Obviously, this news story has changed.
When I first saw it, it appeared to lend a little bit of credibility to
reports of nuclear
missiles (yes, nukes!) being found in Iraq. I didn't blog it, as it was
a bit far fetched to put it gently. Now the revised article (I hate
when they do that) begins with a denial
from a U.S. military official, and then offers the background.
The daily al-Sabah newspaper Wednesday had quoted sources as saying
three missiles armed with nuclear warheads were discovered in a trench
near the city of Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
A U.S. military spokesman in Tikrit told United Press International that the report was untrue.
"Nothing's been found. The report is not factual," said Master Sgt.
Robert Cowens, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, based in
Tikrit.
The newspaper reported the three missiles were discovered by chance
when Iraqi security forces captured former Baath party official Khoder
al-Douri who revealed during interrogation the location of the missiles
saying they carried nuclear warheads.
The
rumour mill in Iraq is obviously even worse than what we are used to.
Should give pause to those who jump to believe any news (good or bad) from faraway sources.
Yeah, glass houses and stones, I know.
To nobody's surprise, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for
a resolution demanding Israel tear down the security barrier.
Israel vowed to keep building it.
The result was 150 to 6 with 10 abstentions on the resolution aimed
at dismantling the barrier, which has drawn international ire for
cutting into West Bank land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East
war.
Voting "no" were the United States, Israel and Australia and
the Pacific island states of Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.
All 25 European Union countries voted in support of the
Palestinian-drafted measure after its Arab sponsors accepted a series
of EU modifications over days of intense negotiations.
European countries voting for a
resolution sponsored by Arab states vowing Israel's destruction is a
sad expression of no lessons learned 60+ years later.
