tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51921272011-04-21T20:17:03.694-07:00Where's the War?This blog was essentially started to cover the Iraq war. In the spring of 2003, it looked like that war was over, so I stopped posting items about it. It wasn't: rather than make an awkward attempt at resurrection, I'm maintaining this blog as is to provide a sense of what the first months of the war were like.Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comBlogger4481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-944816922003-05-16T19:50:00.000-07:002003-05-16T19:50:34.796-07:00Iran rejects Rumsfeld's claims:
"The repetition of such baseless claims (concerning al-Qaida) cannot portray them as valid and credible," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
U.S. officials have said at least three al-Qaida leaders are in Iran: Saif al-Adil, bin Laden's security and intelligence chief; Saad bin Laden, Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-944314162003-05-15T21:47:00.000-07:002003-05-15T21:47:10.093-07:00Donald Rumsfeld accuses Iran:
"There are still countries harboring terrorists. I mean, we know there are senior al-Qaeda in Iran," Rumsfeld said. Rumsfeld, who has previously accused Iran of giving refuge to al-Qaeda members fleeing Afghanistan, provided no details on which of the group's leaders are believed to be in Iran.
He noted, however, Iran's alleged involvement in the 1996 terrorist Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-944313262003-05-15T21:45:00.000-07:002003-05-15T21:45:01.916-07:00The U.S. is warning the IAEA about Iran:
The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency would be making a big mistake if it failed to find Iran in serious violation of a key international arms control treaty, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.
"We think there are major violations and that's what the evidence shows, and the overall pattern of Iran's behavior is not consistent with anything Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-943535482003-05-14T15:27:00.000-07:002003-05-14T15:27:00.820-07:00The U.S. says Iraqi looters might not be shot:
The officials denied, however, a published report that the American military had new orders to shoot looters on sight.
"We're not going to go out and shoot children that are picking up a piece of wood out of a factory and carrying it away or a bag of cement," Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III, commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, told reporters Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-943533882003-05-14T15:23:00.000-07:002003-05-14T15:23:48.776-07:00Cholera has arrived in southern Iraq:
The World Health Organization on Wednesday confirmed a cholera outbreak in southern Iraq, saying its lab results had showed the virus responsible for the disease was present in samples taken from Basra. WHO officials say the cases hint at a much wider epidemic in the region. Basra has had a history of cholera annually but health officials say this year's Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-943531582003-05-14T15:18:00.000-07:002003-05-14T15:18:42.916-07:00There are predictions of more terrorist attacks:
US officials have warned that al-Qaeda may be planning a series of attacks on soft targets after at least 34 people, including one Australian and seven Americans, died in Monday night's synchronised car bomb attacks on three residential compounds in Riyadh.
Australian foreign affairs officials warned that further attacks in Saudi Arabia were Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-942912992003-05-13T15:19:00.000-07:002003-05-13T15:19:49.723-07:00South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun tries to reassure U.S. investors:
In a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce, Roh reiterated the message he delivered to financiers in New York the day before: South Korea remains a safe place to invest despite seven months of nuclear saber-rattling by North Korea.
"As for North Korea's nuclear issue, which left investors wary, I will try to resolve it Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-942911942003-05-13T15:17:00.000-07:002003-05-13T15:17:36.063-07:00North Korea says a no-nuclear bombs agreement with the South is broken:
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the 1992 North-South pact had been nullified.
"The Bush administration has systematically and completely torpedoed the process of denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. The inter-Korean declaration on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula was thus reduced to a dead Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-942909852003-05-13T15:13:00.000-07:002003-05-13T15:13:04.100-07:00Iran's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has rejected ties to the U.S.:
"Some are prescribing surrender to the US adventurers, but surrender to the enemy is no remedy," Khamenei told thousands of students at Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University on Monday.
"To go to the enemy is not the solution, since that would do nothing but to reinforce his morale, and make him more and more adventurous," the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-942836502003-05-13T12:51:00.000-07:002003-05-13T12:51:35.663-07:00Britain has warned of the danger of more attacks in Saudi Arabia:
Britain warned on Tuesday of a "high threat" of further attacks against Western interests in Saudi Arabia -- possibly involving chemical or biological weapons -- after three suicide bombings overnight.
The Foreign Office issued a warning advising all Britons against non-essential travel to the region after the bombings on Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-942835842003-05-13T12:50:00.000-07:002003-05-13T12:50:17.806-07:00The New York Times says Kim Jong II changed behavior in response to the Iraq war:
American intelligence officials have concluded that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, went into seclusion during the final buildup to the war in Iraq because he feared that he too might be the target of attack. That judgment has led the Pentagon to consider new ways to hold him and his inner circle at risk as a Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-938949402003-05-06T17:22:00.000-07:002003-05-06T17:22:15.150-07:00Colin Powell says the U.S. still demands an end to North Korea's nuclear program:
Since the crisis erupted in October, the United States has insisted that North Korea must verifiably end both its nuclear programs based on plutonium and enriched uranium.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said that was still the case, even as Pyongyang fired another rhetorical salvo, accusing Washington of trying toArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-938375082003-05-05T19:03:00.000-07:002003-05-05T19:03:26.823-07:00Reuters reports on the search for information about Iraq's nuclear facilities:
The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday it had asked the United States to let it send a mission to Iraq to investigate reports of widespread looting at the country's nuclear facilities.
While most of the radioactive material found at these sites would be unusable for atomic weapons, the IAEA is concerned that Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-938124842003-05-05T11:03:00.000-07:002003-05-05T11:03:03.336-07:00Iran asks the U.S. to fight terrorists:
Iran urged the United States on Monday not to allow an Iranian opposition group to attack the country from Iraq.
The People's Mujahedeen is on the U.S. State Department's terrorist list, yet it still signed a truce with the United States on April 15 that allowed it to keep weapons to defend itself against Iranian-backed attacks.
The group also used to be Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-938124152003-05-05T11:01:00.000-07:002003-05-05T11:01:40.420-07:00Pakistan is making an offer to India:
Pakistan will get rid of its nuclear arsenal if rival India does as well, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.
"As far as Pakistan is concerned, if India is ready to denuclearize, we would be happy to denuclearize," Aziz Ahmed Khan said. "But it will have to be mutual."
India's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Khan's remarks. Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-938123572003-05-05T11:00:00.000-07:002003-05-05T11:00:23.626-07:00The CIA has redrawn its map of Kashmir:
The CIA's new map of Kashmir describes the region east of the Line of Control as "Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir" while it designates the territories to its west as "Pakistan-controlled areas of Kashmir," an Indian defence analyst noted on Sunday.
In the past, the United States has treated the whole Kashmir state as disputed, Air Commodore (retd) JasjitArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-938122702003-05-05T10:58:00.000-07:002003-05-05T10:58:30.110-07:00Reports of a renewed link between India and Pakistan:
India is expecting resumption of air links with Pakistan within a fortnight in the wake of the recent peace initiative by India and Pakistan.
The resumption of flights would take place only after New Delhi and Islamabad formally decide to restore civil flights, said official sources here on Sunday.
Informed sources quoted the Civil Aviation Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-937728772003-05-04T18:36:00.000-07:002003-05-04T18:36:02.563-07:00A report on meetings in Baghdad's Tower of Babel Hotel regarding Iraq's future:
The US and British have been hosting a meeting in Baghdad with representatives of the five main Iraqi exile groups who met in London before the war
They have been in continuous session since Wednesday, putting together a blueprint for post-Saddam government.
But the meeting has angered Iraqi religious and political Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-937727912003-05-04T18:34:00.000-07:002003-05-04T18:34:34.410-07:00A post-war update on the use of cluster bombs in Iraq:
The Pentagon has admitted using nearly 1,500 air-dropped cluster bombs during the war, but has not revealed information about ground-launched cluster munitions, which were far more numerous.
The Los Angles Times reported recently that the US does not keep track of ground-launched cluster munitions.
The MoD says the Israeli-made L20 cluster Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-937727402003-05-04T18:33:00.001-07:002003-05-04T18:33:46.560-07:00The N.Y. Times reports on problems in Baghdad:
Confusion and frustration reign in most sections of Baghdad, a city of about 4.5 million people. Many businesses have yet to reopen and people are complaining of skyrocketing food prices and the lack of paychecks to buy staples.
The government, which used to be Iraq's biggest employer, is still almost completely shut down, leaving the American Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-937726992003-05-04T18:33:00.000-07:002003-05-04T18:33:03.006-07:00Some information on the U.N. and its role in Iraq:
Tony Blair yesterday seized the opportunity of his first meeting with US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to press for a role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq.
However, it became clear last night he was struggling to get the US to agree to UN involvement. It also emerged that, whatever Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-937267542003-05-03T18:10:00.000-07:002003-05-03T18:10:47.460-07:00A report on the Shi'ites power in today's Iraq:
The Shia - the majority sect of Islam in Iraq - who were suppressed by Saddam, are running not only hospitals but every aspect of life, including community and cultural centres and police stations.
The US is not happy that Shia gunmen are guarding the hospitals and have said they will confront the problem. But even if the Shias hand over control Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-937267102003-05-03T18:09:00.000-07:002003-05-03T18:09:37.073-07:00The Guardian examines some of the issues regarding the U.N. and post-war Iraq:
Tony Blair yesterday seized the opportunity of his first meeting with US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to press for a role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq.
However, it became clear last night he was struggling to get the US to agree to UN involvement. It also Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-936273982003-05-01T18:38:00.000-07:002003-05-01T18:38:32.406-07:00Donald Rumsfeld apparently believes the conflict in Afghanistan is over:
"We're at a point where we clearly have moved from major combat activity to a period of stability and reconstruction," Rumsfeld said at a joint news conference with Afghan president Hamid Karzai. But he added that "there are still dangers."
U.S. officials said the announcement was meant to prod reluctant allies into sendingArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-936162872003-05-01T14:05:00.000-07:002003-05-01T14:05:28.580-07:00Pakistan is inviting India to talks at the highest levels:
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on Wednesday said his invitation to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for talks still stood as it was in the interest of the people of the region.
"In my telephonic conversation I had extended an invitation to Mr Vajpayee to visit Pakistan. That invitation still stands. I had even expressed Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-936159462003-05-01T13:58:00.000-07:002003-05-01T13:58:20.220-07:00The U.K. and North Korea are holding talks:
Britain held its first ministerial-level talks with North Korea since Pyongyang sparked a crisis last October by throwing out international weapons inspectors.
British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said there had been "progress of sorts" in his discussions with opposite number Choe Su Hon, who said Pyongyang was ready to dismantle its nuclear Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-935394772003-04-30T09:34:00.000-07:002003-04-30T09:34:38.803-07:00Shi'ites are making another pilgrimage to Najaf:
Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims swarmed on the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Wednesday to mark the death of the Prophet Mohammad, freely making the pilgrimage for the first time in decades.
The pilgrimage to the tomb of Imam Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Prophet Mohammad, was the second show of Shi'ite might in a week and highlighted Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-935389732003-04-30T09:24:00.000-07:002003-04-30T09:24:25.090-07:00The S.F. Chronicle reports that Iran's Al-Alam tv network is winning Iraqi viewers:
Day after day, Al-Alam gives Iraqi viewers its spin on the country's tumultuous political transition, emphasizing the role of fundamentalist Shiite Islam while portraying the fledgling U.S. administration in the country as a disaster for common Iraqis.
By contrast, America's effort to reach Iraqis through the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-935384612003-04-30T09:15:00.000-07:002003-04-30T09:15:32.793-07:00BP denies accusations of ties with the U.K. government:
BP chief executive Lord Browne fended off accusations yesterday of being too close to government as the company racked up record first quarter profits of $3.7bn (£2.3bn) on the back of the war in Iraq.
Lord Browne said it was "neither fair nor reasonable" for critics to label Britain's biggest company "Blair Petroleum" because of its links Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-935382502003-04-30T09:11:00.000-07:002003-04-30T09:11:46.070-07:00More shooting in Falluja:
Protesters started throwing rocks and shoes at the compound and troops opened fire about at 10.30am (0730 BST), scattering the demonstrators. Some of the protesters then returned to pick up the wounded.
Lieutenant Colonel Tobin Green, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is taking over from the 82nd Airborne in Falluja, said the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934883452003-04-29T14:07:00.000-07:002003-04-29T14:07:16.056-07:00Australia keeps trying for its share of the post-war contracts:
A business delegation to the US led by Australia's Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, has failed to extract promises that Australian companies will win a share of lucrative postwar contracts in Iraq.
After a series of meetings in Washington, Mr Vaile said talks with senior United States officials and companies involved with Iraq's Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934720712003-04-29T09:02:00.000-07:002003-04-29T09:04:35.000-07:00Israel's ambassador to the U.S. wants more regime change:
Israel's ambassador to the US called for "regime change" in Iran and Syria yesterday as players in the Middle East staked out their positions before a crucial Palestinian vote that is expected to trigger publication of the American-backed "road map" to peace.
Removing Saddam Hussein was "not enough", said Daniel Ayalon. But war against Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934713962003-04-29T08:50:00.000-07:002003-04-29T08:50:14.636-07:00The AP reports on the conflicting reports about the shootings in Fallujah:
U.S. soldiers opened fire on Iraqis at a nighttime demonstration against the American presence here after people shot at them with automatic rifles, soldiers said Tuesday. The director of the local hospital said 13 people were killed and 75 injured.
"There was fire directly over the heads of soldiers on the roof (of the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934713232003-04-29T08:48:00.000-07:002003-04-29T08:48:59.470-07:00A report on the U.S. cease-fire with a mujahedeen group:
A U.S. cease-fire with the Mujahedeen Khalq allows the terrorist group to keep its weapons to defend itself from attacks by Iranian-backed groups, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.
The deal signed April 15 with the Iraq-based Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's Mujahedeen, doesn't require its fighters to surrender to coalition forces — at Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934338942003-04-28T17:59:00.000-07:002003-04-28T17:59:29.746-07:00An overview of the ethnic tensions in northern Iraq:
The dreaded and violent fallout from Arabization is being felt throughout northern Iraq, as Kurdish families are expelling Arab families from the houses, farms and villages where the Arabs have lived for a decade or more.
The Kurds are reclaiming these places as their ancestral homes, along with the vacated homes of military and political Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934337232003-04-28T17:56:00.000-07:002003-04-28T17:56:05.343-07:00A report on the scene in Kirkuk:
This oil-rich city in northern Iraq always figured to be one of the great prizes of the war, and Kurdish political parties are aggressively moving to take control of it - lock, stock and oil barrel.
The Kurds, strongly opposed by rival groups of Arabs and Turkmen, have taken the largest physical hold of Kirkuk.
Hundreds of Kurdish police officers have been Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934333702003-04-28T17:49:00.000-07:002003-04-28T17:49:28.096-07:00Many of Iraq's oil pipelines are broken, reports the AP:
"The degree to which Iraq will ramp up production is largely overstated," said Jon Rigby, an oil analyst with Commerzbank Securities in London. "It's not just a matter of turning the taps back on again." The fragility of Iraq's rebound was underlined Monday as engineers raced to repair oil leaks that stymied efforts to restart a key oil Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934331932003-04-28T17:46:00.000-07:002003-04-28T17:46:17.146-07:00A report on the situation between North Korea and the U.S.:
North Korea has offered to scrap its nuclear weapons and its missile exports, U.S. officials and Western diplomats in Beijing said on Monday, but Washington said Pyongyang demanded concessions in return.
Reacting to the Beijing briefing, a senior U.S. official confirmed North Korea's offers -- saying they included scrapping its Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-934220602003-04-28T14:11:00.000-07:002003-04-28T14:11:17.253-07:00Pakistan has reciprocated India's offer of dialogue:
Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali called Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and asked "to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue," according to Pakistan Television.
Jamali also said Pakistan officials are willing to visit India and invited Indian officials to visit Pakistan "in the cause of peace," the report said.
Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-933674142003-04-27T17:34:00.000-07:002003-04-27T17:34:55.716-07:00News and speculation on Iran's involvement in Iraq's future:
"Iran's foreign policy must become more active and politically productive, otherwise tension will rise," newspapers quoted Mohsen Rezai, secretary-general of the influential, conservative-dominated Expediency Council, as saying.
"Iran can work with America directly... but we need a strong policy," he said, without going into detail.
"Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-933193032003-04-26T17:52:00.000-07:002003-04-26T17:52:10.610-07:00A report on the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure, especially its oil fields:
The priority is to get Iraq's infrastructure "back and running as it needs to, to support this great nation and its people," US Major General Carl Strock, the deputy coordinator for reconstruction, told a Baghdad press conference.
He said hard work was being put into restoring power to provide Iraqis with electricityArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-933192862003-04-26T17:51:00.000-07:002003-04-26T17:51:36.573-07:00The New York Times reports that Iraq's Shi'ite clerics seem to have support from Iranian clerics:
A religious edict issued in Iran and distributed to Shiite mullahs in Iraq calls on them "to seize the first possible opportunity to fill the power vacuum in the administration of Iraqi cities."
The edict, or fatwa, issued on April 8 by Kadhem al-Husseini al-Haeri, an Iraqi-born cleric based in the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-932636672003-04-25T14:37:00.000-07:002003-04-25T14:37:52.963-07:00France's Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, visited Iran yesterday:
In a visit highlighting France's determination to engage the Islamic republic -- in contrast to Washington's labelling of Iran as part of an "axis of evil" -- the minister welcomed "marked progress" on rights and called on Tehran to "continue confidence-building measures" on its nuclear programme.
"We think it is essentialArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-932592492003-04-25T13:09:00.000-07:002003-04-25T13:09:16.430-07:00Since Baghdad fell, and the U.S. became an occupying power in Iraq, many Iraqis have told the U.S. to get out soon, that they want self-determination now, not eventually. The power and order vacuum left by Saddam's fall was filled largely by Iraq's religious groups, local charitable efforts, and ad hoc committees formed to establish peace in the wake of war. With so many Iraqis skeptical of Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-932467002003-04-25T09:17:00.000-07:002003-04-25T09:17:52.496-07:00The market for tv is hot in Iraq:
Starved of news and entertainment, thousands of people from central and southern Iraq are snapping up second-hand satellite dishes from the northern Kurdish autonomous zone - dishes banned under Saddam Hussein.
"We're selling them as fast as we can get them," said a TV shop owner, Omed Rashed. "People are coming up from Baghdad and buying as many as we can give Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-932464072003-04-25T09:13:00.000-07:002003-04-25T09:13:02.500-07:00The Sydney Herald reports on the attempt to create order in Iraq:
In Washington, a leading Iraqi opposition figure, Kanan Makiya, warned against growing anarchy. Mr Makiya, a close ally of the Pentagon's protege, Ahmad Chalabi, flew from Iraq for talks with Bush Administration officials, saying there was "a very short window of time" to act, especially in southern Iraq, where radical Shiite Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-931950292003-04-24T12:39:00.000-07:002003-04-24T12:39:10.600-07:00Donald Rumsfeld rejects the idea of complete self-determination in Iraq:
"If you're suggesting, how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few clerics running everything in the country, the answer is: That isn't going to happen," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
He urged caution and patience as Iraq establishes first an "interim authority" in Baghdad, to be Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-931740082003-04-24T05:49:00.000-07:002003-04-24T05:49:55.760-07:00A Kansas City Star reporter reports on the situation in an Afghanistan elementary school:
In the past month, six rural boys' schools outside Kandahar have been vandalized by suspected Taliban and al Qaida sympathizers, a departure from the common attacks on girls' schools. Storage rooms at some of schools like Haji Glon Baba were torched. No one knows why the schools were targeted or what the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-931736762003-04-24T05:41:00.000-07:002003-04-24T05:41:17.743-07:00North Korea continues to agitate against the U.S.:
Its leaders are outraged over U.S. moves to cut off oil shipments because of its suspected nuclear weapons program, and fears it is next on Washington's list for military action.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a war may break out any moment due to the U.S. moves," the North's KCNA news agency.
It said relations with theArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-930894322003-04-22T20:37:00.000-07:002003-04-22T20:37:31.410-07:00The AP reports that juveniles are being held at Guantanamo Bay:
The US is holding terrorism suspects aged under 16 at its detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a military official said today.
The teenagers are held in cells separate from adult detainees but also are considered enemy combatants, said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, chief spokesman for the mission.
He would not say how many Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-930888152003-04-22T20:26:00.000-07:002003-04-22T20:26:02.436-07:00The New York Times reports that Iran is pursuing its own interests in Iraq: Iranian-trained agents have crossed into southern Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein and are working in the cities of Najaf, Karbala and Basra to promote friendly Shiite clerics and advance Iranian interests, according to defense and other United States government officials.
The officials cited intelligence reports Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-930674592003-04-22T13:38:00.000-07:002003-04-22T13:38:24.776-07:00President Bush's staff is considering ways to punish France:
"They are trying to find ways to create alternative mechanisms for dealing with the French, or rather without them, and not just at NATO, but more broadly," one senior official said.
Dissatisfaction with France has reached such a point that the State Department, which has registered opposition to the punitive suggestions under Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-930621332003-04-22T11:56:00.000-07:002003-04-22T13:39:06.000-07:00This week's Newsweek cover story explores "Saddam's Secret Files"-those of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Like the U.S. News cover story, it mentions a Tikrit palace:
"Saddam rarely stayed there. But the palace staff was ordered to prepare three sumptuous meals a day."
U.S. News put it this way:
"Still, the palace chef was under orders to prepare three meals a day-just in case the president Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-930240832003-04-21T20:47:00.000-07:002003-04-21T20:47:47.186-07:00Defense Secretary Rumsfeld firmly refutes reports of a sustained U.S. presence in Iraq:
Rumsfeld denied a news report that the United States was planning a long-term military relationship with Iraq that would grant American access to air bases in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country.
"It's flat false," he said, adding that the subject had not even been raised with him.
"The likelihood of it Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929993392003-04-21T12:44:00.000-07:002003-04-21T12:44:41.543-07:00This week's U.S. News & World Report cover story looks "Inside Saddam's World," exploring "his secret domain of sex, opulence, and paranoia. The inside story tells of "a sybaritic inner sanctum rife with decadence and depravity." It says, "Saddam was everywhere and nowhere in Iraq....portraits and statues of him were ubiquitous and showed him in every possible guise. He was a baker, a farmer, Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929958322003-04-21T11:33:00.000-07:002003-04-21T11:33:49.340-07:00Pakistan's Balochistan Post reports on the drug trade in Afghanistan and Pakistan:
Encouraged by the bullish markets of narcotics across the Afghan border where all sorts of narcotics production and trafficking have seen unprecedented boom under the rule of ‘civilized’ occupying forces and a puppet US regime, the peasants in Balochistan are also turning their fields into lush green poppy crop.
Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929957312003-04-21T11:31:00.000-07:002003-04-21T11:40:45.000-07:00A report on Afghanistan-Pakistan relations:
Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of seizing land all along their common border in the 18 months since the Taliban government fell. Pakistan set a date for an opening ceremony for this month, and sent an invitation to Kabul for dignitaries to attend, but the Foreign Ministry in Kabul did not reply, and the ceremony was postponed.
Afghan officials have also Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929897492003-04-21T09:34:00.000-07:002003-04-21T11:40:14.000-07:00The New York Times reports on a possible goal of deposing Kim Jong II:
The United States should team up with China to press for the removal of North Korea's leadership, according to a classified memo circulated by the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.Just days before Mr Bush approved the negotiations with North Korea, scheduled for tomorrow, Mr Rumsfeld circulated the Pentagon memo to some Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929647562003-04-20T21:28:00.000-07:002003-04-20T21:28:09.296-07:00A report on the refugee situation in Iraq:
Hundreds of Iranian Kurds have fled to the Jordanian border from a refugee camp in central Iraq because they fear their lives are in danger, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Sunday.
Spokesman Peter Kessler said Jordan was refusing to grant asylum to the Iranians and to smaller numbers of Palestinians, more than 1,000 in Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929605632003-04-20T20:03:00.000-07:002003-04-20T20:03:44.263-07:00AFP reports on Vajpayee's trip to Pakistan:
Vajpayee at the end of his tour of the insurgency-hit region on Saturday said New Delhi was ready to talk to Islamabad provided Pakistan stopped the infiltration of Islamic rebels from the Pakistani zone of Kashmir into the Indian side.
Pakistan, however, said it has done its best to stop rebels from crossing into Indian-administered Kashmir but that Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929604002003-04-20T20:00:00.000-07:002003-04-20T20:00:34.640-07:00India's Foreign Minister, Yashwant Sinha, expresses concern over Afghanistan:
"As a neighbour and friend of Afghanistan, we are greatly concerned at the re-emergence of Taliban-inspired and (Pakistan's secret service) ISI-backed terrorism in parts of Afghanistan," he said Saturday.
Sinha said that the Taliban was involved in the killing of a foreign national working for the International Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929602072003-04-20T19:56:00.000-07:002003-04-20T19:56:53.496-07:00AFP reports on some of Saddam Hussein's more creative propaganda:
At the reconstructed palace of King Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, a cradle of civilisation and one of the jewels in Iraq's rich archeological crown, the latest man to rule for decades has also left his imprint.
Saddam's name is inscribed in flowing script on row after row of sand-colored bricks that are built into the walls of the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929401502003-04-20T11:30:00.000-07:002003-04-20T11:30:19.373-07:00The images of Saddam Hussein torn down all over Iraq these past two weeks represent the first ritual in the destruction of tyrants. The proliferation of statuary and posters of Saddam in the villages, town squares, and government buildings of Iraq-and of course his ubiquitous presence on television and in the papers-was not just propaganda. Those images were a very literal extension of his gripArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929164452003-04-19T20:46:00.000-07:002003-04-19T20:47:01.000-07:00A cluster bomb has injured U.S. soldiers:
Four U.S. soldiers on patrol were wounded Saturday when an Iraqi girl handed them an explosive and it blew up, American military officials said. They said they believed it was an accident.
The girl approached one of the soldiers with an M-42 "bomblet," a canister-size piece of a cluster bomb.
Residents of the Dura neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929163892003-04-19T20:45:00.000-07:002003-04-19T20:45:21.513-07:00A protest against the U.S. and Iranian attacks against Iranian rebels:
Some 500 supporters of an Iraq-based Iranian rebel group marched through downtown Washington on Saturday calling on the international community to halt what they said were Iran's attacks on their bases and attempts to infiltrate Iraqi cities.
A spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political wing of Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-929071342003-04-19T16:11:00.000-07:002003-04-19T16:11:11.576-07:00Tikrit mourns the fallen statue of a fallen leader:
Crying men kissed the statue's feet and hugged his face, saying "long live Saddam". A four-year-old child was brought by his grandfather to kiss the symbol goodbye, while an elderly man fumed nearby.
"It's an insult to all Iraqis, to all Arabs," he said in reference to what the marines had done.
As US troops moved away, the feelings grew Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928410092003-04-18T08:30:00.000-07:002003-04-18T08:30:49.653-07:00North Korea has learned a lesson from the war against Iraq:
A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman told the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the country was reprocessing more than 8,000 spent fuel rods.
Explaining the move, the foreign ministry spokesman said North Korea had learned from the US-led war on Iraq that it needed a powerful deterrent.
"The Iraqi war teaches a Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928153942003-04-17T20:04:00.000-07:002003-04-18T08:32:09.000-07:00Even as it attacks Iranian forces in Iraq, the U.S. is negotiating a cease-fire with them:
"We know that there's a presence of the Mujahideen i-Khalq inside of Iraq and indeed we have been targeting them for some time," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a briefing at Central Command headquarters in Qatar.
"There's work that's ongoing right now to try to secure some sort of agreement that Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928152572003-04-17T20:01:00.000-07:002003-04-17T20:01:32.466-07:00Australia seems to be abandoning Iraq:
Australia is to pull the bulk of its troops out of Iraq within two months and has no plans for a substantial peacekeeping commitment, John Howard, the prime minister, announced yesterday.
The early withdrawal is believed to be in defiance of US wishes that some soldiers be kept in place to maintain order.
"It's one thing to have a short, sharp, highly Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928151642003-04-17T19:59:00.000-07:002003-04-17T19:59:53.233-07:00Bush aides have resigned in response to the looting in Baghdad:
Two senior cultural advisers to President Bush have resigned in fury at the US military's failure to prevent the looting of antiquities from Baghdad's national museum.
The resignations of Martin Sullivan, chairman of the president's advisory committee on cultural property, and Gary Vikan, a committee member, became public yesterday Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928149402003-04-17T19:55:00.000-07:002003-04-17T19:55:15.450-07:00Accusations against the U.S. military:
Save the Children yesterday accused the US military of allowing children to die after it refused to grant permission for a plane loaded with medical supplies to land in northern Iraq.
As a team of Oxfam engineers took off from Manston airport in Kent with tonnes of water sanitation equipment bound for southern Iraq, Save the Children said it had been tryingArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928115362003-04-17T18:42:00.000-07:002003-04-17T18:42:39.233-07:00Ahmed Chalabi faces more problems connected to his banking past:
Fresh information has emerged of banking scandals involving the family of the Pentagon's preferred candidate to shape post-war Iraq, Ahmad Chalabi.
Dr Chalabi's brother, Jawad, confirmed that he and another brother, Hazem, had been convicted by the Swiss authorities of false accounting in connection with the collapse of Socofi, an Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928114632003-04-17T18:41:00.000-07:002003-04-17T18:41:00.060-07:00London's Daily Telegraph has found papers suggesting a link between African terrorists and Iraq:
Saddam Hussein's regime was linked to an African Islamist terrorist group, according to new intelligence papers.
The papers show how Iraq's charge d'affaires in Nairobi, Fallah Hassan al-Rubdie, was in discussion with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan guerilla group linked to other Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928075222003-04-17T17:02:00.000-07:002003-04-17T17:05:06.000-07:00A Christian Aid worker writes from Kuwait City:
My team and I were meant to be in the heart of Basra today, bringing in life-saving medical supplies - insulin, oxygen and anaesthetics - with our Iraqi partner organisation, the Iraq Refugee Aid Council.
The need is great. The electricity supply has failed, so the insulin stock, which must be kept in cold storage, has decayed in the city heat. Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928071722003-04-17T16:52:00.000-07:002003-04-17T17:05:30.000-07:00The Korea Times editorializes against South Korea's failure to vote against the North:
It is irresponsible and shameful that the Seoul government did not participate in voting on a resolution condemning human rights abuses in North Korea at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on Wednesday.
Twenty-eight member countries of the U.N. agency voted for the resolution, sponsored by the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928069842003-04-17T16:48:00.000-07:002003-04-17T16:48:54.826-07:00The Korea Times reports that South Korean soldiers are heading to Iraq:
The first team of South Korean soldiers left yesterday for Iraq to support the U.S.-led war in the Middle East.
A 20-member advanced team, consisting of 10 military engineers and 10 medics, left Incheon International Airport for Kuwait, where they will start operations.
Their departure was marked by an anti-war protest at Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928056942003-04-17T16:17:00.000-07:002003-04-17T16:17:13.030-07:00Hamid Karzai is set to visit Pakistan next week:
During his visit President Karzai will hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, and meet senior officials, sources said.
President Karzai's 20-member strong entourage will include the ministers of foreign affairs, interior and reconstruction.
"We hope President Karzai's visit will further improve Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928056212003-04-17T16:15:00.000-07:002003-04-17T16:15:21.700-07:00Hans Blix will talk with the Security Council soon:
The chief United Nations weapons inspector, Hans Blix, is to address the UN Security Council on April 22 about the possibility of renewing the search for any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq , a UN source told AFP in Vienna.
"Mr Blix is going to report on Tuesday to the Security Council about the potential of the future return of UNMOVIC Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-928048202003-04-17T15:55:00.000-07:002003-04-17T16:04:19.000-07:00Bechtel has won a large reconstruction contract from USAID:
The government awarded Bechtel Corp. a contract on Thursday that could reach $680 million to help rebuild Iraq, including the nation's power, water and sewage systems.
The U.S. Agency for International Development said the initial contract was for $34.6 million but it could be worth the larger figure over 18 months, subject to Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927946882003-04-17T12:24:00.000-07:002003-04-17T12:24:45.810-07:00AFP suggests the Iraqi Information Minister is alive and well:
"There's no looting, it's a shopping festival," says Iraqi information minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf whose spirit has survived the demise of his regime to put some spin on the orgy of plundering in Baghdad.
Sahhaf has dropped out of sight since US forces took over the Iraqi capital on April 9, abruptly ending Saddam's 24-year-rule,Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927631712003-04-16T23:09:00.000-07:002003-04-16T23:09:56.983-07:00The New York Times reports on the bombing of Iranians in Iraq by U.S. forces:
American forces have bombed the bases of the main armed Iranian opposition group in Iraq, a guerrilla organization that maintained thousands of fighters with tanks and artillery along Iraq's border with Iran for more than a decade.
Defense department officials who described the air attacks, which have received scant Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927532002003-04-16T19:37:00.000-07:002003-04-16T19:37:23.903-07:00Proof that the comparisons by both Bushes between Hitler and Saddam are paying off for someone:
an auction of a 250 dinar note on eBay asks, "Can you imagine what an uncirculated Hitler, or Stalin would be worth today $$$??Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927529202003-04-16T19:32:00.000-07:002003-04-16T19:32:14.216-07:00Number of auctions found when putting "dinar" into eBay's search engine: 2679
Number of auctions found when putting "Information Minister" into eBay's search engine: 37 Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927454182003-04-16T16:54:00.000-07:002003-04-16T16:54:03.920-07:00The AP reports from Najaf:
In this holiest of Muslim Shiite cities, clerics are running a self-declared government. It's the same in nearby Karbala, another sacred Shiite city.
Muslim Shiite clerics have in the past week moved swiftly to fill the power void created by Saddam Hussein's ouster — appointing governors, imposing curfews, offering protection, jobs, health care and giving financial Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927452672003-04-16T16:50:00.000-07:002003-04-16T16:50:42.560-07:00AFP reports from southern Iraq's oil fields:
At the local school in Rumaila, more than 100 employees of Iraq's Southern Oil Co. turned out to get new employee identification cards from KBR, the US firm hired to help rebuild Iraq's ailing oil industry.
Texas-based Kellogg Brown and Root is owned by Halliburton, the US oil giant of which Vice President Dick Cheney was chairman until his election Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-927362032003-04-16T13:44:00.000-07:002003-04-16T13:44:51.543-07:00A UK cabinet member talks about the situation in Iraq:
Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, said the US and Britain were unprepared for the rapid collapse of law and order and public services, especially hospitals, water and power, in the past week.
"We should have done better. The only way to put that right is to do better now. There is an enormous amount to do; the situation Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926989092003-04-15T22:40:00.000-07:002003-04-15T22:40:07.246-07:00The Guardian reports on the fate of monies controlled by Saddam Hussein:
In the days before the fall of Baghdad, and the explosion of looting on the streets of the capital, a far more damaging form of looting was already under way as Iraqi bank accounts were ransacked and millions of dollars were transferred into private accounts abroad, Middle Eastern banking sources said yesterday.
The flurry Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926987712003-04-15T22:36:00.000-07:002003-04-15T22:36:56.593-07:00The scene in Tikrit is more unsettled than some think:
Gangs of Arab tribesmen armed with Kalashnikovs and machine guns were still in control of much of Tikrit last night, a day after US marines apparently liberated the town.
Hours after the Pentagon announced the war in Iraq was virtually over, Arab youths established their own checkpoint on the edge of Saddam Hussein's former stronghold.
Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926984032003-04-15T22:29:00.000-07:002003-04-15T22:29:01.436-07:00The New York Times reports on rumors of a Saddam Hussein sighting last week:
At the Adhamiya Mosque in northern Baghdad, people have made a legend of the half hour last Wednesday, around the time of the noon prayers, when they say Saddam Hussein appeared in public, in the square outside the mosque, and offered what may prove to have been his last promise, or his last deceit, to the people of Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926786472003-04-15T15:54:00.000-07:002003-04-15T15:54:44.500-07:00News of shootings at a protest in Mosul, and another protest in Baghdad:
Anger was also visible in the northern city of Mosul, when a firefight broke out as the newly-appointed governor was making a speech which listeners deemed was too pro-US, witnesses said.
A doctor at the city hospital, Ayad al-Ramadhani, said 12 people had been killed and 60 wounded in the shooting.
US troops guarding the Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926784322003-04-15T15:50:00.000-07:002003-04-15T15:50:20.186-07:00Russia responds to new possibilities in the weapons industry:
While recent U.S. complaints that Russia supplied Iraq with defense equipment in violation of UN sanctions cast a momentary chill on U.S.-Russian ties, the accusations could very well end up working to Russia's advantage, senior government officials and defense analysts said.
"There is no doubt that the war in Iraq has fueled the arms Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926619422003-04-15T10:37:00.000-07:002003-04-15T10:37:35.000-07:00Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell talk about Syria:
In an appearance at the Foreign Press Center, Powell said Iraq was "a unique case" that required U.S. military action.
He rejected the suggestion that the administration has a list of countries against whom it might also retaliate militarily.
"There is no list, there is no war plan," he said. Powell acknowledged that the administration has Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926296472003-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:002003-04-14T21:29:35.326-07:00Australia gets a reward for joining the U.S. against Saddam Hussein:
President George W Bush will highlight his bond with Australian Prime Minister John Howard next month, rewarding one of his few allies in the Iraq war with a prized visit to his Texas ranch.
Howard will meet Bush at the dusty Crawford property, dubbed the western White House, on May 2-3 to discuss efforts to rebuild postwar Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926295852003-04-14T21:28:00.000-07:002003-04-14T21:28:10.013-07:00Ahmed Chalabi disavows any interest in Iraq's politics:
"I want to take part in the reconstruction of the civilian society," the Iraqi National Congress leader told French daily Le Monde by phone from southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.
Mr Chalabi said he had been "extremely well-received" in Iraq, where he returned after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government.
But asked if he intended to play aArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926295132003-04-14T21:26:00.000-07:002003-04-14T21:26:49.093-07:00A look at the role of religion in Baghdad:
Mosques have filled up with confiscated loot, popular committees are being organised by clergy to restore civil services and order, and some prayer leaders have taken to patrolling their neighbourhoods, forcing bakeries to feed people. The words of the new order are written on the walls. Hastily painted slogans in black convey a less-than-subtle message:Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926163302003-04-14T17:27:00.000-07:002003-04-14T17:31:14.000-07:00Two apparently impartial overviews of the history and capabilities of Syria's weapons programs, especially its chemical program:
While constrained by limited resources, Syria has shown interest in and taken steps to develop and acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems, especially chemical weapons (CW) and ballistic missiles. Damascus has allegedly received direct Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926101802003-04-14T15:24:00.000-07:002003-04-14T15:24:16.950-07:00A strong statement by India's Foreign Minister:
In yet another sign of growing differences with the United States, Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Sunday that Washington's refusal to see similarities between the situation in Iraq and Pakistan was unacceptable.
Mr Sinha said: "Pakistan possesses and proliferates weapons of mass destruction. It is also expanding such weapons. It is Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926077962003-04-14T14:39:00.000-07:002003-04-14T14:39:21.686-07:00Iran tells Iraq's Ba'ath party leaders they aren't welcome:
Fleeing leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime aren't welcome here, and if they sneak in they'll be tried for war crimes from the 1980-1988 war, state television reported Monday.
"If any Iraqi leader wants to enter Iran legally, we will naturally reject it. But if they come illegally, we will try them for the crimes they have committed Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926077512003-04-14T14:38:00.000-07:002003-04-14T14:40:45.000-07:00The Bush adminstration talks of putting pressure on Syria:
"We will examine possible measures of a diplomatic, economic or other nature as we move forward," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in comments indicating greater attention on Syria as the Iraq war comes to an end.
The White House, meanwhile, branded Syria a "terrorist state" and a "rogue nation" and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Arnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192127.post-926077052003-04-14T14:37:00.000-07:002003-04-14T14:37:22.233-07:00A report from Damascus:
At a Palestinian refugee camp, death notices show the role this country has played in Iraq. Young men who died in battle alongside Iraqis are praised for "fighting against the British, American and Zionist aggression against Iraq."
Anti-American sentiment is high in Syria, and perhaps nowhere more so in settlements such as Damascus' Palestine Camp, one of several for moreArnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173816223717607270noreply@blogger.com