MERIP
Media Resource List, June 28, 2004
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
on the following topic:
- Transfer of authority in Iraq
- Supreme Court decisions
CHRIS TOENSING
Chris Toensing is executive director of the Middle East Research
and Information Project and editor of Middle East Report.
Commenting on today’s transfer of authority in Iraq:
"According to a CPA-commissioned poll conducted in mid-May,
92 percent of Iraqis regard US and other foreign troops as
occupiers, not peacekeepers or liberators. It is hard to see
why this attitude would change after today. Moreover, the
US military will continue to be the de facto occupiers of
Iraq, but without the de jure obligations of an occupying
power under international law."
ERIK GUSTAFSON
Erik Gustafson is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and the executive
director of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC).
Since 1998, EPIC has worked to improve humanitarian conditions
and protect human rights in Iraq. Commenting on today’s
transfer of authority in Iraq: “Nothing magical happened
today. Until now, Iraqis have been facing increasing violence,
massive unemployment and failing public services. Tomorrow
Iraqis will be facing the same challenges.”
CHRISTOPH WILCKE
Christoph Wilcke is an independent consultant on Middle East
affairs who has worked with international humanitarian organizations
and think tanks. He said: “Today's transfer of sovereignty
is about cosmetic surgery. The US will continue to have 140,000
troops in Iraq and control around $18 billion in reconstruction
funds, the equivalent of Iraq's annual GDP. Perceptions, more
than realities, are what may change. With the closure of the
CPA, we should expect details of life in Iraq to gradually
fade from the radar of the Western media. That also means
less scrutiny over whatever strongman tactics Iraqi politicians
will use to gain power.”
RICHARD FALK
Richard Falk is a professor emeritus of international law
and practice at Princeton University and author of over 20
books, most recently The Great Terror War (Interlink, 2003).
Commenting on the Supreme Court’s decisions, Falk said:
"The Supreme Court decisions today are a mild victory
for human rights and institutionalism. They affirm what
should have been taken for granted, that individuals cannot
be held indefinitely in detention without rights to protest
their treatment in a court. But these decisions also strike
a blow against the rule of law by deciding that the US government
can detain persons without charges or trial for as long as
it wishes. Thus, a divided Supreme Court delivers a mixed
message that can be interpreted either as an endorsement of
the authoritarian Bush approach to detainees or as a slap
on the wrists of the Justice Department and the Pentagon."
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