I C H
223 DAYS ... AND STILL NO WMD FOUND IN IRAQ.
Thu Dec 11 17:51:15 2003
64.140.158.137

223 DAYS ... AND STILL NO WMD FOUND IN IRAQ.

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UPDATE: Take No Prisoners:

Comments from readers regarding this video
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5365.htm

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GI Killed, 14 Wounded in Bombing at US Base Near Baghdad
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3310837.stm

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U.S. Says Deal Reached with EU on Air Passengers :

Washington has requested non-U.S. airlines to hand over up to 39 pieces of data for each passenger, including credit card details, home address and phone number.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3976190

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Bush Backtracks: Canada not excluded from Iraq contracts:

Canada not excluded from Iraq contracts: U.S. President George W. Bush is grateful for help in the war on terrorism and is ''working'' to include Canada in hefty contracts to help rebuild Iraq, he said in a farewell phone call to retiring Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=8F6C1ABD-80EB-4D25-93BE-16647612DC78

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Payback for shut-out:

It was a mistake for the Pentagon to bar some of the world's most influential countries from bidding for $US10.6billion ($14.39 billion) of contracts in Iraq. There are at least three reasons why it will regret it within six months, and many more in the years beyond.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8138028^2703,00.html

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The Case of the Misunderstood Memo:

The Feith "annex" highlights the Bush administration's misuse of intelligence material.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2092180/

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In case you missed it:

Stormin' Norman: "Sucked Into A Tar Pit"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5368.htm

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Three dead in Tel Aviv blast:

Three people die and up to 18 are injured in an explosion at a money-changer's shop in a crowded Tel Aviv business district. Police said it was unclear who had carried out the attack, but they believed it was criminally motivated rather than a terrorist attack.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1104868,00.html

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Rafah incursion toll climbs:

Six Palestinians are now known to have been killed and 18 others wounded during an Israeli army incursion into Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital sources have said
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EDA336AE-1F6A-4412-A64C-94A82189F2E2.htm

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Suicide blast rocks U.S. base, no report of U.S. deaths :

A U.S. Army base 60 miles west of Baghdad was attacked by a suicide bomber Thursday, but no American soldiers died, the military said.
http://www.nola.com/iraq/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0525_BC_Iraq-SuicideBombing&&news&emergency

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Car explodes near Italian synagogue:

A car exploded near a synagogue in the northern Italian city of Modena, police said, adding that the driver, believed to be a Jordanian, was killed.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031211/ts_afp/italy_blast_031211101218

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Iraq contracts 'won by Bush donors':

The report covers 70 companies and individuals who between them have won reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq worth up to $8bn
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3231345.stm

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U.S. Envoy Baker Leaves Monday for Iraq Debt Tour :

A day after angering European allies over Iraq contracts, the White House said on Thursday presidential envoy James Baker will travel to Europe next week to seek their help in relieving Iraq's crushing $125 billion debt.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3977417

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Annan, Schroeder attack U.S. stance on Iraq contracts :

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the United States on Thursday to reverse a controversial decision to exclude Iraq war opponents from bidding on contracts to rebuild Iraq.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters12-11-065342.asp?reg=MIDEAST

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The Booming Defense Business:

The mounting scandal, which centers on whether Boeing improperly offered Pentagon procurement official Darleen Druyun a job while she was negotiating the terms of a $20-billion deal to lease 747s from the company, goes well beyond a few misguided executives at one corporation.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hartung10dec10,1,7386328.story

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Cluster bombs kill in Iraq, even after shooting ends:

The deaths occurred because the world's most modern military, one determined to minimize civilian casualties, went to war with stockpiles of weapons known to endanger civilians and its own soldiers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-12-10-cluster-bomb-cover_x.htm

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U.S. Says Biggest Afghan Push Fails to Find Rebels :

Nearly a week into a sweeping drive across Afghanistan's tribal badlands, thousands of U.S. soldiers have so far failed to engage any Taliban or allied militants, the army said on Thursday.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3976393

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Next Stop, Iran?: Hawks in the Bush administration are undaunted.

They have waited for years to execute their strategy to "secure the realm" and reshape the Middle East. For them Iraq is just the first act.
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0311&article=031141a

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U.S. Should Stop Sanctioning Allies Over ICC:

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is penalizing more than 20 friendly nations for supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch said today.
http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/12/us-icc121003.htm

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Corporate Media Ignores US Hypocrisy on War Crimes :

Corporate media likes to give the impression that the US government is working diligently to root out evil doers around the world and to build democracy and freedom. This theme is part of a core ideological message in support of our recent wars on Panama, Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1210-10.htm

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New Activist Network Slams Growing Abuses Under Bush :

More than 50 groups, ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the New York-based Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), said they had agreed to join forces to address what they said was ”the alarming rate of human rights violations in the U.S.”, particularly as it pursues its ”war on terrorism”.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5367.htm

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Helicopter in Iraq May Have Been Shot Down :

An Apache helicopter that crash-landed near the northern city of Mosul might have been hit by ground fire while making a low pass over the area, U.S. soldiers said Thursday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3491468,00.html

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Family members, veterans, return from Iraq visit with grim report :

"I was just incredibly shocked at how bad it is for the average person and how much their faith in America is deteriorating," said Mike Lopercio, a Tempe, Ariz., businessman who visited his son serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20031210-1344-ca-iraq-relatives.html

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The soldiers Bush didn't visit on Thanksgiving:

"It's too bad Mr. Bush didn't add us to his holiday agenda. The men said the same, but you'll never read that in the paper. Mr. President would rather lift fake turkeys for photo ops, it seems. Maybe because my patients wouldn't make very pleasant photos . . . most don't look all that great, and the ones with facial wounds and external fixation devices look downright scary.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/11/the_soldiers_bush_didnt_visit_on_thanksgiving/

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Father of dead soldier claims Army coverup :

The father of a soldier who died of pneumonia this spring said Thursday the Army has excluded her death from its investigation of deadly pneumonia because it wants to cover up vaccine side effects.
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030807-043512-3755r

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U.S. Opens Firearms Charge Against Iraq-U.S. Contact:

A Lebanese-American businessman who acted as an intermediary between Baghdad and Washington before the war in Iraq has been charged with violating a firearms regulation. His lawyer contends that the case represents retribution by the Bush administration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/international/middleeast/11INTE.html?ex=1072148702&ei=1&en=111978ddffec153a

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Iraqis strongly oppose deployment of NATO troops:

The idea of deploying NATO troops was unveiled by US Secretary of State Collin Powell at an NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels last week.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-12/10/content_1224456.htm

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Neo-cons cry 'appeasement' over Taiwan:

The statement by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was released just a few hours after Bush publicly chastised Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for planning a referendum on whether to ask Beijing to renounce the use of force against the island and remove the almost 500 missiles pointed at it.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EL11Ad01.html

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Diebold e-mail discusses price gouging Maryland:

An e-mail found in a collection of files stolen from Diebold Elections Systems' internal database recommends charging Maryland "out the yin-yang," if the state requires Diebold to add paper printouts to the $73 million voting system it purchased.
http://www.gazette.net/200350/princegeorgescty/state/192070-1.html

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The court case that could reshape US democracy:

The case's implications are nationwide. At stake is not only control of the House of Representatives in Washington, but the very health of democracy.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=472097

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NSA can summarily reject requests for information:

The National Security Agency has won the authority to automatically turn down requests by citizens for records on how the spy agency eavesdrops on foreign countries.
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.nsa11dec11,0,955582.story

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U.S. Military Told To Stay Off Reserves Recruiting:

Pentagon tells recruiters they can no longer look for troops among natives in Canada
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=2b124b5d-fde7-450d-b357-7a025fef416d

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In case you missed it:

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal :

International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1089158,00.html

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The bad news that just won't go away :

A draft report by highly respected analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the asymmetric conflict being waged between United States forces and former regime loyalists and various Islamists finds that "neither side can achieve their original grand strategic objectives.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EL12Ak01.html

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Court releases Moroccan 9/11 suspect:

A German court has unexpectedly ordered the release of a Moroccan man on trial for abetting the September 11 plotters after the judge says that new evidence clearly exonerated the suspect.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=420422§ion=news&fromEmail=true

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Firebomb Hits Local Arab-American News Building:

Employees Believe Attack May Be Hate Crime
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2694550/detail.html

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Meet the 'Terror Tourists':

Throughout the five-day course, Lisa Reed and her fellow Terror Tourists will fire machine-guns, learn hand-to-hand combat and take part in mock attacks by Israeli commandos pretending to be Arab terrorists.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3295067.stm

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Pentagon: Many of New Iraq Soldiers Quit :

Plans to deploy the first battalion of Iraq (news - web sites)'s new army are in doubt because a third of the soldiers trained by the U.S.-led occupation authority have quit, defense officials said Wednesday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031210/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_new_army_1

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UK: Storm As Algerian Al-Qaeda Suspects Cleared:

NINE Algerians arrested in Scotland on suspicion of being al-Qaeda members will not face any court proceedings, it was announced yesterday.After the decision, lawyer Aamer Anwar, who acted for one of the men, demanded an inquiry into the Crown's handling of the case.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/content_objectid=13709042_method=full_siteid=89488_headline=-STORM-AS-ALGERIAN-AL-QAEDA-SUSPECTS-CLEARED-name_page.html

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'The stupefaction of a nation':

The powerful few now control the nation's media and its ideas, and soon our free will and freedom to think as well. Democracy is disappearing, the Leviathan is swallowing us whole little by little, assuring itself of allegiance from a people who once questioned, were once curious and who once had control of this great nation.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=14106&mode=nested&order=0

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Feeding Fear: The New Security Culture:

Disaster, apparently, is everywhere these days. The Bush administration recently urged schools to conduct safety assessments of their buildings and to rehearse emergency evacuation routines.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17316

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US tells Russia of plans for eastward military expansion:

A top US official told Moscow on Wednesday that Washington planned to expand its military bases into eastern Europe and ex-Soviet territories and hoped that Russia would not take it as an aggressive act.
http://www.spacewar.com/2003/031210161939.7zrz9nt7.html

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US oil giant put on trial over Burma pipeline:

Unocal has become the first US firm to stand trial in the United States for alleged human rights abuses abroad, in a case centred on the construction of a gas pipeline in Burma.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/10/1070732288364.html

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Well, it's official: I am now deathly afraid of 60% of Americans:

The results of the latest USAToday/ Gallup poll were released today, and 60% of Americans now think that the war in Iraq was a good idea - and the main reason given for this rise in their approval for the war was Bush's 2-hour layover in Baghdad on Thanksgiving!
http://www.newzmaniac.com/blog3.html

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Israeli offer a myth :

Throughout history, mankind has believed in erroneous and fanciful myths such as: the world is flat, handling toads will give you warts, and now the idea that Israel's former prime minister Barak made a "generous offer" for the establishment of a Palestinian state in 2000. Let's look at this offer.
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/dec/12092003/public_f/118126.asp

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In case you missed it:

Saddam 'is months away from a nuclear bomb':

President Bush, speaking during his summit with Tony Blair, said that Saddam was just six months away from going nuclear.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/09/wirq109.xml

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Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." (August 1765) John Adams