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Politics : Attack Iraq? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (3417)	1/25/2003 9:27:56 AM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8683

Don't wait for the 'smoking gun' National Post ADVERTISEMENT The debate over whether to attack Iraq has been transformed into a debate over the effectiveness of UN weapon inspections. Hawks say the inspections are a waste of time: The burden of proof is on Saddam. And while he may be making a superficial appearance of co-operation, he is in fact operating a shell game in the background with his chemical, biological and nuclear assets. Doves, on the other hand, see inspections as effective and want them to continue. So long as no VX vial or plutonium stash is discovered, they argue -- the so-called "smoking gun" -- there is no moral or legal case for war. Central to the debate is Saddam's willingness to permit inspectors to interview Iraqi scientists in private, a right guaranteed under UN Security Council Resolution 1441. Until last week, Saddam has flouted that provision, insisting that interviews be conducted under the menacing eye of his state security police. The inspectors might as well have skipped the interviews altogether: In Iraq, the penalty for crossing Saddam is death. On Monday, lead weapons inspector Hans Blix is scheduled to release his latest report, and Saddam is clearly nervous that it will detail a breach of Resolution 1441 sufficiently material to justify a U.S. invasion. So last week, Iraq agreed to permit UN inspectors to interview top weapon scientists in private. The inspectors hailed the move as a major breakthrough, and the French and German governments immediately declared their opposition to an invasion anytime soon. This pacifistic giddiness turned out to be premature. According to U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz: "We know from multiple sources that Saddam has ordered that any scientists who co-operate during interviews will be killed, as well as their families." American intelligence agencies also insist Iraqi scientists are being coached on what to tell UN inspectors. And occasionally, secret police officers are even posing as scientists, and taking the scientists' places at appointments with inspectors. The BBC also reported this week that the Pentagon has acquired copies of Saddam's orders to Iraqi generals, authorizing nerve gas attacks on coalition troops who set foot on Iraqi soil. The orders are said even to include inventories of the gasses to be used -- gasses Saddam officially denies having, of course -- along with the number of chemical suits and atropine pens available for Iraqi soldiers. British and U.S. sources also say the Pentagon has been building a dossier of Saddam's violation of Resolution 1441. The dossier is said to include stacks of aerial photographs detailing activity at suspected weapons sites before and after UN inspection tours. The Guardian in London even reports the Americans have recorded telephone intercepts between UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Although we don't know the content of those intercepts, one inference is that Messrs. Annan and Aziz are actively seeking to confound inspectors and foil U.S. war planners. While some of these reports may prove unsubstantiated, they are certainly all consistent with Saddam's track record. The last time inspections were negotiated, in 1998, Iraq agreed to them only on condition that Saddam's dozens of sprawling presidential "palaces" be off-limits, that any allegedly "biased" inspector be dismissable on Saddam's say-so, that Iraqi secret police be present during any questioning of scientists, and that Baghdad receive advance notice of planned inspections. As Mr. Wolfowitz said this week, this is not how nations that are truly willing to surrender their arms -- Kazakstan, South Africa and Ukraine are the examples he cited -- deal with inspectors. Historically, Saddam has offered only passive and highly qualifies co-operation -- and usually he has not even done that. His guiding concern since the end of the first Gulf War has been to manipulate inspections and carve out loopholes that allow him to keep his deadly toys. No one knows exactly what Mr. Blix will say when his report comes out on Monday. But we can predict the gist: Inspections are working -- just give us more time. The responses are predictable too. We know already that the French and Germans will insist that an invasion be put off till summer or fall, and will refuse to sanction any military action in the meantime. But now that Saddam has shown he is merely replicating old patterns, it is doubtful that extra time will do the inspectors much good. Increasingly, it appears that the only way the West will find Saddam's WMDs is if U.S. troops march in and root them out themselves. Fortunately, that is exactly what Washington has in mind. © Copyright 2003 National Post

To: stockman_scott who wrote (3417)	1/25/2003 10:03:31 AM
From: GROUND ZERO™	Respond to of 8683

I say nuke 'em... GZ

To: stockman_scott who wrote (3417)	1/25/2003 12:34:53 PM
From: Victor Lazlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8683

Funny, that doesn't mention Powell. Powell was the cautiuous restrained one on the Admin, urging Bush to go to the UN amd work for an Iraqi resolution, now known as Res 1441. And he won out, to his credit. But now Powell is getting a lot more assertive in calling for action against Iraq. Perhaps he's seeing the large fianincial interests that France and Germany have in Iraq, thus causing their favoritism toward Iraq. Perhaps he's also noticing how foolish and niave Hans Blix is. In any event, Powell's transition sure is interesting. Stay tuned!

To: stockman_scott who wrote (3417)	1/30/2003 9:08:21 PM
From: Victor Lazlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8683

this savage arab swine won't be a problem any longer. Richard C. Reid, a self-described member of the terrorist group al-Qaida who tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes, was dragged from a courtroom Thursday, telling the judge who had just sentenced him to life: "You will be judged by Allah!" Reid, 29, received the maximum sentence after declaring himself a soldier of war and denouncing U.S. foreign policy toward Islamic countries. "Your government has sponsored the rape and torture of Muslims in the prisons of Egypt and Turkey and Syria and Jordan with their money and with their weapons," said Reid, who converted to Islam eight years ago. U.S. District Judge William Young would have none of it. "We are not afraid of any of your terrorist coconspirators, Mr. Reid," said the judge. "We are Americans. We have been through the fire before." "You are not an enemy combatant you are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war you are a terrorist. ... To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. ...You are a terrorist and we do not negotiate with terrorists ... We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice." At that, the judge pointed to the American flag behind him and said: "See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten." Young then turned to one of the court officers and said, "Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down." Before handcuffs could be placed on Reid, he leaned forward and pointed at the judge, raising his voice. "That flag will be brought down on the day of judgment and you will see in front of your Lord and my Lord and then we will know," Reid said. He added, "You will be judged by Allah!" before being taken from the courtroom in handcuffs. Reid, a British citizen, admitted he tried to ignite shoe bombs aboard American Airlines Flight 63 on Dec. 22, 2001, three months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks left many Americans afraid to fly. As Reid sought to justify his actions, several of the crew members who were seated in the courtroom looked stunned, glancing at each other and shaking their heads. One woman cried and wiped tears from her face. Reid had faced 60 years to life in prison for trying to down the American Airlines flight bound from Paris to Miami. Prosecutors said there was enough plastic explosives in his shoes to blow a hole in the fuselage and kill all 197 people aboard. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. told the judge that in Reid's mind "the religion of Islam justifies the killing of innocent civilians. In his mind, the horrific and homicidal attacks of Sept. 11 were but a missed opportunity." Passengers and crew members overpowered Reid, using seat belts and their own belts to strap him to his seat. Two doctors who were passengers injected him with sedatives, and the flight was diverted to Boston. In Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft praised the sentence and called the passengers and crew heroes who averted a disaster. "The sentence imposed on Richard Reid says to the world that terrorists cannot escape American justice," Ashcroft said. "We will hunt them down, stop them and we will put them away." When Reid pleaded guilty last October, he said he was a member of al-Qaida, pledged his support to Osama bin Laden and declared himself an enemy of the United States.