Free Republic

The US turned up pressure on the European Union yesterday to go further in cutting farm tariffs, saying its latest proposal fell far short of what was needed for World Trade Organisation talks to succeed. Rob Portman, the US trade representative, expressed disappointment that the EU and others had not maintained the negotiating momentum generated by Washington's offer this week of deep cuts in domestic agricultural supports, by coming up with ambitious tariff-cutting proposals. "I'm disappointed there have been no significant moves on farm market access," he said after three days of talks between trade ministers in Zurich and Geneva....

Homeowners and home buyers scored a rare... victory... when a three-person arbitration panel ruled unanimously that U.S. tariffs against imported Canadian softwood lumber violate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).... [R]escinding the tariffs will reduce the average construction cost of a new home by about $1,000 and make about 300,000 more moderate-income Americans eligible for mortgages. Instead of hailing the move as a welcome step toward more affordable housing, the Bush administration insists that it won't lift the tariffs, which can reach as high as 27%. It further plans to engage in more stalling tactics by appealing the decision...

The House pulled out a victory on the Central American Free Trade Agreement late Wednesday, though so narrowly that the White House may need to rethink its "bilateral" trade strategy. Protectionists have all the intensity on these smallish trade deals, while supporters tend to be less passionate than they would be on larger, multilateral agreements such as the ongoing Doha global trade round. Another negative political note is the declining support among Democrats for open trade. The White House had to deliver 202 House Republicans to pass Cafta, 217-215, because only 15 Democrats bucked their party leadership to vote yes....

The Islamic organization poised to build the largest mosque in the Northeast on a site in Roxbury has long-standing ties to an Egyptian cleric who praises suicide bombings and a Muslim activist indicted last week in a terrorism financing probe. The Islamic Society of Boston, which has city approval to build a sprawling $22 million Islamic cultural center and mosque on Malcolm X Boulevard, has had a long association with Dr. Yusuf Abdullah al-Qaradawi, whose vocal support of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas prompted the State Department to bar him from entering the U.S. four years ago. The local religious...

...Even after nearly two decades in the Senate, John Kerry is uncertain whether he is for or against TPA, even though it must be renewed early next year. Instead, Mr. Kerry wants a long study that would conveniently extend months beyond when this hard-fought authority is due to expire.... Mr. Kerry's vacillation on trade extends further. His campaign has signaled the abandonment of America's successful drive for Free Trade Agreements. The Bush administration has completed FTAs... that also include enforceable commitments on labor and environmental laws, combined with aid programs that help developing countries improve conditions cooperatively -- contradicting Mr....

...There seem to be three arguments by Sen. Kerry's advisers that have prompted this sorry situation for the Democrats: First, that the Bush trade policy is no better; second, that electoral strategy requires that Sen. Kerry act like a protectionist, while indicating subtly... a likelihood of freer trade in the White House; and third, at odds with the previous argument, that the U.S. does indeed have to turn trade policy around toward some sort of protectionism (and restraints on direct investment abroad) if it is going to assist workers and reward the unions. Each argument is flawed. - Mr. Bush...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The business press has been hailing the World Trade Organization framework agreement that emerged from around-the-clock, last-minute meetings in Geneva on July 31.  The hope expressed is that the deal saved the Doha Round trade talks, and perhaps the WTO itself.  Yet, there is little ground for optimism about the future of “free trade.” The turmoil that has wracked the WTO since the collapse of the Seattle ministerial conference in 1999 continues because it reflects the crisis in the global economy which erupted in 1997.  The Seattle meeting was supposed to...

Staff Sgt. Matt Hayden was reasonably sure in early March that he could be home in Rhode Island instead of pulling military police duties here, near the capital city of Doha, where he was completing his year of active duty as a National Guard soldier helping to fight the global war against terrorism. Hayden figured the three wounds he received when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded about 10 feet from him Aug. 5, 2003, in Iraq probably were severe enough so he would not have had to spend the winter in this small country beside the Persian Gulf. But that is...

"The Journey Continues--Week 2" Posted by Doc Farmer Wednesday, August 20, 2003 As most of you know, I lost my job in Doha, Qatar. It’s been two weeks now, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many of you who sent me e-mail messages of encouragement. They were greatly appreciated. What’s it like, being unemployed? Most of us have experienced it at least once in our careers, but it’s rare that we really examine it or talk about it. But there are things that I need to really get off my chest. Partly, this is a simple...

When You Run Out of Ideas... by Doc Farmer I've been racking my brain for the past hour, trying to come up with ideas for my next column. I know I'll have to create something funny, pithy, humorous, and witty because that's what my editor wants. And from what I've been able to gather, that seems to be what the readers want as well. Man, the pressure! It's hard to come up with new stuff all the time, so those of you who think that writing is an easy gig can think again. Sometimes it's really simple--something interesting (or annoying)...

"Explosions in Riyadh, So Let's Blame Dubya!" Posted by Doc Farmer Sunday, May 18, 2003 I lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for about four-and-a-half years before I moved to Doha, Qatar, last July. And other than the way they drive in Riyadh, I really liked it there. I've still got friends there. I've even got family there--my cousin and her hubby. So you can imagine my concern when I heard about the terrorist bombings of three residential compounds and a joint Saudi/American business there. I sent an e-mail to my friends and colleagues there, and thank God, they're all fine....

"Representative Government in the Middle East" Posted by Doc Farmer Saturday, May 03, 2003 Let me start by saying that "democracy" is a bad concept for any form of government that involves more than 20 people or so. And even then, it should be limited to the choice of movie or restaurant. And yet, you'll hear folks hoping for "democracy" in the Middle East. No thanks. They've got enough problems here, thank you. Face it, "democracy" is a fancy Greek word for "mob rule." And yet, in most "democratic" organizations, it's not the mob who rules, but who is ruled....

"What's Wrong With Being a "Minority"?" Posted by Doc Farmer Saturday, April 19, 2003 I've lived in the Middle East now for a bit more than five years. I'm not a Muslim, I'm not a Semite or Nilotic or "Palestinian" (if there IS such a "race"). I'm an American. More accurately, I'm a fat, bald, ugly, middle-aged white guy. In America, I'd barely get a second glance. Here, people stare. Not unlike when you drive by a really bad car wreck slowly--you just can't believe it's THAT bad... Okay, I'm kidding. A bit. But after living in Saudi Arabia for...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/25/03 - Tikrit, Baghdad, Fayda,Al Faw,Najaf,Nasiriyah,HMAS Kinimbla,captured mines, Basra, Az Bayr, Az Zubayara, Umm Qasr BREAKING Tikrit - Mailbox for the Baath Party Baghdad - Mutisystem Organ Failure for Saddam? Tense and Post-surrender Errors in Speech Fayda, north of Mosul - new attacks on Iraq Southern Iraq - oil wells burn Southern Iraq - Iraqis freed by the USA Southern Iraq - headquarters of the 51st Iraqi Mechanized Infantry Division Al Faw -British Royal Marines bring justice to the Baath party Najaf - Weapons hot Nasiriyah - Battle at the Euphrates River...

Key developments concerning Iraq 38 minutes ago By The Associated Press DOHA, Qatar - Latest developments in the Iraq (news - web sites) crisis: _Columns of U.S. tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and fuel trucks fought sandstorms as they snaked through the Kuwaiti desert toward the Iraqi border. About 300,000 U.S. and British troops were within striking distance of Iraq, backed by more than 1,000 warplanes. _Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) showed no sign he would submit to the 0100 GMT Thursday deadline to resign. Iraq's parliament reaffirmed support for Saddam, while armed members of his Baath Party...

DOHA, Qatar -- Saddam Hussein has opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out suicide bombings against U.S. forces in case they invade Iraq, Arab media and Iraqi dissidents said Tuesday. The dissidents, speaking by telephone from Jordan, said scores of Arab volunteers have gone to a special camp run by the Iraqi intelligence service near the town of al-Khalis, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad. Most of the volunteers are Islamic activists who belong to pan-Arab groups that maintain close ties with Saddam's regime, the dissidents said on condition of anonymity. The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television...

Tue Feb 18,12:28 PM ET An unidentified member of the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) personnel sit behind rows of networking computers in the Joint Operations Center (JOC) as they process information relating to regional operations, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003, at Camp As-Sayliyah on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar. Camp As-Sayliyah supports the largest CENTCOM pre-positioning facilities outside of the US with senior U.S. military planners in place for the looming war with Iraq. U.S. Navy (news - web sites) Seabees as well as Army engineers have recently expanded the base which now supports over 1,000 personnel. (AP Photo/Wally...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 9/17/02 BREAKING: Messages from Saddam and the USS Abraham Lincoln Incirlik, USS Abraham Lincoln, Hussein's letter, Baghdad, Bagram, Uddin, Jeza, brick factory, Kabul, market, potter, Mazar-e-Sharif, Mazar Hotel, Jalalabad garrison, Terrorits in Ramallah, Beit Lahia, Arafat's Al Aqsa, American flag burning, Lebanon, Wazzani river, Cairo, Egypt, Great Pyramid's door, Doha, Qatar, Al Udeid Air Base, Lukman, Usama Matar, Hizb ut-Tahrir (The Liberation Party), Kamal Derwish sought ===================== Turkey =================== In Turkey, at the Incirlik air base, heroes check missiles on F-16 fighters as other heroes patrol the No-Fly Zone in Northern Iraq...

Last week China became the latest country to impose safeguard tariffs on steel imports, claiming this was necessary to prevent a surge of imports diverted from the American market. Beijing also demanded a World Trade Organization dispute panel be formed to rule on the legality of the safeguard tariffs imposed by the United States in March. Beijing has thus chosen to engage the United States in its first formal dispute since joining the WTO last December. Gordon Moffat, director of the Brussels-based European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries, declined to blame Beijing for its decision to impose tariffs. He...