News brief
Bush’s rebuilding plan
met with skepticism
WASHINGTON — The Bush ad
ministration says the U.S. won’t be
faced with a huge bill for reconstruc
tion of post-war Iraq, in large part be
cause Iraq’s oil wells can be tapped to
help defray the costs.
But some lawmakers and U.S. al
lies say the administration’s plan
may be fraught with both logistical
and political pitfalls.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who sits
on the Foreign Relations Committee,
said: “To believe the U.S. will be able
to pay for reconstruction with oil rev
enues is a little short-sighted.”
“There is a concern that the oil rev
enues are overstated and that the costs
to the American taxpayers are under
stated,” said David Sirota, a
spokesman for Rep. David Obey, D
Wis., the top Democrat on the House
Appropriations Committee.
Administration officials are trying to
quiet alarm bells in Congress about the
potential cost of the war, as lawmakers
also struggle with how to right the
shaky economy and restrain the bal
looning federal deficit.
When Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld went before the House and
Senate to lobby for the money last
week, he made it clear that he believes
the cost of reconstructing Iraq should
not fall to the United States. That bill
should be paid by allies, Iraq’s seized
assets and Iraq’s oil revenues, he said.
“I don’t believe that the United
States has the responsibility for recon
struction,” Rumsfeld said.
Soon after Rumsfeld spoke, Sen.
Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, hammered
home the point.
“I want to make sure the Ameri
can taxpayers are not saddled with
any of the costs of rebuilding Iraq,”
Grassley, chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, said in a
speech on the Senate floor.
Grassley said that under the Hague
and Geneva conventions, the U.S. and
allies have clear authority “to use and
enjoy the profits of property owned by
Iraq” for the benefit of the Iraqi people.
But some lawmakers and American
allies fear that not everyone will see it
that way.
Nail Al-Jubeir, director of informa
tion for the Embassy of Saudi Arabia
in Washington, said a move to tap into
Iraq’s oil could spark a “political back
lash” and “undermine” the adminis
tration’s contention that this war is to
liberate the Iraqi people.
— Deirdre Shesgreen, St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (KRT)
War
continued from page 1
last until the end of April, aid officials
said the threat of starvation will in
crease by May if relief supplies from
the United Nations, other agencies,
and the U.S.- and U.K.-led military
forces are unable to reach Baghdad,
Basra and other parts of south and
central Iraq.
The U.N. Security Council on Fri
day voted to resume the suspended
Oil for Food program and place it un
der the direction of U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan. But the Iraqi gov
emment rejected the United Nations’
control, saying only the government
could run the program.
Under the prior Oil for Food pro
gram, which allowed Iraq to sell oil for
humanitarian goods, the Iraqi govern
ment itself controlled food distribu
tion in southern and central Iraq,
channeling it to citizens through some
44,000 small shop outlets.
Early coalition-sponsored efforts
to get food and water to Iraq’s 24
million people have been met by ei
ther chaos or resistance.
Two trucks of Kuwaiti aid arriving
in the border town of Safwan on Fri
day were overwhelmed by mobs of
young Iraqi men shouting pro-Hus
sein slogans. And the British military’s
supply ship Sir Galahad, docked at the
port of Umm Qasr, still cannot deliver
aid to the beleaguered city of Basra be
cause of fighting there.
Morris outlined one of the largest
undertakings in U.N. history Monday.
In the first month, he said, food would
go to Iraqi refugees arriving in sur
rounding countries; over the next
three months, people inside Iraq
would be fed. During the final two
months, the program would taper off
as the Oil for Food program kicked in.
Morris thanked the United States
for contributing $221 million to the
emergency appeal and Germany for
contributing $6.5 million. He cau
tioned that strong demands for aid in
Iraq could affect the United Nations’
ability to deliver aid to other nations,
particularly in Africa, where the Unit
ed Nations says some 38 million peo
ple are starving as a result of AIDS, war
and other disasters.
Iraqis will need more than food and
water during and after the war. The
conflict and deprivation under Hus
sein have devastated hospitals,
schools and sewage and water treat
ment facilities, according to interna
tional aid groups and British officials.
Geoffrey Keele, a spokesman for
the U.N. program Unicef, which is
seeking to raise $166 million as part
of the emergency appeal, said Iraq’s
children will need help recovering
from war trauma.
“There are reports of children hav
ing uncontrollable crying fits, jump
ing (at small noises) and having night
mares — all the trauma of living in a
city like Baghdad under constant
bombardment,” Keele said.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Protest
continued from page 1
spouted, however, when peace ac
tivists encountered news cameras
and television reporters.
One girl covered the lens of a news
camera with the sleeve of her sweat
shirt and started to chant “Fuck the
corporate media.” It didn’t take long
for the rest of the protesters to join.
James, a protester who didn’t want
his last name printed, has been in
volved in peace marches since the Viet
nam War. James said he was angry at
the negative attitude media corpora
tions such as ABC or NBC have created
and conveyed to the public at large.
“I’m not here to create trouble,”
he said. “I’m here because I love
my country.”
Jennifer Laverdure, a member of
the Freedom Socialist Party and the
Portland Radical Women, has been
actively involved with protests since
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Instead of being frustrated with the
media’s interpretation of war protest
ers, however, Laverdure said she dis
likes the lack of respect from police
during protests.
Laverdure said police threatened to
take the sign she was carrying before
the march started, which read: “So
cialism, not endless war.”
“It’s just intimidation,” she said,
adding that the police never followed
through on the threat.
Other protesters agreed with
Laverdure about what they called
inappropriate police procedures
during protests.
David, another protester who did
n’t want his last name used, joked with
his friends about the harsh tactics po
lice have been using on protesters.
“Jaywalking is punishable by tear
gas or death,” he said.
Less then a minute later, police
charged a man who ran into the street
to announce his anti-war sentiments.
David, who started attending
protests when President George W.
Bush proclaimed war on Iraq, said he
didn’t like the way he was treated be
cause he was a protester. He added
that he thought the reason why peo
ple showed little respect for war pro
testers was because of the negative
news coverage on television.
“You can only march for peace,”
he said. “Don’t be anti-war, be pro
peace.”
Contact the reporter
atalishaughnessy@dailyemerald.com.
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