==================================

no.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49390-2003Mar29.html

VATICAN CITY, March 29 -- Pope John Paul II said today he hoped that the human tragedy of the war in Iraq would not set Christians and Muslims against each other and spark "a religious catastrophe."

…The pope… has refused to bless the conflict.

===================================================

no.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-627180,00.html

…Takoma, the Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin, had been in Iraq for 48 hours when he went missing on his first operation to snoop out mines. His handler, Petty Officer Taylor Whitaker, had proudly showed off Takoma's skills and told how the 22-year-old dolphin was among the most pampered creatures in the American military… Takoma's role was to sweep the way clear for the arrival of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Sir Galahad… Two hours later Takoma had gone AWOL [absent without leave]… Takoma has now been missing for 48 hours and the solitary figure of Petty Officer Whitaker could be seen yesterday patting the water, calling his name and offering his favourite fish, but there was no response.

=============================================

no.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2473046

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq says… from now on it will bury all enemy dead on the battlefield… "We have issued orders, from now on...we will bury them according to their religious traditions and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs will take care of burying these mercenaries," he said.

…The minister reiterated charges that British forces had destroyed about 75,000 tonnes of food stores in Iraq's southern city of Basra… "They destroyed huge quantities of food that belong to the civilians of Iraq and now they say they are here to provide humanitarian aid," he said. He accused "British mercenaries" of killing people and then returning the next day to offer condolences to survivors.

Sahaf also said that U.S. and British forces prevented food shipments from reaching the southern port of Umm Qasr, adding that four vessels with sugar, cooking oil, tea, soap and powdered milk had been turned away from the port.

=================================================

no.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2896439.stm

…The US marines I am with outside Nasiriyah… have said to me that this isn't what they were expecting. They have had a tiring week of guerrilla-style fighting and it continues. They are frustrated that their political masters gave the American public the impression that it would be easier… One Marine told me: "I've had enough of being fired at from all directions, I just want to go home". I thought it quite a surprising thing to say.

…Some Marines are literally camped on top of garbage… All Marines eat MRE's, which are ready-to-eat meals. They come in sealed brown plastic bags… Three of these a day should be enough for the average Marine. They come in all types of different varieties, beef stew, chicken with noodles, chicken with salsa, and slightly strange sounding things called formed turkey.

…I was there when a lot of the injured were being brought in. Most of them had shrapnel wounds. Some are now believed to have wounds from their own side… Seeing their injured colleagues has undermined the mood here… When Marines see any Iraqi civilians, they think of them as being possibly hostile… Marines travel around scanning the roadsides at all times, guns to the ready. One thing that's certainly had an effect is the news that the Pentagon is deploying another 120,000 troops… [so] it could be quite a long conflict.

============================================

yes.

http://ridiculopathy.com/news_detail.php?id=785

BAGHDAD, IRAQ- As coalition forces draw nearer to Iraq's capital city, observers and military experts worry that the upcoming house-to-house urban warfare could increase civilian casualties... But no one could have expected the ways in which Iraqi forces in Baghdad are preparing themselves for the coalition advance. In recent days, Iraq's elite Republican Guard has been outfitted with a new kind of body armor made up entirely of live babies and small old women. Iraqi officials expect squeamish American and British troops to hesitate before firing on these infant suits... Also of concern is a report that Republican Guard troops have established a new artillery battery South of the city, one designed to lob children directly at oncoming coalition forces... [and so on.]

========================================

no.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=392150

..While Basra burns, across southern Iraq, the 23rd Pioneer Regiment is leading what amounts to an emergency humanitarian exercise in the middle of a war zone. Convoys laden with water and emergency rations leave Shabiah airbase bound for Iraqi civilian heartlands... Jalil Ali, 25, a well-educated and polite trainee scientist at the Ministry for Higher Education, threw a bottle of water on to the ground. "Take it back," he said. "Why are they giving water and food when they are bombing us as well?"

Basra, at the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, marks the nexus for the British humanitarian effort. Here, most of all, the British "hearts and minds" aid effort is crucial.

===================================================

no.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/089/world/Truck_hits_soldiers_U_S_milita:.shtml

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait (AP) A man drove a pickup truck into a group of U.S. soldiers outside a store at Camp Udairi on Sunday, injuring 10 to 15 people, a military official said. The driver was wearing civilian clothes, said Lt. Col. Larry Cox, the public affairs officer at the U.S. base... It was not immediately clear what happened to the driver.

===========================================

no.

http://www.sundayherald.com/32522

BRITISH and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction. DU contaminates land, causes ill-health and cancers among the soldiers using the weapons, the armies they target and civilians, leading to birth defects in children.

…The latest use of DU in the current conflict came on Friday when an American A10 tankbuster plane fired a DU shell, killing one British soldier and injuring three others in a 'friendly fire' incident.

According to a August 2002 report by the UN subcommission, laws which are breached by the use of DU shells include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Charter of the United Nations; the Genocide Convention; the Convention Against Torture; the four Geneva Conventions of 1949; the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980; and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which expressly forbid employing 'poison or poisoned weapons' and 'arms, projectiles or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering'.

…The Pentagon has admitted that 320 metric tons of DU were left on the battlefield after the first Gulf war, although Russian military experts say 1000 metric tons is a more accurate figure. In 1991, the Allies fired 944,000 DU rounds or some 2700 tons of DU tipped bombs.

================================================

yes-- maybe.

http://www.theschmews.com/article.asp?id=802&type=2

Representatives of the US and UK press and Governments today defended themselves for failing to report any details of the napalm attack by American forces at Safwan Hill in Iraq but thought the issue had been left too long for it to be "worth mentioning".

As details… were reported by award-winning Australian journalist Lindsay Murdoch, news media editors sought to defend their position. "There are so many stories in the world it is easy to miss some little ones. It was an oversight, but then who would be interested in details of America using WMD in Iraq? Pah," one senior Australian media mogul told us.

…The accidental and simultaneous failure of US/UK Governments and newspapers to notice and report the napalm attack was an amazing coincidence. Even a simple search for the word napalm on news.google.com yielded only two newspapers reporting the story. However, despite insisting the failure to report the first use of weapons of mass destruction in the war was an accidental oversight, President Bush remained firm. "We have had to go outside the UN to enforce their will and that includes the use of UN agreed weaponry… I should be applauded for using any weaponry that speeds our victory… This will all be forgotten in a day or two, or sooner if we don't report it."

==========================================================

yes.

http://www.brokennewz.com/worldnews/iraqemissions.asp

Baghdad, Iraq - Tough new vehicle emission laws, announced today in Iraq, may impact or even cancel United States military operations within Iraq. The new laws, announced on Al Jazeera television, detail stringent emission restrictions on all vehicles operating within the country. "What this does", explained military expert Colonel Tim Strausman (retired USMC), is effectively handcuff the U.S. military… Our M1 Abrams tank, for example, is a notorious polluter which outputs nitrogen oxide levels nearly double the allowable maximum. I don't believe any amount of tuning can make these vehicles usable in Iraq."

One saving grace may be the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bombs (MOAB), which uses a slurry of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminum. "This massive ordinance is completely bio-degradable, and uses only recycled aluminum powder, so I think it will be OK to use this one." Strausman speculates.

================================================

no.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/28/1048653842176.html

The Bush administration has seized $1,620,000,000.00 in Iraqi assets already frozen in the United States and will use the money to help rebuild the country… a top Treasury Department official said.

===============================================

no.

ttp://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=375412003

THE United States has drawn up a £60 billion blueprint for the post-war reconstruction of Iraq which completely freezes out the United Nations and gives all contracts to American firms, Scotland on Sunday can reveal… US firms will this week win a clean sweep of contracts to reconstruct the health, education, transport and political systems of Iraq. The US State Department scheme will see private companies build a national health service, design a network of airports, and draw up a "politically-neutral" school curriculum, all without the involvement of the UN.

The programme - which will be finalised in the next few days - will cause deep dismay among European ministers, who wanted the award of contracts to be handled by the UN to ensure fairness and avoid the impression of American colonialism… The Bush administration has little or no intention of sharing out the spoils.

The State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have agreed on eight deals for Iraq worth more than any project since the Marshall Plan… The health contract is the most ambitious. The winning firm will be required to build a model similar to the UK National Health Service and ensure it can be run by a Baghdad-based Ministry of Health. It will be in charge of "planning, staff, payroll, service delivery and administration of facilities". Iraq's 21 largest cities and towns will each be given a referral hospital, rebuilt or restored through a separate contract. A further 100 general hospitals will be built around the country, part-staffed with Iraqi expatriates who will be paid premium salaries to return.

A network of five Iraqi airports is to set up, three for domestic flights and two for international. The first commercial planes will land 12 months after the war ends. The US military will run air traffic control… The contractor will have to take control of any airport "in the instance of local or regional conflict".

…The USAID blueprint proposes dividing Iraq into 18 different regions, then hiring legal experts to pave the way towards elections. Working with the "local military commands" the contractor will "train Iraq's traditional and civil society leaders" on the "fundamental process of democratic government".

…[British PM] Blair stressed the need for the United Nations to take a lead role in the reconstruction effort during his summit with Bush at Camp David last Wednesday… [French PM] Chirac yesterday announced that he and Blair had "agreed on the importance of the role to be conferred on the United Nations after the conflict"… Bush accepted the need for a central UN role at the Azores summit two weeks ago, but he has steadfastly refused to acknowledge the organisation's involvement in public comments since.

============================================

no.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/29/international/worldspecial/29KUWA.html?ex=1049997462&ei=1&en=5d4c1fe85794c76d

KUWAIT, Saturday, March 29 - An explosion rocked an empty shopping mall on the waterfront early today in Kuwait City, the capital, sending a huge plume of white smoke towering into the sky. Kuwaiti officials said a missile that had landed in the water nearby was responsible… Witnesses said they did not hear air-raid sirens that would indicate an incoming missile… "It was an American cruise missile, we know from the markings and writing on it," said a Kuwaiti police colonel who did not give his name. "It doesn't go up, it comes in low from the sea, and that's why there was no alert." …Officials say more than 10 missiles have come into Kuwait airspace since the beginning of the war in Iraq, with most having been shot down by Patriot missiles.

================================================

no.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2471625

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar (Reuters) - Some U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles aimed at Iraq have fallen on Saudi Arabia… A U.S. defense official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, said there were "about five" Tomahawk missiles that landed in the Saudi desert without exploding. Saudi Arabia's official SPA news agency quoted an unnamed high-ranking Saudi defense official as saying that the kingdom had submitted an official complaint to the United States… The official said the suspension has had "no effect" on U.S. war operations.

Tomahawk cruise missiles are fired by ships and submarines at land targets.

=========================================

yes.

http://www.thevoiceofreason.com/2003/no69/GoodBadNews.htm

News that the US is to send a further 120,000 troops to the Gulf is being blamed on a defective Troops Wizard in Project 95 (Military Edition), we can exclusively reveal. Project 95 (Military Edition) is the software of choice of the army currently in action in Iraq.

Initially the entire battle plan was for a quick 5 day conflict, but this has since been extended by a "quick'n'easy" mouse movement (this was a new feature introduced in '95). As the sales pack said: "Projects big and small can be conveniently re-dated in Project 95 with our world exclusive one click and a pull all the way rightwards feature." The conflict has now been extended until June 1998.

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed to us: "A year 2000 issue raises a fatal exception preventing a war lasting any longer than minus four years if any of the project dependencies are after year 2000."

- Other features - Microsoft Project (Military Edition) offers commanders a number of useful Wizards, such as the 'which Saddam is this?' wizard, the 'Weather wizard' (with a download available for sandstorms) and 'the Middle East is about to erupt into anti-American hatred whaddahell are we gonna do now?' wizard which Microsoft is continuing to develop.

==================================================

no.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/29/international/worldspecial/29HALT.html?ex=1049994124&ei=1&en=9f94054ab2cb60c2

IWANIYA, Iraq, March 28 - At the base camp of the Fifth Marine Regiment here, two sharpshooters, Sgt. Eric Schrumpf, 28, and Cpl. Mikael McIntosh, 20, sat on a sand berm and swapped combat tales… The marines said they had little trouble dispatching their foes, most of whom they characterized as ill trained and cowardly. "We had a great day," Sergeant Schrumpf said. "We killed a lot of people."

…Both marines said they were most frustrated by the practice of some Iraqi soldiers to use unarmed women and children as shields… Both Sergeant Schrumpf and Corporal McIntosh said they had declined several times to shoot… But in the heat of a firefight, both men conceded, when the calculus often warps, a shot not taken in one set of circumstances may suddenly present itself as a life-or-death necessity. "We dropped a few civilians," Sergeant Schrumpf said, "but what do you do?"

To illustrate, the sergeant offered a pair of examples from earlier in the week. "There was one Iraqi soldier, and 25 women and children," he said, "I didn't take the shot." … [In another] incident, in which he and other men in his unit opened fire, he recalled watching one of the women standing near the Iraqi soldier go down. "I'm sorry," the sergeant said. "But the chick was in the way."

…Three Americans have been killed in the fighting here over the last five days.

=======================================

no, not a satire, though it seems like one.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s819685.htm

US soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for President George W Bush.

Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called "A Christian's Duty," a mini prayer book which includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush. "I have committed to pray for you, your family, your staff and our troops during this time of uncertainty and tumult. May God's peace be your guide," says the pledge, according to a journalist embedded with coalition forces.

The pamphlet, produced by a group called In Touch Ministries, offers a daily prayer to be made for the US president.

=====================================

no.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/892606.asp?0cv=CA01&cp1=1

AL KIFL, Iraq, March 29 - The suicide bombing that killed four U.S. soldiers Saturday happened just outside a dusty town that saw hundreds of Iraqis literally drive themselves into U.S. positions… U.S. officers said fighters in minivans, pick-up trucks and cars drove straight at the oncoming tanks. Others took to canoes, rowing down the river and trying to fix explosives to the main bridge.

…The tank unit fired two 120 mm high velocity depleted uranium rounds straight down the main road, creating a powerful vacuum that literally sucked guerrillas out from their hideaways into the street, where they were shot down by small arms fire or run over by the tanks. "It was mad chaos like you cannot imagine," said the tank unit's commander, who identified himself as "Cobra 6" as he did not want friends and neighbors back home to know what he had been through… "It was not earthly. I'll have nightmares about it."

… A brigade chaplain, Maj. Mark Nordstrom, told the New York Times that he had spent hours counseling troops… "We're in the thousands now that were killed in the last few days," he said. "… Nothing prepares you to use a machine gun to cut someone in two."

===========================================================

yes.

http://www.wittytirade.net/news/briefs/briefs2/brief051activistsuccumbsbombingfootage.shtml

NEWARK, NJ (WT) - Staunch anti-war activist Gary Lusick, 34, succumbed to the temptation to watch footage of the air war against Iraq late Friday afternoon. Reports say that Lusick, a lifelong Democrat, was stranded at home Friday, having returned from an anti-war demonstration the previous day and not being able to attend another protest until Sunday… He read the entire main section of the Newark Times, while his mind was consciously torn between thoughts of indignation over Bush's maverick actions, sympathy for the innocent Iraqis caught in the middle of the struggle, and curiosity about the purportedly awesome bombing footage.

…At approximately 1:03 p.m. EDT (9:03 p.m. Iraqi time), Lusick capitulated just as the first Tomahawk missiles hit Baghdad on live television. "That's just atrocious," mumbled Lusick while he gazed at the sight of impressive explosions, his ajar mouth and glazed-over eyes indicating rapt attention and awe. "To think of all the...," he added, trailing off as mesmerizing anti-air tracer fire filled the screen. Lusick continued watching for several hours before hanging himself.

=====================================================

no.

http://www.progressive.org/webex03/wx032803.html

At the Bush-Blair press conference on March 27, I heard an increasingly common and absolutely shameful justification for this Iraq war. Tony Blair was the one who uttered it. To illustrate the brutality of Saddam's regime, Blair said, "Over the past five years, 400,000 Iraqi children under the age of five died of malnutrition and disease… because of the nature of the regime under which they are living." But that's not exactly right. All those children died, in large part, because the United Nations--at the behest of Britain and the United States--insisted upon maintaining economic sanctions on Iraq.

These sanctions prevented basic items from getting to Iraq, items like chlorine to purify the water supply there… For years, human rights activists urged a lifting of these economic sanctions because of the terrible toll they exacted, a toll that only now Tony Blair seems concerned about, only now when he can use that toll as an excuse for war. This is the bottom of the barrel of immorality.

====================================

no.

http://www.latimes.com/la-war-bush29mar29,0,6933665.story

In a shift of emphasis, President Bush on Friday termed the war against Iraq "a noble purpose" that would not only make the world safer but also "free the people of Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein and his murderous allies."

…Bush said that when the war is won, "all who have joined this cause will be able to say to the Iraqi people: 'We were proud to fight for your freedom.'

…We refuse to leave the Iraqi people in slavery under Saddam Hussein."

==========================================

probably.

http://www.brokennewz.com/weekend/bushalgebra.asp

WASHINGTON, DC--… President George W. Bush today signed an executive order which subjects algebra users not only to arrest and prosecution, but possible revocation of citizenship and deportation or indefinite imprisonment with no rights to due process. The signing of the Executive Order was widely hailed as a victory by males aged 12 to 22. Women in the same age group were divided on the issue.

"'xz = xy(-z)'? What does that mean? " Bush told the Washington Press corps. Using algebra shall henceforth be considered supporting terrorism, Bush said. "Math which simply uses numbers to support moral relativism is junk math. It belongs in the dust bin of history… Jesus didn't need algebra and neither do I. And the American people, too."

…In his daily White House press briefing, presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said Americans "...should be careful how they calculate and check their work."

========================================================

no.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/29/BU303635.DTL

American troops in Iraq dodge bullets, march through blinding sandstorms in the desert and worry about chemical and biological attacks. So, how much do they get paid for their service?

…According to a recent military salary survey by Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas… soldiers' starting salaries aren't much better than those of theater ushers, child-care workers and crossing guards. The base pay of a private with one year of service is $15,480 a year, according to Department of Defense military pay rates. That's slightly more than the $14,144 pocketed by child-care workers and movie ushers, and the $15, 080 earned by crossing guards in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

===============================================

no.

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/032903/b0129warfamsagainst.html

SUFFERN - Shirley Young's 20-year-old son, Jesse, is serving with the U.S. Army at Fort Lewis in Washington state, far from the Persian Gulf. Her son's safe distance doesn't prevent her from objecting to the U.S. war against Iraq. Young is the regional representative for Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of people who have family members in the military but who are against the war.

The group, which claims about 300 families coast-to-coast, offers mutual support, shares information via e-mail and says it provides an important voice that's not often heard.

…[Young] said it was hypocritical to go after Saddam Hussein, a dictator "we trained and armed with chemical weapons in the past… The president does not have the right to kill just to change the government of a rogue nation," Young said. "Our tax dollars are going to fight the war, and we're not getting more jobs and schools. We could feed everyone in Iraq for $74 billion, and they would love us, not hate us."

…Boston residents Charley Richardson, the group's co-founder, and his wife, Nancy Lessin, have a 25-year-old son in the Marine Corps in the Persian Gulf… Richardson said he thought the war might be waged in large part because of oil, and he is certain it's also about power politics. "Iraq is a key to the region," he said. "And the idea of taking it over as a power base has been around for a long time. But I would argue this war violates the Constitution, the U.N. charter and other rules of international behavior… This is not about worrying about my son or getting him out of harm's way. It's about getting 250,000 other troops, Iraqi civilians and the world out of harm's way."

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, visit www.MFSO.org, e-mail mfso@ mfso.org or call 617-522-9323.

====================================

no.

http://www.irna.com/en/head/030330230154.ehe.shtml

Brussels, March 30, IRNA -- Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt Sunday toughened his position against the war in Iraq. Speaking at a meeting of his liberal VKD party in the city of

Antwerp, Verhofstadt denounced the US as "very dangerous."

"America, a power deeply injured, and has become very dangerous, and it thinks to take over the whole Arab world," Belgian RTL TV quoted him saying. He said the US regards the Arab world responsible for all terrorism. "This is a logic which I do not share," he said.

…Verhofstadt added that everything must be undertaken to restore the international legal order.

========================================

no, just a sad irony.

http://www.irna.com/en/head/030330181719.ehe.shtml

Tehran, March 30, IRNA -- Dr Carlo Urbani, a United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) expert on communicable diseases, today died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) -- an emerging health threat which he first identified, said a United Nations Information

Center press release here on Sunday. The 46-year old medical professional worked in public health programs in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam while based in Hanoi, where he first noted the outbreak of this new disease in an American businessman who had been admitted to a hospital. Because of Dr. Urbani's early detection of SARS, WHO says, global surveillance was heightened and many new cases have been isolated before they infected hospital staff… Dr. Urbani, who was educated in Italy, leaves behind a wife and three children.

=============================================

no.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-03-28-un-blix_x.htm

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Friday he will leave his job at the end of June, with disappointment that his teams weren't given a few more months to try to disarm Iraq peacefully… Blix said he will submit a quarterly report on June 1 to the Security Council on the work of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and leave at the end of the month, a few days after his 75th birthday.

================================================

no. archived: remember? Friday September 6, 2002

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,786992,00.html

At the height of the summer, as talk of invading Iraq built in Washington… the US armed forces staged a rehearsal using over 13,000 troops, countless computers, and $250,000,000.00. Officially, America won and a rogue state was liberated from an evil dictator.

What really happened is quite another story… In fact, this war game was won by Saddam Hussein, or at least by the retired marine playing the Iraqi dictator's part, Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper.

In the first few days of the exercise, using surprise and unorthodox tactics, the wily 64-year-old Vietnam veteran sank most of the US expeditionary fleet in the Persian Gulf, bringing the US assault to a halt… Faced with an abrupt and embarrassing end to the most expensive and sophisticated military exercise in US history, the Pentagon top brass simply pretended the whole thing had not happened. They ordered their dead troops back to life and "refloated" the sunken fleet. Then they instructed the enemy forces to look the other way as their marines performed amphibious landings. Eventually, Van Riper got so fed up with all this cheating that he refused to play any more [and]… the three-week war game… staggered to a star-spangled conclusion on August 15, with a US "victory".

If the Pentagon thought it could keep its mishap quiet, it underestimated Van Riper… he blew the whistle. His driving concern, he tells the Guardian, is that when the real fighting starts, American troops will be sent into battle with a set of half-baked tactics that have not been put to the test. "Nothing was learned from this," he says.

=======================================================

no.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/5510092.htm

WASHINGTON - President Bush's aides did not forcefully present him with dissenting views from CIA and State and Defense Department officials who warned that U.S.-led forces could face stiff resistance in Iraq, according to three senior administration officials. Instead, Bush embraced predictions of top administration hawks, beginning with Vice President Dick Cheney, who predicted Iraqis would joyously greet coalition troops as liberators and that the entire conflict might be over in a matter of weeks, the officials said.

Dissenting views "were not fully or energetically communicated to the president," said one top official, who, like the others, requested anonymity. "As a result, almost every assumption the plan's based on looks to be wrong."

…In southern Iraq on Friday, persistent hit-and-run attacks on U.S. supply lines and positions seemed to substantiate the view of Army Lt. Gen. William Wallace, who told The New York Times and The Washington Post on Thursday that the enemy has proven more stubborn -- and the war more complex -- than expected. "The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against," he said.

=========================================

yes.

http://www.soupyet.com/

Although the threat of American soldiers being confronted by thousands of naked Iraqi women has thus far failed to be a reality, it remains a key consideration in ongoing operations in the Persian Gulf region. War planners have long been concerned that the appearance of large numbers of naked women might provide the distraction of coalition forces needed by Saddam Hussein to launch an effective counter-strike.

Batttlefield strategist, Roy Higgins originally alerted Gen. Tommy Franks of the possibility that the entire US led operation in Iraq might be in serious jeopardy if the Iraqis were to employ a strategy he calls "the naked women doctrine." …The possibility exists that Saddam is holding his naked women in reserve near Baghdad and will deploy them as the coalition forces draw near.

==============================================

no.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s819115.htm

The United States has mistakenly named Slovenia as a partner in its war against Iraq. Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop says the US even offered his country a share of the money budgeted for the conflict. He says when asked for an explanation the US State Department admitted Slovenia was named in a document by mistake. Slovenia now will not get the $7.5 million it was mistakenly offered in the US war budget.

=================================================

no.

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

FAIR, the media watch group… have a new ACTION ALERT: "…With citizens expressing their opinions on the war through marches and rallies across the country, many news outlets rely on the Associated Press news service to help them cover these important manifestations of democracy.

"Unfortunately, AP has frequently used the terms "pro-war" and "pro-troops" interchangeably-- a practice that distorts the views of anti-war demonstrators and contributes to the media marginalization of the peace movement. It's likely that the overwhelming majority of participants at peace events would describe themselves as "supporting the troops," in the sense of being concerned for their well-being and hoping for their safe return. "Support Our Troops: Bring Them Home" is a popular slogan at peace marches, which tend to criticize George W. Bush and other administration officials, not rank-and-file U.S. military personnel.

"Nevertheless, AP and some other news outlets often use "supporting the troops" as a synonym for "supporting the war"-- and use "pro-troops" as a shorthand to describe rallies and demonstrations that are, in many cases, explicitly pro-war."

=====================================

yes.

http://www.chortler.com/qatar.shtml

General Tommy Franks, head of Coalition operations, briefs the press on the most recent developments from Central Command.

…ABC: General, what's the deal with Ted Koppel's hair?

Gen. Franks: We are pleased to report that Mr. Koppel's hair is making steady progress and is now only 50 miles outside of Baghdad. His hair has thus far proved immune to any and all Iraqi resistance, and we are optimistic that it will stay that way as it continues its advances towards the Iraqi capital.

CNN: General, we are hearing reports that Connie Chung has been effectively knocked off the air. Is that true?

Gen. Franks: Allied forces have successfully managed to block all broadcasts by Ms. Chung to the Iraqi people.

=========================================

no.

http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MzU5NDQy

More than 200 people were arrested Thursday for blocking traffic in Manhattan… Waves of [antiwar] protesters lay down in the streets throughout the day, conducting mass "die-ins" that city police broke up by hauling people away in handcuffs, sometimes by the busloads. The largest die-in occurred during the morning rush hour in the area around Rockefeller Center - home to such media giants as the CNN, NBC, and Fox networks… [which] provoked a public display of pro-war sentiment by Fox News.

…The [giant electronic] news ticker [display] rimming Fox's headquarters on Sixth Avenue… poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them. "War protester auditions here today ... thanks for coming!" read one message. "Who won your right to show up here today?" another questioned. "Protesters or soldiers?" Said a third: "How do you keep a war protester in suspense? Ignore them." Still another read: "Attention protesters: the Michael Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth Avenue and 50th Street" - a reference to the film maker who denounced the war while accepting an Oscar on Sunday night for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine."

The protesters said Fox's sentiments only proved their point: that media coverage, in particular among the television networks, is so biased as to be unbelievable.

…Fox spokeswoman Tracy Spector… said the network "didn't mean to insult anyone." Spector did not return calls for further comment. Media experts… said the display - tagged with the Fox News logo - threw journalistic objectivity out the window and also ridiculed the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

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of course not.

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/mar03/vier28/13democ-i.html

Dear friends and family,

Last night my partner Diana and I took part with other doctors in a march in Times Square, New York, at 5:30 p.m. (Saturday, March 22). After our respective clinics in the Bronx we arrived at the protest to take part with the Doctors and Nurses Against the War group.

…The anti-riot police arrived. It quickly became a scene of chaos. Around six police officers were savagely hitting a defenseless young man, two of them pulling him by the arm and almost dislocating it, while he was screaming. Diana, a family doctor, went over to the young man, shouting at the police to stop… Some five police officers threw themselves at her, one hitting her about the head with a closed fist, and I threw myself on top of her. And they knocked us down with truncheons, kicks and punches. They held us face down and at that point my glasses broke on the sidewalk. They threw me into a corner, cuffed with plastic handcuffs, face down and bleeding through the nose. While I was there, a police officer came and threw pepper spray in my eyes and mouth… [I] felt an asthma attack coming on.

Diana was thrown beside me, likewise handcuffed… We were wearing our white coats and stethoscopes… We were in the police station all night until 7:00 a.m. when we were released.

…We managed to call some friends… They told us that many people called the precinct all through the night, some of them were lied to and told we had been released, and they told others that we had been transferred… Lawyers called and they never told us.

…We send thanks to everyone who called the precinct and those who thought of us. We will not remain silent until this inhumane war is over.

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can't decide.

http://www.wittytirade.net/news/briefs/briefs2/brief053nationfilleddramaticmusic.shtml

UNITED STATES (WT) - Throughout the continental United States, dramatic instrumental music has been playing in the background since Monday night, when President Bush issued a 48-hour ultimatum for Saddam Hussein's resignation. Incorporating military drum rattles and a wide array of brass and woodwind instruments, the tense music has played continually, gradually rising in intensity to dramatic crescendos from which it slowly winds down. State Department officials believe the music is on a repeating eight hour loop. Although the tune has not been identified as any previously released song and its origin is unknown, it has been popularly dubbed "America: The March to War."

…It is unknown who or what is playing the music and no effort have been made to turn it off as of yet.

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no.

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

UPI reported Friday that "U.S. troops detained three foreign journalists on suspicion of espionage and beat two of them, relatives and a co-worker said Friday. They were released after 48 hours in Kuwait. The journalists, Dan Scemama, of Israel's Channel 1 TV, and Boaz Bismuth, of the Israeli Yediot Aharonot, entered Kuwait without proper accreditation. Scemama said earlier this week he was denied accreditation because he represented Israeli TV. The two teamed up with a Portuguese TV reporter, rented a jeep and entered Iraq on their own."

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yes.

http://www.theschmews.com/

London - Downing Street today apologised if front page headlines suggesting that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been executed on the doorstep of Downing Street by a bloodthirsty Iraqi asylum seeker had created a "false impression". The sensational story dominating much of the world's Press yesterday broke when Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon arranged a press conference with the world's media and announced that he had "categorical" evidence that the Prime Minister had been executed outside Downing Street.

…However, following angry comments by the Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, that far from being executed, Tony Blair was actually taking a long relaxing bath… In response to Mrs Blair's comments, Mr Hoon admitted that evidence did not confirm 100% that Mr Blair had in fact been executed and that is might well be possible that he was actually just taking a bath, but he was only acting on the evidence he had at the time. "My comments were entirely reasonable at the time. This is a fast-moving war and we cannot delay sensational propaganda with verification of facts."

Following the Press conference Downing Street officials issued a statement "regretting" [the statements] and confirmed that Mr Blair was indeed in the bath inventing new headlines.

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no, despite the pretzel reference.

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

While Americans pour French wine into the sewers in a symbolic protest against the French position, a more serious boycott of US goods is spreading throughout Europe. Reuters reports from Berlin: "No more Coca-Cola or Budweiser, no Marlboro, no American whiskey or even American Express cards -- a growing number of restaurants in Germany are taking everything American off their menus to protest the war in Iraq."

…One Web site, www.consumers-against-war.de, calls for boycotts of 27 top American firms from pretzels instead of hamburgers.

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no.

http://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=376622003

THE spectre of war spreading beyond Iraq's borders loomed large last night after Iran… joined Syria in angrily rejecting US accusations of interference... Iran dismissed [Rumsfeld's] warning as "propaganda" and insisted it remained neutral, joining Syrian condemnation of American threats as an attempt to cover up "war crimes"… In Turkey... American troops were stoned by villagers as they tried to retrieve pieces of a cruise missile which came down in the east of the country on Friday.

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no.

http://www.csmonitor.com/earlyed/early_iraq0330.htm

BOSTON - From Germany to Bangladesh, Indonesia to Chile, South Korea to the United States, it was Vietnam redux as war protesters in the tens and hundreds of thousands filled streets and television screens around the globe. The antiwar demonstrations provided an emphatic alternative to media coverage of fighting and bombing as the first 11 days of the war in Iraq drew to a close. And even though many protesters admitted at the outset of multiple peace rallies that they didn't think their actions would alter the Bush administration's policies or coalition war efforts, it was important their message be heard.

Police estimated 25,000 antiwar protesters gathered on Boston's historic Common. Germany saw the largest demonstrations in Europe. More than 100,000 people took part countrywide, with 50,000 estimated at a rally in Berlin. Some 30,000 Germans held hands along the 31 miles between the northwestern cities of Muenster and Osnabrueck, recalling [that]… negotiators who brought the Thirty Years' War [the thirty-years' war!] to an end in 1648 used the route.

Religiously conservative Yemen saw hundreds of veiled Muslim women march in protest in the city of San'a… Protesters hung black banners from bridges in Rome. Riot police and barbed wire roadblocks kept thousands of Bangladeshi protesters away from the US Embassy in Dhaka. Demonstrators burned an American flag and an effigy of President Bush… Two thousand mostly young people marched to the US Embassy in Warsaw… A similar number in Hungary marched past the US and British embassies in Budapest.

Paris was the scene of an estimated 10,000 protesters… 8,000 people marched in Dublin to protest the Irish government's decision to grant US forces refueling and stopover rights. Three thousand people staged a peaceful march in Santiago, Chile, while police in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, used tear gas to break up a protest outside the Australian Embassy.

…The Pew Research Center, in a poll taken between March 10 to March 17, shows support for war in France at 20 percent, Germany at 27 percent, Russia at 10 percent, and Turkey at 12 percent.

The most recent poll from Germany by the Electoral Research Group for ZDF television taken March 27, shows 84 percent of voters oppose US-led military action in Iraq… The majority of Italians remain opposed to the war… according to an opinion poll published Friday by the daily La Repubblica… Swedish opposition to the war against Iraq remains strong.

…Support for the war against Iraq remains on an upswing in Britain with 59 percent now backing the attacks… [but] only three percent think a US-led administation should run Iraq immediately after the war.

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no, sorry.

http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20030330codered0330p6.asp

WASHINGTON -- National landmarks… could be shut down. Planes could be grounded, trains could stop running, and bridges and tunnels could be closed. U.S. borders might be sealed off, and roadblocks might be set up… The United States is prepared to go into lockdown mode if the government should raise the nation's terror alert to Code Red, the highest threat level for terrorism... "It essentially means you stop doing everything except protecting yourself," said Dave McIntyre, deputy director of the Anser Institute for Homeland Security, a nonprofit research group in Arlington, Virginia… [But] it's doubtful that the entire country would be placed under a Code Red alert, McIntyre said.

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no.

http://www.thenation.com/outrage/index.mhtml?bid=6

It was disconcerting… to learn in January, via USA Today, that Newt Gingrich has had a small hand in the designing of the Iraq invasion [see http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002-12-09-1a-cover_x.html]. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, USA Today revealed, "routinely forwards e-mails from Gingrich to top Pentagon officers on a variety of subjects, including arcane details of ground combat and military weapons." The paper also reported military people were miffed that their advice and expertise was taking a back seat to the former House Speaker's.

Now, Gingrich has been nominated to be "the equivalent of a proconsul," perhaps even a "de facto monarch", of American- occupied Iraq. It's an idea floated by Steve Forbes, the former flat-tax candidate for president... Forbes wants Gingrich to oversee what he describes as the "transition phase to a permanent, more democratic government." (Forbes also suggests that "permanent, more democratic government" actually be the authoritarian Jordanian monarchy. Go figure.)

Gingrich's qualifications to run a war-and-tyranny-ravaged Middle Eastern nation, as summarized by Forbes: He's a quick study.

================================

yes, and cleverly done indeed. If you don't play Risk, you won't get it.

http://www.brokennewz.com/worldnews/riskcard.asp

Washington D.C.-Military planners of the current invasion of Iraq are preparing for several ugly scenarios as Saddam Hussein and his Baath party enters a bloody endgame. One possible desperate act Saddam could carry out would be to set fire to his Risk cards.

Along with its oil fields, Iraq's Risk cards are one of its greatest resources. Besides the ability to establish a U.S. base and airspace, which requires no permission for mobilization, cashing in Iraqi Risk cards is a key tactical benefit to the U.S. military in the region. The U.S. has five Risk cards, and would be able to turn in immediately after beating Iraq and taking its cards.

The last two times Iraq had a move, it was unable to capture a country, so it only has two Risk cards. In 1991, UNSCOM inspectors discovered that one of his cards is Middle East, which would entitle Saddam to two extra armies, if he should ever be able to turn in. There is some intelligence that suggests his other card is Madagascar, though the Bush administration has repeatedly suggested that Saddam may be holding a "wild card."

Said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, "Imagine a world where Saddam Hussein, holding a wild card, were able to get another card. It could be a horse, it could be a soldier, it could be a cannon, and the result would be the same. Saddam could turn in his Risk cards for armies. And I don't need to tell you what Risk cards are at right now."

Risk cards are currently at thirty armies.

Critics of the Bush administrations focus on Iraq point out that North Korea has three risk cards and looks like it's ready to turn in. Kim Il Jong has repeatedly made provocative statements, such as "What are Risk cards at? Is it my turn yet?" …Meanwhile, back in Baghdad, board game metaphors seem less apt, as a weary populace prepares to die.

=====================================

take a deep breath. jimmy breslin lays it all out.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/iraq/ny-bres0330,0,3765540.column

The least blood, a small squirt when removing a needle, two drops, that's all, no more than two drops, and suddenly it is everywhere. It remains after all. Wipe and it returns. Look about and it is in two and three places. Wipe those places and the blood does not go away. Two drops appear as a needle comes out and then it is endless.

Blood from the body of a baby bombed to death in Baghdad, blood by the pint, running onto the street as fast as a swift river, has magic in its pure infant cells. Of course you cannot scrub the street clean because the blood from the baby already has covered the street and is in the air.

Blood from a bombed baby in Baghdad goes over the wide choking sands and it crosses mountains and then great land masses and then suddenly, over a channel, it is in Westminster, in London, and people look at the sidewalk and wonder where these large blood spots came from, and the officer on duty in front of 10 Downing Street looks at the door handle and worries, how did this get here without me seeing this and having it cleaned? He has a servant rush to the door with cloth and polish and he wipes the blood and polishes the door handles and then walks off and the guard happens to glance at the door handle and the blood is back, smeared bright new red over the polished handle.

The baby's blood is off to rush over the ocean, a strange red cloud poised to rain and it floats over the green of the Washington parks and goes down a sloping street to the State Department, where as a man opens a car door for Colin Powell he suddenly notices blood on the door handle and he quickly unfurls a handkerchief and wipes the handle and Powell gets in and the car goes off and the man who held the door is left in the driveway and he sees the red that is still on Powell's door handle.

When he leaves the car, Powell does not notice the door handle as he touches it himself. The blood red cloud goes over the river to the Pentagon and it suddenly pours on the car that takes Rumsfeld to an appearance, and this time the blood is left on the door handles of both sides. A sergeant wipes. The blood is there when Rumsfeld gets home.

The red cloud then comes down on the White House lawn and it does more than sprinkle, it splashes the helicopter of the president and he strolls out with his wife, his dog and his chesty walk and slight smirk and the wife at his side is smiling, for it is the end of the week and we are good, decent Christian people, God bless us and God bless everybody, and as they are about to get into the helicopter, an Air Force officer rushes up in alarm and says, please, just give us a moment, and he has three people scrubbing so quickly to clean the blood from the helicopter and then Bush and his wife get aboard and they fly off to Camp David, for where else would you go on a weekend, and as they have neglected to have two men hanging out of the windows and inspecting the sides of the craft in midair, nobody can see the blood back on the helicopter.

As they get off at at Camp David, Bush's hand brushes against baby blood on the plane, as does his wife's.

At this hour in London, Blair arises in the middle of his long night and goes to the bathroom to try and wash this blood off. He couldn't do it before he went to bed.

In Washington, Rumsfeld stares at the red splotches on both his hands and Colin Powell calls out that there must be something wrong with the soap because it does not get the blood off his hands.

At Camp David, Bush notices blood on his right hand and he goes to the bathroom to wash it off and he holds his hands under the water and rubs them with a bar of soap and then puts them under the water and he takes them out and holds them out to dry with a towel. He glances at his hands and sees the blood of the dead baby is bright on his fingers. He mutters and washes the hands again.

He will do it again. Again this year and then next year and through all the years because the blood remains forever on the hands.

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