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GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 4/4/03 -Raids on Baghdad, Palaces, Airport, STRIKE VIDEOS BREAKING: Baghdad - Blackout - and crescendo shock and awe BREAKING: Saddam's Presidential Palace - raid BREAKING: Tharthar Palace - raid BREAKING: Chemical Ali''s House - taken BREAKING: Saddam Jessica Lynch International Airport - weapons hot BREAKING: STRIKE VIDEOS : Apache helicopters, Iraqi tanks, anti-aircraft missile launchers, meeting complex, An Najaf, artillery launcher, Karbala, communication facility, Ar Rutbah, bunker, Mosul, armored personnel carrier, trucks and other vehicles, Al Amarah, surface to air missile facility, fuel tank, radar ========= the ex-Saddam International Airport ========= Coalition...

France and the crisis of the presidential sites in IraqIn the Iraqi so-called “presidential sites” crisis, France, starting from a number of simple principles, based itself on an analysis of the situation in order to pursue resolute action in favour of a diplomatic solution, the only way of preserving what had already been achieved by the United Nations presence in Iraq and preventing grave destabilization in the Middle East. From this crisis, France draws a number of lessons relating to future cooperation between the Iraqi authorities and the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), the treatment of the issue by the...

Military action against Iraq would begin with US-led bombing raids on President Saddam Hussein's palaces and other symbols of his regime, a British Sunday paper said. In a bid to convince ordinary Iraqis that the war is not with them but with the Baath regime itself, other initial targets would be Saddam's home town of Tikrit, key ministries, and homes and properties owned by Saddam's family and senior officials, The Observer said. "The war will start with an extremely large bang. You can expect Saddam's home base of Tikrit to get a clobbering," one official told the paper. The aim...

Gross ... UN inspectors and journalists venture in UNITED Nations weapons inspectors yesterday raided one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces...and gave the world a glimpse of the sickening splendour in which he lives. In the first real test of strength since the team went in last week, they rapped unannounced on the wrought iron gates of Al-Sajoud. The palace lies in a sprawling presidential neighbourhood that runs along a bend in the Tigris River in western Baghdad. Lair of a monster ... an opulent sitting room at Saddam's palace But the opulence of the palace contrasts starkly with the poverty-stricken Iraqis...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - International inspectors roared up to one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces Tuesday and demanded and received quick entry, an early test of new powers to hunt for weapons of mass destruction anywhere, anytime in Iraq.</p> <p>A key Iraqi official said, meanwhile, that the Baghdad government, in a long-awaited declaration later this week, will reaffirm its position that it no longer has such weapons.</p>

SADDAM Hussein brought war in Iraq closer last night after hints that UN weapons inspectors would be banned from searching his palaces. Chief inspector Hans Blix said Iraqi officials told him “entry into presidential sites was not the same thing as entry into factories”. But Mr Blix said bluntly: “The Security Council authorises us to go anywhere, anytime and we intend to do so.” A UN resolution demands that the inspectors get full access and threatens dictator Saddam with “serious consequences” if he blocks them. Dr Blix also poured scorn on Saddam’s insistence Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction....

BAGHDAD, Oct 3 (AFP) - Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's eight sprawling presidential palaces, considered locations of prime interest by UN weapons inspectors, are high on the list of his regime's suspected hiding places for weapons of mass destruction. The inspectors' ability to work at those sites has been restricted by a four-year-old deal between the UN and Iraq that Washington is now pressing hard to scrap in a new UN Security Council resolution demanding that Baghdad disarm of chemical and biological weapons. "We're not talking 'Sleeping Beauty' here," deputy US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said Wednesday in demanding...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 10/4/02 - Kabul, Bamiyan, Kandahar, Jalalabad, US Leaflets, Baghdad, Palaces, Gaza, Tel Aviv, New Jersey, Washington BREAKING: US Leaflets, BREAKING: Baghdad, frantic replacements, BREAKING: US flags burning in Gaza, BREAKING: Justice in Tel Aviv, BREAKING: Stupid in New Jersey, Weasels in Washington, Presidential Palaces, Mosul, Kabul, lions from China, Bamiyan, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Nazi eagle in Ramallah, Remembrance in Phnom Penh, ========= From US forces over Iraq ========= Psyop: Leaflet dropped over southern Iraq. ========= Baghdad ========= In Baghdad, Iraq, frantic movements to replace all paintings, statues, and pictures of Saddam. Will all...

Access to Iraq's presidential sites - sometimes referred to as "palaces" - is seen as crucial to any effective United Nations inspection for weapons of mass destruction. The US Government reports that new facilities are being built in Iraq all the time, but the UN has singled out eight particular sites it wants to inspect. Three of the sites are in Baghdad - Radwaniyah, the Republican Palace and Sijood - while the others are located around Iraq at Tikrit, Mosul, Jabal Makhul, Lake Tharthar and Al Basra. The sites already covered 32 square kilometres (12 square miles) and comprised hundreds...

The American draft Resolution gives 30 days to Iraq (diplomatic) Saturday September 28, 2002 - 17h42 GMT WASHINGTON, 28 seven (AFP) - the draft Resolution on Iraq that Washington wants to present at the Security Council gives seven days in Baghdad to accept this resolution and 30 days to make public all its programs of weapons of massive destruction and to open the sites which are bound there, indicated Saturday of the diplomatic sources to the AFP. These sources, which were expressed under cover of anonymity, did not specify if this thirty days deadline were added to the seven...

WASHINGTON, Sep 27, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- The United States and Britain are proposing that the United Nations set a seven-day deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to agree to disarm and then open his palaces to weapons inspectors, a Bush administration official and U.N. diplomats said Friday. President George W. Bush backed the U.N. effort, saying, "I'm willing to give peace a chance." The tough demands are coupled with a warning that "all necessary means" would be used against Iraq in the event of defiance, the officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Describing...

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (AFP) - The United States faces a tough fight in the UN Security Council if it tries to scrap special procedures for arms inspections at Iraq's eight presidential sites, diplomats said. In an agreement with Iraq on February 23, 1998, Secretary General Kofi Annan said UN inspectors would "respect the legitimate concerns of Iraq relating to national security, sovereignty and dignity" of the sites. But the United States says Iraq broke its promise to give the inspectors "immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access" to all areas. "This time, Iraq must comply with the UN mandate or...

Saddam adorns palaces with gold Publisher: Iraq Press (London) Posted: 2002-05-13 Sulaimaniya – Three of President Saddam Hussein’s palaces have been refurbished with at least 250 kilograms of pure gold recently, an informed source said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the gold renovation lasted six months and has so far touched three of Saddam’s palaces in the outskirts of Baghdad. Saddam spends lavishly on the building of palaces. They are equipped with marble floors, Persian rugs and gold taps as well as swimming pools and luxurious household equipment. Officially, Saddam has 34 palaces across the country but...