The US may want to create the modem day version of the FEast
India Company, but hopes and
dreams are one thing, reality is another.
"The founding documents of the United Nations and the founding documents of America stand in the same tradition. Both assert that human beings should never be reduced to objects of power or commerce, because their dignity is inherent." George W Bush, 23 September 2003, speech to the UN General Assembly.
As Bush made his case to send UN troops to Iraq, the US-run Iraqi governing council announced that Iraq would, effec.... Geoff Ryan
The resignation of Palestinian Prime September was the almost inevitable consequence of Israeli government determination to destroy the Palestinian resistance. The so-called 'Road Map' for peace in the Middle East is seriously stalled.
In the west the resignation has been presented as the result of conflict between Abbas and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat over control of Palestine's security forces, It has also been portrayed as a desperate act by Arafat to cling on to power and to preserve his (often corruptly
Certainly there was a of the security apparz up some of the nic mas co De seer against the background of increased Israeli attacks upon Palestinian militants, in particular on Hamas, despite a truce declared by all the main Palestinian organisations. Israel, in fact, never recognised this truce,
tively, be turned into the world's biggest car
boot sale in order to pay for the cost of
occupation.
Chief administrator Paul Bremer has
signed an order allowing full foreign ownership of companies in almost all sectors of the economy except oil (already controlled
by the US) and real estate. The plans were
announced at an international banking conference held in Prague at the end of September by the Iraqi finance minister Kamil Mubdir al-Kaylani.
World Bank chiefs could barely suppress their glee, Horst Koehler stated; '... This is for me a remarkable step forward to bring order in this development and also to help the Iraqi people themselves to define an .... dismissing it as 'an internal Palestinian matter' and attempted to decapitate the leadership of Hamas. Abdel Aziz Rantisi escaped a rocket attack on his car in June while in August Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas, escaped a 500lb car bomb.
On 21 August five Israeli missiles struck the car carrying the third most senior Hamas leader, Ismail Abu Shanab, in Gaza City in retaliation for the suicide bombing a few days earlier: of a bus in Jerusalem in which 20 people were killed. The death of Abu Shanab, one of the most moderate leaders of Hamas who argued strongly for a peaceful solution to the conflict, destroyed the ceasefire. A bame the forth member of the few days later Mahmoud Zahar
lamas leadership to be targeted by Israel this summer, though he also scaped serious injury. Since the midAugust bus bombing 13 Hamas militants have been killed, along with anyone who happened to be in the vicinity when Israeli forces struck.
Alongside military attacks the Israeli government has continued to build a so-called security fence, which takes away even more
economic strategy:'
Our own Gordon Brown was equally
complimentary; "We welcome announcements about reforms that will make for a
better and more successful reconstruction
of lraq."
The plans to privatise Iraq mean allowing
foreign investors, like banks and construction companies, to buy up the best assets for themselves in the hope that, when peace eventually breaks out, they will be the recipients of 100 per cent of the potential spoils of war.
George W has said that he envisages a 'US-Middle East free trade area...replacing corruption and self-dealing with free markets - shorthand for US big business making
.. ... Palestinian land and cages in whole villages. A few Israeli settlements have been dismanted in accordance with the road map, but have usually been rapidly reclaimed. Others continue to be built. Palestinians still face roadblocks, with accompanying harassment, whenever they attempt to travel
In some Israeli settlements underground murder gangs have appeared. A group calling itself the "Revenge of the Infants" claimed responsibility for a hand grenade attack on a Palestinian school near Jenin that injured 29 teenagers, some seriously. It was also believed to be behind a blast near an east Jerusalem school that injured eight children.
The final straw for Abbas was the Israeli government's refusal to release more than a few hundred of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, many without trial. A large number of those released were ordinary criminals not Palestinian militants
In fact, despite all the regrets about Abbas' resignation and the very real threats against Arafat, Israel has actually taken much greater steps to release prisoners since the departure of Abbas. Israel and the Lebanon -based Hizbollah have been negotiating The US and Britain may want a re-hash of