operation. “The objective ofrnIPI is to synchronize the informationalrnobjectives, themesrnand messages that will be projectedrnoverseas . . . to preventrnand mitigate crises and torninfluence foreign audiences inrnways favorable to the achievementrnof U.S. foreign policy objrne c t i v e s , ” the charter says.rnU.S. o f f i c i a l s , and the text ofrnthe charter, e x p l i c i t l y s t a ternthat the new information policyrnwill not be used as a propagandarnweapon against the Americanrnpublic—which isrnprohibited by U.S. law. However,rnsince foreign media reportsrnoften get played back inrnU.S. media, i t will likely bernimpossible to prevent a backwashrnof the pro-U.S. informationrninto America. The charterrnrecognizes this by c a l l i n g forrnthe government’s domestic publrni c affairs a c t i v i t i e s to berncoordinated with i t s foreignrnIPI e f f o r t s . Informationrnaimed at domestic audiencesrnshould “be coordinated, integrated,rndeconflicted and synchronizedrnwith the [IPI CorernGroup] to achieve a synergistrni c effect for [government]rns t r a t e g i c information a c t i v i ­trni e s , ” the charter says.rnClinton’s FDD 68 orders officials fromrnthe Defense, State, Justice, Commerce,rnand Treasury Departments and the CIArnand FBI to set up the core group. The IPIrncore group will arrange “training exercisesrnat the National Defense University, NationalrnForeign Affairs Training Center, thernService War Colleges” and other institutions,rnand its activities could go beyondrnbroadcasts and press releases. The corerngroup is ordered to “assist efforts in defeatingrnadversaries . . . The intelligencerncommunity will play a crucial role . . . inrnidentifying hostile foreign propagandarnand deception that targets the U.S.”rnAn early target for the new agencyrncould be the Guardian of London, whichrnrevealed some disturbing details on the effectsrnof U.S. depleted uranium weaponsrnon Iraqi civilians (July 30), includingrn”grotesquely deformed babies”:rnThey were born with huge blackrngrowths on t h e i r heads, or withrnno feet, or with tiny heads, orrnwith huge c l e f t s in theirrnbacks. They have distortedrnlimbs and disfigured torsos,rnt h e i r tiny bodies appearingrnmangled. These are the offspringrnof Iraqi soldiers subjectedrnto hundreds of thousandsrnof rounds of shellsrntipped with depleted uranium,rnfired by US forces during thern1991 Gulf war. . . . I t is arncontroversial issue and a topicalrnone. American A-10 ‘tankbusters’rnused uranium-tippedrnweapons against Serb targetsrnin Kosovo.rnThree years ago, Madeleine Albrightrnproudly declared that all this—the deathrnand maiming of hundreds of thousands ofrnIraqi civilians due to war and sanctions—rnwas “worth it” in pursuit of U.S. policyrnobjectives. It is therefore fitting that, atrnASEAN’s Singapore summit last July,rnIVlrs. Albright replied to Chinese criticismrnof NATO’s bombing of Serbia by saying,rn”I am very proud of the action the UnitedrnStates and NATO took” (Agence FrancernPresse, July 27). She further stated thatrnthe United States will act unilaterally inrnthe future, whenever “the U.N. cannot act,rnbecause it is blocked by those who are notrnsupporting the Universal Declaration ofrnHuman Rights and the necessity to try tornbring justice when crimes against humanityrnare being committed.”rnIronically, on that same day in neighboringrnIndonesia, 24 people died in clashesrnbetween Muslims and Christians inrnAmbon. According to Reuters (July 28),rnFighting gripped five differentrnparts of Ambon c i t y , muchrnof i t in ruins after months ofrnclashes, and spread to v i l ­lagesrnoutside, witnesses said.rnHospital sources said most ofrnthe new victims died of gunshotrnwounds. It brings the numberrnof dead there this week to atrnleast 34. “They v i r t u a l l y usedrnevery weapon available, machetes,rnspears, bows and arrows-rneven crude bombs,” said arnlocal journalist.rnThis item proved no more fit for print orrncommentary than the ongoing butcheringrnof millions of Christians by their Muslimrnoverlords in southern Sudan or the dailyrnmurder of the remaining Serbs in Kosovo.rnContrast this lack of coverage with thernAmerican media’s hagiographical tributernto the late King Hassan of Morocco. ThernIndependent of London (July 25) noted arnfew facts ignored by the American press:rnWhen a Middle East dictatorrnf a i t h f u l l y follows US policyrnin the region, you can be surernthat he will be mourned inrndeath as a “peacemaker”, arn”moderate”, a “friend of thernWest”. And so i t was for HassanrnI I , Commander of the Faithful,rnas the world’s leaders setrnoff for Rabat to express theirrnsorrow at the demise of thernlongest-serving Arab monarch.rnNo mention, of course, of therndecades of imprisonment withoutrnt r i a l for his p o l i t i c a l opponents,rnof the secret mountrna i n prisons, of thern”disappearances”, of the occupationrnof the Western Sahara.rnFor was this not the man whornhelped set up the Egyptian-Isrrna e l i peace treaty, the Oslornagreement, the Jordanian peacernt r e a t y , who produced an Islamicrncall against “terrorism”?rnHowever much he received inrncash from the CIA-and the Arabrnworld s t i l l speaks of this withrnboth anger and envy-King Hassanrnwas on “our” side.rnHassan’s profound understanding of today’srnWestern world was apparent in thernword of advice he gave to Yassir Arafat inrn1994. According to the Independent, herncounseled the Palestinian leader to toe Israel’srnline:rn”Those people [the I s r a e l i s ]rnare very powerful,” Hassanrnsaid. “Consider what they haverndone for you. In 24 hours theyrnhave changed your image fromrnt e r r o r i s t to peacemaker, enablingrnyou to go to the WhiternHouse, to dine at the State Department,rnto have lunch at thernWorld Bank, to enter 10 DowningrnS t r e e t . “rn”Yours has always been a voice of reasonrnand tolerance,” President Clinton gushedrnto the king in 1995. He was saying thernsame in Rabat, in the last week of July,rnwhen he met Hassan’s successor, Sidi Mohamed.rnOur king is dead. Long live ourrnking.rnOCTOBER 1999/23rnrnrn