British Troops 'In Iraq for Ten Years'--UK/ New World Media Watch

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com



WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 19, 2004

1//The Scotsman, UK--BRITISH TROOPS ‘IN IRAQ FOR TEN YEARS’ (British troops may have to stay in Iraq for up to ten years to ensure security, the commanding officer of British forces in the southern Iraqi city of Basra told The Scotsman yesterday. Brigadier Nick Carter’s warning came as the security situation in southern Iraq deteriorated after a day in which British troops came under sustained attack from supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtadr al- Sadr, in the town of al-Amarah. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, yesterday admitted that the coalition underestimated how unstable the security situation in Iraq would become after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.)

2//The Independent, UK--WHITEHALL WARNS UK FIRMS TO STOP SENDING WORKERS TO IRAQ (In an embarrassing about-face for the Government, trade officials have warned British companies to postpone all visits to Iraq for at least a month after a sudden rise in kidnappings and killings of foreign workers by insurgents. The deliberate targeting of foreigners, culminating in the murder last Wednesday of an Italian security guard, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, has put the Government's strategy of getting British firms into Iraq under severe pressure…The largest security firms are now upgrading their plans for the mass evacuation of foreign workers, if the situation worsens. The BBC and ITN have admitted they are also closely monitoring the escalating violence and could withdraw their journalists.)

3//The Daily Times, Pakistan--TALIBAN OFFENSIVE MELLOWINGIN AFGHANISTAN: US: ATTACKS WILL BE MORE INTENSE, SAYS TALIBAN (A spring offensive by Taliban and Al Qaeda guerrillas in Afghanistan’s restive south is the weakest in two years, US officials say, but Taliban militants vowed on Sunday to keep up their attacks… But some analysts and provincial officials dispute the US assessment and say the Taliban are better disciplined after a meeting last year of its secretive 10-man leadership council, including supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar. “I think the Taliban are more organised,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a journalist in western Pakistani who follows Taliban issues closely. “The Taliban now have a clear command and leadership structure. They know who is in charge.” Yusufzai said American soldiers fighting in Iraq had also inflamed religious passions of Muslims, making it easier for the Taliban to recruit from Pakistan where many are believed to have found sanctuary among fellow ethnic Pashtuns after 2001.)

4//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey--US MAY CUT AFGHAN FORCE DESPITE AL-QAEDA HUNT (The United States, which has increased troops numbers in Afghanistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden and other militants, may cut their number after the country holds elections, the top U.S. military officer said on Friday. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan were moving to uproot al-Qaeda militants and their Taliban allies and head off violence ahead of September elections…"We will see how events unfold. I think generally most of the country is pretty secure as a matter of fact," he added.)



5//The Moscow Times, Russia--FOREIGN POLICY: U.S. FIRST OR RUSSIA FIRST (Russia's loyal cooperation with the West and Western interests makes it the naive wife to the West's unfettered husband, or so goes the colorful analogy proposed Saturday during a characteristically dry discussion of foreign policy priorities. It sparked lively debate among the more than 100 members of the political and business elite gathered at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy annual weekend retreat. Not everyone agreed, though many acknowledged the psychological difficulty for Moscow in feeling it has clung to a relationship that it values more than Europe and the United States.)