Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October 2003, pages 26-27

European Press Review

 

Baghdad Attack on U.N. Shows Coalition's "Shaky Grip" on Iraq, Says U.K.'s Guardian

 

 

By Lucy Jones

Following the bomb attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, European newspapers called for reconstruction efforts in Iraq to be internationalized. The attack "should be a 'wake-up call to the world,' in the words of the former U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson," wrote Britain's Guardian on Aug. 21. "Yet if the response is going to be of any help to the Iraqi people—and to compensate at all for the loss of life—it is not enough just to talk about improving security," it continued. "The ease with which a terrorist attack of this kind could be mounted shows what a shaky grip the coalition forces maintain. Merely to reinforce those forces fails to tackle the root problem—the questionable legitimacy of an occupation which a majority of Iraqis resent and which a minority can exploit." According to the newspaper, "the logic of shifting to a U.N. mandate should have increasing appeal, even to the coalition which it would displace."

"The obvious answer is to internationalize the security forces by bringing in troops from a much wider range of countries, including other Arab states, and to hasten the handover of control to the Iraqi people," Britain's Independent argued on Aug. 20. "Yet Washington has so far set its face firmly against giving power or authority to the United Nations," the paper commented.

"The Iraqi terrorists wanted to achieve two things: to show that the occupying forces have no strategy to avert the chaos and to shock the international community into resisting U.S. calls for support in Iraq," said France's Lib…ration the same day. According to the paper, the only hope rests with international intervention, which is why, the paper concluded, "despite the murder of Sergio de Mello the U.N. must not pull out."

"The tactics of the Iraqi resistance are obvious," the Austrian paper Die Presse pointed out on Aug. 20. "It wants to target the Iraqi infrastructure and increase the sense of resentment among the population toward the occupying forces and target international organizations to prevent other countries from coming to the aid of the United States."

Spain's El Mundo of Aug. 20 wrote that it is not the ghost of Vietnam that haunts the American intervention in Iraq, but of Lebanon. "Western military intervention could not solve the conflict in Lebanon," the paper explained, "and the U.S. troops are reliving the same situation in Iraq, where the population is growing to hate the foreign invaders." It continued, "At the same time the U.S. is giving Islamic fundamentalism a platform. Washington and its allies have created a situation that is 10 times more threatening for the world community than before the war in Iraq."

Rome's La Repubblica of Aug. 20 described the attacks and the mounting corpses as "a daily warning" that Baghdad's regime has not been overcome, but that it is still operating underground under the leadership of Saddam Hussain.

 

Death of British Weapons Inspector Called "Turning Point"

The apparent suicide of Dr. David Kelly—the British scientist who voiced misgivings over the British government's presentation of the case for war against Iraq—dominated the press in the United Kingdom and across Europe.

Kelly is said to have told the BBC's defense correspondent Andrew Gilligan that the prime minister's adviser Alastair Campbell "sexed up" a government dossier about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction which included the claim that Saddam Hussain could deploy such weapons within 45 minutes.

Kelly's death is a "turning point of the kind which tends to make history," Germany's Die Welt wrote on July 21. "The issue of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction is destroying massively what has remained of Tony Blair's credibility after six years in office," it added.

The British government has sought to turn Kelly into a "scapegoat" to distract attention from the weapons issue, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the same day. "As long as no weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq, the British prime minister will continue to be confronted with the accusation that he lied to the House of Commons," it continued.

"An honest expert has died…the disappearance of Saddam Hussain's ignominious regime is no justification for Blair, Bush and [Spain's Prime Minister Jos… Maria] Aznar deceiving their citizens," said Spain's El Pais on July 21.

Switzerland's Le Temps opined on Aug. 7 that Kelly's death "will determine the future" of the Blair government. In France, that day's Le Monde said Blair is suffering from "the full blast" of a public reaction against "his policy of spin."

"The tragedy of Dr. David Kelly's suicide will leave most people with a sense of sadness mixed with anger and disgust," Britain's Sunday Times said July 20. "Most people now believe the government made the best of what was, in many instances, thin intelligence," said the newspaper. "The fact that Downing Street chose to use other sources [including the thesis by a Californian postgraduate student Ibrahim al-Marashi] for its second "dodgy" dossier earlier this year tends to confirm that. So does the failure to discover any weapons or evidence of their manufacture in Iraq," it said.

The London Times of July 28 remarked on a series of opinion polls in Britain which make clear that the complex Iraq-WMD-Kelly-BBC imbroglio has taken public faith in Blair's team to a record low. The 17-point lead that the Labor party enjoyed over the Tories just 18 months ago had shrunk at that point to just two points, according to an ICM poll. "It bears witness to the perception of the disillusioned voters that they are being led by a prime minister who is 'spinner' extraordinaire," the newspaper said. "A stress on spin is common to all governments, and to virtually every company, but the Blair government has been so successful at massaging the message that the public is now tempted to disbelieve everything."

 

Iraqi Governing Council Seen As Potential U.S. "Scapegoat"

While the first meeting of the Iraqi Governing Council on July 12 was widely welcomed by the European press, many newspapers pointed to the need for greater moves toward democracy. "For all the United States' rhetoric of freeing the Iraqi people to run the country for themselves, U.S. viceroy in Baghdad Paul Bremer's first instincts were quite different," wrote Britain's Independent on July 14. "He originally intended the Iraqi Council to be advisory in capacity and thought he would have to appoint ministers of the transitional government himself," the newspaper pointed out.

The establishment of a provisional government in Iraq was a step in the right direction, wrote Spain's El Mundo July 14. "But though the council looks good on paper," the newspaper continued, "it is worth nothing as long as appointed council members live under constant threat and have neither the authority, the financial means nor the international support to guarantee the legitimacy that only free elections can supply."

Switzerland's Tages Anzeiger agreed, writing the same day that "while the council has been appointed and is not elected…council members will just have to live with the handicap of lacking legitimacy. And while they have more political power than originally agreed by the occupying coalition, their most important first task is to win the trust of the population."

Russia's Kommersant of July 14 argued that the council would be used as a "scapegoat" by the U.S. administration. "It will carry all responsibility for future mistakes and difficulties," the newspaper predicted.

Said Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung that day, "The council made up of Shi'i, Sunni Muslims and Kurds will act as a buffer for the anger directed at coalition forces who have not yet managed to secure electricity or guarantee the safety of the Iraqi population."

 

Death of Uday and Qusay Leave Questions "Unanswered"

Britain's Guardian on July 24 criticized the killing of Uday and Qusay Hussain in Mosul by U.S. Special Forces, pointing out that had they been taken alive, they might have provided invaluable information about Iraq's arms program, the whereabouts of any extant weapons of mass destruction and the former regime's view of al-Qaeda. According to the newspaper, a public trial in which the two men were called to account for their crimes might have proved a cathartic moment for the Iraqi nation. "Little thought seems to have been given to mounting a siege or subduing the men by non-lethal means after they initially opened fire," the newspaper said. "It is disappointing that the many sensitive questions upon which the two men might have shed light remain unanswered as a result."

 

Jakarta Called on to "Voice" Outrage Over Hotel Attack

The Aug. 7 suicide bomb attack on the American-owned J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta left 14 dead and more than 150 injured. The following day, London's Financial Times called on the Indonesian government to "voice in public the disgust that many of their followers feel in private," adding, "There is no point complaining that Islam is misrepresented in the West as a violent religion if they do not themselves condemn violence."

Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been "reluctant to admit to the deep penetration of the country by extremist Islamist groups, let alone to crack down on them with sufficient severity," said the London Times on Aug. 6.

"The bomb in Jakarta confirms beyond reasonable doubt the presence…in Southeast Asia of terrorist groups that, whatever their denomination or level of fame thus far achieved, share their aims, methods, and objectives articulated in the macabre catechism of Osama bin Laden," said Spain's El Pais of the same day.

 

War on Terror Called "Battle For Hearts and Minds"

Britain's Observer of July 27 praised the congressional report into the Sept. 11 attacks, saying it was the "most detailed deconstruction so far of the events leading to that terrible day 21 months ago." The newspaper went on to say, however, that "the pressing question" is where the Americans now take the "war on terror." According to the paper, "The really difficult problems, those that lay at the root of modern Islamic militancy…are still unresolved." It went on to say, "Whatever the details of Saudis' involvement in Sept. 11—and it should be remembered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis—there can be little doubt that the massive exporting of hard-line strands of Islam throughout the Muslim world by the Saudi religious and political establishment over the last 40 years has been critical in the development of modern radical Muslim militancy…This goes far beyond the simple funding of a few terrorist individuals. It entails the spread of fringe conservative doctrines that encourage violence in millions. Reversing that trend is critical to fighting terrorism. This means that the war on terror is primarily a battle for hearts and minds," it concluded.

 

France Wants "Justice" From Libya, Reports Le Figaro

As Britain prepared to ask the U.N. to lift economic sanctions against Libya after Tripoli formally accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, France's Le Figaro said in a front-page headline Aug. 18 that "France wants justice for those who died in the French UTA DC10"—a reference to the 1989 bombing of the airliner over the Sahara in which 170 people died, 65 of them French. The paper reported that France—which has a right to veto the lifting of sanctions at the Security Council—"wants the victims of the 1989 flight...to receive compensation on a par with the Lockerbie victims, in the interest of fairness." Libya already has paid 30 million euros in compensation for the UTA bombing and accepted responsibility, in what Tripoli and Paris last October called "a definitive resolution" of the matter. "Paris has not mentioned the word 'veto,'" the paper wrote, but "the French foreign minister has made his position clear, namely: to defend the interests of the families of the UTA victims."

 

Suddeutsche Zeitung

Calls for More Troops in Afghanistan

The extension of the International Assistance Force (ISAF) mandate in Afghanistan may be a good idea in theory, but is unrealistic, said Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine of Aug. 14. The newspaper was reacting to comments by German Defense Minister Peter Struck the previous day urging the extension of the peacekeeping mission beyond the Afghan capital, Kabul. The newspaper condemned the new "concept" of establishing "Provincial Reconstruction Teams," designed to combine civil reconstruction and military protection, as a "feeble compromise borne out of indecisiveness." "These teams will not be able to do anything to break the power of regional warlords," the paper argued.

The same day, Die Welt pointed out that Germany deployed 50,000 soldiers in Kosovo, whereas there are 5,000 international peacekeepers in Afghanistan—which has a population 13 times the size. "Germany needs to think carefully about whether it has the means to follow through on its commitment," said the newspaper. The Aug. 14 Suddeutsche Zeitung argued that the number of troops deployed inAfghanistan should be increased to at least 10,000. "Whoever is unwilling to do so, or whoever is unable to do so, should not have become involved in the Afghanistan adventure in the first place," the newspaper concluded.

Lucy Jones is a free-lance journalist based in London.

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