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

To: tonka552000 who wrote (22910)	7/22/2003 11:28:33 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

Blair Under Fire, Denies Leaking Scientist's Name Tue Jul 22, 8:00 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Katherine Baldwin and Kate Kelland HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) angrily denied suggestions on Tuesday that he allowed David Kelly's name to be leaked to media in a row over the Iraq (news - web sites) war which apparently drove the scientist to suicide. As opinion polls showed his personal rating being hammered, Blair told reporters during a flight to Hong Kong he believed he had done nothing wrong. "Emphatically not. I did not authorize the leaking of the name of David Kelly," he replied sharply in response to reporters' questions. "I believe we've acted properly throughout," he added. Kelly, a government scientist and weapons expert, was found dead in woods near his home last Friday. He had bled to death from a slashed wrist. He had been forced into the media spotlight after telling his Defense Ministry bosses he may have been the source behind a BBC report which claimed Blair's government had exaggerated intelligence about banned Iraqi weapons to make a case for war. The ministry then confirmed Kelly's identity to journalists who inquired. The BBC, which had consistently refused to name its source, only confirmed Kelly as the source on Sunday, after the scientist's death. Blair made his case for war against Iraq by saying President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had to be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction, but months after military action finished none has been found. The failure to find weapons has already dented Blair's popularity and undermined his government's credibility -- several ministers have quit since the war saying Blair misled them over the case for action. OPINION POLL An ICM poll in the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday showed public trust in Blair -- once one of the most popular premiers in British history -- slumped by 12 points in the past month to 39 percent. It also showed Blair's personal approval rating had dropped to minus 17, down from plus seven on the so-called "Baghdad Bounce" immediately after the war. But despite the fallout, Blair declared he had no regrets about joining Washington in the war. "It was the right thing to do," he told a group of Chinese students during a visit to Tsinghua University in Beijing earlier on Tuesday. "I don't regret it. I've no doubt at all that Iraq was trying to develop these weapons." Blair's standing has not been the only casualty of the row. Currency dealers cited the affair as the pound hit a three-month low against the dollar and a six-week low against the euro on Monday. Sterling had recovered some ground by Tuesday but the market remained jittery. And the BBC, which named Kelly as its "principal source" for a damaging story questioning Blair's pre-war claim that Saddam could launch weapons at just 45 minutes' notice, was also under pressure. The Times newspaper said the first cracks were beginning to show in the BBC, which has so far backed the journalist who reported the story, Andrew Gilligan. Blair's denial of any involvement in the naming of Kelly appeared to conflict with comments on Monday by his official spokesman, who said the prime minister's office had been consulted about the process which led to Kelly being named, but that the Ministry of Defense had made the decision. "We were consulted but the Ministry of Defense were the lead department and remained the lead department," he said in London. British newspapers interpreted that as an attempt by Blair's team to place responsibility for the name leak at Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon's door.

To: tonka552000 who wrote (22910)	7/22/2003 12:07:50 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

In my view, all this is indicative of what happens when deflationary risks of post-bubble economies take monetary policy into uncharted waters. As short-term nominal interest rates approach zero, central banks start to lose control of financial markets and the real economy. That’s precisely what has happened in Japan under the BOJ’s zero-interest-rate regime. And the rout in America’s bond market may well be a warning sign of a similar fate for the Fed. Worked for a number years as a systems analyst. I'll let JW discuss this from an economic perspective. From a general systems perspective, there are many systems that are well behaved within a range of input (driving) parameters. Push them outside their normal range and instability results. So far, the Fed has made some very bold pronouncements. When chastised about “almost out of bullets”, they said there was “plenty” they could do. This was followed by discussions of buying long end bonds (to pressure long term rates) and revving up the printing presses. The long end purchases are now viewed as ”just so much talk”. And that’s part of the problem More serious is “As short-term nominal interest rates approach zero, central banks start to lose control of financial markets and the real economy.” With the economic system already pushed beyond the point of stability, and hence requiring frequent “adjustments”, loss of control is a prescription for disaster. Sounds like we’re “on the edge” JMO lurqer