Posted 8:28 PM
by The Moderator
Soldiers 'will create cycle of revenge' By Patrick Hennessy and Patrick Sawer, 20 June 2003 Evening Standard
MPs from across the political spectrum today reacted with shock and concern to revelations that trigger-happy US troops in Iraq regularly kill civilians. Yesterday the Evening Standard published confessions from American soldiers that they have fired indiscriminately at non-combatants and left wounded fighters to die or even shot them. The GIs said they were often unable to tell civilians from enemy troops.
However, former government whip Graham Allen, who led Labour backbenchers in opposition to the war against Saddam, said the Americans' conduct was creating a "cycle of hatred and revenge". Mr Allen said President Bush had "failed in his responsibility to prepare properly for the occupation of Iraq when Saddam Hussein had gone", adding: "Mr Bush never told his army or his people what to expect.
"The result is the terrible and growing toll of casualties of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and a cycle of mistrust, hatred and revenge reminiscent of Vietnam. This situation is intolerably dangerous, not only for the Americans and the Iraqis but for British forces, administrators and aid workers." Mr Allen said there was now only one answer - the full-scale takeover of Iraq's administration by the United Nations.
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said: "This approach is hardly likely to win over hearts and minds in Iraq. If anything, it is likely to provoke further unrest. There must be serious doubts about the legality of these actions, which on the face of it, constitute serious breaches of the Geneva Convention."
And Colonel Bob Stewart, commander of the UK peacekeeping force in Bosnia, warned the US could reap a whirlwind of its own making - an extremist Islamic state in Iraq - unless it reined in its soldiers. Col Stewart added: "What the Americans are doing will lead to more and more revenge attacks by Iraqis. The worst scenario is that an Islamic republic will be created as a result of the actions of American soldiers."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "These are American soldiers commenting on American operations. I am sure that the American government will be looking into this report and making its own investigations." A Ministry of Defence spokesman added: "Obviously we would expect all the forces there to abide by the Geneva Convention. We have our own rules of engagement and the Americans have theirs."
The performance of the US military is to be examined by human rights groups and will be the subject of an investigation by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Posted 12:29 PM
by The Moderator
IN NEW CENTURY, WORLD AT CROSSROADS BETWEEN HORRORS AND HOPES OF PAST - ANNAN New York, Jun 23 2003 11:00AM Declaring the world at a crossroads between a return to the horrors of the first half of the twentieth century or the burgeoning hopes of the second, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the international community today to rise to the challenge of his vision of a new century blessed with a caring humanity, cooperation and free and fair markets.
Addressing world business and political leaders at an extraordinary session of the World Economic Forum on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan, Mr. Annan said the new century must build on, and adapt, the achievements of the later twentieth century, which he called "a world of increasing openness and freedom; of growing mutual confidence; above all, a world of hope."
This had not happened by accident, he added, but "because, in and after 1945, a group of far-sighted leaders...determined to make the second half of the twentieth century different from the first" had "founded a network of institutions in which different nations could cooperate for the common good,' with the United Nations in a central role.
(see rest of article Here)
Posted 9:37 PM
by The Moderator
IRAQ: Blix Says Many Open Questions Remain On Weapons Programs
By Jim Wurst, UN Wire
UNITED NATIONS -- In his final briefing to the Security Council before his contract ends this month, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said this morning there are still many unanswered questions concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and urged the council to keep the door open for the return of international inspectors.
"The commission has not at any time during the inspections in Iraq found evidence of the continuation or resumption of programs of weapons of mass destruction or significant quantities of proscribed items," Blix said, referring to the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, which he heads. "This does not necessarily mean that such items could not exist. They might -- there remain long lists of items unaccounted for -- but it is not justified to jump to the conclusion that something exists just because it is unaccounted for."
http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/current.asp
