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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PartyTime who wrote (2827)	2/16/2004 12:54:38 PM
From: Mao II	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

Iraq May Be Slipping Into Civil War Mon Feb 16, 7:56 AM ET By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni politicians speak angrily of U.S. bias toward their Shiite rivals. Kurds are more outspoken in demanding self rule — if not independence. And someone — perhaps al-Qaida, perhaps Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists — killed more than 100 people in recent suicide bombings. AP Photo Rivalry and resentment among Iraq (news - web sites)'s ethnic and religious groups have become much more pronounced since Saddam's ouster in April. And those tensions are rising as various groups jockey for position with the approaching June 30 deadline for Iraqis to retake power The fault lines are emerging for a possible civil war. Veteran U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who just finished a visit to the country, pointedly warned Iraqi leaders they face "very serious dangers" if they do not put the interests of the nation ahead of those of their clans, tribes, ethnic groups and religious communities. "I have appealed to the members of the Governing Council and to Iraqis in every part of Iraqi to be conscious that civil wars do not happen because a person makes a decision, 'Today, I'm going to start a civil war,'" Brahimi told a news conference on Friday at the end of a mission to discuss ways of setting up an empowered Iraqi government. Brahimi, who helped mediate civil conflicts in Lebanon and Yemen, told Iraqis that civil wars erupt "because people are reckless, people are selfish, because people think more of themselves than they do of their country." A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed that civil war was possible, citing conflicts that erupted in the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union after the collapse of Communist authoritarian rule. Even before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last March, some Western and Arab scholars predicted the country would plunge into civil war as soon as Saddam's totalitarian rule collapsed. So far, many Iraqis insist they are determined to keep the peace, saying their nation is already worn down by three devastating wars since 1980, decades of dictatorship and nearly 13 years of crippling U.N. sanctions. "We never fought each other," said Hamid al-Kafaai, spokesman for Iraq's Governing Council. "We are one nation and we will stay united." However, unity has always proven difficult in Iraq, cobbled together from three separate Ottoman provinces by colonial Britain after World War I. Saddam's Baath party held the rival clans, tribes, ethnic groups and religious communities together through a mixture of terror against its domestic enemies and patronage to those who remained loyal. That formula held the nation together after Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) after Shiites and Kurds rose up, only to be crushed by Saddam's forces. With Saddam gone, signs of social disintegration are emerging. The Shiites and Kurds believe they now have a historical opportunity to regain their rights — to the alarm of the Sunni Arabs. Majority Shiites expect to translate their numbers — an estimated 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people — into real political power. The demands of their most influential spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, for an early election to choose a transitional legislature have pitted them against the Sunni Arab minority, who feel that such a ballot will further marginalize them. The Sunni Arabs, bristling at the loss of their privileges under Saddam, have challenged the widely held view that the Shiites constitute a majority and accuse them of colluding with the Americans against them. Following Saturday's bloody attack against police and civil defense units in the Sunni stronghold Fallujah, rumors spread through the city that Shiite Muslim militiamen were responsible, although that seemed unlikely. Sunni frustrations are behind the enduring anti-American insurgency in Baghdad and in Sunni-dominated areas to the north and west of the capital. Shiites have for the most part left the Americans in peace. The Shiite clerical leadership believes that it will inherit power as the Americans gradually withdraw. "It flies in the face of Iraq's history of the past 80 years to imagine that the Sunnis will accept Shiite domination or allow them to rule," said Gareth Stansfield of the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies at England's University of Exeter. In a letter released by U.S. authorities Wednesday, an anti-American operative, believed to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, tells leaders of al-Qaida that turning the country's religious communities against one another is the best way to undermine U.S. policy in Iraq. "The potential for a civil war is already in place," said Stansfield of Exeter University. "It does not need al-Qaida to encourage it." The Kurds, believed to form 15-20 percent of the population, remain fixated on a single goal — preserving and expanding the self rule they have enjoyed in their northern regions since 1991. Kurds are locked in a power struggle with Sunni Arabs over the limits of federalism in the new Iraq. Kurdish claims to Kirkuk have served to unite the oil-rich city's Arab and ethnic Turkish residents against them and have raised alarm bells here and in neighboring countries over the possible dismemberment of Iraq. Worsening tensions come at a time of increased suicide attacks against Iraqis who cooperate with the U.S.-led coalition. Such attacks cast doubt on U.S. claims that Iraqi security forces can maintain order after the handover of sovereignty this summer. Those doubts have encouraged key Iraqi groups to resist coalition demands to disband armed militias such as the Kurdish peshmergas, who fought with U.S. troops against Saddam's military last year, and the Shitte Badr Brigade. Moderate Islamic writer Fahmi Howeidi has warned the power transfer could provide the catalyst for civil war. "The possibility of a civil war breaking out cannot be ruled out if the withdrawal goes ahead against this backdrop of a huge void in central authority," he wrote in a recent article published in the London-based, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. story.news.yahoo.com

To: PartyTime who wrote (2827)	2/16/2004 12:56:24 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

U.S. gasoline prices keep climbing Average up 3.61 cents in past three weeks (Since dec, prices have risen about 30 cents per gallon in Oregon) The Associated Press Updated: 12:25 p.m. ET Feb. 16, 2004CAMARILLO, Calif. - Retail gasoline prices continue to climb at the nation’s pumps, rising more than 17 cents a gallon since late December, according to a study released Sunday. advertisement Gas prices for all grades rose 3.61 cents in the past weeks to a national average of $1.68 per gallon, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. The price of retail diesel fuel also was up 3 cents, reaching a national average of $1.69 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said several factors were responsible for the hike, including OPEC’s decision to cut oil production by 1 million barrels a day beginning April 1. Also, rising crude oil prices and cold weather increased the demand for heating oil, Lundberg said. The rate of increase was slowing, compared to the past period, but Lundberg said there is no indication “prices have peaked or will fall anytime soon.” The national weighted average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps Friday was about $1.65 for regular, $1.75 for mid-grade, and $1.84 for premium. Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. msnbc.msn.com

To: PartyTime who wrote (2827)	2/16/2004 12:59:52 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

I have thought for some time that the situation for women under Saddam Hussein is likely to be preferable to the government of the "new iraq". Saddam Hussien managed the only secular government in the entire ME region, one of the few places where it was legal to educate young girls. A brutal regime, yes, but brutal in the name of a dictator is no worse than brutal in the name of god.

To: PartyTime who wrote (2827)	2/16/2004 1:24:45 PM
From: Suma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

This was forwarded in an e-mail to me. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS POEM: I cross ocean, poor and broke, Take bus, see employment folk. Nice man treat me good in there, Say I need to see welfare. Welfare say, "You come no more, We send cash right to your door." Welfare checks, they make you wealthy, Medicaid it keep you healthy! By and by, I got plenty money, Thanks to you, American dummy. Write to friends in motherland, Tell them 'come fast as you can.' They come in turbans and Ford trucks, I buy big house with welfare bucks They come here, we live together, More welfare checks, it gets better! Fourteen families, they moving in, But neighbor's patience wearing thin. Finally, American moves away, Now I buy his house, and then I say, "Find more aliens for house to rent." And in the yard I put a tent. Send for family they just trash, But they, too, draw the welfare cash! Everything is very good, And soon we own the neighborhood. We have hobby -- it's called breeding, Welfare pay for baby feeding. Kids need dentist? Wife need pills? We get free! We got no bills! American crazy! He pay all year, To keep welfare running here. We think America darn good place! Too darn good for the American race. If they no like us, they can scram, Got lots of room in Pakistan. SEND THIS TO EVERY AMERICAN TAXPAYER YOU KNOW \| \| \| \| \| Inbox Get the latest updates from MSN MSN Home \| My MSN \| Hotmail \| Search \| Shopping \| Money \| People & Chat Feedback \| Help © 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. TERMS OF USE Advertise TRUSTe Approved Privacy Statement GetNetWise Anti-Spam Policy