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

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (19314)	3/11/2003 5:22:21 PM
From: Bald Eagle	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

Does this look like a guy who is going to willingly disarm? Hussein Opens Training Camp for Homicide Bombers Tuesday, March 11, 2003 DOHA, Qatar — Saddam Hussein has opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out homicide bombings against U.S. forces in case they invade Iraq, Arab media and Iraqi dissidents said Tuesday. The dissidents, speaking by telephone from Jordan, said scores of Arab volunteers have gone to a special camp run by the Iraqi intelligence service near the town of al-Khalis, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad. Most of the volunteers are Islamic activists who belong to pan-Arab groups that maintain close ties with Saddam's regime, the dissidents said on condition of anonymity. The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television station reported Saturday that a group of Arab volunteers was being trained in urban warfare in a camp near Baghdad. Al-Jazeera said its Baghdad-based reporter had visited a camp, some 15 miles northeast of the Iraqi capital, and interviewed several Arab trainees, who said they were ready for "martyrdom," a euphemism for homicide attacks. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States has no information that would corroborate reports of Iraqi intelligence training homicide bombers at camps northeast of Baghdad, or anywhere else. Many Muslims believe that participating with Iraqis in a possible war against invading U.S. forces is a religious duty. However, many Muslim scholars say suicide is against Islamic teachings. An Egyptian volunteer who identified himself only as Abu Abd al-Rahman said he traveled to Iraq secretly, leaving behind his wife and children, to join the camp. He told Al-Jazeera his venture was a "God-blessed martyrdom-seeking mission." "We seek God's satisfaction. We seek victory first, and martyrdom in the cause of God second. You are well aware of what is happening against Iraq. This is clearly an injustice against an Arab, Muslim country," he said. Asked about his three children, Abu Abd al-Rahman said: "God will take care of them, and anyone who is taken care of by God will not be forgotten." Another volunteer identified as a Libyan called al-Sunusi told Al-Jazeera the volunteers hate the Bush administration, which he says, represents evil. "I am not afraid. I am not afraid. I came here to carry out jihad against the U.S. arrogance," he said. A Syrian mosque preacher who gave his name as Abu Izz al-Din said he came to Iraq to attain his "goal of martyrdom." "No nation can attain the weapon of martyrdom seekers, regardless of the technological and scientific advancement they might have," he said. "The weapon of martyrdom-seekers is special to the Muslim nation. We will be able to confront them with this weapon, God willing." Diyar al-Umari, an Al-Jazeera reporter who said he visited the camp on a tour organized by the Iraqi government, described the volunteers as coming from a number of countries and political movements. "The fighters here say that the weapons of the United States and Britain may be lethal, but they are martyrdom-seekers. In this case, they say, the U.S. forces may confront a case that is very unusual to them," al-Umari reported. "Those martyrdom-seekers aspire to change the shape of the looming war."

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (19314)	3/11/2003 5:26:37 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Respond to of 25898

SPeaking of crowd size: I just returned from a luncheon with a co-worker who has a brother living in Karachi, Pakistan. According to my friend, there are millions of demonstrators in the streets. Her brother laughed at CNN'c coverage only showing a few hundred anti -war demonstrators. She claims that Musharraf ( sp?) will be tarred and feathered if he votes with the US to invade Iraq. The population is enraged over the prospects of war and are afraid it is the start of an attempt at American worldwide domination over Moslems. I wonder if other predominately Moslem countries are highly inflamed and not being reported as such by the media?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (19314)	3/11/2003 7:36:28 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Respond to of 25898

A Fiscal Train Wreck The New York Times Page A29 March 11, 2003 By PAUL KRUGMAN With war looming, it's time to be prepared. So last week I switched to a fixed-rate mortgage. It means higher monthly payments, but I'm terrified about what will happen to interest rates once financial markets wake up to the implications of skyrocketing budget deficits. From a fiscal point of view the impending war is a lose-lose proposition. If it goes badly, the resulting mess will be a disaster for the budget. If it goes well, administration officials have made it clear that they will use any bump in the polls to ram through more big tax cuts, which will also be a disaster for the budget. Either way, the tide of red ink will keep on rising. Last week the Congressional Budget Office marked down its estimates yet again. Just two years ago, you may remember, the C.B.O. was projecting a 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion. Now it projects a 10-year deficit of $1.8 trillion. And that's way too optimistic. The Congressional Budget Office operates under ground rules that force it to wear rose-colored lenses. If you take into account - as the C.B.O. cannot - the effects of likely changes in the alternative minimum tax, include realistic estimates of future spending and allow for the cost of war and reconstruction, it's clear that the 10-year deficit will be at least $3 trillion. So what? Two years ago the administration promised to run large surpluses. A year ago it said the deficit was only temporary. Now it says deficits don't matter. But we're looking at a fiscal crisis that will drive interest rates sky-high. A leading economist recently summed up one reason why: "When the government reduces saving by running a budget deficit, the interest rate rises." Yes, that's from a textbook by the chief administration economist, Gregory Mankiw. But what's really scary - what makes a fixed-rate mortgage seem like such a good idea - is the looming threat to the federal government's solvency. That may sound alarmist: right now the deficit, while huge in absolute terms, is only 2 - make that 3, O.K., maybe 4 - percent of G.D.P. But that misses the point. "Think of the federal government as a gigantic insurance company (with a sideline business in national defense and homeland security), which does its accounting on a cash basis, only counting premiums and payouts as they go in and out the door. An insurance company with cash accounting . . . is an accident waiting to happen." So says the Treasury under secretary Peter Fisher; his point is that because of the future liabilities of Social Security and Medicare, the true budget picture is much worse than the conventional deficit numbers suggest. Of course, Mr. Fisher isn't allowed to draw the obvious implication: that his boss's push for big permanent tax cuts is completely crazy. But the conclusion is inescapable. Without the Bush tax cuts, it would have been difficult to cope with the fiscal implications of an aging population. With those tax cuts, the task is simply impossible. The accident - the fiscal train wreck - is already under way. How will the train wreck play itself out? Maybe a future administration will use butterfly ballots to disenfranchise retirees, making it possible to slash Social Security and Medicare. Or maybe a repentant Rush Limbaugh will lead the drive to raise taxes on the rich. But my prediction is that politicians will eventually be tempted to resolve the crisis the way irresponsible governments usually do: by printing money, both to pay current bills and to inflate away debt. And as that temptation becomes obvious, interest rates will soar. It won't happen right away. With the economy stalling and the stock market plunging, short-term rates are probably headed down, not up, in the next few months, and mortgage rates may not have hit bottom yet. But unless we slide into Japanese-style deflation, there are much higher interest rates in our future. I think that the main thing keeping long-term interest rates low right now is cognitive dissonance. Even though the business community is starting to get scared - the ultra-establishment Committee for Economic Development now warns that "a fiscal crisis threatens our future standard of living" - investors still can't believe that the leaders of the United States are acting like the rulers of a banana republic. But I've done the math, and reached my own conclusions - and I've locked in my rate. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company