Military - New material (50)
01 November 2004
Die nukleare Frage in den deutsch-franzözische Beziehungen [The nuclear question in German-French relations], Peter Schmidt.
Europäische Sciherheit 11/2004 pp. 57-61.
Die Europäische Verteidigungsagentur - ein grosser Schritt in Richting Europäische Verteidigung [The European Defence Agency - a big step towards European Defence], Nannette Bühl.
Wehrtechnik III/2004 pp. 134-136.
The Source Duelfer didn't Quote, Scott Ritter.
Guardian 9.10.04. Ritter, a UN weapons inspector between 1991 and 1998 and the author of the book
War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want you to Know, which explained why it was impossible that Saddam Hussain's Iraq possessed "wmd" in the run-up to the US invasion, considers the work of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG). He observes that the ISG report, delivered by its head Charles Duelfer in the week of the US election, "provided a convenient escape from criticism by concluding that Saddam Hussain in fact fully intended to convert his "dual use" factories into wmd production facilities once UN weapons inspectors left." Ritter finds the "intent" argument - invoked by Bush in the USA and Straw in the UK - spurious, pointing out that Duelfer "has to date provided no documentation to back up his assertion regarding Saddam's "intent."" He notes that Deulfer "is not an unbiased observer" and says that "The US Congress and British parliament should insist on full declassification of the ISG report" because "the American and British people deserve to know the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about the
casus belli that got us into the ongoing quagmire that is Iraq today."
Le ombre di Nassiriya (The shadows of Nassiriya). Carta, n.45, pp.82, E 2.60. This issue looks retrospectively at issues related to the insurgent car-bomb attack on the Italian
Maestrale military base in Nassiriya, Iraq, on 12 November 2003, in which 11
carabinieri and two civilians died. It includes the death of Stefano Rolla, a film producer and screenplay writer who was shooting a film with backing and funding from the Defence, Foreign Affairs and Culture ministries, recounted by his colleague on the project, Aureliano Amadei, who was also injured by the explosion. Amadei believes that the film was supposed to "to minimise dangers and to portray security", but he found that the situation in Iraq was very different from the one described in the Italian media. He now describes the project as a "veritable folly" and claims that the survivors of the attack are "very pissed off", because they haven't received compensation. They feel that more attention should have been paid to ensuring the security of the base. Available from: Carta, Via Gran Bretagna, 18, 00196 Roma (Italia); e-mail: carta@carta.org.
"I was skating on thin ice, but I made damn certain I was not going to fall through", General Sir Mike Jackson.
Independent 22.11.04, p. 29. In this interview the UK army's Commander in Chief discusses restructuring and the war on Iraq. On restructuring he implies that a brother unit of the SAS is "under review". On Iraq he says that British troops will be sent to support the US in conflict zones anywhere in Iraq as the resistance escalates.