Full excerpts, links up now at
http://www.zianet.com/insightanalyticalTomorrow at Buzzflash.com
WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 14, 2004
1//The Independent, UK--SUPPORT FOR BUSH ‘HAS HARMED UK’S REPUTATION’ (Tony Blair was urged yesterday to put some distance between Britain and the Bush administration and not to make his alliance with the US President the cornerstone of British foreign policy. Senior Labour MPs expressed concern at Mr Blair's close relationship with George Bush as he prepared to fly to Washington tomorrow for talks that will be overshadowed by the crisis in Iraq. In a sign of Mr Blair's nervousness, Downing Street confirmed that he would not receive the Congressional Medal of Honour he was awarded nearly a year ago, insisting it was not yet ready.) Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, told The Independent yesterday that Mr Blair should "recalibrate" his relations with the White House.)
2//The Jordan Times, Jordan--SECURITY FORCES MAJOR HEADACHE FOR US (The poor performance of Iraqi security forces during the current uprising against the US-led occupation raises serious questions about their ability to keep order after the upcoming handover of power to Iraqis…On the streets, Iraqi policemen complain they lack equipment — radios, flak jackets, heavy weapons — to confront the well-armed insurgents. Coalition officials and interim Iraqi government officials say the equipment issue is caused by delays in processing procurement contracts, not by lack of trust. But in some cases, tribal and religious bonds between Iraqi policemen and insurgents are stronger than loyalty to the new pro-Western security apparatus.)
3//The Daily Times, Pakistan--PAKISTAN MULLING US REQUEST FOR TROOPS TO IRAQ(The United States has asked Pakistan to send troops to protect a future United Nations mission in Iraq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. “We have received a request by the US to provide troops for the protection of a UN mission when it is established,” Masood Khan said.)
4//The Moscow Times, Russia--FAMILIES SEEK ADVICE ON DODGING DRAFT (Potential conscripts, their parents and grandparents have been storming the office of human rights group Soldiers' Mothers, trying to avoid the spring draft that began April 1…Every Wednesday and Saturday, Soldiers' Mothers hold seminars for potential conscripts and their families. "People want to know their rights and don't expect military commissions to tell them about them, or to even answer their questions," said the organization's co-chairwoman Ella Polyakova. "We consider various problems and explain the solutions to the mothers."…A major complaint voiced at the Soldiers' Mothers office was that the men who have a reason not to serve are treated by military commissions like slaves who have fled plantations.)
5//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--SPY NETWORK PUTRID, ARMY MAN TELLS PM(A high-ranking military analyst has accused the Federal Government of systematically putting foreign policy objectives ahead of intelligence, seriously undermining the work of its own spies.A saga that has wracked the military for six years has culminated in General Peter Cosgrove's senior intelligence analyst during the East Timor conflict, Lieutenant-Colonel Lance Collins, writing to the Prime Minster demanding a Royal Commission into the spy services. The letter says there has been a litany of intelligence failures, from the Sandline affair in Papua New Guinea to East Timor and the Bali bombings and, most recently, the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.)
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