DISPATCH FROM DOWN UNDER

Senators visit Iraq for first-hand look

McCain, Clinton and others meet with U.S., Iraqi officials

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. Senate delegation, that included John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton, visited Iraq on Saturday and met with the country's interim government leaders.
The five-member delegation was also briefed by U.S. Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who is leading the effort to create an independent Iraqi security force, McCain said.
Clinton, a Democrat from New York, and McCain, a Republican from Arizona, have often challenged the Pentagon's planning and management of the Iraq war.
Clinton, who last visited Iraq in 2003, said Sunni Muslim insurgents were failing. Their recent bomb attacks against the Shiite majority was an effort to sow sectarian strife.
"In addition, the concerted effort to disrupt the elections was an abject failure, not one polling place was shut down or overrun and the fact that you have these suicide bombers now, wreaking such hatred and violence while people pray, is to me, an indication of their failure," Clinton told reporters inside the heavily fortified Green Zone.
McCain said the group had not left the Green Zone, home to Iraqi government institutions and the American and British embassies, because of the security situation. They were expected to meet with U.S. troops stationed elsewhere in Iraq on Sunday.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said he did not think the U.S. military will be leaving anytime soon.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/19/senators.iraq.ap/index.html

Is she for real Senator Clinton, they could not even leave the Green Zone , for Gods sake
What the hell did she see, going on over there, of the real war

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Democrats: Bush plans loaded with debt

-- President Bush's budget for 2006 fails to include the costs of the Iraq war and his plan to partially privatize Social Security leads the country deeper into debt, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee said Saturday.
"Tax cuts, terrorism and recession have all taken their toll," and surpluses built during the Clinton administration "are now gone, vanished, replaced by deficits totaling almost $4 trillion," Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.
"Although this reversal was evident three years ago, the administration's budgets have yet to change course," he said.
Spratt said the Republican-run Congress has raised the debt ceiling three times in four years, by a total of $2.2 trillion, to make room for Bush's budgets.
Every 18 months, the United States adds almost a trillion dollars to the national debt, he said.
"The budget excludes, for example, the cost of our deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2006 and beyond, though we'll spend $100 billion during this year alone," Spratt said.
The startup cost for the administration's plan to overhaul Social Security will be $750 billion for the next 10 years, but Spratt said "not a dime of that is in its budget."
Bush wants to allow workers born after 1949 to convert up to 4 percentage points of their Social Security taxes to personal stock and bond investments.
Spratt said Bush's plan would add nearly $5 trillion to the national debt during its first 20 years, and set the stage for cutting benefits by half over time.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/19/dems.radio.ap/index.html

You dont need Bin Ladin, Bush is sending the Country, exactly where Bin ladin said he would
bankrupt

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Bush puts Iran and Syria on notice

US President George W Bush pushed today for a fresh start to US-Europe relations after rifts over Iraq and called for joint action to promote Middle East peace and revive democratic reforms in Russia.
"As past debates fade, and great duties become clear, let us begin a new era of transatlantic unity," Bush told leaders of the European Union and NATO in a speech intended to set the tone for his fence-mending visit.
The US president, on the first overseas trip of his second term, also called for spreading democracy in the Muslim world, demanded Syria end its military presence in Lebanon, and warned Iran over its nuclear programs.
Bush, who refused to rule out the use of force against Tehran, said he supported diplomatic overtures led by Britain, France and Germany but warned:
"Results of this approach now depend largely on Iran,"
"The free world shares a common goal. For the sake of peace, the Iranian regime must end its support for terrorism and must not develop nuclear weapons," he said at the Concert Noble, an opulent gala venue.
"If this plan becomes law, we will not see the budget balanced again in our lifetimes," he said.
US President George W Bush pushed today for a fresh start to US-Europe relations after rifts over Iraq and called for joint action to promote Middle East peace and revive democratic reforms in Russia.
"As past debates fade, and great duties become clear, let us begin a new era of transatlantic unity," Bush told leaders of the European Union and NATO in a speech intended to set the tone for his fence-mending visit.
The US president, on the first overseas trip of his second term, also called for spreading democracy in the Muslim world, demanded Syria end its military presence in Lebanon, and warned Iran over its nuclear programs.
Bush, who refused to rule out the use of force against Tehran, said he supported diplomatic overtures led by Britain, France and Germany but warned:
"Results of this approach now depend largely on Iran,"
"The free world shares a common goal. For the sake of peace, the Iranian regime must end its support for terrorism and must not develop nuclear weapons," he said at the Concert Noble, an opulent gala venue.
Democrats also are concernedrecommitted himself to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to "raise the flag of a free Palestine".
"Our greatest opportunity and immediate goal is peace in the Middle East. After many false starts and dashed hopes and stolen lives, a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is now within reach," he said.
Just days before he was to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush scolded Moscow over a series of recent steps widely seen as autocratic and explicitly tied democratic reforms to Russia's relations with the West.
Russia's future lies within the family of Europe and the trans-Atlantic community," he said. "Yet for Russia to make progress as a European nation, the Russian government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/22/1108834755673.html

This from a Wanker President,

Put a uniform on yourself and go fight your own wars little man

Running your own Country, into the ground, and getting innocents killed, is what you do best

Leave the rest of the world alone to run their Countries
You do not have the brains to tell another country how to run itself

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Questions on Iraq still unanswered

Semantics and dissembling do not change the facts of Australia's involvement, writes Robert Manne.
On June 16 last year, in the wake of the scandal that erupted over the abuse at Abu Ghraib, the Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, reported to Parliament on his investigation into Australia and Iraqi prisoners of war. He claimed flatly and without qualification that "Australia did not interrogate prisoners".
The next morning, the most influential Australian to have served in Iraq, the former weapons inspector Rod Barton, telephoned a senior official in the Department of Defence, Michael Pezzullo. Barton was annoyed. On June 9 he had provided Pezzullo with the details of his interrogation of a former Iraqi minister. Why had Hill claimed that no Australians had been involved in interrogation?
Pezzullo explained to Barton that he had not "interrogated" but merely "interviewed" the Iraqi. When Barton asked Pezzullo to explain this unfamiliar distinction Pezzullo was unable to define the terms. On February 14, Barton told the ABC's Four Corners program about the interrogation. The question of whether or not Hill misled Parliament on June 16 dominated Australian politics for much of last week.
To understand this controversy, the circumstances surrounding Barton's posting to Iraq need to be explained. In 2003, because of his international reputation, Barton was appointed special adviser to David Kay, the head of the Iraq Survey Group, the organisation charged with locating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. By the time Barton arrived in Baghdad, Kay had gone. Filling the vacuum, Barton assumed considerable authority inside the Iraq Survey Group.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Robert-Manne/Questions-on-Iraq-still-unanswered/2005/02/21/1108834727838.html

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Terrorism as seen through public eyes and by cynical media

Some commentators still don't understand the post-September 11 world, writes Gerard Henderson.
Some commentators still don't understand the post-September 11 world, writes Gerard Henderson.
The allegation that he/she "doesn't get it" has come back into fashion and is now one of the cliches of our time. It depicts an impatience among citizens who believe that an important truth is being overlooked by someone who should know better.
Since the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 a majority of Americans, Britons and Australians have come to believe their nations are at war. They say that terrorism, in this instance militant Islamism, threatens their lives - along with their family and friends. It is not clear that most journalists understand this. But a majority of their readers-viewers-listeners does. The dichotomy between journalists and mainstream views was evident last week in two high-profile interviews conducted by Tara Brown (60 Minutes) and Liz Jackson (Four Corners).
After accepting payment of a considerable sum of money, Mamdouh Habib agreed to be interviewed on 60 Minutes. Viewers were not surprised when he denied suggestions he trained with al-Qaeda, had knowledge of its plans to attack the US and had planned to hijack a plane. But there was widespread disquiet that Brown had not pressed harder to entice Habib to say if he had been in Afghanistan (when it was run by the Taliban, an al-Qaeda ally) or to explain why he had gone to Pakistan five times before September 11.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Gerard-Henderson/Terrorism-as-seen-through-public-eyes-and-by-cynical-media/2005/02/21/1108834727542.html

Where has Hard Ball Media gone

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Exxon becomes most valuable US firm

Buoyed by rising profits from lofty oil prices, Exxon Mobil passed General Electric Co. Friday to become the largest US corporation by stock market value.
The two Goliaths traded places after Exxon Mobil shares gained more than 2 per cent - having surged 43 per cent from a year ago - while GE's stock slipped.
That vaulted Exxon Mobil ahead of GE in market capitalisation, topping $US383 billion ($A485 billion) compared with about $US379 billion ($A480 billion) for GE.
A spokesman for Exxon Mobil, which just set a record for quarterly operating profits by a US corporation, said the Irving, Texas-based company wasn't counting.
"We kinda leave that to other folks," said Tom Cirigliano. "Our goal is to be the most efficient and profitable company. If the outcome of that is that we become the largest company, that's just icing on the cake."
Exxon Mobil was already far ahead of GE in sales and profits.
David Frail, a spokesman for GE, a conglomerate with industrial, financial and media holdings including the NBC television network, said the company preferred to focus on returning to double-digit growth in earnings.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking-News/Exxon-becomes-most-valuable-US-firm/2005/02/21/1108834731969.html

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Airliner said to fuel CIA ghost jail system
Washington: The CIA allegedly whisked foreign terrorism suspects to clandestine interrogation facilities using a Boeing 737 dedicated for that purpose, according to Newsweek magazine.
The allegation, if proven, is "further evidence that a global 'ghost' prison system, where terror suspects are secretly interrogated, is being operated by the CIA", Newsweek reported.
The magazine wrote that it had obtained the aircraft's flight plans, indicating that the CIA had used the plane "as part of a top-secret global charter servicing clandestine interrogation facilities used in the war on terror".
It said US Federal Aviation Administration records showed the plane was owned by Premier Executive Transport Services, a now-defunct company based in Massachusetts.
US intelligence sources told the magazine the company fitted the profile of a suspected CIA front. The plane's records date to December 2002 and show flights up until February 7, the magazine said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Airliner-said-to-fuel-CIA-ghost-jail-system/2005/02/21/1108834730802.html


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Lebanon in U-turn on bomb inquest

Beirut: Lebanon will co-operate with a United Nations commission of inquiry into the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri to find those responsible and try to ease tensions provoked by the murder, the pro-Syrian speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, said on Sunday.
The decision, taken amid opposition accusations of Syrian involvement and open defiance of the Damascus-backed Government, reversed an earlier statement by a minister that Beirut would snub the investigation.
"President Emile Lahoud received a letter from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on this subject and replied on the basis of co-operation," said Mr Berri.
"There are clarifications [that we will be seeking], but on that basis we're going to co-operate, because it's in the interests of the Lebanese state that the truth will out within the framework of respect for its sovereignty."
Opposition parties in Lebanon have been galvanised by last Monday's killing, in a huge bomb blast, of the five-times former prime minister into increasing demands that Syria pull out its 14,000 troops and lift its political grip off its tiny neighbour.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Lebanon-in-Uturn-on-bomb-inquest/2005/02/21/1108834731593.html

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US in secret talks with Iraqi rebels

Washington: US diplomats and intelligence officers are conducting secret talks with Iraq's Sunni insurgents on ways to end fighting there.
Time magazine, citing Pentagon and other sources, reported on Sunday that while the Bush Administration has said it would not negotiate with Iraqi fighters and there is no authorised dialogue, the US is having "back-channel" communications with certain insurgents.
The magazine cited a secret meeting between two members of the US military and an Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of what he called the nationalist insurgency.
"We are ready to work with you," the Iraqi negotiator said, according to Time.
Iraqi insurgent leaders not aligned with al-Qaeda ally, Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, told the magazine several nationalist groups composed of what the Pentagon calls "former regime elements" have become open to negotiating. The insurgents said their aim was to establish a political identity that can represent disenfranchised Sunnis.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/After-Saddam/US-in-secret-talks-with-Iraqi-rebels/2005/02/21/1108834731754.html

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Hello sailor: navy recruits pink press

London: The Royal Navy is seeking gay recruits by advertising in the homosexual press.
Subject to smutty innuendo ever since Winston Churchill supposedly dismissed Britain's naval tradition as "nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash", the navy yesterday cast off centuries of repression and inhibition by seeking the advice of the gay-activist group Stonewall on the recruitment and retention of gay and lesbian sailors.
In a transformation likened by activists to turning round a supertanker, the navy is paying the pressure group for advice on curbing prejudice and ensuring gay personnel have equal rights to housing, benefits and pensions.
Despite the rumours around some of Britain's most celebrated war heroes, homosexuality remained the last taboo in the British armed forces until 2000, when the Government was forced by the European Court of Human Rights to withdraw its ban on homosexuality in the military.
Then, Stonewall was the sworn enemy of many admirals and air marshals for taking the case of sacked gay servicemen to the European courts.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Hello-sailor-navy-recruits-pink-press/2005/02/21/1108834731563.html

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New al-Zawahiri tape lashes U.S. policy

CNN) -- Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man in al Qaeda lashed out at U.S. efforts to extend democracy around the world in a videotape aired Sunday on Arabic-language TV station Al Jazeera, saying those efforts "will end with your defeat, the killing of your sons and the destruction of your economy."
It could not be determined when or where the Ayman al-Zawahiri tape was recorded, but in a one-minute segment aired on Al Jazeera the terror chief said it has been about three years since the United States started sending Muslims to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The United States did move Taliban detainees early in 2002 from Afghanistan to the U.S. detention facility on Guantanamo Bay, where there have been allegations that some of them were tortured.
"Guantanamo exposes the reality of the reform and the democracy that America is trying to spread in the region," he said, a possible reference to President Bush's recent speeches laying out his vision for U.S. international policy.
Al-Zawahiri added that if people believe the "so-called elected governments will protect you, you are wrong. This new crusade will end with your defeat, the killing of your sons and the destruction of your economy."
He said the "security of the West" is based on how it deals with Muslims "and ending all foreign occupation."
Al-Zawahiri, addressing the camera directly, was dressed in traditional Muslim garb including a headdress. What appeared to be a rifle was propped against the wall behind him.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/20/zawahiri/index.html

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Author: Bush tapes not meant for public
Doug Wead says recordings were historical record

NEW YORK (CNN) -- An author who secretly recorded his conversations with then-Gov. George W. Bush told CNN Monday that the tapes were a historical record that he never wanted made public.
Doug Wead -- a former aide to President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush -- said he was thinking about writing a book when he made the tapes, but would not say whether he thought the tapes would boost sales of his book about presidential childhoods.
"My book could have been released before the election," Wead said. "It would have been driven by partisan sales."
Asked again whether the tapes would persuade readers to buy the book, "The Raising of a President," Wead said his publicist told him, "I lost a million dollars by delaying the book until after the election, where it would have been driven by partisan interests."
"I hope it sells," Wead said. "I'm a historian, and he's president and has to lead, has to set an example. I had to write about the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, the Bushes. I attempted to vet the stories with all three families."
In a segment of the tapes made available to CNN by ABC News, the president appears to admit to trying marijuana.

Good way to stop the Gannon Story from hitting the front pages
of so called media or cable news

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/bush.tapes/index.html

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'Abuse' photo trial: Judge sums up

OSNABRUECK, Germany -- A judge has told a panel of military officers trying two British soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners to put aside any sympathy for the alleged victims.
Judge Advocate Michael Hunter was summing up Monday at the end of the court-martial hearing in Osnabrueck, Germany.
He also directed the seven-strong panel to ignore comments made by public figures -- including Prime Minister Tony Blair -- after photographs of Iraqi civilians apparently being mistreated by soldiers were released.
A verdict in the case is expected Tuesday.
Hunter said: "Put aside feelings of sympathy for these defendants or any alleged victims whose photographs you have seen in this trial," the UK's Press Association reported.
"The consequences of your verdict in this very public trial are not a matter that should concern you at all."
The judge spoke about the "immense amount of public interest and public concern" in the case after photographs from the trial were published.
"When they were released they caused statements to be made by eminent public figures, those statements in some cases contained expressions of opinion."
The judge told any members of the panel who had heard such statements to ignore them when considering the verdicts.
Politicians including Blair and senior Army officers spoke out about the photographs when they were released at the start of the trial. The amount of reaction prompted the judge at the time to urge public figures to stop commenting on the case to avoid prejudicing the proceedings.
Take care, says judge
The judge Monday told the panel to take care when considering evidence that the soldiers' commanding officer, Major Dan Taylor, gave an order for the looters to be captured and worked hard, which contravened international law, PA reported.
He said they must consider that the defendants deny all the charges against them and have not claimed they were simply following orders.
He said: "It is important to understand, to bear in mind, that these allegations have no bearing whatsoever on the actual charges alleging ill-treatment of the Iraqi prisoners.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/21/courtmartial.judge/index.html

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Actress Sandra Dee dies
Death follows treatment for kidney disease, pneumonia

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Actress Sandra Dee died Sunday at a California hospital, her son told CNN.
Dodd Darin, the son of the late singer Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, said his mother died at 6 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) in Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, where she had been treated for 14 days for complications from kidney disease and pneumonia.
Darin said his mother was 63, though a number of movie Web sites put her birth date variously at April 23, 1942, and April 23, 1944, which would have made her 62 or 60.
Dee was born Alexandra Zuck in Bayonne, New Jersey. Her mother often lied about her age to help her get ahead in work and school, according to the Web site Internet Movie Database.
Work as a model by age 12 led to television commercials and, at age 14, a role in the movie "Until They Sailed," which was released in 1957, the site said.
The next year she was signed to "The Reluctant Debutante" and "The Restless Years."
In 1959, the teenage heartthrob won roles in five productions. "Gidget" and "A Summer Place" proved the most popular.
In 1960, she appeared in "Portrait in Black" and married Darin.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/20/dee.obit/index.html

I liked that girl, when I was a youngster
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