Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti January 11, 2001 New York Trmes Iraq Is Focal Point as Bush Meets With Joint Chiefs -By ERIG-SCHMITT-and JAMES-DAO ---- WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - George W. Bush, the nation's commander in chief to be, went to the Pentagon today for a top-secret session with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to review hot spots around the world where he might have to send American forces into harm's way. About half of the 75-minute meeting in the secure conference room where the military chiefs conduct their most sensitive business, focused on a discussion about Iraq and the Persian Gulf, two participants said. Iraq was the first topic briefed because "it's the most visible and most risky area" Mr. Bush will confront after he takes office, one senior officer said. Mr. Bush did not say how he would deal with Iraq, the participants said, but asked several questions about President Saddam Hussein and American allies in the region, before the generals briefing him addressed other possible flashpoints, including the Balkans and the Korean peninsula. "Iraqi policy is very much on his mind," one senior Pentagon official said. "Saddam was clearly a discussion point." Iraq looms large among the national security challenges Mr. Bush will face. During the campaign, he criticized the Clinton adffiinistration as allowing the international coalition against Iraq to erode, and for permitting sanctions against Iraq to loosen. But it was the president-elect's father, President George Bush, who left Mr. Clinton with what critics say was unfinished business, by defeating Mr. Hussein in the 1991 Persian Gulf war, but not dislodging him. . In the past year, Mr. Bush and his advisers have talked about strengthening the sanctions and bolstering the fragmented Iraqi opposition groups, but the president-elect has been careful not to layout a specific strategy. Mr. Bush arrived at the Pentagon this morning surrounded by a cast familiar with the building: Vice Presidentelect Dick Cheney, who was secretary of defense under Mr. Bush's father; Gen. Colin L. Powell, the secretary of state- designate and former chairmanof the Joint Chiefs; Donald H. Rumsfeld, a former secretary of defense who is Mr. Bush's choice for the same job; and Condoleezza Rice, the president-elect's pick for national security adviser. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen held a 45-minute briefing in his office for the group, touching on a variety of issues, including the nation's nuclear arsenal, before.the session with the Joint Chiefs. Hours after his meetIng with Mr. Bush, Mr. Cohen gave a speech that was part valedictory and part rebuttal to Mr. Bush's repeated criticisms against the Clinton administration's military policies during the campaign. On Iraq, for instance, Mr. Cohen argued that sanctions had worked. "Saddam Hussein's forces are in a state where he cannot pose a threat to his neighbors at this point," he said. "We have been successful, through the sanctions regime, to really shut off most of the revenue that will be going to rebuild his military." In a courtly m~er, without ~enti~~ing Mr. Bu~h or h~ supporters by name, Mr. Cohen time and again suggested ~at the Repubhcans had ~versrmpl~Ied defense Issues like peacekeeping in the Balkans and building a ballistic missile defense system, a subject that dId not come up at today's Pentagon briefings. In the campaign, for instance, Mr. Bush asserted that Mr. Clinton's defense policies had caused military morale to plummet and weapons systems to fall into disrepair. . But Mr. Cohen argued today that policies supported by the Clinton administration and approved by Congress in the past two years would lead to an increase in Pentagon spending of $227 billion by the year 2007. Much. of that increase will be for personnel costs, including pay increases and improved pension and health care benefIts. But mu~ will also ~o t.o~ard maintaining and modernizing weapons systems. The increase outlined by ~'. Cohen today IS actually SIgnificantly more than what Mr. Bush proposed during the campaign, which was $45 billi~n.over.10 years: Though~. Cohen did not layout that contrast, he seemed to be suggesting that the Clinton adminIStration had already achieved more than anything Mr. Bush had even proposed during the campaign. Mr. Cohen also took iss~e with s~ggestions by Ms. Rice that it might be necessary to set up ~tema:tional to carry out peacekeepmg functions that are now the responsibilitY of soldiers. police forces "Some people say, 'Why don't we just train people to be peacekeepers, a certain segment of our military to be pea- 40
Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti cekeepers, and the others will be the warriors?' "Mr. Cohen said in his address at the National Press Club here. "It doesn't work that way. We have to train our people to do everything, all the way from being peacekeepers to peacemakers to humanitarians to diplomats to being war fighters, because the situation on the ground can change like that." Throughout the campaign, Republicans also accused the Clinton administration of dragging its heels on building an antiballistic missile defense system. Mr. Cohen, who supports building a limited missile shield, said Mr. Clinton had been deliberate about building support for a system among American allies. And he strongly warned Mr. Bush to do the same and not rush into deploying something that might trigger a new arms race or alienate America's friends. "Working with our allies, persuading them that we're doing the right thing and the reasonable thing, is going to very important," Mr. Cohen said. Mr. Cohen also warned Mr. Bush about cutting spending on three expensive fighter plane programs that Mr. Cohen strongly supported during his tenure. Those programs could cost well over $300 billion over the next two decades, and advisers to Mr. Bush have suggested that the new administration would take a hard look at cutting or canceling one of them, investing the money instead in futuristic skip-a-generation technology. • • • • • Turkish General Says EU States don't Want Turkey Reuters 11 Jan 2001 ANKARA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - A senior member of Turkey's influential military said on Thursday no European Union country sincerely supported Turkey's ambitions to join the bloc, according to Anatolian news agency. Military Academies Chief Commander General Nahit Senogul said the Ell's reluctance to guarantee Turkey a say in the decision-making processes of a planned European defence force that will use NATO assets proved a lack of goodwill. Last month Turkey blocked a basic agreement between NATO and the EU on a planned EU rapid reaction force, saying Ankara would not retain enough control over decisions that could affect its own security and involve its army. "Some EU member countries are prejudiced against Turkey and have always been involved in the counter- Turkey movement," Senogul told a military symposium on Europe. "Some countries do not actually favour Turkish membership. Some countries instead prefer close cooperation between the EU and Turkey rather than admitting Turkey to the Union," he said citing France and Germany as leading that point of view. "The rest of the countries support Turkish accession only in appearance ... It is impossible to name a country that sincerely supports Turkey's membership of the European Union," he said. Turkey won candidacy status in 1999 but the EU has laid out a range of political and economic changes it wants to see before Ankara can start membership negotiations. Turkey is due to publish its own EU National Programme, a manifesto of the steps it plans to take, in the coming days. The Ell's Accession Partnership Accord, published late last year, caused anger in Turkey because of references to Cyprus and territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean. The army, which has directly or indirectly toppled four governments since 1960, has said it is in favour of EU membership in principle but it balks at concessions it sees as threatening national security. A key issue for Europe is Turkey's human rights record and the position of its 12 million Kurds, around 20 percent of the population. Turkey bans broadcasting and education in the Kurdish language on the grounds they could foster separatism. But since the capture of guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999, a 16-year campaign of violence has largely ceased and there has been some discussion of Kurdish language rights. The army has made clear it resists lifting the ban. But the head ot the domestic recently, suggesting Kurdish broadcasting should be sanctioned. security service MIT caused surprise "In the scope of individual rights and liberties within the Accession Partnership Accord, under the headlines 'cultural rights', 'native language broadcasting' or 'education rights' for our citizens of Kurdish origin ...they want our country to be divided," Halil Simsek, another general speaking at the symposium, was quoted as saying by Anatolian news agency. 41
Page 1 and 2: INSTITUT URD DE PARIS Bulletin de l
Page 3 and 4: Sommaire: • RENCONTRE ENTRE MASSO
Page 5 and 6: 111(1(1-1"11\1('12lilil j, Il,,/;11
Page 7 and 8: ,. "Nous préparons un plan peu dou
Page 9 and 10: 11 1111 l • I III \ 1\ ' _'1,( î
Page 11 and 12: Ecevit a, quant-à-lui, contesté l
Page 13 and 14: Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhev
Page 31 and 32: I Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berh
Page 37 and 38: Revue de Presse-Press Review-B"erhe
Page 51: Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhev
Page 79 and 80: Revue de Pressf!-Press Review-Berhe
Page 103 and 104:
Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhev
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Revue de Presse-Press Revit;W-Berhe
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
... .. 31 JANVIER 2001 Revue de Pre
Page 137:
show all

Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?