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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (14342)	3/1/2003 2:05:58 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 25898

Saudi Warns of U.S. Casualties in 'Messy' Iraq War Sat March 1, 2003 11:18 AM ET DUBAI (Reuters) - Key U.S. ally Saudi Arabia has warned a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would plunge the Gulf region into chaos and do nothing but harm to all parties involved, including the United States. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in remarks to CNN broadcast on Saturday, also questioned U.S. intentions to help introduce democracy in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. "We would hate to see American soldiers paying the price for an occupation that will do nothing but bring terrible consequences to everybody," Prince Saud said. "An occupation of Iraq is not simple. How (are) 250,000 troops going to maintain order in a country like that? Especially if war leads to the instability we think it will lead to, if it leads to chaos we think it will lead to. If the social order breaks down, who is going to be fighting who? It is going to be a mess we think," he added. Prince Saud was speaking a day before Arab leaders started a crisis summit in Egypt to chart a unified policy on Iraq they hope can prevent war in the region, where anti-U.S. sentiment is on the rise over the Iraq crisis and perceived U.S. support for Israel against the Palestinians. Washington is pouring troops and arms into the region ahead of a possible attack on Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Baghdad denies it has such arms. Top Saudi officials have repeatedly said they oppose a U.S. attack on Iraq and will not let the desert kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, be used as a launch pad in the way it was in the 1991 Gulf War that drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait. The Sunni Muslim kingdom fears any attack on Iraq would split its neighbor along ethnic and religious lines, creating a Shi'ite power base that could foment discord among its own Shi'ite minority. President Bush has expressed the aim of "liberating" Iraqis and also of using Iraq as a bridgehead from which democratic ideas could be spread through the Arab world. Asked about the U.S. aim, Prince Saud said: "If you get chaos in Iraq, how will democracy flower in Iraq? If you achieve victory and there is somebody occupying Baghdad...just imagine what the reaction could be in the Arab and Muslim world to that fact alone." Prince Saud also challenged Bush's assertion that the removal of Saddam from power could create an opportunity for peace in the Middle East, saying Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was an obstacle to peace and not the Iraqi leader. "I think (that) removal of Mr. Sharon will be more apt to bring a solution to the question of the Palestinians than the removal of Saddam Hussein. He (Sharon) is the obstacle to peace," Prince Saud said. The Saudi prince said Baghdad needed to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors and prove it did not have weapons of mass destruction in order to avert a U.S.-led attack. "Iraq should do what they ask them to do and quickly. If they have weapons of mass destruction, show them. If they don't have weapons of mass destruction, account for them," he said. reuters.com

To: Brumar89 who wrote (14342)	3/1/2003 2:08:01 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 25898

Arab Summit Shows Sharp Divisions on Iraq AP ^ \| 3/01/03 SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt March 1 — An Arab summit aimed at finding unity over the Iraq crisis showed sharp divisions Saturday as Saudi Arabia's crown prince and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi shouted insults at each other and the United Arab Emirates called on Saddam Hussein to step down. The Emirates' proposal marked the first time an Arab nation has openly proposed the Iraqi leadership quit to spare the region war. Other nations did not discuss the proposal because they "didn't have the courage," the Emirates information minister said, in a further sign of the summit's bitterness. After the angry exchange between the Libyan and Saudi leaders, a live international broadcast of the summit was cut off, and diplomats said other leaders had to persuade Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah not to leave the gathering. The one-day summit ended soon after with a declaration expressing "complete rejection of any aggression on Iraq" and calling for giving inspections more time. It also urged Baghdad to abide by U.N. demands it surrender weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. Leaders had come into the 22-member Arab League summit in the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheik already deeply split. Some countries particularly in the Persian Gulf argue war is inevitable and say the region should be planning for the aftermath. A second camp, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, insist war can be avoided if Iraq cooperates fully with U.N. weapons inspectors. A third camp led by Syria wanted the summit to make an unequivocal anti-war declaration. UAE President Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan proposed that Arab states press Saddam and his leadership to give up power in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, speaking to CNN from New York, repeated that Saddam would not resign. Observers emerging from the Arab leaders' closed discussions said without elaboration that Iraqi delegates reacted angrily to Sheik Zayed's proposal. During an open session, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's top deputy, ignored the proposal and accused the United States of wanting to destroy and colonize the Arab world. A U.S. ally, Sheik Zayed issued his proposal one day after White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the only way for Iraq to avoid war is "disarmament and regime change." In contrast, Syrian President Bashar Assad, during the summit's opening session, accused the United States of seeking not to topple a dictatorial regime but to secure Iraq's "oil and redrawing the region's map and destroying Iraq's infrastructure." "We are all targeted ... we are all in danger," Assad said. Later, Gadhafi, a sharp critic of what he calls lack of Arab unity, said in his speech that Saudi Arabia had formed "an alliance with the devil" when it asked U.S. troops to protect it from Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Abdullah interrupted angrily from across the room, calling Gadhafi "an agent for colonizers." "Don't talk or get involved in things which are not your business," Abdullah told the Libyan. The final statement, released after the session, made no mention of ideas floated before the session for sending a delegation to Baghdad to deliver a message to Saddam either vaguely suggesting he quit or pressing him to cooperate with inspectors. Instead, the statement said Arab leaders agreed to form a committee to "explain the Arab position" to the United Nations and to consult with Iraq. It said U.N. weapons inspectors should be given enough time to carry out their mission. The communique stressed Arab countries should refrain from carrying out any military action against Iraq. It did not address the issue of tens of thousands of U.S. troops being given logistical support in the region, mostly in Kuwait, ahead of a possible war. Countries hosting U.S. forces are not expected to actively participate in any war. The communique added political change in the Arab world "is a matter to be decided by the people of the region according to national interests, away from outside interference." Emirates Information Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told reporters the proposal made by his father, Sheik Zayed, was not seriously considered because the "Arab League doesn't have the courage to discuss it." The Emirates' Sheik Zayed, in his 80s and in poor health, did not attend the summit but sent his vice president with a letter proposing that the Iraqi leadership "step down and leave Iraq ... within two weeks of adopting this Arab initiative." He said Arabs should "play a major role in (persuading Saddam to step down), something which might amount to the miracle needed to overcome this looming danger" of war. Iraq should then be governed by the Arab League and the United Nations until it could return to "its normal situation according to the will of the brotherly Iraqi people." Sheik Zayed said the Iraqi leadership should be given legal guarantees that it would not face prosecution but did not specify any charges. Iraqi dissidents accuse Saddam of crimes against humanity for bloody crackdowns on minorities, including using chemical weapons on rebelling Kurds.

To: Brumar89 who wrote (14342)	3/1/2003 2:38:18 PM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

The Fallacies of this war. The Bush administration is advancing the cause of their war by using a series of logical fallacies. A fallacy is, very generally, an error in reasoning. This differs from a factual error, which is simply being wrong about the facts. To be more specific, a fallacy is an "argument" in which the premises given for the conclusion do not provide the needed degree of support. Probably the most used logical fallacy used in support of the war is the fallacy of Misleading Vividness. This is the fallacy of letting a single strong example or a single vivid case to outweigh strong statistical data. The vivid case of course is the terrorist attack of 9/11. This fallacy is used in support of not only Bush's war, but almost every other action he has taken in the last year. The response to this dramatic TV footage of the towers is way out of proportion to the actual dangers or consequences implied in the actions taken since then. csicop.org When it comes to justifying this specific Iraqi incarnation of their war, the administration used several other logical fallacies to confuse the public. In the fallacy of Begging the Question the premises includes the claim that the conclusion is true or (directly or indirectly) assume that the conclusion is true. This is commonly seen in the Rumsfeld & Bush claim that Saddam must have weapons hidden because the inspectors have not found them yet. Implied in the premise is the conclusion that there are weapons to be found. In actually the claims say nothing about the presence of weapons while the inspectors say at least something factual on the subject. abclocal.go.com This argument is further confused by the fallacy of Special Pleading. This is the fallacy of failing the present a reason why this case should be considered differently from other similar cases. nixoncenter.org . or even from the case of the arguer. salon.com . The Bandwagon is a fallacy in which a threat of rejection by one's peers (or peer pressure) is substituted for evidence in an "argument." The Bush administration does this domestically with their accusations that all who question their war are un-American. newsfrombabylon.com . Internationally the fallacy is extended to the point of outright threats. cnn.com . None of these threats or appeals to polls provides any justification for Bush’s war; they only convey his threats and perhaps reasons to worry about confrontation with Bush himself. The Bush administration deflects the more measured responses in a fallacy known as the Excluded Middle where it is claimed that if a war with Iraq is not begun, and begun soon, then nothing will be done and Saddam will get mass weapons and destroy the world. The fallacy completely ignores any other possible actions besides war or nothing. theage.com.au . While the Bush administration uses a great many fallacies, such as Appeal to Emotion, Poisoning the Well, and Burden of Proof, probably the most used false justification for Bush’s war is Guilt by Association in which the crimes of terrorist Osama Bin Laden are associated with Saddam Hussein by the irrelevant fact of their Muslim heritage. buzzflash.com TP nizkor.org