Countdown

Administration Continues to Push Investigation of Middle East Males in U.S.

Volume III, No. 6
Posted on Friday February 8, 2002

Iraq Makes Overtures on Arms Inspectors While Arabs Court U.S.

H.E. Amre Moussa, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, repeated his message to Kofi Annan on Iraq’s openness to a new arms inspection regime at a forum in Washington, D.C. sponsored by AAI and the Middle East Institute. He mentioned that opportunities to re-engage Iraq should be pursued before military options are implemented. However, US reactions to Iraq’s message were not encouraging, with Secretary of State Colin Powell noting that no new terms would be negotiated for the return of the inspectors. Moussa’s visit to D.C. was arranged by AAI as part of a four-city tour where he focused on issues ranging from Palestine and Iraq to concerns with US media coverage of the Middle East. His remarks were echoed by Saudi delegations touring five cities to challenge critics of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. The visits shared several themes: the need for the U.S. to continue talking with President Yasser Arafat; the need to publicly commit to specific outcomes when the peace process is resumed; and the need for changes in US policy away from a single-focus on Israel’s security to the broader concern with a viable peace process.

White House Denies Cheney Remark on “Hanging” Arafat; Ashcroft Disses Islam

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer reportedly told Yediot Aharonot that Vice President Dick Cheney told him that Israel could “hang” Mr. Arafat as far as he was concerned. Ben Eliezer also claimed that he heard similar comments from advisors to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, noted for their extreme pro-Israeli views. He also claimed that Cheney and US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told him that talking to Arafat was a “waste of time”. White House national security spokesman Sean McCormack “firmly denied” the alleged comments, saying, “There is no difference between what the vice president has said in public or private and what the president said yesterday in the Oval Office concerning our policy on Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority,” referring to President Bush’s indication that the U.S. will continue talking with the embattled Palestinian leader. Another controversy is brewing over columnist Cal Thomas’ radio report that Attorney General John Ashcroft said to him in an interview, “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to dies for you.” National Arab American organizations have written the Bush Administration asking for a clarification of the report, an apology from AG Ashcroft if is true, and failing this, his resignation.

Administration Continues to Push Investigation of Middle East Males in U.S.

According to the Washington Post, a special task force of agents from the FBI, US Marshals Service and the INS will soon “begin apprehending and interrogating thousands of illegal Middle Eastern immigrants who have ignored deportation orders, seeking ways to prosecute any who have ties to terrorism…” Federal agents are instructed to find ways of detaining some for possible criminal charges rather than merely expelling them as previously planned. Initially, a group of fewer than 1,000 illegal immigrants is being targeted because they are convicted felons. A newly created database combines the results gained through previous interviews of 5,000 male immigrants with whatever information comes from this next round of interrogations. While supportive of national security efforts, Arab Americans oppose the blatant ethnic profiling at the heart of the investigation and the unintended consequences for innocent parties.

“Viewpoint with James Zogby” Now Live on WorldLinkTV

Beginning today, “Viewpoint with James Zogby” will be carried live in North America on WorldLinkTV, a 24-hour television network that brings the world’s events, issues and cultures to the United States. It can be seen at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) every Friday on Channel 9410 on Echostar Communications Corporation’s DISH® satellite system and on Channel 375 on DirecTV® satellite TV service. For more information about WorldLinkTV’s extraordinary programming, including “Mosaic” which provides English news from various Middle Eastern broadcasters, log onto: http://www.worldlinktv.com.