SPY CHIEF UNDERMINES KEY PLANK OF CASE FOR WAR-New WMW

[Gloria]

Full exerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/current.htm

Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com

WORLD MEDIA WATCH For August 27, 2003

1//The Independent, UK--SPY CHIEF UNDERMINES KEY PLANK OF CASE FOR WAR (One of the crucial claims in the Government's case for the Iraq war ­ that Saddam Hussein could threaten the West within 45 minutes with chemical and biological weapons ­ was seriously undermined at the Hutton inquiry yesterday. John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which was in charge of compiling the Iraq weapons dossier, revealed that the alleged threat related not to long-range missiles, which could hit the West, but "battlefield mortar shells or small-calibre weaponry" that did not threaten Britain or even Iraq's neighbours.)
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=437505




2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--SETTING THE NORTH KOREA AGENDA (Here, the US insistence on multilateral rather than bilateral talks may backfire. A tete-a-tete for two would have been complex enough - but with a sextet, the permutations are endless. Sure, the other five all agree that Kim Jong-il and his nukes (if any) are a pain. But what to do? If Washington is counting on five against one telling the Dear Leader to disarm, the US in turn may get ganged up on by the other five over the terms. Principled communist that he is, the Dear Leader is not about to pull his pants down (a Pyongyang metaphor, I hasten to add…, if at all, unless the price is right. The US mantra that it will not reward malfeasance sounds high-toned, but is wholly unrealistic. If you want a deal, you deal.)



3//Daily Times, Pakistan--TROOP DECISION UNLIKELY BEFORE OCTOBER: TURKEY (NATO member Turkey has yet to decide on a US request to contribute troops to an international security force in war-torn Iraq, and any such decision needs to be approved by the parliament, which is in recess until October 1. Asked whether MPs would be summoned for an extraordinary session in September, Erdogan told reporters: “No. Parliament will start work as scheduled.” His comments were widely interpreted to mean that there would be no formal decision on sending troops to Iraq before October.)


4//Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--RISING RANKS OF JI KILLERS UNCOVERED(The Jemaah Islamiah group blamed for the Bali bombings is far bigger than previously thought and is now producing a new generation of Islamic warriors from the children of its members, an in-depth study reveals. While police have arrested about 90 JI members in Indonesia, and another 120 in Malaysia and Singapore, the terrorist organisation is replenishing its ranks with young "jihadists", according to the report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG)…In addition, serious doubts are raised about the prospects of containing JI's terrorist activities because of its extensive links with at least five other organisations that co-operate and share common ideology.)



5//Inter Press Service, Italy--WTO-CANCUN: TRANSNATIONALS URGE FLEXIBILITY FROM RICH NATIONS (An organisation of transnational corporate executives urged the United States, European Union and Japan to cede to some of the demands of developing countries -- particularly in regards to agriculture and drugs patents -- in order to jump-start the WTO trade liberalisation talks…The matter of access to medicine was on the verge of being resolved last December, when the chairman of the TRIPS council at the WTO, Mexican negotiator Eduardo Pérez Motta, achieved majority backing for a declaration that the developing countries found acceptable. But the U.S. trade delegation, under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, blocked the agreement at the WTO, an institution that takes many of its decisions based on consensus.)

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