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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (15871)	3/28/2003 9:46:54 AM
From: Softechie	Respond to of 89467

Per Pentagon estimate: 10K US soldier deaths for this war...what's the public threshold?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (15871)	3/28/2003 11:38:54 AM
From: Jim Willie CB	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 89467

just had conversation with Pakistani co-worker really bright guy, software and database specialist he grew up in Pakistan he still has numerous cousins in Karachi, Pakistan later lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia his father and mother still live in Riyadh he said "by mid-June, soldiers will die of heat in desert" he is not an extremist, nor zealot, nor wildeyed guy he just married an American (a woman, I thnk) he didnt invite me to the wedding, since I promised to hit on his bride, his sister, and his bride's sisters many points he made: - cruise missiles are falling inside Iran, a testimony to their occasional EXTREME inaccuracy, several hundreds miles off course!!! - Iran will become a very big problem soon - Turkey will become a big problem and will move south, as Kurds secure oilfields - Pakistan's President Mushareef will eventually be assassinated, but not until a few near misses - skirmishes between India and Pakistan are exaggerated - not likely to see assassination attempts in Saudi - instead, likely to see push for King Fahd to retire so that Faisal can step in (more pro-Islamic) - Syria will become a problem, unsure how, but certain - this whole operation also fortifies Israel, but in doing so, USA has destabilized the entire region - agreed with me about secure oil before boycott, secure airbases before expulsion from Sultan Airfield in Saudi, but wasnt aware of USDollar effect from diversion of Arab Petro-dollars to Europe (but it made sense, he said) - we underestimate Arab resolve and unity when under attack from outsiders - THIS IS ALL ABOUT OIL, and less&less will be heard about Weapons of Mass Destruction (which he called a joke) / jim

To: stockman_scott who wrote (15871)	3/29/2003 5:35:57 AM
From: Clappy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

THREE-DAY SHUTDOWN China cuts oil supply to warn off North Korea BEIJING - For three consecutive days in recent weeks, oil stopped flowing through the pipeline from north-east China to North Korea, temporarily cutting off a vital lifeline for Pyongyang. The shutdown followed an unusually blunt message from China to its long-time ally in a high-level meeting in Beijing last month, sources said. Advertisement Stop your provocation about the possible development of nuclear weapons, China warned its neighbour, or face Chinese support for economic sanctions. Such tough tactics show an unexpected resolve in Beijing's policy towards Pyongyang and hint at the nervousness of Chinese leaders about North Korea's nuclear ambitions and the reclusive state's tensions with the US, the Baltimore Sun reported. With the Bush administration asking China to take a more active role, the application of pressure could convince North Korea to drop its demands for talks exclusively with the US - a demand rejected by Washington. Analysts say China is increasingly concerned that a nuclear-armed North Korea would destabilise the region. 'When you talk with Chinese officials, ask them, 'Are you okay with nuclear weapons in Taiwan? In Japan?' ' Mr Park Syung Je, a North Korea expert at the Institute for Peace Affairs in Seoul, told the newspaper. 'I don't think so.' Two sources - both veterans in diplomacy with North Korea - said that last month Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi met North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun in Beijing and made a strikingly candid plea for Pyongyang to curtail its provocative behaviour. If Pyongyang did not, Mr Wang told the North's minister, China might drop its long-standing position against sanctions. The exact wording of that threat is unknown and it is not clear how seriously Mr Paek took the threat. But the pipeline shutdown that followed would have caught North Korea's attention. straitstimes.asia1.com.sg

To: stockman_scott who wrote (15871)	3/29/2003 6:14:23 AM
From: Clappy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Halliburton Out of Race for Iraq Deal story.news.yahoo.com By Jonathan Wright WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy and construction company Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL - news) is out of the running for a massive U.S. government contract for reconstruction in Iraq (news - web sites), the Agency for International Development (AID) said on Friday. AID official Timothy Beans told Newsweek magazine that Halliburton, once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), was not one of the two finalists short-listed for the contract. "I can confirm the information that the director of our procurement office (Beans) shared with Newsweek," said AID spokeswoman Ellen Yount. Halliburton is the second-largest oilfield services firm in the world. The contract, which AID is expected to award within days, is expected to be worth up to $600 million and it covers repairing Iraqi health services, ports and airports, and schools and other educational institutions, an official said. "There has been no final decision made on who will be awarded the capital construction contract," Yount added. Halliburton was one of five companies invited to bid for the contract under an expedited procurement process which was restricted to companies with security clearances. The other companies were Bechtel Group Inc., Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR - news), Parsons Corp. and Louis Berger Group Inc. Newsweek said it was not clear if Halliburton removed itself from the running, was asked by the Bush administration to do so or if its bid was not considered competitive. But it quoted Beans as saying: "If I got a phone call from anybody putting any political pressure on me, I would report it immediately to Natsios, as I've been instructed to do." A Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown and Root, also known as KBR, said on Monday it had won a U.S. government contract to assess and extinguish oil well fires in Iraq. Halliburton has a long history of involvement in military logistical support for the U.S. government. A U.S. lawmaker wrote to the military on Wednesday asking why it had awarded the contract to KBR. In a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, sought details of the wartime contract, and inquired why the administration had not allowed other companies to bid on it. The restricted invitations to bid for the Iraqi contractors has also angered foreign companies, although the money will come from U.S. taxpayers, not from any Iraqi source.