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

To: Srexley who wrote (461290)	9/18/2003 8:01:47 PM
From: Kevin Rose	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

China has a reasonable chance of being free? North Korea has not broken sanctions? BURMA has a reasonable chance of being free? If Iraq costs $100 billion a year, what about invading all these other countries? Oh, and while we're nation building, bin Laden plans his next attack...

To: Srexley who wrote (461290)	9/18/2003 9:05:44 PM
From: Krowbar	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

< Bush is doing a MASTERFUL job in the war on terror. > Oh, really? He admitted yesterday that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11, and no WMD were found in Iraq, so why did we invade and bomb the shit out of THEM, when we know that the 16 of the 19 terrorists and the financing for 9/11 were from SAUDI ARABIA? Why did Bush invite Crown Prince Abdullah to the ranch for barbecue, and allow the Bin Ladens to flee America shortly after 9/11 in a private plane, while the rest of us were grounded? Wrong country, and wrong people, and you think that he is doing a masterful job? Del

To: Srexley who wrote (461290)	9/18/2003 9:27:50 PM
From: Richard S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

BUSH losing the war on terror More attacks The attack on a Kenya hotel was one of a string of bombings The attacks have not stopped. In October 2002 the Bali bomb killed 202 people. Then came the attack on the hotel near Mombasa in November 2002. Then a lull, then the triple bombings in Riyadh in May 2003, killing more than 30 people. Then there was Casablanca, Jakarta and a whole string of major bombings in Iraq that may or may not be connected to Islamist suicide bombers sympathetic to al-Qaeda. US intelligence analysts are convinced that the US remains the prime target and that Bin Laden's supporters have not given up their quest to carry out a truly devastating and humiliating attack on either the US or Britain. Diversification Before the Afghan campaign of 2001, al-Qaeda was relatively easy to find. It had a logistical and command headquarters in Afghanistan. Now that it has been scattered across the world it has been likened to a hornet's nest hit with a stick. The hornets are everywhere and harder to catch. Full-scale alert at Heathrow airport in February 2003 In order to survive, al-Qaeda has successfully mutated. It is no longer a structured organisation with different divisions for financing, recruitment and operations. Instead it has transferred its ideology and some of its expertise and finance to splinter groups such as Jemaah Islamiah in Asia, Jihadi militants in East Africa and certain North African cells in Europe. Often these cells know nothing about each other. They are able to tap into an extensive underworld using false passports, visas and counterfeit money. In the case of North African operatives in Europe they have sometimes been able to move easily between countries, evading the attention of the authorities. New methods The most alarming new development is the threat from surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). A failed attempt was made in June 2002 to use them in Saudi Arabia to bring down a US military aircraft. Ricin was discovered at a London address in January 2003 Al-Qaeda operatives tried again in Kenya in November 2002 and narrowly missed shooting down an Israeli airliner with over 200 passengers on board. In February 2003 there was a full-scale alert at London's Heathrow Airport following a warning passed to the intelligence services that terrorists were looking to shoot down an airliner as it came in to land. There have also been a number of SAM attacks on aircraft in Chechnya and Iraq. The threat of a chemical/biological attack on a western civilian population was brought closer in January 2003 with the discovery of the lethal toxin ricin at a north London flat. While in this case nobody has been convicted, it is known that al-Qaeda conducted experiments in Afghanistan using poisonous chemicals, practising on live animals. Amongst other new methods of operation being employed by al-Qaeda supporters is the recruitment of new converts from non-Arab ethnic groups for future operations. This is something which is deeply troubling the FBI and other investigators. Hearts and minds The importance of this clichéd expression cannot be underestimated. Victories on the battlefield or in the interrogation rooms are meaningless if terror networks can continue to recruit from a large wellspring of discontented youth. And that is exactly what is happening. The wave of horror and sympathy for the victims that spread across much of the Arab and Muslim world after 11 September has long ago changed to something else. There is now a growing conviction that the Bush administration has acquired a taste for regime change and will not stop at Baghdad America is seen as having capitalised on those attacks by trying to "conquer" Muslim countries - Afghanistan and Iraq. The war on Saddam was seen by many as an unwarranted attack on a largely defenceless civilian population, already emaciated by 12 years of UN sanctions. Washington's military and diplomatic support for Israel - still the bête noire for most Arabs - is undiminished. Unfairly, many young Arabs blame their unemployment and lack of a political voice on a "US-Zionist" conspiracy aimed at somehow suppressing Muslims. But there is also now a growing conviction that the Bush administration has acquired a taste for regime change and will not stop at Baghdad. Threats to Syria and Iran to change their policies only confirm that view. Against this backdrop it is hardly surprising that the US - and its close ally Britain - are losing the battle for Arab and Muslim hearts and minds. source: news.bbc.co.uk