Posted on 05/12/2003 9:19:00 PM PDT by null and void
Good Morning.
This is the Daily Thread of Operation Infinite Freedom, formerly Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - LIVE THREAD.
It is designed for general conversation about the ongoing war on terror, and the related events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.
Twelve men suspected of financing the al-Qa'eda network and recruiting terrorists in the Netherlands went on trial in Rotterdam yesterday.
The men, who were held in raids across the Netherlands last year, are accused of "helping the enemy in a time of armed conflict" - a charge not filed since the end of the Second World War.
Smoke rises from the site of an explosion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in this image made from television Tuesday, May 13, 2003. Four explosions rocked Riyadh late Monday and early Tuesday, including a car packed with explosions that rammed into a residential compound housing westerners, injuring about 50 people, hospital and security officials said.
Blasts Kill 3 Before Powell's Saudi Visit
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Hours before a visit by the American secretary of state, attackers shot their way into three gated compounds housing Westerners in Saudi Arabia's capital and set off car bombs. At least three people were killed and about 60 injured, officials said.
The string of attacks occurred in quick succession Monday night, capped by a fourth explosion early Tuesday outside the headquarters of a joint U.S.-Saudi owned company in Riyadh.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea blamed the United States on Tuesday for the nuclear crisis on the divided Korean peninsula and said it would boost its defenses "to destroy aggressors at a single stroke."
The communist North's official KCNA news agency said in a long and detailed report over many pages the United States was chiefly to blame for derailing a decade-old North-South Korea declaration to keep their countries free of nuclear weapons.
An Iraqi soldier chants slogans during a demonstration in front of the main Presidental Palace, now a U.S. Army base, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday May 12, 2003. Just a month after their defeat at the Americans' hands, 300 Iraqi soldiers marched on the U.S. Army's main Baghdad base to demand back pay and a future in the new Iraq. Police Rearm, Troops Protest in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Police packed guns again Monday for the first time since the war and unpaid Iraqi soldiers rallied angrily outside a U.S. Army base in Baghdad, a city of people outraged over crime, blackouts and lack of salaries.
Many residents have said they feel helpless over the looting, arson and general lawlessness of fellow Iraqis since the U.S.-British invasion brought down President Saddam Hussein's government last month.
Plea for Bush to keep troops on N Korean border
Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean president, will urge the US not to withdraw troops stationed along the border with North Korea when he meets president George W. Bush on Tuesday.
The US is considering re-positioning the US Army's Second Infantry Division (2ID), its main combat unit in South Korea, to the south of Seoul, the national capital that lies only 40km from the demilitarised zone.
US to confront EU on genetically modified foods
The US is set to announce on Tuesday it will file a long-anticipated case in the World Trade Organisation aimed at forcing the European Union to lift its de facto moratorium on genetically modified foods, according to administration and congressional officials.
The decision will further escalate trade tensions between the US and Europe, just days after the EU threatened to impose sanctions by the end of the year in a separate dispute over a $4bn subsidy for US exporters.
The Bush administration is coming to the view that it may not find a huge arsenal of biological or chemical weapons in Iraq, but rather the pieces of a "just-in-time delivery" system for weapons of mass destruction.
US Central Command reported yesterday that Rihab Rashid Taha, an Iraqi biological weapons expert nicknamed "Dr Germ", has turned herself over to the coalition forces. Ms Taha is expected to play a crucial role in providing much-needed information to assist the so-far fruitless search for Saddam Hussein's alleged cache of banned weapons.
Literally too tired to almost type, but tempted to see what, if any, the current poll #s are on Americans even CARING about WMD finds. Sure, a nuke with Saddam's John Hancock on it, maybe, would swing things positive, but...wasn't it 60%+ last I heard that supported Iraq action even if no WMD?
US President George W. Bush acknowledges the crowd prior to speaking at Airlite Plastics in Omaha, Nebraska
President Bush waves before boarding Air Force One Monday May 12, 2003 in Omaha, Neb.">
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - After extending the hand of peace to arch-foe Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's planned follow-up visit to old-enemy China could redraw the diplomatic map of a region that is of acute interest to Washington after the Iraq war.
The major players -- India, China and Pakistan -- bristle with nuclear arms, and Vajpayee's peace plays may be aimed not only at ensuring a place in the history books for the elderly politician but reducing the risk of a nightmare conflict among longtime foes with weapons trained on India from north and west.
UNITED NATIONS - The Security Council on Monday tentatively agreed to send U.N. peacekeepers to the Ivory Coast to help enforce an agreement aimed at ending nine months of civil war.
The 76 peacekeepers would work with a West African force and French troops who are trying to enforce a cease-fire that has been repeatedly violated, according to a draft resolution agreed on Monday by the council.
JERUSALEM - Police on Tuesday arrested 13 leaders of Israel's Islamic Movement on charges they funneled millions of dollars to the militant Hamas group, which has carried out scores of suicide bombings.
The arrests were expected to heighten tensions between Israel's large Arab minority and the authorities, already strained since police killed 13 Arab protesters in anti-government protests in October 2000.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, under U.S. pressure to renew peace talks, will meet for the first time on May 16, a Palestinian official said on Monday.
A senior diplomat confirmed the date of the meeting, which follows meetings held by Secretary of State Colin Powell with Israelis and Palestinians to promote a peace plan to end 31 months of violence. Neither source mentioned a venue.
The aftermath of a bombing in the Saudi capital of Riyadh is seen in this image made from television, Tuesday, May 13, 2003. Hours before a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, attackers shot their way into three gated compounds housing Westerners, killing at least three and injuring about 60. The string of attacks was capped by a fourth explosion Tuesday morning in Riyadh outside the Saudi Maintenance Company, a joint Saudi-U.S. venture.
A Saudi police officer walks past a destroyed gate after a suicide attack on a Westerners' compound in Riyadh, early May 13, 2003. Suicide bombers may have killed up to 10 people and wounded more than 160 Americans and other nationals in attacks on foreigners' compounds, diplomats in Saudi Arabia said.
A stopped clock is seen in a damaged room after a suicide attack on a Westerners' compound in Riyadh, early May 13, 2003. Suicide bombers injured more than 40 Americans and other nationals and probably killed others in devastating attacks on Westerners' compounds in Riyadh on Monday night, a Saudi minister and the U.S. ambassador said.
A Saudi police officer inspects the scene after a suicide attack on a Westerners' compound in Riyadh, May 13, 2003. Suicide bombers injured more than 40 Americans and other nationals and probably killed others in devastating attacks on Westerners' compounds in Riyadh on Monday night, a Saudi minister and the U.S. ambassador said.
The wreckage of a vehicle is seen in front of damaged buildings after a suicide attack on a Westerners' compound in Riyadh, May 13, 2003. Suicide bombers injured more than 40 Americans and other nationals and probably killed others in devastating attacks on Westerners' compounds in Riyadh on Monday night, a Saudi minister and the U.S. ambassador said.
The aftermath of a bombing in the Saudi capital of Riyadh is seen in this image made from television, Tuesday, May 13, 2003. Hours before a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, attackers shot their way into three gated compounds housing Westerners, killing at least three and injuring about 60.
An Iraqi man gestures as U.S. soldiers stand guard during a demonstration in front of the main Presidental Palace, now a U.S. Army base, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday May 12, 2003. Just a month after their defeat at the Americans' hands, 300 Iraqi soldiers marched on the U.S. Army's main Baghdad base to demand back pay and a future in the new Iraq.
Policing Baghdad Poses Challenge for U.S.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A joint patrol of American and Iraqi police snakes its way through some of the meanest streets of Baghdad. Women wave, and children give the thumbs-up sign — but not in the direction of their own countrymen.
"They don't show us respect unless we are with the Americans," says Ashad Hussein, a policeman back on his old beat in southern Baghdad.
BAGHDAD - U.S. Army commanders say they will increase the number of soldiers on patrol in the capital, where ordinary Iraqis are pleading for more security against criminals and other threats.
The Army also is stepping up efforts to remove cluster bombs and other unexploded munitions that have posed hazards to Iraqi civilians, including children, since the war's major combat ended nearly a month ago, officials said.
Iraq's Currency Making a Comeback
BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a city fraught with anger and despair, at least one thing is looking up: Iraq's currency, the dinar, is making a dramatic comeback against the U.S. dollar.
After more than a decade in short supply, dollars are suddenly flooding the market, whether handed out by U.S. administrators or stolen from banks. As a result, the dinar is up more than 60 percent against the dollar since March with more gains expected.
TUWAITHA, Iraq, May 12 (Reuters) - Villagers who looted uranium-tainted barrels from a former Iraqi nuclear facility may face the fallout within months, when the effects of using them at home could show up in rising cancer cases, experts say.
U.S. soldiers now guard the facility in Tuwaitha, about 25 km (16 miles) south of Baghdad, that was bombed first by the Israelis in 1981 and then by a U.S.-led coalition in 1991.
Here is an interesting thing I saw on the late local news last night:
There was a meeting yesterday evening at the Westin Hotel. Attending were President Bush, high level state Republicans, and Tony George. Tony George is the President and owner (along with other members of his family) of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and is a big democrat. I am trying to think why he would be invited to this meeting, but I have no clear idea yet, so will avoid speculation.
By the way, the Westin hotel is also where Ari Fleisher was married earlier this year. He married a girl from Indianapolis.
Me neither. Hussein was supporting terrorism, the links between Hussein and AQ are becoming more solid all the time. He did have the Al Samoud missiles, which he wasnt supposed to have. And finally, I still think we may find some left-overs when people like DR, Germ start talking.
Regardless of all that, I feel pretty good about removing an evil dictator that fed people into tree shredders feet first.
Prairie
I like them too. I think DisneyMiramax funding Michael Moores latest abomination is worse. Somebody posted some email addresses, fax numbers etc. to send protests to both Miramax and Disney and I intend to do that today. Moore is a sick puppy.
Prairie
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