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

To: FaultLine who wrote (73714)	2/13/2003 9:20:35 PM
From: aladin	Respond to of 281500

La Repubblica, Rome, on the impact of bin Laden's message: Bin Laden's message came with the timing of a precision bomb and his voice, being bodiless and incomprehensible, appears even more repugnant. It proves what Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld and the CIA (news - web sites) couldn't, that bin Laden — if the voice was his,_ considers the Iraqi people as "brothers" of war against a common enemy, the U.S. "devil." The faceless enemy's message came at three o' clock in the afternoon, Eastern time, the exact hour when schools close and parents pick up their children, listening to the radio news. There isn't a more delicate moment during the day, both from a psychological and a physical point of view, as people end work and start relaxing. The images and thoughts evoked by this messages were the most powerful since the Sept. 11 attack, which now seems far away in time. He's the death apostle that Bush had promised to catch "dead or alive," but he's still well alive and hidden. He still sucks kids, soldiers, diplomats and inspectors into a vortex that turns faster and faster, clearly leading us where he wants to go, war.

To: FaultLine who wrote (73714)	2/13/2003 9:21:46 PM
From: aladin	Respond to of 281500

Dagbladet, Oslo, Norway, on the expulsion of journalists from Iraq: On Monday, 69 foreign journalists were expelled from Iraq, including the reporter from the Norwegian national broadcasting company NRK. The reason for the expulsion was not dissatisfaction over what they wrote. The reason for expelling them was connected to the fact that Iraq insists that every journalist has to be escorted by a government representative. Therefore, a maximum of 200 foreign journalists can be in the country at the same time. If new journalists come into Iraq, others have to leave. Both the expulsion and the reason for it shows that Iraq understands even less the seriousness of its situation. Iraq should realize that not only do weapons inspectors need more freedom of movement, but so should journalists, if the Iraqi authorities are going to have any credibility. But men like Saddam seldom understand that.

To: FaultLine who wrote (73714)	2/13/2003 9:23:11 PM
From: aladin	Respond to of 281500

Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Malmoe, Sweden, on Iraq and the United Nations: There is a lot that points toward a credible military threat being a condition for avoiding a war. Not until the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1441 — which threatens with 'serious consequences' if Iraq does not cooperate — did the regime in Baghdad admit the U.N. weapons inspectors again. However, there are serious shortcomings in the Iraqi observance of the UN demands. On Friday chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix and the International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei will report again to the U.N. Security Council. If it is confirmed that the Iraqi regime continues to mock the United Nations, there may be an early military campaign. Such a campaign should be marked by agreement within both the United Nations and NATO. Otherwise, two important organs for international cooperation run the risk of being reduced to nothing more than toothless paper tigers. That will hardly deter malevolent regimes from developing weapons of mass destruction.