Gloria R. Lalumia's World Media Watch for November 7, 2007

WORLD MEDIA WATCH

Summaries are excerpted from the source articles; the featured article follows the summary section. 

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong
BUSH'S TURKEY SHOOT           

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fine politician, knew even before he set foot in Washington on Monday that President George W Bush could not possibly have anything tangible to offer him on the explosive Turkey vs Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) dossier, apart from Pentagon aerial intelligence passed on to Turkish generals. ... Bush could not offer anything substantial because he would have had to admit his administration's impotence at securing any of its neo-imperial possessions' borders; this is what led the PKK to use Iraqi Kurdistan in the first place to coordinate its attacks in Turkey.  Iran also was not expecting that Bush would deliver anything to Erdogan. But then there are always the "unknown unknowns" in the bigger picture. Nobody knows whether Bush and Erdogan have discussed the fine print in a World War III (according to Bush) or World War IV (according to deranged neo-cons) scenario, which is being sold by the White House as caused by Tehran. Way beyond Turkey's troubles with the PKK, it all comes back to the stark fact that Turkey simply cannot accept a virtually independent Iraqi Kurdistan in its southeast border - exactly the outcome sought by the US-Israeli axis.  Bush and his inner circle have bought time to calculate the odds on whom to double-cross. Will it be North Atlantic Treaty Orgaization ally Turkey, with its handy Incirlik base, anti-US public opinion and no oil; or pro-US Iraqi Kurds, with lots of oil and their Israeli-trained peshmerga (armed forces)? Tough call. A poker player familiar with Bush administration methods would bet on a double double-cross, complete with a "blame it on Iran" sequel and a "bomb Iran" grand finale. ... At a meeting in Istanbul this past weekend of foreign ministers of all Iraq's neighbors, plus the permanent members of the UN Security Council and selected G8 members, it emerged that a solution for the unholy mess was coming from Iran. Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Baghdad last Wednesday, and "urged Iran to help defuse the border crisis". Tehran duly provided Baghdad with intelligence on the PKK, according to Iranian sources. But Baghdad did nothing - because the Bush administration blocked its every move.

AN EXPANDED EXCERPT OF THIS FEATURED ARTICLE FOLLOWS THE SUMMARIES  

2//Azzaman in English, Iraq
SURGE REPORTED IN NUMBER OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED IRAQIS 

The number of Iraqis kicked out of their homes has surged 16 percent in October despite claims by the government that it has declined.  The Red Crescent, Iraq's Red Cross equivalent, said at least 100,000 more Iraqis were forced to leave their homes in October.  "The number of internally displaced people in the country has surged to 2.3 million from 2.2 million," said Amal al-Karbouli, Red Crescent's deputy head.  "The promises may by the government of Nouri al-Maliki to help the displaced people return to their homes have not been honored," Karbouli added.  Massive numbers of Iraqis are on the move inside the country in search for safety. The numbers are expected to hike as neighboring countries have shut their borders on the face of fleeing Iraqis. 

It is estimated that at least 1.5 million Iraqis have fled the country to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. ... The fleeing Iraqis blame ongoing U.S. military activities in which heavy weapons including tanks, warplanes and helicopter gun ships are deployed as well as sectarian killings and coercion for most of their suffering. ...  Internally displaced Iraqis live in squalor conditions. Children do not go to school and amenities like water and food are hard to obtain.  Karbouli said Maliki has even reneged on a promise to donate $25 to Iraqi refugees in neighboring states.  "I am not aware and have no information that the money has been disbursed to the needy refugees abroad," added Karbouli. 

3//KarachiNews.net, Bahrain
GAG ON PAKISTAN MEDIA PROPELS DISH ANTENNA DEMAND 

While the federal cabinet Tuesday started deliberations to ease restrictions on electronic media, information-starved Pakistanis are scrambling for dish antennas to check news updates on TV. 

The federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz discussed methodology to ease restrictions on electronic media, which are out of reach of the citizens, a senior government official said.  Though most of the private television channels are continuing their transmission, cable operators have been instructed by the government not to relay any national or international news channels.  The only sources of current information for people are hearsay and cell phone messages apart from blogs on the Internet and access to news channels through dish antennas. 

Though the state-run Pakistan Television gives hourly bulletins, few are ready to believe it. ... The prime minister said an understanding was also now needed for the holding of transparent elections peacefully.  He said the federal cabinet would also take up the issue of media restrictions.  'Media needs to be very very careful and responsible,' he said.  The restrictions on viewing private television channels have boosted sales of dish antennas and digital receivers, which otherwise had become redundant because of the cable networks in the country.  'The people are buying dish antenna and digital receivers and the demand has increased tremendously,' a dish antenna seller here told IANS Tuesday.  He said he was continuously receiving orders for dish antennas. 'In just two days we have sold 113 dish antennas, which otherwise had remained in stocks for a year.'  The rising demand has seen the prices of dish antennas and digital receivers going up. A dish antenna now costs Rs.8,000 - double last week's price. 

4//The Cuba News.net, Bahrain
IRAN, CUBA TO FORM SHIPPING COMPANY 

Iran and Cuba have signed a protocol to establish a shipping company to increase bilateral trade, according to media reports.  Media outlets cited Trade Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi as saying that 'the accord also has a special importance for international trade between Iran and Latin America, and it will contribute to the solution of some currently existing problems', according to the Spanish news agency EFE.  Kazemi, who last week attended a trade meeting in Havana of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that during the meeting 'the Latin American countries, especially Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, expressed their wish to increase commercial exchange with the Islamic Republic'. ... The month before, the two countries signed several memorandums of understanding and a document for the use of a 200 million euro ($289 million) loan from Tehran. 

The loan allows Cuba to finance imports from Iran in the transport sector, mainly in railways material and vehicles, hydraulic machinery and materials for the energy sector. 

5//Middle East Times, Cyprus
EGYPT'S MUBARAK PRODS GOVT. INTO SOCIAL ACTION 

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak cajoled the government into social action at the end of his ruling party's annual conference Tuesday, but left question marks over his successor.  He urged his government to take steps to address the problems of lower income families during the closing ceremony of the National Democratic Party's ninth general conference, amid rampant inflation brought on by economic reforms.  "Social justice is an essential pillar of our general policy," Mubarak told 6,700 delegates gathered in Cairo.  But the four-day conference, which offered few surprises and no major leadership reshuffle, gave few indications of what the party, or Egypt, would look like after the 79-year-old Mubarak leaves office.  Mubarak's son Gamal Monday deflected a renewed spate of questioning as to whether he would eventually take over the reins of power from his father. ... This year's conference has focused on social issues amid growing concern that the liberal reforms championed by the Western-leaning regime have done little to address the needs of the 44 percent of Egyptians, who live on less than $2 a day, according to World Bank figures.  Government ministers sought to reassure delegates that the benefits of economic liberalization would eventually trickle down to the poor.  However, Egypt has seen a rising tide of industrial unrest in recent months, with textile workers and tax collectors striking over pay, amid rampant inflation and a sharp rise in the cost of living while state subsidies dwindle. 

FEATURED ARTICLE   

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong    Nov 7, 2007 

BUSH'S TURKEY SHOOT

By Pepe Escobar 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fine politician, knew even before he set foot in Washington on Monday that President George W Bush could not possibly have anything tangible to offer him on the explosive Turkey vs Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) dossier, apart from Pentagon aerial intelligence passed on to Turkish generals. 

Erdogan, although describing himself as "happy" with his talks with Bush, may have left with nothing substantial. But at least he got a sound bite from Bush, who upgraded the PKK to the status of an enemy of America. Bush told Erdogan, "The PKK is a terrorist organization. They're an enemy of Turkey, they're an enemy of Iraq and they're an enemy of the United States." 

Pity the US president could not possibly follow his own logic and add that the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK - the PKK's Iran arm - is an enemy of Iran, an enemy of Iraq but a friend of the United States - which is arming and financing its fighters. 

Last week, talking to his Justice and Development Party members of the Turkish Parliament, Erdogan stressed that he needed Bush to "clearly define [the US] road map" concerning the PKK. That would mean, from a Turkish point of view, direct US intervention against both the PKK and its protector, Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani. Bush promised nothing of the kind. 

Erdogan has accused Barzani of protecting "terrorists". Barzani has replied he would not hand over any of his Kurdish cousins accused of staging raids into Turkey from northern Iraq. If Bush did nothing about it, Erdogan said, "we will do our own job", which is what Turkish generals are really itching for: a search-and-destroy-the-PKK invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan. In other words: a new Iraq war. Even after the "Mr Erdogan goes to Washington" mini-movie, the chances of Turkey "doing its own job" remain high. 

Blame it on Iran

Bush could not offer anything substantial because he would have had to admit his administration's impotence at securing any of its neo-imperial possessions' borders; this is what led the PKK to use Iraqi Kurdistan in the first place to coordinate its attacks in Turkey. 

Iran also was not expecting that Bush would deliver anything to Erdogan. But then there are always the "unknown unknowns" in the bigger picture. Nobody knows whether Bush and Erdogan have discussed the fine print in a World War III (according to Bush) or World War IV (according to deranged neo-cons) scenario, which is being sold by the White House as caused by Tehran. 

Way beyond Turkey's troubles with the PKK, it all comes back to the stark fact that Turkey simply cannot accept a virtually independent Iraqi Kurdistan in its southeast border - exactly the outcome sought by the US-Israeli axis. 

Bush and his inner circle have bought time to calculate the odds on whom to double-cross. Will it be North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally Turkey, with its handy Incirlik base, anti-US public opinion and no oil; or pro-US Iraqi Kurds, with lots of oil and their Israeli-trained peshmerga (armed forces)? Tough call. A poker player familiar with Bush administration methods would bet on a double double-cross, complete with a "blame it on Iran" sequel and a "bomb Iran" grand finale. 

Ankara's logic remain flawless, at least from a "war on terror" angle. If Washington invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq to fight "terrorists", Ankara has the same rights to invade its terrorist-harboring neighbor, which just happens to be an American neo-colony. The irony is obviously lost on the Bush administration. 

(SNIP) 

Pick your terrorist

At a meeting in Istanbul this past weekend of foreign ministers of all Iraq's neighbors, plus the permanent members of the UN Security Council and selected G8 members, it emerged that a solution for the unholy mess was coming from Iran. Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Baghdad last Wednesday, and "urged Iran to help defuse the border crisis". Tehran duly provided Baghdad with intelligence on the PKK, according to Iranian sources. But Baghdad did nothing - because the Bush administration blocked its every move.  

(SNIP) 

Erdogan's priorities, on the other hand, as revealed once again this Monday in an interview with Claudio Gallo from Italian daily La Stampa, are admission to the European Union, Turkey's territorial integrity ("if only Baghdad had the will do dismantle the terrorist bases in the north") and the Turkish public's feelings about it. So between Bush and a hard place, he'd rather choose the latter, in the form of a strategic alliance with both Iran and Syria to combat what Ankara sees as dangerous Kurdish separatism. Turkey and Iran - commercially and now politically - are getting closer and closer. 

Washington is more the loser because virtually no one in Turkey is shedding tears for what happens to their 57-year-old alliance. According to the June 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, no less than 83% of Turkey's public opinion had an "unfavorable view" of the US, ahead of Egypt and Jordan (both at 78%) and Pakistan (68%). All of these governments - but not their populations - are US allies. It's fair to assume these numbers are rising. 

Russia for its part cannot but applaud the newfound Turkish-Persian entente. Non-stop Bush administration heavy handedness is actually fast erasing historical grievances and paving the way towards a new Eurasian configuration, with Turkey-Iran getting closer to Russia-China. 

(SNIP) 

Unlike scurrilous President General Musharraf in failed state Pakistan, Erdogan is an elected leader whose public opinion will seriously fault him for not caring about the national interest. So for the moment he is "happy" with Bush's sound bite. He'll wait - for just a little while. If nothing moves, Turkey will strike. Hard. And Washington won't even get a phone call. 

Copyright 2007, Gloria R. Lalumia

WORLD MEDIA WATCH