Boston Globe
Bring back UN inspectors
By Jacqueline Shire, 10/5/2003
"....David Kay's report is an interim one. As National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice noted, analysts are still debriefing Iraqi officials and poring over "miles of documents." This must have brought a smile to the faces of UN inspectors who have spent 12 years analyzing thousands of pages of documentation. Their findings are a matter of public record, and a close reading would show that Iraq must still account for plenty: chemical and biological munitions it claims were destroyed unilaterally, stocks of agent and chemical precursors, drawings, plans, and prototypes for various weapons systems.
Ultimately, this is where the full story of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction will be told -- sorting through the muddled gray area of "unaccounted for" stockpiles and reports of "unconfirmed" destruction.
UN inspectors have a head start, and can do the job for a fraction of the cost..."
U.S. ISRAEL ATTACKS SYRIA
"We've consistently told Syria that it must cease harboring terrorists, and make a clean break from those responsible for planning and directing terrorist attacks from Syrian soil."
Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman
"Israel has cast its strike against Syria as justifiable in a war against terrorism..."
Douglas Jehl - NY Times
In the NY Times today: "The White House said President Bush had called the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, after the predawn airstrike and urged him to avoid further heightening tensions in the region. A senior administration official said the United States was seeking "full details" about the raid [in Syria}....But the administration seemed to be avoiding any criticism of the attack, which Israel described as retaliation for the suicide bombing that killed 19 people in Haifa....In its reluctance to criticize the Israeli raid, the American stance was at odds with that of most of Europe and the Arab world, whose leaders roundly condemned what they called a dangerous increase in tensions in the Middle East by Israel."
In the Guardian today, "Islamic Jihad, which admitted responsibility, has once again done grave disservice to the Palestinian cause. But Israel's response to the attack is equally unjustified. Its air raid deep inside Syrian territory was a reckless act typical of Israel's leader, Ariel Sharon. It will dissipate international sympathy and further entrench Arab hostility. Mr Sharon has a genius for putting Israel in the wrong...... As for George Bush, he certainly needs to think again - and act quickly. US pressure on Syria and Iran has been intense of late. Far from reining in Mr Sharon, Washington's effete, partial policy seems to have emboldened him to attack, to escalate, to spread the conflict in the much-abused name of the "war on terror", while actively subverting the road map. This is no Bush-ian vision of a transformed, peaceful Middle East. This is a vision of hell, of a Haifa every day."
Bush twiddles thumbs while a very dangerous Sharon widens and fuels Middle East disaster
The United States, no longer considered a relevant or respected "player" at the U.N., puts in their
barren and hollow two-cents worth:
"..The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, called on all sides to avoid heightening tension.
But he said: "The United States believes that Syria is on the wrong side of the war on terrorism..."
*What's new? The Bush administration is avoiding the Middle East conflict altogether...instead turning the actions from a dangerous Sharon into 'just another day in the war on terror'. Complacency: a recipe for death and destruction in that unfortunate land.*
Dear God....What Has This President Done to Our America?
(Bush Is Mostly Responsible For The Global Collapse In U.S. Support)
Washington Post Editorial
Talking to the World
Monday, October 6, 2003; Page A22
"....The collapse in global support for the United States during the past several years is hard to overstate..."
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Hypocrisy Central: What has this President's administration done to the word..and to the very essence of... "democracy"?
Democracy on Hold
By Fred Hiatt
"......Throughout this administration, there are career bureaucrats and political appointees who are passionately committed to promoting democracy. But at the top, democracy seems to have become an afterthought, except when its championing is politically useful (Iraq, Afghanistan) or relatively cost-free (Burma, Zimbabwe). And even in Burma, it's not clear the administration will spend chits to influence other nations that could help..."
