colossal squid news

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=676&e=1&cid=676&u=/usatoday/20030402/ts_usatoday/5023089

People who know Bush well say the strain of war is palpable. He rarely jokes with staffers these days and occasionally startles them with sarcastic putdowns. He's being hard on himself; he gave up sweets just before the war began… He regularly watches war coverage on the nearest TV… He knows when heavy bombardments of Baghdad are scheduled and sometimes tunes in to see them… He's infuriated by reporters and retired generals who publicly question the tactics of the war… He calls them ''hand-wringers.'' …Bush believes he was called by God to lead the nation… But Bush doesn't keep a diary or other personal record… There's no stenographer in most meetings, nor are they videotaped or recorded.

…He is convinced that the Iraqi leader is literally insane… Bush was elated when he was told there was a chance to kill Saddam on the eve of the scheduled start of the war… and was dismayed when intelligence officials concluded that Saddam had survived.

…He prays and exercises… Advisers say the pressure doesn't seem to be getting to him.

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more better colossal squid news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2910849.stm

A colossal squid has been caught in Antarctic waters…There have only ever been six specimens of this squid recovered: five have come from the stomachs of sperm whales and the sixth was caught in a trawl net at a depth of 2,000 to 2,200 metres... This squid has one of the largest beaks known of any squid and also has unique swivelling hooks on the clubs at the ends of its tentacles. This combination allows it to attack fish as large as the Patagonian toothfish and probably to also attempt to maul sperm whales…The specimen… has a mantle length of 2.5 metres [but a scientist says]… "It's only half to two-thirds grown, so it grows up to 4 metres in mantle length." By comparison, the mantle of the giant squid… is 2.25 metres.

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epidemic news part one

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/451808

…The World Health Organization (WHO) is now reporting a cumulative total of 1,190 severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] cases and 46 deaths in China… WHO is recommending that people avoid traveling to Guangdong Province and to Hong Kong… As of April 2, the CDC is reporting a total of 85 suspected U.S. cases in 27 states. Health Canada reports a total of 160 probable or suspect SARS cases and 6 deaths.

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epidemic news part two

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=2503621

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Toronto's outbreak of the deadly respiratory infection SARS has prompted the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to cancel its annual meeting, scheduled to open in the Canadian city this weekend… Dr. Margaret Foti, chief executive officer of the AACR, said… "The decision reflects the growing concern of many -- particularly those with clinical care responsibilities -- that we must minimize the risk of spreading SARS, especially for those whose immune system is already compromised from their fight with cancer."

… Globally, the World Health Organization is reporting more than 2,200 cases of SARS and 78 deaths.

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peace symbol news part one

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/6373806p-7326629c.html

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Advertisements for [a new] teen comedy originally featured a photograph of star Amanda Bynes wearing an American flag T-shirt and flashing the peace sign with her fingers as she stands between two British royal guards… [But] Warner Bros. quickly changed the ad. The studio said Monday it feared the peace sign would be viewed as a political message.

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peace symbol news part two

http://www.cnduk.org/INFORM%7E1/symbol.htm

One of the most widely known symbols in the world, in Britain it is recognised as standing for nuclear disarmament – and in particular as the logo of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In the United States and much of the rest of the world it is known more broadly as the peace symbol. It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom…The first badges were made by Eric Austin of Kensington CND using white clay with the symbol painted black…They were distributed with a note explaining that in the event of a nuclear war, these fired pottery badges would be among the few human artifacts to survive the nuclear inferno.

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peace symbol news part three

http://www.startribune.com/viewers/story.php?template=print_a&story=3800227

LONDON -- Edwin Starr… died Wednesday, apparently of a heart attack, his manager said. He was 61… His biggest success came with "War," a No. 1 hit in 1970 during a time of growing protests of the Vietnam War.[sample lyrics:

"War! Huh! Good God, y'all, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing. Say it again:

War! Huh! What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing.

"Yeah, war I despise

'cause it means destruction of innocent lives,

War means tears to thousands of mothers, now

When their sons go off to fight, and lose their lives.

"War! Huh! Good God, y'all, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing. Say it again."]

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http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030401-121831-1963r

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 1 (UPI) -- Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan expressed concern on Tuesday that coalition forces might plant prohibited materials in Iraq to back claims that it had weapons of mass destruction and justify the war.

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http://www.latimes.com/la-iraq-b040103saudi_lat,0,7261594.story

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia repeated its call today for Saddam Hussein to "sacrifice" himself to end the war in Iraq… Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan [in reply] told Faisal to "go to hell." He added, "…You are a minion and a lackey."

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/5536764.htm

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - Iraqi civilians who ''interfere with mission accomplishment'' can be detained up to 30 days under new guidelines the U.S. military issued Tuesday… About 300 civilians already have been rounded up… U.S. military lawyers are preparing special hearings under the Geneva Conventions to determine whether they are enemy prisoners of war or ''unlawful combatants'' such as the al Qaeda suspects held at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$0H3U5WRY5JKQFQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2003/04/02/wkill202.xml/

US soldiers can shoot to kill drivers who do not stop, according to reports from Iraq. "All Iraqis are to be treated as hostile until proven otherwise," said Capt Dennis Carletta, a combat lawyer with the Judge Advocate Generals Corps, the US army's legal branch.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/04-01-2003/news/story/71786p-66584c.html

UMM QASR, Iraq - The U.S. military came up with a solution yesterday for the penniless people of this port town begging for water: Sell it... Under the deal, the military will provide water free to locals with access to tanker trucks, who then will be allowed to sell the water for a "reasonable" fee… "This provides them with an incentive to hustle and to work," said [Army Col. David] Bassert, an assistant commander with the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade. He said he could not suggest what constitutes a reasonable fee.

…A British military spokesman angrily objected to the water deal. The British control the city of Umm Qasr while the Americans are in charge of the port. "We're not going to have any charging for water. What kind of an aid plan would that be? These people don't even have shoes," the spokesman said… [Witnesses report] fights with fists and knives among desperate locals trying to get water from the truckers.

…Editor's Note: The military has confiscated the satellite phones of a certain make used by journalists traveling with U.S. troops in Iraq, including those used by reporter Richard Sisk and photographer Todd Maisel of the Daily News… This dispatch has been sent by other means approved by the military.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2906947.stm

The Iraqi embassy in Algiers is being inundated with enquiries from young Algerians who want to fight against the United States-led force in Iraq… [For example,] 28-year-old Belgacem told me, "Iraq is a sovereign country, a member of the United Nations and has been invaded by the US and UK troops. I cannot cross my arms and do nothing, just counting the dead," he said.

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http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/02/sprj.irq.hospital.attack/

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Coalition bombing Wednesday damaged a maternity hospital and the offices of the Iraqi Red Crescent, but caused no casualties, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said… Patients had been discharged from the maternity hospital or transferred to other hospitals before the beginning of the war because the area was considered to be insecure.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6126-2003Apr1?language=printer

Despite the apparent fall of the city of Najaf to U.S. Army forces yesterday, no large-scale campaign is underway to secure the entire south of Iraq, defense officials said. They said the U.S. military campaign continues to be focused on Baghdad… "I don't think we have enough force to do anything else," said retired Army Col. W. Patrick Lang, a former head of Middle Eastern affairs for the Defense Intelligence Agency.

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02282952.htm

NEAR KUT, Iraq, April 2 (Reuters) - Two huge bombs exploded close to the eastern Iraqi city of Kut on Wednesday, sending giant mushroom-shaped clouds billowing high into the sky, a Reuters correspondent said. Reporter Sean Maguire said U.S. Marines thought the blasts were caused by two so-called "daisy cutter" bombs -- a 6,750 kg (14,850 lb) device.

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from march 25th 2003

http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/tech/article.jsp?id=99993495&sub=Security%20and%20Defence

…One of the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed… is named the Massive Ordnance Air Burst (MOAB)… The 9.7-tonne device contains only conventional explosives, but creates a mushroom cloud and a shockwave similar to that of a small nuclear explosion. It has blast range of several hundred metres… The device is described by military officials as "similar" in design to the BLU-82, or Daisy Cutter… The seven-tonne BLU-82 contains an explosive mixture of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminium in an aqueous suspension. This is detonated a few feet above the ground… Such weapons direct more of their force into enemy targets… The US Air Force Research Lab has said it is developing an even bigger, 13-tonne, version of the weapon.

In February, leaked Pentagon documents also revealed US military plans to develop a new breed of "mini" nuclear weapons.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=736&e=8&u=/ap/20030403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_time_bombs

The United States is showering targets in Iraq with the most unpredictable weapons in its arsenal: tiny cluster bombs so deadly they can demolish a tank, but so erratic they can take years to blow up… A Central Command spokesman, Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, said… "It's a very effective weapon." While protecting civilians is important, he said, "let's be very clear, weapons are designed for war..." A single cluster bomb can scatter hundreds of tiny bomblets over an area the size of a football field… Human Rights Watch noted that two U.S. Marines were killed — one on Sunday and the other the next day — after stepping on unexploded cluster bombs… It's a triple-threat weapon, meant to disable armor, kill combatants and start fires. The bomb throws fragments that can penetrate a quarter inch of steel… Cluster bombs are quickly catching up to landmines as the lethal legacy of an old war.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20030402/wl_nm/iraq_un_bomblets_dc_1

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. children's fund UNICEF expressed concern on Wednesday that Iraqi children might mistake yellow food packets being handed out by U.S.-led forces with small bombs… A UNICEF statement said food packets known as "humanitarian daily rations" that were being handed out by the U.S. and British forces in Iraq were covered in a bright yellow plastic wrap.

The color of the wrapping was identical to that of an air-dropped bomblet that UNICEF identified as a BLU 97. A similar problem had arisen during the war in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military eventually changed the wrapping on food packets to blue.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s823003.htm

US forces have dropped on Iraq "for the first time in combat history" a new version of a cluster bomb… CBU-105 Wind Corrected Munitions… Human rights groups have long protested the use of cluster bombs… New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a report days ahead of the start of the current conflict, said cluster munitions dropped in the 1991 Gulf war were to blame for the deaths or injuries of more than 4,000 civilians after the fighting ended.

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Robert fisk

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=393127

Reporters from the Reuters news agency said they counted the bodies of 11 civilians and two Iraqi fighters in the Babylon suburb, 50 miles south of Baghdad. Nine of the dead were children, one a baby. Hospital workers said as many as 33 civilians were killed.

Terrifying film of women and children later emerged after Reuters and the Associated Press were permitted by the Iraqi authorities to take their cameras into the town. Their pictures – the first by Western news agencies from the Iraqi side of the battlefront – showed babies cut in half and children with amputation wounds, apparently caused by American shellfire and cluster bombs.

Much of the videotape was too terrible to show on television and the agencies' Baghdad editors felt able to send only a few minutes of a 21-minute tape that included a father holding out pieces of his baby and screaming "cowards, cowards'' into the camera. Two lorryloads of bodies, including women in flowered dresses, could be seen outside the Hilla hospital.

Dr Nazem el-Adali, who was trained in Edinburgh, said almost all the patients were victims of cluster bombs… Iraqi officials have been insisting for 48 hours that the Americans have used cluster bombs on civilians in the region but this is the first time that evidence supporting these claims has come from Western news agencies.

… One of the editors in Baghdad, a European, when asked why he would not send the full videotape to London, wound the pictures on to two mutilated corpses of babies. "How could we ever send this?'' he said.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2906289.stm

Washington Post reporter William Branigin quotes Captain Ronny Johnson after soldiers shoot Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint, 1 April: "Cease fire! You just [expletive] killed a family because you didn't fire a warning shot soon enough!"

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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035780243853&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

President George W. Bush has authorized American military forces to use tear gas in Iraq, the Pentagon says… The U.S. Defence Department said that tear gas… would be used only to save civilian lives and in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, ratified by the United States in 1997… The chemical weapons convention says riot-control agents may not be used as a "method of warfare." Signatories feared their deployment might escalate to the use of lethal chemicals and had done so in the past… [and] therefore sought to draw a clear line against use of all chemical agents on the battlefield… The U.S. Senate, in a convention-ratifying resolution, wrote in a condition allowing battlefield use of riot-control agents with presidential approval.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2906289.stm

General Richard Myers, Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1 April: "I extend my regrets to the families of Iraqis killed yesterday. The climate established by the Iraqi regime contributed to this incident."

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fox publishes dead [US] soldier's last letter home

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82850,00.html

Written by Army Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, of Conyers, Ga., to his mother.

Hola Mother, How are you doing? Good I hope. I'm doing OK I guess. I won't be able to write anymore starting the 28th of this month [March]…I try not to think of what may happen in the future, but I can't stand seeing it in my eyes. There's going to be murders, funerals and tears rolling down everybody's eyes. But the only thing I can say is, keep my head up and try to keep the faith and pray for better days.

…Mother will be the last word I'll say. Your face will be the last picture that goes through my eyes.

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more about diego

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/iraq/0403/01irconyers.html

As the wave of terrorism unleashed by Pablo Escobar's Medellin drug cartel was reaching its height in Colombia, [Diego's father] knew he had to protect his family and make a better life for them. With his wife and two young sons, he came to the United States… Diego was 5 years old… By the time he graduated from [Georgia's] Salem High School in 2001, he was an accomplished actor, musician and cheerleader.

… Drama teacher Leslie Stewart directed Rincon in one of his final performances at the school in a play called "A Piece of My Heart," about the Vietnam War. He was cast as a soldier killed in the war… [Stewart said,] "When I think of Diego, I'll always remember him doing handsprings across the commons with his huge smile."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2906289.stm

Commander of US forces Tommy Franks, 30 March: "We're in fact on plan. And where we stand today is not, in my view, only acceptable but truly remarkable."

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"The following is the English translation of the IRAQWAR.RU report based on the Russian military intelligence (the Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU) reports."

http://www.aeronautics.ru/news/news002/iraqwar_ru_019.htm

Military analysts believe that today and tomorrow will decide the outcome of the attack on Baghdad… If the coalition forces fail to break the Iraqi defenses, then by the weekend the US will be forced to curtail all attacks and to resort to positional warfare while regrouping forces and integrating them with the fresh divisions arriving from the US and Europe. Such a tactical pause in the war, although not a complete halt… may last seven to fourteen days and will lead to a full re-evaluation of all coalition battle plans.

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see this site for quick stats:

http://www.iraqometer.com/

for example, as of this moment [10:29 a.m. Central time, Thursday April 3rd]:

bombs dropped: 22,800

civilian casualties: 725

coalition casualties: 88

leaflets dropped: 35,300,000

weapons of mass destruction sites uncovered: 0

cost per US taxpayer: $258

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what could mrs. henry buy for the $258 she is currently spending on war in iraq? Things that are MUCH more useful:

http://www.ebay.com/

$57: Painting of Nude woman on black velvet. Professionally framed with artist name on painting and on back is his gallery in Manila dated 1963.

$30: Brand New, Unopened boxes of 20 N95 breathing Masks… These Masks meet the CDC recommendation for the SARS Virus that is sweeping the Nation.

$40: Irish low-D rosewood flute.

$16: Large canvas sack full of genuine unsearched Brazilian emeralds that have been taken out of an OLD mine in Brazil. 55 pounds.

$24: Set of 4 LP's [vinyl] "The Tubes": Love Bomb, 1985; The Completion Backward Principle,1981; Trash - Tubes Rarities and Small Hits, 1981;Young and Rich, 1976.

$25: Lolita Nation: Game Theory's masterpiece, original CD…This is the real thing, folks. Check my FBI profile!

$33: Four packs of Tibetan style incense from Kathmandu, Nepal… a purely natural remedy for; vertigo or headaches, nausea caused by oxygen deficiency, mental strain, stress, insomnia, back and chest pain, dryness of lips, stiffness, and muscle pain related or caused by psychosomatic problems.

$26: Drapes, white atomic tiki 50'S retro fabric.

$37: 18-volt cordless 5 3/8" circular saw with case and battery charger.

Total: $258.00

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http://www.islam-online.net/english/News/2003-04/01/article06.shtml

BONN, April 1 (IslamOnline.net) – 13 days after the launch of U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Swiss Foreign Ministry has decided to document U.S.-British war crimes against Iraqi civilians on a separate section within its website. Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy Rey Monday, March 31, told German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the section – operational since Monday morning – gathers information and data from credible and documented sources, adding names of new victims would be added on an hourly basis.

…Since she held her post early this year, Rey adopted what she described as “open diplomacy”. In January, 2003, she called on the U.S. and Iraq to hold a meeting in Switzerland to try to solve the standoff peacefully. The Americans turned down her proposal.

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http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-04/03/article05.shtml

LONDON, April 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Differences between London and Washington over the future of the Middle East intensified when British Prime Minister Tony Blair implicitly condemned the Pentagon's bellicose language against Syria and Iran. Challenged in the House of Commons by anti-war Labor MPs over speculation that Syria and Iran might be the next “hit list” after Iraq in the weekly question period Wednesday, April 2, Blair made it clear that his country had "absolutely no plans" for military aggression against either country.

… The rift between London and Washington first surfaced when Blair met Bush at Camp David on Thursday, March 27. Blair insisted that a new U.N Security Council resolution is needed to authorize an interim U.N. administration and release funds for reconstruction.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=393124

[On April 1,] The Pentagon vetoed a list of senior officials proposed by the State Department to help to run [Iraq]… The proposed team is understood to have included… ambassadors to Arab states… Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, is understood to have vetoed the group as "too bureaucratic". Among those favoured by the Pentagon is said to be James Woolsey, the former CIA director… [and] Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress opposition group, whom the State Department regards with high suspicion.

…According to The Washington Post yesterday, the State Department's nominated group was due to leave Washington for Kuwait last week, but was told to "stand down" after objections from the Pentagon.

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speaking of james woolsey

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/03/sprj.irq.woolsey.world.war/index.html

Former CIA director James Woolsey said Wednesday that the United States is engaged in World War IV, and that it could continue for years.

…He said the new war is actually against three enemies: the religious rulers of Iran, the "fascists" of Iraq and Syria, and Islamic extremists like al Qaeda.

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http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/front_3.html

LONDON — The U.S. Defense Department plans to reject numerous non-U.S. companies from participating in the reconstruction of Iraq. Western diplomatic sources said the Pentagon plans to enforce guidelines that bar many European companies from bidding on multi-billion projects in Iraq, particularly those in the energy sector. The guidelines will reject any company that has invested in Iran's energy sector.

The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act calls for a U.S. government boycott on any company that invests more than $20 million a year in the energy sector of either Iran or Libya. A range of French and other European companies have been classified as violating the U.S. law. The companies include the French TotalFinaElf of France, Britain's Royal Dutch Shell Eni of Italy.

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http://216.26.163.62/2003/ss_syria_04_02.html

ABU DHABI — U.S. special operations forces are said to have blown up an Iraqi pipeline that delivered more than 200,000 barrels of oil a day to Syria. The Kuwaiti Al Rai Al Aam daily reported on Wednesday that U.S. forces sabotaged the Iraqi oil pipeline to Syria last week in an operation in northwestern Iraq. The newspaper quoted U.S. sources as saying the forces also blew up a railroad link between Iraq and Syria… The U.S. sources said the destruction of the main pipeline came amid a warning by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for a halt to Syrian military supplies to the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

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two stories about one pipeline.

http://www.counterpunch.org/eldar04012003.html

[Israeli] National Infrastructures Minister Joseph Paritzky has requested an assessment of the condition of the old oil pipeline from Mosul to Haifa, with an eye toward renewing the flow of oil in the event of friendly post-war regime in Iraq. Paritzky explained to Haaretz yesterday that resurrecting the pipeline to Haifa could save Israel the high cost of shipping oil from Russia. He is certain that the Americans would respond favorably to the idea.

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the story continued.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED04Ak01.html

[This pipeline's] full operation, including the required repair work, needs the consent of Iraq, the would-be oil supplier, and Syria, a country neighboring both Iraq and Israel, through which the pipeline passes… Given the overall political environment in the Middle East and Israel's continued occupation of Syria's Golan Heights, the existing Syrian regime will never grant its consent as long as the status quo prevails.

… Hence, unless the pipeline were redirected through Jordan, another country bordering Israel and Iraq with normalized relations with Israel, the pipeline project will require a different regime in Syria. In other words, regime change in both Iraq and Syria is the prerequisite for the project. As Paritzky did not mention a redirecting option, it is safe to suggest that the Israelis are also optimistic about a regime change in Syria in the near future.

… Against this background, the US government's growing anti-Syrian rhetoric, including accusing Syria of supplying military equipment to Iraq, may well be the initial stage toward the expansion of the war to Syria. If this happens, it could lead to a regime change there to serve various purposes, including the cooperation of Syria in future oil exports via the Mosul-Haifa pipeline.

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this link might not properly, since it came in a roundabout fashion. 'debka' is an Israeli intelligence, and possibly disinformation, site

http://www.debka.com

JERUSALEM, Apr 3, 2003 -- DebkaFile's Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down the top Iraqi leadership's bolt-hole. It is a large 1,600-room luxury… called Cote d'Azur De Cham Resort…

The group may include Saddam Hussein or his sons… They are guarded by a Syrian commando unit armed with anti-air missiles while Syrian naval missile boats secure the port.

The little hard information reaching DEBKAfile's most reliable intelligence sources is that Saddam and his sons departed Baghdad some days ago… It is safe to say that Saddam and the senior members of his family are no longer at the helm of government.

…DEBKAfile's military sources reveal that, in a further attempt to prevent Iraqi missiles secreted in eastern Syria from reaching western Iraqi for launching against Israel, American special forces took control of the highway connecting Al Qaim in western Iraq to Abu Kamal in southeast Syria. At the same time, the main highway from Mosul to Syria via Sinjar was left open to traffic - possibly as a hint to Saddam Hussein and his sons that they still have the option of escaping to Syria and thus bring the war to an end.

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http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,181127,00.html

…Israel has been stirring the pot. A[n Israeli] general reinforced the US broadside with the suggestion that Iraqi missiles armed with chemical and biological warheads may have been hidden in Syria. Before the war began, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had 'information' Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been transferred to Syria.

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http://www.washtimes.com/world/20030403-13615450.htm

Syrian President Bashar Assad is trying to shore up his precarious popularity at home by adopting an increasingly anti-American stance, including warnings that Syria might be Washington's target after Iraq. [note: everybody's saying this—American as well as anti. –mrs. h]

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it just goes on and on and on

http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=ArticlePage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article%5El1484&enZone=Security&enVersion=0&

The French newspaper Le Figaro reported yesterday that Iran and Syria have a deep involvement in Palestinian terror, and the two countries are financing and training terror cells… Based on information provided by Israeli intelligence sources, Iran has been providing the terrorists with money and weapons, as well as the ideological infrastructure to continue with their "struggle," whereas Syria has provided training bases and a banking system to help channel funds. The organizations being funded and trained by Iran and Syria, Le Figaro reported, include Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hizbullah.

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http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-04/03/article03.shtml

AMMAN, April 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a new turn of attitude, King Abdullah II of Jordan denounced for the first time, in a statement issued on Wednesday, the U.S.-British war against Iraq. Abdullah said that the U.S.-led attacks on neighboring Iraq are an "invasion" …In an interview with the official Petra news agency, Abdullah [said,]…"The Iraqi people have the right to choose their leadership and because we believe in democracy, we cannot imagine that any people will agree to a leadership imposed on them from the outside, against their will," he said… "We are one with our people who reject and condemn the invasion," he added.

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03353026.htm

BEIRUT, April 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Beirut advised Americans on Thursday to seriously consider leaving Lebanon… "Daily demonstrations in Lebanon against the war in Iraq reflect increased anti-American sentiment…" the message said… Lebanon and neighbouring Syria, which maintains broad political and military influence in Lebanon, are both staunchly opposed to the war.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2911935.stm

The Arabic news channel al-Jazeera says it is suspending its reports from Iraq in protest after Baghdad banned two of its correspondents from working there… Al-Jazeera says it will continue to transmit images from its offices in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul… Its eight correspondents will remain in Iraq until the Iraqis clarify their decision, Mr. [editor-in-chief Ibrahim] Helal said, adding that it was not the first time the Iraqi authorities had tried to ban its journalists. "We faced lots of things like that before from the Iraqi Government and from other governments in the Arab region, because this is a way they think," Mr Helal told the BBC. "They think the can impose some conditions on al-Jazeera or they think they can change the reporters, they can put their own criteria on our work."

The Qatar-based satellite broadcaster is one of the most influential voices in the Arab world. It says it has 35 million viewers. The US and UK have accused the station of bias and criticised it for airing pictures of dead Western troops. Al-Jazeera's new English-language website has suffered a number of denial-of-service attacks since the war began, in which hackers flooded the site with junk messages. Visitors were also redirected to web pages with pro-US messages or pornography.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,928146,00.html

The Basra Sheraton, whose only guests are al-Jazeera journalists, received four direct hits this morning during a heavy artillery bombardment, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster… "The official HQ of al-Jazeera's team covering the war on Iraq in Basra was subjected to heavy shelling in the early morning of Wednesday. Al-Jazeera is the only TV team reporting from Basra," said a spokesman for the broadcaster. "It is not clear whether the shelling was directed solely at the Sheraton hotel… Al-Jazeera had officially advised the Pentagon of all relevant details pertaining to its reporters covering the war on Iraq, as stipulated by relevant international practice and conventions governing reporting wars. The details included official HQs of all its reporters in Basra, Mosul and Baghdad."

…In November 2001 al-Jazeera's base in the Afghan capital was destroyed by a US bomb that also damaged the nearby BBC office. At the time the Pentagon denied it had deliberately targeted al-Jazeera, but said it could not explain why the Kabul office was hit.

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http://www.democracynow.org/scemama.htm

Amy Goodman: …Four journalists—Israeli journalist Dan Scemama, Boaz Bismuth, and Portuguese Luis Castro and Victor Silva, entered Iraq in a jeep and followed a US convoy though they were not officially attached to the troops. US military police seized the journalists outside their base, detained them even though they were carrying international press cards… We’re joined now by Dan Scemama in Israel. Welcome to Democracy Now!

Dan Scemama, Israel Channel One correspondent: Hi, good afternoon… We went into Iraq to report about the war… We all had credentials that we got from the American army… We spent our nights with the American and the British soldiers… We met a group of, of the army of soldiers, and there was there also Ted Koppel was there with uniforms, with a big helmet on his head.

…We got to this one group of soldiers in which the head of them was a guy… he did not want to identify himself [but] his name was First Lieutenant Scholl which I will never forget, his name. And him, with his soldiers, have decided that we are very dangerous spies for Iraq. They decided that the CD player that we had is an electronic device that we used to tell the Iraqis where the American soldiers are. They took away our cameras. They took away our ID cards. They took away our money. They took our phones. They put their guns towards us. They forced us to lie down.

…Amy Goodman: Was one of the Portuguese reporters beaten up?

Dan Scemama: Yes… Some five and a half hours after we were arrested, he kind of lost his patience, the Portuguese guy, and they put us in our jeep… and we are supposed to stay there. And uh, so the Portuguese guy got out of the jeep, approached the army—the camp and said “Please, please, I am begging you, I have a wife and children. Let me just make a call… They might think at home that we are killed by Iraqis. Please just let us tell them that.” And they said to him, “Go immediately to your car.” And he said, “Please I am begging you.” Five soldiers went out of the camp, jumped on him and started to beat him and to kick him. We ran to his direction. They all put bullets inside the cannons of their guns, and they said if we move forward they shoot at us. We were standing like stupid guys. We saw our friend lying on the ground crying, hurting… And then came this Lieutenant Scholl. And he told us, “Don’t mess with my soldiers. Don’t mess with them because they are trained like dogs to kill. And they will kill you if you try again.”

…We were there in our jeep for thirty-six hours outside the camp… Lieutenant Scholl, he came again. “Do you need anything?” And we said “Yes, if you can give us a little food.” And he said, “I don’t have enough food for my soldiers. I will not give you food.” After about an hour, we saw a soldier going with water—a bottle of water—in our direction. And we said “Look! Something human is happening here. Somebody is coming to us with water!” And then we saw that he gave the water to a dog that was there, not to us.

…They kept us thirty-six hours and [then]… sent us to Kuwait… And suddenly at six o’ clock in the morning, that was exactly 48 hours from the moment we were caught, or everything started, they said “Guys, everything is finished, everything is finished, what hotel are you staying in Kuwait City, we’ll take you to your hotel.” Listen what we did, we asked “Can we use our mobile phones? Our satellite phones?” And they said “Yes.” And we all took the satellite phones that we had and we called home. We all four of us started to cry.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=279971&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was instrumental in gaining the release of two Newsday reporters covering the war in Iraq and jailed there for eight days without trace… They disappeared eight days ago and on Tuesday appeared in Jordan. They said they had been arrested by Iraqi authorities and kept in a secret prison. According to the editor of Newsday, Arafat played a pivotal role in locating and winning the release of the two men.

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This is the cinncinnati enquirer, not THE enquirer.

http://enquirer.com/editions/2003/04/02/loc_rail.bunning02.html

Correspondent Peter Arnett should be "tried as a traitor" for remarks he made in an interview with Iraqi state television, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said Tuesday. Arnett, a New Zealand native and naturalized U.S. citizen, said in the Sunday interview that Washington's "first war plan has just failed because of Iraqi resistance."

…"I think he should be brought back and tried as a traitor to the United States of America, for his aiding and abetting the Iraqi government during a war," Bunning said in a conference call with reporters… "Mr. Arnett should be met at the border and arrested."

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http://slate.msn.com/id/2081042/

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is an accomplished man… few Americans know that he is also a poet.

…Until now, the secretary's poetry has found only a small and skeptical audience: the Pentagon press corps. Every day, Rumsfeld regales reporters with his jazzy, impromptu riffs. Few of them seem to appreciate it. But we should all be listening… The poems that follow are the exact words of the defense secretary, as taken from the official transcripts on the Defense Department Web site. [mrs. henry has only included three.]

The Unknown

As we know,

There are known knowns.

There are things we know we know.

We also know

There are known unknowns.

That is to say

We know there are some things

We do not know.

But there are also unknown unknowns,

The ones we don't know

We don't know.

—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

Glass Box

You know, it's the old glass box at the—

At the gas station,

Where you're using those little things

Trying to pick up the prize,

And you can't find it.

It's—

And it's all these arms are going down in there,

And so you keep dropping it

And picking it up again and moving it,

But—

Some of you are probably too young to remember those—

Those glass boxes,

But—

But they used to have them

At all the gas stations

When I was a kid.

—Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing

A Confession

Once in a while,

I'm standing here, doing something.

And I think,

"What in the world am I doing here?"

It's a big surprise.

—May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2907783.stm

The war on Iraq is already beginning to affect the health of the US economy, research shows… Manufacturing activity slumped in March, according to the Institute for Supply Management, breaking the recovery trend seen over the past four months and dashing hopes of a sustained turnaround. Consumer activity was also lower… taking retail sales to their lowest point so far this year, according to research from investment bank UBS Warburg... Such surveys are closely watched by investors and add to the existing gloom on the world's stock markets.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-independence-hall,0,2945012.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

PHILADELPHIA -- The National Park Service suspended tours of Independence Hall… [to improve] the security zone that the National Park Service had set up to screen visitors to the site where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were created.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=393428

Vindication was at hand for the black population of the small Texas town of Tulia yesterday, after a judge recommended quashing the convictions of 38 residents caught up in a notorious drug sting… Even the prosecution conceded it could not defend the convictions… More than 10 per cent of Tulia's black population was caught up in the sting, including half of the town's black males [half!!! –mrs.h], even though the charge that they were dealing in powder cocaine was not supported by any material evidence.

…13 of the 38 defendants remain behind bars and will probably have to wait several months before an appeals court ruling can set them free… Under a deal between the defence and the prosecution, county authorities in Tulia will pay $250,000 (£160,000) in compensation – a huge amount for an impoverished rural area – in exchange for immunity from further lawsuits.

…[The arresting undercover officer, Tom Coleman,] was named Texas Lawman of the Year for his work in Tulia even though he picked the names of many of the defendants at random, lied about his own criminal history and kept up a steady stream of racist epithets when talking to local law enforcement agents.

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Jessica lynch, take 1

http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-4apr2003-4.htm

Jessica Lynch, the US private dramatically rescued in a special forces operation in Iraq [is a]… 19-year-old supply clerk… Her injuries include gunshot and knife wounds and several broken bones. A member of the 507th Maintenance Company, [she] was snatched from an Iraqi-held hospital… Iraqi forces had ambushed her company…after it took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah.

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Jessica lynch, take 2

http://www.militarycity.com/iraq/1720499.html

PALESTINE, W.Va. — Jessica Lynch wanted so much to teach kindergarten… She wanted to raise children of her own in the folding foothills of Appalachia, among deer, by the river… She shipped out to basic training right after high school because joining the Army was the best way she knew to get ahead in life… She is listed as missing in action.

…Some parents here still say they want their children to join the service. And some children still say they want to enlist. “There are no jobs around here,” says Amanda Davis, 18, who will leave for basic training this summer — with Jessica’s younger sister, Brandi, as her “battle buddy.” …The unemployment rate in Wirt County runs about 15%… The poverty rate approaches 20%.

…“It seems like a good thing to go into,” says Chasity Winnell, 16, who has her heart set on the Air Force… “The Army offered me a real good deal.” That’s why Jessica Lynch’s older brother [AND younger sister] joined the Army after graduation… This rugged patch of West Virginia is a community of well-rooted families; four and even five generations live as neighbors in the wooded hollows, growing tobacco or raising beef cattle in patches of pasture where the trees have been cleared. Bobbi Moore, a school bus driver, is already touting the benefits of military life to her 12-year-old son. She knows she will not be able to send him to college on her $18,000-a-year salary… “It will keep him out of the minimum-wage class,” she says.

…Just 10 percent of Wirt County adults have bachelor’s degrees — compared with one in four adults nationwide. [et cetera.]

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Jessica lynch, take 3

http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/archives/000059.htm

l

Reporters on Fox News Channel and MSNBC are displaying an exceedingly annoying habit of referring to Pfc. Jessica Lynch as just "Jessica" in news stories, the better to tug the viewers' paternal/maternal heartstrings. But Jessica Lynch is not the little girl who fell down the well. She is a U.S. soldier serving in harm's way. If you're old enough to be a POW, you're old enough to be referred to as "Private Lynch." Even if you're female.

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http://www.sevendaysvt.com/insidetrack/

It was the lead story on WCAX-TV’s evening news last Wednesday. Veteran crime reporter Brian Joyce had the exclusive — an unsettling tale of members of the Vermont National Guard being harassed, abused and assaulted by antiwar protesters… By Friday, the story of Vermont peace protesters stoning a soldier in uniform went national on Fox News.

…The most disturbing part is the fact that, one week after the allegations surfaced, they remain completely and totally unsubstantiated. The Vermont Guard has declined to present any evidence whatsoever that the rock-throwing, profanity-hurling or “spitting” ever really happened… Official spokesman Capt. Jeff Roosevelt… said the rocks may have actually been small stones, even “pebbles.” …The accuser would not come forward. The location was not identified. And the alleged perpetrators of the assault were not named, other than to say they were teenage peace protesters… [Reporter] Joyce told Ch. 3 viewers… "The facts about what really happened here are in dispute.”

So are the “facts” relating to Lt. Col. Stirewalt’s televised declaration that there had also been “spitting” incidents. That one touched a nerve. We’ve all heard the oral history stories of antiwar protesters spitting on soldiers returning from Vietnam… In fact, it’s become such a popular “war story” that nobody doubts its veracity, right? At least, that is, not until Vietnam vet and Holy Cross College sociology professor Jerry Lembcke published The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam. (New York University Press, 1998).

Lembcke tracked down hundreds of accounts of antiwar protesters spitting on Vietnam vets. He searched newspaper archives for photos. He found none… The perpetuation of the “Spitting Myth,” said Lembcke, is a way for those who wrongly supported the Vietnam War to falsely blame the antiwar movement for America’s defeat.

Asked for details on the alleged Vermont Guard spitting incident, Capt Roosevelt told Seven Days Tuesday, “It was one incident.” The unidentified Guard soldier who made the allegation, he said, “isn’t talking about it any further.”

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http://www.krqe.com/global/story.asp?s=1209544&ClientType=Printable

A Santa Fe pizza deliveryman says he was nearly run over by a motorist after he tried to stop the man from tearing down anti-war signs… The police report says Robert Guerro was returning to his store Sunday night when he saw the man tearing the signs down from the side of a shopping center. Guerro told police he got out of his car and told the man to stop. But Guerro says the man then drove into his car and tried to hit him. Guerro says he jumped out of the way, suffering only minor injuries.

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live from bosnia, home of BRIAN

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/bosnia03312003.html

On 31 March survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacres will finally bury almost 600 of their dead. Amnesty International calls upon the Republika Srpska (RS) authorities to honour their obligations to all victims of the tragedy and their families by fully and impartially investigating the human rights violations which happened in Srebrenica, as they were ordered by the Human Rights Chamber earlier this month… Despite the increased rate of identification of exhumed victims, no one has yet been prosecuted in any court in the RS for their involvement in these human rights violations.

…The organization furthermore stressed the need, given repeated reports of vandalism and desecrations of graves of minorities throughout the country, for the authorities to ensure that the Srebrenica grave site and memorial will be protected against acts of violence and disrespect by anyone in the local community.