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

To: TigerPaw who wrote (36351)	1/26/2004 4:16:18 PM
From: Rascal	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

Chalabi wants elections? Cheeze when it rains it pours. But wait a minute, this is what the Bush's know how to do. Fix, I mean run elections... Handover plan could be scrapped: US By Robin Wright in Washington, Anthony Shadid in Baghdad, and Peter Slevin in Tbilisi January 26, 2004 The Bush Administration has produced a list of possible changes to its plan for Iraq's political transition as US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, conceded that Saddam Hussein's government may not have had weapons of mass destruction. Some US and British officials acknowledge for the first time that the original plan to hand over power to the Iraqis could even be scrapped if the US is to preempt the growing clamour for elections. During recent talks the US told United Nations representatives that everything is on the table except the June 30 deadline for handing over power to a new Iraqi government. "The United States told us that as long as the timetable is respected, they are ready to listen to any suggestion," a UN official said. In a potential embarrassment for President George Bush, David Kay, the chief US weapons inspector in Iraq, said on Friday that he believed Saddam had not stockpiled unconventional weapons for years. Mr Powell told reporters on Saturday that his February 5 argument to the UN to endorse a preemptive war to strip Iraq of such munitions was based on "what our intelligence community believed was credible". "What is the open question is how many stocks they had, if any, and if they had any, where did they go. And if they didn't have any, then why wasn't that known beforehand?" Mr Powell said. Mr Kay, who is resigning after nine months of unsuccessful searches for banned weapons in Iraq, said that he now believes Saddam did not stockpile forbidden weapons after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also claimed that part of Saddam's secret weapons program was moved to Syria shortly before last year's invasion. Mr Powell said in defence of the decision to go to war that the Bush Administration was not only concerned that Iraq possessed unconventional weapons and development programs, but also that Saddam had refused to answer UN questions about his government's activities on the subject. "All they did was make statements without proving it to our satisfaction," he said. "This is a regime that never lost its intention to have such programs and have such weapons". Mr Bush, too, has softened his rhetoric about Iraq's weapons programs, referring in last week's State of the Union address to materials hidden from the UN inspector and "weapons-of-mass-destruction-related program activities". The US, meanwhile, is publicly talking tough about clinging to a "refined" variation of the November 15 accord signed with the Iraqi Governing Council that outlines the terms of a handover of power in Iraq. These include expanding participation in 18 streamlined caucuses to select representatives for a national assembly, which would then pick a cabinet and head of state. But the Administration has also begun to discuss abandoning the complex caucuses and even holding partial elections or simply handing over power to an expanded Iraqi Governing Council, officials say. Ahmad Chalabi, a leading pro-US member of the Council on Friday called for direct elections before the July handover, urging Washington to give in to popular demand because its transition plan could destabilise the country. The Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leader of the country's 15 million Shiites, has demanded direct elections of a new government. The Washington Post, Reuters This story was found at: smh.com.au Rascal @TheCoverUpIsWorse.com

To: TigerPaw who wrote (36351)	1/26/2004 10:45:04 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

New virus spreading rapidly across Internet : CNET News reports that a new mass-mailing computer virus has gained a foothold in a large number of PCs by masquerading as an e-mail error. The virus--known as MyDoom, Novarg and as a variant of the Mimail virus by different antivirus firms--arrives in an in-box with one of several different random subject lines such as "Mail Delivery System," "Test" or "Mail Transaction Failed."

To: TigerPaw who wrote (36351)	1/27/2004 11:43:05 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Second Comeback Victory for Kerry Appears as Sweet as the First nytimes.com By DAVID M. HALBFINGER The New York Times Published: January 28, 2004 MANCHESTER, N.H. — He strode in at 9:30 p.m., pumped his fists, threw a salute, clapped his hands and whooped. And 1,000 of his loyal followers hollered back. "Kerry! Kerry!" they thundered. For Senator John Kerry, his second comeback in nine days was just as sweet. "Well, I love New Hampshire," he said, his voice breaking. "And I love Iowa, too. And I hope with your help to have the blessings and the opportunity to love a lot of other states in the days to come." "You stayed the course here in New Hampshire," he told the crowd at his victory celebration here. "And because of you this has been a successful and a happy campaign. And I make this pledge to you tonight: I have spent my whole life fighting for what I think is right and against powerful interests. And I have only just begun to fight." "Bring it on!" they thundered, again and again. Mr. Kerry, the decorated Vietnam warrior turned antiwar leader turned lifelong politician, reached back into his past for support in his drive to victory in Iowa and New Hampshire. Tonight he thanked the veterans "who marched with us and lifted us up from the lowest points to where we stand tonight. "In the hardest moments of the past month, I depended on the same band of brothers that I depended on more than 30 years ago," he said. "We're a little older, and a little grayer, but I'll tell you this: we still know how to fight for our country," he said, as Max Cleland, the former senator and a triple amputee, raised his hand in exultation. "When I am president," he said, "I pledge that those who wore the uniform of the United States of America will have a voice and a champion in the Oval Office." By the time Mr. Kerry wakes up Wednesday at his home in Boston, his television commercials will be airing in all seven states with primaries on Feb. 3.: South Carolina, Missouri, Delaware, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and North Dakota. "It's expensive, but — while you never have enough money — our fund-raisers are saying we've had a lot of momentum out of Iowa, we're hoping for very good momentum out of tonight, and his profile is, he can play in any of these states," said Steve Elmendorf, Mr. Kerry's deputy campaign manager, who was until last week Representative Richard A. Gephardt's communications director. From Boston, Mr. Kerry is to fly to St. Louis, where Mr. Gephardt's withdrawal from the race abruptly put Missouri and its 47 delegates into play. Mr. Kerry has quickly put together a list of high-profile endorsements and experienced ground troops. Besides Mr. Elmendorf, the Kerry campaign has hired Kim Molstre, Mr. Gephardt's spokeswoman, and its Missouri operation is being run by Roy Temple, the former chief of staff to both the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and his widow, former Senator Jean Carnahan. Mr. Kerry, who formally announced his candidacy outside Charleston, S.C., last September, has not returned to the state since that month, and nearly fell off the charts in voter surveys there. His poor standing also led rivals, including Senator John Edwards, to ridicule Mr. Kerry's potential for carrying the South. Mr. Kerry has often said that he does not believe a Democrat has to carry the South to win in the general election, and cites Al Gore, who would have been elected in 2000 had he carried West Virginia or New Hampshire. But he also says he expects to fare well in states like Georgia, Louisiana and Arkansas. For Mr. Kerry, who likened his rock-jawed profile to the Old Man in the Mountains, New Hampshire's icon, the comparison was unhappily apt in 2003: just as the rock formation broke away and collapsed, Mr. Kerry's standing in the polls here plummeted with his campaign missteps and the rise of Howard Dean. Mr. Kerry's stunning turnaround in New Hampshire occurred, mainly, in Iowa, where he encamped in December, after shaking up his campaign. His strategy was to exceed expectations in Iowa and ride a wave of momentum into New Hampshire. It could not have worked better: Mr. Kerry won 38 percent of the delegates in the Jan. 19 caucuses, blowing away the former Vermont governor by 20 points. Overnight, Mr. Kerry was minted the front-runner here.