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Al-jazeera has a temporary english site for iraq war coverage. Go to this site and:

http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/index.asp?cu_no=1&lng=0&template_id=5&temp_type=44

a sample story: http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=921&version=1&template_id=263&parent_id=258

The commander of the Iraqi Army’s 51st mechanised division denied media reports which claimed he surrendered along with his unit, when speaking to Al Jazeera in Basra on Sunday… Information minister Mohammed Said Al-Sahhaf said 77 civilians were killed and 366 injured as a result of US air strikes -- mostly from cluster bombs -- over Basra… The great number of innocents killed evoked feelings of rage in the city, reported Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Al-Abdullah.

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http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=1194376

About one-thousand people protested in eastern Afghanistan today. One military official says it was peaceful. The U-S-backed Afghan government has said the use of force to disarm Iraq is justified, but many Afghans oppose the war.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81845,00.html

As many as three U.S. missiles aimed at targets in Iraq may have landed in Iran, two officials at the Pentagon said Saturday.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=390540

Syria protested to the US and Britain last night after a US missile killed five Syrian workers and injured 10 who were fleeing the war in a bus. The vehicle, which was carrying 37 passengers, was struck on the Iraqi side of the Syrian border on Sunday morning as it stopped for a rest break.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=390534

Every day, young Iraqi men are turning up [in Amman, Syria] to take buses back across the border to Iraq – as many as 500 of them a time, according to the driver of one bus. Perhaps he was exaggerating a little, but plenty of Iraqis are going.

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http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6178413%5E25778,00.html

TWO missiles believed to have been accidently dropped from US planes landed in southeastern Turkey.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=574&ncid=721&e=5&u=/nm/20030323/wl_nm/iraq_turkey_dc

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday Ankara's plans to send more troops into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq would provide stability there… and "prevent various provocations against our security."

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http://www.sundayherald.com/32401

'I am buying this to protect my family,' said Nawzad Abu Bakar, a Kurdish electrical goods salesman as he queued to buy a Kalashnikov rifle. 'If the Turks come here I will fight them… If Saddam is bad then the Turks are worse.'

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http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=12767853&method=full&siteid=86024

DEAD Iraqi soldiers, still clutching white flags, lie in the trenches where they died. This was the horrific sight that met British troops as they pushed further into southern Iraq yesterday [Saturday March 22].

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/24WATC.html?ex=1049538919&ei=1&en=b65b1a5af22d1dda

The television war turned menacing yesterday. Gone were three days full of almost naïvely hopeful imagery of American tanks plowing effortlessly through the desert. Instead, flowing to the screen were images of American soldiers under fire in southern Iraq; an allied marine ablaze as he ran out of a burning building in the Fao region in southern Iraq… Yesterday's coverage demonstrated the potential downside of the military's decision to invite hundreds of journalists along for the attack. It showed what happens when the enemy fights back.

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a view from the UK

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12770628&method=full&siteid=50143

But the many sickening sights we have seen have only strengthened the belief held by the majority of the world, that this is a futile and immoral attack on people who currently threaten no outsiders. Where are the chemical attacks? Where are Saddam's weapons of mass destruction? Where are the links to international terrorists? Where are the millions of oppressed Iraqis defecting en masse to their liberators?

…We see screaming babies in ramshackle hospitals, stripped bare of supplies by a dozen years of medicine sanctions, and we despair at the lie that this war is a humanitarian mission to help a stricken people. We see innocent civilians killed and maimed in their dilapidated homes, and we just don't know why it is happening in our name. All we can conclude, especially after the astonishing blitz of Baghdad, is that Iraq is the testing ground for a devastating show of American might, aimed at warning enemies that if they step out of line they will be next.

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=A1XV0TJF1BW5ECRBAEZSFFA?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2431728

Incinerated bodies littered a plain in central Iraq on Sunday after U.S. forces overwhelmed Iraqi militia fighters in a battle south of the holy city of Najaf. U.S. armored infantry and tanks took control of the plain in the early hours of Sunday after a battle of more than seven hours against Iraqi forces who were armed with machineguns mounted on the back of Japanese pick-up trucks.

…Charred ribs were the only recognizable part of three melted bodies in a destroyed car lying in the roadside dust. "It wasn't even a fair fight. I don't know why they don't just surrender," said Colonel Mark Hildenbrand, commander of the 937th Engineer Group. "When you're playing soccer at home, 3-2 is a fair score, but here it's more like 119-0," he said, adding that the Iraqi sport utility vehicles (SUVs) stood no chance against tanks.

…Dead soldiers shown to reporters were not wearing any standard uniform and had only open-toed sandals on their feet. Helmets lying near their bodies were made of plastic, not Kevlar… A desert hideout Hildenbrand said had been used by a militiaman in recent days showed the hardship many ordinary Iraqi soldiers face. The soldier had only a filthy blanket to protect him from the cold desert nights, and for food he had only a plastic bag full of raw meat. When he fled, he left behind a picture of his two children.

"I feel nothing but sorrow for these people," Hildenbrand said as he toured the hideout. "This war is against one man, it's not against the Iraqi people. I just wish they would surrender so we could get it over with."

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A view from Iraq

http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=20030323081925522

March 22, 2003 Here in Baghdad, along the Tigris River, a gentle dawn and the sweetest of birdsongs were more precious than ever following a horrific night of intense bombardment… Tomorrow we’ll plan a birthday party for Amal who turns 13. Last night, a cake appeared in the tearoom in celebration of Mother’s Day… Last night’s casualty list includes 207 wounded… News reports say that more than 1,000 Cruise missiles were launched last night, and the US may be planning to release many more tonight. On a beautiful spring day, welcome to hell. [Kathy Kelly is a member of the Iraq Peace Team currently in Baghdad]

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Another view from Iraq

http://electroniciraq.net/news/394.shtml

In America, the saying goes goes: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. In Bagdhad, at Al Kindi Hospital Emergency, Fatima Abdullah is screaming in outrage: "Why do you do this to us!" Her 8 year old, Fatehah is dead, two other daughters are on stretchers wounded by a missle that crushed her uncle's home where they were staying… Muhammed, the four year old crying in her arms has cuts from shrapnel and debris criss-crossing the right side of his face and head, eyelids swollen shut.

…How can I explain reasons to them? They know that Bush's Administration is interested in oil control and that they have no interest in democracy for these people. Why don't Americans know this? Why did we elect this man without human feelings, they ask… I wish that George Bush was here with his answers to their outrage. [April Hurley is a physician from Santa Rosa, California… in Baghdad with the Voices in the Wilderness' Iraq Peace Team]

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from Robert Fisk in Iraq

http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk03252003.html

…We bomb. They suffer. Then we turn up and take pictures of their wounded children… Always, when "we" come to visit those we have bombed, we have the same question. In Libya in 1986, I remember how American reporters would repeatedly cross-question the wounded: had they perhaps been hit by shrapnel from their own anti-aircraft fire? Again, in 1991, "we" asked the Iraqi wounded the same question. And yesterday, a doctor found himself asked by a British radio reporter -- yes, you've guessed it -- "Do you think, doctor, that some of these people could have been hit by Iraqi anti-aircraft fire?"

Should we laugh or cry at this? Should we always blame "them" for their own wounds? Certainly we should ask why those cruise missiles exploded where they did, at least 320 in Baghdad alone, courtesy of the USS Kitty Hawk.

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http://www.irna.com/en/head/030324210651.ehe.shtml

Tehran, March 24, IRNA -- Iraqi opposition groups on Monday stressed that they would declare an Iraqi transitional government once the two important cities of Basra and Mosul have fallen to US-led troops.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2879373.stm

Water and electricity supplies to [Basra] have been cut off for more than two days… The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said …"Sixty per cent of the local population are still without access to a regular water supply." …UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has denied [that] the utilities in Basra were targeted by the coalition. He told BBC Radio 4's The Westminster Hour: "I am concerned - and this is being suggested to me now - that it may well be the Iraqi authorities that are inflicting this harm on their own people."

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JRQZCVMJBIVDOCRBAEOCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=2428789

Sat March 22 - U.S. Marines have defeated Iraqi forces in a battle on the outskirts of the southern city of Basra on Saturday, taking many prisoners, a Marine captain said.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10213-2003Mar22.html

Sunday, March 23 - The intense attacks late this afternoon underscored the resistance mounted by Iraqi defenders around Basra despite earlier reports that the city of more than 1 million had already fallen to U.S. Marines.

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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5469032.htm

Fighting around the southern Iraq oil fields that U.S.-led forces had previously thought were secure has driven out civilian firefighters trying to put out the oil well blazes, the top firefighter said Monday. "It's not nearly as safe as they said it was," said Brian Krause, vice president and senior blowout specialist for Houston-based [and Cheney-affiliated] Boots and Coots. "We're kind of sitting ducks out there."

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-3-2003_pg4_5

Military commanders will use Iraqi prisoners of war to help in the emergency aid operation being set up by British troops. Whitehall has examined the legalities and believes that allied commanders have the right to force PoWs to work in ports unloading aid supplies, or assisting in the urgent rebuilding of water and sanitation plants. Officers would not say what they would do with prisoners who refuse to co-operate.

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http://society.guardian.co.uk/disasterresponse/story/0,1321,920791,00.html

President George Bush promised Tony Blair at the Azores summit that the UN would have a key role after the war ends. But the Pentagon believes this should be confined to humanitarian assistance and is pressing ahead with its own plans, which would put US companies in charge of the country's schools and hospitals… Without a UN resolution, Whitehall lawyers say that the US and UK occupying forces would have no legal right to run the country's institutions. "There is no legal mandate for that sort of activity," said one Whitehall official. "It's all quite bizarre."

…Washington is boasting that its soldiers will double as mobile aid workers, bringing rations to the vulnerable population, 60% of whom depend on food handed out by the UN's oil for food programme.

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http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=90851

Despite President George W. Bush's assurance that "massive amounts" of humanitarian aid should soon begin flowing to areas of southern Iraq, relief workers and British military officials who will lead the effort said Monday that they could not meet any such timetable… Relief workers say it will take at least days and probably weeks before aid can start being delivered. The situation is direst in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, with over 1.5 million people, where electricity and water have been cut off for three days, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross.

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http://www.antiwar.com/comment/pows.html

Yesterday's news was filled with reports and films of the "thousands" of Iraqi troops who eagerly surrendered. The Pentagon announced that an entire division of 8,000 troops surrendered… At the Pentagon briefing on Saturday afternoon, a reporter asked General Stanley McChrystal and Pentagon Spokesperson Victoria Clark about a report by General Franks that the US was currently holding 1,000-2,000 Iraqi prisoners. "What happened to the other Iraqis who surrendered?" General McChrystal mumbled, and then said, "They must have run off." No follow-up question was asked.

…Yesterday, Saddam Hussein issued a statement that all Geneva Convention rights of POWs taken by Iraq will be respected. However, he has already broken this by showing films of allied POWs on Iraqi TV… Donald Rumsfeld says that this violation will be prosecuted. In a news conference, he also said that the US would never show Iraqi POWs on TV. However, Fox News filled the airwaves on Saturday showing Iraqi POWs, up close and looking humiliated. Military handlers guided the camera crew through the groups of POWs. This story was shown at least 5 times on Saturday on Fox… One wonders whether there will be equal prosecution of this violation for both sides.

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http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=8&id=253915

Many European television stations broadcast images of four men and a woman that Iraq said were American prisoners of war, despite criticism from US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Editorial staff defended their decision to air the pictures, saying that earlier footage showing Iraqi soldiers captured by U.S. forces had not been criticised.

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

Globalvision News Network editor Tim Karr reports: "Erich Marquardt, the editor of Amsterdam-based YellowTimes.org (www/yellowtimes.org)… was temporarily shut down Sunday night after it posted graphic images of Iraqi victims of the war. YellowTimes.org also on Sunday published images of the five captured American soldiers and of dead GI’s. Without any prior warning YellowTimes.org’s hosting provider sent a letter stating: "Your account has been suspended because of inappropriate graphic material."

”It’s interesting to note today that the images of captured and killed GI’s are today readily available on the front pages and screens of the mainstream media. On Sunday, however, few in the mainstream press ventured to broadcast these." [it's still shut down –mrs.h]

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

Media Guardian reports: "Sir Ray Tindle, the editor in chief of over 100 weekly newspapers across Britain, has informed all his editors that they can no longer report any anti-war stories in their newspapers. Sir Ray, who has been knighted for his services to the newspaper industry, wrote: "Everyone knows that Tindle family newspapers have no political bias. Our columns are free. When British troops come under fire, however, as now seems probable, I ask you to ensure that nothing appears in the columns if your newspapers which attacks the decision to conduct the war."

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live from MTV-Europe's inner offices

http://www.internalmemos.com/memos/memodetails.php?memo_id=1424

In the light of the outbreak of war in Iraq in the last 12 hours, our recommendations for the scheduling and content of videos and programmes are as follows:

…We recommend that videos featuring the following are not shown at the moment: war, soldiers, war planes, bombs, missiles, riots and social unrest, executions, other obviously sensitive material.

Examples include: System of a Down's "Boom!": anti-war video containing facts and figures about, among other things, the projected casualties in the war in Iraq.

…Furthermore, videos with words such as "bomb", "missile", "war" or other sensitive words in the artist or song title should not be shown at the moment…Examples include: Radiohead's "Invasion": song title may offend.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8222-2003Mar21.html

An opinion survey conducted earlier this month by Zogby International in six Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon [found that]… a huge majority of people in those countries said that, if given the choice, they would like their Islamic clergy to play roles bigger than the subservient ones currently prescribed by most Arab governments.

…Less than 6% of those polled believed that the United States was waging its campaign in Iraq to create a more democratic Arab or Muslim world… The survey, commissioned by University of Maryland professor Shibley Telhami, also showed that overwhelming margins said that terrorism was going to increase, rather than decrease, as a result of the U.S.-led invasion.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/24RECR.html?ex=1049539658&ei=1&en=8d33dbbdacc8e910

[This week, military recruiters said] questions about why the United States planned to invade Iraq were far more prevalent than students considering enlistment. Capt. John J. Zeigler, the Bronx recruiting company commander, has his response nailed down. "It's not important whether we support this; our job is to obey," he tells students.

… In recent years, military recruitment has become increasingly sophisticated, adopting many of the same methods that have proved successful for colleges. There are slick brochures aimed at particular segments of the population — women, Hispanics, musicians, college graduates and high school seniors — reflecting recruiting stations' efforts to meet their enlistment goals.

While high school seniors make up less than 20 percent of enlistees each year, recruiters typically spend three days a week meeting with students, giving classroom presentations and roaming the halls.

…"Be all you can be," the Army's slogan for almost three decades, was dropped in 2001… In its place is the phrase "Army of One," aimed at a new generation of potential recruits. The approach reflects what Sergeant Whiteside calls the "me attitude." "It's like: `What can I get? What can you give me?'" he said. "That's fine, but we just have to appeal to that."

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http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030320/4967788s.htm

When Travis Clark joined the U.S. military at age 19, it seemed like a good way to travel and pay for college. It was 1996, the country was at peace, and Clark signed on for an eight-year hitch. Now, with a year left on his contract, the Marine reservist from Plantation, Fla., says he won't go if his unit is called to serve in a war against Iraq. He is adding his voice to a small chorus of like-minded military personnel who say they will not fight for a cause they do not support. ''This war is the wrong war,'' says Clark, 25. ''I can't put myself into the position of going into another country and forcing them to defend themselves against me.''

…Peace groups say a hotline that counsels members of the military against war logged more than 3,500 calls in January, double its usual monthly average... About 500 servicemembers filed for conscientious objector status during the [first] Persian Gulf War, according to the General Accounting Office… Peace groups say as many as three times that number refused to fight, and many served prison sentences up to 18 months.

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http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1084723,00.html

An American soldier has died in a grenade attack carried out by another US serviceman at a military camp in Kuwait. Fifteen troops were also injured when the soldier, named as Sergeant Asan Akbar, lobbed three grenades into tents housing commanding officers from the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania.

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http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/03/20/build/war/90-capturing.inc

CAMP NEW YORK, Kuwait -- Efraim Guillermo is surrounded by a small group of American troops. One advances, and kicks Guillermo's feet apart. Someone yells "Do it -- dawg style." Guillermo is thrown to the ground, face first. A soldier trains his machine gun on Guillermo's skull as another pats him down.

"Don't have gun," Guillermo says in broken English.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut! Up!" is the response… "What he was doing right there may have got him shot," said 2nd Lt. Tim Faulkner, who ran the soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division through the drill of how to subdue potential prisoners of war… If an Iraqi soldier is lying on the ground when troops come upon him, they are told to kick him in the testicles, hard, so that they can evaluate whether he's conscious, Faulkner explained. "The first time you see it, it may seem a little over the top, but they're not getting hurt," said Faulkner, who commands an armored Humvee platoon in the 101st Division's second brigade.

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perhaps you would like to write to some of these young men. Do it for free at

http://www.anyservicemember.org/main.html

here is a sample of what others have already written:

"Hi there, from New Zealand. Let it all end here." –Shanna

"Thanks for your service. Don't do anything stupid. Many injuries are caused by being careless and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Been there, done that." –Fred

"If you should see Saddam, be sure to show him what happens when you tick-off the best people in the world!" –different guy named Fred

"Thank you for saving our country! You guys rock!" --Shelby

"Prayer changes things! We have you in our prayers! May God's mighty angles protect you!" –J.M.

"I would like to thank all the Airmen and women who serve our country. May the goddess bless you all." –Kathleen

"While I can't send beer to you I'll certainly raise a glass in your honor." –Colleen

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http://catholicnewworld.com/cnw/issue/military_031603.html

The best thing American Catholics can do to support the men and women in the armed forces is pray for peace, said Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services of the United States… " I think all our troops would benefit by not going to war.”

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http://www.al-bushra.org/hedchrch/bishop1.html

Bishop John Michael Botean, the head of the Romanian Catholic eparchy (diocese) of St. George in Canton, Ohio, which has jurisdiction over all Byzantine-rite Romanian Catholics living in the US…announced that he "must declare to you, my people, for the sake of your salvation as well as my own, that any direct participation and support of this war against the people of Iraq is objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin."

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http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/31228

There is nothing like a war to build brand loyalty… Soldiers stationed in Kuwait should soon get packages of Colgate-Palmolive Co.'s Colgate toothpaste, sunglasses from Eastern States Eyewear and microwavable popcorn from ConAgra Foods Inc… This week, P&G and one of its licensees, Cottonbuds Inc., got an order from the Defense Commissary Agency in Fort Lee, Va., for about 600,000 rolls of Charmin To Go, miniature rolls of the toilet paper encased in hard plastic containers. Next week, the Defense Commissary Agency is sending an emergency order of 32,600 cases of products like Keebler Co.'s cookies, Kellogg Co.'s Pop-Tarts and crackers from RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. to its German distribution center… [and so on.]

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,919832,00.html

Missing British TV reporter Terry Lloyd and two of his ITN news crew may have been hit by "friendly fire" from coalition forces in Iraq, it was reported today. Cameraman Fred Nerac and local translator Hussein Othman were also missing.

Another cameraman, Daniel Demoustier, was injured…He told Barbara Jones of the Mail on Sunday [that]… "Immediately the allied tanks started heavy firing directly at us. Rounds were coming straight at the Jeep, smashing the windows and puncturing holes in the bodywork," he was quoted as saying. "Then the whole car was on fire. We were enveloped in flames. It was terrifying. I'm so angry that we were fired on by the allies. The Iraqis must have been their real target but I'm sure they were surrendering - and anyway they were all dead within minutes."

The US military said it had received unconfirmed reports that three journalists had been killed or injured covering hostitilies in southern Iraq on Saturday. US army General Guy Shields, director of the coalition press information centre in Kuwait, said he had reports that journalists had come under fire in four separate incidents while operating independently of US or British forces. "We have had phone calls from journalists who have called the press desk while under fire screaming for help," he told a news briefing.

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http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1084724,00.html

An RAF [British Royal Air Force] Tornado [warplane] was shot down by a US Patriot missile. It is the first reported incident of "friendly fire" since the Iraq war was launched four days ago. British officials confirmed the two aircrew on board the plane were killed… Air Marshal Brian Burridge, commander of the British troops in the Gulf… said: "This is a sad moment but we will put it behind us as quickly as we can in a military sense and carry on."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10012-2003Mar22.html

Gen. Tommy Franks told a news conference in Doha, Qatar, that… U.S. forces have yet to discover any chemical or biological weapons in Iraq but assured reporters that these secret caches would be uncovered as the war progresses.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81935,00.html

Coalition forces discovered Monday a "huge" suspected chemical weapons factory near the Iraqi city of Najaf, some 90 miles south of Baghdad, a senior Pentagon official confirmed to Fox News.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the war in Iraq, said in a statement that troops were examining several "sites of interest," but said it was premature to call the Najaf site a chemical weapons factory.

…U.N. weapons inspectors are not aware of any large-scale chemical sites which could be used to make chemical weapons in Najaf, said Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for the inspectors.

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http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=20030323174230228

Bush administration officials were peppered Saturday with questions about why the self-declared “allied forces” in Iraq have not found any of the chemical or biological weapons that were President George W. Bush's central justification… The Iraqi government has not used gas or germs to try to repel invading forces… One senior U.S. defense official [said] that “U.S.-led forces” ought to find and make a credible display of evidence of forbidden weapons programs "very, very fast."

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=568&ncid=749&e=2&u=/nm/20030324/bs_nm/arms_stocks_dc

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of some the largest U.S. defense companies climbed on Monday, bucking the market's lower trend as investors bet the war in Iraq would last longer and use more weapons than previously thought.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&ncid=716&e=7&u=/ap/20030324/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

War euphoria wore off on Wall Street Monday…The Dow Jones industrials gave back more than 300 points after its best week in two decades… Stocks surged in the past two weeks on growing investor confidence in a brief and victorious war, but analysts have said that would quickly change.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0325/p02s02-uspo.html

While the nation is focused on the war in Iraq, President Bush is closing in on a big win at home. His signature domestic initiative - a second major tax cut - looks likely to pass at nearly the size he proposed. The measure, which would slash taxes on stock dividends and accelerate the broad-based cuts passed in 2001… [because it will be] a budget resolution… is also shielded from a filibuster on the floor of the Senate.

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http://www.jordantimes.com/Mon/homenews/homenews2.htm

AMMAN — The US government is expected to provide extra assistance to Jordan to help the country weather the economic repercussions of the US-British war against Iraq. Washington also announced the rescheduling of around $178,000,000.00 out of Amman's $448,000,000.00 debt to the US.

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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EC22Ak08.html

"The surprise is not the attack on Baghdad or the advance from Kuwait. The surprise will come from Jordan," a top Jordanian source who requested anonymity told Asia Times Online.

The source says that well over 400 American tanks and more than 7,000 American troops may well be on their way to Baghdad from a remote launching pad in eastern Jordan… All of eastern Jordan has been declared a military zone… The Hashemite monarchy under Jordanian King Abdullah cannot possibly afford to go public with the explosive developments in eastern Jordan. On the one hand, it depends 100 percent on Saddam Hussein's regime for its oil… On the other hand, Jordan… depends on an annual $500,000,000.00 in civilian aid plus $200,000,000.00 [from the US] in military aid. =============================================

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,919563,00.html

Israel has irritated the US by revealing private assurances from Condoleezza Rice to Benjamin Netanyahu that the White House has approved $10,000,000,000.00 in aid before it was formally announced in Washington.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=275640&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

The [Israeli] defense establishment has recommended moving the separation fence east of several West Bank settlements, so that some 40,000 settlers and some 3,000 Palestinians are included in the western, Israeli side of the fence.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=275282&contrassID=2&subContrassID=15&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

A few months ago, Jerusalem learned that the Argentine government had identified the culprits behind the March 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, in which 29 people were killed, and the July 1994 bombing of the city's Jewish community center, in which 85 were killed… The Iranian leadership, including then-president Hashemi Rafsanjani and the country's supreme spiritual leader, Ali Khamenei, initiated the attacks… out of religious-ideological, not to say anti-Semitic, motives.

…According to information possessed by Jerusalem, Iran is currently involved in subversive activity against King Abdullah of Jordan and against Israel. It is conducting this activity via Hezbollah in Lebanon (with Syrian president Bashar Assad being the connecting link) and via agents in the PA and among Israeli Arabs.

After the war in Iraq, Israel will try to convince the U.S. to direct its war on terror at Iran, Damascus and Beirut. Senior defense establishment officials say that initial contacts in this direction have already been made in recent months, and that there is a good chance that America will be swayed by the Israeli argument.

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http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=19870

The next target of US after capturing Iraq will be replacement of religious government in Iran with a secular government, as the US forces in Afghanistan have already started implementation on action plan in this regard.

According to reliable sources, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had submitted a detailed 300 pages long report to President George Bush… Following this report, US intelligence agencies have started actions to check any possibility of provision of support to Iran from border areas of the two neighbouring countries [Afghanistan & Pakistan].

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2495128,00.html

An American activist in a pro-Palestinian group said he was injured Thursday by rubber-coated steel pellets fired by Israeli soldiers… Eric Williams Howanietz, 21, of Chicago, said he was hit in the arm, upper chest and ankle as he watched Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli army jeeps in Nablus. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone from a Nablus hospital… He said he was wearing a yellow vest identifying him as a member of the International Solidarity Movement… The shooting came five days after an army bulldozer killed Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Wash… Witnesses said Corrie also was wearing a bright yellow vest.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/europe/24CHEC.html?ex=1049086800&en=fc62c5d0bd3f8ac8&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

ROZNY, Russia, March 23 — Chechnya's voters turned out en masse today to vote on a disputed new constitution, putting a first stamp of legitimacy on a proposal to bind their republic to Russia forever… But even as the constitution's pro-Russian backers predicted its easy approval, it remained unclear how that might translate into an end to war with Islamic guerrillas who show no signs of giving up their fight… Some call the referendum an effort to avoid peace talks with the guerrillas, who continue to kill as many as two dozen Russian soldiers a week… President Vladimir V. Putin has rejected negotiations with the guerrillas, whom he brands as foreign-backed terrorists, and has instead given his army free rein to crush the separatists.

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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5457403.htm

Russia delivered a statement of protest to the U.S. Embassy on Saturday… after a U.S. spy plane flew near Russia's border with neighboring Georgia. Two Russian fighters were scrambled to track the U-2 spy plane as it flew 12 to 19 miles from the Russian border Saturday, the Defense Ministry said, according to Russian news agencies. The U.S. Embassy said it had no comment.

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http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=55778

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush has phoned Vladimir Putin to complain that Russian companies are helping the Iraqi military. U-S officials say there's credible evidence Russian firms have sold Baghdad night-vision goggles, anti-tank weapons and jamming equipment to use against U-S planes and bombs… Press Secretary Ari Fleischer says the hardware sales are "disturbing" and a violation of UN sanctions.

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http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=353552003

BRITISH troops mopping up Iraqi opposition outside Basra have discovered a large cache of [British] weapons…A number of cargo crates amid the lethal arms depot bore the stamp and address of one of Britain’s most respected arms firms, Wallop Defence Systems.

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http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6184678%255E25778,00.html

ARAB ambassadors have called for an emergency Security Council meeting to demand an end to the US-led "aggression against Iraq". Syria's UN Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe, whose country is the only Arab member of the Security Council, said the Arab group was following up on a decision taken by Arab foreign ministers in Cairo earlier today, calling on the United States and Britain to withdraw their troops from Iraq immediately and without condition. ============================================================

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2871261.stm

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said large US-South Korean military exercises were clear signs that the US was preparing for war. North Korea also warned South Korea to stop loudspeaker broadcasts across their heavily fortified border.

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http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nws-nofly22.html

CHICAGO--The federal government declared a no-fly zone over the city's business district Saturday.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0325/p13s01-lecl.html

In New Mexico, two teachers who refused to take down antiwar posters in their classes were suspended for five days.

…In Biloxi, Mississippi… the school-district staff has made 2,000 posters with flags that read "Biloxi public schools-- we support our troops," says Sue Durbin, public-affairs specialist for the schools. She has not seen evidence of antiwar sentiment in the schools or among teachers.

… Teachers have been facing student questions since the war started in earnest last week. Bill Morgan, a third-grade teacher at a public school in San Francisco, says it is incumbent on him to answer those questions… some immigrant children in his classroom have already experienced war. One student from Central America leaves his seat and goes to the back of the room each time the subject of war comes up.

…Morgan notes that he has spent a lot of his time teaching students to resolve differences through talking. "That's how we do it in our classroom," he says. "Now kids ask, how come that's not happening in the real world? It's problematic."

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http://www.irna.com/en/head/030324212421.ehe.shtml

London, March 25, IRNA - British teachers were warned by its biggest union Monday not to take part in protests against the war with Iraq during the school day. Missing lessons to join protests could leave teachers open to disciplinary procedures, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said… The Metropolitan Police estimated that half of the thousands protesting outside government offices in London on last Friday were school-age children.

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news from Asheville

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/31175

Asheville police Friday defended the 23 arrests they made during Thursday's spontaneous war protest march, while some participants and observers were critical… "It seems to me the APD officers really blew their cool," said David Lynch, a member of the WNC Peace Coalition… "I see no reason for them to charge into the crowd of people staying on the sidewalk, trying to have a nonviolent protest."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2867797.stm

At the 75th Academy Awards [on Sunday March 23rd]… the strongest comments… came from [Michael] Moore, whose film exploring US gun culture ["Bowling for Columbine"] won the best documentary Oscar. Moore, who invited his fellow nominees on stage with him, was booed as he said: "We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons."

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http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1048232633278280.xml

Ani DiFranco, who presented a solo concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center [NJPAC] in Newark… introduced representatives of the anti-war organization Not In Our Name and the leftist public-radio show "Democracy Now!"… DiFranco said concert organizers refused the activists' request to set up informational tables in the venue's lobby, and also threatened to "pull the plug" if she let them address the crowd. But they spoke, and the power stayed on. Afterward, they showered the crowd with fliers, and Di- Franco suggested that her fans fax copies of the Bill of Rights to the NJPAC.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=558&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20030324/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_terrorism

The Supreme Court refused Monday… to consider when the government should be allowed to monitor someone's telephone conversations and e-mail, then use the information to prosecute them.

…Ashcroft has approved more than 170 emergency domestic spying warrants, triple the number used in the previous 23 years. The emergency warrants, which are authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, permit authorities to tap telephones and fax numbers and conduct physical searches .

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A19657-2003Mar24?language=printer

The FBI has interviewed more than 5,000 Iraqis who live in the United States and has detained around 30 since war began with Iraq, officials said Monday. The purpose of the interviews, which the FBI says are voluntary, is to gain intelligence about the Iraqi government and military and to learn the identities of any spies or terrorists in the United States.

…Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Department on Monday reissued an FBI bulletin that warns police and other security officials to watch for possible indicators of al-Qaida surveillance: hidden cameras, operatives posing as homeless people… or use of scooters, bicycles cars and trucks.

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http://gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21451-1.html

The war with Iraq has increased the risk of a terrorist attack on America, said former Sen. Gary Hart, who now is co-chairman of the Commission on National Security for the 21st Century. “Don’t be surprised if in the coming hours or days we go to Code Red,” Hart said this morning in Washington. “It is almost inevitable.”

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-622800,00.html

ANXIETY is rising in the Far East with the deaths of four more people from a mysterious pneumonia virus… Hong Kong was shocked by the news that William Ho, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, had been admitted to hospital on Sunday with SARS symptoms.

… Singapore invoked an ordinance never used since independence in 1965 to try to control the outbreak, ordering 740 people known to have contacts with SARS to stay home for ten days. Anyone caught breaking the order faces a fine… Entire households will be quarantined and the Government plans to deliver groceries to them and compensate those who suffer financial hardship.

… The worldwide death toll from the illness is now 17… At least 386 suspected SARS cases have been reported in 13 countries, according to the World Health Organisation. =====================================================

http://www.nature.com/nsu/030317/030317-11.html

Twenty scientists, artists and philosophers will gather in Paris on Sunday and Monday to discuss how best to tell extraterrestrials about altruism. This is the second in a series of workshops on communicating what it means to be human to alien civilizations. Last year's meeting debated ways of conveying human notions of aesthetic beauty…The SETI Institute has no plans to actually send a message.