11. april 2003

The news CNN didn't send Eason Jordan, CNN's chief news executive, feels he can finally come clean with some stories that they had to keep secret while the channel still had its people working in Baghdad. It is a number of shocking facts he tells in a New York Times article. 10:55:45 PM    comment []

Coalition of losers still in la-la-land The meeting of the leaders of France, Germany and Russia in St Petersburg was a rather odd spectacle. Against the backdrop of an overwhelming colation victory which has emberrassed this axis of denial, the irrelevance of these old powers was just too obvious. It must be doubly humiliating, especially for Putin, to hear Wolfowitz tell them that what they could do to help was to clear Iraq's debt. Yet, Putin himself responded rather favourable to the suggestion, unlike a Duma spokesperson who rebuffed it with a reference to Iraq not "yet" being the US 51st state. It is interesting to note that in the US administration, only Colin Powell has expressed words of reconciliation (and that is basically his job). Other top officials, ranging from Wolfowitz to Rice, has made it very clear that there are lots of bad feelings in Washington, and that unless some real moves of reconciliation are made by the rebels, these countries will learn the hard way that they are now outside the centres of power. There may be some realisation among the top leadership in these countries that the move to defy Washington has lead them nowehere (popular as it may have been domestically), but the game has now caught its players. All the talk in the world about restoring the multipolar world is just hot air. No other powers are even close to challenging the military and economic power of the United States. This is the reality that Britain, who has always been ruthlessly pragmatic in their foreign politics, realised quite some time ago. We currently live in a unipolar world, and the only way to temper it is by being on the inside of the coaltion, not by standing on the outside whining. There is no moral high ground in the desert. 10:07:40 PM    comment []

British forces take on bank robbers, one soldier injured British soldiers on patrol accidentally ran into five bank robbers, who they initially thought were looters. The robbers opened fire at the soldiers with automatic wepons, injuring one soldier. When the troops fired back, all five bank robbers were killed. There has been a lot of criticism, for exampel from the International Red Cross, of the coaltion forces because they have not made a serious attempt to restore law and order. British forces have now stated they will clamp down on looting in Basra. 9:13:28 PM    comment []

Nuclear find was low-grade uranium known by IAEA US marines recently reported possible weapons grade fission material found at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex in Iraq. Now the International Atomic Energy Authority expresses anger that soldiers have started messing with a known stockpile of low-enriched uranium and other highly radioactive material, which Iraq was permitted to retain because it can not be used for nuclear weapons. US marines had broken through steel doors sealed by the IAEA, and where the nuclear watchdog had made 14 inspections in 4 months just before the war. It's hard to believe the US soldiers were unaware of what they were doing, and it seems to be a calculated slap in the face of IAEA, who has demanded to be let into the country as soon as possible to keep control of the complex. Some days ago, Fox News reported this incident as a possible find of weapons grade plutonium. It's hard to see how they could make that interpretation of the reports from the embedded journalist, who reported that the IAEA seals were broken. 8:08:14 PM    comment []

"Victim" found alive during murder trial "Australian teenager Natasha Ryan, who disappeared four years ago and was presumed dead, resurfaced today - half way through the trial of her alleged murderer and to the astonishment of her grieving family." (The Guardian) I have often noted that the police prosecutes and courts convict people on very flimsy evidence. Too bad she didn't stay hidden for a few more weeks, so we could have a court with red faces, too. 6:54:52 PM    comment []

Playing with a deck of crooks Saddam Hussein is the ace of spades in a new deck of cards issued as an original most-wanted list if 55 top Iraqi officials the coalition wants dead or alive. Thousands of decks will be distributed to US forces in the country, hopefully leading to the apprehension of some of them. The deck does also include some officials that are believed to be dead, like "chemical" Ali. US officials also say there is growing evidence that Iraqi leaders are trying to flee, pointing to a few small airplanes that were found and destroyed on the ground near Tikrit. It is believed that Information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf is one of the jokers in the deck. Picture: US Brigadier general Vincent Brooks is showing the new deck of cards to the press. 5:08:01 PM    comment []

"We are winning this war!" The Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has received his fan page on the Net, www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com In fact, the page has become so popular that it is currently unavailable, which is a shame. I would not be surprised if al-Sahaf becomes trendy. I can just imagine his example being followed in all walks of life. Imagine how much better marketing will be if it's released from the restraints of needing to have a tiny bit of connection with reality. Marketing execs will no longer need to scrutinize the products to find its strong points. Just declare it's the best ever, that everybody is buying it, and that it's virtually free. For example, the Apple Macintosh can be declared the fastest, cheapest computer with an overwhelming market share, so they no longer will have to rely on cute colours and stoned teenagers to persuade people to make the "switch." In politics and religion, on the other hand, following his example will be pretty redundant. 3:34:45 PM    comment []

The Matrix Reloaded The second installment of the Matrix trilogy is coming May 15, and the team behind the cult success promises special effects that makes the legendary "Bullet time" look lame. This is the full step from digital enhancement of movies, the special effects will be 100% digital. Fans will wear out their remotes replaying the scene on DVD, but what they won't see, even riding the Pause button, is a transition that happens early on. When Neo and Agent Smith walk into the courtyard, they are the real Reeves and Weaving. But by the time the melee is in full effect, everyone and everything on the screen is computer-generated - including the perspective of the camera itself, steering at 2,000 miles per hour and screaming through arcs that would tear any physical camera apart. Neo's nemesis Agent Smith is back, he's a virus, and he has an army of himself to help him. Whatever the case, it seems pretty certain that they'll both win at the box office this year. 3:20:01 PM    comment []

Chaos in Baghdad Chaos reigns the streets of Baghdad after the Iraqi government and military evaporated. Massive looting is unchecked by coalition forces, and gun battles rage between long oppressed Shi'ites and remnants of loyalist Fedayeen paramilitaries. Under the Geneva convention, the occupying power has an obligation to keep law and order and secure the civil population. It appears the anarchy has taken the US forces by surprise. "The picture is a very dark one. There is absolutely no security on the street," said Veronique Taveau, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. "Humanitarian assistance will be hurt." Now the coalition apparently try to convince Iraqis to go back to their positions in the civil services. In the north,. Iraq's third largest city Mosul is captured by US special forces and Kurdish fighters without any opposition. 2:41:58 PM    comment []

War skeptics meeting The leaders of Russia, France and Germany are meeting in St Petersburg today to discuss Iraq, in face of the overwhelming coalition victories. It is expected that the anti-war countries will insist on bringing Iraq back in under the Unitied Nations framework. Paul Wolfowitz has already rejected the idea, saying the UN can't be in charge of Iraq, but that the three peacenik countries can contribute by wiping clean the huge debts Iraq owes them, money mostly used to buy weapons and build palaces for Saddam Hussein. 1:34:09 PM    comment []

Iraqis happy to surrender ""All of us want to surrender," said Hassan Sharat, 30. "I am sick from tiredness, the officers kept me awake for three days to fight but I am also very happy. This is the end of the regime. "I have suffered from being forced to be in the army for five years," he said. "Now, for the first time, I feel no fear."" (The Scotsman) Pretty overwhelming reports, indeed. 3:08:36 AM    comment []

Conservatives attack American science, again Forces in the Bush administration, playing for the right-wing fundamentalist electorate, has started a strong push against science. In the forefront: a ban on therapautic cloning, pushing so-called "intelligent design" as a form of stealth-creationism attacking evolutionary science, and a push to replace condoms with "abstinence" propaganda in the fight against AIDS. 12:10:24 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2003; 02:59:07.