Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Win Smith who wrote (39193)	8/21/2002 12:02:41 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Not "evidence," Win, leaks. When stuff is leaked, the questions are, who leaked it, who benefits, does the leaked material jibe with what is known? Connect the dots. I find it an entertaining game.

To: Win Smith who wrote (39193)	8/21/2002 12:07:23 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Complications Hurt Bush Iraq Plans Updated 11:48 AM ET August 21, 2002 Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum was quoted as saying his country would not support a U.S. move against Saddam, declaring, "As it stands now, it seems very unlikely that we would participate in a war against Iraq." - Though the takeover of the Iraqi embassy in Berlin on Tuesday may have looked like an amateurish and desperate stunt, it drove home a significant point: The White House is losing control of the debate over attacking Iraq. In recent weeks, Republican defections from the pro-war camp, outspoken opposition from key allies around the world, and now the botched embassy attack in Berlin — all have combined to throw the hawks in the administration on the defensive. The seizure of Iraq's embassy in Berlin brought a swift and unequivocal condemnation from the "western" White House. "Actions like this takeover are unacceptable," said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on Tuesday. "They undermine legitimate efforts by Iraqis both inside and outside Iraq to bring regime change to Iraq." Fleischer added that while the United States supports covert efforts to topple Saddam Hussein within Iraq — efforts which include sabotage, support for armed opposition groups, and other military actions — the attack in Germany crossed a line. "At all times, the American position is to support the rule of law — the rule of international law," he said. "In pursuit of America's policy within international law to have regime change, it is not acceptable to have takeovers of other nations' embassies." ‘Vigilantes’ One administration official called the perpetrators of the Berlin attack "vigilantes." Officials also said the United States had no contact with, or knowledge of, the Iraqi dissident group that claimed responsibility. But the episode marked another potential setback for a major U.S. goal: establishing a credible and stable Iraqi opposition to replace Saddam Hussein. At high-level meetings earlier this month in Washington, Iraqi opposition leaders pledged to work together. "All Iraqi opposition are united. All the Iraqi people are united," declared Hamid al-Bayati of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. But the Berlin attack could reinforce the image of fractiousness and unreliability the Iraqi opposition has earned in more than a decade of attempts to topple Saddam. A Blow From the North Bush's drive to oust Saddam received another sharp rebuke this week from a close ally: Canada. Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum was quoted as saying his country would not support a U.S. move against Saddam, declaring, "As it stands now, it seems very unlikely that we would participate in a war against Iraq." Opposition is mounting at home, too. At a hearing on Capitol Hill focusing on the issue of attacking Iraq, Scott Ritter, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq, said the Bush administration had failed to make the case for war. "We cannot go to war based upon rumor. We cannot go to war based upon speculation. Before we send tens of thousands of American troops off to fight, kill and be killed in our name, we have to be absolutely certain that there is a threat there worthy of war." White House officials continue to insist that Bush has not yet made up his mind how to achieve his stated goal of regime change in Iraq. But it is clear that if he chooses to move militarily, he and his team have a lot of work to do shoring up support at home and around the world.