest the country has seen in more than 30 years. And it was just the beginning of an around-the-world show of opposition to moves by the US, Britain and a handful of allies to force the United Nations to effectively endorse an preemptive attack on Iraq.
More than 600 demonstrations are expected to take place in communities around the world on -- from San Francisco to New York to London to Seoul, and from Antarctica to Iceland -- by the end of the weekend mobilization. Demonstrations are expected to take place in at least 60 countries. Most of the demonstrations were peaceful, although there were skirmishes in Athens; in New York, where police attempted to prevent marchers from getting near the United Nations; and in Colorado Springs, where arrests were made after demonstrators blocked a road near an Air Force base.
The New York demonstration was one of more than 200 planned for this weekend in US cities from Augusta, Maine, to Yakima, Washington, and Wausau, Wisconsin. What was supposed to be a relatively modest Los Angeles demonstration grew so large that television reporters there were reporting breathlessly on the "massive" show of opposition to war. Actors Martin Sheen and Mike Farrell and director Rob Reiner joined a march that filled Hollywood Boulevard from curb to curb for four blocks. Police claimed 30,000 turned out, while organizers said the crowd ultimately swelled to almost 100,000.
The swelling crowd sizes at Saturday's rallies in the US led organizers of a Sunday march in San Francisco to predict that it could turn into one of the largest demonstrations that west coast city has ever seen.
While weekend demonstrators in the US and Britain were seeking to change the minds of their leaders, crowds in Germany and France were expressing support for moves by the French and German governments to block Bush administration initiatives at the UN. "Help to prevent new suffering, new destruction and new death," read a sign carried by survivors of the Allied bombing of Dresden at the close of World War II. Saturday's huge protests in Berlin mocked U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's criticisms of European war foes, with signs reading, "Old Europe is Against the War."
No leader could have felt more pressure Saturday than Britain's Blair, whose personal approval ratings have dipped dramatically as he has continued to side with Bush's position on war.
Understanding that a switch by Blair could force Bush to rethink his position, Jesse Jackson flew to London to join rock stars, actors, playwrights, former Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella and former British parliamentarian Tony Benn, who recently traveled to Iraq to interview Saddam Hussein, for the Hyde Park rally. "Iraq is a challenge that must be put in perspective. It is not the priority that Bush and Blair have made it to be," Jackson said after arriving in London.
Among those marching with Jackson and the others was British author John Mortimer, long one of the most prominent members of Blair's Labour Party. Noting revelations that Blair's government doctored intelligence reports to create a false impression that they revealed clear and present dangers from Iraq, Mortimer said in announcing his decision to join the London demonstration: "We are being persuaded into war by lies and half truths. A secret service document, making it clear there is no evidence of a connection between Saddam and al Qaeda, is disregarded. A 10-year-old article by an undergraduate is presented, and solemnly referred to by Colin Powell as if it were the latest government report, and no effort has been made for our Government to tell the truth about it." | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
