JustPeace#38

Hot News

• 
  Why is New Zealand Sending Troops to Iraq?
  
  The second group of NZ Defence Force personnel left for Iraq this morning, 26 September. Read on for the official NZDF version of what they will be doing there, and why they are going. Then read what the Prime Minister said in Parliament on 16 September, during an urgent debate on the collapse of the world trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, about how this contribution may help NZ cut a free tsterade deal with the USA. See also the references in Analysis, below, for the dangers of Depleted Uranium that the NZDF and government ministers are glossing over, the dubious legitimacy of the Iraqi Governing Council, and what the NZ engineers will be helping make Iraq ‘safe’ for – American capital.

  The New Zealand Defence Force statement below misportrays the United Nations position and is confused about the claimed basis for New Zealand going to Iraq – which is greatly concerning. The UN has not endorsed the US/British occupation of Iraq. It has simply recognised it as an occupying power, following the war, and UN aid agencies in Iraq are authorized to cooperate with the occupying power.

  ”New Zealand Defence Force/Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa (Wednesday 24 September)

  
  Questions and Answers
  

  The Deployment of the Light Engineer Group to Iraq

  61 NZDF personnel are being deployed as a Light Engineer Group to South-east Iraq to undertake humanitarian and reconstruction tasks consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 1483 and will workalongside a UK engineer unit.

  
  Who is working in the Light Engineer Group?
  

  The Light Engineer Group consists of military engineers and logistical support staff. The engineers are a mix of tradesmen (carpenters, plumbers and electricians) and field engineers. The logistical support staff are a mix of cooks, medics, stores personnel, electrical technicians, and vehicle mechanics. They will provide logistical support to the engineer group and maintain equipment. The focus of the Light Engineer Group is on assisting the reconstruction of the Iraqi nation through provision of engineer support to the local population. The Light Engineer Group is deployed as part of the post conflict Operation Iraqi Freedom and is not involved in security operations in Iraq.

  
  What sorts of tasks will the Light Engineer Group undertake?
  

  The Light Engineer Group will work alongside the UK forces in South-east Iraq to repair and refurbish hospitals, health clinics, schools, police stations, law courts, and municipal and government buildings. In addition, they will assist in restoring electricity, and the rebuilding of bridges and water pipelines and provide humanitarian assistance to the local population in the form of operation of town supply reverse osmosis water plants.

  
  How many people in the Light Engineer Group?
  

  The Light Engineer Group consists of 61 military personnel from the New Zealand Army and Royal New Zealand Navy, comprising of four staff officers, 40 engineers and 16 logistical support staff.

  
  How long is the deployment intended for?
  

  The deployment of a Light Engineer Group is intended to be maintained for 12 months, personnel being rotated at 6 months.

  
  Why contribute a Light Engineer Group?
  

  UN Security Council Resolution 1483 made it clear that the UN has a vital role to play in the post-war period. It appealed to UN member states to assist the people of Iraq in their efforts to rebuild their country and to contribute to conditions of stability and security in Iraq. Under Resolution 1483, NZ can make a useful contribution without in any way becoming an occupying power. As the current situation in Iraq shows, there is an urgent need for the kind of civil reconstruction and support that New Zealand can offer.

  
  Do we have adequate equipment and vehicles for this deployment?
  

  The Light Engineer Group is deploying with sufficient construction and self- protection equipment to conduct its intended role in Iraq. There is a requirement to hire vehicles for the Light Engineer Group to operate in Iraq.

  
  Where will the Light Engineer group be located?
  

  The majority of the Light Engineer Group personnel will be located at a UK camp approximately 30 minutes southwest of Basra International Airport. Two of the NZDF staff officers will be stationed at the UK headquarters at the Basra International Airport, and two staff officers will be sent to the UK Engineer Headquarters in the township of Basra.

  
  How much will it cost?
  

  The total approximate cost to New Zealand of the Light Engineer Group deployment in Iraq for 12 months is $NZ 10 million.

  
  How will the Light Engineer Group be staffed?
  

  The NZDF can sustain a Light Engineer Group of around 61 personnel, drawn from each of the three services, and including both servicemen and women. There may also be scope for Territorial Force involvement.

  
  What experience does the NZDF have in this type of operation?
  

  The government has the greatest confidence in our military personnel, including their ability to undertake civil-military duties. In previous deployments – including in environments as diverse as East Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Bosnia and the Middle East – New Zealanders have been respected for their professionalism and their ability to engage and relate to the local people. This type of task is indicative of the wide-ranging, and increasingly complex nature of modern peacekeeping operations.

  
  What is the security situation?
  

  Iraq is a difficult and challenging environment, but the NZDF is ideally suited to undertake this work, which is so vital to restoring normality for the Iraqi people. There are risks to our personnel (including environmental risks) and it will obviously be necessary for them to be able to protect themselves. As is the case with all deployments, the situation will be closely monitored to ensure that conditions allow the NZDF to undertake the tasks for which they were deployed.

  
  Are our soldiers at risk from Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions?
  

  All personnel being deployed into areas where DU may have been used are briefed on any potential risks that may be posed by DU. The NZDF will continue to provide medical checks and support to any personnel who think they may have been exposed.

  
  How will the Light Engineer Group be supplied?
  

  The UK-led headquarters in South-east Iraq have undertaken to provide the Light Engineer Group with logistic support. Resupply flights from New Zealand will be conducted throughout the duration of the deployment.

  
  What are the command and control arrangements?
  

  As with all deployments, the Chief of Defence Force will maintain full command of the Light Engineer Group, with operational command of deployed NZDF personnel the responsibility of the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand. The Commander will appoint a Senior National Officer (SNO) to perform a similar function for the Light Engineer Group.

  Deployed personnel will only be employed in those locations and on those specific tasks and duties that have been agreed between the government and the international coalition. The SNO would be authorised to withhold the services of NZDF personnel if any task or proposed action is considered outside the scope of the Light Engineer Group mandate, compromises New Zealand’s national position, or may adversely affect New Zealand’s national interests.

  
  Are forces from other countries working in Southeast Iraq?
  

  Personnel from Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Norway, Portugal, and Lithuania are also working alongside British forces.

  
  What is the UN Iraq resolution?
  

  UNMOVIC was established by the United Nations to replace the former UN Special Commission (UNSCOM). The UNMOVIC mandate is to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and to operate a system of ongoing monitoring and verification to check Iraq’s compliance with its obligations not to reacquire weapons prohibited to it by the UN Security Council.

  The UN has now also approved a new resolution (1483) on Iraq. This is an important step towards greater international involvement in reconstruction efforts there. The resolution welcomes the establishment of the broadly representative Government [sic] Council of Iraq as an important step towards the formation of an internationally recognised and representative government in Iraq.

  [No it doesn’t, Resolution 1483 was passed on May 22 2003, the Iraqi Governing Council was not appointed until July 13 – the New Zealand Defence Force is getting confused between Resolution 1483 and Resolution 1500]

  The resolution also establishes the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq to support the Secretary General’s mandate (under resolution 1483) that the UN should play a vital role in humanitarian relief, reconstruction, and the restoration of national and local representative government in Iraq.

  [True, except for the 1483/1500 confusion, – but this is not the basis on which New Zealand is going to Iraq, the NZ unit will not be operating under the UN Assistance Mission or the UN in general, it will be working under ‘the Authority’ – the US led occupation forces].

  The New Zealand Government supports the establishment of the Governing Council of Iraq and welcomes the passage of this new resolution [which one?]. It provides a sound basis for the engagement of the international community in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq. The resolution reinforces the importance of the international community and the UN working alongside the coalition to ensure the success of reconstruction efforts in Iraq.”

  [Neither Resolution does this, they reinforce the importance of the reconstruction of Iraq, through the UN, other international aid agencies and the Authority, and welcomes contributions to these efforts, New Zealand has chosen to work under, not alongside, the Authority]

• 
  Helen Clark
  
  : “Our Government will look for opportunities – and there are many – to work with the United States. No country could have been stronger in its support than what this small country has done on terrorism: members of the SAS putting their lives on the line; frigates in the Gulf of Oman, and Orions there now; a Hercules in Kyrgyzstan; a provincial reconstruction team going to a province of Afghanistan; and engineers now going to Iraq.

  These are substantial contributions for a small country, and they are valued by the United States. We know that as a result of policies previously advocated by the then member for Auckland Central, [Richard Prebble] this country took a path on the nuclear-free issue that led to the ANZUS alliance being non-operational for us. What I say, without fear of contradiction, is that the fact that we are not operational in ANZUS has not stopped us from doing the right thing to help our friends, and we will keep doing that.

  I say that we do have a friend in Ambassador Zoellick, [US Trade Representative] who has looked to make room for this country at some point to come into a list for negotiation. This Government – this country – has always wished the Australians well in their negotiations, because we believe that they do open up a path for New Zealand. I point out that when Ambassador Zoellick sent the letter to Congress about Australia going on the list, he specifically noted the links between the economies of Australia and New Zealand, and hence the importance that New Zealand paid to those negotiations. We will keep working at that.”

Hot Action

• 
  Rally, Wellington, Tuesday September 30, 12 Noon, Parliament Grounds
  
  – for Mordechai Vanunu – who has been imprisoned for 17 years (including eleven and a half years in solitary confinement) for blowing the whistle on Israel’s nuclear weapons programme. speakers including Alex Cooper, Amnesty International, Nick Kelly, VUWSA, Dave Morgan, Seafarers Union, Keith Locke, Green MP, Don Carson, Wellington Palestine Group, and Maureen Hoy, WILPF.

Hot Analysis

• 
  Expoliting Iraq
  
  . After declaring on May 1 2003 that its war on Iraq was ‘over’, the United States selected a 140 member ‘Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council – which quickly fell apart. It then proceeded to select a 25 member ‘Iraqi Governing Council’, which held its inaugural meeting on 13 July 2003. One of the three female members of this Council died in hospital on 25 September after being shot on the street. The Chair of the Council is Ahmed al-Chalabi, a long time friend of the neo-conservatives who run American foreign policy. William Rivers Pitt, author of ‘War on Iraq’, says of Chalabi that he was [US Secretary of Defence Donald] ”Rumsfeld’s hand-picked leader-in-waiting of Iraq as early as 1997. Chalabi was convicted of 32 counts of bank fraud and sentenced to 22 years imprisonment by a Jordanian court in 1992, and yet this hand-picked sock puppet [is] George W. Bush’s chosen exemplar of a free and democratic Iraq.”

  On 22 September the world learned that Iraq now has a Finance Minister, although, like the Governing Council, no Iraqis elected him or even had an opportunity to do so. Despite his total lack of legitimate democratic authority, Kamil al-Gailani [whether this Kamil al-Gailani is the same as the
  
  Kamil al-Gailani described as “the owner of a small engineering firm in Baghdad
  
  . Al Gailani was one of nearly 500 businessmen who attended a recent Bechtel conference for potential subcontractors at Baghdad’s convention center” in late June, we don’t know] announced drastic changes to the Iraqi economy, including:
  

  • 100 per cent foreign ownership in all sectors except natural resources;
  • direct ownership as well as joint ventures and setting up branches; and
  • full, immediate remittance to the host country of profits, dividends, interest and royalties.

  There will also be privatisation of everything from electricity, water, health and telecommunications to pharmaceuticals and engineering, which could see hundreds of previously state-owned companies and public servives sold off. Plus there will be a tax holiday for the rest of 2003. Further, income and business taxes for investors will be capped at 15 per cent from next year.

  Trade tariffs will be slashed to show that Iraq is a “country that embraces free trade”. A 5 per cent surcharge will be levied on all imports, other than humanitarian goods such as food, medicine and books, to fund the reconstruction effort.

  This information is from ”
  
  America puts Iraq up for sale
  
  ” by Philip Thornton in Dubai and Andrew Gumbel
  
  22 September 2003.

  Small wonder then that Jon Brown headed his 24 September article on Iraq
  
  ”
  
  The Real Looting is About to Begin – Stealing Home
  
  ”
  
  The article juxtaposes quotes from the American Declaration of Independence, such as:
  
  “HE [King George] has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People. HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.”with quotes from Iraqis and journalist describing how difficult, dangerous and un-free life in Iraq is today.

  And who actually benefits from all this insecurity and plunder? The Vice-President of the US, for one, as Christopher Bollyn documents in ”
  
  Halliburton Creating Iraqi Secret Police At Your Expense
  
  ‘

  He begins ”To explain to the American people why the U.S. is spending more on the “war on terrorism”- some $215 million a day – than it does on education, Congress should audit the profiteers that service the military, starting with the company Dick Cheney headed before he became vice president.” Bollyn goes on to give the details on how Cheney, a former CEO of major military contractor Halliburton, still receives almost as much in ‘deferred’ salary from Halliburton as he earns as Vice-President. Halliburton and its subsidiaries have been awarded contracts in Iraq without going through a tendering process, despite having already been found to have overcharged and defrauded the government not once but many times.

  Should our Prime Minister really be so keen on looking for opportunities to work with the US?

• 
  DU Dangers
  
  . In ”
  
  The Toxic Legacy of the Iraq War Generational Casualties
  
  ‘Stan Goff, a former US serviceman and father of a son currently serving in Iraq, discusses the impact of Depleted Uranium (DU) and other dangerous substances used in Iraq in the first Gulf War in 1991 on the next generation – of Iraqis and of the children of foreign military personnel.

  The background to the development and use of DU, and why there should be grave cause for concern, is canvassed by Leuren Moret in her
  
  testimony to the June 28 2003 Public Hearing for the International Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan
  
  held at Chiba, in Japan. Moret is a geoscientist who is president of Scientists for Indigenous People and a City of Berkeley Environmental Commissioner.
  
  JustPeace was produced by Christine Dann, Tim Hannah and Keith Locke, MP

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