20. mars 2003

Choke on this, Mr. President Remember when President Bush choked on a Pretzel? The French does, and here's a site that encourages people to send a Pretzel to Bush in protest against the war, and for charity. 11:38:49 PM    comment []

Posthumous protest "The Americans who died on the beaches of Normandie in June 1944 generally regard France's opposition to the attack on Iraq as a personal insult" The question is how they know what those soldiers think. John Edward found out? (My translation of a Norwegian page at Digi.no) 10:48:41 PM    comment []

Baghdad now Targets in Baghdad have been hit by cruise missiles and bombs. Sources say that a building used by the dept of the interior and some of Saddam's family palaces are hit. At the same time the ground forces are advancing rapidly. (Picture from VG) 10:03:37 PM    comment []

Mullah Krekar arrested Mullah Krekar, the Islamist Kurdish leader who is a refugee in Norway, was finally arrested today. The "suicide bombing" threat on Dutch TV was the final straw. 8:58:01 PM    comment []

Ugly! CNN's front page is sluggish, which surely indicates that the war is drawing a lot of traffic to it as it does to other web-based news services. I am the only one believing that the CNN front page is also incredibly ugly right now? I guess the simple text-based headline saves bandwidth, but I just don't like the design. 8:05:18 PM    comment []

Keep an eye on the small news Mickey Kaus draws comparison with the British government aide Jo Moore's infamous email on 9/11-01 to use the opportunity to "get out anything we want to bury," and notes that the war is grabbing so much attention we can expect a lot of important news being buried on page 22-C of the newspapers. I guess a lot of us bloggers have our attention at the war in Iraq, too, but it's probably a good opportunity to demonstrate we are the "alterantive press" that sometimes draw attention to the stories the mainstream media doesn't want to touch.  7:38:21 PM    comment []

No to war, no to ketchup A group fo French chefs in Hamburg have taken American products off the menu in a protest against war on Iraq. Louis Bouillon, who organised the protest, was clear that this was a response to US boycotts of French wines and cheese. Ananova writes: "Whiskey, Coca-Cola and other US soft drinks are out at one restaurant while others have axed US rice and ketchup." Whiskey is not generally considered a "soft drink," and it surely isn't American. 7:12:11 PM    comment []

Words for blood Lt Col Tim Collins' speech to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish are making headlines in Britain today, demonstrating that tha art of oratory is not dead. While making no secret of the fact that war brings destruction, and that some of his own might not make it home, he urged the troops to behave honourably: "We go to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them. "Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there." "You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. "You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing. "Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you." Surely a stretch, I admit, but I don't think we can expect to get closer to Henry V's St. Crispen's Day Speech in our day and time. 6:29:59 PM    comment []

Discovering fossils Evidence of past lifeforms mostly comes from fossils. Here's an interesting site about paleontology, the discovery and preparation of fossils: Discovering Fossils. 6:07:26 PM    comment []

Senate says no to drilling in Alaska On the eve of war, the Senate defeated George Bush's initiative to open for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The vote largly split down party lines, but a few moderate republicans tilted the vote in favour of the environmentalists. 3:22:38 PM    comment []

Material breach Six Scud missiles were launched at Kuwait, two of which were shot down by Patriot systems. The missiles that were not shot down supposedly landed in the desert. We can conclude, then, that Saddam Hussein was in material breach of resolution 1441 the whole time. Moot point, I know. 3:18:30 PM    comment []

It's on! Air raid sirens, anti-aircraft fire and warplanes over Baghdad. Some few large explosions have been heard. Whitehouse spokesman Ari Fleischer has made a very brief statement that the war has begun. Bush will address the nation in half an hour. And, amazingly, the press corps was caught completely by surprise by something as American as an attack by dawn, just after the deadline expired! 3:56:15 AM    comment []

Unconfirmed rumours tonight Reports of air raid sirens over Baghdad, and sounds of explosions, but BBC World News' reporter could not see anything on his pictures from the city. No confirmation. Pundits speculate that bad weather, sand storms to be more precise, is holding back the coalition forces. 3:39:59 AM    comment []

Switch "Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore was elected today to the board of Apple Computer Inc." (Toronto Star) With no hanging chads, and no need for a recount. 2:47:57 AM    comment []

Possible source to SARS identified The medical professionals fighting perhaps the most important war right now have made a tentative identification of the virus believed to be the cause for the 'mystery-pneumonia' SARS. Scientists in Hong Kong and Germany has pointed to "paramyxovirus" as the possible culprit. In case, it is a mutation of a virus family previously known to cause diseases like measles and mumps. A number of such viruses have been known to "jump" from animals to infect humans. This may be another such case. 2:08:35 AM    comment []

Well, it had to happen I made a note about the Statue of Liberty a few days ago. I was recently made aware of a web site actually campaigning to give the Statue of Liberty back to the French. Serious or a joke? You decide. I'm afraid this is for real. 1:15:56 AM    comment []

Towards an empire William S. Lind, writing for UPI, compares the US 'hyperpower,' not to the British empire as is fashionable, but the Spanish empire of the early 16th century. As real historians  know, history is not repeating itself, but still some patterns from the past can teach us about the future. Lind has one point, though, which may go some way in explaining why the Bush administration has failed so miserably in building an alliance against Iraq: What finally stopped Hapsburg Spain and, later, France under King Louis XIV and Napoleon and Germany under Hitler from establishing the universal monarchy was a fundamental characteristic of the international state system: whenever one nation attempts to attain world dominance, it pushes everyone else into a coalition against it. That dynamic, not any love for Saddam, is what is behind German and French opposition to the Bush administration's plan for war with Iraq. That is what is drawing others, including Russia, into supporting the French and the Germans. This is no doubt true. The stronger the US appears, and the more it throws its weight around, the more opposition it will gather. The Bush administration's drive for world hegemony will draw opposition, and eventually the opposition will be strong enough to challenge it, economically and militarily, if history is any guide. 12:48:56 AM    comment []

Russian military expert says US may lose 63,000 troops in Iraq Echoing some of the grim warnings issued before Gulf War I, Russian Colonel-General Valery Manilov is not convinced that this attack will lead to a swift, sweet victory. He warns against enormous civilian casualties, and he also says: As American officials say that themselves, every three of ten US soldiers might die. This means that the losses might make up 63 thousand people from 211 thousand. There might be even more victims, for the Iraqi army is rather determined. I'd like to see which "American officials" say such a thing. I don't think many military experts expect such an outcome. On the other hand, as everybody knows, war is unpredictable, and if the US/UK forces should run into unexpected hardships, it would not be the first military surprise in history. 12:07:19 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.04.2003; 01:33:17.