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7. oktober 2004
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Norway's Iraq debate
Bjørn Stærk writes about our local nutcases: far-left Norwegian campaigners who support the "insurgency" in Iraq.
Slightly less extreme positions by the left-leaning parties in our parliament have inspired Foreign Minister Jan Petersen to talk some sense:
«I say that we have to be able to post the question loud and clear: Is it or is it not benefit for us that Prime Minister Allawi and the Iraq government succeed?» Petersen asked. «There are many unclear and vague attitudes in Norwegian politics as well.» [...]
Petersen criticised Norwegian media for its oversimplified critic of the US, and claimed that the distance between Bush and Kofi Annan during the meeting of UN’s General Assembly in September was not as large as Norwegian press indicated.
«Maybe one should break free from putting everything into a “for or against Bush” perspective,» Petersen concluded. «Both Annan’s and Bush’s speeches had many other perspectives that could be useful to think about.»
As Norwegian bloggers have repeatedly noted, the lack of serious foreigb policy debate in the Norwegian media, and also among top politicians, is very depressing.
11:20:51 PM 
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Beyond Ansari: $50M prize for orbit
Inspired by the success the Ansari X Prize claim of SpaceShipOne, Nevada millionaire Robert Bigelow now offers the $50 million America's Space Prize for a privately funded human spaceflight into orbit.
It's asking a lot," Bigelow told SPACE.com. "We're talking about a spacecraft that has rendezvous and docking capabilities, and that is a safe and reliable structure."
The step from suborbital to orbital flight may not sound that much in increased distance.
SpaceShipOne's Oct. 4 suborbital spaceflight hit a peak of 69.7 miles (112.2 kilometers), but an orbital spacecraft will have to reach altitudes in excess of 100 miles. The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles (403 kilometers).
Remember, however, that it requires much more energy to "escape" the Earth's gravity:
Although impressive, the achievements of SpaceShipOne are not comparable with the Space Shuttle. The energy requirements of true orbital space flight are in the order of 33 times as much as a SpaceShipOne ascent.
Not to mention the extreme strain on the vehicle both on takeoff and landing at a significantly higher speed. Winning this prize within a reasonable cost will really require the private companies to be truly innovative. That, of course, is the objective of these prizes.
9:20:40 PM
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Google to search books
Google has announced Google Print, a direct answer to Amazon's A9 search engine, where search results inside books will be presented alongside web matches. All publishers are offered to send their books to Google, which will scan them for free in and present a brief excerpt of the book to search engine users when it matches their queries. Of course there will be a direct link for buyng the book.
So far, few books are included in the database, but that is likely to change pretty soon.
8:37:24 PM
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Documents: Saddam bribed the French
No matter how much nuance Bush had demonstrated in the UN, he wouldn't have convinced the French and the Russians. Saddam had them bribed, according to newly released intelligence documents.
SADDAM HUSSEIN believed he could avoid the Iraq war with a bribery strategy targeting Jacques Chirac, the President of France, according to devastating documents released last night. [...]
Saddam was convinced that the UN sanctions - which stopped him acquiring weapons - were on the brink of collapse and he bankrolled several foreign activists who were campaigning for their abolition. He personally approved every one.
To keep America at bay, he focusing on Russia, France and China - three of the five UN Security Council members with the power to veto war. Politicians, journalists and diplomats were all given lavish gifts and oil-for-food vouchers.
Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy prime minister, told the ISG that the "primary motive for French co-operation" was to secure lucrative oil deals when UN sanctions were lifted. Total, the French oil giant, had been promised exploration rights.
Iraqi intelligence officials then "targeted a number of French individuals that Iraq thought had a close relationship to French President Chirac," it said, including two of his "counsellors" and spokesman for his re-election campaign.
For readers of the blogosphere who have been following the UNSCAM oil-for-food scandal, this is not even news.
PS: More UNSCAM coverage.
PS 2: If you want to check out the Charles Duelfer report on Iraq beyond the "No WMD found" headlines, you can download the key findings as well as the entire report from Fox News. The full report (3 parts) is stored on CIA servers, though, and they are not working very fast today.
5:11:25 PM
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Good news from the Islamic world
Chrenkoff gives us some good news (and some so-so news) from the the Islamic world. In countries as diverse as Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey there is growing evidence that democracy is the new wave and can be a viable form of government all over the world.
Via Dean.
4:08:49 PM
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Fallujah insurgents negotiate
This just has to be a very good sign for Iraq:
Iraqi insurgents from Fallujah are in intense negotiations with the country's interim government to hand over control of the city to Iraqi troops, according to representatives of both sides, in hopes of averting a bloody military battle for the city of 300,000 that has become a haven for foreign guerrillas and a symbol of the limits of Baghdad's authority.
"We have met representatives from Fallujah," the interim deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, said Wednesday. "We have had detailed discussion with these representatives, and we have agreed on a road map or a framework to facilitate the resolution of this conflict in Fallujah."
No doubt the show of force in Samarra was a strong motivation for the insurgents in Fallujah to negotiate a solution.
Zarqawi is probably not a part of the negotiating team, though.
7:09:28 AM
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© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.11.2004; 14:35:17.
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