Gloria R. Lalumia's World Media Watch for January 18, 2008

WORLD MEDIA WATCH

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

1//The Scotsman, UK
FURY AS US DEFENCE SECRETARY SAYS BRITISH CAN'T FIGHT INSURGENTS

Furious British troops in southern Afghanistan hit back yesterday at American claims they don't know how to fight. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, launched an amazing attack on UK, Canadian and Dutch troops, by suggesting they didn't know how to fight Taleban insurgents. He told the Los Angeles Times: "I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counter-insurgency operations. Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counter-insurgency." His astonishing comments caused widespread anger, and senior British officers warned him to "wind his neck in" while UK forces were giving their lives in lawless Helmand province. Lt Col Simon Millar, the British military spokesman in Lashkar Gah, said: "It's amazing and completely unfair. I'm disappointed a coalition partner is making comments like that, when British soldiers are dying ... carrying out a UN mandate to bring peace and stability." The US is preparing to send an extra 3,200 marines to southern Afghanistan, and some analysts believe Mr Gates' comments are designed to mollify American public opinion over such an unpopular additional deployment. ... The United States has regularly criticised Germany, France, Italy and other allies that refuse to send their troops to Afghanistan to tackle the Taleban in the insurgents' southern strongholds. But it has never before turned on allies who willingly engage in combat, such as Britain and Canada.

AN EXPANDED EXCERPT OF THIS FEATURED ARTICLE FOLLOWS THE SUMMARIES

2//The Independent, UK
BLAIR UNFIT TO RUN EU, SAY FRENCH POLITICAL VETERANS

Two of France's senior statesmen have launched an ABB movement - "Anyone But Blair" - in an attempt to prevent the former prime minister becoming the first president of the European Union next year. Although much of the support for Mr Blair comes from President Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the former prime minister Edouard Balladur, who is M. Sarkozy's mentor and friend, have declared Mr Blair to be unfit for the job. Both men say Europe's first president must come from a country which is fully committed to all EU policies, including the euro. Mr Balladur - breaking publicly with President Sarkozy - also says Mr Blair is too close to the United States to be chosen as a "fitting spokesman for Europe". Their views are echoed, off the record, by senior officials in Belgium and Italy. But Mr Blair is said to have some support in eastern Europe, Germany and Spain. Whether Mr Blair actually wants the job remains unclear. A semi-permanent European president, or president of the European Council, will be chosen by the 27 member governments this year. At present, EU business is organised, and ministerial and summit meetings chaired, by a different government every six months. Under the EU Reform Treaty now being ratified by member states, a European Council president will be elected for two and a half years by a qualified majority of governments. He or she will take office next year, after all 27 countries have approved the treaty. The "president of Europe" would chair summits, and some ministerial meetings but have few real powers. He or she would serve with the existing presidents of the European Commission (the EU executive) and the European Parliament (legislature). ... M. Balladur, who was prime minister from 2003 to 2005, said in the newspaper Le Monde: "To be accepted by all, the president of the Union must come from a country ... determined to build European independence, especially in defence and foreign affairs. "How could Mr Blair embody this ambition when, in the disastrous episode in Iraq, he always clung zealously to the views of the US or even incited them? Mr Blair is, for sure, a remarkable person but he cannot be the symbol of a Europe which wants to exist."

3//Asharq Alawsat, UK
BAHRAINI BANK SUSPENDS BUSINESS WITH IRAN

Bahrain's largest lender by market value, Ahli United Bank (AUB), has suspended business with Iran, complying with US pressure to isolate Tehran over its nuclear activities, two sources familiar with the matter said. Two sources with knowledge of policy at Ahli United said banking activity with Iran had been "frozen". The sources declined to comment on how this would affect the bank's affiliate Future Bank, set up in 2004 with two Iranian partners. A member of the Bahrain parliament's finance and economic committee, Jasim Ali, said this week the government was putting pressure on Ahli United to freeze its Iranian operations. Future Bank was established as a joint venture with Bank Saderat Iran and Bank Melli Iran. The bank's main business is wholesale investment banking, and it targets financial flows between Iran and the Gulf. The bank aims to channel debt and equity capital from the Gulf into Iran, Future Bank's website said. The US, which counts Bahrain as an ally and has a naval base on the island, is putting pressure on Gulf governments to isolate Iran, which it says is trying to make nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge. A US intelligence report in December said Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Iran says it is developing nuclear technology for energy purposes. Banks in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, have stopped issuing letters of credit to Iranian companies, bankers said. Increasingly isolated from the West, Iran has long had close economic ties with most Gulf states, especially the UAE and Bahrain, home to the Middle East's biggest financial centres.

4//BBC News, UK
KENYA ‘TURNED INTO KILLING FIELD'

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has accused the government and the police of turning the country into "killing fields of the innocent". His Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said seven people were shot dead in Nairobi on the second day of protests against elections it says were rigged. Police denied Mr Odinga's claim that they were "on a killing spree" and said they were acting "with restraint". EU politicians have meanwhile urged it to cut aid to Kenya's government.

Mr Odinga said: "The government and the police have turned this country into killing fields of the innocent, executing at will in an unprecedented bloodlust that began long before elections took place." He said the government had "issued its police force with a shoot-to-kill order. And police officers all over the country have followed that order to the letter." ... The government has accused Mr Odinga's group of planning to carry out systematic ethnic cleansing. Justice Minister Martha Karua said the ODM had been "planning mayhem if they lost". The US on Thursday blamed both sides for the violence. State department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "More than anything else they need to come together for the Kenyan people and for Kenya's future." Meanwhile, the European Parliament on Thursday unanimously backed a resolution calling for the EU to suspend aid to the Kenyan government. The EU is due to give some 400m euros (£298m) to Kenya over the next five years. Mr Odinga said the international community should impose sanctions. "Sanctions is one way of putting pressure on Mr Kibaki to know that it is not going to be business as usual with the rest of the world, unless and until he agrees to a peaceful resolution to this artificially instigated crisis," he said. ... Meanwhile, the UN has launched a $34m (£17.3m) humanitarian appeal for Kenya, to help those affected by the violence following the disputed election. A quarter of a million people have left their homes and 6,000 have fled to neighbouring Uganda.

5//The Jakarta Post, Indonesia
RI, CHINA TO RESUME DEFENSE TIES

Indonesia and China have agreed to work together on military training and military vehicle production, a move in line with the two countries' 2007 agreement on defense cooperation.

After welcoming Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan on Wednesday, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told reporters both countries would conduct joint military training and exercises for their defense forces. "We will also create a strategic partnership in joint financing and defense industry, which will concentrate on producing military vehicles, aircraft and vessel carriers," said Juwono, who visited Beijing last November to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral defense cooperations. He said the finance and national development ministers of both countries would discuss the amount of investment needed for the defense industry, in which local military carrier producers PT Dirgantara Indonesia and shipbuilder PT PAL would be involved. Juwono has repeatedly said his ministry will focus more on procuring new military equipment from local manufacturers while seeking products not available domestically from foreign partners under mutual agreements. ... Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to enter into such a strategic partnership with China. Minister Cao said Wednesday the military in both countries had played a significant role in assisting the economic advancement and a cooperation agreement would allow them to share their experiences in that field. "In the future, we hope to conduct high level visits more frequently to strengthen the defense relationship between both countries," he said during his first visit to Indonesia. Minister Cao is scheduled to leave the country on Sunday after a five-day visit.

FEATURED ARTICLE

1//The Scotsman, UK Thursday, 17th January 2008

FURY AS US DEFENCE SECRETARY SAYS BRITISH CAN'T FIGHT INSURGENTS

By Jerome Starkey in Kabul

Furious British troops in southern Afghanistan hit back yesterday at American claims they don't know how to fight.

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, launched an amazing attack on UK, Canadian and Dutch troops, by suggesting they didn't know how to fight Taleban insurgents.

He told the Los Angeles Times: "I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counter-insurgency operations.

Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counter-insurgency."

His astonishing comments caused widespread anger, and senior British officers warned him to "wind his neck in" while UK forces were giving their lives in lawless Helmand province.

Lt Col Simon Millar, the British military spokesman in Lashkar Gah, said: "It's amazing and completely unfair. I'm disappointed a coalition partner is making comments like that, when British soldiers are dying ... carrying out a UN mandate to bring peace and stability."

The US is preparing to send an extra 3,200 marines to southern Afghanistan, and some analysts believe Mr Gates' comments are designed to mollify American public opinion over such an unpopular additional deployment.

In his interview, Mr Gates also heaped praise on US troops, who have been repeatedly blamed for civilian casualties and for jeopardising the "hearts and minds" campaign with "culturally insensitive" operations.

In August last year, they were forced to offer a grovelling apology after dropping footballs from helicopters in eastern Afghanistan, emblazoned with Allah's name - sparking fury even among moderate Muslims.

But Mr Gates said: "Our guys in the east ... are doing a terrific job. They've got the (counter-insurgency] thing down pat. But I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with."

Lt Col Millar insisted he had no idea what had prompted Mr Gates' remarks - but suggested the US defence secretary should visit Helmand for himself.

Afghan experts insisted it was the "heavy-handed" Americans who needed to improve their counter-insurgency tactics.

One senior western diplomat said: "The British have demonstrated that they have a better understanding of the Afghan people than the Americans."

The US general Dan McNeill, commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, called the British ambassador in Kabul as soon as the story broke to assure him Mr Gates was speaking out of turn.

America Censures Its Allies

The United States has regularly criticised Germany, France, Italy and other allies that refuse to send their troops to Afghanistan to tackle the Taleban in the insurgents' southern strongholds.

But it has never before turned on allies who willingly engage in combat, such as Britain and Canada.

Copyright 2008, Gloria R. Lalumia

WORLD MEDIA WATCH