[casi] News, 27/7-3/8/02 (5)

[Peter Brooke <pbrooke@DELETETHISukonline.co.uk>]

News, 27/7-3/8/02 (5)

MILITARY MATTERS

*  Iraqi protest over [US and Australian] navy action
*  U.S. refurbishes Iraqi air bases in North
*  Intercepts of Iraqi Vessels Widened
*  Western Morning News: HMS Ocean will not go to Iraq, says MoD
*  US, UK planes raid 16 regions: Iraq
*  Iraqi buildup near border puts Kuwait on heightened alert
*  UN sees no Iraqi troop buildup near Kuwait
*  Whitehall dossier says Saddam plans biological weapons for Palestinians

STRATEGIES

*  US may go straight for Iraqi jugular

IRAQI OPPOSITION

*  The last thing the US wants is democracy in Iraq
*  Salvation council appeals Saddam Hussein to resign

NEW WORLD ORDER

*  Studies Find No Link between Depleted Uranium And Balkans Health
Problems: Pentagon


MILITARY MATTERS

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4786695%255E7
03,00.html

*  IRAQI PROTEST OVER [US and Australian] NAVY ACTION
Daily Telegraph, 28th July

BAGHDAD: Iraq has protested to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan over what
Baghdad called "piracy and provocative acts" by US and Australian naval
units against Iraqi vessels in the Gulf, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry says.

Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said in a letter to Mr Annan that the US and
Australian naval units intercepted Iraqi vessels, interrogated their crews
"and sometimes seized the ships and their crews for long periods". He urged
Mr Annan to intervene to stop such activities.

Giving examples, Mr Sabri said: "Two Australian military boats with 20 armed
soldiers aboard attacked Iraq's al-Fida' ferry on June 28 while it was
sailing from Iraq's Umm Qasar port to al-Ma'qal port.

"The soldiers forced their way aboard the ferry, seized its crew, searched
it, broke locks of its store-rooms and made it change course."

He described the presence of units of the US and Australian navies and what
he said were their attacks on civilian ships in the Gulf as an "act of
aggression".


http://menewsline.com/stories/2002/july/07_28_1.html

*  U.S. REFURBISHES IRAQI AIR BASES IN NORTH
Middle East Newsline (extract from longer article), 28th July

Abu Dhabi [MENL] -- The United States is close to completing a project to
refurbish three abandoned Iraqi air force bases in Kurdistan.

Iraqi opposition sources said the effort began nearly a year ago and
involves the repair of runways and facilities meant to accommodate U.S.
warplanes and transport aircraft for any attack on Baghdad. The sources said
the project has been given to Kurdish contractors, with U.S. military
personnel supervising the construction and repairs.

The sources said the aim of the project is to repair and expand runways so
that U.S. C-130 Hercules aircraft can land with American troops and weapons.
They said the United States is also completing facilities for air command
and control operations in Iraq.

The project is said to be part of a U.S. military buildup in and near Iraq.

The Kuwait Al Rai Al Aam daily reported that 25,000 U.S. troops are expected
to arrive in southern Turkey near the Iraqi border. The newspaper, quoting
Iraqi opposition sources, said 7,000 American soldiers have already arrived.


http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR20020728140.6
_027f0010f0245d5d

*  INTERCEPTS OF IRAQI VESSELS WIDENED
Hoover's (Financial Times), 28th July

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  After an eight-year break, a U.S.-led
naval coalition is resuming inspection of vessels in the northern Red Sea
because U.N. sanctions against Iraq are being broken in the area, a U.S.
Navy spokesman said Sunday.

The decision is opposed by Jordan, which is Iraq's largest trading partner
and a key American ally in the Mideast and which complained in the past that
the monitoring hindered its trade.

Lt. Chris Davis, a spokesman with the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, refused to
elaborate on the nature of the "sanctions-busting." Coalition forces in the
Persian Gulf region long have been trying to prevent Iraqi oil smuggling and
stop Iraq-bound cargo ships, except those carrying approved food, medical
supplies or humanitarian items.

"There was sufficient evidence for us to believe that we should expand our
interception operation to the northern Red Sea," Davis said.

A British warship was assigned on July 9 to monitor vessels outside Jordan's
lone sea port at Aqaba, on the Red Sea, Davis said. Fifth Fleet commanders
would not confirm if the ship had arrived.

A Jordanian Cabinet official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
Jordan has not been informed of any U.S. decision to expand the monitoring
operation to just offshore. However, Jordan would oppose such measures
because it already adheres to the letter and spirit of U.N. sanctions on
Iraq, he said.

Those strict sanctions were imposed following Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait, which led to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The sanctions later were
adjusted to allow Baghdad to sell unlimited quantities of crude oil to buy
humanitarian goods.

Baghdad, however, is barred from importing military-related items.

U.S.-led coalition ships monitored the same northern Red Sea area between
1991 and 1994. Jordan said then that the monitoring was hindering its trade
and causing shortages of food and other essential imports.

After the U.S. inspections stopped, Jordan hired British-based Lloyd's
Register to conduct dockside inspections. But that $2.35 million contract
was not renewed in 2000 because Jordan said the inspections strained its
budget and delayed Jordanian-bound cargo.

[.....]

Jordan's powerful Islamic Action Front issued a statement saying the
inspections were an "aggressive American measure" constituting a "violation
of Jordan's sovereignty and will inflict great moral and financial harm."

The Front said the expansion was among the preparations for military action
against Iraq. It urged Jordan to cancel routine military exercises with the
United States and revive a joint Arab defense pact.

[.....]


http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR20020729670.4
_dd83001a8b87dd2c.

*  WESTERN MORNING NEWS: HMS OCEAN WILL NOT GO TO IRAQ, SAYS MOD
Hoover's (Financial Times), 29th July.

THE Ministry of Defence has denied reports that Westcountry marines could be
heading straight back out to the Middle East for a new offensive against
terrorism.

Military experts predicted that marines from Devon and Cornwall could be
heading straight back out to action after returning from Afghanistan after
it was revealed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that the pride of the Royal
Navy, HMS Ocean, has been withdrawn from the forthcoming Navy Days event at
Devonport over the August bank holiday.

It prompted speculation that Devonport-based HMS Ocean would be heading out
to the Gulf as part of a US-led attack.

But yesterday, an MoD spokeswoman said that HMS Ocean would not be going to
Iraq.

"HMS Ocean is in dry dock at Portsmouth for routine maintenance that has
already been delayed on the ship," she said.

"There are no plans for any sort of military action in Iraq for HMS Ocean or
any other ship, tanks or soldier." However, the spokeswoman confirmed that
the vessel would not be at the Navy Days show in next month.

"Unfortunately, Ocean will miss the Navy Days event but this is purely
because of the maintenance work, which is all part of a routine check of the
ship," she added.

HMS Ocean is one of the Navy's newest vessels and can carry 18 helicopters,
four landing craft and around 600 Royal Marines.

She was to be the main attraction at the Navy Days event in Plymouth in
August, but has been withdrawn by the MoD. The MoD's denial comes as a
Westcountry MP said that action against Saddam Hussein should be taken now.

[.....]


http://www.dawn.com/2002/07/29/int10.htm

*  US, UK PLANES RAID 16 REGIONS: IRAQ
Dawn (from AFP), 29th July, 18 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423

BAGHDAD, July 28: US and British warplanes raided "civilian installations"
in southern Iraq on Sunday, an Iraqi military spokesman said, without
reporting casualties.

The planes "carried out raids against 16 regions of southern Iraq and
against civilian and service installations in Wassit province", 160
kilometres from Baghdad, he said, quoted by the official news agency INA.

Iraq says US-British raids in the air exclusion zones have now killed 1,484
Iraqis and wounded 1,422. Baghdad does not recognize the zones, which are
not sanctioned by any UN resolution.

In Baghdad, an estimated 5,000 Arabs held a pro-Iraqi and pro-Palestinian
protest on Sunday outside UN offices, burning US and Israeli flags and
condemning US threats of military action against Iraq.


http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_4.html

*  IRAQI BUILDUP NEAR BORDER PUTS KUWAIT ON HEIGHTENED ALERT
WORLD TRIBUNE.COM, 29th July

Abu Dhabi ‹ Kuwait has drafted an emergency plan in coordination with the
United States as officials reported an Iraqi buildup near the Kuwaiti
border.

On Monday, the Kuwaiti Al Rai Al Aam daily reported that authorities have
cancelled all vacations for civil defense employees until further notice.
The newspaper said the move is part of heightened preparations for an Iraqi
attack.

The Kuwaiti Cabinet was presented with what was described as an emergency
plan to counter an Iraqi military strike on the sheikdom over the next year.

Kuwaiti officials said the plan warns that the sheikdom can expect to be the
first target of an Iraqi attack either prior to or during any U.S. military
campaign to topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein. The Kuwaiti plan
cited the Iraqi military buildup near the Kuwaiti border, Middle East
Newsline reported.

The plan, discussed on Sunday by the Cabinet, is meant to respond to both
internal and external threats from the Saddam regime. Officials said the
plan raises the prospect that Iraqi soldiers will storm Kuwait while
Saddam's agents will try to launch a sabotage campaign within the sheikdom.

[.....]


http://www.dailystarnews.com/200207/31/n2073113.htm#BODY3

*  UN SEES NO IRAQI TROOP BUILDUP NEAR KUWAIT
Daily Star, Bangladesh (from Reuters, AFP, Kuwait/ London), 31st July

A United Nations peacekeeping force in Kuwait said on Tuesday there was no
sign of Iraqi troops building up near the border with the emirate.

"We have not seen such a thing," UNIKOM spokesman Daljeet Bagga told Reuters
in response to a report abroad that Iraqi forces were building up close to
its border with Kuwait.

"There is nothing in the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone between Iraq and Kuwait) or
close to it. We have no confirmation of that," said the U.N. official.

The United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), has been
monitoring the border since the U.S.-led Gulf War ended in 1991 a
seven-month Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. It also enforces a 10-mile
demilitarised zone which runs into Iraq.

Various Kuwaiti ministries and departments have been holding special
meetings in recent days to update emergency plans in case of a U.S.-led
attack on its northern neighbour to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

[.....]


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-373053,00.html

*  WHITEHALL DOSSIER SAYS SADDAM PLANS BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS FOR PALESTINIANS
by Michael Evans
The Times, 3rd August

SADDAM HUSSEIN is suspected of planning to arm a Palestinian terrorist group
with biological weapons to attack either American or Israeli targets.

A Whitehall dossier containing a detailed assessment of Saddam Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction programme, which has been circulated to the
Prime Minister and other senior Cabinet ministers, is understood to focus on
Iraq's biological weapons capability.

Details of the dossier came to light as the United Nations rejected a new
offer from the Iraqi leader. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, said that
an Iraqi letter calling for a further round of technical talks with Hans
Blix, the head weapons inspector, set conditions "at variance" with the
demands of the United Nations Security Council.

Using mobile laboratories for their research, the team of scientists working
for Saddam are believed to be developing a range of biological agents that
can be "delivered" by an aerosol system.

The latest assessment in Washington and London is that Saddam's plan is to
produce a basic weapon that can be used by a terrorist group to attack the
Iraqi leader's enemies, the United States and Israel. In the same way that
Iran has funded and trained terrorist groups to carry out attacks from
Lebanon against Israel, Saddam, according to the assessment, could be
banking on recruiting a Palestinian terrorist group to act on his behalf.

Analysis of US satellite imagery over the past four years has provided
sufficient evidence to show what Saddam has been doing since the expulsion
of the United Nations weapons inspectors in December 1998. While the Iraqi
leader has pursued all elements of his weapons of mass destruction
programme, he has made greatest progress in trying to "weaponise" his
biological systems, using the mobile research laboratories to try to deceive
America's spy satellites.

The Iraqi leader knows from experience that it is far more difficult to hide
work on nuclear weapons because of the substantial infrastructure required.
Saddam's attempts to develop long-range ballistic missiles, capable of
reaching America, have also been carefully monitored from space and there is
no sign that he has succeeded beyond trying to modify old Russian Scud
missiles.

In assessing the threat posed by Saddam's weapons of mass destruction
programme, the emphasis has, therefore, been on his biological warfare
projects, which pose as great a threat as nuclear devices and can be
developed relatively easily away from the sensors of America's spy
satellites.

The Palestinian connection is now at the heart of intelligence thinking.
Despite the belief in some quarters in America that a senior officer in
Saddam's intelligence service met an al Qaeda terrorist in Prague last year,
before September 11, this is given no credence by the CIA, the FBI or by
British Intelligence.

Saddam has funded Palestinian extremist groups for many years, and the
assessment now is that, with the Middle East in turmoil, the Iraqi leader
may see that the best way of taking revenge against the US and Israel is by
using a Palestinian organisation as his proxy terrorists.


STRATEGIES

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/29/1027926853897.html

*  US MAY GO STRAIGHT FOR IRAQI JUGULAR
by David Sanger
The Age (Australia, from New York Times), 29th July

As the Bush administration considers its military options for deposing
Saddam Hussein, senior administration and Pentagon officials say they are
exploring a new, risky approach.

The approach calls for taking Baghdad and one or two key command centres and
weapons depots first, in hopes of cutting off the country's leadership and
causing a quick collapse of the government.

The "inside-out" approach, as some call this Baghdad-first option, would
capitalise on the US military's ability to strike over long distances,
manoeuvring forces to envelop a large target.

Those advocating the plan say it reflects a strong desire to find a strategy
that would not require 250,000 American troops, yet hits hard enough to
succeed. One important aim would be to disrupt Iraq's ability to order the
use of weapons of mass destruction.

The advantages and risks of strikes aimed deep inside the country and
radiating outward are being discussed, according to senior administration
and Defence Department officials.

No formal plan has been presented to President George Bush and several
officials cautioned that alternatives were still under consideration.

The inside-out ideas are essentially the reverse of the US strategy in the
1991 Gulf War that dislodged President Saddam's army from Kuwait. The aim
would be to kill or isolate President Saddam and pre-empt Iraq's use of
weapons of mass destruction, whether against an incoming force, front-line
allies or Israel. These weapons are the wild card in all the outlines of a
military confrontation.

Officials say it may be possible to paralyse an Iraqi command-and-control
system that is highly centralised and authoritarian. Under such a system,
mid-level officers are not taught to improvise, should they be cut off from
commanders.

It is also possible that those mid-level officers, if they fear President
Saddam has been killed, would not bother to fire weapons of mass
destruction.

If President Saddam can be deposed with a smaller invasion force than the
250,000 troops suggested in early drafts, the approach could appeal to
nervous Gulf allies whose bases would be needed.

These states are quietly advocating the quickest and smallest military
operation possible, to lessen anti-American protests on their streets.

But something nearer the 250,000 still might have to be deployed to the
region, to make sure any forces that drop into Baghdad do not become
isolated or surrounded.

[.....]



IRAQI OPPOSITION

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,764608,00.html

*  THE LAST THING THE US WANTS IS DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ
by Nick Cohen
The Observer, 28th July
[The Guardian's Nick Cohen continuing his support for the INC against the
option of another Sunni strongman]

Although everyone is lining up for or against a war on Iraq, few are asking
what the war would be for. We know it would be against Saddam Hussein's
dictatorship. But what will the Americans and their British sidekicks be
fighting to replace the tyrant with?

It's impossible to say with certainty, but most reports from Washington
suggest that Bush wants another tyrant and Blair will concur. The
alternative is the Iraqi National Congress, a loose and fractious coalition,
but one which, for all its faults, is committed to democracy. The CIA and
State Department hate it and the bad example a liberated Iraq would give to
the repressed people of Saudi Arabia.

The hostility has relented a little - the State Department has agreed to
meet the INC on 9 August. We'll have to see what happens, but Iraqi exiles
believe the CIA has a list of 15 approved generals from which a new leader
will be picked.

The prime candidate was General Nizar al-Khazraji, the army chief of staff
when Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the highest-ranking military defector. He
lives in exile in Copenhagen and had nothing to fear except Hussein's
assassins until a Kurdish refugee saw him in the street.

In a scene straight out of Marathon Man, the refugee cried that this was the
man who had levelled his village. The Danish Justice Ministry is now
investigating charges that al-Khazraji was up to his neck in the‰Anfal'
campaign of 1988 (named after the cheery chapter in the Koran on the spoils
of war).

Uncounted numbers of Kurds were driven from their homes and tens of
thousands died in prison camps. Al-Khazraji denies the charges, and many
Kurdish leaders are working on the‰my enemy's enemy principle' and don't
give a damn what he did.

If the US goes for a military hardman, it is likely to find a general
against whom plausible allegations of war crimes can be made. The
alternative is a democratic, federal Iraq, which gives rights to the Kurds
and Shias currently suffering under the apartheid rule of the Sunni
minority, and places the military under civilian control. The INC says
neither Downing Street nor the Foreign Office has raised a voice in support
of its democratic dream. If anything, the Brits are more fanatical
supporters of infinite injustice in the Gulf than the Yanks.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020801/2002080117.html

*  SALVATION COUNCIL APPEALS SADDAM HUSSEIN TO RESIGN
Arabic News, 1st August

The higher council for al-Khalas al-Watani ( national salvation ), the new
Iraqi opposition commission in exile, has appealed to the Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein to "give up the authority," according to confirmation made by
one member of the commission which will be declared in Denmark very shortly.

One of the signatures of the political draft statement of this movement said
that the "council will appeal Saddam Hussein to give up the authority and
hand it over to the council or to a military and civilian commission to run
the country's affairs until elections will be made." He said that the
council will also announce its readiness to shoulder Iraq's responsibility
if Saddam Hussein "will quit the authority."

The statement called on those who are close to Hussein to force him to give
up the authority if he refuses to do so, and "to ensure his personal
protection and the safety of his family members and not to be avenged."

The official added that "there are Arab countries which expressed readiness
to receive Saddam Hussein and give him political asylum, if that will avert
Iraq an American strike." He explained that the council will compose of
seven areas "the military, security, information, media, culture, finance
and secretariat and foreign and national relations." He stressed that the
draft statement was undersigned by 170 military men and 150 civilians,
including former politicians, tribes clans, former ambassadors and business
men. "We wait for other figures to sign it," he said.


NEW WORLD ORDER

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200110/31/eng20011031_83598.html

*  STUDIES FIND NO LINK BETWEEN DEPLETED URANIUM AND BALKANS HEALTH
PROBLEMS: PENTAGON
People's Daily, 29th July

Medical and environmental studies have found no link between depleted
uranium munitions and leukemia or other medical problems among peacekeepers
in the Balkans, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The Pentagon reached that conclusion after reviewing studies by a number of
countries, international organizations and private groups that were launched
following news reports in January of a "Balkans Syndrome" among Italians who
served as peacekeepers there.

US Air Force A-10 aircraft fired some 31,000 30 mm depleted uranium rounds
in Kosovo and another 10,000 rounds in Bosnia, which raised suspicions of a
link to a rash of leukemia cases reported in Italy.

Depleted uranium is a mildly radioactive heavy metal that is prized by the
military because munitions made with it can slice through armor. Armor made
from the metal on the other hand is exceptionally difficult to penetrate.

"The medical and environmental assessments and investigations made by
various countries, international organizations and private groups have had
generally similar results," the Pentagon paper said.

"None have found a connection between DU exposure and leukemia or other
medical problems in people, and none have found widespread DU contamination
sufficient to impact the general health of the general population or
deployed military personnel."

It said at least 13 countries had sent teams to the Balkans to collect and
analyze samples of soil, air, water, vegetation and food, and the United
Nations and other international organizations also conducted environmental
surveys.

"These surveys consistently report no widespread DU contamination and no
current impact on the health of the general population or deployed
personnel," the paper said.

Most of the countries that sent troops on peacekeeping missions in the
Balkans have begun medical monitoring and epidemiological studies, it said.

"To date, none have found a connection between DU exposure and leukemia or
any other pathology," the paper said.




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