DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: MIDDLE EAST
SUBSECTION: IRAQ
Revised 8/20/99

 

IRAQ

 

The New York Times reported 6/19/98 that the U.S. government is aware that Iraq is smuggling oil across its northern border into Turkey, in direct violation of U.N. sanctions.

6/26/98 Recent events in the Middle East that are causing concerns: after the US was frustrated that Saudi Arabia announced no non-Saudis were involved in the Khobar Towers bombing, the Saudi's are leaking that there were foreigners involved - the Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan said the UN Security Counsel Resolution 833 concerning the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border "Legally, it is worthless." - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal called on Iraq to honor Resolution 833, the principles of the Arab League and regional security agreements - the Saudi-Egyptian meeting took place to tackle the oil price crisis - Syrian Foreign Minister Faroug al-Shara met with Saudi and Egyptian counterparts on the stalled Middle East peace process - Egypt joined the Syrian-Iranian call for an "Arab NATO" - and UN inspectors claimed to have found nerve gas residue on destroyed Iraqi warheads.

6/30/98 - A US F16 fighter fired a HARM radar-seeking missile at an Iraqi radar site near Basra, after the site locked onto four British jets which were on routine patrol in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq.

Concerning the recent firing of a US HARM missile in Iraq, an Iraqi Ministry of Culture and Information spokesman claimed that the missile landed in a demilitarized zone near the port of Umm Qasir in southern Iraq where "there was no Iraqi radars or military units."

7/10/98 New York Times A. M. Rosenthal ".On June 13, Butler, in Baghdad, let Iraq know that the laboratory examinations had shown the presence of VX, a poison gas that can kill in minutes with a few drops. For the seven years of the U.N. hunt for Iraqi chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, Iraq swore it had never had any VX or planned for any. 5._On the morning of June 24, Butler reported the VX findings to a closed meeting of the Security Council. 6._That afternoon, Prakash Shah spoke to the Council. He is the Indian that Annan appointed to the new post of his representative in Baghdad. He praised Iraq's cooperation. His speech did not even mention VX. .. 7._The same day, Annan said the U.N. was dealing with Iraq on many issues. He hoped "this particular development" about VX would not destroy the "improved relations" with Iraq. The majority of the 15- member Council are fed up with Clintonian policy that means they lose Iraqi's trade while Saddam gains more power. That includes three of the five permanent members endowed with the veto -- China and Russia, Clinton's newest allies, and France, America's oldest.."

8/3/98 AP "The State Department called the breakdown of talks between Iraq and the United Nations over Iraqi weapons programs disturbing Monday, and blamed the impasse squarely on Iraq. The chief U.N. inspector, Richard Butler, was cutting short his trip to Baghdad following the collapse of talks with Iraqi officials over the dismantling of the Mideast country's weapons of mass destruction, U.N. officials said Monday. .."

Fox News 8/6/98 "President Clinton Thursday called Iraq's refusal to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors ''unacceptable'' and vowed to block any bid to ease sanctions until Baghdad fully complies with inspections. "Unless Iraq reverses course and cooperates fully with international weapons inspectors, the United States will stop any and all efforts to alter the sanctions regime,'' Clinton said in a statement issued by the White House."

8/8/98 BBC Summary of World Broadcasts "The renewed strained atmosphere between the United Nations and Iraq and the emergence of the KDP [Kurdish Democratic Party] as an element in the United States'plans to topple Saddam have increased the activity in southern Kurdistan. Iraq, which is recruiting soldiers through calls for mobilization, is continuing to amass forces along the border line stretching from Arbil to Dohuk. The KDP, which is trying to improve its relations with the Iraqi government, on the other hand, failed to attain any results from the recent talks conducted by [its leader Mas'ud] Barzani in Baghdad.

8/10/98 James Bone London Times "THE United States is so eager to avoid a new military confrontation with Iraq that it has blocked more United Nations weapons inspections this year than Baghdad. Diplomatic sources say Washington has repeatedly intervened to prevent UN weapons inspectors from mounting what it fears could be provocative searches for banned weaponry, equipment and documentation in Iraq. At one point the Clinton Administration objected to a plan by the UN Special Commission (Unscom) to revisit one of the "presidential sites" that lay at the centre of the last crisis with Baghdad. Madeleine Albright, the Secretary of State, is even said to have intervened personally to urge restraint in a recent telephone call to Richard Butler, the Unscom chairman. "

Center for Security Policy 8/10/98 "History appears increasingly likely to remember the Clinton presidency as the era in which the world's only superpower lost its grip. As a result in no small measure of Mr. Clinton's fecklessness in the conduct of foreign policy and his misfeasance (if not malfeasance) in providing for the national security, the international environment of Pax Americana he inherited has given way to one that might be characterized as "Pack Up, Americans." .The more telling evidence of the free- fall that has occurred on Mr. Clinton's watch in American prestige and ability to influence -- if not actually to dictate -- international events can be found in the following: Iraq.. In short, so weak has the U.S. position become, so inexorable is the pressure to terminate the Iraqi sanctions regime and, therefore, to pretend that Saddam has complied with his disarmament obligations, that it is now a matter of time, perhaps just weeks, before what is left of the international sanctions start coming undone.Kosovo .The common theme is that, here again, America's adversary is acting with impunity, confident that his friends like Primakov in the Kremlin and Chirac in the Elys‚e Palace will protect him from any appreciable retribution.Iran.the Clinton Administration refuses to deploy defenses to protect its people against such a threat. Just as it has chosen to ignore evidence of Iranian involvement in the penultimate terrorist attack on U.S. personnel abroad -- the murderous destruction of Saudi Arabia's Khobar Towers, Mr. Clinton prefers to rely upon Primakov's lies that Russia is not assisting Iran's missileers and futile diplomatic efforts to dissuade North Korea from doing so. Thanks to the Clinton team, the precipitous decline in America's credibility and perceived willingness to use its power effectively assures that U.S. citizens and interests around the world are going to be increasingly in peril.

NY Times 8/15/98 Judith Miller James Risen "An Iraqi scientist who defected to the United States has publicly described for the first time the inner workings of Iraq's three-decade effort to build a nuclear bomb. The scientist, Khidhir Abdul Abas Hamza, said that before he fled Iraq in 1994 he helped train a cadre of young scientists who, working with more senior scientists involved in other projects, would be capable of quickly resuming Iraq's atomic weapons program if the United Nations cuts back on its inspections and, ultimately, lifts economic sanctions."

The New American 8/17/98 William Norman Grigg "In a candid summary of his view of executive powers, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein once declared, "Law consists of two lines above my signature." White House aide Paul Begala embraced a similar view of presidential power in his description of Bill Clinton's intention to rule through executive orders: "Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool." Begala's flippant soundbite announced the advent of an era, in which a President mired in corruption and politically stymied by Congress rules by decree."

AP 8/25/98 John Diamond "Drawing a fresh link to an old American foe, U.S. intelligence officials say they believe the Sudanese plant destroyed in last week's missile strike was working with Iraq to make deadly nerve gas. Under increasing pressure to explain why the United States attacked the Shifa Pharmaceutical Plant known for making pain killers and malaria medicine, U.S. officials added the Iraqi connection to previously cited findings that a chemical in soil at the plant is unique to Iraq's nerve gas recipe. The assessment is based in part on intelligence interceptions of phone calls, a U.S. official said Tuesday. U.S. officials now concede their initial justification for the raid -- evidence linking the plant to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi multimillionaire accused of organizing the Aug. 7 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa -- is less concrete than initially claimed. The U.S. intelligence official, who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity, said there is no direct financial relationship between the plant and bin Laden. The embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania killed 257 people, including 12 Americans.."

AP 8/26/98 Nicole Winfield "Incensed that the Security Council has failed to take a tougher stand on the latest Iraqi impasse over arms inspections, Scott Ritter, a controversial American concealment expert on the U.N. weapons inspection team, resigned Wednesday. In his letter of resignation, Ritter singled out the United States for failing to fight for inspectors' unrestricted access to suspected weapons sites. He also accused Secretary-General Kofi Annan of allowing his office to become a ``sounding board for Iraqi grievances, real or imagined.'' .``What is being propagated by the Security Council today in relation to the work of the Special Commissin is such an illusion, one which in all good faith I cannot, and will not be a party to,'' he wrote."

Washington Post 8/30/98 Thomas Lippman about Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright ". Now Albright is paying a price as critics perceive some inability to match her blunt comments with performance and some issues -- notably Iraq -- in which her private diplomacy appears contradictory to stated policy. House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) suggested in a Washington Post interview Friday that Albright may have deceived either Clinton or the public when she intervened with U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq to head off several planned challenge inspections while proclaiming a policy, backed by threats of U.S. military force, that insisted on unfettered access for the inspection teams.

8/31/98 Philadelphia Inquirer Charles Krauthammer "Knowing Clinton, one is tempted to say that if Osama bin Laden thought these missile attacks were bad, wait till Kenneth Starr's report comes out. Might be a good time for bin Laden to go on vacation. Temptation aside, however, it is clear that bombing bin Laden was no Wag the Dog. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Gen. Hugh Shelton would never lend themselves to an air raid whose purpose was to deflect attention from a domestic scandal. Nonetheless, there was an extrinsic force driving the Afghan and Sudanese bombings: the collapse of Iraqi policy. The air raid served to compensate for the total surrender of the Clinton administration in the face of Saddam's determination to rebuild his weapons of mass destruction. On the very same day the Tomahawk missiles went out, the United States was forced to support a humiliating Security Council statement that pitiably called Saddam's expulsion of inspectors "totally unacceptable" while pointedly dropping previous warnings of "severest consequences" if Saddam did not reverse himself.

AP 9/3/98 ".``The United States has undermined UNSCOM's (the U.N. inspection agency) efforts through interference and manipulation, usually coming from the highest levels of the administration's national security team to include Ms. Albright herself,'' Ritter testified at a joint hearing before the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. Democrats tried to block Ritter hearing by invoking a little-used Senate rule that hearings cannot be held after two hours into the Senate session if there are objections. The hearing was set for at 2 p.m. and the Senate had started business at 9:30 a.m. But Marjority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., recessed the Senate, to the hearing could be held without violating Senate rules. He then escorted Ritter into a hearing room where a dozen senators had assembled. All rose and shook Ritter's hand..Albright on Tuesday said that Ritter, a former Marine, ``doesn't have a clue'' about the overall U.S. policy on exposing Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. ``It was very sad to hear Madeleine Albright on Tuesday night,'' Ritter said Thursday. ``I do have a clue, in fact several, all of which indicate that our government has clearly expressed its policy one way and then acted in another.'' Calling Ritter ``a true American hero,'' Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said the former inspector ``has pointed us to a much deeper problem, and that's duplicity of saying one thing and doing something else; that's far more troubling.'' .However, Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware said. ``I respectfully suggest they have responsibilities slightly above your pay grade,''."

AP 9/6/98 Waiel Faleh AP "An Iraqi newspaper that reflects the views of the ruling Baath party warned Sunday that Iraq will take ``necessary action'' if the U.N. Security Council does not lift punishing trade sanctions. The front-page editorial in Al-Thawra did not say what action was contemplated. The paper also reacted angrily to an American and British draft resolution introduced to the Security Council last week. It calls for suspension of regular sanctions reviews until Iraq reverses its Aug. 5 decision to freeze cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors.."

Washington Post 9/6/98 "It's no surprise to find the Clinton administration treating any problem as a public-relations challenge, looking to spin instead of solve, vilifying critics instead of debating them. Even so, turning the dogs loose on Scott Ritter is a new low.. First came leaks about an FBI investigation of Ritter for sharing confidential information with other governments -- something he freely admits he did, as part of his job and at the direct order of his U.N. bosses. Then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright lashed out. Ritter "doesn't have a clue about what our overall policy has been," she told CNN. Claiming great success for Iraq policy on behalf of "the United States -- and, I must say, me personally," Albright nonetheless didn't have enough confidence in that policy to sit by as Ritter testified to Congress. She urged a House committee chairman to squelch one such hearing, while Senate Democrats did their best to prevent Ritter's testimony.."

WorldNetDaily 9/10/98 ".IRAQ is hiding three technologically complete nuclear bombs and is lacking only fissionable materials to make them operational. This is the view of Scott Ritter, the United Nations arms inspector who resigned on August 26. Mr Ritter made his claim at a recent meeting of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. It was published for the first time yesterday by Zeev Schiff, military editor of Haaretz, the Tel Aviv daily. The disclosure, and others about biological and chemical weapons held by Baghdad, came as another showdown between Iraq and the UN loomed."

Newsweek 9/14/98 Periscope "Scott Ritter may not be the last United Nations inspector to quit UNSCOM, the commission charged with dismantling Iraq's biological and chemical arsenal. Other weapons sleuths, feeling betrayed by the cancellation of several surprise inspections this summer, may "throw in the towel," one told NEWSWEEK. Ritter, who bitterly criticized the Clinton administration's Iraq policy as he resigned last month, is now under investigation for allegedly sharing intelligence with Israel. Republicans say the charges are a White House smear. But CIA sources tell NEWSWEEK that the agency, not the administration, raised concerns about his contacts with Israel. The CIA has cleared Ritter, who says he did nothing wrong, but his lawyer says an FBI probe continues."

Weekly Standard 9/28/98 Charles Krauthammer ".During his press conference with Vaclav Havel on September 16, Bill Clinton was trying to demonstrate his engagement in world affairs. He cited the following evidence: "I had a good talk with President Chirac of France, who called me a couple of days ago to talk about some of our common concerns and the U.N. inspection system in Iraq and other things. So I feel good about that." Feel good? Just days before, Saddam Hussein had announced the termination of that very U.N. inspection system. Having called the American bluff, he shattered the system of constraints placed on him after the Gulf War to keep him from developing the most terrible weapons on earth..But now Clinton feels good about his chat about this colossal foreign-policy failure. It feels good to talk with a head of state. But Jacques Chirac is not just any head of state. He is a head of state who has been singularly destructive of American policy toward Iraq. He has been staunchly supportive of Saddam in the Security Council. He has refused to back any American action to force Iraqi compliance, has sought to embarrass the United States when it threatened to do so, and has pushed openly for an end to restraints on Saddam...He feels good because for him national interest pales beside personal interest. Indeed, for him national interest does not extend beyond personal interest...The mission of Bill Clinton's life has always been to escape irrelevance; to transcend the provincial anonymity of his Arkansas boyhood; to seek in recognition, "political viability," honor and applause, validation of his worth, his very existence. To prove himself relevant has been the mission of his life. It is now the mission of his dying presidency. Clinton's need for such validation is endless and constant. It explains his unnatural love for the rope line, his thirst for approval and applause, his indiscriminate desire for the adulation of audience and acolyte. It makes his life a maw for the instant and shallow gratification delivered by people he barely knows. It explains his lifelong dream of the White House: Being the most bountiful trough on the planet, it is the Holy Grail for the creature that is forever feeding.. As Clinton has seen himself exposed, as he's watched his spiral descent into mortified irrelevance, his solipsism has acquired a desperation. And in that desperation lies national danger. Personal survival is everything, and he'll take the country through anything -- through seven months of surreal dissimulation, for example -- to ensure it. America is caught in his psychodrama. One day, he observes that perhaps his troubles will help heal the nation. Another, he runs about giving speeches, raising money, and going through the motions of governing. "White House officials," explained ABC's Chris Bury, "insist the president finds it therapeutic to focus on his job." On yet another, he feels good about a phone call from France about a policy failure that endangers the United States. Lines between self and other, between Clinton and country, had always been blurred. Now they have disappeared entirely. ."

New York Post 10/1/98 Editorial "It turns out that the White House has been lying about a lot more than just Monica Lewinsky. The issue now is nuclear weapons for Iraq - and the potential consequences are far more significant than Bill Clinton's future. Earlier this month, Scott Ritter, the courageous U.N. arms inspector who resigned in disgust over the Security Council's acquiescence to Saddam Hussein, told Congress he had informed the administration that Iraq has built several implosion devices. All that Saddam needs to build 20-kiloton nuclear weapons - one-and-a-half times the power of the Hiroshima bomb - is a sufficient quantity of plutonium or enriched uranium. After Ritter's testimony, administration officials denied ever receiving such a report - and blasted the ex-Marine's claims as not credible. (Maybe it depends on exactly how you define nuclear weapons.) But now, The Washington Post reports, Ritter actually turned over two such explicit warnings - first in an oral report to the CIA in 1996, and then in a briefing paper for a May 1997 conference held in Washington with the U.S. and Britain.. As one U.S. official told The Washington Post, it is credible that they have all the parts to put together.."

Washington Times 10/3/98 Bill Gertz "Twenty six House Republicans have written to President Clinton asking whether the White House is planning an "October surprise" military strike on Iraq timed to boost Democrats' chances in the November elections. The lawmakers stated in a letter dated Thursday that "we are writing to express our grave concerns about a disturbing report in the August 31, 1998 Arabic News Daily indicating the United States may be preparing for an October strike against Iraq." The Egyptian newspaper, quoting diplomatic sources, stated the United States privately informed the goverments of France, Russia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt that those nations were expected to back the U.S. strike aimed at punishing Baghdad for blocking weapons inspections and defying the aggreement with the United Nations reached in February. .."

American Spectator 10/98 Michael Ledeen "Bill Clinton's glorious war against international terror is cut from the same doily as his glorious victories against Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic, his mastery of the Middle East, his celebrated anti-proliferation campaign in India and Pakistan, his peace- making in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Kosovo, his masterful de-nuclearization of North Korea and his brave struggle for democracy in China. It is much delicate lace and little iron substance, stitched together by the fanciful conceits that war can be waged at long distance, and that the world can be manipulated as easily as American public opinion. The whole thing is make-believe, a Harry Thomason production with special effects from the Pentagon."

AP 10/9/98 Nicole Winfield " The American who resigned as a U.N. weapons inspector has threatened to sue his former boss for saying he illegally discussed Iraq's weapons capabilities. Scott Ritter has asked chief U.N. weapons inspector, Richard Butler, to retract the statement if he wants to avoid personal liability for defamatory comments. "If you wish to avoid assuming personal liability, we require your prompt retraction of your accusation,'' the lawyer wrote to Butler in a letter dated Oct. 7..According to a transcript of the show, Butler said he told Ritter, "'You have broken the law in speaking in public about things that you obtained while on official duty, and I demand that you desist from doing that.'''."You must know that the Constitution of the United States affords Mr. Ritter the precious guarantee of free speech,'' Lifflander wrote. "Nothing in the United Nations Charter, its rules or its unenforceable agreements supersedes Mr. Ritter's rights as an American citizen.'' ."

N.Y.Times 11/6/98 A.M. Rosenthal ".The United Nations arms inspection system in Iraq is near death. Even if Saddam Hussein lifts his new bans on inspection imposed three months ago, Iraq and its friends at the U.N. have so eviscerated the system that there is no realistic hope it can be revived, with or without bombing, except as a thin facade. These realities are held secret at the U.N. because so many bureaucrats and member nations share responsibility for what is happening. Some countries, like Russia and France, eviscerate quite openly; others, like the U.S., use the hidden knife of apathy. During election campaigns, we don't bother to talk about it. But in the past days a few intimately informed U.N. people have been willing to reveal these truths about the fate of the hunt for Saddam's stockpiles of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons and his plans to build ever more. They are not ready yet to go public, as have Scott Ritter and David Kay of the U.S. and David Kelly of Britain. By daily harassment and trickery, Saddam tried to prevent arms inspection for the first six years after it was put in place by the victors in the gulf war, to contain his power and dreams. But inspection worked anyway. Without it, his weapons would be in use by selected terrorists around the world. The inspectorate found 21 nuclear facilities that Iraq denied existed. Warheads loaded with anthrax and botulinum, evidence of VX, 400,000 liters of chemical agents, missiles, two million liters of precursors used in making chemical weapons, lists of foreign suppliers of death, a whole inventory from hell. Two years ago inspectors drew close to more weapons, and weapons programs, more foreign supply lines. So Saddam started his endgame.."

Wall Street Journal 11/4/98 ".Given Bill Clinton's gifts as an illusionist, we were initially suspicious when an international crisis blew up just before the election. But there is a real world out there not created by White House spin doctors and a man named Saddam Hussein is a part of it. A second look convinced us that this crisis is a real one. Saddam has drawn a line in the sand and dared the President to step over it. Mr. Clinton had better act this time around or it won't be long before we are faced with a Saddam who can back his threats with missiles bearing nukes and nerve gas. Indeed, Saddam precipitated this crisis himself, timing it just before elections that could decide Bill Clinton's fate in the forthcoming impeachment hearings. He did it with his Saturday announcement that Iraq was suspending all cooperation with United Nations weapons inspectors until the U.N. sanctions it has endured for most of this decade are lifted. Defense Secretary William Cohen responded that unilateral American retaliation is an option, and asserted that the "credibility" of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who brokered a deal last February after an earlier Saddam-manufactured crisis, was on the line. True enough. But it is ultimately Mr. Clinton's credibility that is at stake here. For even the most delusional of multilateralists would be forced to concede that the American President, at least for now, is the man in charge when it comes to reining in Saddam and other despots around the world. Mr. Annan did not go to Baghdad without Mr. Clinton's blessing.."

New York Post 11/11/98 ".Someone high up in the Clinton administration owes Scott Ritter a public apology. Last August, Ritter resigned in disgust as chief U.N. arms inspector in Iraq. The courageous ex-Marine charged that Washington had backed off its policy on Saddam Hussein, quietly abandoning support for the international team that was aggressively searching for the Iraqi despot's weapons of mass destruction. The Clinton administration hotly denied Ritter's assertions. At first, it suggested he'd overstepped his mandate. Then it leaked baseless accusations that he was illegally slipping classified information to Israel. It now turns out - no big surprise - that Ritter was absolutely on target. According to numerous reports this week, the Clintonites secretly decided last spring to undercut the weapons inspections in favor of a policy of containment - abandoning the search for such arms in hopes of merely preventing their use. Ritter & Co. had uncovered secret Iraqi caches of deadly, forbidden weapons - including anthrax (2,000-plus gallons), botulinium toxin (5,125 gallons), ricin, sarin and VX; some of these chemicals need just a few drops to kill thousands. They also found evidence that Iraq lacks only enriched uranium to detonate nuclear weapons. Some of these deadly weapons have been destroyed; others remain hidden. Even as Ritter and his U.N. team launched surprise inspections of Iraqi facilities, however, the Clinton administration moved swiftly to cut the legs out from under them. Publicly, meanwhile, the president has talked tough - only to back down at the last minute in favor of a conciliatory settlement."

MiddleXpress 11/12/98 ".Iraq's ruling Baath party on Thursday called on Arabs to wage a "jihad," or holy war, against the United States which is threatening military strikes against Baghdad. "The appropriate response to the challenge is to adopt all means of fighting and unify the Arab nation's capacity in this battle," the party's leadership said in a statement published in Iraqi newspapers. The Baath party said it was necessary to "take the fight to the highest level of action, Jihad," and to be inspired by the "spirit of the Mother of All Battles," Iraq's description of the 1991 Gulf War."

AP 11/12/98 Eileen Alt Powell ".Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein wants a timetable on when U.N. sanctions will be lifted before he will allow U.N. weapons inspections to resume, a visiting Russian lawmaker said Tuesday. Ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky told reporters after two hours of talks with Saddam that the Iraqi president saw ``no problem'' with monitoring. ``But he would like to have information when the blockade (will be) eliminated,'' Zhirinovsky said. ``When? This year, next year, next century?'' said the legislator, a regular visitor to Iraq who has good relations with Saddam..The Security Council has said they will not be lifted until the inspectors certify that Iraq has eliminated its non-conventional weapons.."

http://www.house.gov/jec/press/1998/11-12-8.htm 11/12/98 Joint Economic Committee (House Majority) ".The International Monetary Fund's movement to normalize its relations with Iraq was greeted today with dismay and concern by Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Chairman Jim Saxton (R- N.J.). The IMF is planning to send a mission to Iraq to lay the foundations for normalizing relations, and to consider Iraqi requests for technical assistance. In an interview with an Arab newspaper based in London, a high-level IMF official first disclosed the IMF plans. According to IMF official Paul Chabrier, "Despite the existence of tension and friction between Iraq and the United Nations, I think we are moving towards a form of normalization with it (Iraq).". "The use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to assist Iraq, Libya, or other such nations through the IMF is unacceptable. The Treasury Department should be attempting to stop such missions and expel members who sponsor terrorism. This episode also underlines the rather low membership standards of the IMF ( standards which need to be significantly tightened for a number of reasons.."

The American Cause 11/13/98 Patrick Buchanan ".The Gulf coalition assembled by George Bush is history. Save Britain, no European, Asian or Arab ally is willing to use force to punish Saddam or remove him. Though the "On-to-Baghdad" boys are whooping it up again, the United States, due to cuts in the military during the Clinton years, lacks the power. We would have to draw down forces from all over the world to muster another army like the one sent into Iraq under the command of Gen. Schwarzkopf.... Who, then, does Saddam Hussein threaten? Israel? But Israel has nuclear weapons and could obliterate Baghdad, which is why the Scuds fired at Tel Aviv in 1991 carried conventional explosives. Wicked, Saddam may be; mad, he is not. The post-Cold War world is coming to an end. With the Kosovo Liberation Army returning to have yet another go at the Serbs, North Korea inching back toward nuclearization, China about to test a new mobile ICBM, and Saddam inviting confrontation, the price of global hegemony for the world's last superpower is going up. Are Americans willing to pay it? Soon enough, we shall see.."

11/13/98 Rep. Bob Barr ".U.S. Representative Bob Barr (GA-7) released the following statement regarding the ongoing buildup of United States military personnel and weaponry in apparent preparation for action against Iraq: "The decision by Congress to authorize military action against Iraq in 1991 was made only after full and careful consideration. Such care and consideration should be taken every time the lives of American soldiers are put at risk. "Sadly, the President has chosen to move our nation to the brink of military action without explaining his actions to the American people or the Congress. We must also make sure our military capabilities are supported by sound intelligence, so we don't end up taking questionable military steps like we did in Sudan and Afghanistan in August. Furthermore, we must ensure our actions are supportive of our key allies in the region, including most importantly, Israel. "Any U.S. military action must be directed to the accomplishment of a specific goal. The President has not articulated a vision for what he wants to accomplish in the days ahead, or even what our long term goals in Iraq are. While I intend to support our troops no matter where the President sends them, I urge him to carefully consider his actions, and do a better job of explaining what he hopes to accomplish." ."

AP 11/17/98 Laura Myers ".Frequent military buildups in the Persian Gulf since the 1991 war have cost the nation about $7 billion, in addition to the tens of billions of dollars some budget analysts estimate is spent annually on maintaining a strong U.S. military in the region. The Pentagon does not release figures on the spending for day-to-day Gulf duties, though officials said that if that force weren't deployed in the Gulf region, it would be operating elsewhere. But by private budget analysts' estimates, roughly $50 billion of the annual $270 billion in U.S. defense spending goes toward maintaining the Gulf deployment and keeping the Iraqi president in line.. The extra cost of military buildups in the Gulf since the war has ranged from $100 million in 1992 to $1.4 billion for the two U.S. confrontations with Iraq during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The total is about $7 billion, the Pentagon said. In comparison, the Gulf War -- with a U.S. military buildup that began in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait -- cost $61 billion, but U.S. coalition allies picked up all but $7.4 billion, the Pentagon said. ."

Reuters 11/18/98 ".Chinese President Jiang Zemin is expected to flex Beijing's diplomatic muscles during a visit to Moscow next week, opposing U.S.-backed pressure on Iraq and strengthening the budding partnership between China and Russia, analysts said. Jiang is scheduled to travel to Russia from November 22 to 25 for a summit meeting with ailing President Boris Yeltsin. Jiang is also expected to meet Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov as well as leaders of the State Duma, or parliament. ."It seems that the main goal of the summit will be to simply oppose the U.S., especially on the issue of Iraq,'' said one source close to the Russian embassy.."

Reuter's 11/18/98 David Morgan ".Chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler accused Iraq's deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz Wednesday of being responsible for concealing data and perhaps Scud missiles from his weapons teams. ``Iraq has slowed down, as far as it could, the disarmament process,'' he told more than 300 people at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. ``And the key way they have done that is by the concealment mechanism, the chairman of which was his excellency, the deputy prime minister of Iraq, Tareq Aziz,'' he said. Butler, whose inspectors began work Tuesday after being evacuated last week in anticipation of U.S. bombing raids, has written to Aziz about missing documents on Iraq's chemical, biological and ballistic missiles."

Wall Street Kournal 11/18/98 Editorial ". To be blunt, the President of the United States is a proven liar; he lied under oath to a grand jury. And even the defenders of his perjury admit that the actions at the center of his perjury diminished the office of the Presidency. This is the unprecedented context in which the whole world is obligated to assess the President's commitment to the Iraqi opposition and to UNSCOM.."

Freeper Michael Rivero reports on FoxNews 11/19/98 ".Fox News just reported that UN Inspector Butler, whom Iraq has repeatedly accused of being a CIA agent provocateur, has announced his offer to quit in the face of Iraq's refusal to provide documents Iraq claims they do not have in the first place.."

BBC News 11/19/98 ".An Iraqi defector has alleged that the Iraqi regime is continuing to hide weapons and move them between locations to keep them from UN weapons inspectors..Abbas al-Janabi defected in February this year after working for 15 years as an aide to Saddam Hussein's feared son Uday. Mr Janabi said in an exclusive television interview for the BBC World programme Hardtalk that biological and chemical weapons and rocket launchers were constantly being moved between sites..And Mr Janabi warned the Iraqi leader had said he would be prepared to use weapons of mass destruction if cornered. "When you put him in a cage he will be very dangerous. He may use chemical or biological [weapons] or what he has." BBC Diplomatic Correspondent James Robbins said it was impossible to verify the testimony, but it is supported by news of more recent massacres of the Iraqi president's opponents in Iraq.."

Drudge - THE WASHINGTON TIMES 11/19/98 Bill Gertz ".An Islamic group in Iraq has called for a holy war against the United States, according to a broadcast by Baghdad's government radio. The Popular Organization of Islamic Conference issued a statement in Baghdad calling for a jihad, or holy war, "by Muslims throughout the world against the U.S. administration," according to a Baghdad Radio broadcast on Monday. The group's statement said "striking [the U.S. administration's] interests has become a holy and legitimate duty recognized by divine and human laws so as to protect societies against U.S. injustice." The Iraqi group stated that the Clinton administration "supports the Zionists, who have usurped holy Arab and Muslim places," and said Muslims should "seriously work to confront U.S. tyranny and condemn its hostile acts against faithful Iraq." ."

Washington Post 11/22/98 Meg Greenfield ".The Clinton administration and the British government have both indicated that if Saddam Hussein resists or interferes with the UNSCOM inspection procedures again, in the aftermath of the cancellation of the last proposed strike against him, they will both feel free to stage an attack immediately and without warning. He'll know it's going to happen when it happens, and he won't have to wait around for it all that long. That is the threat, which one must assume could be carried out any day, or that it will already have been carried out by the time you read this edition of The Post. But it is also possible that for the time being Saddam Hussein will have stayed within the confines of the understanding that bought him a last-minute reprieve, and that he will stay there, as he usually does, until he figures the coast is clear. In the past he has been very good at making that calculation ."

Associated Press 11/23/98 ".Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's deputy narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in a southern Iraqi city, Baghdad television reported Monday. Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam's deputy on the powerful Revolutionary Command Council, was attending a religious ceremony Sunday when assailants threw two grenades at him as he got out of his car, according to the report.."

Federation of American Scientists 1998 editors ".Iraq has rebuilt key chemical weapons facilities since 1991. While they are subject to United Nations scrutiny, some could be converted from industrial and commercial use fairly quickly, allowing Iraq to restart limited production of chemical weapons agents. Iraq currently has 41 sites with equipment that could be converted to produce chemical weapons agents and their precursors and four facilities that produced chemical munitions until 1991 and could do so again. At least 30 facilities have infrastructure that could be reconfigured for weapons production. Iraq also has the experience and know-how in large-scale production of chemical weapons agents and sufficient qualified personnel with practical experience in research and development on, and the industrial production of, CW agents. It is also thought that Iraq retains a broad array of chemical-weapons-related items such as precursor chemicals, production equipment, filled munitions, and program documentation, as well as requisite technical expertise. UNSCOM estimated that, under current circumstances, Iraq would be able to organize the production of chemical agents through reconfiguration or relocation of available dual-use material within several days or weeks.."

USA Journal 11/26/98 Jon Dougherty ".However, a story broke yesterday - covered in the Journal today - that should take the remaining wind out of the sails of the dwindling legion of defenders of President Clinton. If it doesn't, then those people who still refuse to face up to the truth about this man should be made to pack their bags and leave this great nation of ours because they simply don't belong here any longer. Matt Drudge reported Wednesday evening that some 20,000 top secret State Department and intelligence documents have been leaked to key media personnel. Those documents may not only substantiate claims that Clinton has sold this country out to foreign hostile interests, but reportedly also detail how he did it. According to Drudge, the papers tell the stories about why North Korea has renewed their nuclear programs, why Iraq remains defiant, and why India and Pakistan tested and have begun to field new nuclear weapons systems within the past year. In short, they tell a story of incompetence, deception and greed - all Clinton trademarks. Furthermore the documents may also place Vice President Al Gore in an even worse light with the intelligence community after a New York Times a few days ago said he has been discounting CIA reports that were critical of Russia because the administration "doesn't want to hear any bad news about their friends in Moscow," even if true... But the revelation about these documents also answers some other questions. For example, they may explain why socialist Democrats in the Senate have helped scuttle any hope in the near future of a national ballistic missile defense. The papers may also help explain why Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector, was so savagely attacked by this administration when he blew the whistle on the bogus U.S. effort to find and destroy Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The discovery of these papers may also help explain why Congress has been so reluctant to pursue these cases of more serious abuses of office against Clinton [because many of them are in on all of this too]. And it may just help explain why Attorney General Janet Reno's `see no evil' attitude with Clinton and Gore prevails to this day. If the U.S. AG would attempt to threaten all the sweetheart deals Clinton and Gore have made with their greedy co-conspirators, it's hard telling what the Clinton Spin Machine would do to her and her career. But what now? When these reports are substantiated - and they will be - what will Congress and Reno do then? ..But now it's a different ball game. You see, no matter how well you cover your tracks in politics, when it comes to running an entire country there is literally nothing you can get accomplished by yourself. Our fine folks in the intelligence community will go along with an inept president and vice president for a while - but only as long as it doesn't seriously damage their ability to protect this nation from itself. Their positions of authority and power supercede the White House because these people are career folks who have been there forever and will be there long after socialist idiots like Clinton are gone.."

The Independent - UK Mary Dejevsky 11/27/98 ".THOUSANDS OF sensitive documents relating to US national security have been leaked, according to reports on the Internet yesterday. But America's mainstream media, preoccupied with the Thanksgiving holiday, seemed not to want to know. The documents, as many as 20,000 pages of them, are said to detail efforts by the Clinton administration to conceal the extent of Iraq's weapons development plans, White House approval for exports of sensitive satellite technology to China, and information about the incentives offered by Washington to North Korea in return for curbing its nuclear programme - terms that North Korea has in the event ignored...Verbatim details from the papers were not available yesterday, and Murray Waas, the reporter said to have the papers, could not be reached. Drudge suggested that Waas, who writes for the pro-Clinton Internet magazine Salon, was reluctant to divulge the contents while Bill Clinton faces impeachment proceedings.."

Times of London 8/4/98 Michael Evans "IRAQ is suspected of forging a deal with a Russian company to buy key guidance equipment for long-range ballistic missiles. The purchase would be in breach of a multinational agreement signed by Moscow to stop the transfer of sensitive military technology. Despite Western pressure on Russia to abide by the terms of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), intelligence services have evidence that a Russian company has agreed to sell Baghdad 120 accelerometers, the principal components of advanced guidance and control systems. A Foreign Office official in London confirmed that accelerometers were included in a list of banned equipment detailed in the overall MTCR agreement. "

Jewish World Review 12/3/98 Cal Thomas ".[Madeleine] Albright assured reporters that "every dollar (of U.S. aid) is accounted for and is completely transparent.'' Not exactly. A secret 600-page report last year by the PA's own auditing office found $323 million, nearly 40 percent, of the PA's annual budget had been wasted, stolen or misused. A December, 1995, General Accounting Office report said it was ``unable to independently verify (the Palestine Liberation Organization's) financial condition since the PLO was unwilling to provide us with requested accounting reports and supporting documentation.''....Former U.N. arms inspector Scott Ritter told the Jerusalem Post Nov. 3: "The (Wye accord) is to be monitored by the CIA, but the real arbiter will be the State Department, and this is a cause for great worry. The entire effort has been politicized -- this is the Clinton administration's own Camp David, and they really can't afford to let it fail. Therefore they cannot be counted upon to be honest brokers.'' So, the Jews are again being sold out.."

12/9/98 MSNBC "."IRAQI CLAIMS that this (inspection) was illegitimate are simply unacceptable, against the law - that is, the resolutions of the Security Council," Richard Butler said. "So we were blocked and that is very serious." Iraq's oil minister, Amir Muhammad Rasheed, claimed the inspectors "violated an agreement with the Iraqi government, called modalities of inspections of sensitive sites." Rasheed said 12 inspectors were told by their Iraqi escort when they arrived at the party headquarters that he considered it a sensitive site and only four inspectors were allowed in. Four did enter the building, he added, but then called off the inspection on instructions from Butler, when it became clear the other inspectors would not be allowed in. "We have modalities well established from 1996 up until two days ago," Rasheed said. "Mr. Butler, it seems, has given instructions ... that these modalities are no longer valid." Another Iraqi official had earlier given another reason for the refusal, saying the inspectors refused to provide a list of what they were looking for. Butler confirmed a list was demanded, and that was what led his inspectors to withdraw from the site. NBC News has learned that the U.N. team was seeking "ballistic missile components" for a long-range missile program prohibited under U.N. resolutions. The site has not been searched before, but UNSCOM has long believed components are stored there."

Reuters 12/13/98 ".A team of U.N. arms inspectors who were partly blocked from entering Iraqi political party offices this week, triggering accusations of Iraqi obstruction, left Baghdad Sunday, officials said. "They've completed their job,'' U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) spokeswoman Caroline Cross said. Witnesses saw the team loading luggage on a truck at the UNSCOM base in Baghdad and boarding a bus for Habbaniya airport northwest of the Iraqi capital. The bus, carrying a team described by Iraqi ministers as a team of provocative commandos, had the words "Nice Trip'' written on its side..."

FOX; AP 12/13/98 ".U.S. embassies in four Gulf nations said Sunday they have information indicating the "strong possibility'' of a terrorist attack at one or more American targets in the region over the next 30 days. A statement distributed to American citizens in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain asked them to be on alert to "any suspicious activity and take precautionary steps to reduce the profile and vulnerability of any U.S. facilities.'' The statement did not give details beyond saying there is "a strong possibility that terrorist elements are planning an attack against U.S. targets in the Gulf, possibly in the next 30 days.''."

FoxNews 12/15/98 ".Chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler apparently has concluded that Iraq has not restored full cooperation with his weapons experts, diplomats said Tuesday. Butler, the executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of Iraq's chemical, biological and ballistic arms, hand-delivered his crucial report to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan late Tuesday. Diplomats described the document as drawing "negative'' conclusions about Iraq's cooperation with arms inspections, which Baghdad first limited on Aug. 5 and halted on Oct. 31. The inspectors returned to Iraq on Nov. 14. Butler's report could provide a basis for possible U.S.-British air strikes against Iraq, which both countries have said could be conducted without any further diplomatic consultations or warnings. In contrast, the diplomats said a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), responsible for nuclear disarmament, gave a positive evaluation of Baghdad's compliance in allowing inspections.."

NY Times AP 12/16/98 ".U.N. weapons monitors were ordered to leave Baghdad Wednesday after the chief U.N. weapons inspector said Iraq had reneged on its promise to cooperate. The threat of airstrikes loomed as President Clinton met with his top national security advisers in Washington. The United States and Britain have said military strikes remain an option to force Iraq's compliance. After talking with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday night, Clinton and his security advisers today discussed how to respond to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's latest defiance of weapons inspections.."

San Antonio Express News 12/16/98 printed 12/13/98 Maury Maverick ".The Congress shall have power to declare war." - The U.S. Constitution Twice President Clinton has taken the following sworn oath, "I do solemn-swear that I will faithfully . . . preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Regarding the chance that President Clinton might make war with Iraq in violation of the U.S. Constitution, here's two thoughts to start with: First: Yes, Saddam Hussein is a scoundrel, just as he was when PresidentReagan used him as a hit man to kill thousands of Iranians with U.S. money and arms. ..Second: At the top of this column, I quote the U.S. Constitution that the Congress shall have power to declare war. Since World War II, president after president - Republican and Democrat - has run out on that provision. Yes, I know about the War Powers Act and treaty commitments with the United Nations, but neither can legally repeal the U.S. Constitution..If Clinton makes war on Iraq without prior congressional approval and in a situation where no defensive emergency situation exists, he risks that some member of the House with the courage of Gonzalez will file an impeachment resolution.."

AP 12/16/98 Sandra Sobieraj ".U.S. Naval and air forces in the Persian Gulf were "in execute mode" as President Clinton met today with his top national security advisers to consider military strikes in response to Iraq's latest defiance of international arms inspectors. The president, just back from the Middle East, sat down with his national security team at 7:30 AM EST in the White House Situation Room. They met there for about 45 minutes and were expected to confer throughout the day, one advisor said.."

AP 12/16/98 ".Excerpts from the text of an Iraqi statement issued after a meeting of the decision-making Revolutionary Command Council and the Baath Party on Wednesday. -- The leadership reviewed all necessary precautions and measures to confront the American-British aggression. It has become undoubtedly clear that they have been planning for a long time to try their doomed luck to launch once again another aggression as they are being pushed by their malice and hatred and by Zionism, which feeds the Satan's grudge. They want to achieve their ambition by making the whole Arab nation kneel under their feet ... and think that the leadership and the people in Baghdad and Iraq who represent the spirit of the nation will kneel too.."

Rueters 12/16/98 House Republican leaders Wednesday discussed possible postponement of Thursday's impeachment debate if the United States launches an air strike against Iraq, but no decision was made, Republican sources said. The sources said the possibility of delaying the debate came up in a meeting with House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde. ``There are discussions about what to do if it (air strike) does happen,'' a source said after the meeting. This is only the second time in U.S. history the House has debated articles of impeachment of a president. Hyde, Republican of Illinois, said he would leave to senior House Republican leaders the decision on whether the full House should delay the debate and vote on the impeachment of President Clinton. The impeachment debate is scheduled to begin Thursday morning, but votes could roll over to Friday.."

FOX 12-16-98 Reuters ".In an eerie parallel to the movie satire "Wag the Dog,'' President Clinton was considering an air assault on Iraq Wednesday even as the U.S. House of Representatives appeared poised to vote to impeach him Thursday. It was the third time this year that questions were raised about the juxtaposition of a possible U.S. attack and Clinton's struggles in the White House sex-and-perjury scandal. Republican House leaders Wednesday discussed whether to postpone the historic vote if air strikes proceed, but Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, the Republican who presided over the committee that brought the measure to the House floor, discounted a "Wag the Dog'' scenario..."

Freeper Lex 12/16/98 ".Scott Ritter was on MSNBC this morning. He also shows up on MSNBC whenever Iraq is the subject. He was hired by MSNBC as a consultant/adviser on Iraq issues. Ritter said this morning that there was NO reason to bomb Iraq today, tomorrow, the next day, etc. He said that this administration has known for years that NO serious inspections were taking place and questioned the urgency now. Ritter said that the U.S. should step back and have a PLAN before they hit Iraq. He said to send scud missles in, etc., will not really harm Iraq...no more than it has before. Ritter himself said he questions the timing of Clinton deciding at this particular time to hit Iraq.."

Freeper Commomsense 12/16/98 CNN reports ".Gerry Solomon goes ballistic on Clinton/Wag the DOG" Citizen adds "SAW IT!!! He said there is no other reason to conduct the attack RIGHT NOW! Last week, OK. Next week, OK. But not NOW. He listed several Congressmen who should have been consulted WERE NOT briefed, that Speaker Livingston was only informed 45 minutes ago. He was very nearly spitting nails. And he said that in his opinion this transparent W-T-D operation will certainly be considered when the impeachment votes are finally conducted."

Freeper Cincinatus 121/6/98 ".Ron Paul(R)TX, says waging war w/o congressional approval is another impeachable offence..... on C-Span right now ......give 'em hell Ron!!! ."

Washington Post 8/27/98 Barton Gellman ".The Clinton administration has repeatedly intervened since last fall to delay or prevent intrusive weapons inspections in Iraq by United Nations teams, according to knowledgeable American and diplomatic accounts. The interventions included at least six occasions, beginning in November 1997, in which Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright or other top administration officials sought - with success in each case but one - to persuade chief U.N. inspector Richard Butler to rescind orders for surprise searches for weapons of mass destruction or to remove a controversial inspector from Iraq. In March, according to knowledgeable sources, the United States and the United Kingdom put an end to the U.N. Special Commission's most successful new inspection technique by withdrawing one critical form of intelligence support - including information, equipment and personnel - they had provided to the U.N. inspectors until then..."

Drudge Robert Burns 12/16/98 AP ".President Clinton ordered a ``strong, sustained series of airstrikes'' against Iraq on Wednesday in response to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of U.N. weapons inspectors. Military officials said the punishing attack began with a volley of long-range cruise missiles and would last up to four days. Clinton, speaking to the nation from the Oval Office, said he acted ``to protect the national interest of the United States'' and Iraq's neighbors in the Middle East. ``Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors with nuclear weapons, poison gas or biological weapons,'' he said. In the charged political atmosphere of the day, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., criticized the military action even before it was formally announced. ``While I have been assured by administration officials that there is no connection with the impeachment process in the House of Representatives, I cannot support this military action in the Persian Gulf at this time,'' his statement said. ``Both the timing and the policy are subject to question,'' he said in a statement.."

AP 12/16/98 David Espo ".President Clinton's hopes for avoiding impeachment in the House flickered ominously on Wednesday in a constitutional showdown suddenly complicated by U.S. airstrikes against Iraq. The tally of Republicans advocating impeachment mounted steadily at the same time congressional leaders weighed plans for a delay of House proceedings because of the military action against Saddam Hussein. Clinton's order of an attack prompted unusually sharp reaction from Republicans, who were arriving back in the Capitol on the eve of a scheduled impeachment vote. The president is a ``shameless liar,'' Rep. Dana Rohrabacher told reporters as he headed into a closed-door meeting of the GOP rank and file. ``Is there anybody who doesn't question whether the president has political motives? It's time for this president to step down.''.. Democrats leapt to the president's defense.."

FOX 12/16/98 Tom Raun ".While lawmakers generally endorsed President Clinton's decision Wednesday to order airstrikes against Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and some other Republicans questioned the timing, coming on the eve of a planned House impeachment vote. Still, Lott said, "all Americans will fully support our troops in battle.'' Congressional leaders pondered whether to postpone the impeachment vote until after the strikes are concluded. Lott and other congressional leaders in both parties were notified by Clinton himself several hours in advance of the attacks. Other key members of Congress got calls from Defense Secretary William Cohen or national security adviser Sandy Berger. Top Democrats said they fully supported the action.."

FoxNews 12/16/98 Reuters ".China condemned the use of force against Iraq Wednesday as an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council broke up after reports of U.S. and British airstrikes against Iraq. A badly divided council had been discussing a report by chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler, which concluded that Iraq had not kept its promise to cooperate with inspectors. The council was expected to meet again later Wednesday...But Iraq's most vocal supporters on the council - Russia, France and China - have insisted the Security Council sanction any military action. China's U.N. Ambassador Qin Huasen was visibly angry when he emerged from the meeting. "There is absolutely no excuse or pretext to use force against Iraq,'' he said. "The use of force not only has serious consequences for the implementation of Security Council resolutions but also poses a threat to international as well as regional stability.'' The council also was divided over the negative tone of Butler's report and his decision to evacuate all inspectors from Baghdad without consulting council members. ."

CNN 12/16/98 Freeper Citizen CNN Transcripts ".It is obvious that he is doing it for political reasons, and I and others are outraged. Let me just tell you that Porter Goss, who is the chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, is in my office right there in the Capitol right now. He has not even been informed of this. He would be the first one, of all members of Congress, that Secretary Cohen and the president ought to be contacting -- Sandy Berger. Floyd Spence just got off a plane; he's up in my office. No one told him about it. Ben Gilman, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, no one told him about it. It is obvious that they are doing everything they can to postpone the vote on this impeachment in order to try to get whatever kind of leverage they can. And the American people ought to be as outraged as I am about it. ."

Freeper Impeach the Creep on Local Chicago News ".I'm too shocked to get an exact quote but Jesse Jr. said that Clinton's presidency might be in even more danger!!!!." and adds ".The other . congressman was Bill Lipinski, who directly compared Clinton's actions to the movie Wag the Dog."

Reuters 12/16/98 ".Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives delayed a vote on President Clinton's impeachment after U.S. air strikes against Iraq Wednesday, but with his support among Republicans crumbling the reprieve could be short-lived. Incoming House Speaker Bob Livingston, speaking just hours after the United States and Britain launched air strikes against Iraqi targets, said the impeachment vote which had been set for Thursday would be rescheduled for Friday or possibly Saturday. The spectacular confluence of major crises in domestic and international affairs less than 24 hours before the start of only the second presidential impeachment debate in history knocked both sides off stride. Republicans questioned whether they should vote on impeachment during a military action, and Clinton made crucial military decisions while trying to stem a growing wave of Republican support for articles of impeachment against him.."

Washington Post 12/17/98 Barton Gellman ".Throughout the day, administration officials insisted that Iraq is solely responsible for the timing of yesterday's attack. If there is any causal link between impeachment and attack, according to one defense official closely involved in Iraq policy, it is only that "the Iraqis are calculating that Clinton is in trouble and they believed he would not dare to act." It was central to the administration's public case that it relied on a neutral, professional judge -- the United Nations Special Commission, or UNSCOM -- for its assessment of the Iraqi misbehavior that justified military force. The president, his civilian national security advisers, and top military commanders all said yesterday that the attack was triggered by the report issued late Tuesday by UNSCOM chairman Richard Butler concluding that Iraq had violated its promise to cooperate with arms inspectors. "The timing of this was set essentially by the inspection teams," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said after the attacks began. But among criticism of the timing of the attack were arguments yesterday that the administration had passed up opportunities to react to previous provocations from Iraq over the last month, and had chosen to launch a massive attack in response to one of several reports of Iraqi obstacles before UNSCOM. Spokesmen and foreign policy advisers for Clinton denied there was any U.S. effort to control Butler's conclusions, wording or the timing of the report's release.."

Washington Post 12/17/98 Jim Hoagland ".President Clinton has indelibly associated a justified military response to Saddam Hussein's defiance of international law with his own wrongdoing in the White House and the impeachment threat it created. The military campaign launched under these circumstances is a foreign policy blunder of major proportions. Striking Saddam's regime to protect Iraqis, their Arab neighbors and the world from his hidden weapons of mass destruction is a serious mission -- far too serious to be obscured and put under the cloud of suspicion that Clinton inevitably kicked up by the timing of his decision, which will delay the scheduled House vote on impeachment. Clinton refused in November to go through with planned strikes because he was concerned about how the world would react. This time, world reaction to the appearance of a politically endangered president ordering the bombing of Iraqi cities to buy himself some time at home did not count.."

Reuters 12/16/98 ".Russia warned today of "serious international consequences" from the U.S. attack on Iraq, and tonight demanded an immediate cessation of military action at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.."

Reuters 12/16/98 ".Several top Republicans Wednesday questioned President Clinton's motives in attacking Iraq on the eve of the House's vote on impeachment, and they criticized his overall strategy against Saddam Hussein. But lawmakers led by incoming House Speaker Bob Livingston also said they wanted quick approval of a bipartisan resolution expressing support for endangered U.S. troops. "The suspicions some people have about the president's motives in this attack is itself a powerful argument for impeachment,'' House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican, said. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said shortly before the U.S. airstrikes began that he could not back raids "at this time,'' although he stressed that if "military action is taken, all Americans will fully support our troops in battle.'' .. Outgoing House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald Solomon of New York said in a statement, "Never underestimate a desperate president.'' "What option is left for getting impeachment off the front page and maybe even postponed?'' Solomon said. "And how else to explain the sudden appearance of a backbone that has been invisible up to now?''.."

Reuters 12/16/98 ".The air strikes against Iraq will probably give President Clinton a brief boost in U.S. public opinion, but while they will delay the process of his impeachment, they will not derail it, analysts said Wednesday. "There will be a 36-hour bounce for the president as the nation rallies around our military personnel, but it will only be temporary, and we will then get back to business in the impeachment debate,'' pollster John Zogby said. Clinton ordered the air strikes on Iraq after Baghdad refused to cooperate with U.N. inspectors trying to find and destroy Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. The strikes began a day before the House of Representatives was due to debate and vote on articles of impeachment charging Clinton with perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Republican leaders decided to delay that debate for a day or two... Clinton seemed certain to face criticism, both at home and abroad, for the timing of the Iraq attack. Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who served in the Republican administration of George Bush, said that even if the attack was necessary, the timing was questionable. Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul went so far as to say that Clinton's action in attacking Iraq was itself illegal and possibly impeachable. "This is an outrage, and we shouldn't be participating in it. We should not permit our president to do this. It's very dangerous. It has nothing to do with national security,'' Paul said. "As a matter of fact, I think waging war without congressional approval is an impeachable act.''."

AP 12/16/98 Bill Dermody ".Matt Mallec, a 26-year-old bartender in downtown Phoenix, was suspicious of the president's motives. "It's ironic how once again, here he is in hot water and that gets pushed aside and he comes out looking like a hero again,'' Mallec said as he sat in a booth on a break, watching Clinton on CNN. Others agreed. "I'm extremely distrubed by the suddenness of the events considering all that's going on right now in this country,'' Nancy Lambert, 44, said in Los Angeles. "I just think it's a political thing,'' said Winifred Smith of Vienna, W.Va. "I'm just sick of this whole mess anyway.'' Greg Reid of Tustin, Calif., however, said it was Saddam's motives that needed to be questioned. "I really think Saddam is taking advantage of the political situation here and misreading it,'' said Reid, a 48-year-old real estate broker. "He doesn't know the United States is in full support of the office of the president. Even though I don't like Clinton or what he did, I think his response is proper, and the reason it's proper is because Saddam has been ignoring the inspectors.'' In Los Angeles, Christhion Coie, 48, said Saddam should be turned "into dust.'' "This is a very dangerous, psychotic man. If he can do what he does to his own people, imagine what he would do to us,'' she said. The bombing provoked an immediate reaction in New York City's Times Square, where some 100 protesters shouted, "No blood for oil!'' and "Let Iraq live!'' in front of a military recruiting center. "I'm surprised at the timing, right before impeachment,'' said John Thomas, 23, from the borough of Queens. "I support anytime that we go to war, but I just question the timing of it.'' Several blocks away, in Rockefeller Plaza, Joan Flanagan, 26, expressed wariness of the president's motives. "It could be a stall tactic,'' she said, "but I think he was just reacting to what needed to be done.''."

Reuters 12/17/98 ".Middle East commentators Thursday condemned what they called U.S. aggression against Iraq and mocked President Clinton for bombing Baghdad to distract attention from his impending impeachment. As the Muslim world awaited the start of the holy fasting month Ramadan, which begins after religious authorities sight the new moon Friday or Saturday, the United States was roundly denounced. "For Monica Lewinsky they hit Afghanistan and Sudan. And now, for Monica's eyes, they hit Baghdad,'' said a commentator on Al-Jazeerah, an outspoken satellite channel beamed from the tiny Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Arab news agencies opened early to report extensively on the air raids and highlighted civilian casualties in a residential neighborhood of Baghdad. Newspapers across the region, which are often dominated by the day- to-day doings of their rulers, ran banner headlines on the attacks.."

MSNBC 12/16/98 by Freeper GoodSense ".Russert, et al, were saying the delay might last until next week. Then in-coming Speaker Livingston, in a well worded response pointed out that (paraphrased) "the President has his important work to do, and the House has its important work to do also and will resume as early as Friday, with one day off to allow the American people a chance to digest todays events and show support for our troops." ."

http://www.nypostonline.com/news/8576.htm Marilyn Rauber 12/17/98 ".It took bombing Iraq to delay the House impeachment fight, but not even the mighty U.S. military may be able to save President Clinton. "He's too far gone," political pundit William Schneider said of the impeach-Clinton tank thundering through the House. "He's both charmed and he's skillful but I would say it's still a very powerful probability that he will be impeached [in the House]." The White House and Clinton's top military advisers vehemently deny any link between the impeachment crisis and the showdown with Iraq. But when Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein decided to jerk Clinton's chain one more time - this time, on the eve of the impeachment debate - Clinton found himself stuck between Iraq and a hard place. He could bomb and change the subject from impeachment, but risk being accused, yet again, of playing Wag The Dog - the movie about the rascally president who stages a war to divert attention from a sex scandal. Or he could duck one more time and be branded so crippled by Sexgate that he can no longer stand up to a two-bit dictator like Saddam Hussein. "If he does not act, the perception is he's prevented from acting by this [the impeachment crisis] ... it would be like blood in the water, especially for [wavering] Democrats," said Persian Gulf analyst Dan Goure.."

New York Post 12/17/98 Andrea Peyser ".FIRST he amused me. Then he bemused me. Then he disgusted me. And made me ashamed even to know his name. Now, President Clinton is really starting to scare me. Our commander in chief, leader of the free world, has proven himself to be untruthful at best, untrustworthy at least. Dangerous at worst. He is a con man who spins fantasies with a straight face and quivering lip, then appears bewildered as a child when the grown-ups demand he own up to his lies. So now, with this great nation embarking on something terrible, we are faced with the frightening reality that it is Bill Clinton whose finger sits poised atop the proverbial button. Long after he should have taken care of business in Iraq - years after Saddam Hussein first posed a blatantly obvious threat to our well-being as a nation - the man with perhaps the least to lose, and most to gain, from a full-scale military conflict was itching to strike. This may be right, and it may be just. Then again, how can any of us trust that the president is leveling with us now? Yesterday, as American servicemen and women headed once again to the Middle East to deal with a threat that has been teasing our consciousness for seven long years, a nagging doubt refused to let up: Why now? Why today? By late afternoon, two bits of news hit our ears nearly simultaneously: Military action was imminent; and the impeachment vote in Congress was postponed indefinitely..

New York Post 2/17/98 Christopher Franacescani ".Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter says U.S. officials prodded inspection teams to return to Iraq last month to provoke a crisis to justify bombing. "What [chief U.N. weapons inspector] Richard Butler did last week with the inspections was a set-up," Ritter told The Post yesterday. "This was designed to generate a conflict that would justify a bombing." Ritter said U.S. government sources told him three weeks ago when the inspections resumed that "the two considerations on the horizon were Ramadan [the monthlong Muslim holiday beginning this weekend] and impeachment. "You have no choice but to interpret this as 'Wag the Dog.' You have no choice," he said. "If you start assessing what's happened since November 19 [when inspectors resumed their work in Iraq], you have to wonder if the U.S. isn't perverting a good cause." Ritter's comments - and his reference to the movie about a president who created a phony war to divert attention from domestic problems - came hours before U.S. military forces struck in the Persian Gulf, destroying suspected biological and chemical weapons sites in Iraq.."UNSCOM [the U.N. Special Commission] knew there were no weapons at the sites they were sending their inspectors to. We've been doing this for seven years. We know that when the inspectors leave, Iraq shuffles up the deck, moves the weapons." "Why then did the U.S. urge these inspectors to carry out immediate inspections?" Ritter assailed Butler's report, released late Tuesday night, that said Iraq was not complying with the inspections. That report was in contrast with one released by the International Atomic Energy Agency which said Iraq was complying. Ritter insists Butler's report - while necessary - was politically motivated "If you dig around, you'll find out why Richard Butler yesterday ran to the phone four times. He was talking to his [U.S.] National Security adviser. They were telling him to sharpen the language in his report to justify the bombing." ."

Washington Times 2/17/98 Rowan Scarborough ".White House notified the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday that President Clinton would order air strikes this week, 48 hours before he saw a United Nations report declaring Iraq in noncompliance with weapons inspectors, it was learned from authoritative sources last night. Several Pentagon officials have questioned Mr. Clinton's timing to order strikes on the eve of the House impeachment debate. Pentagon sources said National Security Council aides told the Joint Chiefs to quickly update a bombing plan that was shelved in mid-November and were told that a strike would be ordered in a matter of days. Israeli spokesman Aviv Bushinsky said yesterday in Jerusalem that President Clinton discussed preparations for an attack with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just minutes before Mr. Clinton flew home from Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday, ending a three-day peace mission. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart insisted that Mr. Clinton made the strike decision yesterday based on the U.N. finding of noncompliance. Nevertheless, a senior congressional source, who asked not to be named, said senior Pentagon officers expressed great skepticism to him about the raids. This source said that the White House eagerness to launch air strikes grew with intensity as a parade of centrist Republicans announced they would vote to impeach the president, in a vote originally scheduled for today.."

LA Times Janet Hook, Ronald Brownstein Marc Lacey 12/17/98 ".As U.S. warplanes were bombarding Iraq, House Republican leaders Wednesday postponed the debate scheduled for today on impeaching President Clinton, and several leading Republicans baldly accused Clinton of mounting the military action to derail the impeachment proceeding. House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston of Louisiana said the House would return to impeachment as soon as Friday or Saturday, after voting today on a resolution in support of U.S. troops in the Middle East. But he offered no direct support for the president. "We support our troops," Livingston said. "As to the matter of timing, we would leave that to the best judgment of the American people." Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was far blunter. In an extraordinary escalation of the conflict between Clinton and congressional Republicans, Lott took the all but unprecedented step of refusing to back a military action initiated by the president and challenging his motives. "While I have been assured by administration officials that there is no connection with the impeachment process in the House of Representatives, I cannot support this military action in the Persian Gulf at this time," Lott said. "Both the timing and the policy are subject to question." . The criticism from Lott, Solomon and other Republicans represented both a dramatic escalation in the impeachment struggle and what several historians called a virtually unprecedented challenge to a president's motives during a foreign policy crisis.. In late August, several Republican senators, including John Ashcroft of Missouri and Dan Coats of Indiana, questioned Clinton's motives when he launched an anti-terrorist military strike in Sudan and Afghanistan in the wake of confessing to an improper relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky. But GOP leaders, including Lott and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, quickly silenced those insinuations by unreservedly endorsing the attack."

Washington Post 12/17/98 Guy Gugliotta ".It was like throwing gasoline on a fire. The impeachment of President Clinton had already turned the House into the partisan equivalent of an armed camp, but when the bombing of Iraq began, tempers exploded. Republican House members, virtually certain they had the votes to impeach President Clinton on at least one and possibly two counts of perjury, trooped to the Capitol's basement catacombs at dusk to hear from their leaders why they should postpone -- why they would have to postpone -- the impeachment debate. An hour later the Democrats held their own meeting. Their plan was to remind the Republicans and the public during today's scheduled impeachment debate -- later postponed until Friday at the earliest -- that the GOP had refused to countenance a censure proposal, when censure was the nation's preferred option. "We're not giving up, but we don't have the votes," Rep. Charles B. Rangel said (D-N.Y.). "They're in control." The atmosphere was murderous everywhere. As members of the lame-duck Congress drifted in from all points of the compass early yesterday to begin impeachment proceedings, they began comparing notes for the first time in weeks. ."

Chicago Tribune 12/17/98 John Kass ".If you didn't believe it before, now you know why America needs to trust her president. No matter who you are, whether you support President Bill Clinton or not, whether you want him impeached, whether you want him to stay, something happened to you on Wednesday evening. Americans were put into battle. The killing began in Iraq. And there was a tightening in your gut when you heard about it. There's that question in your belly, an unfortunate nagging feeling. It shouldn't be there, but you can feel it. It tells you something you already know, but we don't want to deal with it: America doesn't quite believe Bill Clinton at the time we need to believe our president. His history of playing games with the truth and not talking straight and slipping and dodging has a cost.His remarkable political ability has been centered on feinting and sidestepping danger. Not meeting it head on. And now we're paying for it with uncertainty. There is a consequence to being acknowledged as the master of spin.The decision to authorize a military strike is legitimate, but there is a worry that this could be an international solution to a domestic political crisis. That's dangerous and unfortunate, both for the president and for all of us."

National Review 12/17/98 Ramesh Ponnuru, John J. Miller, Kate Dwyer ".Saddam Hussein made clear his strong opposition to President Clinton's impeachment by forcing another showdown with the United States over United Nations weapons inspections on Wednesday. As several moderate Republicans-- such as Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.), Rep. Jim Leach (Iowa), and Rep. John Edward Porter (Ill.)--came out in favor of impeachment, the Iraqi dictator gave Clinton an opportunity to play Commander-in-Chief at his moment of greatest need. Iraq has deserved a good bombing for years. Yet if Clinton gives the order this week, after months of capitulating to Saddam, he will have committed the single most craven act of his presidency. Where was this resolve when Scott Ritter was trying to do his job? [Note: Since this article was filed, President Clinton has ordered air strikes against Iraq.] The timing of this event simply cannot be a coincidence. GOP leaders will be forced to reschedule Thursday's impeachment vote, possibly buying the White House the vital hours it needs to prevail in the only fight it really cares about: saving Clinton's administration from the black mark of impeachment. .."

Wall Street Journal 12/17/98 David Rogers ".As the House decided to delay its impeachment debate, President Clinton must now contend with a new threat: Many scandal-weary Americans would rather he resign than put the nation through a trial in the Senate. The debate will be delayed at least until Friday because of U.S. airstrikes against Iraq. But Republican conservatives, determined to remove the president, remain in control and openly criticized Mr. Clinton Wednesday night for using the military action, they said, to delay the vote. An angry, anti-Clinton mood was strong among many House Republicans, and their scorn and derisive comments were extraordinary at a time of U.S. military action overseas. Majority Leader Richard Armey of Texas called again for Mr. Clinton to resign and said "after months of lies" the president had given "millions of people around the world reason to doubt that he has sent Americans into battle for the right reasons." .."

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC WIRE 12/17/98 palestine-iraq ". the palestinian legislative council (plc) has strongly denounced the anglo-american bombing of iraq, said a report from al-qods. a statement issued to the press by the plc thursday afternoon described the bombing as ''a naked aggression targeting innocent civilians.'' the statement accused the united states and britain of seeking to destroy iraq under the pretext of disarming iraq of weapons of mass destruction. moreover, the statement called on arab masses to rise up in solidarity with iraq. for its part, the palestinian authority issued somewhat circumspect statements reflecting official embarrassment toward the anglo-american aggression. nabil amre, minister for parliamentarian affairs in the pa government, issued a mild condemnation of the aggression on iraq saying it was incompatible with responsible behavior. however, pa president yaser arafat, like the bulk of other arab leaders, remained silent. on tuesday, arafat described clinton as ''the palestinian people's great friend.'' ."

Wall Street Journal 12/17/98 ".Going to war is a serious business under any circumstances. People get maimed and killed. Passions throughout the world can be raised to a level where it is never entirely clear whether the victor on the field will be a true victor or a loser in some ultimate sense. The loss of international respect and prestige is not a negligible matter, especially for the United States in its role as world leader. That's why it is dangerous for an American president to launch a military strike, however justified, at a time when many will conclude he acted only out of narrow self-interest to forestall or postpone his own impeachment. For millions around the world who are witnessing bombs falling in Baghdad in the midst of the crisis Bill Clinton has brought upon himself, that is an interpretation that will be hard to banish. It is an unprecedented situation in American foreign policy and not a happy one for the country."

Drudge Washington Post 12/17/98 AP ".Russian legislators considered a motion Thursday appealing to Monica Lewinsky to help halt the American attack on Iraq. ``The State Duma appeals to Ms. Lewinsky to undertake corresponding measures to restrain the emotions of Bill Clinton,'' said the motion by nationalist lawmaker Alexander Filatov.."

The Review 12/17/98 D. K. Zimmerman ".Clinton's administration seems intent upon encouraging us to draw comparisons with the Nixon administration. Although Nixon was a criminal, a crook despite previous denials, he retained a remnant of respect for his office, a degree of shame, and some tatters of a conscience. It remains to be seen if Clinton possesses any of these. The topic at hand is the latest "Wag the Dog" scenario intended for public consumption as yet another bloodless, relatively so for Americans anyway, high-speed, high-tech war and successful Clinton foray into international power diplomacy. It remains to be seen whether it is anything more than an impeachment distraction or any more successful than his last fiasco. The very day that Monica was testifying before the grand jury, Clinton dramatically interrupted his August vacation to announce a flurry of expensive missiles being launched at some dubious targets. Promising a protracted war against terrorists and terrorism, he demonstrated his commitment to the arduous task, promptly returning to his vacation. The entire administration swore the timing was sheer coincidence. In Afghanistan, terrorist training camps were struck in a purported attempt to kill a terrorist chief, Osama bin Laden. In Sudan, the target was a pharmaceutical plant supposedly tied to bin Laden and producing a component of nerve gas.."

Hong Kong Standard 12/18/98 Charles Snyder ".If not for the American air strikes on Iraq, by the time you read this column the House would already have voted to impeach the President, sending the matter to the Senate, where the President's fate will be sealed next year. But that vote was delayed at the eleventh hour by Mr Clinton's last-minute decision to launch the strikes, which he did with a prime-time look-good TV address on the eve of the impeachment vote _ and just early enough to avoid Ramadan. The timing could not have been more transparent.."

The Pioneer 12/18/98 ". President Clinton's action is a flagrant aggression against Iraq with the support of Britain. It does not even carry the fig leaf of UN Security Council support. He has misused his country's military power to serve personal ends. In the process, he has caused the death of five persons and injuries to 30, including small children, to say nothing of the destruction of property, by the hundreds of cruise missiles which rained on Baghdad following his order. This was nothing short of murder and vandalism. The US does not deserve a leader like him whose actions have repeatedly inflicted severe damage to its image. Since he will not resign, it will do itself and the world a favour if it forces him to quit at the earliest. . . . "

Journal of Constitutional and Political Studies 12/17/98 George Landrith ".There has been much talk of Clinton using the military and the current bombing raid on Iraq to improve his chances in what was supposed to be today's impeachment vote. This is now commonly referred to the "wag the dog" scenario thanks to a 1997 movie by the same name in which a fictional president stages a phony war to divert attention from his sex scandal. You see, truth is stranger than fiction and art does imitate life. Patriotic Americans can support the brave fighting men and women who are currently in harms way, and still question the President's judgment and timing There is nothing contridictory about such a position. That is my position -- I support the troops, but not the President's misuse of them. I absolutely support and pray for our armed forces. I do not want to see even one soldier, sailor, or airman become a casualty of war. Yet, as to the President's actions and timing, I cannot stand silent in light of the facts. Here are the facts. Since 1992, Saddam Hussein has been flouting, ignoring, and disregarding the Cease Fire Agreement from the Gulf War. He has been rebuilding his armed forces and his weaponry. He has been buiding weapons of mass destruction. He has repeatedly and consistently rebuffed our efforts to insure his compliance with the Cease Fire Agreement. There has never been a time where he was cooperative. Now let's look at how Clinton has used military force in the face of Saddam's consistent and long-standing behavior.."

Journal of Constitutional and Political Studies 12/17/98 George Landrith ".On January 26, 1998, Bill Clinton performs his now infamous finger wagging denial that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman." The next day, he sent his Cabinet officials -- amid much fanfare and public posturing about military reprisals against Iraq -- to Europe to build support for military attacks against Iraq. He publicly warned Saddam Hussein not to "defy the will of the world.".

Journal of Constitutional and Political Studies 12/17/98 George Landrith ".On June 30, 1998, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright ordered Mr. Clinton's deposition in the Paula Jones case -- in which he perjured himself many, many times -- to be made public. Later that day, a United States F-16 fighter jet fired on an Iraqi radar site for the first time since jets did so in November 1996, one day before the presidential election..

Journal of Constitutional and Political Studies 12/17/98 George Landrith ".On August 17, 1998, Clinton appeared before a federal grand jury to testify about his perjury, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. Later that night, he delivered the worst speech by a president in this Century in which he inflamed even members of his own party by his continued denials and arrogance. As a result numerous Democratic senators took to the Senate floor to strongly denounce Clinton. And on August 20, 1998, Monica Lewinsky testified before the federal grand jury and described how the president had encouraged her to continue denying the relationship and to submit a false affidavit. Later that day, on August 20, 1998, Clinton ordered the attack on "terrorist facilities" in Sudan and Afghanistan. It now turns out that most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not consulted in any meaningful way prior to the attack and that the sites that Clinton ordered bombed were probably not "terrorist facilities" at all. It is now abundantly clear that the attack was poorly planned and based on weak evidence thrown together quite hastily.. "

Journal of Constitutional and Political Studies 12/17/98 George Landrith ".On November 13, 1998, Clinton settled the lawsuit with Ms. Jones by paying her $850,000, which is several hundred thousand dollars more than she even asked for in her lawsuit. The settlement was widely viewed as a tacit admission that he had in fact made crude and unwanted sexual advances to Ms. Jones. Also on that day, Judge Starr delivered to Congress an additional 4 boxes of evidence against Clinton. The very next day, on November 14, 1998, Clinton ordered a massive missile attack against Iraq and then suddenly aborted the mission after the planes were in the air. Again, all this was done amid much fanfare and media coverage. Clinton said he remained ready to take military action if needed..."

Scott Ritter 9/3/98 Wall Street Journal ".Last week I resigned as an arms inspector for the United Nations Special Commission [UNSCOM] in Iraq to protest the Clinton administration's failure to support our efforts. In a television interview Tuesday, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright asserted that I don't "have a clue" about U.S. policy toward Iraq. In fact, the administration's policy can only be ascertained through a series of clues, because what it says and what it does are two different things. President Clinton and Ms. Albright have both declared their support for UNSCOM's inspection efforts - but these declarations do not describe the administration's real policy, as I know firsthand.Mr. Butler ordered me to remain in Baghdad and to assemble my team for an Aug. 5 start. He needed to coordinate closely with Security Council members, but was resolute in his belief that this was the right course of action. Upon his return to Bahrain, Mr. Butler began his consultations. Among the people consulted was Ms. Albright. According to people present during these consultations, the secretary of state made a strong argument against the inspection being allowed to go forward. As a result, Mr. Butler sent me instructions that the inspection was to be pushed back until Aug.10, leaving him enough time to return to New York, present his report to the Security Council, and carry out additional consultations. I was afraid that Mr. Butler was going to be pressured to shut the inspections down. Waiting for a final decision from him was difficult enough, but the situation was exacerbated by an almost comical turn of events. Apparently, a television crew had filmed my arrival at the UNSCOM compound that morning, and this footage was being broadcast in the U.S., where it was seen by National Security Adviser Samuel Berger. Two knowledgeable U.S. government officials told me that Mr. Berger assumed I was trying to initiate an inspection in contravention of Ms. Albright's expressed wishes. He called the U.S. mission to the U.N., which placed a frantic call to Mr. Butler, who explained that this was not the case. However, given the sensitivities of the Washington national security team, Mr. Butler ordered me to confine myself to the UNSCOM compound and to avoid being seen by the press. On Aug. 8, Mr. Butler called me and instructed me to leave Baghdad immediately. The Inspection was being canceled. There was, the executive chairman said, no support for this kind of activity at this time. The only honorable response was to resign, ending my relationship with an organization whose mission I had believed in.."

FoxNews 12/17/98 Reuters ".Russia recalled its ambassador to Washington amid mounting polarization in world opinion as the United States and Britain struck at Iraq again early Friday. The Russians joined other countries in calling for the raids to stop. But some stood behind Washington and London and blamed Baghdad for creating the crisis. As the United States and Britain unleashed new waves of missile and bomb attacks on Iraq overnight, salvos of reaction reverberated around the world. Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Thursday after the initial strikes that they "crudely violated'' the United Nations Charter and were "fraught with the most dramatic consequences'' for the Gulf region. Hours later came the announcement that Russia had recalled its ambassador Yuli Vorontsov to Washington."

Associated Press 12/17/98 J L Hazelton ".Fear of greater instability in the Middle East and a surge of sympathy for the Iraqi people led many Thursday to oppose U.S. and British airstrikes on Baghdad. Most NATO allies, however, backed the attacks. Arab states unanimously condemned the military action, shattering the quiet support Washington enjoyed in last month's standoff with Baghdad. ``Once again, Iraq is being subjected to military attacks whose circumstances remain suspicious and whose objectives remain unclear,'' the Organization of the Islamic Conference said in a statement issued by its headquarters in Saudi Arabia. The 52-nation group, which represents the world's 1 billion Muslims and every Arab nation, called for an ``immediate halt'' to the strikes. Russian President Boris Yeltsin denounced the attack with a warning that it could shatter regional security and recalled its U.S. ambassador in protest. China and France appealed for an immediate end to the strikes. The three, as permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, can veto resolutions. Britain and the United States are the other two permanent members, leaving that body deeply divided. The Security Council makes the final decision on when to lift the sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which sparked the Persian Gulf War. The council has said it will not do so until inspectors certify the destruction of Iraq's weapons programs.."

The Times of India 12/18/98 ".The US and British air strikes on Iraq demonstrate the utter helplessness of the United Nations Security Council. Fifty three years after the establishment of the UN, the message these attacks send out is that might is right and that powerful nations can get away with blatant acts of aggression. Three permanent members of the Security Council -- Russia, China and France -- are impotent witnesses to an attack . . . "

Capitol Hill Blue 12/17/98 Doug Thompson ".There's no doubt Iraq should be bombed back into the stone age and Saddam Hussein should be dispatched for his long-overdue meeting with Allah. Military strategists can offer a hundred reasons for pounding Iraq with a hail of cruise missiles. But Wednesday's attacks on Iraq had nothing to do with military strategy. Bill Clinton issued the order for only one reason: to save his lying ass. Few things in life are more dangerous than a cornered animal. Clinton was cornered. With the impeachment debate scheduled to start today in the House of Representatives, he had to try something -- anything -- to delay the inevitable And he did. By ordering deployment of hundreds of cruise missiles, the First Felon forced the House leadership to delay impeachment proceedings, although even the usually-gullible Republicans say they aren't fooled by this stunt and will only wait so long before holding the vote that will send Billy and his felonious acts over to the Senate for trial..When the order finally did come Wednesday, those same leaders realized that, this time, they would be sending men and women into battle for all the wrong reasons. Once again, Bill Clinton's overwhelming desire to protect his political butt at any cost had overridden all other considerations. Which can only mean one thing. If any soldier, sailor or airman dies because of the orders issued on Wednesday, their deaths will be murder at the hands of William Jefferson Clinton. In which case, we should forget about impeaching the son-of-a-bitch. He should, instead, be arrested, tried, and convicted of First Degree Murder."

Reuters 12/17/98 ".Russia's political leaders, in a show of anti-American unity rarely seen since the Cold War, denounced air strikes against Iraq Thursday and claimed moral leadership of international opposition to the raids. Military sources told Interfax news agency Russia had placed some naval and air forces on heightened alert. The Kremlin and Defense Ministry did not confirm or deny the report but there was no sign of anything but a routine response to the action. Russia's opposition-dominated State Duma, the lower house of parliament, passed almost unanimously a resolution accusing the United States and Britain of a "barbarous'' act undertaken in defiance of the United Nations. "These activities constitute international terrorism,'' the Duma resolution said. President Boris Yeltsin said the strikes, to punish Baghdad for obstructing U.N. arms inspections, "crudely violated'' the United Nations charter and should be halted immediately. "It is outrageous that the strike was launched at the very moment when the (U.N.) Security Council was still discussing this issue,'' Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov told his cabinet. ''This action lies fully on the conscience of the Americans.'' ."

MSNBC 12/17/98 Tom Curry Jonathan Broder "."I can't argue with the point that (Saddam) needs to be responded to," former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger told CNN. "My problem is that it is taken in the face of the impeachment issue. To put it in the mildest possible terms I can, I think the whole process of getting here after wasting six months smells to high heaven.".."

arabicnews.com 12/17/98 ".UN Secretary General Kofi Annan indicated that the US policy towards Iraq is different from that of the United Nations. In a press conference held Monday at UN headquarters in New York, Annan said "There are areas where Washington's policies diverge from those of the United Nations, and I think one case in point is that of Iraq, where the Council has made it clear that we should disarm Iraq, and the moment we get the indication from the inspectors, from Mr. Butler, that Iraq has been disarmed, sanctions will be lifted. American policy goes beyond that." He supported the idea of a comprehensive review of the sanctions imposed on Iraq, saying, " I think the Council itself would want to know, after eight years of sanctions, where it stands, what has been achieved, what needs to be done, and within what reasonable time frame it can be done. So, obviously, the Council will have to take a decision." .

The New York Times 12/17/98 William Safire ".Has Bill Clinton at long last had a change of heart about Saddam Hussein? Or is his sudden hawkishness -- on the eve of Impeachment Day -- a trick to buy time, delay the vote on spurious national security grounds and play for a break in the House? ."

The New York Times 12/17/98 Bob Herbert "."We interrupt this impeachment to bring you the bombing of Iraq . . ."

The Washington Post 12/17/98 Jim Hoagland ".President Clinton has indelibly associated a justified military response to Saddam Hussein's defiance of international law with his own wrongdoing in the White House and the impeachment threat it cre ated. The military campaign launched under these circumstances is a foreign policy blunder of major proportions. Striking Saddam's regime to protect Iraqis, their Arab neighbors and the world from his hidden weapons of mass destruction is a serious mission -- far too serious to be obscured and put under the cloud of suspicion that Clinton inevitably kicked up by the timing of his decision, which will delay the scheduled House vote on impeachment.."

World Net Daily EZINE 12/17/98 David Bresnahan ".One U.S. senator is not shy about his stand on impeachment or his belief that President Bill Clinton may be picking a fight with Iraq at the wrong time. "If I were a member of the House, I would vote to impeach, that is send the issue to the Senate for trial," said Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT). "It's clear to me that the president has lied under oath to the grand jury, and we have impeached and removed federal judges who've done the same thing." Bennett said he expects Clinton to remain in office and fight for his position until the bitter end, one way or the other. He was not prepared to make his views known regarding a trial in the Senate, but he said he believes enough evidence has been shown to justify having the House vote for impeachment so a trial can begin. His comments came shortly before air strikes against Iraq began on Wednesday. Bennett told WorldNetDaily that he is very suspicious of Clinton's motives and timing for the attacks.."We've had briefings on the Iraq situation before," added Bennett. "The president has told us through his representatives in these secret briefings that an attack on Iraq is hours away before. In every case it didn't happen. I'm not high on the credibility of this administration on some of these areas. We'll just wait and see what happens." If reports are true, speculation that Clinton is trying to "wag the dog" may soon be substantiated. A report in the Washington Post claims the problems which precipitated the attacks on Iraq may have indeed been fabricated. Clinton claimed that his actions were forced by a report he received from Executive Chairman Richard Butler of the U.N. Special Commission. That report detailed a number of problems dealing with inspection efforts in Iraq. Separate unnamed sources claimed that someone from the Clinton administration played a direct role in the drafting of Butler's report. The report was drafted in a secure conference call on Monday, according to the sources. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is responsible for Iraq's nuclear disarmament, sent a report attached to Butler's that expressed satisfaction with Iraq's cooperation. Further evidence that Butler's report may be contrived since the two gave contradictory information. Bennett is the chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000. He has been actively sounding the alarm about problems that may result because of the computer glitch that will occur on January 1, 2000. Asked if he expected President Clinton to be in office on that date, he hinted that a Senate trial on impeachment may still be underway at that time..."

Reuters 12/17/98 ".The spokesman said Yeltsin was meeting Primakov, the chief of the general staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin, and the Kremlin security adviser Nikolai Bordyuzha to discuss the Iraq crisis as well as other matters. rimakov, a former foreign minister, is a Middle East specialist and fluent Arabic speaker who has played a mediating role between Iraq and the West before, including on the eve of the 1991 Gulf War. Russia has long argued against using military force against Iraq while insisting Baghdad should comply with United Nations resolutions calling for it to give up weapons of mass destruction. Moscow has said the U.S. and British action contravenes U.N. rules.."

Manchester Union Leader 12/18/98 Richard Lessner ".When the President says that Iraq had to be bombed right now, at this particular moment, we are not inclined to believe him. Bill Clinton simply is not trustworthy. He is a proven, self-confessed liar who cannot be trusted.."

USA Journal 12/18/87 Jon E. Dougherty ".As I briefly touched on yesterday - but have mentioned before - the Constitution of this United States does not - I repeat, does not - give presidents unilateral authority to send U.S. military forces into action without the expressed approval of a full vote of Congress. Forget about the "War Powers" laws and all that crap because a law which is passed that grants an undue power to a branch of government is invalid and becomes a moot point. Just because a law stands unchallenged doesn't mean it's right."

12/18/98 Charles Krauthammer ".In November 1997, Saddam Hussein kicked U.N. arms inspectors out of Iraq. For 13 months since then, Bill Clinton has watched and dithered, threatened and flinched, while Saddam set about reconstituting his weapons of mass destruction. Then, after 400 days of inaction, hours before the House of Representatives was to impeach him, Clinton decided that this was the day to take America to war. This is all a coincidence, of course. Saddam's weapons program is a "clear and present danger," explained the president in his address Wednesday night. But it has been a clear and present danger for 400 days. Scott Ritter, the former U.N. inspector, told us this summer that for months Saddam has been reconstituting his weapons, thanks in part to "interference and manipulation" of the inspection team by a Clinton administration eager to placate Saddam. Now all of a sudden, placating is out and the danger is present. In November ('97) and February and August and October, Saddam gave clear provocation -- expelling or shutting down the inspectors -- and Clinton did nothing. Six weeks ago, Saddam's termination of the inspections was so blatant that for once we had China, France, Russia and key Arab states supporting us. Yet Clinton sat. What pushed him over the edge this time? A report. Clinton said that after reviewing U.N. chief inspector Richard Butler's report on Iraqi noncompliance, he had to act. But there was nothing in the report he did not already know. Among the report's documented violations, Clinton told the nation, was that "prior to the inspection of [one] site, Iraq actually emptied out the building." Shocked -- shocked! -- to find cheating going on, Clinton took America to war."

8/21/98 Lawrie Mifflin ".After a week of what felt like nonstop talk about sex, ties and audiotape involving President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, television screens were overtaken Thursday by news of a different shock value. When President Clinton announced, just before 2 p.m. ET, that the United States had bombed what he described as terrorist bases in Afghanistan and the Sudan, television news networks shifted into full-tilt coverage of a more conventional kind -- interviewing experts in terrorism, military affairs and politics; showing video of the still-burning building in Khartoum, and carrying the president's formal address to the nation at 5:30 p.m. But the Lewinsky matter was melded into the bombing coverage almost immediately because of the similarity between reality and the recent movie "Wag the Dog," in which a fictional American president fabricated a war to divert attention from reports that he had propositioned a young girl in the White House..Ms. Lewinsky's appearance before the grand jury Thursday, which otherwise would have been prominent news, was relegated to brief reports near the end of the three broadcast-network evenings news programs. By day's end, the television images of Clinton had again become presidential, as he was seen interrupting his vacation, striding onto Air Force One to return to the White House, and then addressing the nation in the mode of commander in chief, against a full-dress backdrop of the American and presidential flags. It was a sharp contrast to his dreary demeanor and the somber setting of Monday's confessional appearance..."

Jerusalem Post 12/18/98 Arieh O'Sullivan ". Senior security sources said last night that Saddam Hussein's main goal now is to survive the joint US-British attack on Iraq, adding that the first signs of a crack in the dictator's self-confidence has emerged. The sources point to the fact that Hussein has divided his country into four districts, headed by some of his most loyal and brutal lieutenants, as a sign he is afraid of losing control. "Whenever he delegates authority it's scary," said one senior security source..."

Freeper Goodsense 12/18/98 on MSNBC ".On thursday nights broadcast, Tibble, the on-the- spot fireworks commentator for MSNBC remarked that he had just arrived across the border just seven days ago. I just find it interesting that the media, which otherwise would have no justifiable reason to sit around in IRAQ, suddenly sends crews in just seven days before a bombing strike. More fuel for 'Wags' (WH slang for Wag the Dog proponents). ."

Freeper Goodsense 12/18/98 on MSNBC ".Military Expert says bombs are falling on empty buildings. Impossible to accomplish in three days what it took weeks to accomplish in Desert Storm with full scale air attacks from multinational forces. The expert went on to say (paraphrased) "If they think they can accomplish anywhere near what they claim in 'degradation' of Saddams infrastructure in only three days, they are smoking something they ought not to." Which leads to the following question: What purpose for the attacks? If there is no gained objective, what else can it be but a wag-the-dog ?."

AP Breaking News 12/18/98 ".Arab states have unanimously condemned the U.S. attacks on Iraq, shattering the quiet support Washington enjoyed in last month's standoff with Baghdad. Many Arab and Muslim governments questioned both the timing and the motivation of Thursday's strikes. ``Once again, Iraq is being subjected to military attacks whose circumstances remain suspicious and whose objectives remain unclear,'' the Organization of the Islamic Conference said in a statement issued Thursday by its headquarters in Saudi Arabia. The 52-nation group, which represents the world's 1 billion Muslims and every Arab nation, called for an ``immediate halt'' to the strikes. In Cairo, the secretary general of the 21-nation Arab League, Esmat Abdel- Meguid, said the attack was a direct outcome of the critical, one-sided report issued earlier in the week by chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler. Several major Arab nations sent a different message last month when the United States was preparing to strike Iraq to force it to resume cooperation with U.N. inspectors seeking to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction. Eight Arab states - including heavyweights Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria - warned Baghdad mid-November that it would be ``held responsible for any consequences.'' This lack of Arab support is thought to have played a significant role in the decision by Iraq's President Saddam Hussein to back down and resume cooperation at the 11th hour. But this time not one Arab government has expressed support for the strikes.."

The London Free Press 12/18/98 Matthew Fisher ".Five weeks ago, U.S. President Bill Clinton squandered a rare green light from Russia, China, France and most of the Arab world to launch air strikes against Iraq. When Clinton suddenly conducted cruise missile diplomacy against Saddam Hussein this week, that carefully crafted international consensus crumbled. The president now finds himself at odds with almost the entire international community. Worse than that for his own precarious political health, he's confronting immense skepticism from House and Senate Republicans in Washington who usually relish such military adventures.."

Washington Times 12/18/98 Rowan Scarborough ".The White House orchestrated a plan to provoke Saddam Hussein into defying United Nations weapons inspectors so President Clinton could justify air strikes, former and current government officials charge. Scott Ritter, a former U.N. inspector who resigned this summer, said Thursday the U.N. Special Commission (Unscom) team led by Richard Butler deliberately chose sites it knew would provoke Iraqi defiance at the White House's urging. Mr. Ritter also said Mr. Butler, executive chairman of the Unscom, conferred with the Clinton administration's national security staff on how to write his report of noncompliance before submitting it to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday night. The former inspector said the White House wanted to ensure the report contained sufficiently tough language on which to justify its decision to bomb Iraq. "I'm telling you this was a preordained conclusion. This inspection was a total setup by the United States," Mr. Ritter said. "The U.S. was pressing [the U.N.] to carry out this test. The test was very provocative. They were designed to elicit Iraqi defiance." Mr. Ritter resigned from Unscom in August, accusing the Clinton administration of interfering in how and when inspections were carried out. Mr. Butler, in charge of inspections to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, denied the charges at a U.N. press conference. "Now, I want to say simply, slowly and plainly that any suggestion that that report was not factual, was not objective, is utterly false," he said. Military sources say the White House notified the Pentagon on Sunday -- the same day that Mr. Butler ordered an end to inspections -- that air strikes would begin this week. The warning came two days before Mr. Butler submitted his report -- the catalyst the administration cites for Mr. Clinton ordering Wednesday's start of a four-day bombing campaign. Asked about a Sunday decision before the report was done, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen told reporters, "We have always been prepared to go during the month of December, to take action.."

Reuters 12/18/98 ".Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday she regretted the recall of Russia's ambassador over U.S. air strikes against Iraq, but that she would not recall the U.S. ambassador in Moscow. ``I think it's unfortunate that they're recalling their ambassador. We're not planning to recall ours,'' she said on NBC's ``Today'' morning news show, adding that she would speak with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov later Friday. *The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that it was recalling Moscow's ambassadors to the United States and Britain because of the crisis over Iraq. ``Clearly the Russians disagree with us about the use of force in Iraq. They, however, have no good ideas about how to solve the problem,'' Albright said. Albright also said she had heard reports of Russian troop movements, confirmed earlier by Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin in Moscow, but she gave no details. ``We've heard that they're moving around, and it's unclear to us the purpose,'' Albright said.."

Freeper Patriot 12/18/98 on FoxNews reports ".At a new conference today the Prime Minister of Iraq called Clinton a liar and said: How can you trust a man who lied to the US Congress, The US Population and his wife. What is the World to believe?."

CNS 12/18/98 ".House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and other Democratic House members voiced their concerns Friday about whether the House should debate Articles of Impeachment against President Bill Clinton while American troops are on-station in the Persian Gulf region spearheading missile attacks on Iraq. But the comments of Gephardt and his colleagues this week stand in stark contrast to some of his remarks from 1990 and 1991, when then-President George Bush was laying plans for the Gulf War that led to the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.... The Missouri Democrat took his complaints to the floor of the House in January, 1991, saying "Our leadership told the president that if he decides that military force must be used to achieve our objectives, he must obtain a congressional authorization before committing our troops to war," according to the Congressional Record. The Record also showed that Gephardt warned that for Bush "To launch an offensive military action against Iraq without the consent of Congress would provoke a constitutional crisis and lead our nation into an armed conflict divided"."Our young people are inconvenienced today, who are in the Persian Gulf," said Gephardt, who also claimed that American troops in the region are "being shot at." Pentagon officials have said that no hostile fire has been aimed at American forces in the region, and most troops are at distant air bases and on-board warships at sea, hundreds of miles from where U.S. cruise missiles are exploding. The Pentagon also stated earlier today that the Iraqi Army does not appear to have been mobilized in response to Clinton's missile attacks.."

FoxNews 12/19/98 Reuters ".Russia delivered its sharpest warning yet over continuing American and British air strikes on Iraq Friday as tens of thousands of Muslims across the world vented their anger by demonstrating and burning American flags. As Britain and the United States went into a third night of missile and bomb attacks intended to punish Iraq for failing to cooperate fully with United Nations weapons inspectors, few countries offered resounding support. Russia, traditionally sympathetic to Iraq and furious at not having been consulted on the raids, recalled its ambassadors from Washington - something it had not done even during the Cold War - and from Britain. Then Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov went further, telling Secretary of State Madeleine Albright by telephone: "If this action is not stopped, Russian- American relations can seriously suffer...Everything must be done to rule out a setback in our relations.'' An earlier Kremlin statement had condemned the strikes but said ties with Western partners would not be severed. Meanwhile, Friday prayers provided a focus for seething popular discontent in the Muslim world, although governments in the region have largely refrained from condemning the attacks.."

http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/daily/0,2960,17161-101981218,00.html Frank Pellegrini 12/17/98 ".Is the Cold War heating up again? China and Russia's table-pounding at the Security Council over the ongoing Iraq attack is still mostly show. But history could look back on Operation Desert Fox as the U.S. snub that drove the once loaded-with-nukes and future loaded-with-money superpowers into a fearsome pairing. "This is the first time in years that a Russo-Chinese alliance really looks possible," says TIME Moscow bureau chief Paul Quinn-Judge. "Both countries feel that the U.S. is treating them like second-class world citizens, and there's a general political feeling that they have to start fighting back.".."

Reuters 12/18/98 ".Russia's military called into question its embryonic relations with long-time foe NATO on Friday and said the Iraq crisis was forcing it into an overall security rethink that could create a new Cold War-style divide. Russia is fuming about U.S.-British raids on Iraq, not least because it was not consulted but also because it painfully highlights its limited room for maneuver. Its cash-starved military also fears the operation could be part of a tactic to turn NATO into a global rather than transatlantic force. "The situation that has arisen demands careful analysis and a correction to our approaches to the problems of international security," Defense Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev said in a rare statement. He did not spell out what form that rethink would take but his international cooperation chief, Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, put some flesh on the bones. "If Russia's opinion continues to be ignored Moscow will be forced to change its military-political priorities and may become the leader of that part of world society which disagrees with diktat," a ministry spokesman quoted Ivashov as saying. The strikes had disrupted "the entire system of international security relations," he said.."

UPI 12/18/98 Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov ("EE- gore ee-vah-NAWF") has warned U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright of the risk of a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations if the bombardment of Iraq continues. Russian diplomatic sources say Ivanov told Albright in a telephone conversation today that the relationship, built up over years, could be derailed, and the blame would be Washington's alone. The sources say Ivanov was instructed today by President Boris Yeltsin to find a political solution to the Iraqi crisis, and to use all diplomatic means to press the United States to halt its military action. Russia has recalled its ambassadors from Washington and London to signify Moscow's outrage at the attack on Iraq..On Thursday, Primakov told U.S. Vice President Al Gore he could not accept U.S. arguments for the bombing campaign. He demanded an immediate end to the operation.."

AP 12/18/98 BEIJING ".China criticized the United States for its airstrikes against Iraq today, calling the attacks a case of ``power politics'' that set a dangerous precedent. The ruling Communist Party's leading newspaper, People's Daily, said that Washington circumvented the U.N. Security Council and ignored diplomatic norms when it acted alone in attacking Iraq, ``creating a dangerous and odious precedent that shocked the entire world.'' President Jiang Zemin has sent a personal message to President Clinton urging an end to U.S. and British air strikes on Iraq, state media reported today. Jiang argued that diplomacy still could convince Iraq to resume cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors. He was responding to a message from Clinton explaining the U.S. position.."

A Whitewater Resercher's excerpts of USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/ 12/18/98 Jack Kelley Daniela Deane ".EXCERPTS: "...He moves from house to van to bomb shelter, seldom sleeping in the same bed two nights in a row....He uses three body doubles and dozens of trick cars to divert enemies. Friends and relatives are strip-searched before meeting him....Saddam Hussein is a paranoid man....Hundreds of people would like to kill him...including some members of his own family....intelligence agencies have been watching him more closely than ever....They've trained satellites and listening devices onto him to track his movements and conversations....They are also increasing their contacts with Iraqi opposition leaders and defectors....Apparently fearing for his life, Saddam has curtailed nearly all of his public appearances. His "live" broadcasts on Iraqi television are staged hours before with handpicked supporters...."There is an intricate system of secrecy and deception that goes on,"...Saddam has also drastically reduced his telephone conversations for fear they may be intercepted by satellite..."

Larry Nichols 12/18/98 ".It would seem that someone in our government, someone in Congress, someone in one of the committees that oversees our military should intercede with the senseless killing in Iraq, because it is obvious that Bill Clinton is a madman! Bill Clinton hs finally done what we have all been saying for far too long. He will do anything to keep his power.."

The Washington Post 12/18/98 Barton Gellman and Vernon Loeb ".The American-led bombardment of Iraq struck hard from the first night at five Republican Guard divisions deemed essential to protecting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from an armed uprising, attempting to kill large numbers of the regime's most loyal soldiers in their beds, according to a high-ranking defense official with firsthand knowledge of the target list. Contrary to public denials, repeated Friday by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, senior uniformed and civilian defense officials said it was a central war aim, as one top officer put it, ``to weaken the regime.'' By surprising and incapacitating what one called ``Saddam's palace guard,'' officials intend to make room for large-scale rebellion by disaffected army units outside Baghdad. Another component of that strategy was acknowledged at the Pentagon Friday, when Cohen and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that U.S. military aircraft dropped 2 million leaflets on Iraqi army units in southern Iraq. The text of the leaflets was calculated in part to drive a wedge between regular Iraqi troops and the better- paid, better equipped Republican Guard.."

HUMAN EVENTS 12/18/98 Ann Coulter ".It is now reasonably clear that the man occupying the Oval Office is a lunatic. On the eve of the President's near-certain impeachment, he abandoned options 1,2,3,and 4 (involving variations on a new contrition speech)and settled on option 5: Bomb Iraq. Instead of putting off the impeachment vote, the House should have voted to impeach him that very day. A president who uses his duties as Commander in Chief to bomb foreign countries every time he wants to change the subject, ought to be removed with alacrity..Also BD (Before the Dress), presidential flack, and Barney Frank sibling, Ann Lewis said this of Clinton's "these allegations are false" position: [Clinton's] very clear statements will be substantiated . . I don't [have doubts in my president]. I have no doubts. I believe this president, my president. I have known him for years. I have seen him in some very difficult times. I have seen how hard he works. I have seen how much he cares. I believe in Bill Clinton. Why should we believe any of the whole lot of them now? More realistic is the vote of the Russian Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, the day after the bombing: ``The State Duma appeals to Ms. Lewinsky to undertake corresponding measures to restrain the emotions of Bill Clinton." .."

NBC News 12/19/98 Freeper report ".The NBC correspondent in Bagdad reported that after each vote in Washington, a volly of anti-aircraft fire commenced, although no plane or cruise missles were seen. What a sad situation Clinton has put the country in."

FoxNews ".Baghdad came under attack on the fourth consecutive day of air strikes on Iraq Saturday with at least one missile hitting the northern outskirts of the city, witnesses said. Iraqi anti-aircraft fire lit the night sky during the attack which took place at 09.35 p.m (1835 GMT). Iraqi defenses had opened up about three hours earlier but there had been no earlier reports of missiles landing.."

AP 12/19/98 JocelynNoveck ".Throwing stones, burning flags and even breaking into a U.S. ambassador's home, protesters throughout the Arab world joined Saturday in a bitter wave of anger over the airstrikes on Iraq. A common theme of the protests was that all Arabs - not just Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - are being targeted by the U.S. and British attacks. "The aggression on Iraq is an aggression on the whole Arab nation,'' said Aziza Fadhel, a university student in the Syrian capital, Damascus...In a rare protest in the Syrian capital, thousands marched through downtown Damascus on Saturday, and about 1,000 people - most of them students - attacked the U.S. Embassy, its nearby residence and the American Cultural Center.."

Reuters 12/19/98 FoxNews ".U.S. and British forces launched a fourth night of air strikes against Iraq Saturday, the first day of Islam's holy month of Ramadan, as Baghdad vowed to resist the attacks until its "last citizen.'' Anti-aircraft fire lit the sky over the Iraqi capital, mostly over its southeastern outskirts, for about 30 minutes, ending around 7.15 p.m. (1615 GMT). It resumed around two hours later and witnesses reported at least one missile hitting the city. "I tell you all that Iraq will continue to defend its land, policy and dignity...We will fight until the last citizen,'' Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan told a news conference in Baghdad. He also said the mission of U.N. inspectors charged with destroying Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was over. It was Baghdad's alleged obstruction of the inspector's work that triggered the U.S. and British strikes.."

AFP 12/19/98 TEHRAN "..British and US troops entered Iraqi territory on Friday night across the Saudi border, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported Saturday. Citing "informed sources in Khoramshahr," a town bordering Iraq in southwestern Iran, the news agency said the troops had "advanced five kilometres (three miles) into Iraqi territory." The sources, which were not further identified, were unable to say whether or not the troops had remained in Iraq. An Iraqi information ministry official said Friday that Saudi armoured units had advanced to the Iraqi border the previous day on an apparent reconnaissance mission before pulling back.."

MSNBC Freeper vger reports 12/19/98 (after impeachment vote) ".I just heard Tim Russert say that Clinton is meeting with his national security team to end the bombing in Iraq. I wonder who's gonna get it when the trial starts in the Senate?."

The Orlando Sentinel 12/20/98 Charley Reese ".In a season in which Christians celebrate the son of God's message of peace and love, Clinton has forced the American military to kill innocent people in Iraq to distract the American public from Clinton's own law-breaking Clinton is an evil man. His administration is corrupt from one end to the other and is riddled with liars. The decision to bomb Iraq was clearly designed to postpone the impeachment vote. It was a put-up job from start to finish. Note these facts: Iraq did not throw the arms inspectors out. Richard Butler, the little weasel and stooge for Clinton, deliberately set up a confrontation by trying to crash his way into the Ba'ath political party headquarters, knowing that he would be refused. What, after all, did he expect to find? A missile in a file cabinet? Then Butler ordered his minions out of the country on his own, without consulting the United Nations Security Council or the secretary-general, and filed a one-sided report. Clinton then ordered the attack before the Security Council could even finish discussing the report. In a demonic way, Clinton is sewing the seeds of war, hatred and death. The bombing of Iraq is an act of American terrorism, pure and simple. Unfortunately, innocent Americans will reap the bloody harvest. Clinton has no policy... More and more America seems surreal. People no longer know right from wrong. Television treats war like just another show ("We'll be right back to tell you more about the killing after these messages.") Ignorance and malice have replaced education and civility. A recent survey showed a huge majority of American high- school students are liars, cheats and thieves. Absent a religious revival, I wouldn't give you 2 cents for the future of this country. Merry Christmas.."

Freeper Dana112 12/19/98 reports ".It was reported that a cheer went up over Baghdad after the FOURTH article of impeachment was voted down in the House. You know why? Because they knew that once the impeachement vote was over that the bombing would stop because that was the entire reason for the bombing in the first place. And does anyone note that Clinton;s excuse for starting the bombing on the night before the impeachment vote was completely demolished when he continued to bomb on RAMADAN?? ."

E-Mail 12/20/98 Charles Smith ".The Pentagon -U.S. war-planners are not all that happy with operation DESERT FOX. The strike was telegraphed to Iraq far in advance and mostof the Iraqi mobile Surface to Air missile (SAM) units escapeddamage. The prime target for U.S. strikes, the IraqiIntegrated Air Defense network (NATO code-name "Tiger Song"), suffered no major damage and appears to have lost no missile units. The only real "hard target" kills that can be claimed are a few attack helicopters destroyed at a northern Iraqi air-base. Ironically, the Iraqi "Tiger Song" system was built using American and French parts exported to China. Iraq purchased the encrypted - secure - fiber optic system from the Chinese Army in 1996. The Clinton administration authorized the exports of a secure, fiber optic, communication systems to China in 1994. According to the GAO, Clinton also authorized the export of an encrypted - secure - air control system directly to the Chinese Air Force using a Presidential waiver.."

Washington weekly 12/21/98 Peter Mulhern ".The Clinton presidency grinds on toward its sordid conclusion. Bill Clinton barricades himself in the White House defying the forces of the law, firing missiles at Baghdad and shooting slime at his tormentors. James Cagney must have played this scene a dozen times. Clinton's degrading scene won't end, like a B Movie, in a hail of bullets. Instead it will end in a flurry of votes, the first of which will have been taken by the time you read this, unless, of course, the president declares martial law and invades Mexico. Since 1992 Democrats have been telling us that Bill Clinton's character flaws don't matter. "Sure he's devious, dishonest, self-centered and sexually incontinent, but he's good for the economy and nobody bites their lower lip with more conviction."...Clinton and his minions claim that we are bombing Iraq for reasons unrelated to the president's impeachment. Doubtless a good case can be made for the bombing without reference to domestic politics. But anyone who believes that this president did not attack Iraq for petty, personal reasons is a fool.When the Clinton administration arranged to receive a report on Iraq's cooperation with UNSCOM that same week, the president knew that report would provide an excuse for military action. An honest report filed at any time in the last several years could not fail to provide such an excuse. In sum, Clinton arranged to have a reason for attacking Iraq at the very moment he might badly need a diversion to help him fight impeachment. He went to great lengths to avoid attacking Iraq for years, until such an attack served a compelling political purpose. Then he reversed field, manufactured a timely casus belli, and he struck..."

The Pioneer 12/20/98 Shubha Singh ".Among the hundreds of cruise missiles that were fired at Iraq on Wednesday night, a couple of them fell in Khorramshahr town in Iran's Khuzestan province. There was some damage to property, but fortunately no resultant casualties in Iran. That is one of the problems of these high-tech weapons, fired from afar, they are not as accurate as their users would want them to be. Fired at Iraq, they land in Iran. Aimed at Afghanistan, they drop down in Pakistan. And then there is what the Americans term collateral damage. The ugly phrase meaning civilian deaths.Bombing Iraq is an abuse of power, in the belief that there can be no retribution. This is the first time that the Security Council has been sidetracked so blatantly. Washington was so quick o send out its missiles that it did not even make the effort of getting support from anyone other than its closest ally, Britain, at the time of the attack. Even the other permanent members of the Security Council, which forms the elite core group, were not consulted.."

Washington Weekly 12/21/98 Marvin Lee ".As Congress prepared to vote on impeachment, the president took hostages in a bid to save his skin. Using the defiance of Saddam Hussein which he had tolerated for so many months, he ordered U.S. soldiers in harms way. While the president did not say so specifically, his allies in Congress did: if Republicans went ahead with their plans for impeachment, they would put the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk. In the end, Republicans delayed their impeachment vote by just one day. In a 1995 interview, former Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Jim Johnson said about President Clinton: "You are not dealing with a normal person when you are dealing with Clinton. He is not controlled by character and truth, but by cunning instincts for survival and political expediency. Give him and inch and he will beat your brains out! He is capable of causing a Third World War, martial law, or whatever to maintain his position of power.While the Russians were left in the dark, Clinton's allies at CNN had been told well in advance to have their star reporter at Baghdad with a nightscope camera and a satellite link to Atlanta. As the movie "Wag the Dog" illustrated, a war has no propaganda effect unless carefully choreographed for TV consumption.."

AP 12/20/98 ".The airstrikes on Iraq boosted Saddam Hussein's standing among fellow Arabs and made a dangerous conflict potentially more so, Arab commentators said Sunday in a rare consensus. From former U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf War to hard-liners, there was clear agreement in the Arab world that the U.S.-British operation was a big mistake. ``The strike ends, but Saddam remains,'' said the Saudi newspaper Okaz. A cartoon showed Saddam in an underground bunker, relaxing in an armchair with a cigar while watching TV coverage of the bombardment. Reaction elsewhere was muted at best, with leaders mostly expressing relief that the strikes were over and concern that the essential problem of containing Saddam remains. Only Japan and Australia expressed clear support for the mission. Even Kuwait - whose invasion by Iraq in 1990 triggered the Gulf War - refrained from outright support, saying merely that it ``welcomed the announcement'' that hostilities were over.."

The Sunday Times 12/20/98 William Rees-Mogg ".Nobody can be sure what the bombing campaign will achieve in Iraq; there is some evidence, however, of what it is doing to a much more open society, the United States of America. The president raised the question in his address to the nation on Wednesday. He said the bombing was essential to "the credibility of US power". A Washington Post opinion poll has already given part of the answer: 80% of Americans support the bombing; 62% of Americans believe that the president's decision to bomb was influenced by the imminent threat of impeachment. The psychological state of the American people is more subtle and more complex than is shown either by the opinion polls or by the politicians. Both conservative Republican and liberal Democrat views of the president are minority opinions and these minorities are probably quite small.."

Minneapolis Star Tribune 12/18/98 ".Acting on early word from the chief weapons inspector in Iraq, President Clinton set in motion Wednesday's military strike two days before Richard Butler formally told the Security Council that Saddam Hussein again was in defiance of the United Nations, senior administration officials said Thursday. They said that Clinton had not made the final decision to attack Iraq until Tuesday, hours after receiving Butler's report. But two days earlier, Butler had informed Clinton what he intended to say and when he would say it. And the president issued an order to the Pentagon on Sunday morning that began a 72-hour countdown to the assault. The report was delivered to the Security Council and U.S. officials as Clinton was flying home Tuesday from the Middle East. About two hours into the 10-hour flight from Jerusalem, he gave the order to U.S. forces to be prepared to strike within 24 hours But Butler's report was in many ways a formality. Officials at the United Nations and in Washington said that there was little in it that had not been available to U.S. officials days, even weeks, earlier. Military plans and hardware already were in place for raids that could have begun at any time after Dec. 1. The timing of the strikes - on the eve of the House impeachment vote - sparked protests by Republicans who accused Clinton of orchestrating a crisis to slow the momentum toward impeachment.."

Robert Novak 12/21/98 ".On Dec. 9, United Nations weapons inspectors from UNSCOM, acting on a tip, showed up without notification at the Baghdad headquarters of the ruling Baath Party to search for ballistic missile components. The Iraqi escorts, citing a 1996 agreement, said only four inspectors could enter. Richard Butler, the imperious Australian who heads UNSCOM, ruled that the agreement was no longer in force and terminated the inspection because he wanted more inspectors to enter.That is the quality of six complaints cited by Butler in the report Clinton used as cause for war. Iraq barred a Dec. 4 inspection because it was the Muslim Sabbath (though previous inspections had gone forward on Fridays). Two weeks earlier, an UNSCOM helicopter was buzzed by an Iraqi helicopter....These incidents reflect Saddam Hussein's obnoxious style but do not compare to more than 400 unimpeded inspections reported by Iraq since cooperation resumed Nov. 14. And they do not prove the existence of "weapons of mass destruction" claimed by the president but still not discovered by UNSCOM. Butler indignantly denied last week that he carries water for the Americans, but the U.S. government was alerted in advance to what last week's UNSCOM report would contain, As Clinton took Palestinian applause in Gaza last Monday, secret plans were underway for an air strike coinciding with the House impeachment vote. The president had time to consult with Congress and the U.N. Security Council but took no step that might stay his hand. As whenever a president pulls the trigger, Clinton's top national security advisers supported him. But majors and lieutenant colonels at the Pentagon, whose staff work undergirds any military intervention, are, in the words of a senior officer, "200 percent opposed. They disagree fundamentally." They know the attack on Iraq was planned long before Butler's report and consider it politically motivated.."

The Indian Express 12/22/98 ".TEHRAN: Another stray cruise missile from the U.S.-British strikes against Iraq has been found in Iran, a newspaper reported today. The missile landed in a barren area in the Southwestern border province of Khuzestan, the Jomhuri Islami newspaper reported. Iran, which condemned the four-night strikes that ended on Sunday, had strongly protested the accidental landing of another Iraq-bound missile on its territory last week, reports PTI.."

Reuters 12/22/98 ".China on Tuesday trumpeted its role in ending U.S. and British air strikes on Iraq and urged a return to negotiations with Baghdad aimed at resolving the U.N. arms inspection crisis. "China made positive efforts in urging the U.S. and Britain to put an early end to the military action," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao. "President Jiang Zemin delivered an oral message to President Bill Clinton and exchanged views over the telephone with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, elaborating on China's opposition to the use of force," Zhu said. He added that China opposed the use of force in international relations and called on the U.S. to seek a political solution to the crisis.."

Reuters 12/22/98 ".The United States is amenable to increasing the amount of oil Iraq can sell under the oil-for-food program, a U.S. official said Tuesday. "Oil-for-food ... would be the one area where we could see perhaps the possibility of more forward movement, particularly if the humanitarian report indicated there was a greater need for food,'' Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering told a briefing on U.S. policy toward Iraq. Pickering noted that with the decline in the world price of oil, Iraq could not buy as much food at the same export level.." Freeper spartacus notes ".Let me see. We just bombed the hell out of them, (supposedly), now we agree to increase the amount of oil Saddam can sell.."

The Orange County Register 12/22/98 Alan W. Bock, Senior Editorial Writer ".One of the most over-the-top expressions of presidency worship came from retired New York Episcopal Bishop Paul Moore at a save-the-president rally in New York last week. "I think of the millions of people who will suffer and die because the Republicans want to get President Clinton for a personal sin," said the apparently daft ecclesiastic a couple of days before the renowned peacemaker launched missiles.."

Reuters via Newsmax.com 12/22/98 ".Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov called yesterday for a strategic triangle with India and China, after Russia's bitter criticism of the four-day US and British blitz of Iraq. Primakov made clear that Russia would not back down from its condemnation of the strikes, and that it would also condemn any future offensive against Baghdad. ''We will never change our position. We are very negative about the use of force bypassing the Security Council,'' Primakov said in New Delhi. He said Russia, China and India should form a ''strategic triangle'' as a counterweight to US influence in the world. The decision by the United States and Britain to launch air raids without seeking approval from the UN Security Council infuriated Russia, which jealously guards its position as a permanent Security Council member. ."

Freeper Sandi 12/22/98 Center For Security Policy Decision Brief No.98-C 202 ".At present, it is unclear whether President Clinton's 'dog-wagging' bombing campaign against Iraq actually did "degrade" Iraq's weapon of mass destruction (WMD) programs. It certainly did not accomplish the systemic change -- the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime -- that would be necessary for any bomb-inflicted degradation to be more than a temporary setback for the Iraqi despot. What the seventy-hour air campaign did do, however, is: shatter the last vestiges of the Desert Storm-era coalition united in opposition to Saddam and end, apparently permanently, the on-the-ground inspections performed by the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM). As a result, it seems likely that the United Nations' mandated international sanctions regime -- a product of the former and renewed on the basis of unfavorable reports by the latter -- will not long survive. ."

The Village Voice 12/23-29/98 Jason Vest ".Was that a tomahawk missile in his pants or was Bill Clinton just happy to see Richard Butler's report? Even before the bombs actually rained down on Baghdad, cries of "wag the dog" went up from Capitol Hill to Dag Hammarskj"ld Plaza, and accusations characterizing the UNSCOM chairman as a geopolitical handmaiden to his beleaguered American patron began to fly like lethal airborne ordnance. Such speculation was hardly untoward: As former UNSCOM inspector Scott Ritter ably demonstrated earlier this year, Butler does seem to take the Clinton administration's input more seriously than that of his UN bosses. In another vein, it was on the same day Monica Lewinsky gave her grand jury testimony that Clinton commenced an utterly unnecessary bombing of Sudan and Afghanistan under the pretext of immediate "clear and present danger." And, if we reach a little further into the recess of memory, we recall that it was on the eve of Gennifer Flowers's revelations in 1992 that then governor Clinton returned to Arkansas to preside over the execution of a retarded African American..It's always been hard to say what's more amazing about Clinton: his willingness to use his office for self-gain, or his ability to simultaneously co-opt Republican positions and get his fellow Democrats to abandon traditional principles in the name of defending his perpetually imperiled posterior. During the Judiciary Committee's proceedings, for example, New York's Jerrold Nadler held that LBJ should have been impeached for deceiving Congress into passing the Gulf of Tonkin resolution; rather than publicly pondering if a similar standard might apply to Clinton's attacks on Iraq and Sudan, Nadler, like so many other Democrats, rallied round the flagpole.."

Reuters 12/26/98 ".Iraq said its air defenses fired at Western planes attacking a post in southern Iraq Saturday, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) said. "At 11:25 (0825 GMT) this morning formations of enemy planes...attacked one of our air defense positions which confronted them and forced them to drop their load indiscriminately,'' an Iraqi military spokesman, quoted by INA, said..The army said Thursday Western planes violated Iraq's southern airspace for a third straight day but did not report any exchange of fire. U.S., British and French planes, based in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, patrol a no-fly zone in southern Iraq to prevent Baghdad from threatening its Shi'ite Muslim population.."

AP Louis Meixler 12/26/98 ".Iraq will fire on warplanes patrolling the no-fly zones, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Saturday. Speaking on Qatar's Al-Jazeera television, Ramadan was asked if Iraq would accept the overflights of U.S. and British aircraft that maintain no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. ``We say frankly now that any violation to Iraqi airspace will be met by Iraqi fire,'' Ramadan said. The interview was conducted in Baghdad hours after Iraq said its anti-aircraft gunners had driven off an attack by ``enemy'' warplanes that flew in from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia..."

The Hartford Courant 12/27/98 ".Didn't the bombing hurt Mr. Hussein at all? He probably was strengthened more than hurt..Why did Mr. Clinton order an attack on the eve of the House debate on impeachment and end the bombing hours after he was impeached? He insists there is no connection, and he should be given the benefit of the doubt. Only a malevolent president would put American soldiers in harm's way for domestic political purposes..."

Creators Syndicate - www.creators.com 12/27/98 L. Brent Bozell III ".Bill Clinton's decision to unleash the dogs of war as he tip-toes on the precipice of impeachment conjures up a vision of White House defense lawyer Greg Craig appearing before Congress declaring: "The President's military action was evasive, incomplete, misleading, even maddening - but it's not impeachable." There's no dodging the suspicion that Clinton is seeking to save his bacon by dropping some megatonnage on Saddam Hussein. After all, it's just what he did when he bombed Osama bin Laden's alleged facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan this summer. Both actions were launched with little or no consultation with Congress, and with too little consultation with the service chiefs at the Pentagon. Oh my, how the talking heads like Alan Dershowitz and NBC anchor-in-training Brian Williams are going nuts over that suggestion. How vile! How unpatriotic! What hypocrites. How about the Democrats? In 1983, Clinton defender John Conyers called for Reagan's impeachment for invading Grenada. (For good measure, he earlier called for impeachment over the Gipper's alleged "incompetence" in dealing with unemployment.) In 1984, as he ran for President, and again in 1986, Jesse Jackson suggested Reagan should be subject to an impeachment probe over U.S. actions in Nicaragua. Rep. Henry Gonzalez called for impeachment in 1983 over Grenada and again in 1987 over Iran-Contra. The National Organization for Women and the American Civil Liberties Union advocated impeaching Reagan in 1987. The major media didn't thump the tub for impeachment, but did suggest forcefully that Reagan's actions were even worse than the Watergate offenses that got Richard Nixon impeached. For example, in the January 9, 1984 New York Times, then-Senior Editor John B. Oakes proclaimed: "President Reagan's consistent elevation of militarism over diplomacy creates a clear and present danger to the internal and external security of the United States. Presidents have been impeached for less." Oakes wasn't alone at the Times. On December 12, 1986, columnist Tom Wicker offered an echo: "Mr. Reagan probably won't be impeached or forced to resign - though the offenses resulting from his policy, or his somnolence on the job, are more serious than any charge the House Judiciary Committee approved against Mr. Nixon.".So where are these noble folks today? Have you noticed how the words "War Powers Act" haven't been invoked much by the liberal media in the last, oh, six years, now that a President they favor is lobbing the bombs? Where are the calls for impeachment from John Conyers and Jesse Jackson? Where are the charges of abuse of power from the editorial pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post? Nothing but silence. Stinking dead silence.."

Associated Press 1/3/98 Louis Meixler ".President Saddam Hussein said Sunday the ``no-fly'' zones imposed on his country are illegal and vowed Iraq will fight violations of its airspace ``with all its courage and bravery.'' Saddam's remarks to his Cabinet were his first comments on the no-fly zones since top officials said last month that Iraq would fire on Western warplanes patrolling the areas.."

1/3/99 tehran, irna -- `iran daily', the english morning newspaper in its editorial here monday wrote that "two weeks have passed since the americans and the brits ceased their attacks on iraq. the outcome of the aggression for each of the involved parties is still being discussed by international political circles and the media. "interestingly enough, before the end of the fourth phase of operation desert fox, the american secretary of defense, william cohen, pointed to seven major targets. meanwhile, the u.s only managed to completely fulfill only two of the seven fold objectives," said the paper...it also commented that "the impeachment of president bill clinton by the house of representatives was also seen as another reason for the attack on iraq, according to american and international observers.the blitz, however, did not create any barriers in the way of clinton's impeachment."."

AFP 1/5/99 ".US warplanes clashed early Tuesday with Iraqi jets that violated the no-fly zone in southern Iraq, firing air to air missiles, US military officials said. "There is an indication of an Iraqi plane going down, but ... most indications are against us having shot it down," a senior Pentagon official said. The officials said US F-15 and F-14 fighters patrolling the no fly zone responded after being "engaged" by Iraqi jets."

Wall Street Journal 12/28/98 Scott Ritter ".Operation Desert Fox, the 70-hour aerial assault on Iraq, was a masterpiece of precision bombing. With few exceptions, the munitions delivered by the U.S. and British armed forces unfailingly found their targets across the width and breadth of Iraq, including those in downtown Baghdad. But Desert Fox also highlighted the reality that smart bombs cannot make up for failed policies. In fact, the military strike has achieved the opposite of its intended effect. Rather than supporting the work of the weapons inspectors of the United Nations Special Commission (Unscom) by degrading Saddam Hussein's ability to build long-range ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction, the bombing has most likely destroyed any chance Unscom had to do its job effectively..Based upon my intimate knowledge of the Iraqi prohibited weapons programs and the means Baghdad has used to conceal them from the Unscom inspectors, this limited strike accomplished nothing in terms of degrading Iraq's ability to continue hiding and safeguarding its weapons of mass destruction. Likewise, the industrial base for weapons manufacturing appears to have been affected minimally at best..Mr. Butler is a friend and former colleague, and it pains me to write this, but he should resign now in order for Unscom to salvage what it can of its tattered reputation. I have no doubt he did what he did for honorable reasons. Unscom was in an impossible situation, and Mr. Butler was grasping for any solution that could be had. It is unconscionable that the Clinton administration exploited Mr. Butler's predicament to justify Operation Desert Fox.."

Associated Press 12/28/98 Leon Barkho ".American warplanes fired today at an air defense site in northern Iraq, killing four Iraqi soldiers and injuring seven others, the Iraqi military said. U.S. officials in Washington said the American planes were responding to Iraqi fire. However, the Iraq Information Ministry said the Americans attacked first and its air defenses fired back, forcing the warplanes to flee.."

FoxNews Reuters 12/28/98 ".Iraq said its air defenses had probably shot down a Western plane and a search was under way to locate the wreckage of the aircraft and its pilot. "Iraq air defenses have probably shot down a hostile Western plane and a search for the wreckage of the plane and its pilot is going on,'' an Iraqi military spokesman said, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency INA. ." Freeper reports from FoxNews ".Pentagon denies Iraqi Claim of US Aircraft Shootdown."

Washington Times 12/29/98 Helle Bering ". What is clear is that a lot of explosive power was sent Saddam's way -- almost 400 cruise missiles and over 600 bombs. Three hundred aircraft flew 600 sorties. Forty ships were involved. The entire extravaganza is said to have cost a cool billion. And what did we accomplish? According to the man in charge, U.S. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, we hit 85 percent of our targets, which seem to have been mostly barracks belonging to the Revolutionary Guard and the security services, killing all of 62 members of the military. We also hit missile facilities, allegedly setting back Saddam's delivery system for weapons of mass destruction a whole year. And as for Saddam's political base, said Gen. Zinny at Monday's press conference, "I guarantee you nobody is working this morning at Baath Party headquarters." They will have find somewhere else to meet, then, won't they? .."

A Whitewater Researcher 12/29/98 MSNBC http://www.msnbc.com/ William Arkin ". EXCERPTS: "...The scuffle between Iraqi gunners and U.S. warplanes signals a new phase in the Desert Fox deadlock as...Saddam Hussein challenges outside control over his country, accor ding to Pentagon and U.S. intelligence sources...."THEY ARE SUCKING the U.S. in," says a CIA analyst who specializes in the Middle East. "The incident is as much for internal effect to rally the Iraqi people around the flag as it is a prelude to military action...if we just take out a bunch of [surface-to-air] sites in response to this and other incidents, we look silly because it has so little effect. And if we hit harder and kill civilians by chance, then it is a public relations disaster. For Iraq, it' s a win-win situation."...Last weekend, Iraqi Vice President...Ramadan disputed the legitimacy of the no-fly zone in the north and the south. Monday's incident north of Mosul signals Iraq's intention to use U.S. military threats and action as part of its strategy to continue to chip away at the international consensus regarding."

Freeper Jolly reports Reuters 12/30/98 ".Iraq opened fire on U.S. and British aircraft Wednesday in the southern Iraqi no-fly zone and coalition aircraft retaliated, a Defense Department spokesman in Florida said.."

12-24-98 Peachworld News Baghdad ".The United States spent $3 billion this year maintaining forces in the Persian Gulf, and the meter is still running, military analysts told PeachWorld Network News. Every day U.S. forces are kept in the the Gulf, taxpayers spent at least $9 million, and when the United States actually strikes the country, the costs literally explode. But U.S officials say preventing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from building new weapons is worth every penny. Just how expensive is it to bomb Iraq? A variety of military analysts and other sources told NBC's Andrea Mitchell that each bombing run by a fighter jet costs an estimated $17,000. Since the United States flew 650 sorties against Iraq in Operation Desert Fox, that adds up to more than $11 million in flight time alone. Cruise missiles are even more expensive. Navy ships fired 325 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi targets last week with the cost to fire and replace them at $715 million. U.S. planes also fired 90 air-launched cruise missiles at Saddam's factories and palaces for an additional $270 million. The Pentagon, which has an annual budget of $265 billion, wouldn't confirm the costs. "I think you will see a continued large commitment to the Persian Gulf region," said retired Col. Daniel Smith of the U.S. Army's Center for Defense Information. "So the U.S. commitment in terms of military people and money is going to continue to be very high."."

Washington Times 01/01/99 ".A retired military officer, perhaps one you know, who has faithfully served his country but beyond that wishes to remain anonymous, provides Inside the Beltway with his interpretation of the timing of U.S. military strikes last month against Iraq, ordered by President Clinton just hours before impeachment votes were scheduled to begin in the House: 1) Order troops to war to try to stop an impeachment vote --a. fail to define a clear goal for the war so it can be stopped at any time. b. depend on the Defense Department to back it now since they've believed it necessary since November when you canceled a raid in progress. 2) When the vote comes anyway -- a. claim the ones going ahead with the vote are unpatriotic. b. depend on the the war to keep people from listening to the debate in the House..

Yahoo News 1/6/99 ".UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has obtained convincing evidence that UN weapons inspectors helped the United States collect intelligence to be used in Washington's efforts to undermine Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, The Washington Post said Wednesday. The report, citing unidentified "confidants" to Annan, said the UN chief was "alarmed by the implications of the relationship" which, if substantiated, could undermine the neutrality of the world body. The information Annan has received, the Post said in its early editions, shows that the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) assisted the United States in listening to some of Baghdad's most sensitive communications..."

1/6/99 Global Intelligence Update ".A detailed review of the evidence lends more weight to the possibility that Operation Desert Fox was integrally related to a failed coup attempt in Iraq.. Three other incidents prior to the launch of Desert Fox caught our attention, however. The first two events occurred on December 14. A Saudi soldier was shot and killed by an unidentified assailant in a vehicle near an Iraqi border post near the Saudi town of Arar. Speculation at the time was that smugglers may have been responsible, which is an altogether possible explanation. Also on December 14, U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region were put on Defense Condition Charlie, ostensibly due to a heightened threat of terrorist actions from militants linked to Osama Bin Laden. That, too, may have been the case, but we're not convinced there wasn't more at work. The most significant incident occurred just before the air strikes on December 16, when Saddam Hussein announced a dramatic restructuring and redeployment of the Iraqi armed forces. This may have been merely coincidental and somewhat bad timing, but it certainly wasn't initiated by forewarning of the U.S. cruise missile attack. Our speculation, based on subsequent events, is that Saddam's Presidential Decree Number 98, rearranging the Iraqi armed forces, was prompted by Saddam uncovering a U.S. sponsored coup plot. Moreover, it is possible that the discovery of the coup plot and Saddam's moves against it were the actual trigger for heightened U.S. preparation, including DefCon Charlie, and the launch of Operation Desert Fox.."

Time Daily 1/6/99 Alain Sanders by A Whitewater Researcher ".From a military standpoint, U.S. planes accomplished almost nothing in confronting Iraqi fighter aircraft Tuesday morning over the southern no-fly zone: Apparently none of the air-to-air missiles fired by the four U.S. planes -- two Air Force F-15s and two Navy F-14s -- struck their targets. But U.S. policy almost certainly took a PR hit. "Saddam Hussein is trying to show that the U.S. has run out of options," says TIME U.N. Correspondent William Dowell..."

The Weekly Standard 01/04-11/99 Robert Kagan ".Last week,Pentagon officials provided damage assessments of the four-day missile strike against Iraq. But they focused their attention on the wrong country. The most significant damage was not to be found in Iraq, where nearly half a billion dollars worth of U.S. missiles destroyed a handful of empty Republican Guard barracks and may have damaged some missile production facilities.."

Reuters (Yahoo) 1/6/99 ".Chief U.N. weapons inspectors Richard Butler flatly denied on Wednesday that the U.N. Special Commission in charge of disarming Iraq spied for any country. ``We have never conducted spying for anybody,'' he said in response to reports by two U.S. newspapers that U.N. arms inspectors helped collect eavesdropping intelligence used in American efforts to undermine the Iraqi regime. ``Have we facilitated spying? Are we spies? Absolutely not,'' Butler said. ``Don't believe everything that you read in print. There is much in those articles which is wrong. I regret it.''."

AFP 1/7/99 ".The United States collected some military information on Iraq while participating in UN weapons inspections, a senior US official acknowledged Wednesday. The official, who asked not to be named, maintained that it was "naive" to believe that the United States, as a member of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), would ignore data collected by UN weapons inspectors. "It is naive in the extreme to think that we can provide for seven years the knowledge, technology, expertise and people to help UNSCOM do its job and then create some artificial barrier so that people forget what they have seen or learned," he said.."

Chicago Sun-Times 1/7/99 Robert Novak ".Behind Tuesday's air-to-air confrontations between U.S. and Iraqi warplanes, loudly broadcast by Washington, is longtime daily violation of no-fly zones by Saddam Hussein's aircraft. So, American hawks as well as doves ask: Is this a phony, political war? As if Iraq's penetration of airspace forbidden since the 1991 Gulf War were novel, the Pentagon claimed the new incident showed that the Iraqi dictator was ``frustrated'' and ``desperate''--not just repeating a daily event. This chest-pounding by the Clinton administration reflects a desire to declare victory in the 70-hour bombardment of Iraq nearly three weeks ago. In fact, national security experts outside the government agree that Operation Desert Fox accomplished hardly anything. It neither weakened Hussein's hold on power nor moved toward a negotiated settlement with Baghdad. Yet Republican members of Congress, while intent on uncovering President Clinton's reprehensible personal behavior, seem oblivious to what he does about Iraq What is happening cannot be understood without appreciating what's been going on for some time. The underlying reason for Tuesday's first air-to-air engagement since late 1992--apparently resulting in no hits by either side--was that U.S. warplanes decided to challenge in the southern no-fly zone what it had been ignoring around the country. Especially in the northern no-fly zone, according to U.S. military sources, Iraqi violations are habitual. The typical pattern has been a two-hour patrol by American aircraft, followed by a two-hour break during which Iraqi planes enter the zone unimpeded, followed by another two-hour U.S. patrol. This pattern may have been broken by Washington in response to Desert Fox's barren outcome."

Seattle Times 1/9/99 John Donnelly Knight Ridder Newspapers ".As the United States and Iraq continue skirmishing, the Clinton administration is preparing for an escalation that would involve an air attack against Iraq far more severe than the 70-hour Desert Fox operation in December, according to administration officials. Instead of pinpoint strikes, the administration is ready with sustained bombing that could last up to three weeks, said three officials with the State Department and the National Security Council, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Such an attack would begin if Iraq downed an American or British plane patrolling the `'no-fly" zones in southern and northern Iraq. Other triggers would be if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein threatened the Kurdish minority in the north or Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the south, or if the administration learned the Iraqi leader was again preparing biological, chemical or ballistic weapons.."

Reuters 1/11/99 Ashraf Fouad ".Kuwait has placed part of its military on full combat alert in response to Iraqi ``threats'' to neighboring Gulf Arab states, a defense ministry spokesman said Monday. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Salem Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah headed an emergency defense council meeting Sunday night to discuss ``threats by the Iraqi regime'' to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Colonel Ahmad al-Rahmani told Reuters. ``We have some units always on alert since the 1991 Gulf War and the latest measure is to further boost their readiness and level of alert,'' he added..."

FoxNewswire 1/11/99 ".U.S. fighter jets opened fire on an Iraqi missile site in the northern no- fly zone Monday, a U.S. defense spokeswoman said. She said the U.S. planes patrolling the no-fly zone had been targeted by the Iraqi site near Mosul, which had posed a threat to the allied planes. There was no damage to coalition aircraft and the planes returned safely to base in Incirlik, Turkey.."

Reuters 1/12/99 Charles Aldinger ".Defense Secretary William Cohen said Tuesday that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was becoming more ''frantic and agitated,'' adding his voice to fears of a possible new Gulf crisis. Cohen, who is on a visit to Japan, vowed the United States would give no ground in enforcing no-fly zones over Iraq and warned Baghdad it would pay a price if it challenged U.S. and British air might.."

The National Post 1/12/99 David Frum by Freeper Capt. Canuck ".Remember Iraq? Largish country about halfway between here and China, sits atop a huge pool of oil, ruled by a megalomanical dictator who's trying to build an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons? If you do, you've got a much better memory than Bill Clinton, the U.S. president. Three weeks ago, the threat that Iraq might develop weapons of mass destruction was an urgent and imminent threat that had to be halted by a big American and British air raid. Three weeks later, after the Anglo-American warplanes smashed up a bunch of empty barracks buildings, warehouses and factories, Saddam Hussein is very nearly as close to his goal as ever. And yet, President Clinton seems strangely unconcerned.."

MiddleXpress; AFP 1/13/99 ".Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is planning a "great crime" that could be even worse than his August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, analysts in this jittery emirate warned on Wednesday. "To prevent a catastrophe bigger than the 1990 invasion, we must be aware that we are racing against time," wrote columnist Sami al-Nassef in the newspaper Al-Anba. He said Saddam was preparing to commit a "great crime" and urged the government in Kuwait, which has been rattled by a verbal onslaught from Baghdad since the Desert Fox air war, to take precautionary measures. ."

Reuters 1/13/99 Freeper Buzzbrockway "Iraq said Wednesday that its air defenses had hit a U.S. or British plane over the north of the country but did not say whether it had been destroyed.."

UPI Spotlight 1/14/99 Freeper sunshine ".U.S. officials tell UPI (Thursday) the Pentagon is drawing up plans for a major bombing campaign against Iraqi air defenses in the north, which have fired on American aircraft for three consecutive days. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the attacks could begin as soon as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends this weekend.."

Associated Press 1/14/99 Leon Barkho ".Iraq escalated tensions with Kuwait today, questioning the legitimacy of the emirate's borders and saying that parts of its "land and coasts'' belong to Baghdad. The harsh words from Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz appeared to be part of an ongoing series of verbal attacks against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which Baghdad blames for delaying an Arab League meeting on the Iraqi crisis. Iraq had hoped that during the meeting, now rescheduled for Jan. 24, it would be able to capitalize on popular protests in the Arab world in the aftermath of the Dec. 16-19 U.S.-British airstrikes against Iraq.."

Drudge UPI 1/14/99 Freeper Phuong Hoang ".U.S. officials tell UPI (Thursday) the Pentagon is drawing up plans for a major bombing campaign against Iraqi air defenses in the north, which have fired on American aircraft for three consecutive days. US prepares to strike Iraqi air defenses. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the attacks could begin as soon as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends this weekend.."

CNN 1/23/99 Freeper Old MacDonald reports ".CNN just reported that American F-14 and FA-18 aircraft encountered Iraqi MIG-21 fighters in the southern No Fly zone over southern Iraq. The American warplanes also came under anti-aircraft fire. US aircraft retaliated, attacking ground targets with precision munitions.."

Reuters 1/25/99 ".The commander of U.S. forces in the Gulf said Monday an ``errant'' U.S. missile may have been fired in southern Iraq and he expressed strong regret if it caused any civilian casualties. ``We have the possibility of one missile that may have been errant,'' said Gen. Anthony Zinni, adding that the United States was reviewing intelligence determine if an errant U.S. missile might have caused civilian casualties reported by Iraq. Iraqi officials said earlier that missiles from U.S. warplanes blasted five civilian sites in southern Iraq Monday, killing 11 civilians and wounding dozens more.."

Associated Press 1/26/99 Robert Burns ".President Clinton has given the U.S. military a green light to respond more aggressively to Iraqi challenges to American and allied aircraft patrolling the ``no-fly'' zones over northern and southern Iraq, the president's national security adviser said today."

Strategic Investment Newsletter (strategicinvestment.com) 1/20/99 James Davidson Freeper Im4Starr ".The odds that three military strikes should have occured by coincidence on three days when there just happened to be a pivotal event in Clinton's brush with infamy are extremely remote, almost 8 MILLION to 1. The pivotal events: 1. Clinton testimony in the Jones case is made public. 2. Monica testifies. 3. House votes on impeachment...Odds of one use of force occuring on a pivotal event day: 1:40. Odds of three uses of force occuring on pivotal event days: 1:7,993,986.PROOF: Odds of one military attack happening on one of the pivotal days--entirely by chance would be 3 in 365 or 3/365 and if the first were not a match, the second bombing run would have the same chance of 3 in 365 or 3/365. The three chances added together: 3/365 + 3/365 + 3/365 = 9/365. This reduces to 1/40.56 or odds of 1:40. Odds of three military strikes happening on the three pivotal days-- The first military strike has to occur on one of the three pivotal days which is a chance of 3 in 165 or 1/1/21. The second military strike then has to occur on one of the two remaining pivotal days which is a chance of 2 in 364 or 1/182. It is 364 because the first pivotal day is now out of the picture (n-1). Since the two events depend on each other happening to occur together, they multiply. 1/121 X 1/182 = 22,022. For the third military strike to also occur on the remaining pivotal day, the odds are 1/363 X 22,022 = 1/7,993,986 or odds of 1:7,999,986."

Toronto Sun 2/7/99 Eric Margolis ".This column has steadily warned for the last five years of the growing threat from North Korea. In mid-January, I reported North Korea was fast acquiring capability to deliver nuclear warheads to North America by means of a new, long-range, three-stage missile. Two weeks later, on Feb. 2, CIA Director George Tenet testified before Congress that North Korea was on the verge of producing long-range missiles that could "deliver large payloads to the continental United States." Tenet said, "I can hardly overstate my concern about North Korea," adding, "the situation there is more volatile and unpredictable." Amen. This column does not have the CIA's $26 billion annual intelligence budget, but it came to the same conclusion, only five years before Langley. Other U.S. intelligence sources confirm North Korea has resumed secret production of nuclear weapons, adding to the two or three devices it already has. It is also improving and expanding delivery systems for its extensive arsenal of chemical and biological weapons..Tenet's dramatic testimony confirms the total failure of President Bill Clinton's Korea policy. When confronted in 1994 by incontrovertible evidence North Korea was building nuclear weapons and delivery systems, Clinton chose to bribe rather confront Pyongyang. He dragooned South Korea and Japan into joining Washington to offer North Korea an amazing US$4.6 billion in oil, food and light-water nuclear reactors in exchange for its promise to halt building nuclear weapons and producing plutonium. By contrast, Clinton chose to repeatedly bomb Iraq, which offered almost no threat to anyone, while bribing extremely dangerous North Korea. Of course, there was no domestic lobby in the U.S. demanding the destruction of North Korea, as there was for Iraq. ."

Washington Post 1/29/99 Vernon Loeb ".The general who commands U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf expressed deep reservations yesterday about the Clinton administration's proposal to arm the Iraqi opposition and said such a move could backfire and create a "rogue state" in Iraq even more destabilizing than the regime of President Saddam Hussein. Echoing concerns over arming the opposition voiced this week by key U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, Marine Corps Gen. Anthony C. Zinni told the Senate Armed Services Committee that none of 91 Iraqi opposition groups has "the viability to overthrow Saddam at this point." Arming them, he warned, "could be very dangerous." .."

New York Post 2/3/99 Niles Lathem ".U.S. officials say the CIA has received "credible and reliable" intelligence reports that Saddam is forging alliances with some of the Middle East's most bloodthirsty terrorists - including Osama Bin Laden and Abu Nidal - as part of an apparently new campaign to strike American targets and possibly destabilize Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. News of Saddam's terrorist strategy comes as American efforts to contain him with sanctions and arms inspections appear to be unraveling in the United Nations.. U.S. intelligence agencies are concerned about the possibility that Saddam could not only help with funding and logistics for Bin Laden's far-flung network, known as al-Qada, but he could also help the group acquire chemical and biological weapons through the Sudanese connection. The CIA believes Iraq moved large amounts of precursor chemicals for weapons into the Sudan through Libya before the Gulf War.."

AP Breaking 2/3/1999 ". The U.N. security chief ordered American and British nationals working for the United Nations to leave Iraq because the Iraqi government says it cannot guarantee their safety, officials said today.."

Global Intelligence Update 2/4/99 ".On February 1, the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab al-Yawm cited a "source within the Iraqi opposition" as saying that Iraq was preparing to carry out air strikes on "military or economic targets in Saudi Arabia in particular" using more than 15 MiG-15 and French Mirage aircraft. The source claimed that Iraq held Saudi Arabia and Kuwait directly responsible for facilitating a U.S. attack on five Iraqi missile batteries in and around Basra. The source reportedly singled out U.S. forces at the Prince Sultan airbase in al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, as one possible target for the retaliatory strike, "despite their knowledge that this Saudi airbase is strongly fortified by heavy ground and air defenses and is surrounded by U.S. anti-missile Patriot missiles and anti-aircraft Hawk missiles." The source also reported that at least two batteries of Scud missiles had recently been moved to between Basra and the Rumaylah oil field. Let us first say that this unconfirmed report is immediately suspect, in that it comes from an anonymous and interested party.. It is also plausible that even those surviving aircraft would be struck from observers' lists of Iraqi equipment, since the MiGs are so utterly obsolete as to be militarily worthless. Any mission carried out in a MiG-15 against foreign powers would be a suicide mission, one that even the most devoted of Saddam's pilots would hesitate to take on.. But what if a pilot was unnecessary? On January 6, Jane's Defense Weekly cited the UK Ministry of Defence as reporting that Iraq was engaged in converting some of its Czech-built L-29 jet trainers at the Tallil airbase into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for use in delivering chemical or biological warfare agents... Returning to our original caveat, this report of Iraqi MiGs is unconfirmed and comes from an anonymous interested party. Nevertheless, information from the Iraqi opposition has carried rich nuggets of truth in the past. And considering Iraq's reported UAV development efforts, the fact that this report concerns obsolete aircraft is still no reason to immediately write it off as fiction. As always, we welcome any additional supportive or contradictory information our readers may be able to provide.."

BBC 2/5/99 Seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed by stray missiles near the city of Basra last month, according to a United Nations report. The death toll, contained in a confidential document sent to the UN Security Council, exceeds the figure of 11 released by the Iraqi authorities. The report says that 100 were injured. The Pentagon has admitted that one "errant" American missile struck a residential area, but there has been no suggestion of the cause of the second missile strike.Eyewitnesses told the UN officials that one woman and five children had been killed by one of the missiles when it fell on a suburb of Basra. .The UN team also found that five women and five children had been killed by a missile in a nearby village. As they were leaving, the body of a further victim was brought back to the village.."

MSNBC 3/2/99 "…China called for an immediate halt Wednesday to U.S. and British air strikes against Iraqi targets and said the no-fly zones they had established were illegal, a council source said. China’s U.N. envoy, ambassador Qin Huasun, who is also the council’s president for March, raised the issue during closed-door consultations, the source said…"

Chicago Tribune 3/4/99 Editorial Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…What, pray tell, is our government doing in Iraq? Oh, we know that it's dropping bombs--we see evidence of that every day in those muddy black-and-white newspaper photos of hapless Iraqis standing stunned next to devastated houses or weeping over the deaths of loved ones. We know there's bombing, but to what purpose? Just what is it we're trying to achieve in Iraq? Is it worth achieving? And is there good reason to suppose this bombing will help in that?........No president has license to prosecute a war without consulting with Congress and explaining it to the American people. Bill Clinton owes us an explanation of the policy he is pursuing in Iraq. He owes it before the next bomb falls…."

Global Intelligence Update 3/8/99 "… A report in the Washington Post asserted that the Central Intelligence Agency had placed agents on the staff of UNSCOM, the United Nations unit that had been assigned to inspect Iraqi weapons production facilities under UN Security Council resolutions. Claims that the weapons inspectors were being used by the CIA had been circulating for months. Indeed, Saddam Hussein had created a major crisis when he decided not to permit American members of the team into Iraq because they were, according to him, CIA agents. Two things made the Post story interesting. First, it provided some hints as to how the U.S. had used UNSCOM remote monitoring to intercept Iraqi communications. Second, the Post story appears to have originated within official Washington circles and has not been met with a spate of denials…"

http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?3295223 3/8/99 Michael Evans Freeper SawDring "…A SECRET deal has been agreed between Syria and Iraq for the supply of military equipment to Baghdad, according to Middle East intelligence sources…."

Fox News Wires 3/9/99 John Diamond "…A major Persian Gulf ally criticized the Clinton administration Tuesday for almost daily airstrikes against Iraqi anti-aircraft targets. Despite the criticism, U.S. F-16s loaded with bombs and missiles continued to roar aloft from this desert base on the doorstep of southern Iraq. U.S. pilots said they weren't looking for trouble but were ready to strike if fired upon. And the Iraqis were still firing. The foreign minister of Qatar, a moderate Arab ally in the Gulf region, told Defense Secretary William Cohen that the standoff with Iraq should end peacefully and the daily strikes by U.S. warplanes responding to Iraqi challenges should cease…."

AP 3/10/99 Laura Myers "…Almost daily Western attacks on Iraqi military targets haven't hurt President Saddam Hussein, critics of the Clinton administration contended at a congressional hearing Wednesday. U.S. and British warplane strikes that began hitting Iraq's air defense system in December offer only temporary military victories and are doing nothing to weaken Saddam's dictatorial regime, said the critics, including former CIA Director James Woolsey. "Perhaps the administration, in order to stay focused, needs to post a sign on the wall of the White House Situation Room that says, `It's the regime, stupid,"' Woolsey told the House Armed Services Committee.

John Hillen, a political-military expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who served in the 1991 Gulf War, said the "low-grade war against Iraq" adds up to only short-term success….. "For his part, Saddam appears to be counting on the fact that an administration with only 22 months left in office will be mostly interested in running out the clock," Hillen added…."

The New York Times 3/12/99 A. M. Rosenthal "… 2. Clinton inherited President Bush's historic error -- allowing Saddam Hussein to rule after the Iraqi defeat in the gulf war. He also inherited the most important arms inspection machinery of our time -- the U.N. commission preventing Iraq from making weapons of mass destruction. Saddam rules after six years of Clinton's Presidency. And the commission is dead. It was killed by such friends as France, Russia, China and U.N. officials. All the while it was dying in closed U.N. meetings, Washington kept saying that behind those doors was a strong consensus to keep the commission strong. Simply untrue…"

London Sunday Times 3/14/99 Marie Colvin "… SEVEN high-ranking Iraqi officers, including a senior general working as a military adviser to Saddam Hussein, were executed earlier this month for plotting to capture a northern city and to inspire the army to rise up against the president. The coup attempt, involving some of the most senior officers to move against Saddam's regime, ended with the plotters' arrest in late January as they worked out the last details of their plans. They never had a chance to strike. Their bodies were delivered to their families after they were executed on March 2. It was one of the most serious efforts to oust the Iraqi leader since the 1991 Gulf war. According to General Wafiq Samarra'i, a former head of Saddam's military intelligence, two senior officers - Lieutenant-General Kamel Sajit and Lieutenant-General Yalechin Ommar - hatched the plot late last year. Details have been confirmed by other opposition sources…"

Reuters 3/17/99 "…Senators from both parties, in a joint meeting of the Foreign Relations and Energy panels, blasted what they called a contradiction in U.S. policy: Bombing campaigns to force Baghdad to comply with arms inspections on one hand, and, on the other hand, U.S. support for raising the amounts of oil Iraq can export under the U.N. oil-for-food relief program. "The so-called 'oil-for-food' program may have worthy humanitarian goals, but Saddam is using the increased oil capacity to smuggle oil products for hard cash,'' said Sen. Frank Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska. "They are either our enemy or not. Are we continuing to prop up the regime of a despot?...That clearly seems to be the case,'' Murkowski said…."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 3/21/99 Freeper Penny "…NOT THAT ANYBODY'S interested, but there's a war going on over Iraq. And American pilots are involved. There's also an increasing possibility that the United States may bomb the Serbs again if they don't agree to our terms, whatever those are today. Call it foreign policy by neglect: Let things smolder until something absolutely must be done about it. And not a moment before. Then do as little as ineffectually as possible…"

 

STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update 3/31/99 "…Thus, a report from the IBC from Baghdad, claiming that Iraq is distributing advanced radar guidance systems for the SAM-6 surface-to-air missile system, is particularly significant. According to the report, Iraq is intensely engaged in upgrading its anti-air missile grid. Abed Hameed Hmoud, special secretary to Saddam and a member of the Presidential Council, is said to be personally supervising the installations of the systems at the Presidential Palaces, air bases and other critical installations. The article further states that both the Northern and Southern Corps of the Republican Guards are receiving new computing equipment and small, advanced Russian-made radar units as well as technicians. If these reports are true, and we think that to be likely, the Russians are now engaged in a dramatic re-supply of equipment to the Iraqis. There have been numerous reports from sources in Russia about such a re-supply, and the IBC report is merely confirming the arrival and deployment of this equipment. The upgrading of the Iraqi air defense grid has the potential of posing serious problems for allied pilots on missions in Iraq, particularly if new systems have been distributed inside the no- fly zones where routine air patrols are carried out. We note, however, that we can find no evidence of any U.S. or allied air strikes in Iraq at this time. This indicates that both sides are lying low for the moment…."

AP 4/2/99 "...Allied warplanes bombed communications and radio facilities in southern Iraq today in the first U.S.-led airstrikes in more than two weeks, a U.S. military official said. An Iraqi military spokesman earlier claimed that two civilian houses had been destroyed by attacks from allied planes flying out of bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. ....Today's airstrikes were the first since March 16, when American warplanes bombed air defense sites in northern Iraq. Since then, U.S. attention has been focused on Yugoslavia, where it has been participating in NATO-led airstrikes for the past 10 days. Earlier this year, strikes on Iraqi military targets became a near-daily occurrence...."

The Indian Express 4/9/99 AFP "...The international atomic energy agency (IAEA) found no trace of nuclear activities during inspections last year of Iraqi presidential palaces, an IAEA report has said. The IAEA's six-monthly report to the UN security council, said that "environmental samples" were taken during UN inspections of eight so-called presidential sites from march 26 to April 3 last year, reports AFP. Analysis of the results, received in the last six months, "to date, shows no indication of the presence of proscribed materials or the conduct of proscribed activities at any of the sites visited," the report said. The inspections of the eight presidential sites, which Iraq declared off-limits to the un weapons inspectors in November, were organised in the presence of diplomats under an agreement signed by UN chief Kofi Annan and Iraq in February last year...."

The New Yorker (via www.jya.com) 4/5/99 Seymour Hersh "...Last December, after Saddam Hussein threatened to end seven years of United Nations arms-control inspections, President Clinton ordered American attacks on Iraq. Once again, the world watched, on television, as missiles fell on carefully picked targets. The purpose of the attacks, Clinton told reporters, was to "degrade" Iraq's capacity for waging war, and he added, "I gave the order because I believe we cannot allow Saddam Hussein to dismantle UNSCOM and resume the production of weapons of mass destruction with impunity." The President was mistaken. The United Nations Special Commission for Iraq, known as UNSCOM, had already been effectively dismantled, by the shortsighted policies of his own Administration. Then, a few hours after Clinton spoke, William Cohen, the Secretary of Defense, appeared on television. "One thing should be absolutely clear," he told reporters. "We are concentrating on military targets." That, too, was a misstatement, for two of the targets were sites where Saddam was known to entertain mistresses, and they were specifically struck in the hope of assassinating him. Saddam responded to the bombing--and the bungled assassination attempt--by formally ousting UNSCOM and turning anew to Russia, historically his most important trading partner. Today, eight years after the Gulf War, American policy has collapsed in Iraq, and a Cold War mentality has returned. Saddam is unchecked by U.N. inspectors as he pursues his goal of becoming a nuclear power, with the aid of Russian strategic materials. Saddam's ally in these efforts is Yevgeny Primakov, the Russian Prime Minister, a longtime friend who, according to highly classified communications intelligence, received at least one large payment from Iraq--by wire transfer--in November of 1997. The distrust of Primakov throughout the American intelligence community is acute. One former C.I.A. operative told me, "I don't know how many times we had to say this to Strobe"--Strobe Talbott, the Deputy Secretary of State--"but Primakov is just not a good guy." ..."

4/17/99 UPI "...Iraq claims four people were killed (Saturday) and another wounded when coalition aircraft patrolling the northern "no-fly" zone attacked targets northwest of Mosul. A U.S. military statement said "Operation Northern Watch aircraft detected Iraqi radar and observed Iraqi anti-aircraft fire, posing a threat to coalition aircraft," which the Defense Department says responded in self-defense."..."

Stratfor.com 4/16/99 "...The London-based "Al-Zaman" newspaper reported on April 13 that both Iran and Iraq have redeployed their troops along their common border. This is reportedly the first time that either country has done so since the 1991 Gulf War. The newspaper's sources stated that the situation along the Iran-Iraq border has been tense since the Iranian opposition group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), claimed responsibility for the assassination of Lieutenant-General Ali Sayyad-Shirazi. Sayyad- Shirazi, Iran's Deputy Chief of General Staff and advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was assassinated in Tehran on April 10. On April 11, the MKO issued a statement claiming responsibility for the assassination of Sayyad-Shirazi. The group said it killed the general as revenge for his role as commander of Iranian ground forces during the 1980-88 Gulf War and attacks against MKO bases in Iraq..."

AP 4/19/99 Freeper sesame "...U.S. fighter planes attacked Iraqi defense sites in northern Iraq on Monday after being targeted by Iraqi radar, U.S. officials said. It was the second confrontation in the northern no-fly zone in about a month. U.S. Air Force F-15Es dropped laser-guided bombs on radar sites in the vicinity of Mosul, according to a statement from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey where American jets are based...."

Yahoo! News 4/21/99 Reuters "...U.S. Air Force F-16C jets Wednesday bombed anti-aircraft and surface-to-air missile sites west of Mosul in northern Iraq in response to a radar threat from the ground, the U.S. military said.

In Baghdad, Iraq said Western warplanes attacked civilian and military sites in the north and that air defenses forced them to flee. There was no mention of casualties or damage...."

NY Times 5/8/99 AP "...U.S. warplanes that bombed sites north of Baghdad on Saturday killed three people and injured two, state-run Iraqi television reported. The planes carried out 18 sorties, dropping 18 bombs on civilian and military positions, a spokesman for the Iraqi air defense command was quoted as saying by Iraqi television...."

Agence France-Presse. 4/20/99 "...US warplanes based in southern Turkey bombed Iraqi targets in the northern "no-fly" zone on Friday after the aircraft were tracked by radar and fired upon by anti-aircraft artillery, the U.S. military said...."

NY Times 5/4/99 AP "...The Pentagon says Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is placing air defense missiles and radar posts in civilian areas in hopes of getting an easy shot at a U.S. fighter patrolling ``no fly'' zones. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Monday that U.S. fighters broke off an attack on an Iraqi air defense radar near the northern city of Mosul after realizing the radar was in a civilian area. An F-16 fighter did attack the radar site, however, with a high-speed anti-radiation missile, or HARM, Bacon said...."

Upi 5/10/99 "....A statement from the U.S. air base at Incirlik says that U.S. and British aircraft have bombed Iraqi targets in the northern "no-fly" zone. It said fighter jets launched guided missiles at Iraqi artillery and command sites in northern Iraq "after being tracked by Iraqi radar, "and that all planes returned safely to base...."

Boston Globe 5/14/99Editorial "...While the Clinton administration was selecting targets to bomb in downtown Belgrade, Saddam Hussein was hoarding and updating Iraq's biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, unobserved by the prying eyes of the UN Special Commission's weapons inspectors or monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. There are grave dangers in allowing Saddam to scuttle weapons inspections mandated by the UN resolutions ending the 1991 Gulf War. Specialists believe that he is pursuing the acquisition of fissile material and that once he obtains it, he can have deliverable nuclear weapons in a matter of months. Before President Clinton concludes that he has discovered a magic formula in the exclusive use of air power to resolve all problems in the world, he ought to contemplate the connections and similarities between his policies for Saddam's Iraq and Slobodan Milosevic's Serbia. In both cases, Clinton's willingness to bet all his chips on bombing produced outcomes that are the antithesis of what the United States wanted to achieve. The purpose of the December bombing of Iraq was to compel Saddam to cooperate with the UN inspectors. The primary effect was to terminate the weapons inspections...."

NewsMax.com 5/15/99 "...Earlier this week, Intelligence International LTD, the well regarded Britain-based intelligence advisory, sent an urgent "Private Alert" to its world wide subscribers. Inside Cover has received a copy. "Saddam Warns of Imminent Showdown with the U.S.," headlines the action gram. Intelligence International reports that Iraqi diplomatic sources in Amman, Jordan, have claimed that Hussein recently sent a memorandum to "senior staff in the party, state, and the army." The memo from Hussein asserts that "the showdown with the United States is not far away." Hussein is said to be promising a "crucial confrontation that will end in Iraq's favour." The memo continues, implying Hussein may use weapons of mass destruction, "Iraq will confront -- with determination, vigour, and a devastating response that will be remembered throughout history -- the latest U.S. attempt to inflict harm on it." ....Top military commanders like General Jack Singlaub(ret.) and Admiral Thomas Moorer(ret.) stated at NewsMax.com's "America at Risk" Los Angeles Conference that American naval and air power has also been significantly drawn down in the Pacific. They both stated that South Korea is extremely vulnerable to a North Korean attack in the near future. Affirming those sentiments this week, General Hugh Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told Congress that North Korea has engaged in a forward deployment suggesting a possible attack on the South. He said American troops have been on a heightened state of alert...."

WorldNetDaily 5/17/99 J R Nyquist "... While the Far East appears on the brink of war, the Middle East is equally bad. Intelligence International has reported that Saddam Hussein recently sent a memorandum to "senior staff in the party, state, and the army." The memorandum says that war is imminent. It says that "the showdown with the United States is not far away." Further along, Hussein promises a "crucial confrontation that will end in Iraq's favor." Saddam's memo also stated: "Iraq will confront -- with determination, vigor, and a devastating response that will be remembered throughout history -- the latest U.S. attempt to inflict harm on it." Small countries like Iraq and North Korea could not, by themselves, defeat the United States in any kind of war. However, if Iraq and North Korea are supported by the Russian-Chinese alliance, then we are talking about World War III. In that event, all bets are off. Presently the United States is not prepared for a global war, and is certainly unprepared to fight a nuclear war...."

Iraqi News Agency 5/25/99 Freeper g mik "...A military spokesman on Monday said 34 formations of hostile planes had carried out 92 sorties over southern Iraq, 52 from Saudi Arabia, backed by an AWACS and 40 from Kuwait, backed by an A-2C...."

CNN Headline News 5/29/99 Freeper tsister "...About mid-way through the on-line audio version of Headline News, after the weather, there is a story about Saddam Hussein's eldest son. He (the son), is calling for the killing of American soldiers overseas. It sounded serious, even coming from CNN, but as you will see, it's deep into the broadcast. (I heard it on the television this morning, also.) ...."

Associated Press 6/1/99 Paul Tolme Freeper Brian Mosely "...Police have asked the FBI to look into the international connections of an Iraqi-American with business dealings in Iraq who was murdered along with his wife and son. ..."

5/31/99 Nando Media/AP 5/31/99 Freeper Thanatos "...U.S. jets attacked an Iraqi air defense installation Monday after being targeted by radar and fired upon by artillery, the U.S. military said. Air Force F-16s launched a high-speed anti-radiation missile at a radar site near the city of Mosul, after being challenged during a routine patrol of the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, the military said in a statement from Incirlik airbase, southern Turkey...."

Reuters [OL] 6/2/99 Hassan Hafidh "...A U.N. official expressed concern Wednesday for the safety of relief staff in Baghdad after Russia said arms inspectors may have left behind dangerous ``chemical substances'' at their compound in the Iraqi capital. Hans von Sponeck, U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said he had no way of knowing whether the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of Iraq's disarmament left dangerous materials in the Canal Hotel compound on the edge of the city when it left Baghdad hurriedly in December. ``I have no way of judging, and I should not (judge), whether what there is in this building is actively and accurately dangerous or just latently dangerous,'' von Sponeck told a news conference...."

6/5/99 Agencies Freeper Thanatos AP "...Iraqi media said Saturday that U.N. inspectors left behind chemical and biological agents in their Baghdad offices to make it appear that Iraq possessed prohibited weapons. The government newspaper al-Jumhouriya accused the United States of cooperating with the United Nations Special Commission, charged with eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, to send chemical and biological substances to Baghdad. It said UNSCOM brought the material and even placed it on Iraqi missiles...."

6/13/99 Nando Media/AP "....U.S. government officials say Russia, Iraq and North Korea are probably concealing the deadly smallpox virus for military use, The New York Times reported Sunday. A secret federal intelligence assessment was completed late last year. It was based on evidence that includes disclosures by a senior Soviet defector, blood samples from the North Korean soldiers that show smallpox vaccinations and the fairly recent manufacture of smallpox vaccine by Iraq, according to the report. Officials told the Times that the assessment was an important factor in President Clinton's recent decision to reverse course and forgo destruction of American stockpiles of the virus...."

INA 6/12/99 "... Iran on Thursday fired three long-range surface-to-surface missiles on a military camp for Iranian Mujahidi Khalq opposition organization deep inside Iraqi territory. An official Iraqi spokesman said this aggression followed a series of criminal acts of terrorism committed by Iranian agents inside Iraq, the latest of which the car bomb explosion of June 9, 1999 that killed a number of Iraqi civilians and six Mujahidi Khalq members...."

AP 6/15/99 Nicole Winfield "…In a significant turnaround aimed at breaking the impasse over Iraq, Britain is now recommending that the Security Council suspend sanctions against Iraq -- but only after Baghdad answers the remaining questions about its banned weapons programs. he new British position leaves the United States alone among permanent members of the Security Council in opposing the suspension or lifting of sanctions…."

Associated Press 6/18/99 "…U.S. warplanes bombed an Iraqi radar facility today after being fired upon by Iraqi forces in the northern no-fly zone, the U.S. military announced. U.S. Air Force F-16s and F-15s bombed the radar site, east of the city of Mosul, about 250 miles north of Baghdad, the Germany-based U.S. European Command said in a statement released on the Internet…."

Reuters 6/18/99 "…"Iraq said Friday that one person was wounded and buildings destroyed in the north of the country after attacks by U.S. warplanes.``The hostile formations attacked service targets and the bombing led to destruction of buildings and the injury of a citizen,'' the official Iraqi News Agency quoted an unnamed military spokesman as saying…"

STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update 6/22/99 "...Now that Russia and China have demonstrated their willingness to oppose the U.S. and NATO in Kosovo, Baghdad has decided to try to force their hand in Iraq. The Iraqi oil minister has threatened that if Russian and Chinese oil companies do not begin work on developing Iraqi oil fields -- a move that would violate UN sanctions against Iraq -- they will have their contracts revoked. While Iraq may be assuming too much with regard to Russia and China's willingness to deepen their rift with the West at just this moment, it is only the first of many countries that will begin to position themselves between the U.S. and NATO on one hand and Russia and China on the other in the coming months...."

The Associated Press 6/22/99 "...U.S. fighter jets bombed a military command center in northern Iraq Tuesday after Iraqi forces fired on the planes in the northern no-fly zone, the U.S. military said. The Air Force F-15s and F-16s attacked the military command and control center northwest of Mosul, a city 250 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. European Command said. The Iraqi army, in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency, claimed the planes attacked ``civilian installations.'' Iraq reported no casualties or damage....."

Reuters 6/22/99 "...Iraq said Tuesday that more than one million Iraqis had died due to the trade sanctions the United Nations imposed on the country for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. ``The mortality rate among Iraqis due to the...sanctions totaled 1,159,807 citizens,'' the official Iraqi News Agency INA said, quoting health ministry statistics. According to these statistics, diseases like inflammation of the respiratory system, diarrhea, malnutrition, high blood pressure, diabetes, and malignant tumors were among the causes of death. Statistics said the infant mortality rate totaled 92.7 cases for every 1,000 deliveries, and that 117 women died in childbirth for every 1,000 deliveries....."

Reuters 6/23/99 Jonathan Wright "...The Iraqi opposition in exile asked the United States on Wednesday for ``bold action'' to help them overthrow President Saddam Hussein. But a senior Clinton administration official said the time was not ripe for supplying weapons and its priority was to make the opposition more effective at ``political outreach.'' The two sides also blamed each other for a decision not to hold a congress of the Iraqi opposition inside Kurd-controlled northern Iraq next month...."

MENL WorldTribune 6/24/99 "...President Saddam Hussein has authorized preparations to assassinate exiled opposition leaders organized and financed by the United States to overthrow the Iraqi ruler, Arab sources said. The sources said Saddam has authorized his son, Qusay, to train hit squads to assassinate or intimidate exile leaders who have launched an effort to oust the Iraqi president. Over the past month, Iraqi and Kurdish leaders have met in Washington in a U.S.-financed effort. ..."

AP 6/24/99 Leon Barkho "...Iraq will send a senior official to Moscow to soften the impact of its threat to cancel an oil deal with Russia's largest petroleum company, Oil Ministry officials said Thursday. Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rashid told Iraq's parliament Monday that he had given Lukoil, the Russian company, and a Chinese state firm ''a few weeks'' to begin developing the oil fields they were contracted to exploit in 1997. The threats seem to have angered the Russian government, which has a controlling stake in Lukoil and is a major proponent of the drive in the U.N. Security Council to lift sanctions on Iraq. Lukoil and the Chinese firm have delayed implementing the contracts because the sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 bar foreign investment...."

FoxNews 6/29/99 "...A German was convicted of treason Tuesday for providing technology to Iraq that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Karl-Heinz Schaab, a 64-year-old engineer, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $32,000 by the Munich High State Court. The court found he sold plans to Iraq in 1989 for building a gas centrifuge that could be used to produce weapons-grade uranium, and that in 1990 he helped in building it. ..."

Orlando Sentinel 6/29/99 Charley Reese "...Johanna Berrigan, a Catholic Worker layperson out of Philadelphia, is used to working with poor people, but she wasn't prepared for a "death row for infants" that she found in Baghdad hospitals. The hospitals, devoid of almost everything they need and staffed by doctors exhausted and grieving, are just a place to die for thousands of Iraqi children suffering from diseases and infections brought on by malnutrition and contaminated water. Our government is responsible for this. The embargo on Iraq, which even denies the Iraqis chlorine to use for purifying their water supply, has become a weapon of mass destruction. Half a million dead children--and that's a United Nations number--is mass destruction, I would say. ..."

ABC News 7/12/99 Martha Raddatz "…There is evidence Iraq is trying to repair and rebuild facilities where chemical and biological weapons production was suspected in the past. But with U.N. monitors no longer on the ground, it is impossible to tell just how many banned weapons Iraq may be trying to make. Four disarmament experts — from South Africa, China, Russia and Poland — are heading into Iraq in the next day at the United Nations’s request, but they will not be allowed to conduct inspections….."

Fox News (AP) 7/14/99 "…Iraqis rarely lose an opportunity to hurl vitriolic jibes at the United States and President Clinton. This time Clinton is being compared to a cockroach. "They have the color of Clinton and they invaded Basra,'' the Al-Ittehad weekly newspaper said Tuesday in a banner headline on a report about a species of pink roaches that have recently infested the southern port city of Basra…."

http://www.thenation.com/issue/990726/0726hiro.shtml 6/26/99 Dilip Hiro "…Between mid-April and July 4, American and British warplanes hit Iraq twelve times, almost always in the northern air-exclusion zone. In the Pentagon's communiqués on the subject, the city of Mosul, located 250 miles north of Baghdad, appeared with monotonous regularity. A glance at a map of Iraq reveals why this is so. While almost half the area and the population of the predominantly Kurdish Kurdistan Autonomous Region (KAR), consisting of three provinces, are below the 36th parallel, the area above that parallel--where the British and the Americans established the "no-fly zone" to protect the Kurds--contains a vast swath of the overwhelmingly Arab sector of Iraq, with Mosul as its principal city…."

AP 7/18/99 "...U.S. airstrikes in southern Iraq killed 14 civilians and wounded 17 others Sunday, the Iraqi military said. The planes entered Iraq from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and ``attacked our civilian installations,'' the military said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency...."

http://www.independent.co.uk/ 7/20/99 "…"SADDAM HUSSEIN, the Iraqi President, has offered his military a bounty for shooting down any US or British planes patrolling no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, the Defence Secretary, George Robertson, said yesterday. He was speaking as Iraq said the death toll from Sunday's Western air attacks on the south of the country had risen to 17 from 14, making it by far the worst incident since almost daily attacks on Iraqi anti-aircraft sites began last December…."

Russia Today 7/21/99 Reuters "...Russia and the United States clashed on Tuesday about whether officials from the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) could attend a U.N. briefing on the dismantling of a controversial laboratory in Baghdad. Russian envoys said UNSCOM could not come to the Security Council on Wednesday but the United States made clear that no briefing could be held by senior U.N. officials without experts from the commission, U.S. officials said...."

News 7/25/99 Michael Rivero "…An international team of scientists has delayed its departure from Iraq until the United Nations Security Council decides what to do with samples of VX nerve gas found in a UN laboratory in Baghdad. The team went to Iraq to destroy materials left behind when UN weapons inspectors withdrew at the end of last year…."

Associated Press 7/29/99 Edith Lederer "...The United States on Thursday blocked China and France from asking U.N. weapons inspectors to prove that VX nerve gas left in a Baghdad laboratory wasn't used improperly to contaminate Iraqi missile warheads. Hasmy Agam, Security Council president and Malaysia's U.N. ambassador, had circulated a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan with questions to the U.N. inspectors from France and China. But the United States objected to France's questions, added late Wednesday, which U.S. officials felt trivialized the serious issue of disarming Iraq and focused unfairly on U.N. weapons inspectors from the U.N. Special Commission, or UNSCOM. So the letter has not been sent...."

http://www.worldtribune.com/index-three-text.html 7/31/99 "...Elite Iraqi troops attempted to stage a revolt against President Saddam Hussein, diplomats and Arab newspaper reports said on Friday. The reports, which included an article in the Al Hayat daily, said members of an elite Iraqi force mutinied when Saddam's son, Kusay, tried to arrest officers of the unit suspected of planning a coup. The mutineers held pitched battles with tanks and artillery with troops loyal to Saddam. In the end, the reports said, the unit was defeated and Saddam's agents arrested most of the officer corps...."

San Jose Mercury News 8/2/99 "...Each month, 4,000 Iraqi children under 5 perish from the consequences of U.S.-inspired, U.N.-imposed economic sanctions. That's 133 children each day, nearly 50,000 a year. They add up to an incessant, silent slaughter of the most vulnerable population at the direction of the world's most powerful nation. They perish from complications from malnutrition and sewage-contaminated water, from diarrhea, pneumonia and diseases like polio, cholera and typhoid, which were virtually unknown in Iraq a decade ago...."

The Associated Press 7/29/99 "...- India will extend a $25 million loan to Iraq in a deal that violates U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990, India's oil minister said Thursday. The credit agreement is the first of its kind since the U.N. embargo was imposed on Iraq nine years ago, prohibiting unauthorized financial dealings with the country. V.K. Ramamurthy, India's minister of oil and gas, acknowledged the grant would violate U.N. sanctions, but said his country would never allow a friend like Iraq to suffer. ``India is deeply concerned about the situation in Iraq,'' Ramamurthy said, adding that the Indian government will offer Iraq ``all the political, material and moral support'' it needs to rid itself of U.N. sanctions...."

London Times 8/4/99 Michael Evans "..." IRAQ is making intensive efforts to acquire an updated air defence system to counter the American and British fighter aircraft that have caused extensive damage to President Saddam Hussein's anti-aircraft network. Since the UN arms monitoring teams were thrown out of Iraq, the West has been reliant on intelligence methods to keep an eye on Saddam's covert attempts to break the international arms embargo. There are reports that a large Russian corporation has agreed a five-year deal with Baghdad to improve Iraq's surface-to-air missile systems...."

AP 8/3/99 "...Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler accused Russia, China and France on Tuesday of deliberately lying about a tiny quantity of VX nerve agent left in a U.N. laboratory in Baghdad in order to finally ``kill'' the U.N. Special Commission he headed. ``To me, it was a bit like one of those scenes in a B-Grade movie where someone shoots someone. They're obviously dead, but they go on and empty the further five bullets into their body,'' Butler said in an Associated Press Television News interview. France, China and Russia - Iraq's closest allies on the Security Council - knew that tiny samples of VX and other chemical agents in the laboratory were used to test Iraqi material and that the quantities were so minuscule they posed no danger, he said. ``Sadly, I think what was going on was their attempt to absolutely, finally kill UNSCOM,'' he said. ``They wanted ... to demonstrate that UNSCOM was an evil organization that misled the council.'' ..."

Nando Media: Reuters News Service 8/4/99 Hassan Hafidh "...Iraqi air defenses will soon be upgraded to prevent Western aircraft from patrolling no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, a senior army commander was quoted as saying Wednesday. The zones were set up by the West soon after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Iraqi minorities in the north and south from possible attacks by Baghdad's forces. "Very soon our skies will be free from hostile (aircraft)" Lt.-Gen. Shaheen Yassin, commander of Iraqi anti-aircraft defenses, told the ruling Baath party newspaper al-Thawra...."

AP 8/5/99 "...Chemical experts who destroyed tiny quantities of VX nerve agent in a U.N. lab in Iraq say it was impossible to determine whether the material was being used to calibrate testing equipment as U.N. weapons inspectors maintain. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday sent the Security Council the experts' report on the closing of the Baghdad laboratory, which was used by U.N. inspectors charged with eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The VX was among chemical and biological materials left behind when weapons inspectors from the U.N. Special Commission pulled out of Iraq in mid-December on the eve of U.S. and British airstrikes. Iraq has barred them from returning...."

AP 8/8/99 "...In the absence of U.N. inspectors, Iraq has reconstructed some U.S.-bombed buildings associated with its weapons of mass destruction program but there is no evidence weapons production has resumed, the Clinton administration says. While the Pentagon says the intelligence picture of Iraq is fuzzy, many foreign policy analysts believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has used the inspections respite since December to push a covert weapons program.....Cordesman said Iraq also is expanding its missile production facility at Ibn al-Haytham, which has two new buildings large enough to manufacture longer-range missiles than the Scuds Iraq fired in the gulf war.... Missile development is particularly important because any chemical or biological agents that Iraq already has - in violation of the U.N. commitments it made at the end of the gulf war to destroy them all - are of little military value without a means of delivering them across Iraq's own borders. ..."

 

Agence France Presse 8/10/99 "...US warplanes bombed communications sites near Mosul in northern Iraq Tuesday as the city welcomed astronomers and physicists from across the Middle East hoping for a grandstand view of the solar eclipse. Air raid sirens sounded early Tuesday across the town, followed by several explosions on the outskirts at 10:00 a.m. (0600 UTC), locals told AFP. The US European Command based in Stuttgart, Germany, said the planes had acted in self defence after Iraqi air defences opened fire on them during a routine patrol of the northern exclusion zone. It said the two sites, to the north and northeast of Mosul, were used to relay information from radars that could be used to target the aircraft The bombings have become an almost daily event in Iraq's northern and southern exclusion zones, set up to protect Kurdish and Shiite Moslem communities but not covered by any specific United Nations resolution...."

FoxNews 8/10/99 "...Iraq said Western warplanes attacked a fourth-century Christian monastery in northern Iraq Tuesday, killing and wounding a number of people at the site of a camp set up for astronomers to watch Wednesday's solar eclipse. The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) said a number of people were killed and wounded by three missiles fired by the planes, but did not give exact casualty figures. "Planes of the American and British aggressors bombed at 10:30 a.m. the Dair Matti region in Ba'ashiqa district of Nineveh province where preparations to hold a campsite to monitor the eclipse are held,'' the agency said. The monastery is in a mountainous region of northern Iraq...."

New York Times 8/13/99 Steven Lee Myers "...It is the year's other war. While the nation's attention has focused on Kosovo, American warplanes have quietly, methodically and with virtually no public discussion been attacking Iraq. Over the past eight months, American and British pilots have fired more than 1,100 missiles against 359 targets. That is more than triple the targets attacked in four furious days of strikes in December that followed Iraq's expulsion of U.N. weapons inspectors, an assault that provoked an international outrage. By another measure, the pilots have flown some two-thirds as many missions as NATO pilots flew over Yugoslavia in 78 days of around-the-clock war there. The strikes, including ones as recently as Tuesday, have done nothing to deter Iraqi gunners from firing on American and British planes patrolling the "no flight" zones over northern and southern Iraq. They, like officials in Baghdad, are acting as defiant as ever. And there appears to be no end in sight to the war -- to the surprise and chagrin of some administration and Pentagon officials....."

Reuters 8/13/99 Steve Bryant "...Iraqi gunners stepped up their resistance to Western air patrols Friday, firing surface-to-air missiles at warplanes monitoring a no-fly zone over northern Iraq, a U.S. Air Force officer said. It appeared to be the first use of such missiles since December last year when Iraq began actively challenging U.S. and British planes patrolling the no-fly zones over its south and north set up after the 1991 Gulf War. "To the best of my knowledge this is the first time they have used those weapons since December 28," the spokesman at the warplanes' Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey told Reuters. He did not say how many missiles had been launched...."

Bloomberg 8/17/99 Tony Capaccio "…Iraq is firing a new, extended range version of its standard SA-2 anti-aircraft missile at U.S. and U.K. aircraft patrolling the southern ``no-fly'' zone, the U.S. Defense Department said today. Some SA-2 batteries appear to be firing missiles with slightly longer ranges than the Iraqi guidance radars can cover, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said today. ``It's something we saw recently,'' Bacon said. ``But it has not been a significant capability to increasing the threat to aircraft.'' The range increase isn't huge, he said…."