JNV Anti-War Briefing 60 (26 April 2004)

Posted: 26 April 2004

COMPULSORY IDENTITY CARDS ON THE WAY
Today, the British Home Secretary announced his intention to bring in a compulsory national identity card (the last scheme was scrapped in 1952 - see BBC Online http://tinyurl.com/yvbl5). The ID card system is to be based on ‘biometric’ information-information such as fingerprints, or a scan of the iris of the eye - taken from all 60 million people living in the UK.

David Blunkett has long been trying to introduce national ID cards (called ‘entitlement cards’ at one point), but was forced to water down his proposals last Nov. after objections from Cabinet colleagues. ‘But sources say opposition to ID cards has weakened since the Madrid attacks. “The realities of the past few weeks have had a big impact,” one said.’ (Independent, 5 Apr. 2004, p. 1)

The ‘war on terrorism’ is being used as a justification for ID cards.
But there is no evidence that ID cards can help stop terrorism.

Israeli Strategy And The Assassination Of Sheikh Yassin
JNV Anti-War Briefing 59 (27 March 2004)

Posted: 10 April 2004

THE ASSASSINATION OF SHEIKH YASSIN
Israeli Prime Minister ‘Ariel Sharon personally approved the missile attack that killed the quadriplegic Hamas founder as he was pushed in his wheelchair outside his local mosque.’ (Guardian, 23 Mar., p. 1) ‘Sheikh Yassin was believed to be the highest-profile Palestinian ever killed by the Israelis.’ (Times, 23 Mar., p. 1) ‘While Yassin was reviled in Israel for his support for suicide bombers and a prediction that Israel would one day cease to exist, opinion polls of Palestinians consistently ranked him second to Yasser Arafat as a popular and trusted leader.’ (Washington Post, 23 Mar., p. A01)

‘Like a Mandela – unseen, unheard, yet charismatic in his prison cell – now half blind and deaf as well as crippled, Yassin’s prestige grew inexorably, just as that of Arafat, the official Mr Palestine, an ever-greater travesty of all that Mandela ever stood for, withered beneath the glare of a publicity he could no longer escape.’ (Guardian, 23 Mar., p. 25)

[’Israeli army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, hinted that the targets could now include Yasser Arafat… a government source said the promise given by Mr Sharon not to harm Mr Arafat applied only to the run-up to the war in Iraq last year.’ (Guardian, 24 Mar., p. 1)]

Jack Straw, Al-Qa’eda And The 1998 Bombings
JNV Anti-War Briefing 58 (24 March 2004)

Posted: 09 April 2004

THE OUTRAGEOUSNESS OF JACK STRAW
In a wide-ranging interview, the British Foreign Secretary has expressed regret that the international community failed to take ‘earlier action to deal with al-Qa’eda and the failing state which was harbouring it, which was Afghanistan.’ If this ‘earlier action’ had been taken, according to Mr Straw, ‘we might have avoided September 11 and everything that has followed.’ (Telegraph, 20 Mar. 2004, p. 11)

The Foreign Secretary recalls ‘eight years of a rising crescendo of outrageous attacks from al-Qa’eda’ from the 1993 attempt on the World Trade Centre to the attacks on the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and on the USS Cole in 2000.

Looking back, Mr Straw believes that al-Qa’eda became ‘increasingly emboldened’ by the ‘lack of reaction’ from the international community, following these ‘pretty astonishing attacks.’ ‘And that led to these amazing attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon…’

The Second National Opinion Poll in Iraq
JNV Anti-War Briefing 57 (23 March 2004)

Posted: 08 April 2004

THE HUNGER FOR DEMOCRACY
The majority of Iraqi people are desperate for national elections to institute a new democratically-elected government. When confronted with a wide variety of possible political arrangements in a national poll partly-sponsored by the BBC, 72.2% of Iraqis strongly agreed that there should be an Iraqi democracy, while a further 13.7% agreed somewhat, making ‘democracy’ the most popular choice.

When asked by Oxford Research International in Feb. 2004 to choose between just three political options, 48.5% of Iraqis chose ‘democracy’, 27.5% went for a ’strong leader’, and only 20.5% for an ‘Islamic state’. When asked who should be in charge, 55.3% of Iraqis said the country should be run by ‘democrats’; 27.3% said by a ’strong leader’; and only 13.7% said by ‘religious politicians’. (Full results of the ORI/BBC poll are available in pdf format from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3514504.stm.)

THE INCONSISTENT DEMAND FOR DEMOCRACY
The polls have shifted around a bit on this issue since Apr. 2003. A poll in Baghdad in July 2003, carried out for the Spectator and Channel 4 News, found that the most favoured political set-up was ‘British/American style democracy with various political parties competing openly for power’ at 36% (the only other real contender was ‘Islamic rule, but tempered to modern ideals of justice and punishment’ at 26%). (Excel database available from http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/07/week3/16poll.html.)

Then in Aug. 2003, in a poll outside Baghdad, while 38.2% of Iraqis polled said democracy could work well in Iraq, 50.2% said ‘democracy is a western way of doing things and it will not work here.’ (FT, 11 Sept., p.11) However, the first national opinion poll, carried out by ORI, found that ‘90.3 per cent of interviewees said they somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the country needed an Iraqi democracy.’ (AP, 2 Dec. 2003)

The Second National Opinion Poll in Iraq
JNV Anti-War Briefing 56 (19 March 2004)

Posted: 08 April 2004

IRAQ REJECTS THE OCCUPATION
The majority of Iraqi people oppose the presence of US/UK occupation forces in their country and do not believe that the US and UK should be involved in restoring public security or holding elections in Iraq. So says the second nationwide opinion poll carried out since the war, a poll commissioned by the BBC and carried out in February 2004 by ‘Oxford Research International’. (Full results of the poll are available in pdf format from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3514504.stm.)

51.2% of Iraqis oppose the presence of the US/UK occupation forces (31.3% strongly). Only 39.5% support them.

66.3% of people do not have confidence in the US and UK occupation forces. Only 25.3% do have some confidence. 62.2% do not have confidence in the US/UK Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Only 27.9% have some confidence in the CPA.

Only 12.7% of Iraqis think the occupation Forces or the United States should be involved in regaining public security in Iraq. 49.5% think it should be an Iraqi government or the Iraqi people.

Only 7.4% of Iraqis think the occupation forces/the US should hold the elections for a new Iraqi national government. 8.7% think the Governing Council should do it. 23.9% think it should be the Iraqi people; 18.2% go for ‘the Iraqi government’.

What kind of regime does Iraq need now? 31.6% opted for the CPA. 57.3% said Iraq did not need the CPA (36.9 strongly).