[LINK] Guardian: Al-Jazeera tells the truth about war

[Mark Hughes]

Amazing that 'Link' overall has lost its accuracy and objectivity when it
comes to discussing the war in Iraq.

If something about the internet / technology gets posted to Link, all sorts
of people will query any possible innaccuracies / implications.  But with
regards to the war in Iraq those same people appear to have sent analytical
ability on vacation.



> IIRC, Saddam got where he was not via a military coup,
> but via democratic elections.

Here's some basic info on Saddam:

* In 1959 he participated in an unsuccessful attempt by Ba'thists to
assassinate the Iraqi prime minister, Abd al-Karim Qasim.

* In 1963, Saddam takes charge of organizing a Ba'th security organ, "Jihaz
Haneen." This becomes the core of the security apparatus after 1968.

* In 1968 a coup by senior Arab Nationalist officers and retired Ba'thist
officers overthrows the regime of President Abd al-Rahman Aref. Saddam is
the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ba'th party at the time.

* Saddam carries out a plot to oust the rival faction (Arab Nationalist
officers) in the coup

* In 1979, at the age of 42, Saddam forces Al-Bakr to retire and is sworn in
as President of the Republic of Iraq, a position he has held ever since (24
years). He immediately began consolidating his power by ordering the deaths
of government officials suspected of treason.

* In 1980 Saddam invades Iran, starting the Iraq-Iran war.  During the war,
Iraq developed the ability to produce, store, and use chemical weapons.
These chemical weapons included H-series blister and G-series nerve agents.
Iraq built these agents into various offensive munitions including rockets,
artillery shells, aerial bombs, and warheads on the Al Hussein Scud missile
variant. During the Iran-Iraq war, Iraqi fighter-attack aircraft dropped
mustard-filled and tabun-filled 250 kilogram bombs and mustard-filled 500
kilogram bombs on Iranian targets.

* No one is sure of the total casualties during the Iran-Iraq war, but
estimates range from 500,000 to 1 million dead, 1-2 million wounded





For those who'd care to contrast the current war in Iraq with the situation
before the war started, Saddam's people kill around 500 - 1,000 Iraqi
civilians each week (some estimates are twice this - over 2 million in total
over 24 years).  Stopping this does not appear to be a high priority for
some people outside Iraq.

So now we can each total up those killed during the war, and calculate how
many weeks of 'Saddam's normal reign' would have to elapse to equal the
number killed during the current war.




Regarding Al-Jazeera, its good to have an Arab alternative to CNN, the BBC,
etc.  Not that Al-Jazeera is any better than other major news services; it
is just as good, and just as bad, as CNN, etc.

Its clear that for the Middle East Al-Jazeera is rapidly becoming the Radio
and TV equivalent of the internet - i.e. an opportunity to find news that
isn't censored by their own government.  Al-Jazeera's growth will become a
key factor in the ending of the current regimes in the Middle East - none of
which are much of a democracy, as control rests in the hands of either a)
Military, b) Monarchy, or c) Religious Leaders.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes before those regimes try and
take action to stop Al-Jazeera from operating, as they come to understand
just what a threat it is to their staying in power.


Regarding the attitude of US leaders to Al-Jazeera, I reckon there are only
two options:

1. The US leaders are so dumb they don't realise that Al-Jazeera is one of
the best things that ever happened to the US.
2. The US leaders are so smart they know that by railing against Al-Jazeera
they can entrench it as the viable independent news source for all the
Arabs/Muslims in the Middle East.

Personally, I reckon option 1 is the go.



Regards, Mark

Mark Hughes
Effective Business Applications Pty Ltd
+61 4 1374 3959
www.pplications.com.au
effectivebusiness at pplications.com.au