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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Techplayer who wrote (394485)	4/18/2003 4:13:24 AM
From: JEB	Respond to of 769667

Forces Look for Weapons, Fugitives in Iraq Apr 18, 3:22 AM (ET) By DAVID CRARY While U.S. forces worked Friday to restore electricity in Baghdad, hundreds of other Americans across Iraq engaged in detective work - searching for stolen museum treasures and illegal weapons, tracking fugitive leaders of the toppled regime, and examining a tract of unmarked graves. FBI Director Robert Mueller said experts from his agency have been deployed in Iraq to help find the antiquities stolen during recent looting of Baghdad's prominent museums and the national library. FBI agents also are reviewing the trove of regime documents recovered by U.S. troops in Iraq, looking for possible leads in the campaign against international terrorism and the hunt for weapons of mass destruction, Mueller said. Even as the search for illegal weapons expanded, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld expressed doubts that any would be found until Iraqis provide the crucial tips. "I think what will happen is we'll discover people who will tell us where to go find it," Rumsfeld said. "It is not like a treasure hunt where you just run around looking everywhere, hoping you find something." U.S. intelligence officials believe some senior members of Saddam Hussein's regime who may know about weapons programs have sought refuge in Syria. A State Department official indicated Thursday that Syria may be prepared to hand over some of those leaders. "There might be some individuals who might be made available to us," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. As many as 1,000 people are believed to be involved in the U.S.-led effort to find illegal weapons, and thus corroborate pre-war allegations made repeatedly by the Bush administration. U.S. troops have found suspicious chemicals and facilities at several sites, but tests on the materials have proved negative or inconclusive. Hans Blix, the chief U.N. weapons inspector for Iraq, has urged the U.S.-led coalition to allow his team back into the country, saying it would increase the credibility of any weapons discoveries. The team left Iraq just before the war after several months of inspections. In northern Iraq, American officials were examining a tract of about 1,500 unmarked graves near Kirkuk. Thousands of Kurdish men in that region disappeared during Saddam's rule - part of a drive to crush an independence movement - but it was not immediately clear whose corpses were in the graves. In Baghdad, Iraqi engineers supported by U.S. troops said they hope to have the city's biggest power plant going by Saturday. The lack of basic services such as power and water, along with the widespread lawlessness, has fueled resentment of the American forces. "Without power, there is no peace," said Haifa Aziz, manager of a power substation. "For hospitals, for schools, for the people, they need electricity." Electricity has been out in Baghdad since April 3. A U.S. Marine spokesman, Staff Sgt. Jose Guillen, said six diesel power plants are now back on line, each supplying electricity to about 500 homes. In a grim example of the rampant lawlessness, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that some patients at a Baghdad psychiatric hospital were raped as looters ransacked the building during a three-day spree. The director of Al-Rashad Hospital told Red Cross representatives that the rapes occurred as looters made off with nearly everything in the hospital - burning what they could not take - between April 9 and 11. The U.S. military has been widely criticized for inadequate efforts to restore law and order. On Thursday, three members of the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee resigned to protest the looting of Baghdad's National Museum - saying they were disappointed by the U.S. forces' failure to protect Iraq's historical artifacts. "The tragedy was not prevented, due to our nation's inaction," Martin E. Sullivan, the committee's chairman, wrote in his letter of resignation. White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said the United States "worked very hard to protect infrastructure in Iraq and to preserve the valued resources of Iraq." She described the looting as unfortunate. Looking ahead to Iraq's reconstruction, the U.S. government awarded Bechtel Corp. a contract that could reach $680 million for helping rebuild power, water and sewage systems and repairing airports and a seaport. The U.S. Agency for International Development said the San Francisco-based initially will receive $34.6 million. Bechtel could earn the larger figure over 18 months if Congress approves the funds. Several Democratic lawmakers have complained the Bush administration did not allow open competitive bidding, instead inviting a few companies to submit proposals. Some of these critics are sponsoring a bill that would require a public explanation of contracts awarded under a limited bidding process. apnews.excite.com

To: Techplayer who wrote (394485)	4/18/2003 11:55:23 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Saddam was a paper tiger. No WMD's so far either. Some Palestinian terrorist vest bombs and Abu abbas not no Al Qaida either. So I guess GW lied to us about his reasons to go to war huh? And took nine months doing it, making the global economy grind to a halt in the meantime. Now how will GW help get the economy going again? Old Voodoo ecomics not even mainstream GOP leaders want. Been three, done that and it failed already. Any new ideas from the diversion experts in the White House?