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It is in the breaking news sidebar!
Posted on 04/10/2003 2:46:05 PM PDT by Shermy
CAIRO (AFP) - US plans to set up a provisional administration in Iraq headed by retired army general Jay Garner, known to have close ties with Israel, have drawn criticism from across the Arab world.
Arab heavyweights Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria in unison called for allowing the Iraqi people chose its government as quickly as possible.
"Iraqi citizens should be left free to form their own government; it should not be imposed by a foreign country or because of foreign presence in Iraq," said Arab League chief Amr Mussa.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said here Thursday he agreed with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites) that the Iraqi people "choose their government freely and quickly," and similar statements were issued by Bahrain and Jordan.
"In these dangerous circumstances, Syria calls on the international community to make every effort to put an end to the occupation and remedy the catastrophic situation resulting from the aggression with a view to permitting the Iraqi people to freely choose their government without foreign interference," the Syrian foreign ministry said the same day in Damascus.
Analysts said those statements reflect widespread suspicions of a hidden US agenda fuelled by Washington's decision to entrust Garner with running Iraq's post-war interim administration.
"Garner has close relations with Israel, his appointment expresses the goal sought by the hawks' group within the US administration," said Cairo University's political science department director Hassan Nafaa.
The United States "will militarily run Iraq over a transitional period before setting up a government that will be totally pledged to them, which will request the US presence to be maintained," he added.
All Arab states will be affected by developments in Iraq, "starting with Syria," he said, referring to intensifying US warnings to Damascus over alleged military shipments to Iraq.
"Arab states are concerned about a direct military occupation and I believe the Iraqis will not accept such occupation. If US presence drags on, there will be resistance," said Egyptian analyst Makram Mohamed Ahmed.
Egypt's state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram underlined that the "hawks of the Pentagon" have chosen to "set up a military government under the direction of general Garner, paying no consideration to Arab circles and reservation from the US State Department."
"This retired general is considered to be very close to Israel (which) will be the first to benefit from the war," it added.
Garner's ties to Israel "have aroused the suspicion of Arabs, some of whom now think that the motive of the war was not to free Iraq, but to protect Israel," said the official Egyptian news agency MENA in an analysis.
Garner is closely associated with the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a Washington think-tank advocating closer ties between the United States and Israel. In October 2000, he signed a letter that praised "Israeli restraint" in the face of the Palestinian uprising.
The plan for a post-war administration of Iraq unveiled on March 7 by US officials provides for dividing Iraq into three sectors, each being run by a separate interim civil administrator, all reporting to Garner.
Two retired US generals would be the civil administrators in the northern and southern sectors while the central sector that includes Baghdad would be administered by Barbara Bodine, the former US ambassador to Yemen.
< /sarcasm>
Oh, okay. No problem . . . As soon as you inbred potentates in Saudi Arabia give the Saudi citizens the same opportunity.
Yes, the potential of serious Arab aggression toward Israel will diminish greatly. These Arab leader are scared to death that any aggression will be viewed as reason to call in bunker busters.
Garner's ties to Israel "have aroused the suspicion of Arabs, some of whom now think that the motive of the war was not to free Iraq, but to protect Israel," said the official Egyptian news agency MENA in an analysis.
True, the US is only motivated by whatever our Zionist masters tell us to do. No matter what the future holds, no matter what the US does or says will be viewed through the lens of protecting Israel. So we should just ignore the idiots.
Garner is closely associated with the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a Washington think-tank advocating closer ties between the United States and Israel. In October 2000, he signed a letter that praised "Israeli restraint" in the face of the Palestinian uprising.
It seems in order to be pro Arab one must believe Israel should just kill themselves and save the Arab terrorist the trouble.
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