Ocala Star Banner: "Economist Scolds U.S. Over Debt Relief | Published January 19. 2004 1:36PM | By RAJESH MAHAPATRA
A Nobel prize-winning former World Bank economist criticized the United States on Monday for its drive to have rich nations forgive Iraq's debt, saying moves to write-off money owed by developing nations must be the same for all.
'Why should Iraq be more deserving of debt forgiveness than Congo, Ethiopia and many other countries, whose incomes are low and debts are enormous,' Joseph Stiglitz told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the World Social Forum, a gathering of nearly 100,000 anti-globalization activists in Bombay.
He said the United States must seek to restructure Iraq's debt according to rules drawn up by an international body, ideally the United Nations, and that those regulations must be applied to all indebted countries.
Iraq, which has significant oil reserves, has a debt estimated at around $120 billion. Washington is pushing for wealthy nations to forgive a significant chunk of that." ...
Monday, January 19, 2004
Afghanis Say U.S. Copter Attack Kills 11
Excite News: "Afghanis Say U.S. Copter Attack Kills 11 | Jan 19, 10:33 AM (ET) | By NOOR KHAN
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A U.S. helicopter attacked a house in a village in southern Afghanistan, killing 11 people, four of them children, Afghan officials said Monday.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.
The attack occurred around 4 a.m. Sunday, a day after U.S. forces hunting for Taliban insurgents searched Saghatho village, where the house was located, said Abdul Rahman, chief of Char Chino district in Uruzgan province.
'They were simple villagers, they were not Taliban. I don't know why the U.S. bombed this home. We have informed our authorities,' he told The Associated Press by telephone in the southern city of Kandahar." ...
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A U.S. helicopter attacked a house in a village in southern Afghanistan, killing 11 people, four of them children, Afghan officials said Monday.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.
The attack occurred around 4 a.m. Sunday, a day after U.S. forces hunting for Taliban insurgents searched Saghatho village, where the house was located, said Abdul Rahman, chief of Char Chino district in Uruzgan province.
'They were simple villagers, they were not Taliban. I don't know why the U.S. bombed this home. We have informed our authorities,' he told The Associated Press by telephone in the southern city of Kandahar." ...
Monday, January 12, 2004
Army War College article says invasion of Iraq was 'strategic error': US should focus on Al-Qaida
WCCO: National News: "Army War College article says invasion of Iraq was 'strategic error' | Monday January 12, 2004 | By BOB JOHNSON
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) A report published by the Army War College calls the Bush administration's war on terrorism unfocused and says the invasion of Iraq was ``a strategic error.''
The research paper by Jeffrey Record, a professor at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, said the president's strategy ``promises much more than it can deliver'' and threatens to spread U.S. military resources too thin. Record also wrote that Saddam Hussein's Iraq did not present a threat to the United States and was a distraction from the war on terrorism."
...
Record's report concludes that the war on terrorism is too widespread and should focus on al-Qaeda and other terrorist threats to the United States.
``The United States may be able to defeat al-Qaeda, but it cannot rid the world of terrorism, much less evil,'' Record writes.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) A report published by the Army War College calls the Bush administration's war on terrorism unfocused and says the invasion of Iraq was ``a strategic error.''
The research paper by Jeffrey Record, a professor at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, said the president's strategy ``promises much more than it can deliver'' and threatens to spread U.S. military resources too thin. Record also wrote that Saddam Hussein's Iraq did not present a threat to the United States and was a distraction from the war on terrorism."
...
Record's report concludes that the war on terrorism is too widespread and should focus on al-Qaeda and other terrorist threats to the United States.
``The United States may be able to defeat al-Qaeda, but it cannot rid the world of terrorism, much less evil,'' Record writes.
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Truth and Consequences: China question North Korea nukes; Europeans question airline flight alerts
Truth and Consequences (washingtonpost.com): "Sunday, January 11, 2004; Page B06
THE CHINESE government recently suggested that it does not necessarily believe U.S. intelligence reports on North Korea's secret effort to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. 'We have no knowledge of [North Korea's] nuclear program or its capabilities. We do not know if [North Korea] has a HEU [highly enriched uranium] program,' a Chinese embassy spokesman told The Post last week. In Britain and France hostile commentators have questioned whether there is any legitimate basis for U.S. requests that certain commercial flights to the United States be canceled because of intelligence about possible terrorist attacks. Maybe these objections were politically motivated and would have been raised regardless of the circumstances. But the painful fact is that they carry more weight because of the mounting evidence that U.S. intelligence about Iraq was mistaken -- and because of the Bush administration's refusal to acknowledge it. "
THE CHINESE government recently suggested that it does not necessarily believe U.S. intelligence reports on North Korea's secret effort to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. 'We have no knowledge of [North Korea's] nuclear program or its capabilities. We do not know if [North Korea] has a HEU [highly enriched uranium] program,' a Chinese embassy spokesman told The Post last week. In Britain and France hostile commentators have questioned whether there is any legitimate basis for U.S. requests that certain commercial flights to the United States be canceled because of intelligence about possible terrorist attacks. Maybe these objections were politically motivated and would have been raised regardless of the circumstances. But the painful fact is that they carry more weight because of the mounting evidence that U.S. intelligence about Iraq was mistaken -- and because of the Bush administration's refusal to acknowledge it. "