I was hoping to find out last night how "the virtual march on Washington" went. That was the effort to flood legislators with faxes emails and calls to urge them not to support war, and to stick with UN inspections. I didn’t even see it covered. The organizers say it was a big success: ‘”The outpouring of support... got through loud and clear,” said former Congressman Tom Andrews, National Director of Win Without War. ”Well over one million phone calls were made in just eight hours by people from every state in the country. Every Senator’s office and the White House switchboard received at least two and often more calls per minute. Many callers had to settle for busy signals,” he added.’

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/266742.html

Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter recently canceled a planned trip to Belgium for fear the Belgians would try to arrest him because of his involvement in Israel's counter-terrorism war in the territories, defense establishment officials confirmed Tuesday night after Channel 10 reported it. Dichter was scheduled to deliver a lecture on international terror at a conference… The Shin Bet chief asked for a legal opinion on the possibility he might be arrested. Dichter's staff asked the foreign ministry and defense establishment experts to look into it and when they did not provide an unequivocal answer, Dichter decided to cancel his trip.

Since the intifada began two and half years ago, and because of the increasing European criticism against Israel, many senior officers have consulted jurists prior to visiting Western European countries. However, this is the firs time a senior security official cancels a trip abroad fearing legal problems.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,903907,00.html

The Bush administration and the American TV network CBS were embroiled in a slanging match last night over charges that the broadcaster rejected a White House offer to rebut comments made by Saddam Hussein in his first US interview for 13 years. "This seems odd they wouldn't let the White House have a voice," Ari Fleischer, President George Bush's spokesman, told reporters yesterday... Mr Fleischer said CBS had refused to give a right of reply unless it came from Mr Bush in person... But the network denied the charge, saying it had only refused an offer to have Mr Fleischer appear intermittently throughout the broadcast to counter President Saddam's remarks.

...The White House was interested in "equal time", Mr Fleischer said - "in the same interview and the same time". [Sandy Genelius, a CBS spokeswoman] said: "The issue of equal time ... is a little curious, because the truth is that the American people see the president and his administration virtually every day. We report the White House position on key issues virtually every day."

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13455

Saddam Hussein has invited President Bush to join him on television game show ‘The Weakest Link’ in a final attempt to avoid war. The popular programme, fronted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Robinson, features contestants answering a series of questions, with the one seen as the weakest voted off at the end of each round.

Speaking during a live television interview with PBS, Saddam warned that he was "ready to prove" he is the strongest link, even in front of a live studio audience in Baghdad... However, the White House declined Saddam Hussein's offer. President Bush's official spokesman, Ari Fleischer, told journalists that there was no question of him travelling to Baghdad to take part in a game show for reasons of safety. "This show is a battle of wits and intelligence," he explained.

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http://www.adamyoshida.com/electronic.html

So-called “anti-war” groups have designated February 26th as the day on which they will be launching a ‘Virtual March on Washington.’ The expressed purpose of this ‘March’ is to bombard the phones and fax lines in the Washington, DC area with anti-war messages. This is simply another example of the bullying tactics of the modern left…For far too long, the great silent majority has failed to stand up to these people. Now, on the verge of a great war, and with the future of freedom hanging in the balance, we can stand silent no longer… United for Victory has decided to expand the planned ‘Virtual March for Victory.’ In addition to sending letters to every major media outlet in the United States, we will also be launching what we have dubbed ‘Operation Electronic Storm’ in which we will bury the institutions of the left with email reminding them of what is at stake in this war and why we must fight it.

After careful deliberation we have selected the following targets for Operation Electronic Storm: the Nation Magazine, the New York Times, Win Without War, True Majority.org, New York Times columnists Maureen Dowd and Bob Herbert, freelance columnist Arianna Huffington, International ANSWER, the Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Anti-War.com… After careful consideration it was decided that the first wave of messages would be sent only to domestic critics.

How do you participate? Easy, follow these simple steps: 1) Download the following four word documents and save them to your computer: The first document contains a collection of President Bush’s speeches since September 11th- all in size 72 font just to make sure that the left gets the point. The second document contains a collection of the many, many United Nations Resolutions which Saddam Hussein is violating. The third document contains a series of speeches and articles by Administration officials making the case for war with Iraq. The fourth document contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and several famous speeches- just to remind the left of what we’re supposed to be fighting for.

2) Open four separate emails then cut and paste the following list of email addresses into the “to” field:

liberties@nytimes.com; bobherb@nytimes.com; arianna@ariannaonline.com; institute@thenation.com; associates@thenation.com; ellen@thenation.com; michael@thenation.com; permissions@thenation.com; info@internationalanswer.org; birminghambus@internationalanswer.org; huntsvillebus@internationalanswer.org; nowardc@yahoo.com; office@msa-national.org; press@moveon.org; letters@nytimes.com; oped@nytimes.com; editorial@nytimes.com; nytnews@nytimes.com; executive-editor@nytimes.com; managing-editor@nytimes.com; news-tips@nytimes.com; foreign@nytimes.com; metro@nytimes.com; national@nytimes.com; washington@nytimes.com; advertising@nytimes.com; alyson@nytimes.com; publisher@nytimes.com; president@nytimes.com; webmaster@cair-net.org; cair@cair-net.org; chairman@cairaz.org; info@cair-florida.org; cair_sca@cair-california.org; cair-ny@cair-ny.com; canada@cair-net.org; cair_nca@cair-california.org; info@cair-austin.org; info@cair-austin.org; ohio@cair-net.org; rashidn@iname.com; samalik1@aol.com; cair@cairmichigan.org; egarris2@antiwar.com; students@antiwar.com; backtalk@antiwar.com; info@moveon.org; admin@louisvillepeace.org; pgeier@worldnet.att.net; nicholasdb@hotmail.com

3) Open all four documents and cut and paste them into the four emails.

4) Then, of course, send the emails.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2798771.stm

The government in the Indian state of Gujarat has decided to bring in a new law to stop the practice of religious conversion. The state governor, Sunder Singh Bhandari, declared the Freedom of Religion Bill would be brought before the state assembly during the session that opened on Tuesday... Last year, the government in Tamil Nadu came under severe criticism from various public groups and political parties for introducing the law, which they said was against religious minorities and low-caste Hindus. However, in December police arrested a number of people who were organising a mass ceremony. Thousands of low-caste Hindus - known as Dalits - were due to be converted to Christianity and Buddhism. The event was organised in direct defiance of a tough new anti-conversion law, similar to the one planned by the Gujarat authorities... The recent conversion of whole low caste Hindu communities to other religions has alarmed Hindu organisations.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml

Narrowly beating a U.N. deadline, Iraq will start destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles on Saturday, sources said Friday... Iraq does not agree with chief inspector Hans Blix's order to eliminate the rockets, which Blix contends fly farther than the 93-mile limit imposed by the U.N. Security Council at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq maintains some of the missiles overshot the limit because they were tested without warheads or guidance systems. In a letter to Blix on Thursday, Saddam Hussein's scientific adviser, Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi, said the order was unjust. "The decision to destroy (the missiles) was unjust and did not take into consideration the scientific facts regarding the issue," he wrote. "The timing of this request seems to us to be one with political aims."

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/26/BU48310.DTL

The retired general tapped by the Bush administration to oversee rebuilding of post-war Iraq was, until just a few weeks ago, an executive at a leading defense contractor working on missile systems that would be used to bomb Baghdad... A Pentagon official said Jay Garner's new role as head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance does not constitute a conflict of interest.

Garner, 64, a former three-star Army general and friend of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, served until last month as president of SY Coleman, a division of defense contractor L-3 Communications specializing in missile-defense systems. The division was a Southern California missile-defense contractor, SY Technology, until L-3 acquired it last year for $48,000,000.00. Garner, with virtually no private-sector experience, was named president of that firm in 1997 after retiring as assistant vice chief of staff of the Army. His 34-year military career included a stint as commanding general of the Army's Space and Strategic Defense Command -- part of the Star Wars program begun by President Ronald Reagan and more recently embraced by President Bush.

...The Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance falls under the control of the Defense Department. Its purpose is to coordinate relief and rebuilding efforts by foreign and Iraqi agencies... In late January, L-3 said revenue in the most recent quarter had soared to $1,300,000,000.00 from $705,000,000.00 a year ago. The company attributed the windfall to a doubling of military communications and electronics sales. L-3 said last week that it expects sales and earnings this year to rise by 20 percent.

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http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/World/newbomb030225.html

The Bush administration plans to intensify airstrikes in the southern and northern no-fly zones whether Iraq is shooting at U.S. planes or not, sources tell ABCNEWS... Military sources say the United States is preparing a monster new weapon to be used during the first nights. It's called MOAB, short for "massive ordnance air burst" bomb. It is a modern, bigger version of the 15,000-pound "Daisy Cutter" used in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and Afghanistan. Sources say MOAB — still experimental — is a 21,000-pound bomb that will be pushed out the back of a C-130 transport and guided by satellite. Because it is not dropped by parachute, as was the old Daisy Cutter, the aircraft can let it go from far higher altitudes, making it safer for U.S. pilots. The MOAB's massive explosive punch, sources say, is similar to a small nuclear weapon.

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13421

Chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix today confirmed reports that Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein had responded to a so-called “spam” email promising to make his long-range missile bigger through the use of a “miracle herbal compound.”

The inspectors discovered the suspicious email when they examined a laptop computer in one of Saddam’s Presidential Palaces and saw a subject line reading, “SADDAM, MAKE IT BIGGER,” Mr. Blix said. According to Mr. Blix, the email promised that by buying a supply of a miracle herb called “Missile-Gro,” the Iraqi dictator could make his Al Samoud 2 missile “bigger, more powerful and longer lasting.” “The question is, how much longer lasting,” Mr. Blix said. “If it lasts longer than the 92-mile limit established at the end of the Gulf War, this is a serious matter indeed.”

...At the United Nations, Secretary of State Colin Powell was prepared to argue that Saddam’s use of a miracle herb to make his al Samoud 2 missile bigger, stronger and longer lasting was just cause for a new and tougher U.N. resolution on Iraq. “We cannot simply ignore this evidence,” Mr. Powell told reporters. “Size does matter.”

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http://www.heartlight.org/fast/signup.html

If you are willing to fast at least one day a month primarily for George W. Bush's holiness (and other areas, such as bipartisan work among the Democrats and Republicans, wisdom in his work, wisdom for his cabinet, healing for our nation, etc. ...but primarily holiness) then we encourage you to sign up and join us. Choose the day you want to fast on such as the 1st, the 14th, ...you get the idea. Click on the "Sign Up" tab and follow the options! It's that easy.

Your name will be put on a list for that day. Then two days before that date comes up, I will be sending you a reminder via e-mail to fast on that day. If for whatever reason you cannot make it, e-mail me and let me know. I will make sure someone is fasting for that day. Please excuse Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter as days to fast on... and don't choose your birth date. (unless you don't like birthday cake!)

If the President's office puts out prayer requests, we will forward those on to you.

Please take this seriously... Our goal is to have 1,000 people fasting for the President each day. That will greatly encourage him and keep him accountable when the Evil One seeks to sidetrack him from his commitment to the Lord.

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http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/5271044.htm

Text of President Bush's remarks Wednesday night to the American Enterprise Institute, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks Inc.:

We meet here during a crucial period in the history of our nation and of the civilized world. Part of that history was written by others, the rest will be written by us.

...We must look at security in a new way because our country is a battlefield in the first war of the 21st century. The danger posed by Saddam Hussein and his weapons cannot be ignored... The safety of the American people depends on ending this direct and growing threat. Acting against the danger will also contribute greatly to the long-term safety and stability of our world.

...We will remain in Iraq as long as necessary and not a day more. America has made and kept this kind of commitment before, and the peace that followed a world war... In societies that once bred fascism and militarism, liberty found a permanent home... The world has a clear interest in the spread of democratic values, because stable and free nations do not breed the ideologies of murder. They encourage the peaceful pursuit of a better life, and there are hopeful signs of the desire for freedom in the Middle East... Freedom and democracy will always and everywhere have greater appeal than the slogans of hatred and the tactics of terror.

Success in Iraq could also... set in motion progress towards a truly democratic Palestinian state... Without this outside support for terrorism, Palestinians who are working for reform and long for democracy will be in a better position to choose new leaders, true leaders who strive for peace, true leaders who faithfully serve the people... The new government of Israel, as the terror threat is removed and security improves, will be expected to support the creation of a viable Palestinian state and to work as quickly as possible toward a final status agreement. As progress is made toward peace, settlement activity in the occupied territories must end.

And the Arab states will be expected to meet their responsibilities to oppose terrorism, to support the emergence of a peaceful and democratic Palestine, and state clearly they will live in peace with Israel.

...Old patterns of conflict in the Middle East can be broken if all concerned will let go of bitterness and hatred and violence and get on with the serious work of economic development and political reform and reconciliation. America will seize every opportunity in pursuit of peace... By the resolve and purpose of America, and of our friends and allies, we will make this an age of progress and liberty. Free people will set the course of history and free people will keep the peace of the world.

Thank you all very much.

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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/28/1046407751688.html

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, virtually ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state... just a day after the United States President, George Bush, pledged to broker a peace deal once he had dealt with Iraq.

Hours before his cabinet was sworn in on Thursday, Mr Sharon revealed to the Knesset that he had backed away from his commitment to the Palestinian state envisioned by Washington's "road map" for a settlement, as part of the deal to put together his government. Mr Sharon told parliament that the road map was "a matter of controversy in the coalition" and had been dropped from the written agreement that drew far right, pro-settler and anti-religious parties into the Government. Mr Sharon [is also...] promising to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territories... The coalition agreement commits the Government to the continued "development of existing Jewish settlements" in the occupied territories.

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13485

Baghdad - For decades, Iraqi citizens have been living lives of intense subjugation, under the vicious regime of Saddaam Hussein. If, as now seems likely, the U.S. and a coalition of willing partners goes to war with Iraq, that life of tyranny will be over for thousands of Iraqis. Because they will be dead.

President Bush, in his state of the union address, said that the day Saddaam falls would be a day of liberation for Iraqis. And indeed, as the bombs fall, thousands of Iraqis will never have to worry about Saddaam Hussein again... As the blood stops flowing to their brains, these lucky Iraqis will finally attain freedom from everything.

"I so look forward to being blown to kingdom come," said Baghdad shop owner Helmid Ariz, "I've got friends who are looking forward to being refugees and camping out and such, but, since I have to keep my shop going, here in downtown Baghdad, I really hit the jackpot. Freedom here I come!"

Said Hiram Awad, a math teacher, "What greater tyranny is there than life itself? When America attacks, you'll see me dancing in the streets of Baghdad. Well, maybe not dancing, but my twisted corpse will be bouncing around with all the other flying rubble. My arms and legs flopping around might look like dancing." ...When it was explained that most likely a U.S. general would be leading a fractious Iraq for some years to come, Awad became more philosophical. "Oh, well, I don't need to worry about that. I'll probably be dead. Free at last!"

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10034-2003Feb27?language=printer

ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 26 -- The United States has promised to prevent Kurds from imposing a federation-style government in postwar Iraq that would ensure their continued autonomy and agreed to allow Turkish troops to enter northern Iraq and observe the disarmament of Kurdish militias once fighting has stopped, Turkish officials said today.

...A Bush administration envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, addressed Kurdish and other anti-Hussein Iraqi leaders in northern Iraq today, seeking to reassure them that Washington does not plan to sell them out... Armagan Kuloglu, a retired Turkish general with the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies, said... "We're talking about Turkey's security. We can't entrust our security entirely to another party. We have to be ready to take steps ourselves if necessary," he said. "The mission would be to control northern Iraq, temporarily."

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http://www.thefileroom.org/weblog/dannylog.cfm

US journalist Tom Goltz reports from Instanbul: "Geraldo Riviera of Fox News Fame is already down in the [Turkish] port of Iskenderun, gleefully counting US Army tanks and trucks as they off-load for the so-called Northern Front. And hey, if Geraldo says Gulf War Two is a certain thing, I guess it must be.”

...Our Adam McConnel of the Globalvision News Network is even more sneering: "Unfortunately Geraldo Rivera has decided to bless Turkey with his presence for FOX News; moments ago he was interviewed live by CNN Turk. Good quote: ‘Our [FOX's] critics exaggerate the difference between FOX and other stations.’ Geraldo, in his almost inimitably shallow style, gushed about Turkey and the relationship between Turkey and the US, never mentioning that the Turkish population is completely opposed to helping the US attack Iraq. "

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-592877,00.html

THE Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan fuelled fears yesterday that war with Iraq could trigger a secondary conflict between Turks and Kurds when he confirmed that Ankara would send a substantial force into Northern Iraq behind American troops. The statement by Mr Erdogan, leader of the ruling Justice and Development party, came one day after the Kurdish parliament in Northern Iraq declared that any such intervention would create a very dangerous situation... Today the Turkish parliament is expected finally to approve a deal with Washington permitting up to 62,000 troops to use their country to open a northern front in a war. The quid pro quo is not only a $25,000,000,000.00 economic aid package but Washington’s approval for Turkish forces to enter Northern Iraq. Mr Erdogan told a television interviewer that there would be “twice as many of our troops as American soldiers” entering Iraq. He gave no specific figures, but did not deny that they could total 40,000.

He said he expected the Turkish troops would advance about 20 kilometres into Iraq and that the Kurds had nothing to fear.

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short historical reminder

http://www.cilicia.com/armo10.html

On April 24th 1915... hundreds of Armenian leaders were murdered in Istanbul after being summoned and gathered. The now leaderless Armenian people were to follow. Across the Ottoman Empire... the same events transpired from village to village, from province to province. The remarkable thing about the following events is the virtually complete cooperation of the Armenians. For a number of reasons they did not know what was planned for them and went along with "their" governments plan to "relocate them for their own good".

First the Armenians were asked to turn in hunting weapons for the war effort. Communities were often given quotas and would have to buy additional weapons from Turks to meet their quota. Later, the government would claim these weapons were proof that Armenians were about to rebel. The able bodied men were then "drafted" to help in the wartime effort. These men were either immediately killed or were worked to death. Now the villages and towns, with only women, children and elderly left were systematically emptied. The remaining residents would be told to gather for a temporary relocation. To only bring what they could carry. The Armenians, again obediently followed instructions and were "escorted" by Turkish Gendarmes in death marches. The death marches would lead across Anatolia and the purpose was clear. The Armenians were being raped, starved, dehydrated, murdered and kidnapped along the way... Their eventual destination for resettlement was just as telling in revealing the Turkish governments goal. The Syrian Desert. Der Zor.

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http://www.armenian-genocide.org/statements/hitler.htm

“My decision to attack Poland was arrived at last spring. Originally, I feared that the political constellation would compel me to strike simultaneously at England, Russia, France, and Poland. Even this risk would have had to be taken.

”Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality... Only thus shall we gain the living space which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

The text above is the English version of the German document handed to Louis P. Lochner in Berlin. It first appeared in Lochner's What About Germany? (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1942), pp. 1-4. The Nuremberg Tribunal later identified the document as L-3 or Exhibit USA-28. Two other versions of the same document appear in Appendices II and III. For the German original cf. Akten zur Deutschen Auswartigen Politik 1918-1945, Serie D, Band VII, (Baden-Baden, 1956), pp. 171-172.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2802947.stm

Five Israeli reserve soldiers are suing an Israeli Arab film director they accuse of libelling troops who fought in the battle for the Jenin refugee camp. They accuse Mohammed Bakri of libellously portraying them and their comrades as war criminals in the film Jenin, Jenin, which was recently banned in Israel.

..."We received an emergency call-up order and went out to fight in order to defend our homes," one of the reservists told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "We fought slowly, day after day, in order to avoid harming the civilian population. This film portrays us as war criminals."

Israel's censorship board banned the film in December on the grounds that it was propaganda and misrepresented events. The cinemas which showed it before the ban are being sued for screening images of the soldiers without their permission.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/27/politics/27MISS.html?ex=1047368546&ei=1&en=2e85b1bbed20f851

Feb. 26 — The Pentagon wants to begin deploying its missile defense system on the West Coast next year, before it is fully tested...The request to skip the required testing regimen, included in an appendix to the Bush administration's 2004 budget, is necessary to meet President Bush's goal of having the first missiles in place beginning next year, defense officials said. At a Senate hearing on Feb. 13, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that a missile threat from North Korea warranted the quick deployment... "In the case of missile defense, I think we need to get something out there, in the ground, at sea, and in a way that we can test it, we can look at it, we can develop it, we can evolve it, and find out — learn from the experimentation with it."

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http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-shields27feb27,0,6024294.story

A senior defense official said Wednesday that foreigners who have gone to Baghdad to volunteer as "human shields" at key Iraqi sites might be considered war combatants rather than civilians... The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters: "I'm not a legal expert, but you certainly could argue that since they're working in the service of the Iraqi government, they may in fact have crossed the line between combatant and noncombatant."

At Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks also warned about the danger to the "human shields," saying that American and allied forces could not assure their safety. "We'll do our best to avoid noncombatant casualties and, I will tell you, we will not be 100% successful," said Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command.

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http://www.fair.org/press-releases/kamel.html February 27, 2003

On February 24, Newsweek broke what may be the biggest story of the Iraq crisis. In a revelation that "raises questions about whether the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] stockpiles attributed to Iraq still exist," the magazine's issue dated March 3 reported that the Iraqi weapons chief who defected from the regime in 1995 told U.N. inspectors that Iraq had destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical and biological weapons and banned missiles, as Iraq claims.

Until now, Gen. Hussein Kamel, who was killed shortly after returning to Iraq in 1996, was best known for his role in exposing Iraq's deceptions about how far its pre-Gulf War biological weapons programs had advanced. But Newsweek's John Barry-- who has covered Iraqi weapons inspections for more than a decade-- obtained the transcript of Kamel's 1995 debriefing by officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the U.N. inspections team known as UNSCOM.

Inspectors were told "that after the Gulf War, Iraq destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons stocks and the missiles to deliver them," Barry wrote. All that remained ere "hidden blueprints, computer disks, microfiches" and production molds. The weapons were destroyed secretly, in order to hide their existence from inspectors, in the hopes of someday resuming production after inspections had finished. The CIA and MI6 were told the same story, Barry reported, and "a military aide who defected with Kamel... backed Kamel's assertions about the destruction of WMD stocks." But these statements were "hushed up by the U.N. inspectors" in order to "bluff Saddam into disclosing still more."

CIA spokesperson Bill Harlow angrily denied the Newsweek report. "It is incorrect, bogus, wrong, untrue," Harlow told Reuters (2/24/03) the day the report appeared.

But on Wednesday (2/26/03), a complete copy of the Kamel transcript-- an internal UNSCOM/IAEA document stamped "sensitive"-- was obtained by Glen Rangwala, the Cambridge University analyst who in early February revealed that Tony Blair's "intelligence dossier" was plagiarized from a student thesis. This transcript can be seen at http://www.fair.org/press-releases/kamel.pdf. In the transcript (p. 13), Kamel says bluntly: "All weapons-- biological, chemical, missile, nuclear, were destroyed."

Kamel is no obscure defector. A son-in-law of Saddam Hussein, his departure from Iraq carrying crates of secret documents on Iraq's past weapons programs was a major turning point in the inspections saga... Kamel's defection has been cited repeatedly by George W. Bush and leading administration officials as evidence that 1) Iraq has not disarmed; 2) inspections cannot disarm it; and 3) defectors such as Kamel are the most reliable source of information on Iraq's weapons.

...According to Newsweek, Kamel told the same story to CIA analysts in August 1995. If that is true, all of [the top] U.S. officials have had access to Kamel's statements that the weapons were destroyed. Their repeated citations of his testimony-- without revealing that he also said the weapons no longer exist-- suggests that the administration might be withholding critical evidence.

...Unfortunately, Newsweek chose a curious way to handle its scoop: The magazine placed the story in the miscellaneous "Periscope" section with a generic headline, "The Defector's Secrets." Worse, Newsweek's online version added a subhead that seemed almost designed to undercut the importance of the story: "Before his death, a high-ranking defector said Iraq had not abandoned its WMD ambitions." So far, according to a February 27 search of the Nexis database, no major U.S. newspapers or national television news shows have picked up the Newsweek story.

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http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030228/D7PFBSI00.html

The government is getting ready to test a new risk-detection system that would check background information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight... Delta Air Lines will try it out at three unidentified airports beginning next month, and a comprehensive... will check such things as credit reports and bank account activity and compare passenger names with those on government watch lists.

...The government is developing the system without revealing how information will be gathered and how long it will be kept... Transportation Department spokesman Chet Lunner said a Federal Register notice about CAPPS II that said the background information will be stored for 50 years is inaccurate. He said such information will be held only for people deemed security risks.

...CAPPS II will collect data and rate each passenger's risk potential according to a three-color system: green, yellow, red. When travelers check in, their names will be punched into the system and the boarding passes encrypted with the ranking. TSA screeners will check the passes at checkpoints... Passengers... rated green won't be subjected to anything more than normal checks, while yellow will get extra screening and red won't fly.

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13471

WASHINGTON, DC—As an additional reminder that the U.S. is on high alert for terrorist attacks, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge announced Tuesday that Orange Alert klaxons will blare 24 hours a day in all major cities. "These 130-decibel sirens, which, beginning Friday, will scream all day and night in the nation's 50 largest metro areas, will serve as a helpful reminder to citizens to stay on the lookout for suspicious activity and be ready for emergency action," Ridge said.

...Ridge stressed that the government does not want individuals to let the blaring sirens affect their work or travel plans. "Go about your usual business," Ridge said. "Of course, while you do so, keep in mind that we are just barely this side of Red Alert, the highest level of danger possible."

Ridge also urged citizens to pay close attention to the sirens' subtle variations. "The steady 'alert' siren indicates the need to be generally aware of the threat of terrorism," he said. "This is the normal, default siren. The higher-pitched 'wail' siren, on the other hand, means federal authorities have credible information regarding a specific possible threat, and that citizens should ready themselves for the 30 to 50 percent likelihood of an attack. If citizens hear an 'alternating wail' siren, a piercing shriek/whine interrupted every 30 seconds by short bursts of what sounds like gunfire, they need to prepare for the 70 percent chance of a 20 percent more serious disaster. And, finally, a 'pulsating steady' alarm means Americans should have plenty of plastic sheeting and duct tape on hand to make a shelter in the almost guaranteed event of chemical, biological, or radiological attack."

Ridge emphasized that all these alarms merely indicate an Orange Alert state and not a 100 percent definite threat. Should the country be raised to Red Alert status, an entirely different set of patterned horn bursts would be put into use, the details of which will be available at www.fema.gov.

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http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57831,00.html

A former engineer for an election software company has filed a lawsuit against his ex-employer, claiming executives ignored his warnings of potential defects. In the suit... software engineer Dan Spillane claims that his ex-employer, voting software developer VoteHere, wrongfully fired him after less than seven months on the job. The suit claims the termination occurred shortly before Spillane had planned to meet with officials of the independent testing authority responsible for certifying voting machines and the U.S. General Accounting Office. He claims the firing was "clearly in retaliation for whistleblowing."

Although more than a year and a half has passed since he lost his job, Spillane said he decided to file the suit because he believed it was important to disclose potential defects in voting software applications and in the certification process. "I didn't feel that just shutting up was, in my opinion, the American thing to do," he said.

...In his lawsuit, Spillane claims that he submitted about 250 defect reports during his tenure at VoteHere, where he was hired in January 2001 to test voting applications to ensure they were in compliance with Federal Election Commission guidelines and industry standards. One of the defects he cited was a data path flaw that interfered with the software's ability to correctly transmit votes from the computer screen to the record log. Other defects affected usability of touch-screen voting systems, particularly for seniors and people with "limited educational experience." Spillane claims he sent his defect reports to his manager, who classified them as highly important quality-assurance concerns. But he said his manager's managers then "de-prioritized" the defect reports and did not attempt to resolve them.

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http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story576.html

The threat of war in Iraq is driving increasing numbers of Americans to British and international news web sites in search of the broader picture. According to the internet audience management and analysis company, Nielsen NetRatings, traffic to the UK's biggest news sites, BBC News Online and Guardian Unlimited, has increased dramatically over the past year. Many of these new users are from the US. Jon Dennis, deputy news editor of the Guardian Unlimited web site said: "We have noticed an upsurge in traffic from America, primarily because we are receiving more emails from US visitors thanking us for reporting on worldwide news in a way that is unavailable in the US media."

The American public is apparently turning away from the mostly US-centric American media in search of unbiased reporting and other points of views.

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http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=LL&Date=20030216&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=302160395&Ref=AR&Profile=1004

LAKELAND -- A state appeals court overturned a $425,000 jury award to a former Tampa television news reporter who claimed she was fired for refusing to include misleading information in a story. In a unanimous decision Friday, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said Jane Akre failed to show the Tampa station, Fox affiliate WTVT, had violated any state laws.

...Akre and then-husband Steve Wilson claimed WTVT executives and a Fox network attorney encouraged inclusion of false statements in a story about bovine growth hormone, or BGH, a substance manufactured by the Monsanto Corp. The couple produced a four-part series that said Florida supermarket chains did little to avoid selling milk from cows treated with the hormone, despite assuring customers otherwise. Akre and Wilson claimed they were wrongfully fired for refusing to use misleading information in the story and because they had threatened to report the station to the Federal Communications Commission... The appeals court said Akre's threat to report the station's actions to the FCC didn't deserve protection under the state whistle-blower's statute.

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http://foxbghsuit.com/

After a five-week trial and six hours of deliberation which ended August 18, 2000, a Florida state court jury unanimously determined that Fox "acted intentionally and deliberately to falsify or distort the plaintiffs' news reporting on BGH." In that decision, the jury also found that Jane's threat to blow the whistle on Fox's misconduct to the FCC was the sole reason for the termination... and the jury awarded $425,000 in damages which makes her eligible to apply for reimbursement for all court costs, expenses and legal fees. Fox appealed and prevailed.

...The whistle-blowing journalists, who twice refused Fox offers of big-money deals to keep quiet about what they knew, filed their landmark lawsuit April 2, 1998 and survived three Fox efforts to have their case summarily dismissed. It is the first time journalists have used a whistleblower law to seek a legal remedy for being fired by for refusing to distort the news.

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http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=23186

Some members of the telemarketing no-call compliance industry expressed surprise yesterday that the Federal Trade Commission chose telecommunications carrier AT&T to build its national do-not-call registry. The FTC awarded the contract to AT&T's Government Solutions unit, according to an announcement from AT&T yesterday.

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http://www.thefileroom.org/weblog/dannylog.cfm

High anxiety haunts TV cable newsland. James Welborn explains why on TomPaine.com: "If and when the bombs start raining down there won’t be any shortage of viewers for either network. What will be in short supply, however, are advertisers. And no advertisers, of course, means no profits. According to The New York Times, "Executives of the 24-hour cable news channels -- CNN, Fox News and MSNBC -- said they expected to suspend all advertising for at least the first few days of a war... But executives at all three channels said they expected at least a few advertisers to return within weeks, especially if the war ended quickly... Evidently, none of the sponsors are all that excited about cutting away from a shot of bloody carnage to bring you a warm, fuzzy message about their latest product."

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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-taped-defendant0226feb26,0,2133980.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnation%2Dheadlines

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A Texas judge ordered a defendant's mouth to be taped shut after the man kept interrupting his lawyer and the judge during an aggravated assault trial. For about 20 minutes Tuesday, Carl Wiley, 36, ignored pleas from state District Judge Jim Bob Darnell and his own mother to keep quiet during a hearing outside the jury's presence. Finally, Darnell ordered bailiffs to seal Wiley's mouth with duct tape.

"He was being very disruptive and he was trying to fire his second court-appointed attorney, and I informed him that when the attorney is appointed by the court, only the court can fire the attorney," Darnell said. "Mr. Wiley continued to interrupt him," Darnell said, referring to attorney Steve Hamilton, "so the court duct-taped his mouth until the jury came in. Then I had him removed from the courtroom."

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13324

The American Association of Serial Killers (AASK) issued a statement today through their president thanking Tom Ridge and the rest of the Bush Administration for suggesting that duct tape and garbage bags would be the best protection against possible chemical attack from Al Qaeda or other

terrorist groups. "For once," said AASK president and spokesman Jim-Billy McCloskey, also known as 'the Red Valley Strangler,' "we serial killers are the most protected members of society, what with our storage closets filled with duct tape and plastic bags... We feel less marginalized, and people are looking to us for guidance and tips on where to buy cheap tape and plastic, and I'm happy about that."

Asked what some of his fellow serial killers have to say about the current Orange Alert, McCloskey said that he didn't have "a clue -- most of us are quiet loners. We don't really socialize much. Not even with each other."

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http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/

Bill O'Reilly - 02/26:

"Once the war against Saddam Hussein begins, we expect every American to support our military, and if you can't do that, just shut up. Americans, and indeed our foreign allies who actively work against our military once the war is underway, will be considered enemies of the state by me.

“Just fair warning to you, Barbra Streisand and others who see the world as you do. I don't want to demonize anyone, but anyone who hurts this country in a time like this, well. Let's just say you will be spotlighted.

“Talking points invites all points of view and believes vigorous debate strengthens the country, but once decisions have been made and lives are on the line, patriotism must be factored in."

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http://www.glaad.org/action/alerts_detail.php?id=3257#

For eight years, Michael Savage has used his San Francisco-based radio talk show as a platform to spew hateful, defamatory rhetoric targeting women, people of color, immigrants and the LGBT community. On February 12, MSNBC announced it had offered Savage his own weekly cable television talk show, to begin mid-March.

...In October 2002, he said that the United States "is being taken over by the freaks, the cripples, the perverts and the mental defectives." On the subject of immigrants, "You open the door to them, and the next thing you know, they are defecating on your country and breeding out of control."

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http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript208_full_print.html

ANNOUNCER: You're watching NOW WITH BILL MOYERS. With contributions from NPR News.

... MOYERS: A footnote to this conversation on how media use the public's airwaves. NBC is owned by General Electric; G.E. and Microsoft own the cable news network MSNBC; and MSNBC has just hired Michael Savage to do a new television program.

Mr. Savage is the host of an ABC radio show called SAVAGE NATION. MSNBC says Michael Savage will provide "compelling opinion and analysis with edge." Now, what does that mean? Well, let's look at the record: Michael Savage is known to speak on the air of non-white countries as — you may want to cover your children's eyes — as "turd world nations."

Open your door to immigrants, he has said, and "the next thing you know they are defecating on your country and breeding out of control." He has said that while Latinos, in particular, "breed like rabbits" and whites don't, homosexuals "are part of the grand plan to cut down on the white race." When student volunteers distributed food to San Francisco's homeless, Mr. Savage said "the girls can go in and maybe get raped because they seem to like the excitement of it. There's always the thrill and possibility they'll be raped in a dumpster while giving out a turkey sandwich." When the Million Mom March called for gun control, Mr. Savage said children killed by guns "are not kids, they're ghetto slime."

Never mind. Apparently such ideas strengthen the arsenal of democracy. For Michael Savage says: "We need racist stereotypes right now of our enemy in order to encourage our warriors to kill the enemy." So a SAVAGE NATION is now safely nestled in the bosom of big media, courtesy of G.E. and Microsoft.

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http://www.thefileroom.org/weblog/dannylog.cfm

It now seems even more certain that Phil Donahue was bounced from MSNBC for political reasons, not because his ratings were low. Someone in the know writes confirms that there was an internal report that criticized the show’s openness to presenting war critics: "I'm not free to talk publicly but that report, conforms with management insistence that hawks outnumber doves on Donahue -- a guest list slant obvious to anyone closely watching."

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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/5263274.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Phil Donahue struck back at MSNBC on Wednesday for his firing, suggesting the network was too quick to pull the trigger and that it might be trying to "out-fox Fox" with conservative voices. Donahue's political talk show, a distant third in the cable news ratings in his time slot, was abruptly pulled from the air after Monday's show. The show premiered last July 15. The legendary talk show host noted that "Donahue's" ratings were better than anything else in struggling MSNBC's prime-time lineup.

...Donahue... said he had been hoping "to break through the noisy drums of war on cable" and become a responsible platform for both sides of the issue. He noted that the network recently hired conservative commentator Mike Savage as host of a weekend show, and retired GOP politicians Dick Armey and Joe Scarborough as contributors. This suggests "a strategy to out-fox Fox," he said.

Meanwhile, the Web site www.allyourtv.com posted a commentary on Wednesday by Rick Ellis saying that he had been leaked an internal NBC study that described Donahue as "a tired, left-wing liberal out of touch with the current marketplace." The report allegedly said Donahue presented a difficult face for NBC at a time of war, saying a nightmare scenario would be one in which his show becomes "a home for the liberal anti-war agenda at the same time our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

..."Donahue" ... will be replaced by an expanded version of MSNBC's war preparation news show "Countdown: Iraq."

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truth or consequences, from the house of representatives

http://www.house.gov/appropriations_democrats/caughtonfilm.htm

Produced by the House Appropriations Committee – Minority Contact: David Sirota (202) 225-3481.

“I want to thank the good folks here at Rochester Community and Technical College for your hospitality…The most important issue for any governor in any state is to make sure every single child in your state receives a quality education.” – Bush,10/18/02. Bush’s 2004 budget proposes to cut vocational and technical education grants by 24% ($307,000,000.00). His budget also proposes to freeze funding for Pell grants for low-income students.

Bush touts the importance of veterans medical care at Walter Reed Army Hospital [1/17/03]: “Having been here and seeing the care that these troops get is comforting for me and Laura. We are -- should and must provide the best care for anybody who is willing to put their life in harm's way.” – Bush, 1/17/03. Bush's visit came on the same day that the Administration announced it is immediately cutting off access to its health care system approximately 164,000 veterans [W. Post, 1/17/03].

“Within that budget I proposed last night is a substantial increase in Medicare funding of $400 billion on top of what we already spend, over the next 10 years... A reformed and strengthened Medicare system, plus a healthy dosage of Medicare spending in the budget, will make us say firmly, we fulfilled our promise to the seniors of America.” – Bush, 1/29/03. Under Bush’s proposal, there should be a roughly $40 billion increase in Medicare each year for a decade. However, Bush’s 2004 budget proposes just $6 billion – 85% less than what would be needed to meet his goal. Additionally, his budget would leave 67% of the total $400 billion pledge to be spent after 2008. [Bush Budget, pg. 318]

“I hope people around this country realize that agencies such as this food bank need money... We shouldn't let the enemy affect us to the point where we become less generous. Our spirit should never be diminished by what happened on September the 11th, 2001. Quite the contrary. We must stand squarely in the face of evil by doing some good.”- Bush, 12/19/02. The 2003 and 2004 Bush budgets proposes to freeze the Congregate Nutrition Program, which assists local soup kitchens and Meals on Wheels programs. With inflation, this proposal would mean at least 36,000 seniors would be cut from Meals on Wheels and Congregate Meals programs. Currently, 139,000 seniors are already on waiting lists for home-meal programs.

Bush talks up the need for education funding at the one-year anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act: “This administration is committed to your effort. And with the support of Congress, we will continue to work to provide the resources school need to fund the era of reform.” – Bush, 1/8/03. The President’s 2003 budget – the first education budget after he signed and touted the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) - proposed to cut NCLB programs by $90,000,000.00 overall, leaving these programs more than $7,000,000,000.00 short of what was authorized under the bill. Bush’s 2004 budget for NCLB is just 1.9% above what he proposed in 2003.

“I want to thank the Boys & Girls Clubs across the country…The Boys & Girls Club have got a grand history of helping children understand the future is bright for them, as well as any other child in America. Boys & Girls Clubs have been safe havens. They're little beacons of light for children who might not see light. And I want to thank them for their service to the country.” – Bush, 1/30/03. In his 2002 budget, Bush proposed eliminating all federal funding for the Boys and Girls Club of America. In his 2003 budget, he proposed cutting the program by 15% (from $70 million down to $60 million).

“A secure and efficient border is key to our economic security.” – Bush, 9/9/02. While Bush did hold a photo-op to sign legislation promising more INS/Border Patrol staff and facilities, his budget provided no additional money for this. Additionally, in August, Bush vetoed $6,250,000.00 for promised pay upgrades for Border Patrol agents. Additionally, he vetoed all $39,000,000.00 for the Container Security Initiative. His 2004 Budget slashes total “Border and Transportation Security” by $284,000,000.00.

“This is a hospital, but it's also - it's a place full of love. And I was most touched by meeting the parents and the kids and the nurses and the docs, all of whom are working hard to save lives. I want to thank the moms who are here… My job as the President is to submit a budget to the Congress and to set priorities, and one of the priorities that we've talked about is making sure the health care systems are funded.” – Egleston Children's Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia 3/1/01. Bush’s first budget proposed cutting grants to children’s hospitals like the one he visited by 15% ($34,000,000.00). His 2004 budget additionally proposes to cut 30% ($86,000,000.00) out of grants to children’s hospitals. [and so on.]

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7963-2003Feb26.html

A Bush administration bookkeeping decision has left a funding shortfall for the AmeriCorps national service program that could force enrollment cuts of as much as 50 percent -- instead of the 50 percent increase President Bush had promised.

The president embraced AmeriCorps, a Clinton-era program, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and has made it a central part of his "compassionate conservative" agenda. During his State of the Union address last year, he called for AmeriCorps enrollment to grow to 75,000 from 50,000. Instead, it is possible that enrollment will be held to 26,000 this year unless changes are made, AmeriCorps officials said.

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http://financialtimes.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=&urlID=5543997&fb=Y&partnerID=1700

Buried in the US military's budget submission to Congress this month was a little-noticed request for $200,000,000.00 to help train and equip forces of foreign countries... The figure is minimal, close to the cost of a single new F/A-22 tactical fighter. But the request is a sign of things to come. It is part of a growing effort by senior defence officials to use the US military in a growing number of foreign countries... From the Pankisi Gorge in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to the so-called "tri-border area" joining Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, thousands of US troops, most of them special operations forces, have been dispersed around the globe.

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13328

Washington -- In a stunning news release this morning, the Gallop Organization revealed the results of its latest poll showing the vast majority of Americans believing President Bush is an insane idiot. In a telephone survey of 5,000 adults last week, a whopping 95% felt Bush was a "complete idiot." Another four percent said he was "somewhat an idiot."

"We were surprised," said Gallop spokesperson Angela Wessen of the question regarding Bush's lack of mental ability. "It was supposed to be a throw-away question designed to get the attention of the person being questioned.

Another question, in the middle of the survey, asked "Do you think President Bush is insane--not at all, somewhat, or certifiably?" 90 percent said ‘certifiably’ and another 7 percent chose ‘somewhat.’ "We just wanted to see if they were still awake, but we didn't expect this," said Wessen. "At first we thought it was a mistake. But we repeated the poll and got the same results."

...The White House, used to highly favorable approval ratings, was stunned at the news and tried desperately to put a positive spin on it. "We believe this is a practical joke," Press Secretary Ari Fliesher said today. President Bush, following his appearance at a fund raiser said, "I doesn't believe in polls." When asked if he was an idiot, the president seemed befuddled by the unscripted question. "Huh? Well, uh, uh. That, that, that pollster woman, I never polled her."

...In late breaking developments, Fox News says Gallop is being investigated by the Department of Justice for possible terrorist activity. Computers, files, and dumpsters were being carted off while Gallop officials were taken to undisclosed locations.

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http://cnn.law.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=-1&urlID=5542236&fb=Y&partnerID=2013

The FBI sent to state and local law enforcement officials Wednesday an "intelligence bulletin" designed to help police detect possible surveillance activities by al Qaeda-affiliated operatives. The FBI told police to remain alert to several possible indicators of al Qaeda surveillance and report any suspicious activity to the nearest Joint Terrorism Task Force. The indicators included:

...Unusual behavior such as staring or quickly looking away from personnel or vehicles entering or leaving designated facilities or parking areas

...Observation of security reaction drills or procedures

...Foot surveillance involving two or three people working together

...Mobile surveillance using bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles, boats, or small aircraft

...Prolonged static surveillance using operatives disguised as panhandlers, demonstrators, shoe shiners, food or flower vendors, news agents, or street sweepers not previously seen in the area

...Use of multiple sets of clothing, identifications, or the use of sketching materials

...The FBI sent the information on a routine basis Wednesday through law enforcement channels. It said the information was not prompted by any specific event or intelligence.

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http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=13551

The Department of Homeland Security reduced the nation’s terror alert status from Orange to Yellow today, with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge urging all Americans to stock up on Scotch tape rather than duct tape and to immediately destroy half the amount of water and food they keep in their homes. “Under Code Yellow, sealing a room in your house with Scotch tape will do the trick,” Mr. Ridge said. “And if you run out of tape before you’re done, don’t lose any sleep over it.”

Mr. Ridge also gave a complete list of tobacco and alcohol guidelines for Code Yellow, urging Americans to cut back to two packs of cigarettes a day and one forty-ounce can of malt liquor before lunch. In addition, Mr. Ridge said, Americans who have been irritably snapping at their spouses during Code Orange may now merely give them dirty looks and subject them to long, stony silences.

While the government said that the reduction in terror alert status came about because of a reduction in terrorist chatter in recent days, Professor Daniel Rutledge, Chairman of the Department of Terrorist Chatter Studies for the University of Minnesota, disagrees with this assessment. “Terrorist chatter always goes down at the end of the month,” Dr. Rutledge said. “Al Qaeda operatives are on a Friends and Extremists cell-phone plan, which only gives them one thousand free minutes to make terror threats each month.”

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/02/28/MN40941.DTL

Sacramento -- The U.S. Department of Justice has threatened to criminally prosecute California's top firearms official over the state's continued use of a federal databank to hunt down illegal gun users, The Chronicle has learned... Federal authorities believe the list of convicted felons, drug dealers, suspected terrorists, spouse beaters, illegal immigrants and others should only be used to help gun dealers determine if someone is allowed to buy a gun, not police investigating other gun-control violations.