Alternative Perspective
 Issue 25, March 19, 2003
 Compiled by Madhukar Shukla

Introduction: Alternative Perspective is an attempt to widen our awareness about issues related to business, environment, role and influence of media, geo-politics, culture, etc. It aims to share, on a regular basis, some of those pieces of news and information, which do not find place in the highly monopolised mainstream media. Please feel free to share/ forward/ distribute this newsletter to others who may be interested.



Chances are, that by the time you open this issue of Alternative Perspective, history would have taken a turn. In just a few hours from now, the US-UK coalition army will be showcasing its "shock and awe" power in Iraq. Unfortunately, this demonstration of the latest "weapons of mass construction" - which will perk up the stock markets, improve dollar's position, decrease oil-prices, and boost weapon sales for the two countries, etc. - will also have a human face (burnt, bleeding, frightened, or even detached from the body[1]).
This edition of the newsletter explores such other perspectives of the impending war.

Note: The URLs of sources used in the text are numbered and given at the end of the Newsletter.

In This Issue:
  • The Might of "Shock and Awe"
    3000 bombs in 48 hours is no joke! - it means more than one bomb every minute (including cruise missiles and the dreaded 21,000lb MOAB, and such other "weapons of awe"[2]), showered on a population about to be liberated by a "coalition of the willing" led by a "compassionate nation". This extravaganza will be, as one of the planners commented, "something like the world has not seen before, and for the Iraqis, this likely will be something more than they expected." So welcome to the inauguration of, what some of the Pentagon thinkers would like to describe as "the most important 'revolution in military affairs' (or RMA) in two hundred years."[3]
    http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/18/1047749770358.html

  • War and Economy
    War has always been good for US economy - not only war perks up the stagnant production/manufacturing capacities, but the gains also come from the reconstruction of the nation which has been reduced to rubbles[4]. It is a story which has repeated itself many times: from European Reconstruction to Gulf War in Kuwait, Kosovo and then, the last Afghanistan War. Given the recessionary state of US economy since March 2001 (no, - reality check - the problem started much before 911!!!!), it makes sense ot follow the lessons of history and wage/manufacture another war... But this time, the Dollar does not seem to look all that strong, as this MSNBC report[5] says.
    http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1178

  • Humanitarian Implications of Iraq War
    This report from Oxfam International consists of mere nameless, faceless numbers - though the numbers are huge (500,000 will die; 2mn will become displaced; 10mn will need immediate food; millions of Iraqi children who will die, etc.). If you want to add a human dimension to this disaster, read the diaries of the Iraq Peace Team[6] - a group of people from a number of countries who have visited and stayed back in Iraq to see and report (if they survive) the impacts of war. Also worth reading are some of the letters written by Iraqi children[7], many of whom may not survive - having been liberated - by the time you read these letters.
    http://electroniciraq.net/news/302.shtml

  • Revisiting Gulf War-I
    After the first Gulf War in 1991, the US Attorny General, Ramsey Clark had charged US for war crimes. It is no surprise that US has opposed the formation of International Court of Justice. And now the ICJ has condemned the US ultimatum to Iraq as a violation of any definition of International Law[8]... which raises an uncomfortable question: Who is the rouge/terrorist nation?[9]
    http://www.iacenter.org/fireice.htm

  • What Uncle Sam Wants
    Complete on-line text of Noam Chomsky's book, which covers subjects such as the aims of US Foreign Policy, to the Devastations it has wrecked abroad (historically, democratic nations are known to behave as an imperial power when dealing with other nations - Nazi Germany is a good example), to the Brainwashing back home.
    http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sam/sam-contents.html

  • Thank You, President Bush by Paulo Coelho
    "Evil is the accentuation of division" - so wrote Aldous Huxley in Eyeless in Ghaza... During his presidential campaign, George W Bush had mouthed, "I am a uniter, not a divider". While he has helped uniting many people around an idea (unfortunately, against his idea of war), he has also helped dividing the world in different shades of "with us or against us": NATO is divided about getting engaged in war; EU is divided about help to Turkey; UN Security Council is divided between those who believe that a war is not required and those who think war is necessary; Tony Blair's UK Labour Party is divided; and the world is divided between pro-war and anti-war groups... Not surprisingly, for this momentous achievement Paulo Coehlo - the author of "The Alchemist" - feels compelled to express his gratitude to this great man...
    http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-2-88-1033.jsp


    Other Sources Quoted in the Newsletter:
    [1]: http://free.freespeech.org/americanstateterrorism/iraqgenocide/HighwayofDeath.html
    [2]: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_17-3-2003_pg4_3
    [3]: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/a/2003/03/09/IN8529.DTL&type=printable
    [4]: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,916508,00.html
    [5]: http://www.msnbc.com/news/885956.asp
    [6]: http://www.iraqpeaceteam.org/pages/diaries.html
    [7]: http://www.antiwar.com/orig/iraqikidletters.html
    [8]: http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2770&lang=en
    [9]: http://pilger.carlton.com/print/111624


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