Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

Saddam: The questions that will live on
>From Andrew Buncombe in Washington

The Independent/UK
30 December 2006

So why did George Bush decide to invade Iraq? Nearly four years and
hundreds of thousands of casualties later, the reasons appear both as
obvious and as elusive as they were in the spring of 2003.

The official reasoning was always straightforward. Key among the
claims included in the so-called Iraq War Resolution passed by
Congress in October 2002 was that Iraq "poses a continuing threat to
the national security of the United States and international peace and
security in the Persian Gulf region". It added that Saddam’s regime
harboured chemical and biological weapons and was seeking to develop a
nuclear arsenal.

In an address to the nation just three days before the invasion, Mr
Bush declared: "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments
leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal
some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."

It quickly became clear that central claim was not true, and it became
equally clear the administration had been manipulating uncertain and
"caveated" intelligence to make the case for a war that had been
decided on long before. The famous Downing Street memo suggests that
as early as July 2002 " intelligence and facts were being fixed around
the policy". Indeed, within hours of the attacks of 9/11, senior
elements within the administration were seeking for a strike against
Iraq even though there was no evidence it was involved.

But if the alleged threat of WMD was based on manipulated intelligence
` some provided by Iraqi exiles such as Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National
Congress – what else motivated the US? Many remain convinced the
overwhelming factor was a desire to control Iraq’s oil supplies, the
second largest proven reserves in the world. Such a view has been
reinforced by recent recommendations of Iraq Study Group which said: "
The United States should assist Iraqi leaders to reorganise the
national oil industry as a commercial enterprise, in order to enhance
efficiency, transparency, and accountability."

Veteran dissident Noam Chomsky said: "It is glaringly obvious that
Iraq is estimated to have the second largest energy reserves in the
world and is right at the heart of the world’s major energy producing
region, and that establishing a client state in Iraq would
considerably enhance policies that go back to the dawn of the oil age,
and in particular to the post-war period when the US was taking over
global domination, and established as a very high and natural policy
principle the need to control this `stupendous source of strategic
power’."

He added: "It takes remarkable obedience to authority to believe that
the US would have ‘liberated’ Iraq – or taken revenge – if its main
exports were lettuce and pickles, and the major petroleum resources
were in the South Pacific."

Some point out that a desire among some in government to oust Saddam
predated 9/11, and suggest in the aftermath of those attacks, a
climate existed in which it was easier to pursue an invasion. Indeed,
among the signatories to the 1998 letter from the neo-con Project for
the New American Century calling on President Clinton to take on
Saddam were former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy,
Paul Wolfowitz.

Mr Wolfowitz later said Saddam’s alleged possession of WMD was just
one of many reasons for invading. "For bureaucratic reasons, we
settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the
one reason everyone could agree on," he said.

David Swanson, a founder of afterdowningstreet.org, a coalition of
peace and activist groups, said: "The one thing we know is that the
reasons they told us were false. [I think] they wanted an Iraq that
looked free but isn’t and they wanted to control it¿They wanted
the oil and the power that comes with controlling that oil and making
profits for British and US oil companies."

Did other factors influence Mr Bush? Was he seeking revenge against
"the guy who tried to kill my dad" ` a reference to an alleged plot to
kill the president’s father during a visit to Kuwait in 1993 or was
there even a broader strategic rationale, one that would benefit
Israel ` something claimed by peace activist Cindy Sheehan.

What does seem certain is that there was a confluence of factors and
interests coming together in the aftermath of 9/11 that allowed Mr
Bush to proceed to war with little opposition from the Congress, or
indeed, the media.

ANOTHER MAN HELD IN ARMENIAN ‘COUP’ PROBE
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 29 2006

Armenian law-enforcement authorities said on Friday that they have
uncovered a massive cache of weapons and ammunition in their ongoing
investigation into a coup plot allegedly hatched by two hard-line
nationalists hostile to the government.

The National Security Service (NSS) said its officers found on Thursday
"unprecedented quantities" of assault rifles, machine guns, grenade
launchers and even surface-to-air missiles in the village house of
a man close to the arrested leaders of a group opposing concessions
to Azerbaijan. It claimed that the resident of the southern Armenian
village of Lusarat, identified as Vahan Aroyan, also illegally kept
hand grenades, landmines, "tens of thousands" of bullets and radios.

"Vahan Aroyan is under arrest, and the investigation into the criminal
case is continuing," the NSS said in a statement. It gave no further
details, saying only that the arrest was made "within the framework"
of the coup charges leveled against Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan
Malkhasian.

The two men are well-known veterans of the 1991-1994 war in
Nagorno-Karabakh who are highly critical of Armenia’s current
leadership. They were arrested and charged with calling for a "violent
overthrow" of the government following a December 2 meeting of their
new organization, the Alliance of Armenian Volunteers (HKH).

The NSS alleges that the HKH was set up to mount an armed uprising
against the government during parliamentary elections expected next
spring, a charge denied by Sefilian, Malkhasian and their supporters.

Armen Yeghian, another senior member of the HKH, said the arrested
man, whom he identified as Vahan Arotian, is a former comrade-in-arms
of Sefilian. But he insisted that Arotian "has had no practical
involvement in the activities of our structure." "He could not have
participated in the [December 2] gathering because he had nothing to
do with our structure," Yeghian told RFE/RL.

Acting on an appeal lodged by Sefilian’s and Malkhasian’s lawyers,
Armenia’s Court of Appeals on Wednesday refused to order the suspects’
release pending investigation.

RA PARLIAMENT SPEAKER WISHED HAPPY NEW YEAR TO PEOPLE

Yerevan, December 28. ArmInfo. RA Parliament speaker, Tigran Torossyan,
has sent today a message of congratulation to the Armenian people
saying, in particular: "The year 2006 has become a year of development
of democracy and protection of human rights and freedoms".

In speaker’s opinion, the year 2006 was also important for the
negotiation process on the Karabakh conflict settlement. "The principle
of peoples’ right for self-determination, after it was fixed in the
resolution of CE Parliament Assembly on Nagorno Karabakh, has been also
reflected in the documents of other European structures, as well as in
the approaches of OSCE MG cochairmen", the message says. T. Torossyan
has also expressed hope that the results of economic growth in 2007
will affect the social level of the Republic’s citizens, as well as
the financing of spheres of science, education and culture.

LEVEL OF LAKE SEVAN RISES BY 17 CENTIMTERS ON LAST YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Dec 27 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Altough 2006 was a droughty year,
the level of Lake Sevan has risen by 17 centimeters compared with
last year. The RA Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Aivazian
stated this at the December 27 press conference. According to him,
the complex program envisages raising the lake’s level to 1,903
meters. The minister said that the cleaning of lake shores is of
importance: in 2005, areas of 92 ha were cleaned, and 123 ha was
cleaned this year. V. Aivazian noted that nature use payments are
increasing year by year. In 2003, these payments amounted to 1 bln
12 mln drams (about 44 mln USD), in 2005 they made 2 bln 112 mln
drams. In his words, the use of Earth’s depths contributed to the
growth of nature use payments. There are currently 300 Earth’s depths
operating organizations in Armenia.

THIS PERSON IS BECOMING DANGEROUS FOR NAGORNO KARABAKH
Haik Aramyan

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 26 2006

After holding a referendum successfully the public of Nagorno Karabakh
can focus on the problem of candidates of president. Life goes on,
and the political elite of Karabakh is growing active, for the country
is coming to the point of necessary changes for development.

However, it is already clear that not everyone welcomes progressive
changes in Karabakh. As it usually happens, most people consider
these changes dangerous for their personal interests. And though it
seems that there cannot be such people in what concerns the people of
Karabakh which has not been recognized by the international community
yet, life shows the opposite. There are a number of people who proceed
from their personal interests in evaluating history and the reality
in Nagorno Karabakh.

There have been a number of such cases recently, which aroused concern
among the Karabakh public. Certain NKR officials were said to have been
involved in games in connection with the problem of adoption of the
NKR Constitution. Apparently, NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan wanted
to put an end to these worries when he confirmed on December 10 the
day of the referendum his decision not to run a third term and even
promised to inform the public on his activities after leaving office.

It appeared that reason won, and the country could go on to tackle the
other problems of state building. But no. Someone has again decided to
question the willingness of Nagorno Karabakh to act in accordance with
the demand of history, and lead people towards his own wishes. And this
someone is not another social climber from President Ghukasyan’s team
but the businessman Ara Abrahamyan, who has been trying to convince
the Armenian people that he is the leader of the Armenians, and he
was born to bring them together under the flag of the World Congress
of Armenians.

Ara Abrahamyan disagrees that the people of Karabakh should elect a
new president. He decided that Ghukasyan is irreplaceable and must
remain president until the country is recognized. Ara Abrahamyan does
not care for the opinion of the NKR people. Moreover, he does not
care for Ghukasyan’s statement to take up another occupation. The
"father" of Armenians denies the course of history; for him history
is the fulfilment of his own dreams.

We could grin at the wish of another rich man and not pay attention
to it. Especially that this figure "generously donated" one million
dollars to Karabakh. Perhaps at some time someone would explain to him
that it is wrong to point it to people. Perhaps President Ghukasyan
could explain the benefactor how unappropriate this is towards people
who made so many sacrifices for the sake of freedom.

However, the problem is that people are growing suspicious that
Arkady Ghukasyan is not involved in the strange actions of the
Diasporan benefactors, who are friends of his. Ara Abrahamyan is
not the first. The society has not forgotten about another friend of
president’s, the gradiloquent speech of the American Armenian Vahe
Karapetyan during the recent telethon of Armenia Foundation when
he stated that he would support Ghukasyan to be elected for a third
term. This man thought his donation of half a million dollars would
make his wish more realistic. At that time, Arkady Ghukasyan standing
near Vahe Karapetyan did not react to his friend’s statement.

Ghukasyan could have explained, if not to Vahe Karapetyan but to
the entire Armenian nation that such notions as the fate of people
must not be played with. Karapetyan would conclude that his words
are impertinent. The fate of a friend may matter more for someone
than the fate of a nation, but history does not forgive helping a
friend at the expense of people. Ghukasyan did not explain, which
means he does not understand either. And if he does not understand,
he makes others think that he undertakes these political games rather
than his Diasporan friends.

The Armenian public has witnessed such "strange" behavior of the
members of Arkady Ghukasyan’s team, who tend to neglect public
statements and vigorously try to stop the history for their own
wishes. Then it became clear that they were fulfilling Ghukasyan’s
wishes rather than their own. But since Arkady Ghukasyan’s plans
are revealed one by one, he pretended that the ideas belonged to
these figures.

Meanwhile, in Ara Abrahamyan’s case Ghukasyan lay himself bare. He
should not have had Ara Abrahamyan utter his own text, since he had
mentioned separate principles to others in private talks. Ghukasyan’s
memory failed, or rather the desire to keep the office prevailed. In
Armenia, Karabakh and the Diaspora everyone knows Ghukasyan’s theses
that "he does not wish to run a third term but there is nobody worth
to replace him." Most people remember Ghukasyan’s words that only he
personally can get money from the Diasporan rich people. The statements
of Ghukasyan’s team that they do not give money to Karabakh but to
Ghukasyan are many.

This is quite different from the words of a statesman who is interested
is something else than his own fate. A person who lives abroad for
months on without giving an explanation to the NKR public.

He knows what he was busy doing there. And how could Ara Abrahamyan
know that by citing Ghukasyan he would place himself and the president
of Armenia in a funny situation? He did not calculate everything,
whereas he could have acted a little more diplomatically.

But diplomacy would hardly be helpful. Ghukasyan’s policy of solving
the problem of his own fate at the expense of people through someone
else is already victious. And in this case ruses will not be helpful.

All this would sound funny if it were not dangerous. Everything is
clear about separate Diasporan benefactors: they know why they give
the money, for people or for their "friends" who have high positions.

Thanks God, these benefactors are few compared with the real friends of
the people of Karabakh. Meanwhile, the people of NKR need to clarify
the problem of its own ingenious figures who have turned their office
and the external relations of NKR into a mechanism of solving their
own problems.

There is already a lot to discuss. First, the public of Karabakh
needs to find out for what services the Diasporan rich men give
the money to Ghukasyan and not to Karabakh. It is clear that if we
believe this thesis of Ghukasyan’s team, nobody would give him money
for "beatiful eyes". Consequently, it is necessary to find out how
Ghukasyan becomes preferable for his "friends". This is absolutely
realistic considering that the money raised by the Armenian Diaspora
in 2005 did not reach its destination, the region of Martakert. In
NKR they still wonder about 1.5 million dollars which did not appear
where it should appear legally.

The media have reported about the transfer of the property of NKR to
Swiss businessmen and gave facts on deals made by the NKR leadership
and rich foreigners. The uncertainty over the activities of the
foundation for maintenance of Goris-Lachin-Stepanakert motorway is
reported, where the visible work does not correspond to the reported
annual expenses (by the way, this project is also related to Vahe
Karapetyan who annually provides 150 thousand dollars for roadworks).

In other words, Ghukasyan does not tell a lie when he says that
the money (at least part of it) is given to him personally not to
Karabakh. And the fact that some rich Diasporans are fussing and
making deals with Ghukasyan openly may have reason. Not only Arkady
Ghukasyan fears leaving office. So they have made efforts to shut
the mouth of the people of Karabakh with "patriotic" speeches that
it is impossible to replace Ghukasyan. It is clear that Ghukasyan is
irreplaceable for them for some reason. But this is their problem.

And the problem of the NKR public and those who are responsible for
legality of Diaspora charity is to prevent anything in the back of
the state and the public. Ghukasyan, who is facing the problem of
leaving office, is becoming dangerous for the people. Not only the
public but also the relevant agencies should hurry to attend to
these problems. It is high time that the parliament, the National
Security Service and the NKR procuracy start official proceedings
with regard to the relations of the NKR government agencies and the
foreign financial sources. Today this is a matter of national security.

The institutions of NKR are established and able to defend the
interests of NKR.

UNRECOGNIZED REPUBLICS APPEALED TO UN

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.12.2006 16:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The commonwealth "For Democracy and Human Rights"
unifying Transdnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia issued a joint
position that reached the UN. The reason was the GUAM’s proposal to
introduce the issue on frozen conflictsin the UN agenda.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta published Transdnistrian Foreign Minister Valery
Litskay’s letter which says in part.

"For the first time the GUAM member states try to apply the effect of
collective influence to make UN draw sanctions against unrecognized
republics. Unlike the other international organizations the UN
regulations provide for both appliance of economic sanctions and
military involvement, so-called compulsion to peace. We have organized
a memorandum and requested Russia as a guarantor state to circulate
the document in the UN as well as initiate discussion of the issue
with taking into account our position as well."

In Litskay’s opinion the memorandum revealed the true picture of the
conflicts: wars and blockades imposed by Kishinev and Tbilisi. "The
facts furnished in the document are meant to trigger the mechanism of
UN sanctions which will not however be targeted against Tiraspol. With
Moscow’s support the UN’s stance on frozen conflicts has changed. As
result, the accusers – Moldova and Georgia – could be transformed in
the accused. Thus, these states recalled their proposal.

The issue of conflicts available on the CIS territory was not raised
at the UN General Assembly and it’s for most part conditioned by the
memorandum of the unrecognized republics. This is the first step
toward the international rostrum and international recognition,"
the FM underscored.

POLICE PREVENT "ILLEGAL" CONFERENCE OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES IN AZERI CAPITAL

ITV, Baku,
24 Dec 06

[Presenter] Jehovah’s Witnesses attempted to hold an illegal conference
in [Baku’s] Xatai district today. The conference was prevented,
as it was illegal, the district police said.

[Correspondent over video of a three-storey building] Jehovah’s
Witnesses, who came to Azerbaijan in 1995, have been operating
illegally for a long period. The Azerbaijani branch of the sect is
headed by a Dutch national [name withheld].

Azerbaijan’s religious law bans foreigners and those without
citizenship from engaging in religious activity in the country. Some
reports say that the work of the Azerbaijani branch [of Jehovah’s
Witnesses] is being supervised by the sect’s coordinator in the
central Caucasus [name withheld] who is an Armenian.

Members of the sect hold conferences in third countries on a regular
basis. They are trying to attract people to the sect.

Jehovah’s Witnesses attempted to hold such a conference in Baku. Some
foreign citizens had also come to attend the conference.

As the conference was illegal, the Xatai district police prevented it.

The Xatai police said that the activities of the sect prepared the
ground for provocative and sabotage acts in Azerbaijan. The discovery
of some unfamiliar equipment during the search also proved this,
the police said.

[An unidentified police officer shown speaking to reporters] The
equipment found on the lower floor is for keeping contact with foreign
states and for propagating foreign intelligence [as heard].

An investigation is under way. It has been reported by the leadership
as well [as heard].

[Correspondent] The State Committee for Work with Religious Structures
says that Jehovah’s Witnesses have been blatantly violating the law
of late. They attract minors by deceiving vulnerable parents.

[Video showed police and a cameraman entering a conference hall,
which is full of people; a police officer detaining a man and taking
him out of the hall; unspecified equipment]

Patriarch Of Armenians In Turkey Seeks Support For Turkey’s E.U. Bid

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Dec 24 2006

ISTANBUL – The patriarch of the Armenians in Turkey sought support for
the country’s European Union aspirations in separate letters he sent
to the EU leaders, a bulletin of the patriarchate has said. Mesrob
II, the Patriarch of the Armenians in Turkey, urged "maximum effort"
to overcome "a critical period" laying ahead before country’s EU bid.

EU foreign ministers agreed last Monday to partially freeze Turkey’s
entry talks with the Union in response to Ankara’s refusal to open
up to trade with Greek Cypriot administration.

EU leaders were expected to endorse that decision during a December
14-15 summit.

"EU leaders will make a critical decision in Turkey-EU relations,
which will have broad consequences," Mesrob II said in his letter.
"My concern about this decision is that current unsolved problems
could jeopardize the country’s membership process and Turkey-EU
relations in general," he noted.

The patriarch praised country’s commitment to the EU membership which
he saw as "strengthened" by political and economic reforms.

"These reforms have improved the basic rights of Turkish citizens
including religious minorities," he added. "This positive process
will of course continue," Mesrob II said.

Mesrob II also urged EU leaders not to derail membership negotiations
by imposing "unilateral" conditions before the country, "without
taking into account Turkey’s other commitments."

"Your leadership is of utmost importance in preventing the European
Council from taking a negative decision," he said. "I hope that your
strategic vision would mediate putting the process back on track."

French Historian Thibaux To Become Lecturer At Turkish University

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Dec 24 2006

ANTALYA – Jean Michel Thibaux, the French historian who had previously
applied for Turkish citizenship in order to protest against a bill
adopted by French National Assembly on criminalizing the denial of
so-called Armenian genocide, accepted Akdeniz University’s(AU) offer
to become a lecturer at the same university. Informing the press on
the issue, Akdeniz University’s Vice-Chancellor Mehmet Aktekin said
that Mr. Thibaux did not demand any remuneration in return of his
lectures at AU.

Noting that Thibaux would teach lessons either at the Faculty of
Communication or Science&Literature, Aktekin said, "We will arrange
housing inside the campus for the professor. He will come to Antalya
and start his lessons as soon as his citizenship process is completed".

Aktekin also stressed that Thibaux would arrive in Mediterranean city
of Antalya on December 18th with his wife who works at the French
Ministry of Defense.

Thibaux would deliver a conference on "The First Crusade and The
Clash of Religions" on December 21st at AU campus as well.

KARABAKH FUNDING BOOST
By Ashot Beglarian in Hadrut

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Dec 21 2006

Impoverished southern district gets big Californian cash injection.

The proceeds of a telethon in the United States are to be spent on
trying to reverse the dismal fortunes of a poor war-ravaged district
of Nagorny Karabakh.

The Hadrut region in the south of the unrecognised republic is due to
receive 14 million US dollars raised last month at the Los Angeles
event organised by the diaspora donor organisation the Hayastan
Foundation.

The region has 12,000 inhabitants. The head of the local
administration Valery Gevorkian said that amongst the main problems
facing the district were its worn-out water system, poor roads,
lack of communications, insufficient housing and lack of medical
facilities. All this, say experts, is hurting the economy and driving
people away.

The houses in the small village of Tsakuri are old and humble.

Falling snow made the roads virtually impassable and our Niva jeep
moved over the rough ground with difficulty. But the main problem
that the locals complain about is not the roads, but water.

Villager Armen Grigorian said that a foreign organisation had installed
an enormous water-tank and pipes in the village several years ago,
but that there was still not enough water to go around.

"In summer the water flows for two hours a day, there is only a
thin stream in our houses and we manage to collect just a couple of
buckets for basic needs. We also have problems with transporting our
agricultural produce to suppliers, which of course does not encourage
farming. And this is in a place where a man has to work until he is
an old man, because you can’t survive on a pension," he said.

In the neighbouring village, Grigory Firumian said he had little to
complain about.

"We don’t live badly – if someone works hard and is industrious by
nature, he prospers. Life in the village goes by at its own pace.

Soon construction will end on the North-South highway that passes
through our village and we will be able to get to the district centre
much quicker than now," he said.

Firumian has two sons serving in the army, alongside his son-in-law
and their pay helps supplement the family income.

He also says the village badly needs water and hopes the telethon
will help provide it. "Of course it would be good to complete the
construction of the school that was begun in the last century but I
repeat the most urgent problems of our village at the moment is our
water supply," said Firumian.

These are common problems in the remoter parts of the South Caucasus.

But the people of Hadrut are lucky in that their ethnic kin have come
to their aid. Of the 14 million dollars collected, half has been
earmarked for a drinking water system, repair of hospitals and the
building of a new bridge at Tsakuri.

Villages in Hadrut have already benefited from diaspora grants,
with money flowing in from California and from the Union of Armenian
Doctors of France, which has subsidised the building of a medical
and social centre in the village of Norashen. In the same village,
the Los Angeles and Sydney branches of the Armenian General Benevolent
Union have funded a school for eighty pupils.

"This is a strategic programme because this village is right on
the border, it has an interesting history and you can build a model
village here," said Arkady Gukasian, president of the republic of
Nagorny Karabakh at the opening ceremony of the school.

"We should implement programmes like this in the whole republic
because we have two goals – for Karabakhis to live in Karabakh and
for villagers to live in villages. Our best traditions are preserved
in the villages."

The more remote village of Khtaberd suffers from more serious
problems. "You can travel in summer, but in winter it’s practically
impossible," said local resident Araik Baghdasarian. "We have just
one jeep which serves as an ambulance, but if a person gets sick in
winter then the situation is hopeless. Telephone communication with
the regional centre is very poor and there’s no question of contact
with the capital."

Baghdasarian said young people had nothing to do and infrastructure was
falling apart. "We need to build houses, roads and schools," he said.

The local administration said that as a result of the Karabakh
conflict between 1988 and 1992, 200 Armenian refugees had resettled
in Hadrut from various Azerbaijani towns and villages. It also tries
to help families of those killed in the conflict or ones with many
children. In the village of Mets Tager, local resident Julietta
Altunian gave birth to her tenth child and was awarded with a bank
account containing five thousand dollars.

"If we use the funds raised in Los Angeles rationally and competently
we will be able to restore the places in the region that most vitally
need it and make it prosper," said one villager, cautiously hoping
for the future.

Ashot Beglarian is a freelance journalist and IWPR contributor in
Nagorny Karabakh.