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Saturday, November 16, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:31 AM:
People for dinner? The things that Dr. Weevil talks about!* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:28 AM:
Natalie Solent has some gorgeous thoughts from Sec. Rumsfeld on the topic of what causes poverty. He says we have enough poverty, so why not find out what causes prosperity?* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:24 AM:
Saddam Looking for a Way OutIraqi leader pays Gaddafi $3 billion for promise of safe haven in Libya
I hope this is false. If Saddam is delusional enough to believe that Gaddafi could actually be trusted to provide safe haven in the face of either a) warplanes or b) a better offer, his judgment and rationality might also lead him to do some truly stupid, as opposed to merely maddening, things confronted with another war with us.
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posted by gbarto at 11:21 AM:
Iraq Fires on U.S., British PlanesU.S. says action is in breach of U.N. resolution; inspectors make way to Iraq
And this is why I've been insisting that we need an exit strategy for inspectors - one in which we can remove the imperturbable Swede, Mr. Blix, involuntarily if necessary: Iraq cannot be allowed to shift between postures for war and negotiation; it must be made clear that if Iraq shifts to war posture then war it shall have, not a protracted period of negotiations in which it can stall and finally accept a new peace on its terms.
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posted by gbarto at 1:50 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde's top story is the "Murderous Ambush in Hebron" that left 12 dead and at least 15 injured. The attack came after Sabbath prayers.
Le Figaro reports Alain Juppé's hope: "The Right will Make a Revolution of Union," that is that if the RPR throws in its lot with the UMP (Chirac's party) it will be able to remake France's political map. But even Le Figaro, the mainstream paper most likely to sympathize with such plans, notes that we must wait till 2004 before we'll know if the rhetoric is valid.
Libé's write-up on the same story has another Juppé paraphrase: "A single party for multiple ambitions."
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posted by gbarto at 1:40 AM:
Dialing up Fox News to see if anything happened today. Here's what we found of interest:Blix: Inspections May Begin Nov. 27
Hopes Iraq takes resolution 'seriously'
I'll bet he does. But I wouldn't count on it.
Russian Uranium Missing
Head of Moscow's nuclear agency says some weapons-grade material is gone
I sure hope it didn't accidentally get put in with the materials Russia is selling Iraq for a "perfectly legitimate" nuclear reactor.
Coming Soon: Web Taxes?
Decision by 31 states to streamline sales tax could affect Net shopping
Sales tax should be charged at point of sale - i.e. where the company is headquartered. That would give states incentive to keep their sales tax rates down lest their internet industry move to become more competitive. Most of these plans are about finding a way for New York, California and the Chicago area (among others) to keep their sales tax revenue up by trapping their citizens in high tax brackets wherever they go and however they shop.
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posted by gbarto at 1:29 AM:
A cautionary tale: A University of Arizona campus patrolman, acting on an inaccurate lead about a hit-and-run, showed up at the door of a professor - a black female professor for those who keep track of such things - and, my sources say, demanded to talk to her without stating either who he was or the reason for his visit. She told him she was very busy but would be glad to make an appointment. The officer - who was white, for those keeping score - informed her that he would in fact be talking to her at that moment and forced his way into her office. When she continued to insist she did not have time but would set a time, he grabbed her hand. She pushed away and was quickly on the floor, face-down and in handcuffs. Her vest was torn and her glasses broken. Her dean, coming to see after the commotion, could not get him to let up. She said she was calling his supervisor; in a fit of bravado, he made the call instead. The supervisor, needless to say, chewed him out, as did a university vice-president who showed up a few minutes later.We are not Constitutional law scholars, but would hazard a guess that forcing one's way into someone's office, demanding that they will answer questions then and there, then tackling and handcuffing them when they prove reticent - all without getting around to reading them their rights, including the right to have a lawyer present for questioning - racks up just about enough violations of Constitutional rights that the professor could endow her own chair with the proceedings from the lawsuit. But that's in part because this happened to a U.S. citizen on a politically correct college campus with professors' unions, student activist groups, et cetera.
What happens when a similar idiocy takes place on the wrong side of town, in an Arab neighborhood? And the person, not a citizen, isn't necessarily able to get a lawyer to walk him/her through the process, help with securing of alibis, assurance of rights, etc.? Some of you, I know, are shaking your heads, suggesting that if the person drew the police's attention, he/she probably had it coming and hey, it's not like it's a citizen... But that's not the point. This is: Had this professor not been able to make her voice heard, the person who had really committed the hit and run would have gotten off scott free. And when we lock up one potential terrorist - with no rights granted - it may well be that we are thinking we've solved a problem when what we've really done is given ourselves a false sense of security - because the person we think we have is still at large - while committing an injustice.
Does the TurkeyBlog think that foreign nationals connected with terrorism should get off on technicalities? No.
Does the TurkeyBlog think a terrorist should walk if he wasn't read his rights? No.
Does the TurkeyBlog think potential terrorists should get the same overly careful, drawn out, follow every last avenue of inquiry trials as everyone else? Damn straight. It's the only way to make sure that overzealous idiots who have drifted into law enforcement don't protect us right out of our safety. We need this pain in the you-know-what process to make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves.
Final note: The arrest came just days after a couple professors were shot to death by a disgruntled student, i.e. at a time when campus police should have been working to enhance both real security and people's sense of security. Way to go guys.
There is an e-mail campaign underway in support of the professor, by the way. Those who are interested can send me an e-mail for details.
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Friday, November 15, 2002
posted by gbarto at 1:47 AM:
Lots of puzzling stuff at Natalie Solent's place. Just start at the top and scroll down.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:41 AM:
Bush Backed on North KoreaKey allies support U.S. decision to suspend oil deliveries over nukes
Hear! Hear! It is the right decision.
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posted by gbarto at 1:38 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Hu Jintao: China's new number one." That is to say that he's the new secretary general of the communist party. The main committee has also changed in composition: There are 9 new members and 7 hangers-on (most connected to outgoing big dog, Jiang Zemin).
Le Figaro's top story of the day is "Bush hopes to push Saddam into default." In other words, he'd like to catch him up to no good so the US can act. I think we're all familiar with this story line.
Libé has the clever headline, "Télé visée, cinéma touché." That first part, of course, is a pun on the word for "televised." The headline means "Television targeted, movies touched," a reference to a media commission's report on tv and movie violence. The commission wants new, more specific ratings and it wants to ban violence from French television before 10:30. Those who have been in France will know that their television is a bit... bolder... than American tv, though not as bad as German tv. In other words, pornography is only shown late at night but those who think the USA cable network goes too far would be quite distressed by what plays in prime time, both sex and violence wise in France - even on the government owned stations sometimes.
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posted by gbarto at 1:24 AM:
Reading yesterday's Wall Street Journal (no link, sorry), I ran across an article suggesting France, Germany and Italy are in trouble with their bosses in Brussels. The problem: They're not meeting economic targets or complying with budget restrictions.Note to those who worry that the US will be swamped by a European superstate: Don't. The old country may have had a shot, albeit small, a few years ago, but if it stays on its current course, it is doomed. There are even some people over there who could explain why.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin is one person who should be able to explain to the EU why it's on the wrong course. He's the Prime Minister of France, and while he, himself, is growing in power and stature, his office is being diminished. Raffarin was leading a regional senate when Chirac tapped him for P.M. Since becoming P.M., he's made it his mission to give more power and authority to people in his old job. The watchword of the moment is - see if this sounds familiar - devolution.
Raffarin knows that the closer you are to a problem, the more you can know about it. He knows that while major institutions can set goals and objectives, only people close to the situation can make the specific decisions needed to address specific problems. We in the United States know this too. It's why we have 50 states. Of course these states were originally more distinct entities that have come to identify more and more with the superstructure, but the substructures in place keep rights closer to the ground and keep the "laboratories of democracy" at work. This is the key to the genius of the US. Though the 50 states are one country, they are growing more independent at the moment in a cycle that goes back and forth between centralization and decentralization at odd intervals. The EU, by contrast, seems on a path toward ever greater centralization. Maybe a limit will be reached and things will start going the other way, but this will require enough accountability from the EU superstructure for that superstructure to want to give up power it can't manage effectively.
With France, Italy and Germany in hot water with the EU for their economic management, they are in a position where none of the 50 states has ever really found itself. Imagine the federal government telling California it had 2 years to make up the shortfall from the energy mess or face censure. It won't happen. But in Europe, it is happening - still independant countries are being told to come into line in economic matters in a way our 50 states would never be. If such things do not change, everyone in the EU will be getting the same sort of letters 20 years from now as an unaccountable structure growing in power collapses under its own weight.
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Thursday, November 14, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:44 PM:
Back to WorkAdvance team of U.N. weapons inspectors will re-enter Iraq Monday to get 'tools in place'; inspections to begin Nov. 25
As these inspections proceed, we must bear in mind that they may well be a stall tactic (hell, they are, but I'm trying to be nuanced). At some point, the Iraqi government may well say, "You can't go in there" or "That site won't be ready for inspection for a week" or some other such thing. At that point, our inspectors are, in effect if not in fact, hostages, chips the Iraqi government can use to delay immediate military action. We must have a clear exit strategy in effect for the inspectors at all times so that should the Iraqi government balk we can get them out of there and let Iraq know it is again a nation defying the world, not simply a nation having bureaucratic difficulties with a UN team working in the country. Likewise, we should continue moving military assets to the region so that every time the Iraqi government thinks of balking, it's forced to take stock of all the forces arrayed against it.
Under such a strategy, we may see the following happen: 1) Saddam says, "You can't go there." 2) The inspectors go to a hotel in Amman instead. 3) US and British planes bomb the bejeezus out of the site. 4) Iraq suddenly is willing to welcome inspectors again. 5) Iraq is disarmed not by war but by a series of "warlets" in which everything that Iraq doesn't want inspected is destroyed and everything else is taken apart. The problem with such a strategy is that it would leave Hussein in power, it would cost and it would take time. But it would humiliate him, would convince the more mercenary members of his army to bail and might create better conditions for a revolt that even the pathetic Iraqi National Congress could pull off.
The odds are that war is coming. And if the UN can't force Saddam to voluntarily reveal and have destroyed any and all WMDs in his possession, it should. But we have to play this right to insure that a) if Iraq can be disarmed peacefully we have some extra weapons left for the next phase in the war on terror and b) the inspections aren't used as a manipulative to palliate those who are less interested in disarming Iraq than making multilateralism and internationalism seem worthy enterprises.
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posted by gbarto at 1:59 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde's big headline: "Sharon recognizes the existence of a Palestinian state." And he's opposed booting Arafat. Which positions him with the international community against his leading rival, Benjamin Netanyahu. But will it work, or will Sharon's contentious relationship with Arafat coupled with these new overtures make it impossible for him to gain the trust of either the peace advocates or the hawks?
Le Figaro fronts "The worrisome threats of Bin Laden," noting that the Al-Qaeda leader seems still to be alive and that if he is he probably has enough staying power that we need to be worried about what's next.
Libé, meanwhile, has immigration issues up top: "Refugees dislodged from Calais church." Gendarmes moved them out at dawn; still no word on whether France will be an open, welcoming society where one can find the light of liberty and humanitarianism or a closed society where native Gauls alone are accepted.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:49 AM:
Critics Decry Mental Health BillOpponents say it advocates insurance coverage for common phobias, vices
I'll pretty much keep my mouth shut on this one until I've had a little more time to read up on it. But I would suggest that it's a bit ridiculous to cover the hypochondriac's sniffles because there's a physical symptom the general public can diagnose while doing as little as possible for the schizophrenic, the sufferer of bipolar disorder or someone whose chronic depression is far more crippling than a lot of other maladies that are treated by doctors without a second thought. Until we, as a people, figure out that the head is part of the human body too, we're going to waste a lot of work hours, potential ideas and - don't forget - human beings for the sake of saving on mental health costs. There may be some backward, superstitious people who still balk at the idea of depression and the like and prefer to blame the victim for a bad attitude or troublesome thoughts (we're still waiting for them to refuse heart bypasses to those who eat fast food to be consistent about this approach) but the more we learn, the more it becomes apparent that the human brain - and the human soul - are as worthy, and as much in need, as the human body ever has been. This bill may not be the one we need, but something needs to be done about the scandal of not helping the mentally or emotionally ill in the way we would help those with similarly debilitating old-style physical maladies.
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posted by gbarto at 1:38 AM:
Bush Policy: No More Oil for N. KoreaShipment en route to country would be last unless it changes weapons plan
This, to my mind, is a necessary thing. One cannot negotiate treaties with the understanding that only one party need comply or the whole exercise is one in idiocy. Looking at the way this has played out, we must ask whether the purpose of the agreement was to reach an understanding with North Korea, or to calm the fears of a population within missile range of North Korea. We fear the Clinton administration worked out things with North Korea for the sake of the latter objective rather than the former. It's good to see the Bush administration taking a different view.
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posted by gbarto at 1:33 AM:
The latest "Melancholia" update is up. The newest stanza is, to my mind, the most horrifying one posted to date. It concerns a horse that has been given a too heavy load and an impatient, half-besotted master. The horse dies, driven to its death by its master's impotent rage.* * *
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:13 AM:
For all you rabid Hugo fans out there, half the poem, Melancholia, is posted at the Hugo Pages in English translation. The poem is of interest in that it contains the themes that would become everyone's favorite musical, Les Misérables (you weren't really thinking Cats, were you?). So far, we've got the introduction of Fantine and Jean Valjean and a diatribe against child labor. The second half of the nine-page is on its way as fast as the TurkeyBlog can translate and type.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:06 AM:
The dangers of
It's all in your French news round-up!
Airplane Autoeroticism
and more!It's all in your French news round-up!
Le Monde alerts us to the fact that "The Israeli Army is in control of Nablus" as part of its operations in retaliation for the bombing of a kibbutz the other day. Says Le Monde, they're especially on the hunt for Hamas militants.
And who can resist this headline in the AFP update box: "Don't confuse Onanism and Terrorism!" ? Onan, for you non-Bible scholars out there, got fried by God when instead of giving his widowed sister-in-law a baby he pulled out early (Jewish law in those days was a bit unusual). Onanism, the spilling of one's seed, refers to - er, how to say this in a family blog? - pleasuring oneself. The TurkeyBlog has no major objection to such activities, but will pass along this cautionary note: if you do this in an airplane, do clean up afterwards! Three men were taken into custody as potential terrorists after spending too long in the bathroom and leaving a "suspicious residue" that flight attendants feared might be an unusual explosive powder, or perhaps anthrax in solution. Needless to say, the "biological matter" in question turned out to be of a much less exotic variety.
Le Figaro offers this exotic headline: "The Antillean Caldron Boiling." So, what's up? Well, the Accor group is pulling out of the French Antilles - already dealing with declining tourism - and it seems like nobody's happy with the decision. The French government is even talking about "sending signals" to other enterprises considering abandoning the beleaguered island economies. Dear heavens, anything but that! Of course there was already a general strike underway by militant unions in Guadeloupe, but we can't imagine why little things like that would discourage any enterprise from setting up shop there.
Libé is also on the case in Guadeloupe and Martinique. Their headline: "Society heating up in Guadeloupe."
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posted by gbarto at 1:38 AM:
Iran Students Take to the StreetsThousands continue protests over death sentence given to professor
Let's hope the students aren't the next ones on the government's lists. And let's hope this is a sign that the people will bring Iran out of the mullahs' control and into the 21st century.
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posted by gbarto at 1:36 AM:
Netanyahu: I'd Expel ArafatSays if elected PM, it would be top priority; Israeli troops enter Nablus
Hopefully, he will be PM. Sharon has tried, but Sharon is a general, not a politician. Netanyahu, too, is a fighter - he was part of even part of a special forces team that liberated a hijacked airplane; his brother was killed in the effort. But Netanyahu is also a sharp operator; sharp enough that a nervous Sharon made him Israel's point man in the US - having before been over here as an ambassador. His skills of persuasion are needed if Israel is to find the strength to stand up for itself in a world that in many quarters resents its very existence; his determination is needed if Israel is to find the strength to hold together internally. And if he says it's time for Arafat to go, unlike Sharon, he will make him go.
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Tuesday, November 12, 2002
posted by gbarto at 1:46 AM:
My ominosity quotient is 7. You can go to Dr. Weevil's place to find out what that means.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:22 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "The reticence of the Iraqi parliament." That parliament is expected to reject the UN resolution (or rather the conditions it imposes) tomorrow. The final word, of course, rests with Saddam Hussein.
Le Figaro has "Sarkozy:'Why we must close access to Sangatte'" in first position. Sangatte, incidentally, is a Red Cross affiliated refugee center that has been at the center of the immigration controversy. The government has been working to find ways to convince immigrants to leave, to keep immigration down, et cetera. And it's been caught in the crossfire at every turn between humanitarians who would permit any self-declared refugee to stay and xenophobes who would boot even the most sympathetic-seeming refugees. The government favors 1) the law and 2) anything to keep the Le Pen coalition from getting a fair shot at it. Not necessarily in that order.
Libé, meanwhile, is looking back a week or so: "Moscow hostages in hell for two days and three nights."
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Monday, November 11, 2002
posted by gbarto at 9:01 AM:
Thirteen Cops Die in Kashmir BlastIslamic militants suspected; at least five injured, Indian officials say
One more victory for the religion of peace, eh?
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:00 AM:
Five Killed in Kibbutz AttackMother, two sons being read to among dead; Israeli leaders ponder retaliation
Sharon has assured the United States he would not expel or harm Arafat even though he and other top decision-makers support the idea.I don't think expelling Arafat would do much one way or another at this point. But more operations against the major terrorist groups - including those linked to Arafat - are in order. The U.S. needs to remember that our problem is Arab support of terrorism. If the Saudis and others have trouble with the idea that Israel will want to respond when five people are killed - a mother reading bedtime stories to her sons among them, for God's sake - then the Saudis are not people to be heeded; they are the enemy.
The United States also wants to avoid antagonizing the Arab world and doesn't want to distract from its preparations for possible war with Iraq.
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posted by gbarto at 8:55 AM:
'It's Mass Destruction'Storms, tornadoes kill at least 33, injure more than 100 across six states; 40 people missing in small Tennessee town
Sounds like one hell of a weekend in Tennessee especially.
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posted by gbarto at 2:33 AM:
The first stanza of Hugo's Melancholia has now been posted. Translation and posting to continue until this work, a poetic sketch of what would become Les Miserables, is up in full.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:18 AM:
Hmm. Cicero is taking Victor David Hanson to task for a recent NRO piece which he describes as venting, not thought. Interesting commentary. As to the question, does the left merely hate America or is there something it favors, I think Cicero is more on the right track. While small time campus radicals may simply hate the US as part of the rebellious youth thing, there is a thinking left that seemed to know exactly what it wanted to do after taking over countries from China to Cuba to Nicaragua. That left continues today, and while it is misguided and wrongheaded, it does know what it stands for, from tribalist socialism to the protection of disappearing cultures (however invidious) from the light of reason. It ain't pretty, but it is an agenda, a bafflingly ugly "conservative" agenda at that with its efforts to conserve idealized older societies from the real end of history: capitalism.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:34 AM:
Why we're leery of Europe: Den Beste has a lengthy essay on the Council of Europe's latest - the attempt to regulate "hate speech" on the internet. The problem, as always, is that "hate speech" is a tricky concept and it's not a good idea letting politicians define it. What would Iraq ban as "hate speech" if given an international imprimatur for restricting its citizens' speech? Iran? The bottom line is that this is a bad idea - an evil idea. Those who are evil should have their statements shone in the broad light of day that they might be seen for what they are - not clothed in mystery as illicit. Those who are good should have their statements shown in the broad light of day that they may be seen in all their goodness. And when things are nebulous, the whole of mankind to the degree it takes an interest should get a peek to decide for themselves. The pols should not be trusted to decide for us.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:28 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Iraq: Will it vote on the UN resolution?" The parliament has been called into special session to decide whether it will accept the resolution.
Libé fronts "Antiglobalists march forward" about the apparently peaceful anti-war march in Florence.
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Sunday, November 10, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:13 PM:
Greg (of A Dog's Life) says the Republican gains last week owe to something even more astonishing than anything suggested to date: people liked what they stood for.Egads! What's next? People buying the ice cream flavor they prefer? Tuning into the radio station they like listening to? Naw, too transparent. Voters were obviously just fooled into voting for the cause of evil because they're too idiotic to see the wonders of the party of sun and light.
At least that's what the letters to the editor in the Merc the other day indicated. It reads like a competition for partisan befuddlement! Glad I don't have to judge though I'd lean toward Sellam Ismail. He's as outraged as a Dole voter in '96!
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:00 PM:
Giscard met les pieds dans le plat turcL'adhésion d'Ankara sonnerait la fin de l'Europe, selon VGE.
In case you don't read French, that second line says:
Ankara's joining [the EU] would ring in the end of Europe, according to VGE.
VGE is a former president of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He's currently a top EU mucky-muck. And an anti-Muslim bigot.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:55 PM:
Lott Confident of Votes to Approve Homeland Security Dept.It'd be nice to see that done, but we need to be sure that working there isn't just another government job. It's bad enough when HUD or HHS (or the IRS) misplaces $1Billion or two, but there are too many lives potentially at stake for routine incompetence to be permissible here. (Is routine incompetence really acceptable throughout the rest of government? No, but one thing at a time, please.)
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posted by gbarto at 1:51 PM:
Israeli Police Foil Homicide AttacksIn one incident, car explodes and kills two Palestinians inside
Is it just me, or are the Palestinians having trouble getting the caliber of recruits they used to have?
* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:50 PM:
J. Lo, Ben Affleck EngagedSinger-actress confirms the rumors in an interview, mentions no date
How is Gwyneth taking the news?
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posted by gbarto at 1:47 PM:
Watching SaddamDespite official Iraqi silence, Arab foreign ministers expect Iraq's acceptance of U.N. resolution
But do they expect his compliance? That is another matter entirely, which is why even if Saddam agrees - he will do so on the last day, I expect - we will still need to be prepared. He is even likely to let inspections start. For his object is to see if he can postpone war until interest wanes. Though the US is at this moment on top, we need to be very careful about making sure that the inspection team ultimately in place has as its objective to make sure Iraq is in compliance, not to put on a public show wherein the UN can claim it's satisfied. The team sent must understand that if Saddam says, "not there, not yet," we're looking there now. And the US needs to make it clear that any delay is a contravention indicative of clear and present danger to inspectors on enemy soil. The first time the team is told to stay away from a site, the team should be pulled and the US should make it such that the site in question is no longer any kind of a site at all.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:45 AM:
Demosthenes thinks we should all support Suzie Terrell in her run-off against Mary Landrieu for Senator from Louisiana. Hear! Hear!* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:31 AM:
Matt Welch has an apt comparison between Gray Davis and a Republican governor from times past. (found at Instapundit)Gray Davis is a disturbing success story for the Dems, but not one they'll probably want to trumpet. What is truly pathetic is that the Republicans still didn't manage to beat him, something only made possible by the tendency of the conservative side of the party to prefer Democrats to impure Republicans. In cases like Lieberman-Weicker 100 years ago (seems like it anyway) this was probably justified. But conservatives and moderates alike are going to have to learn that they cannot win elections alone. Holier than thou conservatives and more open than thou moderates must work together against Democrats or we'll see more of the sleazy fundraising above all Democrats of Gray Davis' ilk. One of them even held the White House eight years.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:19 AM:
Natalie Solent has monsters and men. Her point - that men who are monsters are... monsters is well taken. Neither the Washington sniper nor the Trophy rapist can invoke the idea that they are merely ordinary men, for ordinary men do not do the sort of things they have done and do not deserve to be slighted by association with these monsters.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:10 AM:
Israelis Kill Islamic Jihad LeaderMan shot in West Bank gunfight; soldier slain in retaliation
A shame about the soldier, but let's face it, IJ's leadership (like that of Hamas, Hezbollah and Al-Aqsa) needs to be taught that this isn't just a risk-free game of blowing up screwed up kids.
While we're on the subject (sort of), why are Iraqi children ostensibly starving while Saddam has $25K for the families of suicide bombers?
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:01 AM:
French news:Le Monde says: "Iraq: The Countdown is begun," in reference to the UN resolution passed today which gives them a certain number of days to agree to inspections, a certain amount of time thereafter to actually allow the inspections, etc. Funny how once Bush had the whole government under his control again things suddenly turned around.
Le Figaro along the same lines as Le Monde notes, "Unanimity at the UN against Iraq."
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