Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April 2002, pages 59-60

The European Press Looks at the Middle East

Aid for Afghanistan Given in “Shamelessly Propagandistic Way,” Says Financial Times

By Lucy Jones

When Afghanistan’s interim president, Hamid Karzai, went cap in hand to Tokyo at the end of January, most European newspapers were concerned that the pledged aid of more than $4.5 billion will not be enough. The funds, of which $1.8 billion will be available this year, are conditional on Afghanistan abiding by the agreement reached last December in Bonn, where the various factions promised to cease inter-tribal hostilities, establish representative government, and eliminate terrorism and the drug trade. Conflict may already be threatening this unity, said the UK’s Guardian on Jan. 22. “Factionalism, banditry and crime are reportedly on the rise in many parts of the country away from Kabul, especially in the Pashtun south,” noted an editorial.

London’s Financial Times on the same day criticized some donor countries’ grandstanding ways, claiming: “Several participants appeared more interested in playing to the gallery than in helping the 25 million Afghans. Aid figures were massaged in a shamelessly propagandistic way. The insistence on providing bilateral funds rather than pooling money in a national trust fund will greatly complicate relief efforts.”

The U.S. promised $296 million, limiting its commitment to this financial year, which, according to the Jan. 22 Guardian, “will inevitably raise questions about America’s staying power.” The Times of London fretted the following day about the financial projections used by the United Nations to assess how much is needed to reconstruct Afghanistan: “They are almost silent on the central point: what this brave new country will do to earn a living. Not poppies, it [the U.N.] says sternly—but then what? The financial model laid out before the conference reads like a dot.com business plan: the costs are minutely spelled out, almost to the salary of each doctor and civil servant (not hard, as there aren’t many). But there is no top line, no revenue—and no answers.”

Writing in the UK’s conservative Daily Telegraph on Jan. 23rd, veteran Afghanistan-watcher Ahmed Rashid reported on the challenges facing the U.N.: With billions of dollars of aid money on the way, development experts are fighting among themselves to snag lucrative projects, said Rashid, but “only a few of them are consulting Afghans about their needs and the priorities for reconstruction.” While Afghanistan experts favor “minimal government and maximum autonomy in the provinces,” the United Nations favors a centralized state, which would allow U.N. managers to use development projects as carrots to keep warlords in line. Rashid also expressed concern that donor nations will pour money into high-profile projects “such as promoting women’s rights or education, while not providing sufficient funds for more mundane items, such as budgetary support to the new government, agriculture and rebuilding the infrastructure.”

Predictions of U.S. Split With Europe if Bush Declares War On Iraq

As the U.S. came closer to declaring outright war on Iraq, European dailies asked whether a rift between Europe and the U.S. would be the result of such a move. Berlin’s Die Welt wrote on Feb. 15 that, as Washington is “determined” to launch a strike against Iraq, Germany needs to decide how it is going to respond. “The German government will have to adopt a position on a demand for limited military and unlimited political support—
possibly during the height of a very heated election campaign,” noted the paper, “which means at the worst possible moment.” War against Saddam Hussain might be sensible, it continued, but the U.S. president’s “battle cry-like” conviction that the regimes in Iraq, North Korea and Iran must be driven out is presently unconvincing.

“Everything is falling into place for a punitive military operation between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in Iraq,” said Switzerland’s Le Temps the same day. It added, however, that three European foreign ministers—France’s Hubert Vedrine, Germany’s Joschka Fischer and Britain’s Jack Straw—recently have expressed what the paper calls “the beginnings of a front rejecting American unilateralism.”

Vienna’s Die Presse warned Jan. 15 of the dangers of a new wave of anti-American sentiment in Europe triggered by U.S. policy on Iraq. Neither side really understands the other, the paper said: because of its history Europe seeks to avoid wars at all cost, while most Americans only understand geopolitical relationships in terms of opposites such as “dead or alive,” “for us or against us,” or “the axis of evil against the land of light.” What alternative, the paper asked, does Europe, the EU, offer the U.S., before solidarity is canceled? “Waiting, waiting, negotiating—until a biological strike hits Berlin?”

Le Monde of Paris said on Feb. 18 that five months after the Sept. 11 attacks, which re-awakened the solidarity between the Americans and Europeans, “the tone is rising” in the exchanges between the two sides of the Atlantic. “It was President Bush’s State of the Union speech and the condemning of the ”˜axis of evil’...which set off the volleys of choice words,” the paper said. “These provocative exchanges above all reflect very different views of the international situation,” it added. The Europeans “are afraid that Washington is preparing an operation against Iraq and the forceful overthrow of Saddam Hussain,” which they believe would worsen the Middle East situation. Europeans “want to take part in the second phase of the war on terrorism,” Le Monde noted, “but they don’t think that it should be exclusively military.” Europe “would like the United States to take more into account the causes of the hostilities to which they are the subject” continued the paper, which concluded that one of the causes is American “unilateralism.”

Added Berlin’s Die Welt that same day, “there is almost a sense of déjà-vu” in light of former President Ronald Reagan’s description of the Soviet Union as an “empire of evil.” According to the paper, the EU is largely reluctant to unreservedly follow when America leads.

“This second stage exposes the impotence of the European states,” the Swiss Tribune De Genève said on Feb. 14. “They are reduced to the role of extras on a film set.” The Europeans, it added, “lack a real common foreign policy,” are “Lilliputian” in military terms, and “have no antiterrorist plan of their own.”

Europe More Critical of Sharon Than the U.S., Reports BBC

The BBC highlighted on Feb. 21 the differing standpoints of Europe and the U.S. regarding the continued violence between Israel and the Palestinians. “The Europeans tend to be more critical of Mr. Sharon’s tactics than the Americans and more insistent that something must be done to try to stop the violence,” said BBC diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason. There is no international agreement, however, about what to do, he added: “The French foreign minister, Hubert Vedrine, said a purely repressive path would only make matters worse; they had to get back to political talks. The Spanish presidency of the European Union expressed outrage at a new explosion of terrorism and violence, saying the region was in a virtual state of war. But European governments do not speak with one voice: Britain has recently been insisting that the first step has to be a move by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on Palestinian violence.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Calls Bush Mideast Policy “Crazy”

“Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh Monday rapped the Middle East policy of U.S. President George Bush, calling it ”˜stupid’ and ”˜crazy,’” Swedish Radio reported on Jan. 28. Prior to a meeting with EU foreign ministers, Lindh told Swedish Radio she was very concerned about Bush having equated Palestinian President Yasser Arafat with terrorism. Lindh called Washington’s analysis “factually incorrect, stupid and very dangerous.” The Bush administration’s policy of solely rewarding Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for what she termed his policy of violence was “pure lunacy,” Lindh charged.

German Paper Says Palestinian Tactics May Bear Fruits

Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung said on Feb. 21 that the intifada has moved into a third phase, in which the Palestinians are concentrating their attacks on military targets and settlements in the occupied territories. “The Palestinians are putting their money on the Lebanon scenario,” the paper said, with the aim of drawing the Israeli army into a morale-sapping war of attrition. Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau predicted the same day that the Palestinian tactics might well bear fruit, arguing that the Israelis are not willing to suffer the sort of losses the Palestinians seem prepared to endure.

London’s Independent of Feb. 20 said that, while “the security situation has regressed,” sections of the Israeli military and public opinion are beginning to question the cost of occupation. “Regrettably,” the paper added, “there is a temptation for Palestinians to interpret these shifts as proof of Israeli weakness and the efficacy of violence, rather than as an opportunity.”

EU May Claim Compensation For Israeli Damage to its Projects in Palestinian Territories

The BBC reported on Feb. 21 that the European Union is updating its assessment of the damage caused by Israeli military strikes to projects it has funded in the Palestinian territories. In a letter of complaint to the Israeli government sent on Feb. 4, the EU estimated the damage at 17.3 million euros ($15 million) and warned that it might claim compensation. The EU is the principal source of foreign aid for the Palestinian territories.

Nine of 10 Mirror Readers Do Not Condemn U.S. Treatment Of Prisoners in Cuba

While editorial writers across Europe continue to complain about U.S. treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, many readers seem to have a different attitude. Britain’s Daily Mirror, a left-of-center tabloid that has been critical of the United States, conducted a phone poll of its readers regarding the security measures at Camp X-Ray. The newspaper reported on Jan. 23 that, of the 19,000 people who called in, “By about nine to one, readers said they did not condemn the way the U.S. was dealing with [the prisoners].” Nevertheless, it continued, “in this case we continue to disagree with the majority....
Abusing the detainees, humiliating them, parading them as trophies, undermines our greatest strength....Those photos of prisoners kneeling, bowed, blindfolded and hooded are the greatest advertisement for al-Qaeda there could be.”

A letter published in London’s Guardian that day offered a suggestion for the Guantanamo detainees: “Take off the shackles, blindfolds and the rest, and let them wear burkas. If their ankles are exposed to the guards’ view then a slight whip is in order to ensure that the offending part is covered properly. After all, I didn’t hear many people worrying about the lot of Afghan women under the Taliban.”

Qaddafi’s Son Heir Apparent?

Seif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, gave an interview to the press in February, sparking speculation that he will succeed his father. The leader’s second son heads the Qaddafi Foundation, a charity which tries to project a new and positive image of Libya. The foundation has been involved in attempts to get Western hostages released in both the Philippines and Afghanistan. More recently it has been trying to fly out of Afghanistan Arab families caught up in the turmoil there. But al-Islam, dressed in jeans and appearing confident, insisted he had no plans to take over his father’s job, as “that would be inconsistent with Libya’s progressive system,” reported the BBC’s Heba Saleh on Feb. 20.

Haider-Hussain Meeting Gives Austria Image of “Unpredictability,” says Vienna Paper

Vienna’s Der Standard on Feb. 14 accused former far-right Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider of acting irresponsibly by meeting Saddam Hussain during his visit to Iraq. As the paper saw it, Haider insulted Austrians for the sake of what it called his “personal craving for publicity.” “The diplomatic damage is enormous,” it said. “Haider is giving Austria an image of unpredictability and of collaboration with a ”˜rogue state.’”

Lucy Jones is a free-lance journalist based in London.