From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #19 =============================== In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere (validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra). Visit Our Home Page At: http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/0103.asp See the Undeniable Evidence At: http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence Kindly Archived At: http://www.kymhorsell.com/BOZO/archives/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting latest news stories and other data for you... ------------------------------------------------------------ Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into the abyss the abyss also looks into you. -- Nietzsche [Thanks to Mike Hamilton for this one]. No-one hates war like a soldier hates war. -- Gen Tommy Franks, CiC US forces Gulf War II, and future military ruler of Iraq. No nation has been taken in by his transparent tactics. -- US Sec of State Colin Powell, 5 Mar 2003, complaining that many nations have declined to support the Bush Admin's drive to war. We're not expecting Saddam to have disarmed in a week or so. -- Brit For Sec Jack Straw, 11 Mar 2003, proposing a new "compromise" after France, Russia and Pakistan said they would block the Sec Council vote if it leads to war. ---------------------------------------- YOU DIN AST. Coalition aircraft are now flying around 1,000 combat missions over Iraq each day. ---------------------------------------- Mon, 10 Mar 2003. Markets Hamas shoots back Why is the US so confident? Pentagon seeks a nuclear digger New PM for Turkey CEO's arm-wrestle to settle dispute PM defends linking Iraq with 'war on terror' British minister says she'll quit if war without UN Nose-thumbing from inside their graves? Hostages taken then freed Gunmen kill 2 hostages in Philippines Closing the net on bin Laden Protesters stretched 3 km during another giant US set for tactical withdrawal in Korea Missile test War won't have major impact on economy: study US asks countries to expel Iraqis Iraqi diplomat Helal Aaref to be deported amid espionage claim. Expelled diplomat 'intimidated Iraqis' Govt 'turned blind eye' to spying 'Don't hit Iraq' on Egyptian hit parade Afghanistan to launch Internet country code Anti-war protesters heckle PM Invasion of the superbugs worries doctors Medicare plan calls for end of rebate Hosp report good for govt Vic popularity polls Telstra served notice about spam on USENET Maralinga waste 'must be dug up' The virtual realities of war Global warming freezing out reindeers Heat wave Fire inquiry Quake Sydney (ABC). MARKETS! The All Ords closed down pts 4 to 2,711 -- another 4 y low. AMP was down another 21 to $A6.30. The AUD was 61.34 US cents, down against the USD. Oil is up to $US38.06/bbl. Gold is $US353/oz. In Japan, the Nikkei was down 20 to 7,975 -- levels not seen since Jan 1983. The collapse followed the firing of a 2nd NK missile into the Sea of Japan. The Japanese index has declined 80% since its peak 13 ya. Other major markets haven't fared much better. The German bourse has fallen 70% since its peak 3 ya. The US 46% over 3 y. Doing comparatively well, the AUS markets have declined only 20% since their highs, 1 ya. Israel (SBS). HAMAS SHOOTS BACK! Hamas has reacted to the recent assassinations of 4 snr leaders by firing 4 missiles from Gaza into Israel. There are presently no reports of injuries or damage. NY (SBS). WHY IS THE US SO CONFIDENT? US Sec of State Colin Powell remains confident the US will win the vote for a 2nd Res with wording of US choosing. This, despite a diplomatic offensive mounted by France, in particular, and periodic statements by Russia and China they will block any move to launch military action against Iraq. And many US political commentators have concentrated on the FRENCH veto power, but have down-played or plain ignored the presence of a veto from Russia and/or China. Why? It seems the strategy is this: The screws have been applied to all 6 of the "middle" countries, presently members of the UN Sec Council, and the odds are looking increasingly good 5 will vote "yes" to the US/Brit/Spainish proposition. Observers say the "influence" has involved gentle reminders about the export prospects of certain countries if they disappoint a certain major trade partner. 2 of the 3 African countries the French are presently arm-twisting, for example, owe up to 2/3 of their trade income to oil sales to the US. Similar economic tools are likely to see China and Russia abstain from a vote. Leaving France. Mr Powell and others have been encouraging the view that France would forever be tagged as the spoiler if it, alone, used a veto to block the majority wish of the Sec Council. And it will, also, abstain. At least, that's the neo-conservative theory. Pentagon seeks a nuclear digger Washington (WashPost). The Pentagon is about to take the 1st public step to produce an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon that could be aimed at N Korea's underground nuclear and missile production facilities, Bush Administration officials say. Within a wk, an air force report is to be delivered to the House of Representative and the Senate, stating the military requirements for the "robust nuclear earth penetrator," a device designed to dig into the ground before it explodes and crushes any facility buried beneath it. David Albright, Pres of the Institute for Science and Internat'l Security and an expert on N Korea, said, "It is a bad idea to develop these things, which probably would never be used, and do so openly. It develops a lot of paranoia among proliferating states who believe the US is planning to attack them." Ankara (SBS). NEW PM FOR TURKEY! Turkey has a new PM, and he's making noises about supporting the US troop deployment on Turkish soil. And many MP's back him. The new PM is expected to push Parliament to a new vote to pass a motion allowing US "offensive forces" to cross Turkey and take up positions along the Turkish/Iraqi border. Washington has loudly hoped this will happen within the next 3 days. Meanwhile, the powerful Turkish military itself has moved troops to the border region today. But many Turks are still against US troop deployment. And the proffered $US15 bn "inducment" to co-operate with Washington is part of the problem. It's "dirty money", says the Turk-in-the-street. And those living in the border region remember the death that rained down on them from both Iraq and Coal'n forces during Gulf War I. They were hurt before, and they fear the same again. CEO's arm-wrestle to settle dispute NZ. A $NZ200,000 dispute between 2 NZ companies has been resolved in an an unusual out-of-court settlement -- a best-of-3 arm-wrestling match. The chief executives of the small telecommunications companies -- Teamtalk Ltd and MCS Digital Ltd, squared off after their firms were unable to reach an agreement on access to a mobile radio network. The dispute had already been the subject of a complaint with competition regulators and was heading for the courts. "Sure, losing hurts but not nearly as much as paying lawyers' bills," defeated TeamTalk chief executive David Ware said. PM defends linking Iraq with 'war on terror' Canberra. PM John Howard rejects claims he is playing on the emotions of Aussies by bringing up the memory of the victims of the Bali bomb attack in the context of any war against Iraq. Mr Howard is in New Zealand on the final day of a 3-day visit. He says this will be a very difficult wk for the world as the UN Sec Council decides what to do about Iraq. Last night, Mr Howard asked Aussies to remember the those who were killed in Bali if AUS commits troops to a war against Iraq. He says he is not alleging Iraq was responsible for the bomb attacks but says disarming the rogue state is part of the wider war against terrorism, citing Iraq's past and continuing assistance to terrorist organisations. Mr Howard is also concerned if chemical and biological weapons got into the hands of terrorists he says there could be much more horrific outcomes than occurred in Bali. Opp'n leader Simon Crean says Mr Howard 's comments are insensitive. He says Mr Howard is trying to justify a war with Iraq. "It's insensitive to those still grieving from the Bali bombings and it's wrong, because no evidence has been produced that links the Bali bombings to Iraq," Mr Crean said. British minister says she'll quit if war without UN London. A leading member of British PM Tony Blair's Govt has said she would resign her position if the country went to war with Iraq without the backing of a 2nd UN res. The announcement ratcheted up the pressure on Mr Blair, facing rising disaffection from the public and his own party over his unswerving support for a US-led attack to remove Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein from power. "I will not uphold a breach of internat'l law or this undermining of the UN and I will resign from the govt," Internat'l Devel't Sec Clare Short said. "I think it's time for cards on the table. I think I owe it to my colleagues in the Govt and members of the Labour Party to just be truthful about my position. It's the time to say what my intentions are," she said. Ms Short would be 1st high ranking member of the govt to quit her post over the issue. Mr Blair looks increasingly out on a limb as another jr member of his Labour Party Govt announced his resignation on Sun amid media reports that 4 more could quit over Iraq and some 200 party lawmakers could rebel if Brit waged war without the UN. A new poll meanwhile showed that only 15% of Britons backed an attack on Iraq without a 2nd UN res. Nose-thumbing from inside their graves? NY (USA Today). The wisdom of Pres Bush's upcoming war against Iraq is arguable. So may be some of his anti-terrorism tactics. But there should be no argument about condemning these 2 turncoat countries whose govts are thumbing their noses at us over those 2 issues: * France, which threatens to use its veto in the UN Sec Council over Iraq. That veto power is undeserved, because France was a World War II wimp. * The Philippines, which refuses to let our combat troops in to hunt down the terrorists it is harbouring. That despite this wk's bombing at a Philippine airport that killed 21, incl a missionary from the US Muscle-flexing over the Iraq debate by once-superpower Russia and wannabe-superpower China is no surprise. Both pine to be power brokers. We simply need to understand from whence they came and where they want to go and especially that they helped us win WWII. But France and the Philippines now telling us to shove it? A history lesson is in order. France laid down its arms just 44 days after Hitler's invasion in 1940. We and our allies freed them 4 y later. The cost incl 30,426 US WWII troops buried under small white crosses on French soil. The Philippines fell within 6 m of the Japanese invasion in 1941. We freed the country 3 y later. The cost incl 17,206 US servicemen and servicewomen buried in Manila's American Cemetery. Nearby, marbled walls carry rows of names of 36,280 US troops missing in action in that area. This nose-thumbing by the French and Filipinos may have many of my buddies in our 86th Infantry Division, which served in both Europe and the Pacific in WWII, returning the gesture from their graves. [Translation: I'm not a racist but: they don't dare show courage now, because they are all proven cowards! The question-begging indicates the final stages of Right Wing Deficit Disorder (RWDD)] Manila. HOSTAGES TAKEN THEN FREED! Rebel gunman in the S Philippines have killed a soldier and taken 50 bus passengers hostage. Officials say about 200 suspected members of the MILF stopped a bus in the town of Pikit in N Cotabato prov before dawn today. Col Carduzo Luna, the head of the military forces in the area, says the rebels robbed the passengers and took them hostage for several hrs. The passengers were freed when the rebels later ran off into the bush. Gunmen kill 2 hostages in Philippines Manila. UnID-ed gunmen seized a passenger bus and several other vehicles in the S Philippines on Mon, and 2 people were killed before the gunmen escaped, authorities said. The bus was travelling between Cotabatao City and Davao on the S island of Mindanao at about 6.30 am when gunmen fired on it and took about 40 passengers hostage, said Farida Malingco, mayor of the town of Pikit, nr where the incident happened about 575 miles SE of Manila. Passengers in 3 vehicles travelling behind the bus also were taken hostage, said Army Capt. Onting Alon, deputy rep of the 6th Infantry Division in the area. He did not know how many people were in those vehicles. Army Col Carduzo Luna said a soldier in civilian clothes was shot in the head. The soldier could have been a bus passenger, Luna said. About 2 hours into the siege, the gunmen fled as security forces approached the bus, Malingco said. A pro-govt militiaman was killed and 5 villagers were wounded as troops chased the attackers in Takepan village, about a mile from where the bus was seized, said a local radio reporter at the scene. The attackers were not captured immediately. Malingco said the rest of the hostages were unharmed. "The civilians don't know the motive but they were just held there," Malingco said. "They were shaken by what happened." There were no negot'ns and the gunmen made no demands, she said. Authorities suspected the gunmen were bandits or members of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Alon said he suspected MILF rebel involvement. But MILF rep Eid Kabalu denied involvement, although he acknowledged that guerrillas were active in the area where the siege occurred. On Sat, the rebels said murder charges filed against MILF leaders in Tue's bombing at Davao airport dimmed the prospect of resuming peace talks with Pres Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration. Talks have been suspended for 2 y. The bombing coincided with public debate over the role of US troops training Philippine soldiers in counterterrorism. The US wants about 1,000 American soldiers to be allowed into combat against the smaller Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels on S Jolo island later this y, but Arroyo last wk ruled that out. Closing the net on bin Laden Al Qaeda supremo caught Kabul (Sun Telegraph). Two young sons of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sep 11 attacks, are being used by the CIA to force their father to talk. Yousef al-Khalid, 9, and his brother, Abed al-Khalid, 7, were taken into custody in Pakistan in Sep when intelligence officers raided a flat in Karachi where their father had been hiding. Mohammed fled just hours before the raid but his sons and another snr Al Qaeda member were found cowering behind a wardrobe in the apartment. The boys have been held by the Pakistani authorities but this weekend they were flown to America where they will be questioned about their father. CIA interrogators confirmed that the boys were staying at a secret address where they were being encouraged to talk about their father's activities. "We are handling them with kid gloves," said one official. "After all, they are only little children, but we need to know as much about their father's recent activities as possible. We have child psychologists on hand at all times and they are given the best of care." Mohammed, 37, is being held in solitary confinement at the Bagram US military base in Afghanistan. He is being subjected to "stress and duress" interrogation techniques. He has been told that his sons are being held and is being urged to divulge future attacks against the W and reveal the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. Khalid was arrested on March 1 in Rawalpindi, nr the home of Pakistan's Pres Pervez Musharraf. Among the items found was a photograph of a smiling Mohammed with his arms around his 2 sons. Known as "The Engineer", he is suspected of masterminding the Bali bombings and slashing the throat of American reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in Jan last y. Little is known of his sons' mother, who is thought to be Pakistani. "All we know is that she is the sister of an Al Qaeda member that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed met at a Pakistan college, the Uni of Dawa al Jihad, in the late 1980s," a source said. Rawalpindi (ABC). Protesters stretched 3 km during another giant protest againts a US-led war against Iraq. The protest was organised by the UAF and observers say about 200,000 people took part. The protesters called on the Pakistan govt not to back US plans to laucnh an attack on Iraq. US set for tactical withdrawal in Korea Beijing. While N Korea signals it will continue missile firings in an apparent attempt to draw the US into direct peace talks, Washington has also begun a more subtle diplomatic brinkmanship of its own, intended to rally S Korea and other regional powers around its confrontation of the N's Stalinist regime. The region was yesterday waiting N Korea's likely 2nd test of a 240-kilometre range anti-ship cruise missile, following a 3-day warning issued on Fri to shipping in a sector of the Sea of Japan. The first test took place on Feb 24, just before S Korean Pres Roh Moo Hyun was sworn into office. It has also emerged that in last Sun's interception of an unarmed American RC-135S spy plane over the Japan Sea, the 4 missile-armed N Korean MiG fighters had tried to make the US crew surrender and fly to N Korea. The naval missile test breaks no undertakings by the Pyongyang govt, though the timing is being seen as provocative by US allies incl AUS, which called in N Korea's envoy to CBR for an official protest. But announcements in Washington have set off alarm bells in Seoul and possibility other regional capitals. The US Def Sec, Donald Rumsfeld, said on Thu that the US was studying ways of either withdrawing its 37,000 troops in S Korea, or shifting them further away from the DMZ, the N-S truce line. S Korea's own army might provide "the kind of up-front deterrent that is needed", he said, with backing from US air and sea power. This was a bombshell in S Korea, where the Defence Min, Cho Young Kil, told the Nat'l Assembly that the US had "never officially informed us" on troop re-deployments or raised the possibility of withdrawal. He said S Korea "will not discuss any possibility of movement of US troops before the [N Korean] nuclear issue is resolved". Up to now, the US garrison has been stationed on the DMZ as a key assurance to S Korea. Although it would not be strong enough to repel a blitzkrieg attack by the N's 1.1 mn strong army, its location means US forces would be drawn immediately into fighting and leave Washington little choice but to wage a major campaign. But as memories of the Korean War and past tensions fade, S Korean public opinion has looked more at the negative side of hosting foreign troops, incl their occupation of prime sites in Seoul and their immunity from local legal proceedings, and swung behind the tolerant approach of Mr Roh and his predecessor Kim Dae Jung towards the N. Mr Rumsfeld's statement seems intended as a jolt to this attitude. Tokyo. MISSILE TEST! Japan says it was expecting today's test-firing of an anti-ship missile by NK. The missile was fired toward the Sea of Japan in what Japanese officials say was an apparent move to step up pressure for US concessions in a nuclear standoff. The officials say the launch posed no direct threat to Japan. However, Japan's For Min'y says it is not favourable at this time of great tension over North Korea's nuclear ambition. War won't have major impact on economy: study Canberra. A new economic study says a war in Iraq will not have a major impact on the AUS economy. The latest economic outlook from BIS Shrapnel is forecasting growth of 2.9% for the 2003 calendar y, growing to 4.9% next y. The study suggests a major investment boom is not far off but remains on hold due to the drought, the weak global economy, the housing decline and the threat of war. BIS Shrapnel chief economist Dr Frank Gelber says an attack on Iraq will restrict growth by no more than 0.5%. Dr Gelber says despite the drought, a softening in housing construction and the prospect of war, the underlying economy is strong. NY (SBS). US ASKS COUNTRIES TO EXPEL IRAQIS! The NY Times reports the US has asked 60 nations to expel several 100s Iraqi diplomats in the run-up to a war with Baghdad. The diplonmats had been ID-ed by the CIA as "intelligence agents", the paper reports. In AUS, For Min Alex Downer says the govt acted on ASIO advice when it decided to expel a diplomat from the Iraqi embassy in CBR. Iraqi diplomat Helal Aaref to be deported amid espionage claim. Iraqi diplomat probe prompted by US says Downer Canberra. Foreign Min Alexander Downer says the US asked AUS to investigate Iraqi diplomats and whether they were involved in espionage. The Fed Govt is expelling an Iraqi diplomat, accusing him of spying. Iraqi diplomat Helal Ibrahim Aaref has denied he is a spy and that he has collected info about dissident Iraqis. The diplomat has been given until Wed to leave AUS. Mr Downer says there is great concern about the Iraqi intelligence service and what it could do if there is a war against Iraq. He says the US approached AUS to investigate Iraqi diplomats living in AUS. "No they haven't put pressure on us but we have had extensive discussions with the Americans about this issue, of course we have," Mr Downer said. The Opp'n says if the allegations are correct, he should never been allowed into the country. Expelled diplomat 'intimidated Iraqis' Canberra. An Iraqi diplomat who is being expelled for spying was monitoring and trying to intimidate opponents of Saddam Hussein's regime in AUS, snr Govt sources have claimed. ASIO had confirmed Helal Ibrahim Aaref's intelligence work and he was told to leave AUS by Wed, the sources said. It will brief Opp'n Leader Simon Crean on its evidence today. PM John Howard angrily rejected suggestions that the expulsion was part of a propaganda campaign ahead of war against Iraq. "That's nonsense... we had very good intelligence and security reasons for doing what we did," he said. "The reason he's been asked to go is that he has broken the unwritten rules." Intelligence agencies have refused to detail publicly Mr Aaref's activities in AUS. One well-placed intelligence source said Iraqi officials had a history of monitoring and pressuring dissident groups here. But leading Iraqi opposition figure Dr Mohamed al-Jabiri said diplomats had been moving among the community without permission, smuggled by sympathisers to meetings in SYD and warning community members not to speak out against Saddam Hussein's rule. It had been confirmed that Mr Aaref was an Iraqi agent, and that automatically justified his expulsion, one intelligence official said. He would have been collecting info on AUS's military capabilities -- particularly the SAS -- as well as monitoring Pres Saddam's opponents. It is believed that the US recently ID-ed Mr Aaref as a spy to AUS. ASIO had already placed him under surveillance and confirmed the US claim. [This allowed Mr Downer to misleadingly claim the govt was acting on ASIO info, rather than at the behest of the US]. In 1991, the Hawke govt expelled Iraqi diplomat Saad Omran for security reasons. He was recruiting Iraqis to report on dissidents in the community, intelligence sources said. [This is the typical function of foreign "spies"]. Govt 'turned blind eye' to spying Canberra (AAP). AN Iraqi human rights advocate today accused the fed govt of turning a blind eye to alleged long-term spying by Iraqi diplomats in AUS. Dr Mohammed Taha Alsalami, the chairman of the Organisation for Human Rights in Iraq, alleged spies were routinely employed by the Iraqi embassy in CBR. He was commenting on the fed govt's decision to give Iraqi diplomat Helal Ibrahim Aaref until Wed to leave the country. The govt says Mr Aaref, a diplomat with the Iraqi embassy in CBR, is a member of Iraq's intelligence services and it has good security and intelligence reasons for expelling him. However, acting Iraqi ambassador Dr Saad al-Samarai has said he believes the decision is political. Dr Alsalami said his conversations had been recorded and he had been victimised since the 1980s and was blindfolded and interrogated when he visited Iraq. Dr Alsalami said all Iraqi diplomats in AUS were spies. He also said people were being killed in other countries by "Iraqi embassies". He said he'd asked the Fed Govt to close the Iraqi embassy in AUS. "I think (the AUS govt has had) blind eyes for such things," he said. "I asked the AUS govt to close the embassy because of the activities. Now because of imminent war they can't tolerate them." 'Don't hit Iraq' on Egyptian hit parade Cairo. A pop song titled "Don't hit Iraq" and calling instead for weapons inspections in Israel is having a roaring success in Egypt and should soon make its way onto the hit parade. "Leave Iraq in peace, you inspected him; it has no arms of mass destruction but they are still bombing it," lyrics in the song by Shaaban Abdul Rehim say. "Go inspect Israel instead, there's a lot of arms of mass destruction there," it goes, accusing Israeli PM Ariel Sharon of causing "a bloodbath" in the region. Abdul Rehim, a former laundry worker, had another another smash hit 2 ya at the height of the Palestinian uprising with a song titled "I hate Israel and love Amr Mussa," the Arab League chief who was then Egypt's For Min. The new song says "after Afghanistan, here comes the turn of Iraq, and no one knows who is next". However, the song also criticises Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein with the words "Saddam, God forgives him, he's the one who brought them," and "we warned him, if only he would listen," in reference to his 1990 invasion of Kuwait which sparked the Gulf War. Afghanistan to launch Internet country code Kabul. Afghanistan, where the Internet was banned during the rule of the purist Taliban, will formally inaugurate its ".af" domain for Afghan web-sites and email addresses on Mon (local time), the UN said. Equivalent to a country code for telephone numbers, the ".af" suffix has now been reserved for private and official email and web users in Afghanistan, the UN Development Program (UNDP), which gave legal and technical support to the program, said in a statement. "For Afghanistan, this is like reclaiming part of our sovereignty," the UNDP quoted Communications Min Mohammad Masoom Stanakzai as saying. "It is the country's flag on the Internet," the minister, who will formally activate on Mon the new top level domain as Internet country codes are known, said. All non-govt use of email services and websites was punishable by death during the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban. Afghan expatriates, acting privately, registered the ".af" domain at the time. The 1st websites officially registered under the new domain are the sites of the Communications Ministry and the local unit of the UNDP. Anti-war protesters heckle PM Wellington (NZPA). Protesters chanted "no blood for oil", thumped drums and set fire to flags outside NZ's Parliament in Wellington today as PM John Howard attended a state lunch inside. However the rowdy whistling and chanting from about 600 anti-war protesters was inaudible in the Banquet Hall, where Mr Howard was being hosted by NZ PM Helen Clark. Tomatoes hurled by protesters also failed to make much of a mark, clearing a line of police officers before splattering harmlessly on the steps of the parliament building. Mr Howard, on the final day of a 3-day visit to NZ, was shadowed by police marksmen as he laid a wreath at the nation's war memorial in Wellington earlier today. Just 15 anti-war protesters were at the memorial for Mr Howard's visit, but in a sign of the concerns about his security a large number of police were also on duty. NZ Green MPs were among the protesters, boycotting the state luncheon after co-leaders Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald called Mr Howard a "warmonger" who backed an invasion of Iraq. Mike Rigg, 47, set fire to a NZ flag he had got from a 2-dollar shop. He said he was angry Ms Clark was inside talking to Mr Howard, when she had refused to talk to special needs protesters who took court action against the govt. Mr Howard arrived in NZ on Sat for regular bilateral talks. The Green Party had called on the govt to revoke his invitation to visit. Invasion of the superbugs worries doctors Boston. Doctors have sounded the alarm after discovering 2 strains of drug-resistant "superbugs" are spreading like wildfire across the US, and one of the bacteria may already have reached Europe. The bugs are Streptococcus pneumoniae, blamed for 1000s of cases of meningitis, sinusitis, ear infections and pneumonia each y, and Staphylococcus aureus, which is spread through skin abrasions and, if untreated, can cause abscesses and boils and lead to pneumonia or fatal blood poisoning. Reporting in the monthly journal Nature Medicine, epidemiologists, led by Dr Marc Lipsitch of the US Harvard School of Public Health found strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae that are resistant to the conventional antibiotics penicillin and erythromycin are advancing fast across the US. In 1995, the proportion of penicillin-resistant strains in the US was 21%, and that of erythomycin was 10.6%. On present trends, by mid-2004, 41% of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections will be resistant to both antibiotics, the team believes. The finding is a serious worry, for the loss of those 2 antibiotics will leave physicians with only a few drugs left in their arsenal, notably amoxicillin and fluoroquinones, and even these are now showing early resistance problems. Dr Lipsitch says there is now an "urgency" in limiting unnecessary use of antibiotics in order to brake the rate of resistance spread, and in finding a new generation of drugs to tackle these hardened strains. Meanwhile, a drug-resistant strain of Streptococcus aureus has infected 1000s of people in the US and may now have reached Europe, the British weekly New Scientist reported on Sat local time. This strain has long been a serious problem in hospitals and nursing homes, where it infects the wounds of patients weakened by disease or injury. But the novel strain has added a new gene, apparently enabling it to spread through skin contact and even infect healthy people, the British science weekly said. Medicare plan calls for end of rebate Canberra. A radical plan to rejuvenate Medicare, incl financial incentives for doctors to bulk-bill and a network of govt-funded medical centres, has been unveiled by a coal'n of welfare, health and consumer groups. The Fed Govt's approach to Medicare will kill off bulk-billing within 14 y and greatly reduce the quality of the nation's health services, says the Nat'l Medicare Alliance. The alliance incl the AUS Council of Social Service, the AUS Consumers Assoc'n, the Public Health Assoc'n of AUS, the AUS Nursing Federation and the Doctors Reform Society. The alliance's plan, to be released this morning, calls for higher rebates and practice support -- such as infrastructure, administrative and nursing support -- for doctors who bulk-bill. It also proposes the creation of publicly funded, multidisciplinary, medical centres - especially in areas where bulk-billing is low -- to ensure low-income earners have access to adequate health care. The alliance suggests funding its proposals by scrapping the private health insurance rebate -- a public subsidy for those with private health insurance costing more than $2 bn pa. Bulk-billing had declined to 71.2% of consultations by last Sep, down from more than 80% in 1995-96, it said. It would fall to zero by 2016 unless changes were made, the alliance said. The alliance is also calling for a formal, transparent public health reform procedure, incl an official white paper and green paper that would outline the Govt's long-term plan for health, and inform public debate. The Pres of the Public Health Assoc'n, Peter Sainsbury, said the rise in GP co-payments -- payments in cash which are partly refunded through Medicare -- meant many Aussies were delaying getting medical help until their condition worsened, at great cost to the community. A rep for fed Health Min, Kay Patterson, would not comment yesterday. Melbourne (ABC). HOSP REPORT GOOD FOR GOVT! Following noise from the state Opp'n that the Vic hosp system was in crisis, the latest Vic Hospitals Report has been good news for the govt. It shows the length of waiting lists is down 8.5% over the last y -- marking 9 consecutive Q the numbers have fallen. The report says ambulances went onto bypass 218 times during the Dec Q -- 1/2 the number of the prev Q. The number of patients waiting >= 12 hr for hosp beds has also fallen. The state Opp'n says the govt are manipulating the data, saying sick people have been "cancelled from the lists" in an attempt to massage the figures. St Vincent's looks particularly good in the new report. But hosp reps say things are as good as the numbers show -- but warn they may not be so good next winter. Melbourne (ABC). VIC POPULARITY POLLS! The latest opinion polls are bad news for the Vic Opp'n, with support for the Opp'n leader falling even furtehr behind the Permier. The latest data shows 68% of voters support Mr Bracks for Prem, while only 14% nominate Opp'n leader Robert Doyle. About 67% are satisfied with the job the Prem is doing, while only 29% are satisifed with Mr Doyle. Telstra served notice about spam on Usenet Sydney. Telstra has been put on notice to reduce the amount of spam being posted to news groups through its servers. David Ritz, a Usenet volunteer, who looks after the issuing of Usenet Death Penalties, issued a request for discussion about the problem on March 6. Once a request has been made, it is discussed to determine if there is a consensus among other sites and administrators that it is justified. During this discussion, others sometimes attempt to contact the ISP in question and resolve the problem. If it is generally agreed that a UDP is warranted, then the offending ISP is informed and given 5 days to rectify matters. After this, messages from the offending ISP are blocked by administrators of news servers. In his RFD, Ritz said: "Telstra has an abysmal history with respect to ignoring long term net-abuse issues. Trying to get any response from them is next to impossible. In the past 5 y, I've only managed to elicit a response from them on one issue. Even when their nntp servers are being hijacked, flooding Usenet with malicious rogue cancels and supersedes messages, let alone 1000s spammed posts, reports are met with deafening silence." He said statistics indicated that nearly 2/3 of the articles posted to news-server.bigpond.net.au were spam. Stuart Gray, the public affairs manager for BigPond, said no complaints had been received at newsmaster@bigpond.com which, he said, was the email address to which complaints should be sent. , "We are taking the allegations seriously," Gray said. "But we have not been directly informed about it." Maralinga waste 'must be dug up' Canberra. Radioactive waste buried during the clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site in SA must be dug up and re-melted into plutonium-trapping rock, experts say, adding $30 mn to the clean-up costs. "The best thing they can do is exhume this debris and melt it by in-situ vitrification," nuclear engineer Alan Parkinson said. The waste was not safe in its present condition, buried 2.7 m deep in 2 unlined trenches, he said. "Plutonium is dangerous in any form," he said. "If you inhale 1 mg of Pu it will kill you." Mr Parkinson was a snr fed govt representative from 1993-98 on the clean-up at Maralinga, where the British govt ran nuclear trials in the 1950s and 60s. A long-awaited report on the outcome of the Maralinga clean-up project prepared by the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee is due to be tabled in fed parliament this month. Mr Parkinson has criticised the draft of the final report, and in particular MARTAC's treatment of debris contaminated from the Vixen B trials between 1960 and 1963. The waste, which incl 100s of tonnes of Pu-contaminated steel, was exhumed from 21 pits and re-buried in 2 trenches after MARTAC decided to abandon ISV waste treatment. The ISV process involved melting the contaminated pit debris and soil into a glass-like block to encase Pu for 1000s of y. MARTAC abandoned ISV after a pit exploded in 1999. The pit debris already treated by ISV was exhumed, cooled with water, broken up and re-buried in the trenches with untreated debris. "They now have the Pu encased in nothing," Mr Parkinson said. "It is totally illogical." A draft of the final MARTAC report obtained by The Australian estimates 650 g of Pu remains in the debris trenches and will not pose an exposure risk to humans if left undisturbed. US geochemist Dale M Timmons, who conducted the chemical design for the ISV treatment of the Vixen B debris, said that while the waste was safer now than in its original form, the best way to prevent Pu leaching was to exhume the waste and retreat it with ISV. AUS Dems senator Lyn Allison said the waste "has to be dug up and sorted so that we can identify where the most heavily contaminated waste is". The virtual realities of war London (The Guardian). Chances are that people will 1st learn about a war on Iraq via the web, email, instant messages or text message. Things were different during the last Gulf War. Then, memorably, CNN relayed real-time pictures of the first air strikes direct to the world. Cue the age of 24/7 rolling news. However, the present moment is dominated by a different kind of "networked news", one in which the net is integrated into the mainstream media, where online communications play an unpredictable but influential role. People used email and IRC (internet relay chat) channels to relay frontline news from Kuwait and Baghdad during the last Gulf war. With the mainstream news media so tightly regimented, the idea that the internet might represent a more open channel to the reality of war began to form. That idea took hold during the conflicts in the Balkans, peaking during Kosovo, the 1st real net war. Then, reports on the effects of the Allied bombing campaign were circulated via mailing lists, discussion groups and web pages. However, the ease with which all this info could be accessed led to a more sceptical attitude online. People realised that such reports could be easily faked, that the internet could be used by all sides to spread disinfo and propaganda. We began regarding the internet as one of the places an info war might happen. In a way, that's where we are now. The upcoming conflict will be a full-blown info war; it is already a networked conflict. In the run-up to the war, the US has been spamming Iraq, sending emails to every address in the country, advising citizens not to deploy chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Saddam Hussein has responded by closing down the internet and purging all such communications. Since Sep 11 and the declaration of a war on terrorism, we've been living through a kind of low-level info-war. Both pro- and anti-war activists have used the internet to spread info and co-ordinate action, 1st in Afghanistan and then Iraq. The upside offered by the internet, suggests Der Derian, is that "it takes less capital and technical know-how to both collect and disseminate info. The downside is that net literacy -- in the sense of distinguishing noise from signal -- has not kept up with the explosion of information." Chris Hables Gray, a professor at the Uni of Great Falls in Montana, author of Postmodern War and a specialist in modern techno-war, says that "the internet has always been as good a place as any to put out white, black and Mosley propaganda". With the US Govt floating ideas such as Total Information Awareness (the plan to develop ways to track and data-mine all net traffic to find terrorist activity), this side of the info-war is hotting up, says Der Derian. "You can be sure that the Defence Dept has contingency plans to control information on the net." The internet will continue to play an unpredictable role as the conflict intensifies. Although wars may be started and ended by networks, they make an impact on ordinary people's bodies and lives in a much more basic way. War is about killing and maiming people, and that can't happen in CyberSpace. Global Warming Freezing Out Reindeers London (Reuters). Reindeers, caribou and elks could be the latest victims of climate change. Increased rainfall on snow-covered pastures is causing ice crusts to form over the soil which make it difficult for animals living in permafrost areas such as Scandinavia, Siberia and Alaska to feed. The animals can't break the ice to get to food. Researchers were not sure why the ice formed but Jaakko Putkonen and Gerard Roe from the Uni of Washington in Seattle found the answer by studying weather data and soil samples from the Arctic island of Spitsbergen. A weather pattern known as the N Atlantic Oscillation increases the likelihood of rain falling on snow (ROS). Strong winds and storms and warm air from the S combine to produce rain instead of snow. "By 2080 ROS is likely to affect 40% more land than it does at present, squeezing the reindeer into an ever smaller area," said Roe. Perth. HEAT WAVE! Perth is sweltering through some of its hottest Mar days on record [what record?], with temps soaring over 40 deg for 3 consecutive days. Today's temps reached a scorching 42 [just 3 deg short of MEL's recent max!] -- the 2nd hottest Mar day on record after Mar 5, 1990, when the mercury hit 42.3. Yesterday, the max was 40.8, topping Sat's 40. The weather bureau says the last time the city sweltered with 3 straight days above 40 was in 1922. Canberra. FIRE INQUIRY! A fed inquiry will be held into the bushfire that ravaged AUS last summer, killing 7 people. A rep for PM John Howard says details of the inquiry will be announced soon. A rep for the aptly-named Min for Disaster, Wilson Tuckey, says the matter has been discussed in Cabinet and Mr Howard's office will provide details at a later stage. Darwin. QUAKE! An earthquake off the NT coast has been felt in Darwin, but there are no immediate reports of damage or injuries. It wasn't strong enough to give Darwin a severe jolt, and many residents were unaware of the tremor. Geoscience Australia says the quake, a mag 5.7, occurred about 600 km N of Darwin in the Indon Tanimbar Is region of the Banda Sea, just after 8 pm local time. ---------------------------------------- Tue, 11 Mar 2003. US tenders Ebola toll Hebron attack Withdrawal 2 UN police killed Violence leaves lasting impression US protests NK interception More missiles crunched Coal'n bombs Iraqi installations France vows to vote down UN res UN Sec Council still split ahead of crucial vote Heat is on as US tries to drum up votes for attack Unmanned drone found by weapons inspectors US reaches for a smoking gun Torpedo blows While Powell decries new weapon, opp'n grows Iraq's neighbours fear conflict Khalid speaks Brit to re-word res Howard lays out his blueprint for war Aussie troops committed Govt policy dumb and not worth the risk PM criticised for link Howard digs in amid war outcry PM toed the line on Iraqi envoy Rumania follows Aussie lead Looming Iraq conflict holds US markets hostage US may release more prisoners from Guantanamo Bay Iraq builds oil trenches Canary sales rise on gas attack fears Downer contradicts Vaile over Bali-Iraq link Downer denies a Baghdad-Bali link Opp'n urges trip to NK Business as usual FNQ dengue fever spreads NSW election Vic govt assisting Timorese Cyclone warning Flooding in SYD Bloody Swedes No, not the oil! Markets (close) Washington. US TENDERS! The US govt has called for bids from US companies to rebuild Iraqi oilfields following the up-coming military action. DRC. EBOLA TOLL! Officials in the Dem Rep of Congo say the number of deaths from an on-going Ebola outbreak has reached 98. They warn the toll is likely to climb further. Hebron. HEBRON ATTACK! Gunmen have shot dead 1 person and wounded 3 others in the divided W Bank city of Hebron. Israeli radio stns say people came under fire nr the Cave of the Patriarchs, the traditional burial place of the biblical patriarch Abraham. A firefight then erupted between the gunmen and soldiers who raced to the scene. Army radio says soldiers surrounded a building where the gunmen were holed up and fired a rocket into it. N Gaza. WITHDRAWAL! The Israeli army has started to withdraw from the N Gaza after 3 days of operations. During their stay, several homes were destroyed and 15 farms bulldozed. A UN building was also levelled in a refugee camp. The army is allowing residents to return to their homes. Local people are complaining over the destruction, and have turned out to fix damaged roads and fallen power and phone lines. The army said they were trying to prevent rockets being fired from the area into Israel. But following the assassination of 3 snr Hamas leaders yesterday, several were fired anyway. The latest incursion had been criticised by Washington as "heavy-handed". Pristina. 2 UN POLICE KILLED! 2 UN police have been killed in a shoot-out during an argument at their camp in Kosovo. A rep for the force says the 2 victims, whose nationalities have not been released, died yesterday. The police camp has been sealed off and investigators are treating the deaths as homicides. Kosovo effectively has been run as an internat'l protectorate by the UN and NATO-led peacekeepers since Jun 1999. Hey that's not a long time -- wait till we take Iraq! NY. VIOLENCE LEAVES LASTING IMPRESSION! Yet another study has found watching violence on TV can encourage a child to act more aggressively -- up to 15 y later. The study is [reportedly!] one of the few to follow children into adulthood, with researchers finding the effect appeared in both sexes. The study linked TV viewing at ages 6-9 to behaviour, incl spousal abuse and criminal convictions in a person's early 20s. The study recommends [JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME!] parents restrict viewing of violent TV and movies by toddlers through pre-teens as much as possible. Washington. US PROTESTS NK INTERCEPTION! The US has delivered a formal protest to NK over an incident earlier this m where 4 Mig's intercepted a US spy plane in internat'l airspace. It was revealed yesterday the NK planes tried to force the US aircraft to fly to NK. State Dept rep Richard Boucher says the US has re-iterated its call on the North to adhere to internat'l standards of regime-change and behaviour, and avoid any further provocative or escalatory steps. But if they don't like that, they can ignore the warning and do what they feel they can get away with. Baghdad. MORE MISSILES CRUNCHED! Iraqi and UN officials say 6 more banned missiles have been scrapped under the supervision of weapons inspectors, bringing to 52 the number of Al-Samoud 2's destroyed. Almost 1/2 the know number of weapons has now been destroyed since Mar 1. Meanwhile, the NY Times says UN inspectors have discovered a new type of Iraqi missile. The paper says it appears the missile is designed to scatter chem and bio agents over large areas. Washington. COAL'N BOMBS IRAQI INSTALLATIONS! US warplanes have bombed a mobile radar for SAM missiles in Iraq's W desert in the latest air strike against Iraqi defences. The US military says the mobile radar was located S of Ar Rutbah, an Iraqi airfield that protects the W approaches to Baghdad. Officials said the defences threatened US war plans. The area was also used to launch Scud missiles against Israel and Saudi Arabia during Gulf War I, and is expected to be a major focus of activity by US and Brit forces "if" they attack Iraq. Other reports say US/Brit jets also hit 5 communications sites. Coal'n aircraft are now flying about 1,000 combat missions a day over Iraq. France vows to vote down UN res Paris. The draft res before the UN Sec Council to authorise military action against Iraq appears dead in the water. French Pres Jacques Chirac says France will veto any new UN res on Iraq, whatever the circumstances. Mr Chirac told a live TV audience France will vote "no" to the draft submitted by the US, Brit and Spain. Although he has not used the word "veto", a no-vote by any of the 5 permanent members of the Sec Council automatically means a veto is applied. Pres Chirac says he believes a war in Iraq will break up the internat'l coal'n against terrorism and also help those who want to see a clash of civilisations and religions. "We have unanimously chosen a path to disarm Iraq and nothing shows us yet that this path has been exhausted," Mr Chirac said. The Pres said France refused to agree to any path that leads automatically to war as long as the inspectors say their work is still proceeding. UN Sec Council still split ahead of crucial vote France, Russia vow to veto new res The draft res before the UN Sec Council to authorise military action against Iraq appears dead in the water. French Pres Jacques Chirac says France will veto any new UN res on Iraq, whatever the circumstances. Russian Foreign Min Igor Ivanov says Russia will also vote against the draft. In another blow to Washington's plans, Pakistan has decided to abstain. The Whitehouse says plans to veto the res are disappointing. UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan has warned that US military action against Iraq without a UN Sec Council mandate would flout internat'l law. Mr Annan says if the US goes outside the Sec Council, it will not be in conformity with the UN charter. The Sec-Gen also warned the Sec Council would be "damaged" if the US decided to act unilaterally. He also says war must always be the last resort and the UN has a duty to search to the very end for a peaceful solution. Heat is on as US tries to drum up votes for attack NY (NY Times). The Bush Admin is still struggling after a weekend of urgent diplomacy to line up 9 votes on the UN Sec Council in favour of a res that would threaten Saddam Hussein with war if Iraq does not disarm, officials say. Chile and Guinea, 2 crucial votes, have indicated that they are not yet ready to say yes. An Admin official says the US will press for a vote this wk. On Fri the US put others on notice to be ready for a vote tomorrow, SYD time, but the official said this could slip until later in the wk as efforts continue to seek wider support. However, Russia has said it will veto the US-British res before the UN Sec Council authorising the use of force against Iraq. Russian Foreign Min Igor Ivanov made the announcement in a statement today. The Iraqi Govt, meanwhile, said it was doing all it could to co-operate. It called the remaining questions about its disarmament "technical aspects" that the US and Brit were using as a "pretext" for war. The statement seemed intended to deepen divisions between the US and its allies. Even the staunchest of these, Brit's Tony Blair, is facing growing dissent as a cabinet member threatened to quit. With other leading European nations opposing any war, the Bush Admin has for several wks pursued a strategy of trying to get 9 Sec Council votes committed in support of a res, and then hope that France and Russia would at least abstain and not use the veto. Admin officials have said they believe that even with a veto, a measure that received 9 votes might command moral legitimacy in the eyes of much of the world. A powerful consideration is driving the diplomatic pace. The military is keen to attack before soaring early summer temps in the Gulf make fighting in chem and bio protection suits especially arduous. But analysts say US commanders may delay war until Apr 1 as Turkey's reluctance to be a conduit for W forces means they must plan another way to occupy N Iraq -- and because early Apr offers a moonless sky for bombing. Unmanned drone found by weapons inspectors London. Iraq is believed to have acquired an undeclared drone aircraft capable of threatening its neighbours with chem or bio weapons. According to the London Times newspaper, US officials were furious the drone was not mentioned in the presentation by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to the UN Sec Council last wk, but instead incl in a report released later that day. The UN report says recent inspections have revealed the existence of an undeclared Iraqi drone with a wingspan of 7.45 metres. It says further investigation is required to establish the drone's actual capabilities. But according to the Times, US and British officials are furious Dr Blix did not mention the pilotless aircraft in his oral presentation in NY last Fri. In Feb US Sec of State Colin Powell told the council he had evidence Iraq had test-flown a drone in a race track pattern for 500 km non-stop. If true, this would mean Iraq would easily be capable of using the drone to deliver whatever chem or bio weapons to a sufficient range to threaten most of its neighbours. US reaches for a smoking gun Washington. The US and Brit are pushing the discovery by UN weapons inspectors of an illegal Iraqi unmanned aircraft, and rocket warheads for germ or chem weapons, to help convince wavering Sec Council members to back a Mar 17 deadline for Iraqi disarmament. To boost support for a Res paving the way for a US-led war, the US and Brit now intend to press chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to admit he has found a "smoking gun". The allies want more details of the large undeclared Iraqi drone, which Dr Blix did not mention in his report last wk, to prove to other Sec Council members that Iraq is not disarming. As well, inspectors recently discovered a new variety of rocket that appeared to be designed to strew bomblets filled with chem or bio agents over large areas, The NY Times reported yesterday, quoting US sources. The discovery of the drone, with a 7.45 m wingspan, was revealed in a de-classified 173-page document circulated by inspectors only after Dr Blix's report. The inspectors said they were seeking more info. Mr Powell said the inspectors had found an unmanned aerial vehicle program that Iraq was not supposed to have, because the drones could be equipped to spray germ or chem agents. "It looks like it is a prohibited item," he said. An explicit report by Dr Blix of the discovery of an Iraqi violation would help the 6 swing voters -- Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan -- to explain a change of position. Unlike the outlawed Al-Samoud-2 missiles, which were declared as purportedly legal weapons, the drone was not declared. It would be the 1st undeclared weapons program found by the UN. Mr Powell said the US also believed the 6 uncommitted countries should worry that Saddam Hussein's "outrageous" demand on the weekend, that the UN now drop economic sanctions, was evidence that the dictator felt he had already successfully split the Sec Council. Mr Powell said he believed the US was now close to gaining 9 or 10 votes, but that he would not be surprised if France used its veto. He rejected a report that Russia had promised not to use its veto, and said it was unclear how China would vote. In a sign of deteriorating relations with the US's oldest ally, Mr Powell questioned Paris's commitment to disarming Iraq and said it would be unfortunate if France, which is courting Sec Council members to back its anti-war position, blocked the will of the majority. Beijing. TORPEDO BLOWS! 2 people have been killed and another seriously injured in E China after an antique torpedo exploded. The torpedo is believed to date from the 1883-85 war between China and [you guessed it!] France. The Xinhua news agency says the explosion occurred yesterday at a recycling centre in Liulin village in the city of Fuzhou in Fujian province. 3 similar weapons were destroyed at the centre yesterday after police condoned off the area. While Powell decries new weapon, opp'n grows Washington (AP). Struggling for UN support to forcibly disarm Saddam Hussein, Sec of State Colin Powell voiced alarm Mon over the discovery that Iraq has unmanned drone aircraft capable of dispensing chem weapons. Disclosure last wk by UN weapons inspectors that Iraq had developed drone aircraft capable of dispensing chem weapons "should be of concern to everybody," Powell said after a meeting with Foreign Min Francois Fall of Guinea. "This and other information shows Iraq has not changed," Powell said in an exchange with reporters at the State Dept. Iraq also has developed a version of a S African cluster bomb that could disperse chem weapons over a target, dept rep Richard Boucher said. Iraq has said that it has destroyed all chem warheads. Bush, meanwhile, made an urgent round of phone calls to world leaders, trying to salvage a UN Sec Council ultimatum giving Saddam Hussein until March 17 to prove Iraq has disarmed. Bush spoke to Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi, Chinese Pres Jiang Zemin, Pres Thabo Mbeki of S Africa and Sultan Qaboos of Oman, mouth Ari Fleischer said. Powell's meeting with the For Min of Guinea was part of the effort to gather a minimum of 9 votes on the UN council to use force as a final option to disarm Iraq. French Foreign Min Dominique de Villepin is on a parallel lobbying campaign to line up Guinea, Cameroon and Angola, the 3 African nations on the council, to oppose the res, due for a vote this wk. Powell rejected any notion of a bitter competition with the head of the anti-war bloc. China is a permanent member of the council and has veto power. Japan backed the new res Sat, urging the council to pass it. While Japan is not on the council, it is a major source of foreign aid -- an important consideration for the poor nations on the body. Powell said he would not be surprised by a French veto. Such a step by France, he warned, would "have a serious effect on bilateral relations, at least in the short term." Powell said he could not be sure where another veto-bearing nation, China, stood on a vote that could take place as early as Tue. In TV interviews Sun, Powell and Bush's nat'l security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said they believed public opinion had been slow to follow the Bush Admin. But they predicted the public and US allies would come to support an American-led war with Iraq. Canadian PM Jean Chretien contended that a US-led war would give license to other nations who felt they needed to pre-emptively attack. "It might be considered as a precedent for others to try to do the same thing," Chretien said on ABC's "This Week." "Where do you stop? You know, if you can do that there, why not elsewhere?" House Dem leader Nancy Pelosi of California drew a standing ovation from members of the Communications Workers of America when she stated her opposition to an Iraq war now. Bush has alienated allies in the war on terror, she said. Sen Carl Levin of Michigan, snr Dem on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said war could threaten the US by fanning anti-American sentiment. "Anti-Americanism is a threat to us," Levin said on CNN's "Late Edition." Former Pres Carter, last y's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, added his voice to that warning. "It is quite possible that the aftermath of a military invasion will destabilise the region and prompt terrorists to further jeopardise our security at home," he said in a NY Times opinion article Sun. "Increasingly unilateral and domineering policies have brought internat'l trust in our country to its lowest level in memory," Carter wrote. "American stature will surely decline further if we launch a war in clear defiance of the UN." Iraq's neighbours fear conflict Qatar (The AUS). When John Howard declared at the weekend that Iraq's neighbours would be happy to see Saddam Hussein blasted from office, he was at best half-right. Hussein is certainly no hero to his neighbours, but there should be no mistake -- most of the region is not only against an attack on Iraq, they are far from certain that overthrowing the Iraqi leader will leave the Middle East a better place. And that view is held by most people in the region and by most of their govts, a rare double in one of the least democratic areas of the world. Even in Qatar, one of the most co-operative Arab allies of George W Bush's "coal'n of the willing", the overwhelming public sentiment is against the planned attack. As families enjoyed the cool evening breeze in Doha's seaside Al-Bidda Park yesterday, the view was clear: there should be no attack on Iraq. Hussein was a brutal leader who had done nothing for his people, but the strong belief was that the US had no place waging a war and installing a new regime, even as a transition to a democratic Iraq. Govt officials concede the war is opposed by about 80% of the residents of this oil- and gas-rich emirate, perhaps the most liberal Arab state and certainly one of the most pro-Western. Hassan al-Ansari, head of the Gulf Studies Centre at the University of Qatar, points out that the Qatari media shares this opposition to the war, editorialising strongly against the looming attack. The public sentiment, both here and elsewhere in the region, owes much to a feeling that Washington has little regard for Muslim lives -- contrasting US attitudes to Israel and the Palestinians are cited as rock-solid proof of this bias. The Emir, who seized power from his father in a 1995 coup, has gone along with his superpower ally, gaining enormous points with Washington by stepping in when Saudi Arabia withdrew the use of military bases and by offering direct support in the 1st Gulf war. Just outside Doha, the As Sayliyah base is the nerve centre of the US-led build-up of forces and now the most important US military base in the world outside America. Only Kuwait, invaded by Hussein in 1991, has been more co-operative to Mr Bush's coal'n. The people who live in the region are more aware than anyone that things could go wrong, with the war spilling out of control, the new regime collapsing, or proxy battles being waged in Iraq by its neighbours. But even a smooth transition to a new US-backed democracy would be a direct threat to the mostly unelected govts surrounding Iraq. Almost all those regimes, from the kings and emirs propped up for so long by Washington to the Syrian dictators and Iranian clerics, fear they would be lined up for a reverse version of the Cold War "domino theory". Iran's conservative clerics might loathe Hussein but they have good reason to fear they would be the 1st domino singled out for regime change, having already been named in the Bush "axis of evil". Most Iranians are quite keen on democratic change, but people in surrounding countries are less excited than Washington would hope at the prospect of a democracy being dropped in their midst. Apart from widespread distrust of the US and genuine compassion for the victims of war, the people and govts of the region see an Iraqi regime change as a danger to their own interests. Nobody wants to host more refugees. Jordan, Syria and Turkey rely heavily on cheap Iraqi oil and sanctions-busting trade routes, and worry how their struggling economies would cope without them. Turkey, Syria and Iran fear their Kurdish minorities will become more fractious if Iraq's Kurds formalise their autonomy and perhaps even push on for nationhood. Syria and Iran will suddenly find themselves encircled by US allies. The Saudis have already lost influence on all fronts and do not relish the idea of oil competition from a US-friendly Iraq. Islamabad. KHALID SPEAKS! Following reports the CIA is holding 2 of his sons, captured snr Al Qaeda leader KSM has told interrogators he met OBL in Dec at an unknown location. The news comes from Pakistan's intel agency, ISI, in an unprecedented briefing for the foreign media. A snr official says KSM confirmed he met the Al Qaeda head last y. However Khalid told the ISI he was not sure of the exact location. It's believed the CIA and ISI have been back-tracking cell-phone records to locate the possible position of the world's most wanted terrorist to the mountainous region on the Afghan border. London. BRIT TO RE-WORD RES! Plan "C". The Brit govt says it's willing to re-word a draft res authorising war on Iraq to gain critical support on the Sec Council. PM Tony Blair's official rep suggests the deadline in 7 days' time, set by Brit and the US, could be extended, although not by much. But Russia overnight said it will veto the US-Brit res authorising the use of force. Elsewhere, France, Brit and the US are going hard after the votes of 3 key African members of the Sec Council. The French For Min is trying to block the votes from the countries, but his whirlwind trip is being closely followed by Brit diplomats trying to ensure a "yes" vote. Brit will be followed up by calls from the geographically challenged Pres Bush Jr, who's thought likely to mention economic repercussions of thwarting US plans for world domination. Some observers say the US will point out it controls votes in the World Bank and other UN bodies that support cash-strapped countries. Howard lays out his blueprint for war Wellington. John Howard has laid out an effective blueprint for war in Iraq, arguing the world must unite now to disarm Saddam Hussein or face the proliferation of global terrorism. As the UN Sec Council prepares to vote on a res which could trigger a US-led invasion of Iraq, Mr Howard presented his case to a press conference in NZ in what may be a final dress rehearsal of the call to war he is expected to deliver to the Nat'l Press Club on Thu. The PM warned that failure to disarm Iraq would be the "ultimate nightmare" for the world. Sydney (ABC). AUSSIE TROOPS COMMITTED! PM John Howard was preparing for a key speech tomorrow, to sell his vision for war on Iraq. While he wasn't answering Q's today, he was talking on SYD radio. He gave his broadest hint yet that Aussie troops wouldn't be coming home without seeing action. If we give Iraq a victory, Mr Howard asked audiences, what chance would there be to bring N Korea under control? What would Saddam think if AUS troops were simply brought home, he asked the audience? Canberra (ABC). GOVT POLICY DUMB AND NOT WORTH THE RISK! Dumb and not worth the risk. That's the assessment of govt policy on Iraq by a snr analyst from the ONA. The Office of Nat'l Assessment gathers and assesses a stream of intel from various sources. Andrew Wilkie says he's made the biggest decision in his life and resigned over what he says are misguided govt policies on Iraq. He says there is no evidence backing claims from the US that there are links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Mr Wilkie said Iraq poses no threat to AUS, the US or anyone else at present, and a US-led attack would be the most likely action to force Saddam to use WMD or link with internat'l terrorists. Wilkie also complains AUS is not getting the right intel info from its US ally. Elsewhere, ONA Dir Gen Kim Jones took the very unusual step to talk to reporters about Wilkie's resignation. Jones said Wilkie only worked on matters related to illegal immigration and was not privy to matters related to Iraq. Wilkie authored a key paper on Iraq last Dec, and was about to join the Iraq Taskforce, to advise the govt during the up-coming war. Canberra. PM CRITICISED FOR LINK! PM Howard has arrived back from NZ to a barrage of criticism for linking the Bali bombing to the looming war on Iraq. His 3-day visit to NZ was dogged by protests from NZ-ers unconvinced by his arguments for war. In an interview, the PM said he would ask Aussies to keep the Bali death toll in mind when the war with Iraq was joined. He initially said he stood by his comments. Then he claimed he was misunderstood. Then he re-linked Saddam with internat'l terrorism by calling on Aussies to imagine what terrorists would do with chem or bio weapons they got from some rogue nation. Howard digs in amid war outcry Wellington/Canberra. PM John Howard has stepped up his case for forcibly disarming Iraq, warning of "even more horrific outcomes than occurred in Bali" if rogue nations were not stopped from giving weapons to terrorists. Mr Howard said action was needed against Iraq because he feared the "fatal cocktail" of bio, chem or nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. Just forget rouge scientists working for the US military! Mr Howard refused to retreat from comments made on NZ TV at the weekend, when he said Aussies should remember the terrorist attack on Bali if AUS troops were sent into battle. The comments sparked a heated debate in AUS, with criticism from the Opp'n, the Dems, the Greens and relatives of some Bali bombing victims. In AUS, Opp'n Leader Simon Crean accused Mr Howard of insensitively exploiting grief from the Bali bombings to falsely justify an attack on Iraq. Mr Crean said no link between Iraq, terrorism and Al Qaeda had been established, and that Mr Howard's remarks in NZ were "insensitive to those still grieving from the Bali bombings". Greens leader Bob Brown described Mr Howard's comments as "reprehensible manipulation", while Brian Deegan, father of Bali victim Josh Deegan, said the PM was using one tragedy to justify another. Mr Deegan said there was no connection between the Bali bombing and Iraq, and that a war against Iraq would be both illegal and immoral. "How dare he suddenly use my son as a means for going into an illegal activity?" he said. But Mr Howard stood by the remarks. "I'm not alleging that Iraq was involved in Bali," he said. "I'm making the point though that we must do everything we can to contain the capacity of rogue states to possess chem and bio weapons because amongst other things they may give those weapons to terrorists." Mr Howard denied he was playing on the emotion felt about the Aussies killed in Bali. Mr Howard said that if the UN failed to disarm Iraq, it would have "no earthly hope" of disciplining North Korea. NZ PM Helen Clark said the timetables for war and diplomacy were incompatible. She said while weapons inspectors wanted a res within months, the military build up in the Gulf "tends now to provide for days". Foreign Affairs Min Alex Downer remained optimistic that the UN would this wk pass a res that could authorise war on Iraq. He said the res proposed by the US, Brit and Spain, giving Baghdad until March 17 to disarm, was "highly reasonable". After a briefing by ASIO yesterday, Mr Crean said he was satisfied that grounds existed to justify the expulsion of an Iraqi diplomat for spying. The Iraqi embassy has denied the charge and demanded evidence be produced against Helal Aaref. Intelligence sources suggested Mr Aaref was monitoring and intimidating members of the local Iraqi community. PM toed the line on Iraqi envoy Canberra. AUS is the only country to have acted on a confidential Bush Admin request for the expulsion of 300 Iraqi diplomats worldwide on suspicion of spying. The Whitehouse had approached 60 countries last wk, just days before the Howard Govt ordered the expulsion of an Iraqi official. The US made the request on the basis that the Iraqis named on a CIA list posed threats to Americans and US installations overseas, Whitehouse officials said yesterday. The Fed Govt acted immediately against Helal Ibrahim Aaref, an attache at Iraq's embassy in CBR, giving him 5 days to leave. The Foreign Min, Alex Downer, conceded yesterday that his dept had engaged in "extensive discussions with the Americans" before Mr Aaref was ordered out of the country, but he denied suggestions that Washington had pressured the Govt into the decision. "The US doesn't instruct AUS -- AUS is an independent country," he said. But Mr Downer was contradicted by a statement from the US Embassy, which said AUS had been asked to expel selected Iraqi diplomats. Germany and several other countries refused the US overture, saying that the info provided on the diplomats was too vague and did not justify any expulsions. These countries claimed that the move was part of a US plan to disrupt Baghdad's intel network in the days before a military invasion of Iraq. The Iraqi diplomats on the list distributed to AUS and other countries had been ID-ed by the CIA as having connections with Iraqi intel agencies, Bush Admin officials told The NY Times yesterday. However, no evidence was provided that the diplomats had acted as spies in their host countries. The Whitehouse maintained that the request for the expulsions had no bearing on the timing of a US-led invasion of Iraq, but said the removals would ensure there was no time for the agents to be replaced by others who could plan reprisal attacks once war began. [Internal contradiction!]. Bucharest. RUMANIA FOLLOWS AUSSIE LEAD! Rumania has joined AUS and expelled 5 Iraqi diplomats for "activities incompatible with their diplomatic status", a euphemism for spying -- or a euphemism for doing what the CIA tells you. The For Min'y says 4 of the diplomats have left Rumania, a strong supporter of the US hard-line against Iraq, over the weekend. The min'y says the 5th "spy" is also now out of the country. Iraq's amb to Rumania, Saad Majid, was not among those asked to leave. Looming Iraq conflict holds US markets hostage Sydney. The looming conflict in Iraq is still holding financial markets hostage in the US at the start of the new trading wk. Meanwhile, the Pres of the US Fed Reserve Bank of St Louis said that last Fri's news of a drop of 300,000 in employment numbers suggested the US economy was not responding as well as hoped to a series of official interest rate cuts. The CBO has also projected a $US1.2 trillion deficit over the next 10 y if the Bush Admin implemented its policies, not incl the war against terrorism. On the NYSE, the DJIA plunged 172 pts to close at 7,568, a slide of 2.2%. The high-tech Nasdaq composite index fell 27 pts or 2.1% to 1,278. The US dollar weakened a little and the Euro was close to its recent highs above $US1.10. The gold price was quoted at about $US354.80/oz. West Texas crude oil was sitting at around $US37.21/bbl. Earlier, the British market slumped to a 7.5 y closing low with the banking sector a feature of the slide. London's FT-100 index dropped 56 pts to 3,436, a decline of 1.6%. In AUS yesterday, the market slipped again to a 4 y low as Iraq dominated sentiment, and a public holiday in Vic thinned out trade. AMP Ltd continued in freefall, dropping another 21-cents to $6.30, but there was a recovery in the resources sector. The All Ords Index dipped just 4 pts to 2,711. The AUS dollar was largely sidelined, trading in a narrow range of just over 1/3 cent. At 8 am, it was being quoted at 61.48 US cents, up 1/8 cent on yesterday's local close. US may release more prisoners from Guantanamo Bay Washington. The US is reportedly planning to release more prisoners being held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, has made the comment to Danish officials in Copenhagen. Mr Prosper says the US has freed some detainees in the past, and is now looking at a handful of people no longer considered to pose a threat to the internat'l community. He made the comments during talks on the fate of a 29 yo Dane who has been held in Cuba since he was captured in Afghanistan in Feb last year. About 650 men from around 40 different countries are being held without trial at Guantanamo Bay, incl 2 Aussies. Washington classifies them as "enemy combatants", effectively denying them the protection of the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war. It's not know whether 2 Australians held in Cuba will be among those freed. Iraq builds oil trenches Baghdad. Iraqi troops have dug a large trench around W Baghdad and filled it with oil as part of preparations for a US-led attack. It is believed the oil will be set ablaze in the event of a war. The smoke from the oil trench fire is designed to reduce the visibility of an attacking airforce and restrict its use of weapons such as laser-guided bombs. It is understood more oil pits are being excavated around parts of the city. A similar trench has been filled with oil in the N city of Kirkuk. As part of his preparations to defend Baghdad, Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein has also pulled units of his elite Republican Guard out of Kirkuk moving them south to the capital and to his home town of Tikrit. Canary sales rise on gas attack fears Baghdad (Telegraph). Canaries on sale in Baghdad's street markets are in great demand as people see them as low-tech and affordable chem weapons detectors. Mustaq Talib, whose father owns Bird-Hunter, a shop in the market beside Jumhuriya Street, said: "People are buying them because we are expecting war. Canaries are very useful. They can feel danger." Asked what hazards the birds could detect, Mr Talib, 19, was reluctant to go into detail but said canaries had traditionally been taken down mine shafts to provide early warning of underground gas leaks. The 20 canaries that he sells each day will stay firmly above ground. So will the 300 birds he recently dispatched after a bulk order from the N city of Mosul. Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein insists that his country does not have any chem weapons. The American-led forces massing on Iraq's borders have always ruled out the use of gas as a weapon of war. [Other reports say Donald Rumsfeld has authorised the use of "non-lethal" chem weapons by US forces. As shown by their use in a Moscow hostage sit'n, non-lethal chem weapons can end up killing a lot of civilians]. If both these claims are true, the purchase of canaries would be unnecessary but, if war breaks out, one side has a recent and notorious record of using gas against civilian targets. Downer contradicts Vaile over Bali-Iraq link Canberra. Foreign Min Alex Downer has contradicted his fellow Fed Govt Min Mark Vaile for saying the jury is still out on whether the Bali bombings are linked to Saddam Hussein. The remarks follow criticism of PM John Howard for comments linking the Bali attack to a possible war against Iraq. Trade Min Mark Vaile was speaking in Jakarta ahead of a ministerial forum when he said he would not rule out the possibility the Bali attack was linked to the Iraqi regime. "The jury is basically out on that -- I mean that's the bottom line," Mr Vaile said. Mr Downer, who arrived in the Indonesian capital a short time later, was forced to dismiss Mr Vaile's suggestion. "No, well the jury isn't out on the question of the precise links," Mr Downer said. Hours before Mr Vaile's remarks, Mr Howard said he had been misrepresented by criticism of comments he made in NZ saying Aussies should remember the Bali victims if troops were committed against Iraq. The Indonesian Govt has said it will raise the issue of Iraq at today's ministerial forum. Downer denies a Baghdad-Bali link Jakarta. Barely an hour after arriving in Indonesia last night, Foreign Min Alex Downer rejected remarks by Trade Min Mark Vaile, who left open the possibility that the Bali bombings were linked to Iraq. "The jury isn't out on the question of their precise links," Mr Downer said. Mr Downer's comments came after Mr Vaile spoke to a group of journalists on the eve of today's AUS-Indonesia ministerial forum and refused to concede that no evidence had been produced linking Iraq with the Bali bombing. Mr Vaile was asked several times if he had any info contrary to the Indonesian Govt's repeated statements that there was no evidence linking Bali to Iraq. Mr Vaile said he was not aware that any AUS police had any evidence of Iraqi involvement in the Bali bombing. Canberra. OPP'N URGES TRIP TO NK! Following comments from Mr Downer that North Korea's latest missile test was "provocative", the fed Opp'n has called on him to visit P'yongyang as part of his latest trip. NK yesterday fired a short-range anti-ship missile following a similar test on Feb 24. The missile fell harmlessly into internat'l waters after being launched from Sinsang-ri on NK's E coast in S Hamgyong province. Jakarta. BUSINESS AS USUAL! A delegation of 7 AUS Ministers will today meet the Indon govt to keep up business as usual amid the diplomatic crisis over Iraq. 10 Indon Ministers will host the meeting of the 6th Ministerial Forum, which has been meeting since 1992 to discuss issues raging from reg'l security to health and education. With Indon strongly opposed to any "unilateral" strike on Iraq, the meeting will discuss Australia's possible support of an attack by the US without UN backing. Cairns. FNQ DENGUE FEVER SPREADS! A dengue fever outbreak in FNQ is spreading fast, with 16 new cases confirmed and up to 60 more suspected. Health authorities fear people who catch the mosquito-born disease fro the 2nd time could be at risk of haemorrhagic fever, with is potentially fatal. Tropical Pub Health Unit rep Rose Spencer says the outbreak of type 2 dengue is concentrated in 2 Cairns suburbs. Sydney. NSW ELECTION! The latest opinion polls show the NSW Labor govt is pulling away from the Lib-Nat Opp'n. According to the numbers, 58% of NSW intend to vote for Mr Carr's govt, while only 42% will vote for the Opp'n. The poll says the gap was widened by 8 points over the last wk. Meanwhile, both sides are complaining the other has stolen its policies. Melbourne. VIC GOVT ASSISTING TIMORESE! Vic Prem Steve Bracks has announced a $50,000 grant to help E Timorese asylum seekers argue their case to be allowed to stay in AUS. Mr Bracks made the announcement with fed opp'n Imm rep Julia Gillard while visiting a Richmond primary school attended by many E Timorese children. The Prem urged PM Howard to support the fed Opp'n push for a special visa category for those E Timorese currently on temp protection visas. Dozens of children of E Timorese refugees were born here, and have never been outside AUS. They ask what they've done to be forced to leave. State Opp'n leader Doyle has come out on the side of his federal counterparts. What a great guy! Darwin. CYCLONE WARNING! Craig is headed toward the NT coast and authorities in Darwin say rural schools will be closed today. Fierce winds up to 110 kph are expected to tear through Darwin this morning, as TC Craig hits the region. The cyclone whipped communities in the NT's Tiwi Is yesterday. The Bur of Met says gales upto 110 kph are expected to develop on the mainland coast, incl the terr'y capital. [Later warnings have raised the wind-speeds to 130 kph]. [Even later reports say the TC missed Darwin, but winds gusting to 150 kph were lashing the W part of Cobourg Pen]. Sydney. FLOODING IN SYD! Heavy rain swept through SYD and the C coast last night forcing a nursing home to be evacuated, flooding shops in SYD's Oxford St and causing traffic disruption throughout the city. The Bur of Met says 35 mm fell in the city within 1 hr. SES rep Laura Goodin says Gosford, on the C coast, was badly hit, with extensive flash flooding and 30 calls for help. Adelaide. BLOODY SWEDES! Swedish car maker Volvo has set up an all-woman team to develop its latest concept car. Product developer Eva-Lisa Andersson says Volvo believes women and men have different priorities, so all the decisions on the car are being made by women. Details of the new car will remain a closely-guarded secret until next y. Sydney. NO, NOT THE OIL! Oil was down 25 c following Iraqi denials they'd set up to dynamite their oilfields. Complicating matters, oil stocks around the world are at their lowest levels in several y. Elsewhere, OPEC has signalled it will set aside production quotas during the expected war. And Iran has warned W-friendly oil states not to even THINK about filling any gap. Around midday the local benchmark was $US37.20/bbl. Gold was up to $US354/oz. Sydney (ABC, 7 pm). MARKETS! It was red ink as far as the eye could see today. The US was down 2.6%, and Brit down 1.6%. The Nikkei was down 2.25%, falling below 8,000 for the first time in 20 y. On the NYSE, with most stocks down, the only 2 notables tacking where Phil Moris and Boeing. New data in AUS showed business conf was at its lowest level since 9/11. Global growth aggregates are starting to trend down, indicating even after the Iraqi war is resolved -- one way or the other -- company profits may be set to slump. On the ASX, the All Ords closed down 19.4 pts to 2,692 to a new 4-y low. Better than many. AMP Ltd remained in free-fall, down 6% to close under $A6 for the first time. The AUD remained relatively steady and was around 61.41 US cents at 7 pm. In Baghdad, the Iraqi dinar has declined 15% in the past 48 hrs. The conversion is approx 1,250 dinar to the USD. The USD itself fell to new 4-y lows against Euro. ---------------------------------------- Wed, 12 Mar 2003. Markets Americans avoiding France UN open session AUS tells the UN Brit may drop out US tests new bomb Airlines whine about war Libya, you're next Chopper crash Bush says sorry to Afghan Pres Terrorists arrested Iraq kills more missiles Bali survivor confronts Blair on TV Downer says Wilkie did right thing Spy says he's not a spy Gales hit NT Hot stuff catches fire NSW election NY. MARKETS! The Dow closed down 44 pts to 7,524. Analysts say there is "a great deal of pessimism around". The Nikkei continued to dive yesterday, falling another 180 pts to 7,862. Gold was down almost $US4 to $US350. The IMF says world growth will likely exceed 3% this y, but warns developed countries may need to cut int rates. The only danger, it says, it a protracted war in the Middle E sparked by someone doing something stoopid. Sydney. MARKETS! The All Ords is down 10 pts to 2,682 at midday. Overnight the AUD fell out of bed, losing 1 c to 60.24 US cents. Observers say profit-taking from hedge funds and falling commodity prices brought the Aussie battler off yesterday's 3 y highs. It's now below a 2-wk low. New data out this morning incl consumer confidence data for Feb showing a 2-y low. But housing loans for Jan were up 1%, indicating the bubble hasn't burst yet. Oil is down 6 c to $US36.66/bbl. Washington. AMERICANS AVOIDING FRANCE! How dare they oppose us! Some beltway insiders say the only way to get France into Iraq would be to say truffles have been discovered there. The US Congress has joined a growing national move to avoid all things French. Several dining rooms that serve the Senate and House have announced they now serve "freedom fries", and not those other kind of fries. US officials announced the regime-change yesterday, saying America's 2nd-favourite pastime -- increasing fatty deposits -- would now be an opportunity for lawmakers to support US troops presently deployed in the Middle E. But the idea hasn't been universally proclaimed, with some interns telling reporters the idea of renaming food is "ludicrous". Elsewhere, sales of French cheese are down across the country. And a bar-owner in Fla went on TV to dump gallons of champers down the drain. Drinkers say they are no longer ordering French wine because of the "wrong policy" the damned Frogs are bone-headedly pursuing against all reason and democracy. Strangely, sales of Russian produce have not been affected by a "nyet", and there are no visible campaigns against caviar. NY. UN OPEN SESSION! The UN has launched a 2-day open session to discuss the Iraq crisis. 52 countries are to speak. But members are locked in a new bitter struggle to find a compromise between the pro- and anti-war camps. The "middle 6" members of the Sec Council have proposed extending the deadline for disarmament to 45 days, but the US has flatly rejected the idea. There are almost as many other proposals doing the rounds as members of the Sec Council. France has proposed a period of 120 days for Iraq to come into full compliance. And a much-overlooked Canadian idea extends the deadline 21 days, with a series of "goalpost" tests to decide that Iraq has disarmed. Canada and other members of the Council have expressed concerns that "disarmament" has been seen by the US and Brit as "anything we say at the time". The US has rejected suggestions that would delay a vote on a new Res, demanding that happen this wk. The US position was supported by AUS. In Brit, Tony Blair says the machinations in the UN have sent a message to Saddam -- "you're off the hook". The PM says he is prepared to find common ground with opponents. But the US says it wont budge. However, there is talk it may allow a 10-day extension to Mar 27. Observers say circle the new date in pencil. Elsewhere, 3 unmanned drones have now been found in Iraq. The inspectors are checking to see what their capabilities are. Officials have not decided whether they are designed to drop chem or bio weapons. Meanwhile, the weather in the region is deteriorating by the day. Observers say the US and Brit could attack without approval. The Pentagon has released pictures of an air attack on Iraq. It was 1 or 3 major attacks on Iraqi def facilities yesterday. Observers say the US and Brit have moved from reacting to specific anti-aircraft threats to preemptive softening-up operations. Iraq yesterday also scrambled fighters against 2 U2 flights. Officials in Baghdad said they'd only authorised 1 spy flight for UN weapons inspections. The US says at least 1 of the U2's detected a radar lock and has announced flights are suspended until further notice. Canberra. AUS TELLS THE UN! AUS has told the UN it must immediately disarm Iraq or face the side-lining of the Sec Council in world affairs. It was the only voice today against extending deadlines. John Dauth, AUS amb to the UN, told an open meeting the UN must be united and act decisively, and since the US would not be changing its mind everyone else must change theirs if they didn't want to look silly. Mr Dauth says the AUS govt doesn't believe Iraq has shown a change of heart, but is taking small and belated steps to disarm. But that is not adequate. He says the Sec Council's decisions could either strengthen that architecture or gravely undermine it. But strengthening the architecture by adding more teeth to inspections, as proposed by France and Germany, was not right way to strengthen the architecture. Washington. BRIT MAY DROP OUT! US Def Sec Don Rumsfeld says the US is ready to kill someone, and it will go to war with Iraq without Brit if necessary. Brit PM Tony Blair is facing increasing opp'n against participation in the Iraqi war. Wits are now predicting he may be "regime-changed" before Saddam. Rumsfeld also says the US is communicating privately with the Iraqi military on how to avoid attack by signalling invading troops they pose no threat to invading US forces. Real Prisoner's Dilemma stuff! He says Iraqi troops will receive instructions so that they can behave in a way that will be seen and understood as non-threatening. Observers are now saying Blair's stance on Iraq could end his political career. Washington. US TESTS NEW BOMB! The US has tested its largest conventional weapon, prior to deployment for action in the Gulf. Iran and Syria, watch out! The bomb, which weighs in nr 10 t [some idiot here wrote one tonne], could play a dramatic role in the war on Iraq, with a powerful detonation creating a mushroom cloud visible for "miles". The Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB) is guided by satellite, so won't be put off by any burning oil-filled trenches. Washington. AIRLINES WHINE ABOUT WAR! The airline ind'y is the latest group of weak-kneed girlies to come out against the morally justified war with the Middle E. It says a war with Iraq could hit US airlines with a $US4 bn price tag, cost 70,000 jobs and cause bankruptcies and liquidations. Just collateral damage! The US Air Transp Assoc says the economic risks go far beyond the airline ind'y, with the states for the entire US economy "extremely high". The association's report coincides with union warnings that the world's biggest carrier, AA, is scrambling to avoid Ch 11. The 2nd-largest US carrier, United Airlines, has operated under bankruptcy protection since Dec 9. O'night United extended its protection for 6 m. Washington. LIBYA, YOU'RE NEXT! US, Brit and Libyan officials have made progress in talks on Libya's willingness to accept official responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am 103, 15 ya. The 1998 Lockerbie bombing killed all 270 passengers and crew, and 11 people on the ground. A Libyan intel officer was convicted 4 ya for the attack. US State Dept rep Richard (neo) Boucher says they've made some progress on lines set out by the UN. Washington. CHOPPER CRASH! Officials believe a Blackhawk has gone down with 15 people on board in upstate NY. There are no immediate reports of casualties. Army officials at the Pentagon say rescue teams are en route to the crash site, apparently nr Ft Drum, home of the 10th Mtn Div. No other details are available. [Reports at midday say at least 7 were killed in the accident. Military officials say 2 people have walked away from the crash]. Washington. BUSH SAYS SORRY TO AFGHAN PRES! Pres Bush Jr has apologised to Afghan Pres Hamid Karzai for the way he was treated by a US Senate committee last m. Karzai visited the US For Rel Committee on Feb 26 for a scheduled meeting that devolved into a hearing with TV cameras and reporters. Heads of state usually meet with the panel in private, but Karzai was set up to appear as if he had been summoned to testify before the Committee. Jerusalem. TERRORISTS ARRESTED! Israel says its troops have arrested 2 bombers on separate suicide missions. An army rep says the 2 are among 32 Palestinians arrested in the West Ban and Gaza yesterday. 21 of those arrested were on Israel's "wanted" lists and at least 7 belong to Hamas. The 2 alleged attackers were picked up in separate incidents in the West Bank in the N city of Nablus and Dheisheh refugee camp nr the S town of Bethlehem. Baghdad. IRAQ KILLS MORE MISSILES! With the US-Brit deadline for war failing to pick up support in the UN, Iraq continues to destroy more banned missiles in an effort to harden divisions on the Sec Council. Pres Insane's govt had no immediate response to US reports that Iraq was threatening US surveillance flights. The Americans say the action forced 2 U2 reconnaissance flights to return to base. Multiple fly-overs in support of weapons inspectors are permitted under a UN Sec Council res approved last Nov. Of course, with a war looming they are awful handy to pick up positions of equipment for softening-up operations, too. Sydney. BALI SURVIVOR CONFRONTS BLAIR ON TV! An Aussie Bali bombing survivors has confronted Brit PM Tony Blair on TV in a bid to persuade him not to go to war. The Australian newspaper says 22 yo Hanabeth Luke, who lost her boyfriend in Bali, appealed directly to Tony Blair on the Brit news program "Tonight with Trevor McDonald". She told Blair if he had experience with the horrors she had seen and known the grief she had known, he would be doing everything in his power to ensure no other individual would ever have to go through the terrible experience. Canberra. DOWNER SAYS WILKIE DID RIGHT THING! For Min Alex Downer says snr intel analyst Andrew Wilkie did the right thing when he quit his job yesterday. Mr Downer says it was the "honourable thing" to do. Mr Wilkie told reporters his resignation is in protest at the "dumb" AUS policy toward a likely war with Iraq. He resigned ahead of an article due to appear in The Bulletin, which will pour scorn on the govt's justification for war. The article will be timed to co-incide with a key speech from PM Howard. The resignation has created a new wave of criticism over the federal govt's position on Iraq, this time from former intelligence and defence officials. Some observers point to comments from US intel chief Tenant who told Congress earlier this y that Iraq posed no threat to its neighbours unless it was threatened with attack. Canberra. SPY SAYS HE'S NOT A SPY! The Iraqi diplomat accused by CBR of spying for Iraq has denied the allegation, but has vowed to fight for Saddam Hussein. Helal Ibrahim Aaref flew out of SYD yesterday after being invited to leave by today. He told MEL's Herald Sun newspaper he is just a diplomat in the Min for For Aff, and is innocent of the charges. The 43 yo, believed by ASIO to be an intel officer after receiving a list from Washington, was also accused by SYD-based Iraqi dissidents of spying on their activities. The dissidents have also accused other Iraqi embassy officials of routinely thwarting security restrictions on their movements to attend parties in SYD. ASIO says Aaref is a member of the feared Mukhabarat group. Darwin. GALES HIT NT! Gale force winds are striking communities nr the NT's Groote Eylandt as Craig heads into the Gulf. Parts of FNQ are also on alert as he moves E toward Kowanyama and Mornington Is. The Bur of Met says the cat 1 TC is now 60 km S of Elcho Is and moving at 27 kph. Cyclone warnings remain in place from Goulburn Is to Pt McArthur. Melbourne. HOT STUFF CATCHES FIRE! Several workers escaped unharmed from a fire that gutted a Mexican food factory in outer MEL early today. The fire erupted at the factory in Dandenong at 6.45 am. The CFA says several people are believed to have escaped the burning building, which is said to contain asbestos. The fire was brought under control about 8 am. An adjoining milk bar suffered smoke and water damage. Sydney. NSW ELECTION! Opinion polls show the Carr govt has opened up an 18 point lead in the opinion polls. Observers are now predicting Labor could even pick up seats. ======================================== (*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S? A small group of dedicated sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers! All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek. *** Please stand by for further orders from The Leader ***