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Countdown To War With Iraq

Countdown To War With Iraq
A Scoop Special Feature

This page contains archived links to Scoop material relating to the buildup towards a US war against Iraq.

USA ISOLATED at FIVE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT: Scoop Feature


Photo-Essay: Consider Well Whom You Bomb

U.S. Govt. Insiders Talk Of An Insane Administration - An associate of mine, a former political appointee, recently spoke to a Republican friend of his who serves in a senior position in what has become the Office of Homeland Security. He reports that this official, along with many of his colleagues across the political spectrum within the apparatus of government, are absolutely terrified of George W. Bush. See... UQ Wire: Into the Darkness. See also.. See... Internal Dissent Against Iraq War In State Dept.

Streets Of London: Regrets In Great Britain - Tuesday night’s House of Commons votes paving the way for war didn’t accurately reflect public opinion. On such a vital issue it would be fairer and wiser to let the people decide. See... The British Public Should Have Had A Say On War

Halliburton: The Company That Proves The VP Is A Liar - This is my last ditch effort to show the hypocrisy within President Bush’s administration regarding its policies toward Iraq and its President, Saddam Hussein, just as the United States and Britain prepares to invade the country. See... Jason Leopold: As War Looms, Hypocrisy Prevails

Peace Protesters With A Papal Mandate - Responding to what the Vatican last night labeled “a crime against peace,” the largest Catholic peace organization in the United States immediately called on its members and people of faith throughout the world to undertake a massive campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience. See... Pax Christi USA Nationwide Civil Disobedience Call and Intervention in Iraq Would Be a Crime - Vatican

Michael Moore Gives Dubya A Piece Of His Mind - So today is what you call "the moment of truth," the day that "France and the rest of world have to show their cards on the table." I'm glad to hear that this day has finally arrived. Because, I gotta tell ya, having survived 440 days of your lying and conniving, I wasn't sure if I could take much more. See... Letter from Michael Moore to George W Bush Re: War

How To Decode Bush Admin. Communications - If you have children, and you've been searching desperately for a way to explain the twisted logic of contemporary U.S. politics to them, you should document the process when they begin therapy, any notes you might have will come in handy. See... Bill Grigsby: With Bush, Every Day Is Opposite Day

Australia's Begins Negotiating Its Blood Money -Even before the first bomb falls on Iraq Australia looks set to benefit from joining the "coalition of the willing" as American trade negotiators gather in Canberra today for talks over the most significant trade deal in Australia's history. Maree Howard reports. See... Howard’s End: Before The First Bomb Falls

Buzzflash Editorial: The Endgame It's the endgame of a mad, politically calculated war. From the beginning, everyone's agreed that Saddam Hussein is a bad man, almost a prototype for a villain in a James Bond Film. See... Buzzflash Editorial: Endgame

More On The Jihad Against Rep. Moran - One of the reasons Rep. Jim Moran thinks Jewish leaders are powerful is because the ones he sees are. Jews outside of Washington - like gun-owners, doctors, and Chamber of Commerce members outside of Washington - don't have a strong sense of just how precisely their "community" is defined daily by capital lobbyists. See... Undernews: Playing Ethnic Politics At Ground Zero

NZ Inspectors Are Safely Out - New Zealand Defence Force personnel working in Iraq with the United Nations' weapons inspection team, UNMOVIC, have flown out to Cyprus overnight, Foreign Minister Phil Goff said today. See... New Zealanders with UNMOVIC leave Iraq and Twelve NZ Defence Personnel Safe in Cyprus

UN Comment On What Might Have Been - Speaking on the day the last United Nations weapons monitors were withdrawn from Iraq, the top inspector, Hans Blix, today said he feels the inspections should not have been stopped at this stage. See... Iraqi weapons probe should have continued - Blix UNSC prepares to hear inspectors' report

Tony Blair Explains How Black Is White - Opening a debate on Iraq in Parliament, Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that the issue 'will determine the pattern of international politics for the next generation'. See... More than the fate of the Iraqi regime at stake and UK PMOS Press Briefing On Iraq 18th March 2003

Bush's Ultimatum Clarified –If Saddam Leaves We Still Invade - "The President also made plain to the American people that if Saddam were to leave, the American forces, coalition forces would still enter Iraq, hopefully this time peacefully, because Iraqi military would not be under orders to attack or fire back. And that way Iraq could be disarmed from possession of weapons of mass destruction." See... Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer - March 18, 2003

Greenpeace Surround "The Lodge" Howard Under House Arrest - Canberra Wednesday, 19 March, 2003 : John Howard has been placed under "house arrest" by Greenpeace, dressed as United Nations blue berets. Howard's action of committing Australia to war in Iraq was found to breach articles 2(4), 42 and 51 of the UN Charter. See... Howard under house arrest

Firas Al-Atraqchi: How Does It Feel In Baghdad? - Baghdad, Iraq is in a state of psychological disarray. Families with financial means have started to crowd buses leaving Baghdad for the outlying villages, towns, and cities within Iraq, and for Syria, Jordan and Iran. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Iraqis Phone In Last Wills

Matthew Reid: UNMOVIC, Where Up Is Down - I swear we’re living with Alice in Wonderland. Up is down, down is up; black and white have eerily evolved into each other and Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix believes what he cannot see yet doubts what he cannot deny. See... Matthew Reid: Ignorance is Blix

Howard’s End: Bow Our Heads In Shame - It took twenty-seven years from the time of the U.N. partition decision creating Israel in November 1947 before the Palestinians could return to the U.N. and be granted a full hearing. Make no mistake, the Palestinian "question" remains… See... Sad Commentary on Western Civilisation

Ominous, Dreadfull and Haunting Silence On War In The US - The pastime sweeping the country right now is not to talk about the war, as if it will somehow magically go away. Surprised by a friend's nominal pro-war stance, I tried to explain what a terrible mistake it was. She would have none of it: "You're not going to get me in this trap-I will not discuss this with you." See... Daniel Patrick Welch: Fair Warning

David Miller: Selling Mayhem Matters - Despite what the anti-war lobby in New Zealand and around the world think or say, the United States and Britain have already made their decision to go to war with Iraq. See... It’s How You Sell The War That Matters

The Final Countdown: Bush Admin. Ultimatum - In a 1pm (NZT) statement U.S. President George W. Bush has given Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein and his two sons 48 hours to leve Iraq or face an Invasion. See... Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours : Bush
The Final Countdown: UN Pulls Out
- UN News Audio - UN Weapons Inspectors Ordered Out of Iraq
- UN - Annan to withdraw UN staff from Iraq , Key Iraqi disarmament goals to be dicussed Wednesday &UK, US and Spain won't seek vote on resolution
The Final Countdown: The Hawks' Call To Arms
- UK - Jack Straw to the House of Commons on Iraq, Legal basis for use of force against Iraq, PM outlines vision for Iraq and the Iraqi people & 'A clear ultimatum to Saddam'
- US Govt. - Briefing on Situation With Iraq - Colin Powell
EARLIER:
- Atlantic Summit Communiqués - Summit: A Vision For Iraq And The Iraqi People and Summit: Commitment To Trans-Atlantic Solidarity
- Press Conference Transcript - Monday "Moment of Truth" for World on Iraq

Australia Commits To Unsanctioned War - Breaking News: The Sydney Morning Herald has announced that Australian PM John Howard has committed Australian troops to war in Iraq. See... Johno Howard Embroils Diggers In US-Led Iraq War

John Paul II Keeps Faith And Hope Alive - John Paul II called Saddam Hussein's attention to the grave duties of his regime and reminded the U.N. Security Council members that "there is still room for peace." See... Pope Says There Is Still Room for Peace in Iraq

Kidd Millennium: The Baddest Of Bad Movies - At a recent economic forum, President Bush rejected potential concessions made to Iraq as “a rerun of a bad movie” that he is not interested in watching. However, perhaps answers to his geopolitical dilemma lie in the film industry, even though our fearless leader might object to the analogy. See... Kidd Millennium: Rerun Of A Bad Movie

Kaminsky: Lessons Found In Chinese Views Of America - We are not who we think we are, or claim to be. We are what others say we are, which is why in courts and schools and businesses, we don't accept what people claim about themselves; we ask witnesses, teachers and references. We are who others say we are. See... John Kaminski: We Are As Others See Us

Protesting For Peace In D.C. - Today an estimated 45,000 (police estimate) gathered around the Washington Monument on the Mall, protesting the injustice of a war on Iraq and its civilians, as well as the unilateral process the Bush Administration and its few allies are engaging in. See... Tens of Thousands Converge in DC for Peace – Again

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Misquoting The US Diplomatic Bulldozer The catch phrases 'last ditch effort for diplomacy', 'going the extra mile for diplomacy', and 'nobody wants a war' have been regurgitated time and again by the media to lend a compassionate, psychologically balanced, and moral face to the impending war on Iraq. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Diplomacy? What Diplomacy? and Firas Al-Atraqchi: Ooops... That Evidence Was Fake

Dennis Hans: Wisdom Absent From Presidential Gut - Unfortunately, on some issues — tax cuts, Saddam Hussein — Bush appears to have made a conscious decision to disengage his brain and rely on his non-thinking gut. That is no way to run a life, let alone a nation. See... Dennis Hans: Bush’s Gut Is a No-Brainer



William Rivers Pitt: Will The Real Tony Blair Stand Up! Unlike George W. Bush, who gave one euthanized press conference before diving back down the rabbit hole, Blair appears before angry British crowds on a fairly regular basis to defend his stance on Iraq. His answers never satisfy, and Bush always looms above him like the shadow of the raven, but at least Tony stands up and takes his beatings like a man. See... UQ Wire: Tony Blair in the Garden of Gethsemane

Bernard Weiner: War On Iraq Will Be War Crime - Dear George W. Bush, Congratulations! With your decision to bomb and invade Iraq, you are about to make yourself both an enemy of the state and an international war-criminal. See... Open Letter to Bush: You Are Disgracing America

Reader Opinion: A Kiwi Expat Writes From America - I believe that this is the first time that the elite that rule our supposedly democratic nations have taken it upon themselves so openly to manufacture consent for starting a war that will enrich them and impoverish the nations that they rule. See... Scoop Reader Opinion: Hello From America

Bush And Blair – The World's Newest Genocidal Maniacs - What George W. Bush and Tony Blair are planning is the greatest act of human slaughter since Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge orchestrated the Cambodian genocide in the mid 1970s. See... Marc Ash: Massive Human Slaughter

Photo Essay: The Iraq War Aid Effort Begins - From James Addis in Amman, Jordan - An airlift of relief supplies concluded successfully today when a World Vision chartered Ilyushin heavy transport plane landed at Amman's Queen Alia international airport. See... Photo-Essay: Preparing For 600,000 Iraqi Refugees and Relief flight lands ahead of deadline

Who Is More Like Hitler, Saddam Or George? The 70th anniversary wasn't noticed in the United States, and was barely reported in the corporate media. But the Germans remembered well that fateful day seventy years ago - February 27, 1933. See... When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History

Jason Leopold: Bush Jr. Picks Up Where Bush Sr. Fell Down - President Bush started beating the war drums Saturday in an attempt to win support for a war that many people here and throughout the world believe is unjustified. In his weekly radio address Saturday, Bush dug deep into the past; reminding the public that last weekend marked the 15-year anniversary of the poison gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja by Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein. See... Jason Leopold: Bush Familial Hypocrisy and President's Radio Address - Halabja Chem. Attack

Howard's End: Do We Need To Be Saved By The US? - A "diplomatic blunder" is how the The Wall Street Journal has declared the drive for a second UN resolution over Iraq and of Guinea it says; " The spectacle of the US Government begging that African nation for permission to sacrifice American blood and treasure to save the world from Saddam Hussein exposes the farce that the UN Security Council's debate has become." Save the world? Maree Howard writes. See... Howard's End: Why The UN Debate’s a Farce

Jason Leopold: Fluid Moral Relativity In Bush Administrations - In 1989, the State Department released a report that described in gruesome detail Iraq’s violation of human rights, specifically how Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein tortured his own people for allegedly being disloyal. But despite the atrocities outlined in the report the first Bush Administration refused to vote in favor of a United Nations resolution calling for an inquiry into Iraq’s treatment of its population. See... Iraqi Human Rights Abuses Less Important In 1989

Dennis Hans: Cheating In Basketball & Lying To The Public - In the past month I’ve appeared on several radio shows to discuss my essays on the “techniques of deceit” the Bush administration has employed to win public support for an attack on Iraq. See... How to Deter Bush Fibbing and Hoopster Flopping

Christiaan Briggs Reports On His Premature Exit From Iraq - I must admit, of all the scenarios, being asked to leave [Iraq] wasn’t the one I expected. I am sitting in a room in South London somewhere. See... Christiaan Briggs Reports On Iraq

The Price Of Alleging Jewish Influence In The Coming War - THE JIHAD AGAINST Rep. James Moran for suggesting that "if it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this" is proceeding apace. See... Undernews: The Jihad Against Rep. James Moran

Countdown To War: Tony Blair's World - The PMOS advised journalists that the Prime Minister had met the Opposition Leader this morning to update him on Iraq. No doubt he would have other meetings with Ministers and would speak to international colleagues during the course of today. See... UK PMOS Briefing 13th March 2003 and UK PM Answers Parl. Questions On Iraq and Terror

US Senate Roll Of Honour: Patrick Leahy - "The President says that if the Security Council does not support the use of force today, it risks becoming irrelevant. But the President has it backward. The Security Council will not become irrelevant because it refuses to agree with the President of the United States. Rather, the Security Council’s effectiveness is threatened if the United States, the world’s only superpower, ignores the will of key allies on the Security Council regarding the enforcement of a Security Council resolution." Senator Patrick Leahy - Concerning Iraq

Hague Appeal Peace Mission Heads For Baghdad - While embassy staff, migrant workers, and other international non-government organizations are packing up to leave Iraq, a group of prominent Asian intellectuals, parliamentarians, civil society leaders, and activists are flying to Baghdad in a desperate last-ditch effort to avert the war. See... Hague Appeal for Peace Members Got To Baghdad

Sludge Report: War Is Just A Racket - The official US and Australian PR strategy for the war is now more than clear. To misquote Robert The Bruce, the motto being followed at propaganda central in both Canberra and Washington these days is: "If at first you don't convince, lie, lie again". See... Sludge Report #148 - A Nest Of Vipers, But Whose?

Guest Essay: The True Spirit Of America - The American People themselves are as good or bad as any one else in the world. They cannot be held responsible for the litany of horrors and the actions carried out in the past by their leaders. Or the crimes that their present leadership is about to unleash. See... Guest Opinion: The American Tragedy

Examining The Real War Motivations - It's easy to vilify George W. Bush as a cynical warmonger, anxious to attack Iraq to repay the oil companies that funded his election campaigns. But to do so is to make a dangerous and fundamental error, and such a myopic view of the Bush administration's policies puts America's future at risk. See... Thom Hartmann: The Empire Needs New Clothes

Scoop Satire: Rumsfeld's Diary Reveals Panic Dear Diary: They're on to us. It all looked so easy when we drew it up: We'd talk tough, frighten those who might oppose us, get our war plans in high gear, and move before anybody could do anything about it. See... Inside Rummy's Diary: They're On To Us! Let's Roll

Coercing A Coalition: William Rivers Pitt - A lot of people started the week thinking there would be war by Monday. A lot of people were wrong. See... UQ Wire: Betting on War with a Pair of Kings
MORE ON COERCING A COALITION:
- Scoop Reader - Reader Opinion: The Global Bully
- BTL - U.S. Coalition of the Willing or the Coerced?
- COHA - Mexico On The UN and Iraq - Arm-Twisting Diplomacy
- Greens - Floating Council Members Urged To Reject US Bribes
- Kofi Annan - Annan appeals for Security Council unity

Ways To Stop War (5) - Sing About It - Platinum selling Australian Icon, James Blundell is today releasing a song dedicated to one simple question the whole world is asking, "Do we want a war?" See... Anti-War Anthem - Back It Up! – James Blundell

Senator Robert Byrd – US As Peacemaker Turned Warmonger - The United Nations is in diplomatic disarray today as the foreign ministers from the world's most powerful nations scramble to find some scrap of common ground on the question of war with Iraq. See... America Peacemaker Becomes America Warmonger

Britain Proposes Six Step Path To War - The British ambassador to the UN is circulating six tests by which Iraqi compliance would be measured, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said. See... Jack Straw: Six tests' to measure Iraqi compliance

Is The UK In Or Out? "Asked if it was conceivable that US troops might go into action in Iraq without the British military, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it was important to put Donald Rumsfeld's comments into context. " See... UK PMOS Briefings On Iraq March 12 2003. Meanwhile at the White House… "The President feels very deeply that especially in a democracy the right thing to do from the point of view of winning the support of the public is to act in the name of peace." - Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer - March 12, 2003
Rumsfeld's Original Remarks:
- DoD News Briefing Mar 11 - Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers and Rumsfeld Clarifies Comment About Attacking Sans UK

Jason Leopold: Is the United States headed for World War III? - Last week, at a Pentagon “town hall” meeting between Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and members of the U.S. armed forces, someone asked Rumsfeld if the U.S. decides to invade Iraq what would the U.S. do if the situation in North Korea boils over while troops are fighting a war in Iraq? See... Jason Leopold: Meanwhile... On The Eastern Front


US Anti-War Activists Called Out Again!

Big Orange And Deadly – USAF Unveils It's Latest Toy - U.S. Air Force images of the MOAB – "Mother Of All Bombs" – being prepared for testing, plus a link to video of it going off. See... Images: World's Biggest Bomb (10 Tonnes) Tested

Ways To Stop War (1) – US Court Case Advances To Hearing - series of links to stories concerning the progress of a US First Circuit Court of Appeals case seeking to restrain the US Administration from going to war in Iraq. In the latest development the court has surprisingly moved to hear the case. See... US Appeals Court Agrees To Hearing Of Iraq Case

Ways To Stop War (2) – US Economy Implodes - Inside Washington, there's a war going on that is not being covered by anyone. While the Bush administration is determinably marching to war, buying and strong-arming leaders of friendly nations to go against the democratic will of their people and coming up with the up-front bounty to pay others like Turkey, it has been six days running since we hit the national debt ceiling. See... Ed Henry: Silent War.. The Bomb Is In The Treasury

Ways To Stop War (3) – March 15th Protests - The warmakers can still be stopped, and they know it. If it hadn't been for the worldwide uprising against the war the carnage would have started months ago. We can and must intensify the mobilization for March 15. See... Emergency Convergence March 15 to Stop Countdown . See also... John Kaminski: Thomas Jefferson Calling

Ways To Stop War (4) - A Save The World Cyberkit - Save a few precious minutes for something that can work - Uniting for Peace! Uniting for Peace (UN Resolution 377) empowers the General Assembly to call up peacekeeping troops when the Security Council is blocked - like it has been for months. See... An Emergency Kit To Stop The War - U.N. Res. 377

US @ The UN: Do As We Say Not As We Do - In considering US threats to France concerning its planned use of a UNSC Veto vote to stop a Resolution authorising war on Iraq it is worth reviewing some history. See... Use Of The Veto On UN Resolutions By The USA

Firas Al-Atraqchi: The Birth Pains Of Empire - During the Iraq-Iran war, which bled in excess of one million fatalities on both sides from 1980 to 1988, Iraq was touted as the defender of the Arabs' Eastern Gate from the Persian Horde. The U.S. Reagan administration at the time realized that, if Iraq fell, the entire oil-rich Arab Persian Gulf would succumb to Iran's virulent brand of Shiite Islamic governance, stripping the U.S. and the West of vital oil supplies. See... Pax Americana: The Building Of Empire

Castro: Resisting the Doctrine of Pre-emptive Strike - These are hard times we are living in. In recent months, we have more than once heard chilling words and statements. In his speech to West Point graduating cadets on June 1 2002, the United States president declared: "Our security will require transforming the military you will lead, a military that must be ready to strike at a moment's notice in any dark corner of the world." See... Fidel Castro: War on the Dark Corners of the World

George W's Presser Looked Peculiar In Saudi Too - The world is getting weird, isn't it? Did anyone else get a creepy sort of "pod people" feeling while witnessing those journalists stand and present their questions at that White House press conference? Was it scripted and staged? Sure felt like it. See... John Cory: The Sucker Punch

Scoop Feature: The Diversion of Rhetoric Over Reason - Within this crisis, there is no middle ground to be crafted. Let us not be blinded by the rhetoric of religion, the politicizing, nor by the blind nationalism that springs en masse from the aggressors in this US-Iraq crisis. A healthier position would be to question ourselves on whether the willful and calculated slaughter of human beings is spiritually ordained, politically justified, or representative of the nations we each live in. See... The Diversion of Rhetoric Over Reason

Matthew Reid: But. But. But. - About the only thing missing from the strange scene along the Iraq-Kuwait border late this week was UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan in a black and white striped jersey with a whistle around his neck. Can you hear him? “Off-sides. Iraq. 5-yard penalty. Repeat 1st down.” See... Matthew Reid: Grandstanding Appeasement

Five Arrested At John Howard Demo - Police made five arrests at the end of a demonstration against the looming war in Iraq in Wellington today. See... Five arrests at Wellington anti-war demo from Indymedia Aotearoa, and a release from the demonstrators. See... Police Heavy-Handed During Howard Parl Protest. See also the Police release on the arrests… Five arrests at Parliament protest

David Miller: Iran The Shadow Behind Iraq - In hindsight, it was not the cleverest of moves on the part of President Bush to publicly declare that a hard line approach would be taken against the “Axis of Evil”. See... David Miller Online: In the Shadows Lies Iran

Iraqi Nuclear Scientist On US/UK Fabricated "Evidence" - On March 7, 2003, Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), submitted, in accordance with U.N. Resolution 1441, his third report to the Security Council on Iraq's nuclear non-capability. See... Imad Khadduri: The Fig Leaf Of Moral Impotence


Clapping Hands For Peace At Parliament - Photo Essay
Trans-Tasman PMs' Presser
Wellington Where George = Gollum

What's On Dubya's Mind? Not War Just Yet Anyway - U.S. President George W. Bush has just finished his opening remarks in a prime time (8pm EST) press conference in the White House announced with some fanfare this morning and broadcast live over the Internet and most U.S. TV networks. Speaking in an extremely (some say a little too) calm tone, the President appeared to have nothing new to say on the crisis. See... Newsflash: Bush Announces Nothing. Earlier... Bush Press Conference 2pm – Is It War Or Osama?
MORE:
- Commentary - Firas Al-Atraqchi: Lies With A Purpose
- Link - Washington Post Asks - Was Bush Medicated?
- Link- NY Times - The Xanax Cowboy
- Verbatim - President Bush Press Conference Transcript

Arctic Wildlife Could Be A Casualty Of War In Iraq - In the coming weeks, the Senate will attempt to make a compelling argument for opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. It turns out that tapping into ANWR’s resources would produce an immediate 600,000 barrels per day of oil—exactly the same amount of oil the U.S. currently purchases from Iraq under the United Nations oil for food program. See... Jason Leopold: War Means Time To Open ANWR - GOP

Why Class Analysis Matters - On September 11th 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush, upholding “democracy” and “peace,” declared his “New World Order” in a speech before the US Congress. He was soon rain thousands of tons of napalm, air-fuel explosives, phosphorous bombs, cluster bombs and uranium-encased shells upon Iraq, killing thousands, terrorizing that country. See... Mitchel Cohen: The Gulf War Twelve Years Later (1)

UNMOVIC's Hans Blix Reports To UNSC - Top United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council today that over the past month Iraq has displayed "active" or even "proactive" cooperation, which has allowed the inspection process to make significant progress. See... Blix welcomes accelerated cooperation by Iraq and Hans Blix Oral Report To UNSC 7th March 2003
REACTION:
- White House - Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer - March 7, 2003
- Jack Straw - Straw: strain every nerve to avoid military action
- Colin Powell - Remarks After UN Security Council Debate & Remarks to the UNSC
- At The UN - Summaries Of Statements To UNSC On Blix Report & Several UNSC members call for more inspections
- UK's Revised Res. UK proposes 17 March deadline for Iraq to comply

Dennis Hans: Middle East Dictator's Keep Their Bush Patronage Secret - In the greatest achievement of his still-young presidency, George W. Bush has become the “international mistress of mystery” for a string of Arab dictators. See... George W. Bush, International Mistress of Mystery

Bernard Weiner: How War Could Be Avoided at the Last Minute - My fellow Americans. I am speaking to you tonight to thank you for the overwhelming support you have given our Administration in confronting Saddam Hussein. Because the American people, and the nations of the world, have stood together, Saddam has had to rein in his grandiose plans for regional domination and possible use of weapons of mass destruction. See... Bernard Weiner: An Address from the Oval Office

US Plans To Protect Iraq's Oil: But From Whom? - In light of past acts of eco-terrorism by the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Department of Defense has developed plans to extinguish oil well fires and to assess damage to oil facilities that might occur in Iraq in the event of hostilities. See... U.S. Plans To Preserve Iraq's Oil For Iraqi People

Why War Is Bad For The Economy - How it is possible to be against this war, and the policies of the Bush administration, and also be for a free and globally engaged commercial republic. To put it more crudely, how can we make sense of the phenomenon of right-wing anti-war theory and practice? See... Lew Rockwell: War And The Economy
More War Vs The Economy
- U.S. Economists - Statement by US Economists on Iraq War
- Chris Sanders: Clueless in Frogville
- Muscle Bound, Broke, And Spoiling For A Fight
- Disaster In The Global Equity Markets

Dennis Hans: George The Cowardly President - Is there a more cowardly man who walks the earth than George W. Bush? Saddam Hussein has a political and human-rights record that makes him highly vulnerable to even a mediocre debate opponent, but our president is scared silly of taking up Saddam’s challenge to a debate. See... Dennis Hans: Bush the Fork-Tongued Scaredy Cat

Europe’s Big Three Threaten To Veto USA War-Plans - France, Germany and Russia said today they will block any US attempt to get UN approval for war against Iraq. The announcement came after an emergency meeting in Paris and caused a diplomatic crisis between White House and Europe. See... Euro-Troika Threaten To Veto US War Plans

The President Who Would Be Chosen - How dare any politician, including the President, even implicitly suggest that God is a kind of mascot for the nation. Affirmation of a particular faith tradition must never be made a litmus test for measuring patriotism. See... President Plays the Christian Trump Card See also... A Primer For GWB On The Ten Commandments

Don't Tell Us Poppy, Tell Your Dim Son! - Former President George Bush predicted in 1996 that if the United States were to engage in another war with Iraq, one aimed at overthrowing Saddam Hussein, the “entire Arab world would turn against us” and the U.S. would alienate its allies in the international community. See... Jason Leopold: When Poppy Bush Said It How It Is


Eat Nothing Today - Pope Calls Fast For Peace Day

Peace Pope Delivers Message To U.S. President - "I was privileged to have been sent by the Holy Father as his Special Envoy to President George Bush. I assured him of the Holy Father's great esteem and affection for the American people and the United States of America." See... Cardinal's Statement Following Meeting with Bush
MORE FROM THE PEACE POPE:
- Jews and Muslims Join the Fast for Peace
- John Paul II - Peace Calls for an End to Injustice
- Reflection on Meaning of Prayer and Fasting - Pope
- Prayer and Fasting Are Weapons of Peace - Pope

Ari Fleischer Receives A Curly One - Q Ari, you have said in the past that every step will be taken to protect innocent and civilian life in Iraq. During the first Gulf War, the United States intentionally bombed water storage facilities and sewage treatment plants. This led to the deaths of an estimated half million civilian Iraqis from cholera, hepatitis, and typhoid. In what sense is that protecting civilian and innocent life? See... Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer - March 5, 2003

Colin Powell Accuses Saddam Of Trying To Split The West - Iraq's too little, too late gestures are meant not just to deceive and delay action by the international community, he has as one of his major goals to divide the international community, to split us into arguing factions. See... Iraq: Still Failing to Disarm

Howard's End: The War For Water And WWIII As the US-British coalition stands toe to toe with the French-German-Russia tri-axis at the UN Security Council and each waits for the other guy to blink first, resentments continue building over an Iraqi war another complicating factor has arisen - the war for water. Maree Howard writes. See... Howard's End: WWIII Threat Faces Security Council

How to Swagger & Bully Your Way to Disaster - Americans don't like to distrust their leaders. In a world that appears so chaotic, one wants, needs, some sense of firm, unshakeable foundations. See... Bernard Weiner: Bush's Foreign Adventurism

Reading Between The Lines - Critics Warn Iraq War Will Provoke Increased Terrorism, Ethnic Conflicts and Global Economic Instability - Interview with Dilip Hiro author and journalist, conducted by Scott Harris . See... Critics Warn Iraq War Will Provoke Terrorism

George W. Bush Is Out Of Control - "I'm waiting for the black government cars to come squealing up in front of my house, for the thump of leather on my stairs, for the sound of knuckles on my door, for the feel of steel braceleting my wrists, for the smell of urine in some dank Federal ..." See... UQ Wire: Arrest Me

Countdown To War: Hawk Talk
- Paul Wolfowitz - Wolfowitz IV with Nolan Finley of the Detroit News and Wolfowitz Media Stakeout with Phoenix TV/TV France
- Colin Powell IVs - Spain's TVE, Turkish TV, Russia's ORT, Germany's RTL, United Kingdom s ITN France's TF-2
- State Dept. - State Dept. Daily Press Briefing for March 3
- DoD -. Chemical & Biological Defense Readiness Briefing
- DoD - Coalition News Briefing on Humanitarian Assistance

Countdown To War: Dove Talk Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov Speaks by Telephone to Ministers for Foreign Affairs Dominique de Villepin of France and Joschka Fischer of Germany See... Russia, France, Germany Hold Telephone Conference and. Russian Citizens Pulled Out of Iraq
- German Govt. - Iraqi cooperation showing progress and deficits
- Vatican - John Paul II Has Confidence in Bush, Papal Envoy
- UN - Missile Destruction 'positive' but more required
- UN - 'Delicate question' of Iraq tops Security Council

Dennis Hans: Lying America Into War (Part 2) - How George W. Bush and Saint Colin of Powell are lying America into an unnecessary war — and what honest journalists can do about it. See... Dennis Hans: The Disinformation Age. See also… Exposing Bush and His "Techniques of Deceit"

Matthew Reid: Why Is Everybody Trying To Stop The War? - These certainly are frightening times. Flip on the TV, open up a newspaper or go to a show-everywhere you look there's some Hollywood hot shot or music biz bigwig taking a courageous stand against the 'Bush/Blair Bomb Squad.' See... Matthew Reid: Frightening Times

Human Shields Threatened With Military Prison - According to a recent Fox News report, U.S. leaders are considering prosecuting for war crimes any U.S. citizen who travels to Iraq to be a human shield in an effort to protect the Iraqi people. See... Doreen Miller: Criminalising An Act Of Love

David Miller Online: The French Connection - I have never been a great admirer of the French and the manner in which they conduct themselves on the world stage. I find it amazing that for a nation that has suffered more military defeats than victories and several painful withdrawals from empire, they still insist on trying to prove that they are a great international power and the one that other countries must listen to. See... David Miller: Why the French Must Tread Carefully

SCOOP LINKS: A Bridge Too Far – NSA Plans To Spy On UN Revealed - The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq. Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer. See… Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war and US plan to bug Security Council: the text (Both links are to the UK Observer website.)

Why GWB Is Hell Bent On Bombing The Children Of Iraq - The Bush Administration desperately needs this war. Without it, not only might the world discover that the emperor has no clothes, but that he was never elected in November, 2000. See... Ten Reasons Why Bush MUST Have His War

Peace Pope - John Paul II made a renewed appeal for prayer and fasting for peace in the world, especially in the Holy Land and Iraq. See... John Paul II Calls for Intense World Peace Prayer and Cardinal Laghi to Deliver a Papal Message to Bush

Where Is Afghanistan Headed? - Afghanistan is currently seeking political legitimacy not only in the context of Central Asia but in the greater world as well. The administration of Hamid Karzai is faced with a series of obstacles towards that goal. See... PINR: Afghanistan's Continued Struggle

US Moves The Goal Posts – Regime Change + Disarmament Now Required - "I think the President made it perfectly plain yesterday in the Oval Office and he has said this repeatedly, it's disarmament and regime change." See... Ari Fleischer: It's Disarmament And Regime Change. For what Bush said see... President Discusses the Future of Iraq - Feb 26th and Bush Meets with President Karzai of Afghanistan

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Arabs Are Not As Loyal As Dogs - Last year, I wrote a piece called "The Arabs are Dogs," lamenting over the lack of Arab political will to address the deplorable situation in Jenin and other West Bank refugee camps. Not only did the Arabs do nothing about the plight of Palestinians, but instead persisted in offering Israeli Prime Minister Sharon an olive branch in recognizing Israel in return for political and territorial concessions. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Arabs And Dogs, Revisited

Scoop Link: Putin On A Peace Mission To Bulgaria - VOA reports Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has told Bulgarian leaders the Iraq crisis must be resolved by peaceful means. Mr. Putin met with Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov in Sofia. See... Iraq Crisis Must be Solved Peacefully, says Putin. See also... Howard's End: Russia Provides Iraq a Lifeboat

The Aftermath – Has Already Begun - The corporate media is busy hyping Showdown: Iraq - guessing at start dates and offering its tabloid version of "two-headed alien threatens the world.” The ratings driven drivel fails to provide context, depth, and historical perspective. See... John Cory: The Aftermath – Has Already Begun

Countdown To War: More Hawk Talk
- Tony Blair - PM: Authority of the UN 'is on the line'
- Colin Powell - Press Availability with European Union Officials, Radio France & Pakistan Radio
- George W. Bush - Radio Address by the President - March 1
- Marc Grossman - Marc Grossman Interview by BBC 'Today' Radio
- Defence Department - DoD News Briefing Feb 28 - Rumsfeld and Gen Myers
- Wolfowitz - Wolfowitz Interview with Good Morning America

Bernard Weiner: "Grandpa, Why Did The Iraq War Start?" - Within a few weeks, the world is going to change drastically. A terrible war is about to be unleashed, and -- even though the events will happen far, far away from America -- it will affect your parents and Gran and me, indeed all of us in this country. See... Bernard Weiner: Explaining Iraq To The Grandkids

William Rivers Pitt: 30 Pieces Of Silver - George W. Bush gave a speech Wednesday night before the Godfather of conservative Washington think tanks, the American Enterprise Institute. In his speech, Bush quantified his coming war with Iraq as part of a larger struggle to bring pro-western governments into power in the Middle East. See... UQ Wire: Blood Money . RELATED... For Six Years Think Tank Has Been Hell-Bent On War

Bob Marley Inspires Anti-War Law Suit Plaintiff - My question to President Bush, who didn't even fulfill his National Guard obligations, is "How dare you? How dare you send another generation of our fine young people to fight in a war of dubious necessity that hasn't been declared by Congress? How dare you?" See... Get Up, Stand Up, Stand Up For Your Rights

Two Paths Many Lives At Stake - UN Radio: Members of the UN Security Council have today begun a debate behind closed doors on two separate proposals that have been tabled before it on how to disarm Iraq. See... UN Begins Debate On Two Proposals On Iraq
ALSO: Iraq agrees in principle to destroy missiles and First UN Mirage IV surveillance flight in Iraq

US Media Briefed On War Clean-Up Plans - As you know, the president has not made a decision on the use of military force with respect to Iraq, but military planning continues, and a very important part of that military planning is preparing to deliver humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. See... Briefing on Humanitarian Relief Planning for Iraq and U.S. Humanitarian Planning and Relief Efforts

Countdown To War - More Hawk Talk
- Powell Press Briefing on Board Plane - Feb 25th
- Rumsfeld Interview With Al Jazeera TV
- Rumsfeld Stakeout Following Briefing of Senators

"Ruthless" Rumsfeld Has His Comments On Human Shield's Explained - It was just last week, I think the 19th, that the secretary stated that he hoped to bring you a more detailed briefing on the subject of human shields at a later date. Well, today is that later date. See... Briefing on Human Shields in Iraq
MORE:
- Rumsfeld pushes big lie on human shields in Iraq
- Latest Contingent of Human Shields Leave Rome
- Peace Tent Set Up At Iraq-Kuwait Front

Kiwi Anti-War Protestors Plan Direct Action - Based in Auckland, Direct Anti-War Action (DAWA) is a United Front of various groups and individuals formed to organise direct action to stop the New Zealand government's involvement in the war on Iraq. See... Direct Action To Stop The NZ Involvement In War and Call For Nonviolent Actions At Military Bases . See also… Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #24

The Undersecretary of State for ''Bad'' Arms Control - John Bolton was in Israel last week doing his job, fighting the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Bolton is the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control. But the way he was doing his job is enough to make you laugh -- and cry. See... US Arms Control Hypocrisy is the Real Threat see also... Why We Must Go To War, Richard Perle Explains

Words Which Would Take Us To War - The USA, Britain and co-sponsor Spain have been circulating this draft UN resolution about the Security Council. It bypasses calling for war against Iraq, but shrewdly details alleged breaches of Resolution 1441... See... Draft Resolution Circulates UN Security Council

Firas Al-Atraqch: The Real Reasons For War Hysteria There is a maddening rush to war that is unparalleled in recent human history. See... Firas Al-Atraqch: The Rush to War

Matthew Reid: Not Another Anti-War Perspective - Scoop's newest columnist is sure to raise a few eyebrows among the Scoop readership. His views- as he says himself - tend to be,'' in diametric opposition to most of what is published on scoop.co.nz.'' See... Matthew Reid: "Carter In '04"

A Question For Colin Powell, What's Changed? - If the United States decides to wage a war with Iraq without the full support of the United Nations it will be "much more complicated and bloody” than the siege in Afghanistan after 9-11 and the first Gulf War combined, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned President Bush privately early last year, Bob Woodward wrote in the book "Bush at War.” See... Jason Leopold: Powell Changes Tune On War Sans UN

Iran And North Korea Are Next - Mahathir Mohamad - Western powers are using terrorism as a pretext to conquer the world and will target Iran and North Korea once they succeed in Iraq, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday. See... Iran & North Korea Will Be Next Targets - Mahathir

Private Views From Global Captains Of Industry - A letter from a reporter who managed to get heavy credentials for the Davos conference. It was posted on the Psychohistory bulletin board – it appears here on Scoop after being transmitted via Sam Smith's indomitable Undernews @ http://prorev.com See... Meeting The World's Leaders - A Letter From Davos

Saving The World With Duct Tape - Forget trying to convince France and Germany to support our ersatz need for a War in Iraq, our mighty adhesive ally is all the security this nation needs in time of crisis. See... Ron Callari: Duct & Cover

Dennis Hans: When The Liberal Media Forgets It's Job - Phil Donahue, for those of you unfamiliar with him, is a handsome white-haired gentleman who gets paid by cable channel MSNBC to interview extreme right-wing kooks, legitimize their views by giving them a platform, and plead with the kooks to acknowledge that Phil is just as patriotic as they are and thus deserving of their acceptance. It’s a dirty job, but Phil sure loves doing it. See... With Liberals Like These, Who Needs Conservatives!

William River's Pitt Reflects On Feb 15th - It sounded like two behemoth icebergs colliding in the North Atlantic, but you needed the right kind of ears to hear it. Two immensely powerful forces crashed into each other over the weekend of February 15th, and the resulting thunder has set the world to trembling. See... UQ Wire: Of Gods and Mortals and Empire
MORE F15 WRAPUP:
- Indymedia F15 Documentary - Triangle TV Tonight
- MalcontentX - UQ Wire: Feb. 15th, 2003 - A Poem
- Howard's End - – World Protests Irrelevant Says Bush
- GLW - The Largest Coordinated AntiWar Protest In History

Gulf Veterans Accuse US Of Setting Oil Well Fires - For the past six years, the American Gulf War Veterans Association have received numerous reports from veterans stating that US forces were responsible for the setting of the oil well fires at the end of the Gulf War. See... Gulf War Vets question U.S. role in Oil Well Fires


Kofi Annan Speaks Volumes (Softly Softly)

Scoop Cartoon: Who's Leading Who & Who's Next - According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz Daily, during a meeting with U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton yesterday, Sharon said that Israel was concerned about the security threat posed by Iran, and stressed that it was important to deal with Iran even while American attention was focused on Iraq. See... John Chuckman Cartoon: Out Of His League

Guest Opinion: Standing Up To Global Bullies - The world’s countries must unite with their peoples against global bullying. Global democracy as expressed through the United Nations must now establish itself once and for all, prove it is what it was set up to be and not an “irrelevant” body, or window-dressing for the masses. See... Global Democracy Versus Global Bullying: Who Wins?

A Memo To TV Talk-Show Bookers: - The latest New York Times/CBS poll says 59 percent of Americans think Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei are on to something with these inspections. Give the dynamic duo more time, say the 59 percent. If Saddam is hiding WMD, let’s find those weapons and destroy them. If Blix and ElBaradei can certify in a few months that Iraq is “WMD free,” even better, as there’ll be no need to go to war to achieve President Bush’s stated goal of disarming Saddam. See... Public’s Pro-Inspections Posture Is M.I.A. on TV and for earlier instructions for the media see… Dennis Hans: I'm Calling You Out

Questions, Questions And More Question On a recent CNN International broadcast, I watched Tom Ridge being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer. Blitzer lobbed softball questions, picked up the slack and explained the White House position when Ridge was at a loss for words, and then framed several questions about partisan Democrats being at the root of security problems and war resistance. See... John Cory: Disturbing Questions

Bernard Weiner: Why Bush Is Rushing Into War - One can almost sense a palpable shifting of momentum, from an unrestricted Bush war-juggernaut rolling to its bloody unfolding to an administration caught between Iraq and a hard place, condemned if it unleashes the dogs of war (imperial warmonger), condemned if it pulls back and bides its time (wimp). See... Bush Knows the Jig Is Up: Let's Hurry To Baghdad

I Can Hear Another World Breathing - We know that every argument that is being used to escalate the war against Iraq is a lie. The most ludicrous of them being the U.S. Government's deep commitment to bring democracy to Iraq. See... Arundhati Roy: An Old U.S. Government Sport

SCOOP LINK: Seven proofs of links between Saddam and al-Qaeda - On an audiotape, Osama bin Laden calls Iraq a "stinking cesspit of socialist debauchery". This criticism is much less hostile than the sort of thing he says about America, thus proving al-Qaeda has warm feelings towards Saddam Hussein. See… Here it is, conclusive proof against Iraq

UN Inspectors Are Staying Put - Annan -United Nations inspectors will carry on with their work until the Security Council decides otherwise, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in Rome, stressing that there is no time limit in the Council's resolutions and that a debate is going on in the 15-nation body about how much more time is needed. See... Inspections Will Go On Until SC Decides Otherwise

A Rebel Commander Speaks Out On Iraq - Communique from the EZLN which was read during the demonstration in Rome, Italy, on February 15, 2003. It was read by Heidi Giuliani, the mother of activist Carlo, who was assassinated by the Italian police in Genoa in July of 2001. See... Subcomandante Marcos' Letter Against The War

Rumsfeld And Wolfowitz Stick To Their Guns - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz undertook a full-fledged lobbying campaign in 1998 to get former President Bill Clinton to start a war with Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein’s regime claiming that the country posed a threat to the United States, according to documents obtained from a former Clinton aide. See... Rumsfeld & Bush's War Plan Was Formulated In 1998

Firas Al-Atraqchi: A War For Democracy. Yeah Right! - Mainstream media, talk shows and online columns in the past few weeks have been festooned with the urgent call to liberate Iraq from dictatorship and install democracy in the region. "Liberating the Iraqi people," we are told makes for a sound moral and legal argument."Other Arab nations will become democratic," we are also told. See... Democracy for the Middle East? Bah, Humbug!

"Old Europe's" Aversion To Bush's Politics Explained When the Bush administration took office international diplomacy received an injection of power politics. Beginning with the declaration that North Korea, Iran and Iraq comprised an "axis of evil," and culminating in the current aggression toward Baghdad, Washington has relied on the threat of military and economic force in order to further its perceived national interests and geopolitical goals. See... Franco-German Resistance Toward US Power Politics

Why Does Blair Put Up With Bush? - On Friday, February 14, the Foreign Minister of France, M. de Villepin, gave a remarkable speech to the U.N. Security Council. The precision and force of reason with which he put France's case concerning Iraq were nothing less than astonishing. See... John Chuckman: Answers To Two Great Mysteries

NZ Govt Must Support Germany, France, Russia at United Nations Tomorrow - Auckland 18 February 2003: The New Zealand Ambassador’s speech to the UN General Assembly tomorrow must back a peaceful resolution to the crisis over Iraq – that means actively supporting the Governments of France, Germany and Russia. See... NZ Must Support France, Germany & Russia at UN

Dennis Hans: Instructions On How To Prevent War - Stop what you’re doing! I’ve got something far more important that you need to do this very instant. Here is your assignment, if you are. . . See... Dennis Hans: I'm Calling You Out

Ralph Nader Talks About Iraq - Interview with Ralph Nader, citizen activist and former Green Party presidential candidate, conducted by Melinda Tuhus of Between The Lines. See... BTL: Ralph Nader Speaks Out Against War With Iraq

All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance - A million marched in Rome, 1.3 milion paraded in Barcelona, two million in Madrid, a half million in London, 250,000 in New York. From Canberra to Cape Town, from Karachi to Chicago, from Wellington to Warsaw, millions of stern, defiant, impassioned and vocal people turned out across the world on Saturday urging peace not war. Maree Howard writes. See... Howard's End: Peace Message Clear To World Govts
MORE:
- Image -Scoop Image & Poem: United In Peace
- Scoop Editorial - Thousands March in Auckland Against USA War
- GPJA - Protest Insists Govt Must "Actively Oppose" US War
- SCOOP PROTEST PHOTOS - Auckland - 1 - 2 - 3 - Wellington - 1 2
- And Much Much More - Worldwide Peace Mobilisation - F15 Full Coverage

Peacemakers: Kofi Annan And Jacque Chirac - UN Secretary General whispers in French President Jacques Chirac's ear during a European Union Leaders Summit called overnight to discuss the Iraq crisis. See... Scoop Images: Kofi Annan Speaks Volumes (Softly)

David Miller: United Nations - In Harm's Way - Although the military offensive in Iraq has not yet been launched, the war has already started. In fact, it never actually ended because even though the hostilities on the battlefield may have subsided, the never-ending war of opinion has ground on at the United Nations for over a decade. See... Why the UN is in the Firing line over Iraq

Powell's Nuclear Iraq Myths Have Been Dispelled - Much to the chagrin of President Bush and Colin Powell, the nuclear inspection chief's findings not only cleared the smoke from the imagined "smoking gun," but also dissipated the smog of misinformation with which the American government, hungry for war, has surrounded this issue. See... Imad Khadduri: The Demise Of The Nuclear Bomb Hoax

No Illicit Weapons Found: Blix Tells UN Security Council - Dr. Blix reported several positive steps that Iraq has taken including allowing the flight of U2 planes, enabling private interviews and enacting legislation that prohibits weapons of mass destruction. However information on the whereabouts of unaccounted anthrax and the nerve agent VX is still required from Iraq. In addition there were three counts of violations in terms of the long-range missiles.... See... UN Radio reports on Weapons Inspectors Findings
ALSO: No illicit weapons found - more proof needed: Blix - No proof of illegal nuclear activity in Iraq - Germany Outlines Diplo-Battle-Plan for Peace - On the eve of a UN Security Council crisis meeting on Iraq, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder delivered a policy statement detailing a pathway to peace on the US/Iraq crisis... See... Germany's responsibility for peace

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Heading Off The Hawks - Friday's U.N. Security Council briefing by UNMOVIC head Blix and IAEA head Al-Baradei allowed the world a short reprieve from talk of war. The condemning report and evidence the U.S. and U.K delegations had been hoping for from the inspectors never materialized and a new U.N. resolution draft authorizing war was called off for the interim. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Time For Iraq To Act

Powell Responds To Weapons Inspectors "What we need is for Iraq to disarm. Resolution 1441 was not about inspections. Let me say that again. Resolution 1441 was not about inspections. Resolution 1441 was about the disarmament of Iraq." See... Powell to the UNSC Following Blix Report

Tony Blair's Glasgow Snakeoil Salespitch - We’ve been in power for six years now. Through the election wins, the popular changes and yes, the tougher decisions. It’s a very different business from Opposition. What we do matters. See... Prime Minister Tony Blair's Glasgow Party Speech see also the Labour Party chairman's words of amelioration and the 2 letters referred to in Blair's speech

Prepare To Get Smoking – Shrub Talks To His Sailors - Iraq, and whoever 'happens' to be there, is about to be annihilated. At Mayport Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. President George Bush told hundreds of naval personnel on the eve of war that rules of war would not apply to terrorists. See... We're Gonna Smoke 'em Out: The Butchering of Iraq and George Bush's speech… President Salutes Sailors at Naval Station Mayport

UN Finds A Damp Squib – Tony Blair Calls It A Smoking Gun - UN weapons inspectors have discovered documents that suggest Iraq had been developing a short range missile that may have exceeded the range allowed by UN resolutions. See... Inspectors to Report on Iraq Short Range Missiles
UK Government Response
- Iraqi ballistic missile report is 'very serious'
- Tony Blair Faces Parliamentary Questions On Iraq
- Straw: Iraq in further material breach

Dumb & Dumber - President Bush Meets with Prime Minister Howard of Australia Remarks by the President and Prime Minister Howard of Australia in Photo Opportunity The Oval Office See... Bush Meets with Prime Minister Howard of Australia

Senator Byrd Stands Up For Peace On Capitol Hill - To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human experiences. On this February day, as this nation stands at the brink of battle, every American on some level must be contemplating the horrors of war. See... US Senator Robert Byrd: We Stand Passively Mute

Jason Leopold: James Baker’s Plans For An Oil War - Why is it so difficult to accept the fact that America’s thirst for oil is the primary reason for waging a war against Iraq? For months, foreign journalists have reported that the United States has been running low on oil—a fact—and only by using military force in Iraq would the U.S. be able tap into the region’s oil wells to meet the threat of supply shortages here. See... Jason Leopold: It’s the Oil, Stupid

Not Important? Think Again! - “They’ve got some crazy people over there…” - Thus spake Congressman John Murtha about the Pentagon, and truer words were never spoken. See... NITA: The Imperishable Primacy of Interests

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Who’s Next? - They've pretty much tried it all; blaming Saddam for anthrax, West Nile Virus, 9-11, and ties to terrorists. They showed us cartoons of roving sci-fi labs in Iraq's hyperspace (because, apparently, no one has seen the mobile labs let alone provide proof they exist), movies of Saddam being kissed on the armpits (sure, that's a good reason to launch a hygienic war), and played audio of two incompetent Iraqis who just sit their saying 'yes,yes' over and over again. See... What's Next? War Against France, North Korea?

Bernard Weiner: The Arrogance Of Power - There is a direct connection between the Columbia shuttle disaster, the U.S. reaction to the Twin Towers/Pentagon attacks, and the coming war with Iraq: the arrogance of power. See... Arrogance: What Is It Good For? Absolute Disasters

Stateside: Watch Out For The Tigers! - Next week, I will be the same age the United States presidency was when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and it got me to wondering why that office has become so powerful in world politics in so short a time - just 214 years. See... Stop! Don't unlock that cage

The Censored Internet: Why YellowTimes.org Is Off The Air - http://www.yellowtimes.org (Jan. 8. Google Cached Copy) has for the past six months withstood intense hacker attacks as it publishes views that directly question, criticize, and berate the U.S. official line regarding the impending invasion of Iraq. Now the campaign to stifle dissent and censor any questioning of current U.S. policies vis-a-vis the Middle East in general, and Iraq in particular, has reached new levels. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Stifling the Voice of Reason

Dennis Hans: The Techniques of Deceit of George W. Bush - If you are an American citizen who believes in the bedrock democratic principle of “the informed consent of the governed,” read on. See... Exposing Bush and His "Techniques of Deceit"

A Patriot’s Path To An American Police State - “Search warrants, Miranda rights, attorney/client protection, all rights we fought for and have been amended to our Constitution have become null and void within the 342 pages of The U.S. Patriot Act.” See... Norma Sherry: The Day Democracy Was Put On Hold

Malcolm Aitken In London: Chemical Weapons Experts Imagine The Unthinkable - Utter panic and ugly scenes of death in a Baghdad heavily hit by US aerial bombing. Then, just as US troops have the special republic guard surrounded and move to storm the last citadel, taking out Iraq’s ruling elite, Saddam Hussein detonates a dirty bomb dispersing nerve agents. See... News Feature: Would Saddam Deploy Chemicals?

Why Are Russia And France Standing Up Against The US? The Bush administration's proposed war in Iraq is testing how much regional powers across the globe are willing to lose in their stand against U.S. global hegemony. See... Regional Powers React To U.S. Invasion Of Iraq

Iraqi Nuclear Scientist Passes Judgement On Powell Propaganda - In his speech in front of the U.N. Security Council on February 5, 2003, Colin Powell did not offer any viable new evidence concerning Iraq's nuclear weapon capability that Bush and his entourage continue to wave as a red flag in front of the eyes of the American people to incite them shamefully into an unjust war. See... Imad Khadduri: The Nuclear Bomb Hoax
MORE POWELL DECONSTRUCTION:
- UQ Wire: Blair-Powell UN Report Written by Student
- ITV Channel 4 - Was Downing St’s Iraq dossier plagiarised?

Control of Oil Behind Bush Drive for War with Iraq - Interview with Michael Klare, professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, conducted by Scott Harris. See... Control of Oil Behind Bush Drive for War with Iraq

David Miller: Remember The League Of Nations - As the debate continues over whether a US led attack on Iraq is in some way justified, various people have started making reference to the need to maintain a system of collective security. Some have even used the pre-World War Two League of Nations ... See... David Miller: Collective Security

German-USA Rift Becomes a Divide on Iraq Plan - Germany and France will present a plan to the United Nations security council on Feb 14 that will see a European military peacekeeping presence inside Iraq. The United States is enraged. See... Germany Sets Out a Peacemaking Solution on Iraq

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Irrefutable Evidence against Iraq? - “A third-rate intelligence team could have done it,” said Iraqi General Amer Al-Saadi, Chief Science advisor to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in his refute of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's 'evidence' before the U.N. Security Council. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: The Telling of a Tall Tale

GPJA Plans Massive Anti-War Protest For Saturday - New Zealand will lead the largest mobilisation of human beings in the history of the planet when the No War Against Iraq march takes place in Auckland this coming Saturday (12noon from QEII Square at the bottom of Queen Street... See... Feb 15th: Largest Mobilisation in Planet's History

Israeli Soldiers Brutality Witnessed by Internationals - When ISM activists Maria, Margaret (Maria's mother) and Linus (all from Sweden) and Danish reporter Tommy approached the Azmut checkpoint east of Nablus they saw 4 Israeli soldiers holding, beating and shooting at between 40 and 50 Palestinian men, women and children captive at a checkpoint. See... ISM Activists Beaten and Shot at Nablus Checkpoint

The Tony Benn Saddam Hussein Interview - Scoop details here the interview between Saddam Hussein and former UK Labour MP Tony Benn. We hear why - according to Saddam - Iraq has no interest in war and possesses NO weapons of mass destruction. See... The Saddam Hussein Interview

Rumsfeld Says Blah To UN International Law - The world stage isn't a court of law, and the United States isn't trying to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Saddam Hussein is a threat, but to convince reasonable people of this, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. See… Rumsfeld: World Stage Not a Court of Law

UN Security Council Divided Over USA/Iraq Crisis - Two powerful UN Security Council members, China and France have called for more weapons inspections in Iraq and that a diplomatic solution be found to the USA's resolve to occupy Iraq. See... Security Council Members Call For More Inspections
Iraq Tells UN: US Claims Unrelated To Truth - The Iraqi representative to the United Nations today refuted the US charges and reaffirmed his country’s readiness to continue to fully cooperate with UN inspectors, stating the USA's claims that Iraq has WMAs is: "utterly unrelated to the truth." See... Iraq Refutes US Charges - Reaffirms to Inspections


Isolated: Will USA Strike With or Without UN?
Video and Text Coverage: Powell - The USA "will not - we cannot - run that risk to the American people. Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option. Not in a post-September 11th world." See... USA Wont Allow Saddam To Possess "Weapons"

Rumsfeld Says Blah To UN International Law - The world stage isn't a court of law, and the United States isn't trying to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Saddam Hussein is a threat, but to convince reasonable people of this, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. See… Rumsfeld: World Stage Not a Court of Law

Powell Issues Security Council Ultimatum - US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Addresses the U.N. Security Council - POWELL: This council placed the burden on Iraq to comply and disarm and not on the inspectors to find that which Iraq has gone out of its way to conceal for so long. See... Powell’s Addresses the U.N. Security Council
UN Head Says War Not Inevitable - The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, said today that he still believed war in Iraq was not inevitable but stressed that Baghdad must comply fully and proactively with Security Council demands. See... War not inevitable but Iraq must meet demands
France Calls For More Inspections - To what extent do the nature and scope of the threat justify the recourse to force? Use of force can only be a final recourse. Why go to war if there still exists an unused space in resolution 1441? See... French Address By Dominique De Villepin to UN
Britain Says War The Answer - Mr President, we have just heard a most powerful and authoritative case against the Iraqi regime set out by Secretary Powell. The international community owes him its thanks for laying bare the deceit practised by the regime of Saddam Hussein. See... UK Foreign Secretary Address to UN on Iraq
China Says Political Settlement The Answer - The Chinese Foreign Minister says it is the desire of the international community to see a political settlement to the issue of Iraq. All members of the Council will make statements later before Iraq is allowed to respond. See... China Calls for a Political Settlement

NZ REACTION: NZ Govt Warns Citizens of War - The Government is advising New Zealanders in the Gulf to take sensible precautions in view of the increased likelihood of conflict in the region, Foreign Minister Phil Goff said today. See...NZers in Gulf Advised to Be Prepared
ALSO:
- Nats Want War - See... The case against Iraq grows
- Greens - US fails to make case for war
EARLIER: - Greenpeace's Letter To PM - The world is faced with the imminent prospect of war. Throughout history courageous individuals, communities, leaders and nations have stood for peace in the face of war. We urge you to make a stand internationally for a peaceful resolution to this conflict. See... Does the PM Need a Lange-Diplomacy-Lesson? AND: Greenpeace Pressures NZ PM To Act - Greenpeace Takes Global Action Against War - Greenpeace Sets Up Peace Camp In British Tanks



EARLIER COVERAGE: Hans Blix Says No Sign of Mobile Labs - Contrary to USA Claims, Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix told reporters that his inspectors had not detected any mobile labs moving weapons of mass destruction. See... Initial Security Council Reactions to US Address
Blix Puts Squeeze on Iraq - On the eve of the USA Secretary of State's address to the United Nations security council, Chief weapons Inspector Hans Blix says Iraq must produce evidence that weapons it once had were destroyed. See... Blix:Iraq should provide evidence of 'substance,'
Powell Prepares For UN - US Secretary of State Colin Powell's briefing to the UN Security Council will be the first big event on the Security Council's calendar for the month of February, the President of the 15-nation body said today. See... US Iraq briefing key issue for Security Council - Powell Speaks - WSJ Op-ed by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell - US State Dept Press Briefing - State Dept. Daily Press Briefing - February 3, 200


The Highway Of Death - Iraq 1991

HUMANITARIAN: Iraqi Child War Victims: World Vision Predictions Dire - World Vision staff returning from an assessment mission in Iraq warn of dire consequences for children in the event of war. World Vision New Zealand executive director Helen Green said today that the agency's findings made extremely grim reading. See... W.V assessment warns dire future for children

EUROPEAN MOVES: On the brink of war Europe, while unifying, is divided on the United States call for a war against Iraq. But plans are afoot to build a unified strengthened Europe.
A New, Bigger, Europe - An idea is about to be completed. The decisions made today will mould the Europe of tomorrow - courtesy of Deutschland Magazine. See... The New Face of Europe and Treaty of Nice entered into force

INTELLECTUALS: Noam Chomsky Confronts The Empire - We are meeting at a moment of world history that is in many ways unique – a moment that is ominous, but also full of hope. The most powerful state in history has proclaimed, loud and clear, that it intends to rule the world by force, the dimension in which it reigns supreme. See... Confronting the Empire - Noam Chomsky Speech

Required Reading For UN Security Council Diplomats
- Dennis Hans - I am writing on the eve of Secretary of State Colin Powell’s February 5 presentation on Saddam Hussein and Iraq’s alleged links to al Qaeda and its possession of and/or ongoing attempts to develop banned weapons of mass destruction. See... An Open Letter to the U.N. about Colin Powell
- William Rivers Pitt - For the sake of argument, let's say that Saddam Hussein does indeed have chemical and biological weapons somewhere in Iraq. (Leave off the nukes, as the IEIA has bluntly stated that no such program or weapon exists in Iraq) Hussein is and has always been a weapons junkie, and his jones was amply fed by science, training and materials given freely to him by the Reagan administration and a number of prominent American corporations. See... UQ Wire: America, Are You Ready for This War?
A Solution To The Iraq Crisis: Not Exile, Retirement - Saddam Hussein could be offered ‘retirement’, with his family within Iraq, possibly to the vacation city 130km North of Baghdad known as Saddamiat Al-Tharthar, into which he has poured money and care. See... Iraq: A Way Out?.
ALSO: For more background on veteran peace campaigner Dr Elworthy’s proposed solution to the crisis see... Dr Scilla Elworthy's Baghdad Diaries
Philip J. Rappa: A Call To Peace - Friends, neighbors, fellow citizens, on this day we congregate in hope and in prayer, but more importantly fully aware and in total control of our mental faculties. We join together for all the world to bear witness that we the people demand peace. See... Philip J. Rappa: Peace for Peace Sake

God’s Plan To Kill Iraqi Children Revealed - Does God want us to kill innocent Iraqi children? Judging by the apparently unanimous approval in the Senate chamber from all those truth-immune political celebrities watching President Bush's most recent State of the Union address — all of whom are at least overtly religious churchgoers — the message is clear: He does. See... John Kaminski : A Rabid Flock Of Lying Killers. See also at Buzzflash.com … Who Would Jesus Bomb?


Fate Of The Union Reader Caption Competition
"Let's see them find a picture of a monkey pulling this face."

George’s Big War Kickoff Ceremony - A cartoon response to the State Of the Union from John Chuckman. See... Scoop Cartoon: George, Laura & War
MORE STATE OF THE UNION REACTION:
- Dennis Hans - It’s a White, White, White, White Media World
- Hard News: I'd Rather Trust In Taniwhas
- UQ Wire: All He Left Unsaid
- Democratic Leaders Respond To State Of Union
- Bernard Weiner: Examining Bush&Co.'s Real Motives
- Undernews: State Of The Bush

Hey Blair Mr Where’s The Evidence? - Blair Helps Bush ‘Sell’ Reasons For War: Bush Meets with Blair: Remarks by the US President and British Prime Minister Tony Blair - The Cross Hall – White House USA. Text, audio and video coverage of the press conference. See... Bush Meets with Blair at The White House
MORE: Aerial Weapons Inspections Begin Above Iraq - For the first time, United Nations monitors in Iraq today conducted aerial inspections over a number of sites, including several biological and agricultural research facilities. See... UN conducts first aerial inspections of Iraq

Blair’s Latest Deception Dossier - This UK Government report draws upon a number of sources, including intelligence material, and shows how the Iraqi regime is constructed to have, and to keep, WMD, and is now engaged in a campaign of obstruction of the United Nations Weapons Inspectors. See... Iraq: Concealment, Deception And Intimidation and Conflict can still be avoided says PM

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Bush Strategy Is ‘Iraq Or Bust’ - The day after U.S. President George Bush announced his near-declaration of a war against Iraq during the State of the Union Address, the Dow Jones and NASDAQ looked flimsy at best. Bush's economic recovery plan has failed to impress and the opening statements on the economy in is State of the Union Address seem to have fallen on deaf ears as the Bush administration (thanks in large part to Karl Rove) trumpets the calls for war. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Scorched Earth?

Bush And Powell Are Diplomatic Losers - Bluntly stated, George W. Bush and Colin Powell will lose the diplomatic game with France and Germany. Both men lack the necessary intellectual capacity; they are, in a word, outmatched by their European counterparts. See... Bush and Powell Will Lose the Diplomatic Game

A World United Against War - The wave of global anti-war protests on January 18 was a massive show of opposition by the world's working people — in particular those in the United States — to a US war on Iraq. See... World-wide protests demand: `Don't attack Iraq!'

… Well Perhaps Not The Whole World - By Prime Ministers: Jose María Aznar, José Manuel Durão Barroso, Silvio Berlusconi, Tony Blair, Vaclav Havel, Peter Medgyessy, Leszek Miller and Anders Fogh Rasmussen. See... Europe and America must stand united - By 8 PMs and 'Europe and America must stand united' - Blair

CNN’s Wolf Turns Into U.S. Government Lamb - On the rare occasion when a mainstream news program interviews a forthright critic of U.S. policy, the interviewer often seems less like a journalist and more like a government spokesperson. See... FAIR: Wolf Blitzer for the Defense (Department)

Who Else Is Hiding Their WMDs? - New York, September 27 2003 - Coinciding with the much anticipated U.N. report on weapons inspections in Iraq, this morning an international group of Citizens Inspectors faxed a startling report to all members of the U.N. Security Council in New York. See... UN receives report on nuclear WMD in Netherlands

Hawk Talk: Colin Powell Explains George To The World - See... Interview By TVE Television of Spain, Powell Interview on TF-1 Television of France, Powell Remarks with Canadian Foreign Minister, Powell Interview By ITN Television of Great Britain, Powell Interview By ZDF Television of Germany,Powell Remarks With Pakistani Foreign Minister and Powell Interview by RAI Television of Italy

Firas Al-Atraqchi: On The Timing of The Coming War - Middle East intelligence sources have revealed that a massive aerial assault on Iraq will begin in the early hours of February 22nd, give or take a day. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Countdown to February 22nd

This Truth We Hold Self Evident – Peace Deserves A Chance We, the people of the world, Reminding national governments and the United Nations that their authority rests on us; Affirming the rights and duties of people everywhere to participate in political decisions to create a just and peaceful world; Mindful ... See... Peoples Of The World Resolution On Iraq

The Oil Currency War Rationale- Although completely suppressed in the U.S. media, the answer to the Iraq enigma is simple yet shocking - it an an oil CURRENCY war. The Real Reason for this upcoming war is this administration’s goal of preventing further OPEC momentum towards the euro as an oil transaction currency standard. See... The Real But Unspoken Reasons For The Iraq War

When Will The War Begin? - A View From Saudi As I write this, the world awaits the UN inspection report and the State of the Union speech from George Bush. All of the waiting is not keyed to evidence or evil or that "Aha!" moment. The world is waiting for a start date. When will the war begin? See... John Cory: War Remembered and The Problem is Peace - War is the Solution

Buzzflash: Feel The Love Of Our Cruise Missiles - Did I get this right? So, then, it's because Saddam is somewhat inefficient in killing the Iraqi people, that we're going to go in and show him how killing Iraqis is really done. See... Bush To Iraqi People: Can You Feel the Love Yet?

Sludge Talks To US Spooks - In This Edition: Feeling Confused Yet? - 122 Pages Of Carefully Fabricated Crypto-BS - Sludge Gets Psy-oped! -Col. Flagg’s Perspective – Forensic Advice Invited See... Sludge Report #147: Sludge Gets Psy-oped! and Sludge Report #146: A Tip-Off From Langley

Hidden Evidence Shows Peaceful Resolution WAS Possible - A detailed report in the January 24 Washington Post by Joby Warrick, headlined “U.S. Claim on Iraqi Nuclear Program Is Called Into Question” adds to a growing body of evidence that the Bush administration is hoarding intelligence information that disproves ... See... Withheld Bush Evidence Weakens The Case For War

Blix Says Iraq Co-operating But Time Needed For Detail - While Iraq has cooperated in allowing United Nations inspectors into various sites, the top UN arms expert, Hans Blix, told the Security Council today that Baghdad should be more forthcoming with information and allow greater access to key personnel… See... Iraq cooperating but more on 'substance' needed
MORE:
- Full UN Briefing - Full Security Council Briefing: Blix
- White House - Press Briefing with Ari Fleischer and Bush's Pre-Union-Speech Radio Address - with text and audio options... See... White House Press Briefing with Ari Fleischer

Is The Prime Minister Playing All Sides on Iraqi War? - The Green Party is accusing Prime Minister Helen Clark of playing a double game over the Iraq crisis. See... PM talks peace but supports military build-up

Rumsfeld Gets Medieval On Everyone’s Ass - Donald Rumsfeld Disparages Just About Everyone In Just Two Weeks, Rumsfeld Insults, Disparages and Demeans Veterans, the French, the Germans and the Joint Chiefs of Staff… See... Donald Rumsfeld Disparages Just About Everyone
ALSO: David Miller Online: Europe’s Dilemma over Iraq

Why Invasion Will Drive World Economy Down - In the next few weeks, the struggling global economy may be put to the test if Washington chooses to invade Iraq. There are many risks involved in bombing Baghdad, the most important being a spike in oil prices. See... Invasion Of Iraq May Collapse Global Economy

Mid-East Sources Say No US Attack Until March - Howard’s End: If Scoop's Mid-East intelligence reports are correct there will not be an invasion of Iraq until at least March 1 when Tony Blair delivers a promised dossier to Russia's President Putin over the whereabouts of Iraq's hidden locations of VX nerve agent ... See... Howard’s End: Citing Mid-East Intelligence Sources

Jason Leopold: If At First You Don’t Convince, Lie, Lie Again - President Bush said the Iraq conflict is like watching a “rerun of a bad movie.” But clearly, the only bad movie Americans are being forced to watch all over again are the Nixon-like qualities - the paranoia, the secrecy and lies - that Bush recycled from Tricky Dick, now standard operating procedure for the Bush administration. See... Jason Leopold: Bush Turns To Propaganda

John Kaminsky: An American Roasting - America is frightening the world. The vaunted beacon of freedom has turned into a Ku Klux Klan bonfire. See... John Kaminski: The Real Terrorist Is George Bush

The Bush Families Nazi Past - In October of 1942, under the Trading With the Enemy Act, the U.S. government halted operations at New York's Union Banking Corporation. A bank official was charged with "Running Nazi front groups in the United States." His name: Prescott Bush. See... Marc Ash: Standing On The Dead and a very clever Flash movie at… Bush is not a Nazi, so stop saying that

Firas Al-Atraqchi: All US “Evidence” Is Already Contaminated - In recent weeks, much has been made of the Iraqi weapons declaration, which Iraqi officials have claimed is final and comprehensive. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: Who Leaked The WMD Declaration?

Scoop Images: War Looks Like This - The "Mile of Death". During the night of the 25th of February and the day of the 26th of February, 1991, Allied aircraft strafed and bombed a stretch of the Jahra Highway. A large convoy of Iraqis were trying to make a haste retreat back to Baghdad, as the Allied Forces retook Kuwait City. See... Scoop Images: The Last Iraq War Looked Like This

Wishful Is Alive In The US Congress! - Resolved, That George Walker Bush, President of the United States is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the Senate: See... Impeachment Resolution Against President G.W. Bush and Text Of Resolution To Repeal Iraq War Authority

Not Everybody’s Singing From The President’s Songbook - Senior Pentagon officials are quietly urging President George W. Bush to slow down his headlong rush to war with Iraq, complaining the administration’s course of action represents too much of a shift of America’s longstanding “no first strike” policy and that the move could well result in conflicts with other Arab nations. See... Role Reversal: Bush Wants War, Pentagon Caution

Bush War Plans Experience A Tremor - With the suddenness of an earthquake in Mexico, the ground under George W. Bush's feet has heaved, cracked and shattered. See... UQ Wire: Don't Do It, George

U.S. Anti-War Protestors Are Not Stalinists - The desperation of the hawks came out in a column by the Washington Post’s Michael Kelly much like something Richard Nixon or Joe McCarthy would have written in the 1950s. See... Undernews: Michael Kelly's Washington Post Libel

How To Deal With Liars – Rummy Talks About Himself - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is deeply concerned that the American people may be taken in by smooth-talking Saddam Hussein, and he wants the news media to take pre-emptive action. See... Rumsfeld’s Good Advice On Leaders’ Lies

Hawk Talk – Wolfowitz Tells Us To “Be Afraid” - As terrible as the attacks of September 11th were, however, we now know that the terrorists are plotting still more and greater catastrophes. We know they are seeking more terrible weapons-chemical, biological, and even nuclear weapons. See... Wolfowitz Speech on Iraq Disarmament

Countdown To War: Verbatim Hawk Talk
- White House - Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer January 23, 2003 and What Does Disarmament Look Like? - Report
- Powell & Straw - Powell With British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
- Powell - Powell IV on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
- Rumsfeld - Rumsfeld Briefs at the Foreign Press Center
- State Dept. - State Dept. Daily Press Briefing for January 22

An Axis Of Common-sense Is Formed At Versailles - Germany has warned against risks that could accompany military action against Iraq and presented arguments to substantiate the German government's rejection of a war option. See... Germany Warns Against Military Action on Iraq and Germany And France Strengthen Bilateral Relations

Hard News Is There! - So the President of the USA says he's tired of waiting for UN weapons inspectors to finish doing their job. Saddam has been given "ample time to disarm". See... HARD NEWS 23/01/03 - Hypocrisy In The Morning

Chuckman: A Poor Excuse For A War - My head turned when I heard on the radio that a number of chemical warheads had been discovered in Iraq, the words "chemical warheads" evoking powerful suggestions and images. Shortly after first reports, one of Mr. Bush's spokespeople termed it "significant." See... John Chuckman: Twelve Rusted Pipes

Firas Al-Atraqchi: Is That A WMD Under Your Prayer Mat? - A row has broken out between Iraqi officials and UNMOVIC over a controversial inspection of one of Baghdad's largest and most populated mosques, the Al-Nidaa mosque. See... Who Gave the Orders to Inspect a Mosque?

John Kaminski: America’s Defenders Disastrous Record - If the U.S. government's defensive response was anything like it was on 9/11/2001, and the invasion was anything like we imagined during the Cold War, you could rest assured that all the targets would be destroyed, the perps would get away, and America would never figure out who actually did it. See... John Kaminski: What If America Was Really Invaded?

History Always Repeats – Stealing Iraq’s Oil Again - In all the countless hours the corporate media devote to broadcasting the Bush administration's lies and deceits about Iraq, that simple and crucial question is almost never addressed. And for good reason. See... US Corporations & Iraqi Oil, Skulduggery Since 20s

US And UK Secretly In The Know On WMDs - By mid-January 2003, the U.S., and the U.K. for that matter, had not released vital information. Although technical information was passed on to UNMOVIC, more substantial data has not been forthcoming. Several suspect sites both the U.S. and U.K. has indicated were areas of illicit weapons activity turned up empty when UNMOVIC investigated them. See... US Will Not Release Vital Evidence Against Iraq

J18: William Rivers Pitt: Standing Up - Someone once said that convictions are tested not when things are easy, or when circumstances do not challenge the mettle of your beliefs. See... UQ Wire: There's Something Happening Here

J18: Rosalea Reports On Mass USA Anti-War Protests - "George Bush, get a clue! The people of the world are not with you. George Bush, get a clue! The people of the world are not with you." The chant is swallowed up by a kind of Mexican-wave cheer that is passing from the back of the march up to the front… See... Stateside With Rosalea: What would Mary do?

J18: Guest Protest Portrait: From Inspired In D.C. - It was reported that some 500,000 gathered in D.C. today. I don't know about numbers, but I do know that pictures taken from a helicopter showed a sea of people forever and ever and ever! See... Guest Opinion: The Awakening.. Jan 18
MORE:
- Call To Action - Jan. 18 March On Washington To Demand No War
- Links For Live Coverage (From Sunday NZT)- DC Indymedia - San Francisco Indymedia

Countdown To War: More Hawk Talk - Colin Powell, Jack Straw, Geoff Hoon and Donald Rumsfeld have been on weekend talking up the war duty.
- Colin Powell - Powell Remarks At UNSC Session on Terrorism, Powell to the Press After UNSC Session On Terror, Powell Interview on CBS's Face the Nation and Interview on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer
- Jack Straw - 'A way out for Iraq' - Jack Straw BBC Interview
- Geoff Hoon - Defence Sec. announces 30,000 troop deployment
- Donald Rumsfeld - Rumsfeld Contrasts Iraq And North Korea, Rumsfeld Interview With Fox News Sunday and Rumsfeld Interview On ABC This Week Jan. 19

Voices In The Wilderness Close Down UK War Room - Both gates at Britain's military HQ, Northwood, are now closed. 250 activists are in the road in front of the main gate, and four activists have locked themselves to the side gate in Atria Road. See... 250 anti war activists close down Britain Mil. HQ

John Cory: The View From Ground Zero - The game is afoot as they say. While Ari Fleischer keeps denying that the war is inevitable, you cannot walk around Kuwait, or parts of Bahrain, without tripping over American military equipment and personnel or reporter-celebrities in safari suits. John Cory In Saudi Arabia: The Games of War

Questionable Motives: In 1999 Bush Said He’d “Take Out!” Hussein - Here's a history lesson. Go back to December 1999 when President Bush was still governor of Texas and wasn't even the Republican candidate for President yet. Back then, Bush Jr. had said that if elected President of the United States he would use military force to "take out" Hussein and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Most Americans believe Bush first mentioned the possibility of a war with Iraq after the September 11 terrorist attacks. See... Jason Leopold : Bush Sticks Closely To His Script

Will the USA’s Bloodlust be Satisfied? - For a year now, US President George Bush's administration's top foreign policy goal has been violent “regime change” in Iraq. On October 22, on the basis of a leak from the White House, the New York Times reported that the Bush administration plans to install a US military proconsul in Baghdad — along the lines of General Douglas MacArthur's six-and-half-year rule in post-1945 Japan — before handing Iraq over to a puppet government.. See... Green Left Weekly: Bush Plans Bloodbath In Iraq

Satire: Saddam’s War Diary - Dear Diary: This is a tough one. If I hang in there, I may just survive to carry out my plans. But if I make a wrong move, or misinterpret the wide variety of signals coming my way, I'm vaporized toast. See... Bernard Weiner: Inside Saddam Hussein's War Diary

Countdown To War: Iraq War Talk Is Distracting - Anderton - "Media speculation about a possible unilateral U.S.-led war in Iraq is damaging the world economy and diverting democratic nations' attention from the much more important issue of combating international terrorism," Progressive Coalition Leader Jim Anderton says. See... Talk of War on Iraq is Damaging World Economy

Countdown To War: Inspectors Find Empty Chemical Warheads In Iraq - United Nations inspectors today found empty chemical warheads at a storage area in Iraq, according to a spokesman for the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in Baghdad. See... Inspectors report finding empty chemical warheads . See also NZ Govt. response... Judgement on weapons finding must await evaluation

Countdown To War: Hawk Talk Rather: Earlier today, I talked exclusively with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. I asked his opinion on the possibility that Saddam Hussein might choose exile instead of war. See... Rumsfeld Interview with Dan Rather, CBS News , Wolfowitz And Afghan Foreign Minister Availability and Downing St Briefing 16 Jan. War On Terror / Iraq

UK Joins The Son Of Start Wars - The Defence Secretary has told MPs that the government's preliminary conclusion is that it is in the UK's interests to agree to a request from the US government to upgrade the early warning radar at Fylingdales for missile defence purposes. See... Initial agreement for US missile defence proposal

Howard's End: Turkey Chucks A Spanner In GWB’s War Plans - Plans to invade Iraq have been thrown into disarray as the Turks and the Kurds, key partners for the northern-front of the invasion, begin vying for spoils after the war to the point of rummaging through Ottoman Empire archives for the deeds and certificates to prove ownership of land and resources before Iraq was created after World War I. Maree Howard writes. See... Snatch and Grab for the Spoils of War

Firas Al-Atraqchi: The True Meaning Of “Jihad” - The word jihad is more poignant than ever. Not because it means holy war; not because it means crusade or anti-western hostility. Indeed, the word jihad is ringing loudly and boisterously these days because it refers to the struggle in men, and not between men. See... Firas Al-Atraqchi: The Jihad of Peace

Countdown To War: The View From Saudi - This morning's Arab News ran two headline stories: "Prince Abdullah Sees No War On Iraq" and just below that: "US Steps Up Military Buildup in Gulf." See... Comes A War – A Perspective From Saudi Arabia

Britain At War – Alastair Campbell Decodes Blair - Asked for a reaction to criticism expressed by Church of England Bishops regarding the Prime Minister's stance on Iraq, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had set out the case very clearly in his news conference on Monday. See... 10 Downing St Briefings - Comments On War

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