The Developing and Deepening Conflict
Host: Farhad Saba

Media Representation of the Conflict

(Participant) Being retired, I could watch the TV today. I am not sure that this was time well spent. I feel as if I had experienced all the emotions of war except personal fear.

At one point, as a blizzard of bombs rained down on Baghdad, it was announced that each bomb cost $1 million, not counting the training of those who delivered it. It was also stated, almost in one breath, that each bomb fell within a few feet of its intended target AND that the hospitals were filling up with wounded. I have no glib solution, but there is something dreadfully wrong with the rate of our development as a species when we can invent such weapons of destruction so far beyond the bow and arrow yet without much progress in avoiding their use.

(Farhad Saba) C-Span is broadcasting satellite feeds from English newscasts of various Arab and non-Arab sources. I found some of them very interesting and useful. The broadcast from Lebanon, for example, portrayed a very different picture than what we find on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC.

Also, I am not sure if you have noticed but the link to Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations, New York has been dead for more than 24 hours now. I am not sure what that means, but it is noteworthy.

(Participant) Farhad: I will look for the C-span broadcasts, but it would be wonderful if you could give us a synopsis and some comments. From what I can get from CNN, things are not going as smoothly as "we" anticipated.

I find that I agree with most of the criticisms of the Bush administration quoted from the Middle Eastern Press and virtually none of the praise for the alleged peacefulness of the Middle Eastern community.

What we need is more emphasis on learning how to talk with one another for our mutual health using some of the 21st century skills of creative discussion while recognizing that the more familiar behavior of war is as obsolete for international affairs as blood-letting is for human health.

(Farhad Saba) I find that I agree with most of the criticisms of the Bush administration quoted from the Middle Eastern Press and virtually none of the praise for the alleged peacefulness of the Middle Eastern community.

What we need is more emphasis on learning how to talk with one another for our mutual health using some of the 21st century skills of creative discussion while recognizing that the more familiar behavior of war is as obsolete for international affairs as blood-letting is for human health. and we are confronted with the painful historical reality that this aggression on the people, land, skies and wealth of Iraq would not have been possible if the Arab countries had barred their facilities to the invader. This is what President Bashar Al-Assad asked the Arab countries to do at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit. Arab News, Saudi Arabia

IN ITS widest application, Islam embraces the entire human race. Compassion, goodwill and respect for others are the core ideals of Islam. Nowhere in the Holy Quran or the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) do we find a reference to Islam as a religion.

Islam is a Deen (faith), that is, a way of life. It is not specific to a region or people. Islam calls us to live in peace, work for justice and promote tolerance. Everyday, we share Almighty God's blessing--"Assalamualaikum" (peace be upon you)--as we address each other.

Islamic jurisprudence, known as Fiqah, has helped to modernist societies, irrespective of regional, tribal and ethnic divisions. The Holy Quran provides guidance to lead our lives in a way that enables us to establish a society that is just and based on ethics and morals. Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

President Emile Lahoud told Europe’s top diplomat for the Arab-Israeli conflict Friday that the impact of the ongoing US-led war in Iraq wouldn’t be restricted to one country, but would spread throughout the world in years to come.

Speaking to the special representative of the European Union for the Middle East peace process, Miguel Angel Moratinos, Lahoud condemned the military aggression against Iraq, saying the Lebanese were committed to international resolutions and laws.

The president said that the war, which began Thursday, had already "bypassed the mechanism laid down for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1441, which called for consulting with the Security Council before making any new move." The resolution calls for Iraq’s disarmament. Daily Star, Lebanon

Despite the fact that Mr Bush possesses the power to make war on Iraq, he will be remembered as one of America’s most impotent presidents. He is a frustrated impotent with his hand upon the trigger. Outsmarted at every turn by the Iraqis, the French, the Germans, and his own advisors, he has never looked more foolish, inept, or weak. Even if he gets his failed war, he has already lost the battle for legitimacy. Mr Bush will never recover from this loss. The Star, Jordan

An 11-year-old Yemeni boy plus three more Yemenis were killed on Friday in a shootout between police and anti-war protesters in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, security sources said.

The sources said three policemen and at least two more civilians were hurt in the clash that erupted after police blocked about 3,000 protesters from marching on the US embassy in the Arab state. Yemen Times

Mashhad, Khorasan Prov, March 22, IRNA--Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Friday condemned the ongoing US-led war on Iraq, saying this invasion marks the emergence of a new form of Hitlerism in global history. Ayatollah Khamenei told a large crowd gathered to mark the advent of solar year 1382 that Hitler had ridiculous and false justifications to cover up his crimes and that the Americans' "catastrophic" invasion is similarly an attempt to materialize their "illegitimate" objectives in the guise of defending their national interest. Iran News Agency

After the mass anti-war demonstrations that took place in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem following the completion of Friday prayers last week, it appears that the angry mood in the Palestinian street is losing its intensity.

A sign of the return to calm was the re-opening of schools Saturday, following an order last Wednesday to close down from the Palestinian Authority's Education Ministry.

Another sign of the easing of tensions at the weekend was the reduction in the warnings issued by Palestinian officials that the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intended to take advantage of the war in Iraq in order to intensify Israel Defense Forces operations in the territories. Haaretz, Israel

(Participant) Fred, thanks so much for presenting us with the statements from the Middle Eastern press. With the understandable exception of Israel, they seem to speak with a single voice. Their confidence that Bush will never recover from this transgression is impressive, but I'm not sure that the psychology of leadership supports their predictions. In the first place, macho boldness that incorporates violence is widely seen as charismatic, even if it fails at many levels. But perhaps more important, when a leader has developed credentials for moving strongly in one direction, it is much easier for him to move strongly in the opposite direction. That is the maddening paradox of politics. So Bush, like Nixon who opened relations with China after being that country's worst American enemy, might be able to do much that a more moderate leader could not.

(Participant) The column by Leonard Pitts, Jr., published in Santa Rosa on Saturday, 3/22, was impressive and persuasive. Header: War marks the end of [the] America we knew.

(Farhad Saba) I am doing the Daily News for Distance-Educator.com, and found the article Raymond mentioned in 1:69. Here is the link.

War marks end of the America we knew; US rejects traditional role as leader of the community of nations

IRAQI MILITARY REMAINS FUNCTIONING WASHINGTON [MENL]--Iraq's military, in contrast to U.S. intelligence assessments, has remained intact and continues to battle allied forces.

(Farhad Saba) US officials said the regime of President Saddam Hussein has managed to maintain its defenses, particularly in the Baghdad area, amid heavy allied air strikes. The officials said Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries are performing better than expected against U.S. and British fighter-jets over the Iraqi capital.

"A campaign on harsh terrain in a vast country could be longer and more difficult than some have predicted," President George Bush said on Saturday.

Iraq has maintained the support of the bulk of its army and no more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers have surrendered, officials said. They said the most lethal element of the Iraqi military--six divisions of the Republican Guard--remain around Baghdad. U.S. forces are said to be about 150 kilometers away from Baghdad.
Middle East NewsLine

(Farhad Saba) Selected passages from recent Middle Eastern publications on the web:

Throughout the Arab world, seven days into the invasion of Iraq, there was considerable awe, not at the viciousness of an illegal foreign invasion of Arab land, but at the stiffness of the Iraqi people's resolve in its defence. AlAram, Egypt

AMMAN — Thousands of Jordanians took part in demonstrations around the country decrying the US-British war against Iraq.

Carrying pictures of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and chanting "death to America" demonstrators marched through the streets of Amman, Maan, Irbid, Ramtha, Mafraq, Salt, Zarqa and Karak.

The Wihdat, Hiteen and Baqaa refugee camps also witnessed huge turnouts of people following noon prayers, to protest the war on Iraq.

Arab public frustration and condemnation of the military aggression reached new heights as images of destruction and death continued to be broadcast on television stations on the nineth [sic] day of the war. In Jordan, where public manifestations are to be permitted in advance by the district governor, most of Friday's demonstrations, save three or four, were unlicensed morals.
Jordan Times

The American war hawks have been stunned into silence by the way the war on Iraq has been going this past week. The much-ballyhooed collapse of Iraq, which was supposed to automatically happen after just a few days of American bombing, hasn’t materialized. The projected Iraqi mass uprising against President Saddam Hussein also hasn’t happened, and the strength of unity of the Iraqi people in the face of two foreign aggressors has surprised American and British military planners. Arab News, Saudi Arabia

The international order represented by the UN is collapsing under the strikes of the Anglo-American invaders in Iraq, according to political observers and analysts. it is the UN at which the world nations are supposed to discuss regional and international problems to solve them on the basis of mutual understanding and civilized dialogue.

The tragic developments resulted from the US-British aggression on Iraq show the fact that the leaders of invaders care no humanitarian values, laws or conventions. They care nothing but their interests and they destroy everything facing them human or material regardless of the devastating repercussions. What matters for them is oil, only oil. Syria Times

President Emile Lahoud met with US Ambassador Vincent Battle on Friday, affirming Lebanon’s opposition to the US-led war in Iraq and cautioned against the dangers of continued bombing of populated areas and humanitarian institutions. The meeting with Battle came amid the US request for the closure of Iraqi embassies in countries across the world and for the freezing of assets of the Iraqi government. Lebanon was also approached Friday by Kuwait, which is seeking an Arab condemnation of Iraq launching missiles into the Gulf kingdom. The Daily Star, Lebanon

Before the coalition forces launched their assault on Iraq, American military leaders told the world that it would see a campaign "like no other in history" and that the high-tech weaponry about to be unleashed would "shock and awe" the Iraqis into rapid submission.

Optimism has always been a hallmark of the Pentagon, but the war is more than a week old now, Baghdad has indeed been under massive bombardment and coalition forces have found themselves up against an enemy they badly underestimated. Surely the mood in Baghdad is one of fear, but beneath it life goes on much as it always has. Taxis can still be seen on the streets, people go about their daily chores and worshippers flock to the mosques. So what happened to shock and awe? Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

BERLIN — The German architect of one of Saddam Hussein’s main bunkers in Baghdad said yesterday the Iraqi leader can survive anything short of a direct hit with a nuclear bomb if he stays within its 1.5 metre thick walls. "It could withstand the shock wave of a nuclear bomb the size of the Hiroshima one detonating 250 metres away," said Karl Esser, a security consultant who designed the bunker underneath Saddam’s main presidential palace in Baghdad. US-led troops will also find it hard to fight their way in through its three-tonne Swiss-made doors, Esser said in an interview. A retired Yugoslav army officer who helped build other bunkers for Saddam also said this week that the shelters were impenetrable and could survive an atomic bomb. Oman Daily Observer

SANA’A — As many as four people were killed and several more injured in violent confrontations Friday in Sana’a between police and protesters against t he war.

Medical sources said four died, however, the ministry of interior said two citizens were killed and nine injured while thirteen soldiers were wounded, three of them seriously. Yemen Times

(Farhad Saba) Selected passages from news and editorial pages of newspapers from Arab countries:

The International Red Cross Committee (IRCC) has criticized the US-British bombardment of residential and civilian buildings in Iraq. In a statement issued yesterday by the Cairo-based IRCC Regional Bureau, the IRCC stressed such an intensified US-British bombardment caused substantial damage to the civilian and health buildings including the headquarters of the Iraqi Red Cross Association, exposing the lives of the injured to danger. Syrian Times

Indeed, the similarities between the current conflict along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and Israel's Lebanese misadventure are numerous – and one that the Anglo-American alliance would be wise to take lessons from.
Middle East Times, Egypt

President Emile Lahoud condemned the blast that occurred Saturday at the Dora branch of McDonald’s, calling on the authorities to intensify the investigations to identify and arrest the people responsible for it. "This act serves Israel," Lahoud said in a statement issued Sunday, adding that McDonald’s was a Lebanese enterprise and attacking it harmed the country’s interests. Lahoud also said that the country would forbid any party to take advantage of the war in Iraq to destabilize the situation here. The Daily Star, Lebanon

Of all the countries in the region, Turkey seems to have managed to put its own interests above those of the United States with regard to the ongoing war against its south-eastern neighbor, Iraq. The Star, Jordan

The conniving deceptive mischief, by which the Bush Administration is managing its foreign policy, never ceases to amaze the observer. With obvious developments to the contrary, the Bush Administration has tried to project a do-good image for conducting its blatant and uncalled for aggression against the Iraqi people under pretexts that will only convince the naïve and gullible of any constituency, let alone the Moslem and Arab constituencies of the world. Needless to say, the American public is being fooled the most, for they are the ones who stand to sacrifice so much for the evil intentions of Mr. Bush and his clique of insistent and adamant sponsors of narrow interests that are railroading the United States into an obscure future and challenging realities, which could signal the beginning of the demise of the nation that once was regarded as the model of human cohesion and integration. Yemen Times

(Participant)

Dear Dick:

I think the following story should go into the "Deepening Conflict" conference, but I'm not sure I know how to dump it there. Since you do, I'm sending it to you.

I'm also drafting a contribution to that conference (not related to this story), and will post it later (much later) tonight or sometime Monday.

Warmest best..... .....Harlan.

BEGIN TEXT
Art Experts Fear Worst in the Plunder of a Museum April 13, 2003 By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD The looting of the National Museum of Iraq, a repository of treasures from civilization's first cities and early Islamic culture, could be a catastrophe for world cultural heritage, archaeologists and art experts said on Friday. "Baghdad is one of the great museums of the world, with irreplaceable material," said Dr. John Malcolm Russell, a specialist in Mesopotamian archaeology at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. Though he and other scholars of antiquities were alarmed by the reports of looting, they were not surprised. They said they feared the next cultural target could be the important
museum in Mosul, a northern city that is also in turmoil. The Mosul museum holds many Assyrian artifacts from the nearby Nineveh ruins. Concerned archaeologists urged United States military leaders to take more forceful steps to protect Iraqi's cultural treasures and to restore control of them to the local Department of Antiquities. For weeks before the war, archaeologists and other scholars had alerted military planners to the risks of combat, particularly postwar pillage of the country's antiquities. These include 10,000 sites of ruins with such resonating names as Babylon, Nineveh, Nimrud and Ur. Experts reminded the Defense Department that after the Persian Gulf war of 1991, 9 of Iraq's 13 regional museums were plundered. The Baghdad museum was spared then because the end of war had left the government still in power and policing the city. American archaeologists who studied the looting suspected that some of it was driven by the illicit trade in antiquities. At some remote and poorly guarded dig sites, Dr. McGuire Gibson of the University of Chicago wrote recently that illicit digging in most cases started as attempts simply to find something to sell to put food on the table. "This work soon grew to an industry," he said, "financed from abroad and engaging hundreds of diggers at some sites."

The reported museum looting that began on Friday in Baghdad would be the war's first known plundering of Iraqi antiquities. Reacting to the report, Dr. Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, said, "We can't conquer and then shirk further responsibility by allowing anarchy in the cities and allowing Iraq's ancient heritage to be pillaged." Dr. de Montebello complained of the apparent lack of effective policing by American troops. He said that he and other museum officials and archaeologists had already held meetings to explore what must be done "to help the Baghdad museum and Iraqi's antiquities authorities to restore themselves." By chance, the damage to the Baghdad museum came as the Metropolitan was preparing a major new exhibition, "Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus." It is to open May 8. About 400 rare works of art will be displayed, many of them from Iraq, though no works from the Baghdad museum were available. More than 230 scholars of ancient Mesopotamian history from 25 countries have signed a petition to be delivered to the United Nations on Monday. Drafted by researchers at Yale and Oxford Universities, the petition urges military leaders and postwar administrators of Iraq to safeguard cultural artifacts "for the future of the Iraqi people and for the world." American archaeologists said that they had lost contact with their Iraqi colleagues in recent weeks. The last they had heard was that several antiquities officials and researchers had barricaded themselves in the Baghdad museum. They had hidden some of the most precious artifacts elsewhere, and protected others with sandbags. At last report, just before the outbreak of war on March 21, Dr. Russell said that Dr. Donny George, the research director of antiquities who is known for his heft, was seen to be thin and exhausted from the stress of preparing to defend the museum.

(Participant) Fred: Are you familiar with a (to me) mysterious weekly bulletin on Middle East affairs and recently with a focus on Iraq? Its label is Debka and with an address of http://www.admin@debka.com I don't quite know how I got on the mailing list. If you can't get it I might be able to send you a copy of the last issue which claims that Saddam is now safe and sound with a large entourage in Russia.

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