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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with Access/Middle East by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Saddam Hiding Scuds, Launchers under Bridges (Jerusalem Post)
"We Hit Saddam" - Jack Kelley (USA Today)
Palestinians Name Babies after Saddam - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Terrorists Use Car with EU Emblem (IDF)
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News Resources - North America and Europe:
American forces killed at least 150 Iraqi soldiers on Tuesday after being attacked in a swirling sandstorm about 100 miles south of Baghdad, senior American military officials said. American troops had made their way to within 50 miles of the capital before the blinding weather on Tuesday snarled the allied push north. On Wednesday the sandstorms had eased, and heavy bombardment of Baghdad resumed. British military officers reported the first signs of popular uprising in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Tuesday. Saddam's security forces used artillery and mortar fire against civilian crowds who attacked them, military intelligence officials reported. Securing Basra and its population has become a political and psychological objective for the allies. On Tuesday, British commandos seized the "most senior" official of the governing Ba'ath Party in Basra and killed 20 of his aides and security guards, said a British army spokesman. Iraqi defenders stormed out of Basra Tuesday morning, attacking to the south with tanks and armored vehicles in a surprise countermove against British forces. But the Royal Marines called in airstrikes that destroyed the attacking column with rocket fire, British officials said. (New York Times) See also The Iraqis Revolt Once they observed mortars firing on protesters, British forces immediately called up artillery and air support, destroying the Ba'ath Party headquarters. (Telegraph-UK) See also Resistance by Militia is Delaying Baghdad Battle Allied forces have shifted the focus of their land campaign in Iraq to concentrate on defeating the fedayeen and other militias in the south before beginning the battle for Baghdad, senior officers said Tuesday. (New York Times) Some of the Army mechanics captured on Sunday after they took a wrong turn in the Iraqi town of Nasiriya were apparently executed by their captors, probably in front of townspeople, American officials charged Tuesday. Senior White House and Pentagon officials accused the Iraqis of a number of war crimes, including feigning surrender and then shooting at American forces, and using a hospital as a staging area for military operations. (New York Times) News Resources - Israel, the Mideast, and Asia:
The initial American battle plan called for the main attack on Baghdad to come from the north, but the U.S. has instead been compelled to launch its primary attack from the south. The American division (the 4th) that was supposed to enter from Turkey is instead now making its way to Kuwait by sea, and it will be at least another ten days before it is fully combat-ready. It seems the initial focus will be to block the Republican Guard infantry divisions from entering the populated areas of Baghdad, which would make the Americans' battle for the city easier. From Saddam's perspective, the Republican Guard divisions are still intact, and even his regular army has not collapsed. The Americans have neutralized the only Iraqi airfield in western Iraq and have destroyed bridges in western Iraq to make it harder for heavy trucks carrying missiles to move through the area. There is no confirmation of reports that the Americans had bombed either Scud or Al-Hussein missiles en route to western Iraq. The Americans apparently hit heavy vehicles that could be used as missile transporters, but it is not yet known whether they were actually carrying missiles. The current American strategic concept is the application of massive air power based on technological systems and advanced weaponry, supplemented by ground forces, to replace a hostile regime without destroying the country during the war. Yet when American forces reach the outskirts of Baghdad and start the siege of the Iraqi capital, they will face complicated alternatives, including aerial bombardment on the entrenched Iraqi forces in the city, plus ground-force penetration to proceed until Saddam's bunker is reached. Unlike the early stages of the campaign, it will be impossible to avoid losses among the civilians in Baghdad or the attacking forces unless they succeed in a quick and direct strike on Saddam. (Ha'aretz) The American Jewish community appears critical of both the content of the road-map plan and the timing of its publication, but criticism of this kind is not easily expressed while America is at war. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on March 14 that President Bush's announced intention to push the road map in the near future created a link between the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a link that Israel and the U.S. Jewish community have been trying to dismantle since the conflict in Iraq began. Foxman defines the linkage as "a dangerous precedent." Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, says the road map plan poses real problems relating to Israel's security. He believes there is a need to wait to hear Israel's official position on the plan, but stresses that if Israel does express reservations, the U.S. Jewish community will come to its assistance. American Jewish community representatives emphasize Israel's commitment to Bush's June 24 speech and that it is important to preserve the agenda laid out by the U.S. president. The prevailing view in the American Jewish community is that the road map will not be submitted to the sides before an end to the central part of the war in Iraq, and that America will not come out with a comprehensive Middle East initiative before it knows how things in Iraq are developing. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The power of fear should not be underestimated. Saddam is still in power despite multiple assassination attempts, internal uprisings, and even the onslaught of American military might a decade ago. Some Iraqis are understandably hesitant to gamble that this time Saddam - and his evil lieutenants - will be gone after this war. Fear of Saddam doesn't fully account for Iraqi resistance, of course. Many of the guerrilla fighters and militiamen as well as the irregular recruits Saddam enticed from other Arab countries (who are strikingly similar to al Qaeda recruits) are committed to propping up the regime. (Wall Street Journal) The Bush administration's embrace of a democratization strategy for the postwar Middle East has produced a flurry of political reforms, quasi-reforms, and grass-roots initiatives in countries across the region. Arab governments, and to some extent their peoples, have absorbed the idea that political change is coming after the war, and are trying to anticipate it. By focusing too narrowly on an Arab-Israeli settlement, as it did after the first Persian Gulf War, there is a danger that the U.S. will allow the window for change in the Arab world to slip away. (Washington Post) The Bush administration has never regarded peace between Israelis and Palestinians as a goal as central to American interests as, say, getting rid of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has rarely been more than a nagging subtext of the Bush administration's declared war on terrorism. The administration clearly recognizes there is a problem here, and it may truly want to help. But with rebuilding Iraq, confronting North Korea, and addressing the American economy already on its agenda, this conflict may never rise to the level of a top priority, certainly not enough of one to justify the political risks involved in dragging the antagonists along the route outlined by the road map - particularly during the coming presidential election year. It would be much easier, some experts say, for the White House simply to create the impression that it is trying. (New York Times) High-Level Team Drawing Up Alternative to Quartet Peace Plan - Herb Keinon (Jerusalem Post)
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