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[infowar.de] Iraq pulls plug on e-mail
Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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BBC, Monday, 13 January, 2003, 21:01 GMT
Iraq pulls plug on e-mail
Iraq has blocked access to e-mail following an electronic campaign by
the US urging key military and civilian figures to turn against
President Saddam Hussein.
Washington launched its e-mail offensive last week as part of its
"psychological warfare" against Baghdad.
Government employees, senior civil servants, academics and scientists
who use the state e-mail service are all thought to have received the
letters.
The US has also dropped anti-Saddam leaflets from planes and broadcast
messages against him.
One US e-mail told recipients: "If you provide information on weapons of
mass destruction or you take steps to hamper their use, we will do what
is necessary to protect you and protect your families.
"Failing to do so will lead to grave personal consequences."
Experts say that the fact that foreign e-mail servers are banned in Iraq
would have made the campaign much easier as all recipients receive their
mail on the same provider.
From Taleban to Saddam
The mass e-mailing adds a fresh dimension to an operation which began
late last year as the US started trying to persuade Iraqis to abandon
their leader.
The US targeted Afghans with leaflets in 2001
Broadcasts transmitted by US planes flying over Iraq play Arabic music
as a background to accusations that Saddam Hussein diverted revenue from
oil sales to purchase arms instead of food.
"How much longer will this corrupt rule be allowed to exploit and
oppress the Iraqi people?" one broadcast asks.
The "Commando Solo" plane which broadcasts the messages is operated by a
specialist US psy-ops unit which was last deployed in Afghanistan when
it broadcast propaganda to locals and Taleban fighters.
The US also uses ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf
to beam anti-Saddam programmes to the Iraqi people.
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