-Caveat Lector-
>>>There comes a time when things start to go wrong and there's nothing
a person can do about them. One of these is the weather. Dust, heat,
and more dust make for very uncomforatable if not unsuitable conditions
for fighting wars. I am reminded of a scene in "Cannonball Run" in which a
fellow who's agreed to drive a Rolls to CA from NY (or somewhere on the
East Coast) drives through a sand storm in the Mojave Desert and the storm
blasts all the paint off of the car. One thing that can be managed is the
boredom and sense of purposelessness. Three hundred thousand military
members sitting around becoming bored and beginning to ask questions
(like, "Who am I gonna vote for in 2004?") is not a thing to leave alone.
Wednesday?
Monday's Child is fair of face
Tuesday Child is full of grace
Wednesday's Child is full of woe
Thursday's Child has far to go
Friday's Child is loving and giving
Saturday's Child works hard for a living
But Sunday's Child is fair and wise
and good and gay
(author unknown)
A<:>E<:>R <<<
http://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=318902003
Sun 16 Mar 2003
Mobile support group of the First Batallion. The Parachute Regiment on
weapons drill exercises in Kuwaiti desert with 50 calibre machine gun.
Blair: War by Wednesday
BRIAN BRADY WESTMINSTER EDITOR
TONY Blair has told his Cabinet to brace itself for war on Iraq as early as
Wednesday, in the clearest signal yet that hopes of a diplomatic solution
have disappeared.
Speaking just hours before setting off for today’s ‘war summit’ with the
American President George Bush, a grim-faced Prime Minister warned
military action without the backing of United Nations was only days away.
Downing Street last night admitted that the prospects of a diplomatic end
to the stand-off with Saddam Hussein were receding rapidly in the face of
continuing French opposition to any compromise resolution that could
trigger military action.
Yesterday the Prime Minister embarked on a last-minute round of
telephone diplomacy in a desperate bid to rescue the proposed second
resolution which, if passed, could legitimise a military campaign to remove
Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction.
But he will today join Bush and Spanish prime minister Jose-Maria Aznar in
the Azores for a meeting in which they are expected to abandon attempts
to win UN approval and thrash out final plans for an invasion of Iraq next
week.
While Blair met with his Cabinet, the armed forces minister Adam Ingram,
meeting with European defence ministers in Greece, agreed that war was
now only "a matter of days" away.
The East Kilbride MP said: "I think the language which has been used over
recent days in London would lead us to that conclusion."
Last night senior Ministry of Defence sources confirmed they were ready
for the order to send the 30,000-plus British force massed on Iraq’s
borders into action as early as Wednesday.
The expectation of an imminent attack was heightened by yesterday’s
arrival of hundreds of tonnes of heavy munitions at the front in northern
Kuwait.
British soldiers readying themselves for war in the Gulf were advised "now
might be a good time" to make compassionate telephone calls home. They
were also told to prepare to destroy documents, photographs and other
items that might link them to family and friends in the event of capture.
Yesterday, Iraq submitted new documentation to the chief weapons
inspector Hans Blix which it claims proves that its VX chemical agents were
destroyed 12 years ago. The move was dismissed as "more game playing" by
the British government.
Blair’s decision to go to war even if he fails to secure UN backing is
expected to lead to the loss of two Cabinet ministers: Clare Short and
Robin Cook. He will also have to face a growing rebellion among Labour
MPs.
Rebels within his own party are planning to force a House of Commons
debate on the crisis on Tuesday, and predict the vote against the
government’s policy will dwarf the 121 recorded in a similar motion last
month.
Yesterday, in Scotland, the health minister Malcolm Chisholm also broke
ranks and voiced his opposition to the war.
Foreign secretary Jack Straw also admitted that the impasse in the UN now
made war "more probable".
Privately he conceded that British efforts at the UN to agree a resolution
setting disarmament benchmarks for Saddam, with which he would quickly
have to comply or face an invasion, have effectively failed. Britain has so
far failed to secure the support of the six wavering members of the
security council need for a majority.
The pessimistic prediction of imminent war came hours after Bush made a
landmark announcement committing his government to kick-start the
Middle East peace process by rushing forward a ‘route map’ laying down
proposals to create a Palestinian state within two years. The initiative was
partly intended to win over support from the undecided nations that
could provide the US and UK resolution with a majority on the UN Security
Council.
But Washington last night made it clear that hopes of forcing through a
resolution were fading, as Bush himself told Americans in a radio address
that "there is little reason to hope that Saddam Hussein will disarm".
One senior source in the US state department laid bare the perils of
pursuing the diplomatic route any further: "There are only two diplomatic
options left: submit a resolution to the UN Security Council that will be
defeated, or at the very least vetoed by France; or withdraw the
resolution because it faces defeat. Either way, the US goes to war," said
the source.
There is still bitter resentment among British ministers at France’s
position, in particular the "intransigence" of French president Jacques
Chirac. Yesterday Blair made no attempt to conceal his fury in Cabinet
after the French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin insisted that his
country would veto any resolution which authorised military action against
Iraq.
Last night a Downing Street spokesman said: "Everyone recognises things
aren’t looking good.
"There is nothing that we have heard from the French that indicates that
their position has changed. That is hardly the behaviour of a country that
believes in a multilateral international regime."
Labour Party chairman John Reid said de Villepin’s remarks were
"disappointing".
Addressing the party’s eastern conference in Clacton, after seeing the
Prime Minister, Reid said that French intransigence made further
diplomacy "very, very difficult" but added: " We will continue to work hard
to change minds and get that second resolution."
Blair is expected to allow a vote on war in the Commons on Tuesday, or
Wednesday at the latest. Downing Street expects a huge number of Labour
rebels, perhaps as many as 160, and at least two Cabinet resignations:
Cook, the Leader of the Commons, and Short, the International
Development Secretary.
But the Prime Minister still expects to win the Commons vote. He also
hopes to be vindicated by the swift fall of Baghdad, the gratitude of the
Iraqi people and the discovery of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction.
Today Blair will fly the 1,500 miles to the Azores amid renewed concerns
over his health. Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke of the "the
tremendous damage to his health" caused by the crisis.
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic insist the emergency summit is
designed to salvage what they can of their second resolution, but many
believe the time for diplomacy is over and their talks will amount to a
council of war.
Stefan Halper, a former White House aide to four American presidents,
said: "What they are doing is making every effort to cover what political
liabilities they think they may have as a result of this, whether it be the
British public or the Labour Party or anyone else ."
Blair spoke to Reid, his deputy, John Prescott and other ministers at No 10
yesterday to ensure he has the full backing of the Cabinet before flying in
to the mid-Atlantic archipelago.
But veteran Labour MP Tam Dalyell claimed Straw had not laid out the legal
justification for going to war with Iraq without a new resolution. The
Linlithgow MP said: " How can he claim to be upholding UN authority when
Kofi Annan, the Secretary General, members of the Security Council and
many others are diametrically opposed to his view?"
Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith pledged not to play "political games" and to
give his party’s support to Tony Blair as he "does the right thing".
This article:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=318902003
War with Iraq?:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=518
Websites:
UNMOVIC
http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/
FCO - Policy towards Iraq
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/
ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394374
UN News Centre
http://www.un.org/News/
UN - Office of the Iraq Programme
http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/
US Dept of State - Iraq Update
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/
Iraqi Presidency
http://www.uruklink.net/iraq/
Iraq Watch
http://www.iraqwatch.org
Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article
have to stand on their own merits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do
not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera-
tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and
rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is
written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on
the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after
careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with
reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief,
from the Kalama Sutra
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