www.fortwayne.com Posted on Thu, Mar. 13, 2003 HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - For months, Baghdad residents have tried to maintain the appearance of normalcy while the threat of war grew closer. Now the city seems to have finally dropped its business-as-usual pretense, succumbing to the reality that a U.S. attack could come soon.

Embassies are closing. The United Nations is pulling out expatriate staff. Residents are hoarding food, water and fuel, buying generators, drilling neighborhood wells and cleaning out basements to use as bomb shelters.

Throughout the city, workers are building sandbagged positions and digging trenches. Members of the ruling Baath Party are organizing neighborhood resistance cells. The dinar, Iraq's currency, is slumping and food prices - especially for canned food and bottled water - are soaring.

As recently as a few weeks ago, many Baghdad residents had at least publicly adopted a fairly laid-back attitude toward the threat of war, reflecting both fabled Arab fatalism and the experience of having lived through two wars and periodic U.S. strikes over two decades.

Now, though, store owners have begun moving their merchandise to warehouses, fearing bombing or looting. Others are not replenishing their stocks. Some residents are honing their evacuation plans, making arrangements with relatives in what they see as the relatively safe countryside.

Families can be seen moving out from central Baghdad's Soviet-style apartment blocks, loading trucks with suitcases and boxes.

On Wednesday, 35 high school students filled burlap sacks with dirt and piled them into a defense position opposite the Al-Rashidiyah Bridge over the Tigris River on Wednesday.

"This is a sensitive area and it must be defended," said Ahmed Yassin, 16. "We must defend our nation because right is on our side."

Baghdadis whisper rumors that authorities are preventing people from leaving the city, but motorists reported Wednesday that traffic in and out of the city was normal, with only routine identity checks at roadblocks.

Only wealthy Baghdadis can afford to leave the country to neighboring Jordan or Syria. Most of the city's 5 million people must face the grim prospect of war.

Their fears are accentuated by nightmarish memories of a similar situation 12 years ago.

Muwafaq Fadil, a 54-year-old taxi driver, said his son Simon, then 4, was so afraid during the six-week bombing campaign in the 1991 Gulf War that he hid under the sofa every night. Daughter Mariam, 6, fell unconscious when the bombing grew intense.

"My wife Maria prayed all night and I could not sleep until daylight, when I felt safe," Fadil said Wednesday. "I wish we could go abroad this time, but I don't have money."

Fadil said that for the past few weeks, his son has been unable to concentrate and suffers from stomach aches. Fadil blames the prospect of war.

The war jitters are also being felt in Baghdad's limited nightlife. Fewer and fewer patrons show up at restaurants. Nightclubs have been closed by presidential decree since the early 1990s.

Many of Baghdad's estimated 60 embassies - including those of Portugal, Spain, Thailand and Japan - have pulled out their staff. A rapidly shrinking number of others remain, including most countries vocally opposing a war: France, Germany, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and most Arab countries.

Grace Princesa Escalante, the Philippines' top diplomat in Iraq, remains as well.

She has enjoyed a reputation for giving the best parties in Baghdad since she arrived two years ago. They have become a symbol of normalcy in a city where such symbols are increasingly in short supply.

But she may have given her last party this week - and even that didn't prevent war talk from dominating the conversation. It wasn't until she switched on the karaoke machine that the pace picked up.

Guests sang a rendition of the Eagles' 1970s hit "Hotel California," replacing the chorus with "Hotel Al Rasheed," the name of Baghdad's most famous hotel. They sang especially loudly when they came to the line: "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

The evening's finale was another apropos 1970's classic: Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."

www.troyrecord.com By: March 13, 2003 The talk now is that probably before the end of this month America will be at war. That consensus ignores the fact that America has been at war pretty much since 9/11/01, when our country was viciously attacked by terrorists. Within a week, President Bush declared a war against terrorism, and now he is seeking to escalate that war by invading Iraq. Whether that move is wise and just is not today's subject of debate, however. What needs to be addressed is an odious practice that has been epidemic in all wars - profiteering. There have been small-time wheeler dealers and big-time corporations drawing unfair profits on wars probably as far back as some person who sold overpriced hay to Hannibal for his elephants. That profiteering is a tradition makes it no less repugnant, and that is why Sen. Charles E. Schumer wants the Federal Energy Regulation Commission to investigate possible price gouging by the natural gas industry. We have already seen the price of fuel go through the roof. The petroleum industry claims that the threat of war in Iraq and a strike in Venezuela have driven prices up. Those excuses are somewhat questionable, as New York state has been particularly hard hit at the gas pump despite the fact that little Venezuelan gas is sold in this state, a tiny proportion of the total. And there is even less reason for natural gas prices to soar, as it is produced domestically and in Mexico, where strikes and the threat of war should play no part. Given the cruelly cold winter suffered by the Northeast, a certain spike in prices could be expected and justified, but not, as Schumer said, "49 percent in just one week." New York is the only state that has been bludgeoned by price increases. According to the Department of Energy, the Capital District paid $38 million more for natural gas this year than last. Where is the consumer to turn? Some people want to switch from oil heat to gas because of petroleum prices, but now natural gas is also exorbitant. We urge the regulation commission to hastily start a serious probe into price structures and find out if there is any justification for the huge increase. If no reason can be reasonably found, prices should not only be forced down by law, but the issue of possible refunds should be investigated. Using the threat of war and our country's fears of a sagging economy as a veil to inflate profits cannot be countenanced.

www.canada.com Reuters Tuesday, March 11, 2003 Herald Archive, Associated Press

Iraqi officials said deployment of military forces to its oilfields and related facilities was to protect them, not blow them up if there's a war.

Iraq denied on Monday that it has placed explosives at the Kirkuk oilfields in northern Iraq to prevent them from being taken over in the event of a U.S. invasion of the country.

"Iraq is keen to defend its oil wealth and it is illogical that we burn our oil wealth with our own hands," Iraq's oil undersecretary, Hussein Suleiman Al-Hadithi, told Reuters.

A U.S. official told Reuters on Monday that Iraq had placed the explosives.

"There are indications that has taken place," the official said, adding that the movement had occurred "recently."

CNN quoted unnamed U.S. sources as saying there was also activity in the southern oilfields, with troops moving through them.

"These American statements are hostile and provocative," Hadithi said.

He said that Iraq had taken steps to guarantee oil production in case of war.

"Our oil production installations are working normally. If an aggression takes place against us, we have plans to continue production," he said.

The United States and Britain has massed tens of thousands of troops in the Gulf for a possible invasion of Iraq to punish its alleged non-compliance with UN weapons inspectors.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said he will push the United Nations Security Council to endorse a resolution this week giving authority for immediate military action.

Hadithi had said in an earlier statement that military defences had been set up at oil installations.

He also warned that the loss of Baghdad's two million barrels of daily exports could plunge markets into turmoil.

World oil prices have risen 50 per cent since November because of the threat of U.S.-led military action against Iraq and shortfalls caused by a general strike in oil producer Venezuela.

www.alertnet.org 10 Mar 2003 19:50 (Adds more quotes, details) By Hassan Hafidh

BAGHDAD, March 10 (Reuters) - Iraq denied on Monday that it has placed explosives at the Kirkuk oilfields in northern Iraq to prevent them from being taken over in the event of a U.S. invasion of the country.

"Iraq is keen to defend its oil wealth and it is illogical that we burn our oil wealth with our own hands," Iraq's Oil Undersecretary Hussein Suleiman Al-Hadithi told Reuters.

A U.S official told Reuters on Monday Iraq had placed the explosives.

"There are indications that has taken place," the official said, adding that the movement had occurred "recently".

CNN quoted unnamed U.S sources as saying there was also activity in the southern oil fields with troops moving through them.

"These American statements are hostile and provocative," Hadithi said.

He said that Iraq had taken steps to guarantee oil production in case of war.

"Our oil production installations are working normally. If an aggression takes place against us, we have plans to continue production," he said.

The United States and Britain has massed tens of thousands of troops in the Gulf for a possible invasion of Iraq to punish its alleged non-compliance with U.N. weapons inspectors.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said he will push the United Nations Security Council to endorse a resolution this week giving authority for immediate military action.

Hadithi had said in an earlier statement that military defences had been set up at oil installations. He also warned that the loss of Baghdad's two million barrels of daily exports could plunge markets into turmoil.

World oil prices have already risen 50 percent since November because of the threat of U.S.-led military action against Iraq and shortfalls caused by a general strike in oil producer Venezuela. (Reporting by Hassan Hafidh, editing by Duncan Shiels +44 20 7542 7630)

www.thestar.com Mar. 10, 2003. 04:53 PM MALCOLM MORRISON CANADIAN PRESS

Stocks tumbled Monday as anxiety about an invasion of Iraq and its consequences dominated the markets, driving New York blue chips to a triple-digit loss.

Losses accelerated late in the session when French President Jacques Chirac said his country was prepared to join Russia in voting down a resolution sponsored by the United States and Britain that would set a March 17 ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to disarm or face war.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 171.85 points at 7,568.18.

News that housing starts in Canada last month were up 34.5 per cent over the January level, blowing past expectations to a level not seen since August 1987, did nothing for the Toronto market.

Declines were widespread, led by the information technology and financial stocks, taking the S&P/TSX index 82.19 points lower to 6,277.67 at the close, after a loss of 3 per cent last week.

Nortel Networks lost 16 cents to $3.04 and Royal Bank surrendered $1.62 to $55.98.

The gold sector joined the retreat, although the bullion price rose $3.90 to $354.70 (U.S.) an ounce.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.01 of a cent at 68.25 cents (U.S.), still near 32 1/2-month highs thanks to the housing sector report and weakness in the American dollar as traders feared war would hit the U.S. economy.

The TSX Venture Exchange lost 5.91 points at 1,080.64.

The Nasdaq marked the third anniversary of its peak of 5,131.52 by losing more ground, losing 26.92 points to 1,278.37. The S&P 500 was off 21.41 at 807.48.

"It's painful, isn't it?" said Patricia Croft, managing partner at Sceptre Investments.

"It's just pretty ugly out there and not a lot of reason for people to want to step up and put all their money down."

News of another missile firing by North Korea also depressed markets, as did Deutsche Telekom's report of the deepest corporate loss in European history.

Europe's largest telecommunications company lost 24.6 billion euros ($27.1 billion U.S.) in 2002. In New York, its shares lost $1.02 to $10.11 (U.S.).

Markets were also spooked after regional Federal Reserve President William Poole told regulators with oversight of mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the two may lack adequate capital to weather a disruption in financial markets. The two together control 42 per cent of all U.S. home mortgages. Fannie Mae shares dropped $4.35 to $58.93 (U.S.).

On the Toronto market, declines beat advances 689 to 369, with 219 unchanged.

Active stocks in Toronto included Bombardier, continuing last week's descent after a profit warning and plans for 3,000 job cuts. Its shares lost 15 cents to $3.60.

EnCana advanced 42 cents to $48.67, although crude oil slipped 51 cents to $37.27 (U.S.) a barrel in New York.,

Talisman Energy rose 71 cents to $60.46 after completing its exodus from the Greater Nile oil project in Sudan. The sale to Indian state-owned company ONGC Videsh, announced in October, had been delayed past the original closing date of the end of 2002.

Stuart Energy Systems fell 42 cents to $3.93 after the company announced it is cutting 70 jobs and closing two offices in Quebec as it consolidates last month's acquisition of a Belgium-based hydrogen energy services company.

Domtar slid 23 cents to $15.32, TD Bank was down 79 cents to $31.71 and BCE fell 40 cents to $26.60.

Business software maker Cognos announced an alliance with the Giuliani Group, a consulting firm headed by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Its shares tumbled $1.62 to $32.65.

Lorus Therapeutics rose five 9 cents to 75 cents after the biotech company received an additional U.S. patent on its cancer treatments.

Global drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb restated $1.5 billion (U.S.) in earnings and $2 billion in sales for 1999 through 2001, to reflect disastrous incentives to wholesalers that distorted sales and created an inventory glut. Bristol-Myers shares - trading at less than half their 52-week high - lost 29 cents to $22.51 (U.S.).

Toronto volume was 136.7 million shares worth $1.65 billion.

The Nasdaq Canada index fell 3.57 points at 215.33.