February 12, 2003 -Today's edition of Brought to You by The Bush Junta, Produced and Directed by the CIA, based on an original script by Henry Kissinger, with a cast of billions.... The "Greatest Shew on Earth," no doubt, and if you don't have a good sense of humor, don't read this page! It is designed to reveal the "unseen." If you can't stand the heat of Objective Reality, get out of the kitchen!

Some U.S. lawmakers want to ban French water , wine and move troops from Germany. Some members of Congress are suggesting the United States impose trade sanctions on France and withdraw U.S. troops from Germany to retaliate for opposition to U.S. policies on Iraq, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has told associates he would like to target bottled French mineral water and wine, the paper said. "France and Germany are losing credibility by the day and they are, I think, losing status in the world," the Post quoted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as saying. "They are walking a fine line that is very dangerous." Comment: HA! This guy should stick his nose out into the real world once in a while, if he did he would realise that it is US credibility that is in tatters on the world stage, and the "spolit brat" attitude he exhibits just confirms the worldwide perception that the US is a schoolyard bully of the worst kind.

Misleading the public On Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State dropped a bombshell at a Congressional hearing on Iraq and revealed that he had a transcript of an 'upcoming' audio message from Osama bin Laden which betrays the links between bin Laden and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

However, the White House may have put its foot in its mouth this time around.

Upon careful scrutiny of the audio message from bin Laden (and broadcast at 3pm EST on the Arabic News Network Al-Jazeerah), it appears the Bush administration may have been so desperate to pin anything on Saddam and bin Laden that they did not wait to actually hear the contents of the message, nor provide adequate and reliable translation.

The bin Laden message expresses solidarity with the Iraqi people, advises them to remain steadfast in the coming invasion of their country and declares that Saddam and his aides are not important. "It is not important if Saddam and his government disappear," the man thought to be bin Laden says. "This is a war against you, the Muslims, and you must take arms to defend yourselves."U.S. officials were quick to point out that the bin Laden message directly incriminates Iraq and proves the existence of ties between bin Laden's Al-Qaida and Saddam. U.S. media touted the official line before even hearing the tape, or awaiting a reliable translation. "Undeniably links Iraq with Al-Qaida," says one CNN anchor. And then something happened that neither the U.S. administration nor the media anticipated: bin Laden called Saddam an apostate.

The audio message goes on to reveal that bin Laden believes Saddam to be a socialist, and declares "socialists and communists are unbelievers," thereby labelling Saddam an apostate of Islam, an infidel. It is worth mentioning that the government of Iraq is quasi-socialist and secular, and not Islamic. Walid Phares, an Arabic-speaking MSNBC Analyst finds that the audio message undermines Saddam's regime: "Osama bin Laden does not care about Saddam in fact he can't wait till the demise of Saddam; he is trying to position himself to offer Iraqis an alternative ideology - he calls socialism abhorrent to Islam."

The voice alleged to be bin Laden's in the audio message also called on the spilling of Saddam's blood: "His blood is halal." This wording is used to indicate what is permissive or legally allow for the killing of a usurper or criminal.The audio message also called for the overthrow of governments supporting the U.S. - Nigeria, Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. If bin Laden is effectively calling on Muslim Iraqis to overthrow Saddam and that Saddam is irrelevant in the coming war and Iraqis should not fight for him, how then can the U.S. administration use this message to prove Saddam and Al-Qaida are linked?

That question left some analysts baffled.

Kenneth Pollack, CNN analyst and anti-terrorism specialist, says that this is not the first time that bin Laden has used the plight of Iraq under sanctions and under Saddam to rally Muslims to his cause. In fact, bin Laden has spoken of the Iraqi issue since 1996, and has not hidden the fact that he is growing distaste for Saddam's socialist, Baathist regime. "The October audio message this year was a four minute tape and bin Laden expressed sympathy for the Iraqi people," says Peter Bergen, CNN consultant on terrorism. "I don't see today's audio message as endorsing Saddam," he concludes.

If anything, bin Laden's message directed to the people, not leadership of Iraq, (any Arab speaker with two ears can testify that the opening lines of the audio message distinctly declare that this is a message to the Iraqi people) is ambiguous as pertains to alleged links with Saddam. Nevertheless, U.S. officials maintain that this is all the proof they need. However, the U.S. viewing public must be aware that the they were only allowed to view excerpts of the 16-minute audio message, and contrary to what CNN has been proclaiming, it is not all about Iraq. The audio message also includes advice on refraining from alcohol and illicit sex, and respecting one's parents, in addition to other spiritual advice.

The audio message will not go down so easily in Europe and the Middle East and will be seen as a desperate attempt by a U.S. administration that has taken a bashing in Nato and at the U.N. to turn the tables around. According to the BBC, "BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, said the figure on the tape voiced support for Iraq, but that in no way did it prove a link between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi leadership." Arabic speakers are sure to pour scorn on the official U.S. line. U.S. Congressional leaders, who have appeared on talk shows immediately following the excerpted broadcast of the audio tape have alluded to incorrect translations of the original Arabic content. By default, the U.S. public is offered a half-censored, half-baked version of the audio tape. While U.S. officials have conceded that the voice on the tape is indeed that of bin Laden, no one has bothered to focus on why the man U.S. President Bush vowed to get "dead or alive" is very much alive and a clear and present danger.

Hollywood producers have instructed writers conjuring up villains to think French Hollywood producers have instructed writers conjuring up villains to think French.

With or without those pesky Frenchies, we're on track for a mid-March invasion of Baghdad, known wryly around the Pentagon as Desert Spring.

Troops patrol Heathrow after terror warning of 'missile attack on aircraft' Armoured vehicles and hundreds of troops were drafted in to protect Heathrow airport yesterday after security services received intelligence of a terrorist threat. An additional 1,000 police officers, many of them armed, were deployed from 6am along with 450 troops who patrolled the perimeter of the airport in west London and its four terminals in Land Rovers and reconnaissance vehicles armed with 30mm cannon and machine guns. Scotland Yard said the move was a "precautionary measure" linked to concerns that al-Qa'ida or associated groups might use the end of the Muslim festival of Eid as an excuse to attack. The festival runs from today until Saturday. Scotland Yard refused to reveal the substance of the threat but terror experts said it pointed to a possible missile attack on a plane similar to the one carried out by al-Qa'ida terrorists in Kenya last year. Chris Yates, an expert with the specialist journal Jane's Airport Review, said: "The key here is perimeter security. We can put all sorts of technology and security in airports but it doesn't take an Einstein to work out that you can park around the perimeter and launch something like a missile."

Terror threat to London 'on scale of 9/11' The terrorist threat to London is on the scale of the September 11 attacks, John Reid, the Labour Party chairman, said today. His statement reveals more about the scale of the recent terror alert which nearly forced the Government to close Heathrow Airport this week and saw the deployment of troops at the airport for the first time in nine years. Asked if the deployment was an over-the-top reaction, Dr Reid angrily replied: "This is not a game. This is about a threat of the nature that massacred thousands of people in New York. "I am not even going to take seriously those people who suggest this is part of some sort of game," he said on a visit to Manchester College of Art. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, said that ministers considered shutting Heathrow in response to the threat but decided against it because of the "catastrophic" effects on Britain's trade and economy. He added: "For those who are threatening us it would have been a victory." "Trade would have suffered and the transport of people would have been disrupted - this would have been a catastrophic thing to have done." Comment: Do you ever notice how the worst thing the terrorists can do is stop us from shopping? Right after 9-11, what did Bush tell us to do. Yeah, go shopping. What's wrong with this picture? Maybe they think it'll keep our minds occupied elsewhere than demanding that these clowns be thrown out of office.

Voice Cloning - Software Recreates Voices Of Living & Dead AT&T Labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds, inflections and intonations of a human voice that it can re-create voices and even bring the voices of long-dead celebrities back to life. The software, which turns printed text into synthesized speech, makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person's voice to utter new things that the person never said. The software, called Natural Voices, is not flawless -- its utterances still contain a few robotic tones and unnatural inflections -- and competitors question whether the software is a substantial step up from existing products. But some of those who have tested the technology say it is the first text-to-speech software to raise the specter of voice cloning, replicating a person's voice so perfectly that the human ear cannot tell the difference. ``If ABC wanted to use Regis Philbin's voice for all of its automated customer-service calls, it could,'' said Lawrence R. Rabiner, vice president for AT&T Labs Research. >Comment: If this technology is now commercially available then you can bet it has been in the hands of the intelligence community for years. So put that together with the fact that they have just "produced" a tape of "Osama's" voice, right at the time when they are having serious difficulties getting their war started, and just before the biggest antiwar day in history, and ask yourself this: With no one to stop them, would these chickenhawk warmongers do it?

Vulnerable but ignored: how catastrophe threatens the 12 million children of Iraq "They come from above, from the air, and will kill us and destroy us. I can explain to you that we fear this every day and every night." - Shelma (Five years old) It is not Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, but Iraq's 12 million children who will be most vulnerable to the massive use of force that the US plans to unleash against their country in the coming months. With or without UN Security Council backing, the looming war on Iraq will have immediate and devastating consequences for the country's children, more vulnerable now than before the 1991 Gulf War. A team of international investigators - including two of the world's foremost psychologists - have conducted the first pre-conflict field research with children and concluded that Iraqi children are already suffering "significant psychological harm" from the threat of war. The team was welcomed into the homes of more than 100 Iraqi families where they found the overwhelming message to be one of fear and the thought of being killed. Many live in a news void, with little information concerning the heightened threat of war. "I think every hour that something bad will happen to me" said Hadeel, aged 13. Assem, five, and one of the youngest interviewed, said: "They have guns and bombs and the air will be cold and hot and we will burn very much." But it is the fear expressed by the majority of the children that most shocked the team. In a breaking voice 13-year old Hind told them: "I feel fear every day that we might all die, but where shall I go if I am left alone?" When and if a massive bombardment and invasion comes, the investigators predict the consequences will be so dire that the plight of Iraqi children must be given more priority when Britain and the US consider the alternatives to war. Because there is only one month's supply of food in the country and the overwhelming majority depend on rations distributed by the Baghdad regime, the chaos of war could tip a population of malnourished children into starvation. And once American and British bombs start falling on President Saddam's power stations, the country's main water treatment plants will fail causing the rivers to become contaminated with sewage. Millions of Iraqis rely on river water to irrigate crops and prepare food. Drinking or even washing dishes in such contaminated water will make an already vulnerable population liable to deadly diseases ranging from E-coli to typhoid. Before 1990, Iraq's health care system was the pride of the Middle East and was described by the World Health Organisation as "first class". The ensuing Gulf War and sanctions have crippled the healthcare system causing death rates of children under five to double over the past decade with 70 per cent of deaths caused by easily avoidable bowel diseases and respiratory infections. Despite grave concerns at the highest levels, UN agencies are unable to prepare for an emergency that has yet to happen without being accused of clearing the way for war. The World Food Programme is preparing to feed up to one million Iraqis for at least three months, but once the shooting starts it will have to pull out its expatriate staff. Iraq's civilian population of 22 million is particularly vulnerable. Some 16 million - half of them children - are totally dependent on monthly government-distributed food rations. The last 12 years of sanctions and corruption within the regime mean that few if any families have stockpiles of food to get them through a war of any length. The World Food Programme supplies basic foodstuffs, but deliveries are left to the Iraqi government and a bombing campaign that destroys bridges over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers will stop distribution in its tracks. The report of the international study team, published by the charity Warchild, warns that there will be a "humanitarian disaster" if war breaks out. Children, already weakened and vulnerable because of sanctions are "at grave risk of starvation, disease, death and psychological trauma". The experts expect casualties among children to be in the thousands, probably in the tens of thousands, "and possibly in the hundreds of thousands". The team concludes a new war would be "catastrophic" for Iraq's children.

China opposes Iraq war, gives U.S. another hurdle New U.N. resolution for force in jeopardy China on Tuesday joined voices opposing swift military action against Iraq, presenting another obstacle to U.S.-led plans to disarm the regime by force. Chinese President Jiang Zemin called for a peaceful resolution to the standoff over Baghdad's alleged biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs. ''Warfare is good for no one,'' Jiang said. China sides with France and Russia as permanent Security Council members publicly opposed to force. The three hold veto power over any United Nations- approved actions. Jiang's remarks underscore the international divide over how to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime and come as NATO allies in Europe clash over the issue. The controversy threatens to undermine that 19-nation alliance. China's Xinhua news agency said Jiang's comments followed a telephone conversation with French President Jacques Chirac, who is leading international opposition to war. France circulated a paper Tuesday within the Security Council calling for more intrusive weapons inspections. Despite the resistance at the U.N., White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush still hopes for a resolution authorizing force. ''The president is going to continue to talk to leaders around the world, and he believes the call will be answered,'' Fleischer said. The Bush administration has said that it doesn't need any additional authority to wage war and the United States would go forward with ''a coalition of the willing,'' if necessary.

China fearing a mystery lung virus CHEMISTS and stores have been swamped by people in parts of southern China fearing a mystery lung virus. Some people were wearing surgical mask in the streets, despite doctors insisting that rumours were unnecessarily fanning public fears. About 300 people were in hospital with pneumonia caused by the virus, one- third of them doctors, nurses and other health workers, an official of the provincial Disease Prevention and Control Centre said.

February 11, 2003

Putin warns of possible "grave error" on Iraq, hints at possible veto - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that U.S. military action against Iraq without U.N. consent would be a "grave error," and he hinted that Russia might use its veto on the Security Council against "unreasonable use of force." Speaking through a translator on French television, Putin said he saw no need at present for Russia to use its veto as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. But asked if Russia would support Paris if France, another permanent council member, uses its veto, Putin said: "If today a proposition was made that we felt would lead to an unreasonable use of force, we would act with France or alone."

NATO Deadlocked Over Iraq, U.S. Raises Qaeda Fears - NATO struggled on Tuesday to repair one of the biggest rifts in its 54-year-old history, but France, Germany and Belgium gave no sign they would back alliance preparations for a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson called off a key meeting of alliance ambassadors at the last minute, opting to try informal consultations to break the deadlock. A meeting was later scheduled for 6 p.m., an alliance official said. Serious differences of opinion over Iraq were laid bare at a meeting on Monday as the three European nations held up military deployments for NATO member Turkey intended to protect it from Iraqi retaliation if U.S. troops attack Iraq from Turkish soil. "There's no hint of any change on position from the French," said one official at the 19-nation alliance. "But if only one country holds out it would be a different dynamic than three." France, Germany and Belgium on Monday argued, to U.S. annoyance, that to send Turkey surveillance planes, Patriot missiles and anti-chemical and biological warfare teams would be a premature signal war had begun and diplomatic efforts ended.

Explaining its stance at NATO, France insisted its solidarity with Turkey was total but said Paris had to base its approach to Iraq on U.N. Security Council resolution 1441. "We cannot today, through a NATO decision, lend our support in principle to a military intervention in Iraq and thus preempt the decisions of the Security Council," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau told reporters.

An audiotape purported to be from Osama bin Laden has urged Iraqis to launch suicide attacks against Americans, and called on all Muslims to unite behind Saddam Hussein in the looming war with the US. The 16-minute tape, similar to one released in November, was aired yesterday by the al-Jazeera satellite TV station. US intelligence officials said first indications were that the voice was that of the al-Qa'ida leader. Its existence was revealed in Washington by General Colin Powell during testimony to a Senate committee. The Secretary of State said the tape was further evidence of links between President Saddam's regime and the terrorist group – arguably the weakest part of his presentation to the United Nations Security Council last week. [...] The initial White House reaction was to point out that at the very least the tape showed a common cause between terrorism and "axis of evil" states such as Iraq, and possibly suggested a deeper partnership. But if genuine it is a double-edged weapon, which will highlight the Bush administration's failure to capture or kill the man believed to have masterminded the 11 September attacks.

A taped message believed to be from fugitive militant Osama bin Laden on Tuesday warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq as threatened by the United States -- but branded Saddam Hussein an infidel. In a broadcast coinciding with a major Muslim festival that prompted tight security in the United States and Britain to avert possible attacks, the man blamed for September 11 urged Muslims to fight America and repel any war against Iraq.

US stocks drop as bin Laden tape rattles investors - Stocks tumbled on Tuesday after a tape believed to be from Osama bin Laden, which U.S. officials said suggests Iraq is linked to global terrorism, unnerved investors who fear it increases war's likelihood. "If that's the case, then war is inevitable," said Anthony Iuliano, head trader for Glenmede Trust Co., referring to the link between global terrorism and Iraq that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the tape suggests. Powell said the message from bin Laden, the fugitive militant accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, is the reason the United States cannot rely on just containing Iraq with more United Nations weapons inspectors.

FLASHBACK! - Bin Laden tape a fake, Swiss lab says - The latest audiotape statement attributed to accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is not authentic, a Swiss research institute said. The Lausanne-based Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence said it is 95-per-cent certain the tape does not feature the voice of the long-absent terrorist leader.

Comment: Now, after reading the above article, go back and read: Osama Is Under Your Bed and again consider the following: Officials confirm bin Laden's voice on tape - U.S. intelligence officials have formally concluded that the voice on the audiotape broadcast last week by the Qatar-based, Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera is "almost certainly the voice of Osama bin Laden" and that it was recorded in the last several weeks. Comment: Sounds convincing, right? Look at the following:

" Gentlemen! We have called you together to inform you that we are going to overthrow the United States government." So begins a statement being delivered by Gen. Carl W. Steiner, former Commander-in-chief, U.S. Special Operations Command. - But it is not Steiner. It is the result of voice "morphing" technology developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. - Most Americans were introduced to the tricks of the digital age in the movie Forrest Gump, when the character played by Tom Hanks appeared to shake hands with President Kennedy. For Hollywood, it is special effects. For covert operators in the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, it is a weapon of the future.

Why is the United States Government Using such a Weapon against its own people?

Debunking the bin Laden tape Voice detective wonders why U.S. called it genuine - "You will be killed just as you kill," threatens the voice, purportedly that of Osama bin Laden, specifically naming Canada and other Western countries as targets. The sound lights up a computer screen with clusters of vertical lines and patches of blues and greens, making a "voice print" that is matched against others confirmed to be the Al Qaeda leader's.

"The more I work on this, the more I'm confident that it's not him," says Hervé Bourlard, director of the Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence, one of the world's leading voice-recognition institutes. Bourlard's conclusion — that the tape is probably the work of an imposter — caused a worldwide sensation on Nov. 29 and rekindled the mystery of whether bin Laden is dead or alive. It also raised questions about U.S. intelligence, which declared the mystery solved by describing the audiotape, broadcast Nov. 12, as "genuine" and recently recorded. Bourlard stresses he's no political analyst. Still, he wonders if U.S. officials have ulterior motives when they insist it's bin Laden's voice on the tape.

Comment: Important question, indeed. But you won't see this FACT get any real play in the mass media. Nor will anything of significant truth be covered by them. Indeed, we are fortunate to have the internet, what is unfortunate is that so many people still do not, and they are programmed to "trust" the talking heads over an above any other authority. If Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw don't say it, it just isn't real for them. That, in itself, suggests an agenda by the Jewish controlled media.

Regarding the plagiarism enacted by British government authorities in an Official Government Intelligence Report...   While an incident such as this may not be anything new to some of us---it should be used as a wake up call to the world that these people who are masquerading as the saviours of morality, democracy and apple pie are nothing short of out and out liars and cheats. As of now--this is clearly demonstrated in an undeniable manner.

These government representatives are using plagiarized material to create a government authorized Intelligence Report designed to inflame public opinion to accept a war that will result in the horrible deaths of millions of people and devastate an entire nation---and that is the best case scenario. At worst, and likeliest, this war, and those to come will embroil this planet in a nuclear holocaust that will destroy all living beings and the planet itself. While we are now being conditioned to think that a nuclear war is survivable---in our guts and hearts we know that isn't true.

So let us not just have a few chuckles over this shameless example of fraudulent, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous, untrustworthy and immoral act. Let us not just sweep this under the carpet as the next wave of manufactured evidence against a fraudulent, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous, untrustworthy and immoral dictator comes to light. Let us finally understand that those who are so casually planning the destruction of our children's planet are nothing short of sociopathic violators of all human principles.

France proposed on Tuesday expanding U.N. security units in Iraq as part of an effort to bolster inspections as an alternative to war, despite doubts raised by chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix. Taking the offensive against the United States and Britain, the four-page French informal paper called for a tripling of the number of inspectors and security units, presumably U.N. guards, to ensure that a suspected site would remain "frozen." France, which along with Germany, Russia and China, opposes a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, did not say whether its proposals, a virtual blueprint for containment, could be turned into a resolution, should the United States and Britain introduce a measure asking the council to authorize force.

US, British Jets Attack Iraqi Battlefield Missiles - Aircraft taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked a battlefield missile system in southern Iraq on Tuesday in an unusual response to Iraqi threats against the air patrols, the U.S. military said. U.S. defense officials, who asked not to be identified, said the strike, which took place at about 7 p.m. in Iraq, destroyed at least one truck-borne Ababil-100 surface-to-surface missile, its launcher and support vehicles in the southern "no-fly" zone near Basra. The launcher is capable of quickly firing four of the rockets, which can each carry explosive warheads or up to 25 anti-tank "bomblets" and have a battlefield range of 80 to 90 miles. The air strike came as U.S. and British forces massed in the Gulf region for a possible invasion of Iraq.

Russia's Putin Defends Stand with France on Iraq - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday defended his country's joint appeal with France and Germany for efforts to disarm Iraq peacefully and avoid war. Putin said he hoped the appeal, announced Monday amid intense U.S. pressure for military action, would be heeded. "We have not done this to build an axis or a bloc. We have not done this against something, but for something -- in this case in order to resolve a bitter world crisis in a peaceful way," Putin said in an interview on French television. "We very much hope our opinion will be heard. It would be a grave error if unilateral actions were taken, outside the framework of international law," he told TF1 television. China Tuesday voiced support for the joint declaration announced by Putin and French President Jacques Chirac Monday evening following talks at Chirac's Elysee Presidential Palace. Putin is on a three-day visit to France. China has veto power on the United Nations Security Council along with Russia and France, which are both resisting pressure for military action from the other veto-wielding members, the United States and its closest ally Britain. Putin said the declaration was also about trying to make sure other voices heard on the world stage.

Richard Sauder sez: Like others I have despaired of approaching American officialdom for support, where my concerns time and again fall on bought-and-sold deaf ears. But then --suddenly-- a bright ray of hope appeared on the darkening horizon and quickly flared into dazzling international prominence. It was "Old Europe" riding hard to the rescue! -- the banners of France, Germany and Belgium held high and snapping crisply in the "twilight's last gleaming" as they rose to oppose George Bush and his insane Iraq invasion policy.

I wasted no time in calling the French Consulate in Houston, Texas and the French Embassy in Washington, DC to voice my support for the French opposition to Washington, D.C.'s rush to war.

If the French represent and support my views, and the views of millions of my countrymen, then it is to France that I must and shall turn.

There is actually historical precedent for this. Remember that it was in the dark hours of the Revolutionary War that Americans looked to France for support in the struggle against King George III of England. At Yorktown it was the French who helped turn the tide. How ironic that it is once again France and the French who are standing firm against another wannabe world tyrant named George: "George" W. Bush, in this case.

Won't you join me in expressing your support for the French opposition to George Bush's planned slaughter in the Middle East?

Here are the telephone and fax numbers for the French Embassy in Washington, DC. Telephone: (202) 944-6000 Fax: (202) 944-6166 Send a fax.

It doesn't matter that you don't know French. The staff at the embassy speakd and read English.

Or telephone them. You will get a message in French, followed by a message in English. If the operator answers with a "Bonjour" just politely respond in clear English (unless you speak French, of course!) and he/she will direct you to an English speaking staff member to whom you may deliver your message of support for the French efforts in opposition to George Bush's catastrophically dangerous foreign policy.

And here are contact details for the German and Belgian embassies too. Why not fax/call/e-mail them as well and express your support for their opposition to George Bush's war mongering?

If "Old Europe" represents our interests and George Bush does not, then it is to "Old Europe" that we shall turn.

German Embassy: e-mail: contactmedia@german-info.org Fax: (202) 471-5519 Belgian Embassy: Telephone: (202) 625-5801 Fax: (202) 625-7567 e-mail: frans.vandaele@diplobel.be

Don't panic if you hear a foreign sounding voice answer! Just speak clearly in English and say that you support the Belgian or German government's opposition to George Bush's war, as the case may be.

Israel Readying Response if Iraq Attacks - The Israeli military has been training constantly to retaliate for possible Iraqi missile attacks should war erupt in the Gulf, army chief Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday. In an interview on Channel Two television, Yaalon said he would be surprised if the United States did not launch a war against Iraq within weeks. But he said the Israeli army believed there was only a slim chance that Iraq would attack Israel once war broke out. Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, causing heavy damage to residential areas but only one death.

Israeli troops sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip Tuesday restricting travel for Palestinians celebrating the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. In fresh violence, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man in the Gaza Strip as he entered an off-limits area near an army post on the border between Gaza and Israel, the army said. A spokesman said a Soviet-made Kalashnikov rifle and hand grenades were found near the body. The Israeli closure of Palestinian territories prevents Palestinians from traveling within the West Bank and Gaza and bars them from Israel until Friday, depriving many of the chance to visit relatives and friends over the four-day Muslim feast. The new measures reverse an earlier decision to ease conditions for Palestinians over the holiday. The daily Haaretz reported that the move was taken after Israel's domestic security service Shin Bet, said it had received 48 warnings that Palestinian militants were planning suicide attacks against Israeli targets.

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Boy, 8 - Israeli soldiers shot dead an 8-year-old Palestinian boy Tuesday during unrest that followed Israel's cancellation of plans to relax travel curbs in the West Bank and Gaza for a Muslim holiday. In other bloodshed, troops killed an armed Palestinian in Gaza in an off-limits area near an army post on the border with Israel, the military said. Israel television said Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The violence erupted after Israel reversed a decision to loosen its grip on Palestinian movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, citing a surge in suicide bombing threats. Palestinian hospital officials in the West Bank city of Qalqilya said the eight-year-old died after being hit in the chest by gunfire from troops attacked by stone-throwers. They said 10 other Palestinians were wounded.

The continued travel clampdown imposed by Israel in the 28-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood prevents Palestinians from visiting relatives and friends in other towns during the Muslim feast. "Israel's tightening of the siege on Palestinian cities exacerbates the human catastrophe in the Palestinian territories," Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told Reuters. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Ahmed Korei, a top Palestinian official, had met last week to discuss a possible Israeli army pullback from West Bank cities where Palestinian security services undertook to prevent attacks by militants. At least 1,825 Palestinians and 701 Israelis have been killed in the revolt led by Palestinian militant groups, which erupted after U.S-brokered talks on Palestinian statehood in territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war broke down.

At one time Israel could be proud of its educational system. Today the state of the nation’s schools has become a threat to its welfare. Teachers are improperly prepared and salaries are low. Classroom discipline has vanished. Problematic programs of study have caused a generation of students to fail. In international rankings of students’ achievements, Israel appears at the bottom of the list. How did this happen to us? What can be done to salvage the situation?

Dear Mr. President,   It seems you have been ignoring the discovery of the largest Israeli spy ring in North America, maybe because you are being blackmailed? The Israeli spy news story first broke regarding the existence of a system to tap into any phone in America built into the surveillance system used by law enforcement authorities. However after reporting it, Fox News spiked the story from its website. Several cases were cited where investigations ranging from drug running and money laundering to the events of Sept. 11 had been compromised by leaks from the company that operated the phone taps as well as phone data from an associated company that handles billing services for almost every phone in America.

The focus of the article was a single question: Could Israel be blackmailing the entire US government and media?  

The answer is now obvious. Fox News, the so-called "We report, you decide" all news network, has removed the four-part story from its website. No explanation is given except for the single Orwellian sentence at the end of one of the links, "This story no longer exists".

Over the past several weeks, bits and pieces of information have surfaced, and the time has come to connect all those pieces into a coherent whole. Israel, purportedly our friend, has been spying on all of us. And we're not talking about individual spooks like Jonathan Pollard, or small-time networks such as the 140 Israelis arrested by the FBI prior to Sept. 11, or the 60 arrested since (including 5 arrested who were cheering and celebrating as the World Trade Center collapsed).

It turns out that Israel has had a potential wiretap on every phone in America for years, along with the ability to monitor and record who any person is calling, anywhere in America; information of great value even if one does not listen to the calls themselves. Amdocs, Inc., the company which subcontracts billing and directory services for phone companies around the world, including 90 percent of American phone companies, is owned by Israeli interests. Yet another company, Comverse Infosys, is suspected of having built a "back door" into the equipment permanently installed into the phone system that allows instant eavesdropping by law enforcement agencies on any phone in America. This includes yours. [ More...]

Britain dismissed calls from European partners Tuesday to give the United Nations more time and resources to ensure Iraq disarms, saying no amount of inspectors could do the job without Baghdad's full compliance. Reinforcing resolute British support for Washington, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said even a thousand-fold increase in the number of U.N. inspectors could not eliminate President Saddam Hussein's alleged arsenal of mass destruction. "If Saddam bows to the U.N.'s demands and cooperates promptly, what is the need for greater numbers of inspectors?" Straw said in a speech to London's International Institute for International Studies. "But if he maintains his refusal to cooperate, how will higher numbers help? Lethal viruses can be produced within an area of the size of the average living room," he said. "In the absence of Iraqi cooperation, even a thousand-fold increase in UNMOVIC's capabilities will not allow us to establish with any degree of confidence that Iraq has disarmed." France, Germany and Russia called Monday for greater efforts to disarm Iraq peacefully in an effort to halt the momentum toward a U.S.-led war with Iraq. Their joint appeal highlighted a trans-Atlantic rift with the United States and deep divisions within the European Union.

The US Treasury is proposing to extend its anti-terror regulations to clamp down on hedge funds round the world.   It has drawn up rules that would compel any hedge fund with a "US nexus" - taken to mean a US investor, manager or sponsor - to give US authorities access to files on its investors.   Industry members said the proposal could threaten client confidentiality, which has been cherished by many wealthy individuals who make up the majority of hedge fund investors.   "Our client confidentiality is out of the window," said one London-based manager. "If you have one US investor - and nearly all funds do - you will have to disclose all your investors to the US."

Iraq Grants Anti-War 'Human Shields' Entry Visas - A group of around 50 Western anti-war activists received visas Tuesday to enter Iraq where they plan to form "human shields" in an effort to deter a possible U.S.-led attack on the Arab state.   The volunteers said at an impromptu news conference in the Turkish capital they hoped their presence and the possibility of Western casualties would encourage U.S. political leaders and military planners to re-think any plans to bomb Baghdad for its alleged development of weapons of mass destruction. [...] The group is traveling across Turkey in a convoy, including a red double-decker bus, that is expected to cross into Syria on Wednesday before entering Iraq. The volunteers left London late last month and headed overland across Europe.   On arriving in Iraq, they plan to disperse to populated areas of Baghdad and other parts of the country. Critics have said they are naively playing into Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's hands.   Turkey last week deported Ken Nichols, a former U.S. marine who helped organize the "human shields" campaign, after he tried to enter the country using documents describing himself as a "citizen of the world."

Texas Snubs World Court On Execution Stays - An unrepentant Texas said on Thursday it would ignore a World Court order demanding it stay the executions of two Mexicans, a decision likely to create more friction between the United States and its allies over capital punishment. The International Court of Justice at The Hague on Wednesday ordered the U.S. to stay the executions of three Mexicans and reserved the right to intervene in dozens of other cases. [...] A U.S. refusal to heed the World Court could worsen already-tense relations with Mexico on the issue. Mexican President Vicente Fox angrily canceled a planned meeting with President Bush in Texas last year after the state ignored Mexican pleas for clemency for Javier Medina. Texas, the only U.S. state to have once been an independent country, has long resisted external interference in its affairs and has a history of ignoring pleas for clemency. On Tuesday, Texas executed John "Jackie" Elliott, a dual British-American citizen whose cause was taken up by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, members of parliament and high-ranking British clerics. He was the 296th inmate executed in Texas since 1982, four years after national death penalty ban was lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The United States is the only Western democracy to carry out the death penalty.

The Space Shuttle's Secret Military Mission - Astronaut Ilan Ramon Spied on Iraq with a Multispectral Camera. Were spectral emissions from the shuttle powered by americium-242? - For 16 days in orbit, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon made earth observations with a cluster of instruments, which NASA called "a multi-spectral telescope." Designed to survey the air quality over the deserts of the Middle East, his "telescope" was built by a research team at Tel Aviv University and a U.S. company, Orbital Sciences Corp. His research project was called MEIDEX (Mediterranean-Israel dust experiment) [...] During the search for Columbia debris, one of the sheriffs in Texas told reporters about the danger posed by radioactive equipment from the shuttle. NASA repeatedly warned of hazardous substances without disclosing any specifics. Most media commentators assumed that the space agency issued the bogus warnings to discourage souvenir collectors. Maybe the sheriff wasn't lying.

Universe to expand for ever - The Universe will expand for ever, at an ever-increasing rate, Nasa scientists are to announce. They base their conclusion on new data obtained by the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (Map) satellite, which has been orbiting the Sun beyond the Moon since shortly after its launch in 2001. Map data also confirm previous findings that most of the Cosmos is composed of mysterious "dark energy" that is causing the expansion of the Universe to accelerate. Atoms - the basic components of matter that can give off light - comprise only a few per cent of the Universe. As one astronomer put it: "To the Universe, stars and planets are minor impurities."

Those chupacabras are at it again in Puerto Rico; this time in the city of Fajardo. A 70-year-old man claims a giant falcon with a human face has killed two rabbits and attempted to drain the blood of a goat. Local police are still investigating the attacks.

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