Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel says Iraq war justified Sun Apr 6, 4:22 PM ET MONTREAL (AFP) - Nobel peace prize laureate Elie Wiesel said the war on Iraq (news - web sites) is justified and blamed unnamed European countries for failing to prevent it through pressuring President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). "If some European countries put as much pressure on Saddam Hussein as on (US President George W.) Bush, there would have been no war," he told a press conference in Montreal. "Saddam Hussein had to be disarmed (and) there were no other means," said the Nazi concentration camp survivor and author who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1986 for his message "of peace, atonement and human dignity." The press conference was organized by the Quebec-Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Montreal Jewish community's official public action group on behalf of Israel. The Romanian-born Wiesel, who became a US citizen in 1963, said he did "not justify" war and was "not comfortable" with it, but that he was not a pacifist and believed in the "right to interference". He added: "You can accuse me of being naive, but I think in all conscience that this war was necessary." Dismissing suggestions that he is a "hostage of the American right", Wiesel said: "I am not against paradoxes, I take them on, as someone who opposes war, who has seen war and who hates war." The US-led war on Iraq, he said, "will change the world." He said he was optimistic over prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians after the appointment of Mahmud Abbas, a moderate known as Abu Mazen, as Palestinian prime minister. Stressing that Palestine Authority President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) had been "a big disappointment" for the Israelis, Wiesel said he hoped a three-month moratorium on terrorist actions would be called "to give a chance" to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites). "The problem is terrorism (but) it will be necessary one day to settle this tragedy" in the Middle East, he said. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...06/ts_afp/iraq_war_canada_wiesel_030406202223
Carter warns against 'catastrophic' war Former US president Jimmy Carter has warned of the potentially "catastrophic consequences" of a pre-emptive US war on Iraq. The comments came in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo. Mr Carter did not mention either country by name, but said: "For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventative war may well set an example that can have catastrophic consequences." The Bush administration has changed US defence doctrine since the 11 September attacks to one of taking pre-emptive action before threats materialise. Multilateralism In an interview with the BBC, the former US president refused to criticise George W Bush's handling of Iraq. "The government has decided that action should be multilateral. The US has taken a completely appropriate multilateral position," he told the BBC's HARDtalk programme. BBC diplomatic editor Brian Hanrahan points out that former presidents do not consider it appropriate to criticise the incumbent. Mr Carter also insisted that Iraq must "comply fully with the unanimous decision of the Security Council that it eliminate all weapons of mass destruction". Danger of disparity The former president addressed a number of other issues as well. "The greatest challenge the world faces ... is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth," he said. He described the disparity as the "root cause of most of the world's problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict and unnecessary illnesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/Aids". He called for "the abolition of land mines and chemical weapons; an end to testing, proliferation and further deployment of nuclear warheads; constraints on global warming, prohibition of the death penalty, at least for children; and an international criminal court to deter and punish war crimes and genocide". Those positions put him in sharp contrast with the Bush administration. He told the BBC that he had criticised the previous Democratic administration of Bill Clinton for failing to support the same initiatives. Bush criticism The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee caused an uproar in October when he said granting the award to Mr Carter should be interpreted as a criticism of Mr Bush's Iraq policy. Two other members of the committee rejected the comment by Chairman Gunnar Berge, and Mr Carter told the BBC that as far as he knew, "the Iraqi issue was not even discussed" in committee deliberations. As president, Mr Carter helped broker the 1978 Israel-Egypt peace treaty, an accomplishment the Nobel citation described as "in itself a great enough achievement to qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize". Since losing to Ronald Reagan in 1980, Mr Carter has worked on conflict mediation, election observation, poverty reduction and environmental issues through the Carter Center, which he founded in 1982. He is the third US president, after Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt, to win the Nobel prize. Mr Carter has said he will donate the $1million prize to his Carter Center. Carter achievements Brokered and signed the Camp David Accords in 1978 between Israel and Egypt Persuaded former North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung to open discussions with South Korea Mediated in Haiti in 1994 Helped broker ceasefire in Bosnia Made 2002 landmark visit to Cuba, calling for dialogue
he he, quoting Jimmy Carter ! Man, its scary how these kids don't know anything about the 20th century. These are the failures of the educational system coming to haunt us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today: April 07, 2003 at 1:20:05 PDT New Iraq Spokesman in Baghdad ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A special correspondent for the "Observer" reports to the Associated Press that Wild/MSFE has been appointed by Saddam Hussein to become the new Information Minister for Iraq. When asked how he felt about the new position, Wild/MSFE responded with a link to an article in the "Guardian." When the outgoing Minister of Information was asked what quality made Wild/MSFE most qualified for the position, he replied "his expertise in denial." Previous: U.S. Marines Storm Iraqi Capital 7 Apr. 01:24:44 Next: Pentagon Brings in More Iraqi Exiles 7 Apr. 01:06:46 Printable text version | Mail this to a friend --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, this is what I call Iraqi Freedom By MIKE DARVILL JUBILANT Iraqis celebrate their new-found freedom yesterday â by tearing down a statue of hated tyrant Saddam Hussein. Hundreds begged US troops to help tie a rope around the 17ft high bronze figure and take a blowtorch to its ankles. Then they pulled â and whooped with delight as the statue crashed to the ground. The symbolic scene came after the 101st Airborne division â known as the Screaming Eagles â freed the Shiâite holy city of Karbala, killing 400 Republican Guards and capturing 100 more. The fiercest fighting was for a bridge and the local Baâath party HQ. Fedayeen paramilitaries in the city, 70 miles south-west of Baghdad, also put up stiff resistance on Saturday, killing one US para. A further eight were injured. But snipers were pounded by artillery after their positions were pinpointed by helicopters. Yesterday afternoon troops from the 2nd Battalion 70th armoured regiment oversaw the toppling of Saddam, cast in military uniform, his right hand outstretched. First, an American welder spent an hour weakening the statue.Then locals hauled until the rope snapped. Another was fixed in place, and many among the watching thousands applauded as Saddam fell head first on to a stepped podium above a pool of water. Scores clambered over the statue and beat it with shoes or anything else they could grab. One onlooker said: âItâs very good because we donât like it.â An elderly man added in broken English: âGood, good, good â Mr W. Bush, no Saddam.â As US troops proudly wore flowers given to them by townsfolk, a 25-year-old said he could not understand opposition to the war. He asked: âEveryone who refuses this war â why?â Pointing to the statue, he went on: âCome here and live two days with this man, and then refuse this war.â Others were still too frightened to celebrate. Karbala was one of the Shiâite cities to rise against Saddam in 1991, only to face his wrath weeks later. This time, they pray, freedom is there to stay.
optional, there was an article from the Guardian (or was it the Observer?) that mentioned a new mind control weapon the US has developed and has obviously put in use on the poor people of Iraq -- which is illustrated in the pictures above. Why else would they be acting in such a criminal manner towards their benevolent leader? I can't locate the link but I'm sure wild/msfe will come through.
Anyone with half a brain knows the "crowd" is in fact made up of Delta Force and CIA personnel posing as Iraqis. Heh, and you thought the Tom Cruise face-mask thing in MI:2 was just Hollywood conjecture!
the US has developed a new mind control weapon and has obviously put in use on the poor people of Iraq - Rupert Murdoch´s News Corporation http://www.newscorp.com/index2.html US media dig deep for politicians Political donations by US media companies Annie Lawson Monday April 7, 2003 Political donations by US television and radio stations have almost doubled in the last year, research has shown. And the Bush family's association with many media organisations runs deep and is reflected by the hefty handouts from the likes of NBC network owner General Electric and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, both trenchant supporters of the war. The amount of money ploughed into party coffers by Rupert Murdoch's Fox TV, NBC and radio giant Clear Channel among others has gone up to £7.56m in 2001/2002, compared with just £4.6m in 2000, the latest figures reveal. Media companies have shown that they have deep pockets when it comes to politics, with the level of contributions made over the last decade growing ninefold, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics, a US research group that tracks money and politics. The support President Bush has received from the corporate sector is evidenced by the unprecedented $100m he raised when he decided to run for president. And although donations by many media organisations are made to both Republicans and Democrats, their support of the Bush administration is exposed by what researchers call "soft money" donations - sponsorship and support for general party activities. For example, just 24% of News Corp's donations to political parties went to Mr Bush, but almost 90% of the "soft money" went to the Republicans. Sheila Krumholz, the CRP's head of research, said while the entertainment industry had become more bi-partisan, "soft money" donations tended to reflect the views of the proprietor. "When you are speaking of the executives and corporation itself, the donations are typically representative of their economic interest of the organisation and are dictated by whoever is in power." Figures show that NBC network owner General Electric and News Corporation, owner of the Fox and Sky television networks and the New York Post, tipped the bulk of their soft money funds into Republican coffers in 2001-02. The two media giants are among the most prolific donors, according the data reported to the US federal electoral commission. General Electric directed nearly 60% of overall donations - $1.92m - to the Republicans in 2001-02. The party received nearly twice the amount in soft money donations. Ms Krumholz, the centre's research director, said media multinationals have a history of dipping their financial fingers in the political pie to protect their corporate interests. "Donations from media companies, as with all industries, have grown over the last decade," she said. However, their political loyalties have seeped to the surface during the coverage of the conflict in Iraq. News Corp, whose Fox network is renowned for its creative approach to US journalistic objectivity, donated $427,487 in soft money to the Republicans in 2001-02. Much of this was directed to the party's national and congressional committees, and a large portion came from either individuals or the companies associated with the Fox network. However, News Corp's overall contributions favoured the Democrats, as people associated with the company gave 76% of the $1.85m in overall donations to the Democrats. Ms Krumholz said overall donations include contributions from employees, who tend to be more left-leaning in media than other businesses. Murdoch's media empire still has close ties with the Bush family. The relationship was recently put under the spotlight when it was revealed that Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes, a former Republican party strategist, secretly acted as an advisor to the president in the days after the September 11 terrorist strikes. Global radio giant Clear Channel recently reignited concerns about companies that control mainstream media and snuggle up to political parties, following its controversial sponsorship of pro-war rallies in the US. The media group, which controls 1,225 radio stations across the US and is the world's largest radio empire, also attracted scathing criticism for dropping the Dixie Chicks from its network playlist after its lead singer publicly declared her opposition to the war. The company's founder, Lowry Mays, ensured the majority of the $503,910 donations made in 2001-02 landed in the Republican party's coffers. But his company's links with the Bush family run deeper. Media watchdog takebackthemedia.com this week published the elaborate web of connections that further align Clear Channel with the Bush family. Mays, who took advantage of radio deregulation and transformed Clear Channel into a global multimedia player, is associated with the president through the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO). Mays sits on the governing board, alongside Clear Channel vice-chairman Thomas Hicks, whose family is believed to have contributed over $500,000 to Bush campaigns over the years. Hicks, a long-time friend and supporter of President Bush, heads the UTIMCO board but his position was recently embroiled in controversy when it emerged he awarded UTIMCO-funded contracts to firms politically associated with the Bush dynasty. Hicks also bought the Texas Rangers American football team from Bush for $250 million in 1998, three times the amount that Bush and his partners had originally paid. The Bush clan is also closely associated with the Reverend Sun Myung Moon-backed Washington Times, whose founder is the notorious leader of the Unification Church cult. The Bush family and Moon are reportedly closely intertwined, with Bush senior having received hefty lecturing fees from the church leader. However, the flow of funds from press and publishing has declined from $15.04m in 2000 to $7.09m in 2002. http://media.guardian.co.uk/rupertmurdoch/story/0,11136,930077,00.html
he he, yeah the iraqi's made up all that bad stuff, sadam and msfe are really good people and the whole world is wrong except them...lol !