Akbar Hashemi’s Memoirs – September 21, 2002

At home, I completed the editing of the 1983 [= calm and challenge] memoirs. The United States is putting a lot of pressure on Germany, and the German Minister of Justice has been forced to clarify that he did not say that the U.S. President acts like Hitler. Iraq has stated that if the UN Security Council approves anything beyond the previous resolution, it will not accept it. Bush has met with the Russian Foreign and Defense Ministers, asking them to cooperate in approving a new resolution, and has also had telephone contacts with inspectors from China, France, and Russia. The UK is also trying to persuade other Security Council member states, but within the UK and even the Labour Party, opposition to an attack on Iraq is growing.

Israel has intensified pressure on the Palestinian people and on [Yasser] Arafat, [President of the Palestinian Authority], even destroying the air bridge that connected Arafat’s headquarters to another building, and demanding the handover of individuals present in Arafat’s headquarters. Arafat has once again asked Palestinian fighters not to attack Israeli civilians.

In Afghanistan, the U.S. camp in the east has been attacked. New Afghan currency has been issued; due to the previous currency’s catastrophic devaluation, the new Afghani has been valued at a thousand times the old Afghani, though it is unclear if this will solve the problems. Additionally, by mistake, the phrase “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” which was named during the Taliban era, was printed on the notes. Officials say that the printing order had been given to Germany during the Taliban period and was overlooked for correction. In Kashmir, attacks by militants have increased, and clashes at the India-Pakistan border have intensified.

The German elections are being influenced by the Iraq and Afghanistan issues, and the candidates do not have clear executive programs; promises to solve unemployment—the pressing issue in Germany with a 14% unemployment rate—are repetitive.