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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11344)	3/19/2003 8:55:32 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

"one official said Bush has no problem with letting the Iraqi military "stare up at the sky for a little bit." Deadline passes, no sign of Saddam capitulation Wednesday, March 19, 2003 Posted: 8:36 PM EST (0136 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's deadline for President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq passed Wednesday night without any sign the Iraqi leader was prepared to accept exile over a U.S.-led military attack. Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, said allied forces were prepared to carry out an "unprecedented" campaign: "If we go, the plans we have are unlike anything anyone has ever seen before." Senior U.S. officials said Bush might wait before giving orders to attack if that's what the commanders want him to do; one official said Bush has no problem with letting the Iraqi military "stare up at the sky for a little bit." About a dozen U.S. and coalition warplanes dropped precision munitions on nearly a dozen Iraqi artillery pieces in the southern no-fly zone that could have been in range of American troops poised to invade southern Iraq, Pentagon officials told CNN. Some of the artillery was located on the Al Faw peninsula, between Basra and Iraq's Persian Gulf coast. Another strike targeted sites northwest of Iraq's border with Kuwait. U.S. planes had been conducting around-the-clock reconnaissance of the artillery, and its forces had been expected to strike those targets out of concern coalition ground forces could be in range. There also had been concern some of the artillery could be capable of using chemical munitions. Warplanes also struck Iraqi cable repeater sites and command and control sites. In addition, at least one Al Ababil surface-to-surface missile launcher was struck. When Bush's ultimatum expired at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, virtually the brightest moon of the month shown over Iraq throughout the night, which is not considered ideal for the U.S. military, which "owns the night." In Kuwait, hundreds of military vehicles have been spotted heading north toward the Iraqi frontier. Witnesses described a 16-mile (26-kilometer) stretch of road filled with tanks, armored personnel carriers, fuel trucks and other vehicles. In other developments: • Seventeen Iraqi soldiers surrendered to U.S. troops Wednesday. They were believed to be the first of their countrymen to give up -- a move the U.S. Air Force has been actively encouraging by showering the Iraqi landscape with more than 2 million leaflets in anticipation of a ground war. (Full story) • Iraq is unlikely to use chemical or biological weapons to defend itself from a U.S.-led invasion because world opinion would turn against it, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Wednesday. "Saddam Hussein has certainly figured himself to be a sort of emperor of Mesopotamia, and the leader of the Arab world," Blix said. "So I think he very likely cares very much about his reputation." (Full story) • Pentagon officials said sandstorms in the region could be a problem for U.S. helicopters, which are expected to be a key element of an invasion. They said the Bush administration wants to launch the air campaign and ground assault almost simultaneously. (Full story) • The king of the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain offered "safe exile" to Saddam, saying he hopes the Iraqi leader "would seriously consider this offer before the onset of war," the government-run Bahrain News Agency said Wednesday. (Full story) • The Iraqi National Assembly met in "extraordinary session"; legislators backed Saddam and warned the United States that Iraqis would defend their leader. The information minister later said U.S. troops were facing "definite death" if they invade. (Full story) • Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Iraq is fully responsible for the current crisis in the Middle East, the Kuwait News Agency said. • Chaos at the Kuwait City International Airport early Thursday led officials there to close roads into the airport and allow in only employees and ticket-holders, officials said. They also said they would not let anyone else in until the situation calmed down. Video footage of the airport terminal showed it packed with people, and crowds pushed up against ticket counters. • Bush notified Congress on Wednesday he has made a determination that diplomacy will not work to disarm Saddam -- a condition required under a resolution approved by lawmakers in October authorizing the use of force against Iraq. (Bush's day, text of Bush letter to Congress) • Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz stood before reporters in Baghdad Wednesday to quiet rumors he had been shot or had asked for political asylum. Aziz blamed the rumors on the U.S.-led coalition. He said people should expect more of the same in the days and months ahead. "We would like to warn you against cheap psychological rumors," Aziz said. "Don't believe them." (Full story) • A Kuwaiti patrol boat fired at an Iraqi dhow overnight, killing at least one person aboard, according to the commander of the USS Constellation battle group. (Full story) • Kurds in northern Iraq were fleeing towns and retreating to mountain areas in anticipation of war, and in the southern region dozens of Iraqi dhows were moving through the Straits of Hormuz and out of the Persian Gulf. Baghdad residents have started fleeing the capital. (Mood in Baghdad) • Turkey's parliament is expected to vote Thursday on the government's request to allow U.S. warplanes to fly over Turkey. But the government will not seek a vote on a U.S. request to use Turkish bases for about 62,000 troops to move against Iraq from the north. • Blix met with U.N. Security Council member nations to discuss how remaining unresolved issues in Iraq could be settled peacefully. Absent from the meeting were U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. • The United States and Britain pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian aid Wednesday to ease the impact of a looming war with Iraq but faced criticism for abandoning diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan estimated the immediate cost of humanitarian aid in the event of war at $123.5 million. • Both houses of Italy's parliament Wednesday authorized the government to offer the U.S.-led coalition use of Italian air space and military bases in a conflict with Iraq, but the approval did not include allowing departure points for direct attacks. (Full story) • Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Cabinet ministers that the "chance Israel will be hit" during an Iraqi war "is very small, but we have taken all necessary precautions as if we were in genuine danger." (Full story) CNN correspondents Ryan Chilcote, John King and Barbara Starr contributed to this report. For latest developments, see CNN.com's Iraq Tracker. EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11344)	3/19/2003 9:58:11 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

US/Iraq Fact Sheet LAST UPDATE: 3/19/2003 6:44:37 PM Posted By: Andrea Rigsby -- President Bush has formally notified Congress he's exhausted diplomacy and may soon order U-S forces into combat. Bush met Wednesday with top defense and foreign policy chiefs. -- The White House says the war will be as short as possible -- but there are ``many unknowns'' and there could be a loss of American lives. -- One U-S commander is telling his troops to take the American flags from their tanks -- so they'll enter Iraq as liberators, and not an army of domination. -- An Air Force planner says on the first day of the attack on Iraq, ten times as many precision-guided bombs will be used as during the start of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Colonel Gary Crowder (KROW'-dur) says far more firepower will be delivered with fewer aircraft. -- Thousands of U-S troops with armored vehicles and trucks are near Kuwait's border with Iraq, awaiting orders to move across. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has until 8 p-m Eastern time to leave or face an invasion. -- Some Iraqi soldiers apparently aren't waiting for the war to start before they surrender. Officials say as many as 17 Iraqis showed up at the border with Kuwait Wednesday to turn themselves over to U-S and Kuwaiti troops. -- Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council on Wednesday that he feels ``sadness that three and half months of work carried out in Iraq have not brought the assurances needed about the absence of weapons of mass destruction.'' -- France, Germany and Russia -- staunch opponents of invading Iraq -- told the U-N Security Council Wednesday there is no proof Saddam Hussein poses a threat. -- U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan (KOH'-fee AN'-nan) says war in Iraq ``could easily lead to epidemics and starvation.'' He's urging the United States and its allies not to forsake humanitarian aid while waging war. -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons Wednesday he believes Saddam Hussein has to be removed from power. -- Iraqi officials remain defiant, with members of Parliament meeting in extraordinary session Wednesday and declaring their loyalty to Saddam. Armed members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party fanned out across Baghdad in a show of force. -- Hundreds of Saddam Hussein's supporters are taking up positions behind sandbags throughout Baghdad. Stores are shuttered and residents are streaming toward the countryside. FAMILIAR FACES, NEW JOBS A look at what some top Bush administration officials did during the Persian Gulf War and where they are now. COLIN POWELL: then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; now secretary of state. DICK CHENEY: then defense secretary; now vice president. TOMMY FRANKS: then assistant division commander for the First Cavalry Division; now head of the military's Central Command, which would lead any E-S gar against Iraq. PAUL WOLFOWITZ: then undersecretary of defense for policy; now deputy secretary of defense. RICHARD ARMITAGE: then special emissary to Jordan's King Hussein; now deputy secretary of state. CONDOLEEZZA RICE: then senior director of Soviet and East European affairs in the National Security Council+ now national security adviser. DONALD RUMSFELD: then chairman and chief executive officer of General Instrument Corp.; now defense secretary. RICHARD MYERS: then part of the Tactical Air Command's headquarters staff at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia; now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. GEORGE W. BUSH: then managing general partner of Texas Rangers baseball team; now president and commander-in-chief. CURRENT POSITIONING OF U-S FORCES WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF IRAQ: Nearly 300-thousand U-S troops are or soon will be massed in the Persian Gulf region for possible war. Nearly a third of the personnel total is in Kuwait, which would be the main launching pad for a U-S-led invasion to disarm Iraq. _Kuwait: More than 26-thousand U-S troops, and the number will continue to grow. There are multiple desert Army and Air Force bases. The main Army post is Camp Doha, about 35 miles from the Iraqi border. BASES: _Saudi Arabia: Prince Seltan Air Base near Riyadh, the Saudi capital. _Bahrain: headquarters for the Navy's 5th fleet. _Qatar: The main location for thousands of troops is al-Udeid air base, which could serve as a hub of air operations if the Saudi's do not allow the United States to run the air war from their Prince Sultan air base. _Oman: American forces use three air bases: al-Seeb, Thumrait and Masirah. In addition to flying aircraft from these bases, the United States also stores war reserve materiel at the three sites. _Turkey: U-S air crews fly regular missions over northern Iraq from Incirlik air base in south-central Turkey. U-S officials have discussed with Turkish authorities the possibility of using other Turkish bases. IRAQ'S MILITARY STRENGTH: According to military officials and experts at Jane's, Periscope and the Center for Strategic and International Studies: Troop strength: _Army has between 350,000 and 400,000 troops. Weapons: _2,200 main battle tanks. _1,000 armored reconnaissance vehicles. _8 0 light tanks/infantry fighting vehicles. _2,000 armored `personnel carriers. _200 self-propelled artillery guns, 1,500 towed artillery guns. Aircraft: _200-300 interceptors and attack aircraft, and 100 combat helicopters. Air defenses: _400 surface-to-air missile launchers. _1,000 portable surface-to-air missiles. _6,000 anti-aircraft guns. Missiles: _Short-range (less than 90 miles) surface-to-surface missiles. _Between 2 and 20 Scud launchers and missiles. The A.P.'s practice is to refer to Saddam Hussein on second reference as Saddam, based on two considerations: First, Hussein is not his family name. Saddam is his given name; Hussein is his father's given name; this is common in Arab families. His full name is Saddam Hussein al-Majd al-Tikriti, but he says neither al-Majd, which is akin to a family name, nor al-Tikriti, which is a name for his extended family or clan derived from the Tikrit region where the leader is from. Second, he is not usually referred to as Hussein by people in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. Political leaders, newspapers and Iraqis call him simply Saddam or by both names.

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11344)	3/19/2003 11:09:28 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

Bush gives order to attack Iraq cCruise missiles target Saddam in morning attack Wednesday, March 19, 2003 Posted: 10:53 PM EST (0353 GMT) "Coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war," Bush said. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush announced Wednesday night he has ordered the coalition attack on Iraq to begin. "American and coalition forces are in the early stages of miltary operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger," Bush said. (Transcript) He said the first strikes were against "selected targets of military importance," including what Pentagon officials said was a "decapitation attack" early Thursday morning to take out Iraqi President Saddam Hussein even before the planned start of the war. Whether the mission succeeded is not known. Pentagon officials said it is very difficult to successfully target a single person on the ground in such a bombing. Administration officials said the strike was ordered for fear the opportunity could be lost. Two dozen cruise missiles were fired from U.S. warships in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, military officials said. F117 stealth fighters, which carry two missiles apiece, also were involved in the attack. Air raid sirens were heard in Baghdad at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday (9:30 p.m. Wednesday ET) about 90 minutes after the U.S. deadline for Saddam to step down or face a U.S.-led military attack. In his four-minute announcement from the Oval Office, Bush said the military campaign, supported by 35 nations, would make efforts to spare Iraqi civilians. But he made it clear the U.S. military planned to use its full might in the war. "This will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome except victory," he said. The president's address came at 10:15 p.m., about two hours and 15 minutes after the expiration of the deadline. The United States and Britain have massed nearly 300,000 troops in the Persian Gulf region. Earlier, Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, said allied forces were prepared to carry out an "unprecedented" campaign: "If we go, the plans we have are unlike anything anyone has ever seen before." In the hours leading up to the deadline, about a dozen U.S. and coalition warplanes dropped precision munitions on nearly a dozen Iraqi artillery pieces in the southern no-fly zone that could have been in range of American troops poised to invade southern Iraq, Pentagon officials told CNN. There was also concern some of the artillery could be capable of using chemical weapons and U.S. planes had been conducting around-the-clock reconnaissance of the sites. Warplanes also struck Iraqi cable repeater sites and command and control sites. In addition, at least one Al Ababil surface-to-surface missile launcher was struck. In other developments: • Seventeen Iraqi soldiers surrendered to U.S. troops Wednesday. They were believed to be the first of their countrymen to give up -- a move the U.S. Air Force has been actively encouraging by showering the Iraqi landscape with more than 2 million leaflets in anticipation of a ground war. (Full story) • Iraq is unlikely to use chemical or biological weapons to defend itself from a U.S.-led invasion because world opinion would turn against it, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Wednesday. "Saddam Hussein has certainly figured himself to be a sort of emperor of Mesopotamia, and the leader of the Arab world," Blix said. "So I think he very likely cares very much about his reputation." (Full story) • Pentagon officials said sandstorms in the region could be a problem for U.S. helicopters, which are expected to be a key element of an invasion. They said the Bush administration wants to launch the air campaign and ground assault almost simultaneously. (Full story) • The king of the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain offered "safe exile" to Saddam, saying he hopes the Iraqi leader "would seriously consider this offer before the onset of war," the government-run Bahrain News Agency said Wednesday. (Full story) • The Iraqi National Assembly met in "extraordinary session"; legislators backed Saddam and warned the United States that Iraqis would defend their leader. The information minister later said U.S. troops were facing "definite death" if they invade. (Full story) • Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Iraq is fully responsible for the current crisis in the Middle East, the Kuwait News Agency said. • Chaos at the Kuwait City International Airport early Thursday led officials there to close roads into the airport and allow in only employees and ticket-holders, officials said. They also said they would not let anyone else in until the situation calmed down. Video footage of the airport terminal showed it packed with people, and crowds pushed up against ticket counters. • Bush notified Congress on Wednesday he has made a determination that diplomacy will not work to disarm Saddam -- a condition required under a resolution approved by lawmakers in October authorizing the use of force against Iraq. (Bush's day, text of Bush letter to Congress) • Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz stood before reporters in Baghdad Wednesday to quiet rumors he had been shot or had asked for political asylum. Aziz blamed the rumors on the U.S.-led coalition. He said people should expect more of the same in the days and months ahead. "We would like to warn you against cheap psychological rumors," Aziz said. "Don't believe them." (Full story) • A Kuwaiti patrol boat fired at an Iraqi dhow overnight, killing at least one person aboard, according to the commander of the USS Constellation battle group. (Full story) • Kurds in northern Iraq were fleeing towns and retreating to mountain areas in anticipation of war, and in the southern region dozens of Iraqi dhows were moving through the Straits of Hormuz and out of the Persian Gulf. Baghdad residents have started fleeing the capital. (Mood in Baghdad) • Turkey's parliament is expected to vote Thursday on the government's request to allow U.S. warplanes to fly over Turkey. But the government will not seek a vote on a U.S. request to use Turkish bases for about 62,000 troops to move against Iraq from the north. • Blix met with U.N. Security Council member nations to discuss how remaining unresolved issues in Iraq could be settled peacefully. Absent from the meeting were U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. • The United States and Britain pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian aid Wednesday to ease the impact of a looming war with Iraq but faced criticism for abandoning diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan estimated the immediate cost of humanitarian aid in the event of war at $123.5 million. • Both houses of Italy's parliament Wednesday authorized the government to offer the U.S.-led coalition use of Italian air space and military bases in a conflict with Iraq, but the approval did not include allowing departure points for direct attacks. (Full story) • Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Cabinet ministers that the "chance Israel will be hit" during an Iraqi war "is very small, but we have taken all necessary precautions as if we were in genuine danger." (Full story) CNN correspondents Ryan Chilcote, John King and Barbara Starr contributed to this report. For latest developments, see CNN.com's Iraq Tracker. EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11344)	3/20/2003 10:30:11 AM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

LANCER OFF IRISH STOCK EXCHANGE By CHRISTOPHER BYRON March 20, 2003 -- The bad news keeps coming for Park Avenue's teetering Lancer hedge fund empire. Yesterday the company disclosed that its flagship operation, the Lancer Offshore Fund, has been suspended from listing on the Irish Stock Exchange. The news is the latest setback for the once high-flying Lancer family of funds, which said last autumn it had more than $1 billion of assets under management. Now the group, headed by an ex-Wall Street analyst Michael Lauer, is struggling to meet redemption demands from investors worried about the quality of Lancer's audits and the stocks in its portfolios. Lancer's problems began to mount last summer after the U.S. Department of Justice charged a man identified as a Lancer managing director named Bruce D. Cowen with conspiring to bribe an FBI undercover agent, using stock held in a Lancer portfolio. SEC filings show that Cowen, who is currently under a five-year SEC ban from serving as an officer or director of a U.S. public company, has been a joint investor with Lancer in at least 10 different companies. Lancer and Lauer are now suing The Post for its coverage of the matter. According to yesterday's press release, issued by the Irish Stock Exchange, where many offshore hedge funds are quoted, the Lancer suspension followed an announcement by Lancer in early January that Lancer Offshore would cease redeeming its shares for cash and instead issue investors shares in a new fund containing assets identical to the existing fund. The press release said the arrangement "may not comply with the requirements of the Irish Stock Exchange," and that the Lancer Offshore listing was being suspended until the matter could be resolved. The heart of the Lancer problem appears to be the ultra-generous valuations given by the company to the stocks in its portfolio, the bulk of which look to be illiquid penny stocks. One such company, Biometrics Security Technology Inc., is now trading on the OTC Bulletin Board for $3 - giving the company a market value of $314 million - even though 97 percent of its stock is held by Lancer. The company's latest address is listed in a Dec. 20, 2002, SEC filing as Suite 305W of 1900 Corporate Park, Boca Raton, Fla., and the company's president as Laurence S. Isaacson. But two other companies in which SEC filings show Lancer to have recently held 97 percent stakes - Lionshare Corp., and Centrack International Inc. - use the same address and phone number as Biometric. What's more, the same people seem to shuffle back and forth through all three. Thus, SEC filings identify Isaacson (the current CEO of Biometric) as the former CEO of Centrack. Other filings show an individual named George Weast as the former CEO of Centrack as well as the CEO of Lionshare. Last month, Weast stepped aside to make room for the current CFO of Biometric, Jeff Baracos, to succeed him as CEO of Lionshare. Isaacson himself is listed in SEC filings as not only the past or present head of both Biometric and Centrack, but as CEO of Thornhill Group Inc., which also uses the 1900 Corporate Park address. Filings with the National Association of Securities Dealers list Thornhill as a NASD broker/dealer.