ORIGINAL MATERIAL PRODUCED BY THE GLOBAL BEAT SYNDICATE Dan Smith: on torture in Iraq and U.S.values Ralph A Cossa: a new approach towards Taiwan is needed from Beijing Ahmed Faruqui: is the thaw between India and Pakistan real this time?

New York University

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His role as principal architect of U.S. strategy in Iraq, has made Donald Rumsfeld a target for critics of the war

CIA CONCERNED ITS INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES MAY COME UNDER CLOSER SCRUTINY IN A FUTURE ADMINISTRATION
The New York Times reports that CIA officials are becoming nervous at the public outrage over abuse by the U.S. Army in Iraq. While officials insist that the CIA does not engage in torture, one of the interrogation techniques, "water boarding," consists of strapping a prisoner to a board and holding him underwater until he is convinced that he will drown. The CIA claims that that is not torture because there is no permanent physical damage. Another tactic has been to send prisoners to foreign countries, and ask CIA agents to stay out of the room while foreign interrogators apply their own techniques to the victim. According to the New York Times, President Bush let it be known that he does not want to be informed where some of the prisoners are being held. The harsh tactics are permitted under secret rules issued by the Bush administration and John Ashcroft's Justice Department, but career officers are concerned that future administrations may see violations of U.S. and international law in current procedures.(James Risen, David Johnston, Neil Lewis, The New York Times, May 13, 2004)

PRESIDENT BUSH REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR RUMSFELD
Despite growing evidence that the torture was systematic, President Bush strongly reaffirmed his support for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and continues to maintain that only a small group was involved in misconduct. (President Bush, White House, May 10, 2004)
•Brigadier General Karpinski claims that military intelligence took control of Abu Ghraib Prison, and that the commanding officer in Iraq told her to forget about rules of engagement and go directly to lethal force (Washington Post, May 12,2004)
•New photographs shown in private worse than expected...
The Pentagon now has nearly 1,800 photographs on three compact disks which include images of U.S. servicemen havingconsensual sex as well as prisoners being terrorized. Some photographs show Iraqi women forced to expose their breasts or to strip in front of U.S. soldiers. Senators say the images are worse than they expected.(Washington Post, May 12, 2004)
•Abuse extends beyond prison
(Washington Post, May 11, 2004)

AMERICAN BEHEADED, OSTENSIBLY IN RETALIATION FOR ABU GHRAIB
A videotape of the assassination of Nick Berg, 26,shown on extremist websites belonging to Muntada al-Ansar has revolted many people in Iraq and the Arab world as well as the U.S.. Berg owned a communications company and was rebuilding antennas in Iraq, when he was kidnapped on April 9. The video tape showed him sitting on the floor in a prison uniform. Moments later, the men standing behind him, dragged him screaming to the side and sawed his head off with a knife. Berg's body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday. Before murdering Berg, one of his captors read out a statement: "How can a free Muslim sleep well as he sees Islam slaughtered and its dignity bleeding, and the pictures of shame and the news of the devilish scorn of the people of Islam - men and women - in the prison of Abu Ghraib?" The group threatened more kidnappings and assassinations. (BBC, May 11, 2004)

ARMY TIMES: RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROBLEMS IN IRAQ EXTENDS TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS
In an unusually frank editorial, the Army Times argues that that Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers,have no excuse for not informing themselves about the situation in Iraq. "On the battlefield, " notes the Times, "Myers’ and Rumsfeld’s errors would be called a lack of situational awareness — a failure that amounts to professional negligence..This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential — even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war."(The Army Times, May 17, 2004).

U.S. CONSIDERS HOW TO PROCEED ON OTHER PROSECUTIONS
Ray Suarez explores the requirements for prosecuting soldiers who committed acts of abuse in Iraq. A major consideration is likely to be whether the focus should be on soldiers who actually committed the crimes, or should extend to the commanding officers who permitted a climate favoring abuse to exist. (Ray Suarez, PBS News Hour, May 10, 2004)

U.S. SOLDIERS ALLEGEDLY USED ATTACK DOGS ON DETAINEES
Seymour Hersh, writing in the New Yorker, reports that a new batch of photographs from Iraq shows U.S. soldiers using attack dogs to terrorize an Iraqi detainee. Time dated photographs show U.S. interrogators surrounding a nude detainee who is knocked to the ground, his face contorted with pain. Later images show the man bleeding from bites on his legs. (Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, May 10, 2004)
•Red Cross reported abuse widespread in February
The Red Cross estimates that 70% to 90% of detainees had done nothing wrong, and had simply been rounded up at random.
(Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2004)
•BBC on Red Cross Report
•International Red Cross explains its report

THE CHAOS AT ABU GHRAIB PRISON
In an excellently detailed 3-part report, the Washington Post describes how Abu Ghraib prison gradually slipped out of control of the tiny guard force assigned to control 7,000 inmates.
•Part 1--A prison on the brink
•Part 2--Abuse grew with the prison
•Part 3--Interrogation

U.S. COMMANDERS DIVIDED ON IRAQ STRATEGY
A growing number of U.S. military commanders are concerned that lacking a coherent strategy, the U.S. may be winning battles in Iraq, but losing the war. The pattern is one that led to the U.S. defeat in Vietnam. (Thomas Ricks, Washington Post, May 9, 2004)

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CHARGES UNECESSARY CIVILIAN DEATHS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ
Amnesty says that British troops have shot hundreds of Iraqi civilians in a generally deteriorating situation. The deaths include an 8-year old girl, who Iraqis say was shot without provocation. The report, which has stirred an uproar in parliament, provides detailed accounts of the difficulties in patrolling civilian areas. (Amnesty Intl. May 11, 2004)

RUSSIA FACES INCREASED TERRORIST THREAT WITH EXPLOSION IN CHECHNYA
The bomb that killed Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, was encased in the concrete supports under the lectern where Kadyrov delivered a Victory Day speech. Kadyrov had only decided to give the speech at the last minute. Police suspect that there may have been an accomplice in Kadyrov's entourage. The bomb was also detonated by wire, bypassing Russian jammers which would have blocked detonation by cell phone--a favorite Chechen technique. (Moscow Times, May 10, 2004)
•Kadyrov's death leaves a political vacuum in Chechnya
•Russia's position weakened in Chechnya (Eurasianet.org, May 10, 2004)

OCCIDENTALISM: HOW THE WEST LOOKS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit argue in their new book, "Occidentalism: the West in the Eyes of its Enemies," that the developing world's reactions go beyond mere anti-westernism. Ian Buruma characterizes the extreme view as the notion that the west is" a ruthless, cosmopolitan, individualistic, soulless, atomized, alienated civilization, totally dedicated to the pursuit of money and wealth and comfort, but has no spirit, and has a toxic effect on organic spiritual communities. " The idea is a fantasy, says Buruma, but it has a deep impact on developing communities afraid of losing their roots. Ian Buruma joins Fouad Ajami for a discussion of the book at the Council on Foreign Relations. (April 22, 2004)

An Iraqi mother protests outside Abu Ghraib prison JUST GO Iraqi blogger, River Bend, suggests that it may be time for the U.S. to simply pull up stakes and leave Iraq: "Every newspaper you pick up in Baghdad has pictures of some American or British atrocity or another," she writes. "It's like a nightmare that has come to life. Everyone knew this was happening in Abu Ghraib and other places… seeing the pictures simply made it all more real and tangible somehow. American and British politicians have the audacity to come on television with words like, "True the people in Abu Ghraib are criminals, but…" Everyone here in Iraq knows that there are thousands of innocent people detained. Some were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, while others were detained 'under suspicion'. In the New Iraq, it's "guilty until proven innocent by some miracle of God". "People are so angry. There’s no way to explain the reactions- even pro-occupation Iraqis find themselves silenced by this latest horror. I can’t explain how people feel- or even how I personally feel. Somehow, pictures of dead Iraqis are easier to bear than this grotesque show of American military technique. People would rather be dead than sexually abused and degraded by the animals running Abu Ghraib prison. "There was a time when people here felt sorry for the troops. No matter what one's attitude was towards the occupation, there were moments of pity towards the troops, regardless of their nationality. We would see them suffering the Iraqi sun, obviously wishing they were somewhere else and somehow, that vulnerability made them seem less monstrous and more human. That time has passed. People look at troops now and see the pictures of Abu Ghraib… and we burn with shame and anger and frustration at not being able to do something. Now that the world knows that the torture has been going on since the very beginning, do people finally understand what happened in Falloojeh? (River Bend, Baghdad Burning Blog, May 7, 2004) AN ATTACK AGAINST GOVERNMENT UNDER LAW? Writing in Mother Jones, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis argues that the administration's War on Terror is undermining the basic foundations of what it means to be American. Says Lewis: "In the name of fighting terrorism, President Bush and his administration have abruptly overridden rights protected by the Constitution and international law. Ideas foreign to American principles—detention without trial, denial of access to lawyers, years of interrogation in isolation—are now American practices.. "The danger of what is happening is more profound than the denial of justice to some individuals. The Bush administration is really attacking a basic premise of the American system: that we have a government under law. (Anthony Lewis, Mother Jones, May 10, 2004)

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