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

To: tekboy who wrote (57788)	11/19/2002 12:46:18 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

a consummate ambitious apparatchik at work. Confirms the "New Yorker" profile, doesn't it? Walked up to Snowcroft at an Academic Meeting at Stanford and impressed him, then took it from there. Her life is almost a textbook case of how to get power in DC if you are an Academic. lindybill@sowhatsthematterwithyou?com

To: tekboy who wrote (57788)	11/19/2002 12:56:23 AM
From: paul_philp	Respond to of 281500

I agree. The 60 minutes transcript had more interesting stuff than these book advanced have so far. Paul

To: tekboy who wrote (57788)	11/19/2002 12:21:14 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Why do we still allow OLD oil tankers with SINGLE HULLS to transport any oil on the high seas.??...This is an international outrage...Didn't we learn after the Exxon Valdez oil spill...?? ___________________________________________ Oil Tanker Breaks, Sinks Off Spain MAR ROMAN Associated Press Posted on Tue, Nov. 19, 2002 MADRID, Spain - A damaged tanker carrying more than 20 million gallons of fuel oil broke in two off the northwest coast of Spain and sank Tuesday, threatening an environmental disaster. If the Bahamas-flagged Prestige spills its entire cargo as it sinks, the spill would be nearly twice the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. Some 10.92 million gallons of crude oil were lost from the Valdez. "We can say goodbye to the ship and its cargo," said Lars Walder, a spokesman for SMIT salvage company. He added that although an oil slick surrounded the vessel, its tanks appeared to be mostly intact. The tanker ruptured last Wednesday during a storm. The salvage company estimated it had lost between 1.3 million and 2.6 million gallons of fuel so far. Most of the crew was airlifted off the ship last week. The spill caused friction between Portugal and Spain over which government would be responsible for the clean-up, but prevailing winds put Spain's coast at a greater risk for damage from the spill Spanish beaches were mired in oil and scores of animals were covered in sludge. Fishing was prohibited, putting hundreds out of work. The spill threatened some of the region's richest fishing grounds. Salvage workers have said there is a chance some of the oil compartments could remain intact as they sink 11,800 feet to the sea floor, moderating the damage. But worries about the potential for a massive environmental disaster grew. Fuel oil is more environmentally damaging than crude oil, said Maria Jose Caballero, who leads the coastal protection project for Greenpeace in Spain. "The vessel cracked in the hull because it was very old. There's nothing that makes us believe it won't finally burst and leak all its oil," she said. The Prestige, owned by Mare Shipping Inc., of the Bahamas, was bound for Singapore when the storm hit. The American Bureau of Shipping, a Houston-based registration company that makes sure shipping papers are in order, said the Prestige was up to date with its inspections. The vessel, built in 1976, is operated by the Greece-based Universe Maritime, Ltd., ABS said. The ship's last annual survey was carried out in Dubai in May, and a full drydock inspection was carried out in China in May, 2001, ABS said. A Universe Maritime spokesman complained that the damaged vessel had been exposed to storms because it had been forced so far off shore. The Spanish government had ordered the ship far from land to limit contamination. The tanker sustained a 30- to 50-foot crack in the hull below the waterline which made it unable to proceed under its own power while salvagers sought a port to do repairs or transfer the oil to another ship. Spanish soldiers and volunteers were cleaning up some 40 miles of coastline between Cape Finisterre and the city of A Coruna, a town about 370 miles northwest of Madrid. As onlookers gathered along the walled shoreline of Malpica, orange-jumpsuited emergency workers tried to vacuum oil from the beach. Elsewhere, naval cadets and sailors in green rain slickers used shovels and buckets to try scoop up the sludge as it was carried in by the tide. Sea birds floated helpless in the blackened waves and fish washed ashore. Volunteers captured about 150 of the injured animals, hoping to save their lives by cleaning off the oil. "We've seen many dead fish and birds and many others in agony when we rescue them," said Ezequiel Navio, from the World Wildlife Fund's Spanish branch. Spain's Interior Ministry said the ship went down in an area where Portugal had responsibility for maritime rescue operations. Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso said it was "absolutely sure and confirmed" by the Portuguese Navy that the tanker was lying in Spanish waters. Both Portugal and Spain had barred the salvagers from towing the ship to any of their ports to protect their fishing and tourism industries. The tanker's Greek captain, Apostolus Maguras, was jailed on charges of disobeying authorities and harming the environment. In Brussels, EU officials demanded governments move faster to enforce new inspection rules that could prevent such catastrophes. Under the rules, ports are required to check at least 25 percent of all ships coming in, starting with older, single-hull vessels. Ships flying "flags of convenience" - or registered in countries with lax safety, labor or tax rules - are to be given priority, said Gilles Gantelet, spokesman for the European Commission. Spain's northwest coast has suffered several tanker accidents in recent years. The worst was in 1992, when the Greek tanker Aegean Sea lost 21.5 million gallons of crude oil when it ran aground near A Coruna.

To: tekboy who wrote (57788)	11/21/2002 11:33:51 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

I wonder if Woodward, or she, understands, for example, just how damning this passage actually is: "Do you think it's working?" Rice did not really answer. "We have a good plan," the president said. "You're confident in it?" Rice intentionally ducked. She was unwilling to take a firm position, worried it might tilt further discussion, close off options. Also, she was unsure. She felt most comfortable when she knew precisely what the president was thinking, so she was sounding him out. But the president was on his chosen course, and he had not really thought of shifting strategies. Fancy New Yorker profile or not, that's a glimpse of a consummate ambitious apparatchik at work... Why do you find in "damning" that courts have courtiers? Is it not her job to support Bush and facilitate debate, not commit herself?

To: tekboy who wrote (57788)	11/22/2002 7:25:31 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

"Letters to the Editor" in the International Herald Tribune 22 November 2002 (today) Regarding the report "Bush sets a course of 'confident action'" (Nov. 20) In his detailed interview with Bob Woodward, President George W. Bush displayed frightening character faults that in most men would prevent them from functioning in a position of middle-management, let alone the presidency. He came across as lacking in ideas, overreliant on others, bullying, blustering, dull-witted, and confused. The United States has had great presidents. It doesn't deserve a man whose impotent articulacy can only bring rebuke. Matthew Roberts, Conwy, Wales iht.com