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Strategies & Market Trends : MARKET INDEX TECHNICAL ANALYSIS - MITA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Softechie who wrote (16463)	3/20/2003 12:02:09 AM
From: J.T.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19219

What's wrong meat? Your end of the world scenario gone belly-up?

To: Softechie who wrote (16463)	4/13/2003 11:15:52 PM
From: J.T.	Respond to of 19219

Yo Softie... "Da Facking Idiot" - as you call him - really must be gettin under ur skin now... Sorry to disappoint you - Your VietNam thesis: "Est Mort"; "Ist Tot" ; "Es Muerto" ; Rifinito. In wake of war, U.S. adversaries change their tone usatoday.com By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY The U.S. military's rapid toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq seems to be unsettling some longtime U.S. antagonists, prompting signs of conciliation from "axis of evil" members Iran and North Korea, and even a modest new peace overture from U.S. ally Israel. "Everyone sees a new reality, and they're figuring out how to best adjust to it," says Dennis Ross, the chief Middle East envoy for the Clinton administration. "Even if it's just maneuvering, it shows they are prepared to look differently at how things should be done." The Bush administration had hoped the successful use of force against Saddam would make other nations anxious about defying U.S. policy. The strategy may be working. Details: North Korea. In what analysts say could be the most important shift, North Korea appeared to end six months of demands for private meetings with U.S. diplomats, signaling it might acquiesce to U.S. insistence that any talks take place within a larger forum, with neighbors such as South Korea, China and Russia present. On Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency quoted a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman saying that if the Bush administration was "ready to make a bold switchover in its Korea policy for a settlement of the nuclear issue," then North Korea would "not stick to any particular dialogue format." The standoff began last October, when North Korea revealed a secret nuclear-enrichment program and began ratcheting up its nuclear pressure. It withdrew from the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and took steps to produce nuclear weapons material. The Bush administration refused North Korea's demands for one-on-one talks, insisting on broader negotiations. "It looks like that might be coming to fruition," President Bush told reporters Sunday. "That's very good news." Henry Sokolski, director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, says the shift reflects not just North Korea's fear of becoming the next target of the U.S. military but a reaction to pressure from Russia and China. The Chinese in February cut off oil deliveries to the isolated Asian state for three days. On Friday, Russian officials indicated that they might consider allowing the United Nations Security Council to impose economic sanctions on North Korea. North Korea cannot survive without the support of these nations, particularly China. It remains unclear where and when negotiations will occur, what the Bush administration will offer and whether North Korea will agree to the sort of intrusive inspections that in Iraq's case, were the prelude to military action. Still, if the North Koreans refrain from reprocessing nuclear fuel and becoming a serial producer of bombs, that is "good news that they are getting the message from everyone and beginning to respond to it," says Donald Gregg, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea. Iran. Former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani was quoted in an interview published Saturday as urging a resolution to the "problem of Iran-U.S. relations," which were broken during the Iranian seizure of U.S. hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1980. Rafsanjani suggested either a national referendum or a ruling by an advisory body that he heads. Shaul Bakhash, a professor of history at George Mason University, called the comments "significant," but said they might be just a trial balloon. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has opposed restoring ties. But Rafsanjani's comments might provide political cover for talks with the United States at a time when Iran's leaders see themselves flanked by a pro-U.S. government in Afghanistan and another one emerging in Iraq. Most Iranians would like to see relations restored. On Sunday, the English-language Iran News said Iranian leaders should "not waste a second" to end more than two decades of estrangement from America. And a Tehran appeals court halved the sentences of two Iranian pollsters convicted of anti-government activity for doing a survey last year showing that 74% of Iranians want ties with the country long derided as the "Great Satan." Israel. In an interview Sunday with the dovish Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the U.S. victory in Iraq had sent "shock waves through the Middle East ... There is therefore a chance to reach an (Israeli-Palestinian) agreement faster than people think." Sharon repeated previous comments that he would be willing to make "painful concessions" for peace. But for the first time he mentioned two Jewish settlements on the West Bank, Shiloh and Beit El, as places he might be willing to concede. Even so, Sharon warned not to expect too much. "It will be impossible to budge Israel on the major matters that are principles of her existence," he said. Syria. Another country that could be strongly affected by the fall of Saddam is Syria, which is ruled by a branch of the Baath Party and is also on the State Department's list of countries that support terrorism. In the past two weeks, senior members of the Bush administration have warned Syria not to send weapons or fighters into Iraq and not to allow senior Iraqi leaders to take refuge in Syria. On Sunday, Bush again warned Syria not to harbor Iraqi leaders, but did not threaten military action. "Syria just needs to cooperate with us," Bush told reporters. Some hard-line supporters of the president have suggested that Syria should be the next target in the war on terrorism and campaign against countries suspected of having weapons of mass destruction. But most are urging diplomatic and economic pressure, not military action.