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NEWSNOTES
WORLDWATCH
 Iraq:
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to crack this. Logic may not always be
their strong point, but most Americans know that among the many people
and countries who hate them, Saddam Hussein's Iraq probably hates them
most.
Prime suspects for the WTC attacks, therefore,
include Iraq. Israeli intelligence has been quoted as saying the operations
were too precise and well-planned for a handful of terrorists to execute
without assistance from a sponsor state. Conservative opinion in the US
is sharply in favour of mounting full-scale military operations against
Iraq, the so called Republic of Terror, to remove Saddam and replace the
Baathist regime with one of their choice.
The US military buildup in the Persian Gulf
area is massive and growing. Three aircraft carrier groups are in the
region; a fourth is reportedly heading that way. Some 30,000 US troops
are stationed there, and the US and Britain have around 300 military aircraft
in the area. Two US aircraft have been shot down over Iraq in the past
month.
On October 3, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq
Aziz, speaking of Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden, said, "That country
and that individual do not need such a great arsenal ... If the US is
planning a new aggression (against Iraq) we will confront it as we have
in the past." If Iraq is spared another attack, it will only be because
of the allies' need to keep their grand coalition together. General Colin
Powell had bowed to this dictate and stopped short of Baghdad in 1991.
Now he is secretary of state, and the Powell doctrine is once more in
play. The priority, for the moment, is not the "Butcher of Baghdad".
—Samrat Choudhury
SPOTLIGHT
Green Deal Turns Sour
The state's move to take over university land for a biotechnology
park sparks a row
Karnataka Chief
Minister S.M. Krishna takes reforms very seriously-and brooks no opposition.
On September 27, Bangalore's University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS)
was virtually taken over by baton-wielding police who lathi-charged teachers
and students. They were protesting against the Karnataka Government's
decision to take over 100 acres of the UAS' land near the institute's
entrance for a proposed biotechnology park (BP). The academia disapproved
of the state's plan to parcel off land "rich in biodiversity"
to attract private biotech companies.
Says T.G. Prasad, a professor of crop physiology
at UAS: "Police cannot enter a university without the vice-chancellor's
permission but here they even threatened to shoot the protesters."
Additional Commissioner of Police J.P. Mirji, however, blamed the students
and teachers for initiating the violence.
The UAS has no objection to the Government taking
over land at a distance from the institute's entrance. The Opposition
has entered the fray on their behalf. C. Byre Gowda of the Janata Dal
says, "The whole deal is shady. Why doesn't the state show the same
concern for dying farmers?" That's a question Karnataka Agriculture
Minister T.B. Jayachandra is not taking. "It's time to forget differences
and boost private sector investments," he says.
—Stephen David
Terror Discount
Hotel and flight rates in the US crashed with the
WTC
It's a new spin on disaster tourism. After September
11, travel to and inside the US has come to a virtual halt. In New York,
hotel rooms are going abegging, with all major chains offering discounts,
special weekend packages adndupgrades. Cancellations have left the more
popular hotels around the Times Square area with an average occupancy
of less than 35 per cent. Double rooms in decent hotels are going for
$95 to $175 compared to the usual $250-350.
This is the cheapest American vacation you could
possibly have, specially if you have no fixed itinerary and are Net savvy.
The Internet is awash with flight and hotel bargains. For those willing
to risk flying, there's no better time to travel inside America. It's
possible to get advance purchases at half the normal fare. Even departmental
stores are running clearance sales.
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