www.elkharttruth.com Sat, Mar 1, 2003 By Kim Kilbride Truth Staff

GOSHEN -- Jason Shenk, a Goshen High School student, said he puts his faith in God, not weapons.

Friday, he had the opportunity to share his beliefs with other Goshen students on why the United States should not invade Iraq. Six of his classmates also voiced their views on the topic during a student forum modeled after National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation."

Each of the seven panelists was given two minutes to present his or her position. Afterward, they discussed several pre-established questions about the merits of a war with Iraq. At the end, they took questions from their classmates in the audience.

Following is a snippet of what they had to say.

Mike Deranek said he's concerned because Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction that he could be passing on to terrorists.

Jason said he has admiration and concern for U.S. soldiers being sent to the Middle East, but he doesn't agree with the orders they've been given.

"Let's not show the same disregard for human life as terrorists," Jason said.

Chris Null said he's in favor of a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"For the sake of national security, we can't wait for Saddam's smoking guns," he said.

Michael Albert said he represented the middle-of-the-road view.

"I was previously pro-war," he said. "I would fight my opponent until the end. Then I realized I didn't have enough information to support my pro-war feelings."

Jessica Brubaker described herself as a nonpacifist who is against military intervention in Iraq.

"Many civilians would be killed in Baghdad (if there was a pre-emptive strike)," she said. "I also don't believe war should be started, so that way we could have cheaper gas."

Nick Mellot said if Hussein doesn't destroy all of his missiles, the United States will have to remove him from power.

"He's killed thousands of his own people," Mellot said. "Mr. Saddam Hussein is a threat to the United States and the rest of the world ... He needs to be removed from power quickly, or else we will pay the ultimate cost."

Norbert Bodendorfer is a foreign-exchange student from Germany. He said Iraq has shown no aggression toward the United States and therefore should not be invaded by U.S. forces.

Q: Will a war with Iraq lead to more terrorism?

Michael: "Yes, terrorist activity will increase. They'll use this as another way to hurt America."

Chris: "It will help stop terrorism because we'll be able to catch the terrorists by taking away one of their safe havens -- Iraq."

Norbert: "Terrorists can hide anywhere. I was in the town in Germany where police were all over looking for terrorists."

Q: What legal authority does the United States have to invade Iraq?

Nick: "U.N. Resolution 1441 is basically what we're operating on. Hussein is defying it. If the U.N. doesn't want to support this, it'll fall apart too."

Chris "We're the last superpower and so we must take out people who aren't willing to work for world peace."

Q: Does this whole issue revolve around oil?

Nick: "Iraq is the second largest land-based oil producer in the world ... (If that was all the United States was interested in) we could instead go to Alaska or Venezuela."

Mike: "I don't think so. We don't get all of our oil from the Middle East as news reports would have us believe."

Jessica: "I believe we are going for oil. Iraq switched to Euros. U.S. companies are missing out on a very lucrative oil business."

Q: "Have all possible diplomatic resolutions been exhausted?" Emily Wigley, an audience member, asked.

Jason: "There are nonviolent options that haven't been explored. It's incredible. We spend 200 times more on war efforts and the military than on peace efforts."

Q: "Is President Bush insisting on going to war with Iraq because we didn't win the war on terrorism after 9-11?" asked Justin Dolezal.

Jessica: "Bush knows he can get public support for it by using the guise of 9-11."

Q: "How can Christians say war is OK?" another student asked.

Michael: "God tells us we need to be obedient citizens to government. You're obeying God by following your government," he said.

Chris: "The Bible also tells us we can defend the weak."

With two lines of students still formed to ask questions, Goshen's principal Jim Kirkton, ended the forum by saying how proud he was of Goshen High School students.

"This was a real exercise in academia," he said. "Everyone knows their topic and was well prepared. What you saw today is something you'd normally see on a college campus," he told the audience.

Contact Kim Kilbride at kkilbride@etruth.com.

www.sptimes.com By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published March 1, 2003

Call it a jokester's jihad, this war waged in one-liners. The guns may be trained on Iraq, but the salvos fall on France.

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion." -- U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

Antoine Louro, owner of Chateau France restaurant in St. Petersburg, says business has been good, despite recent anti-French sentiment. To show contempt for France's opposition to U.S. policy on Iraq, a bar owner in West Palm Beach dumped his entire stock of French wine and champagne into the street.

Not to be outdone, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson sought a resolution that would change the name "french fries" to "freedom fries" or "American fries." He also promised to try to block a French company from getting a $25-million contract to build a sludge plant.

And in the Tampa Bay area, radio personalities from station WFLZ repeatedly rammed an empty French Peugeot with, ironically, a Mercury Marquis.

As the United States presses for a United Nations resolution authorizing military force to disarm Iraq, the nations of Germany, Finland, Sweden, Greece and Ireland, all have taken the same wait-for-more-inspections stance as the French.

But it is the French, or as a New York tabloid described them "primates capitulards et tou-jours en quete de fromages" (cheese-eating surrender monkeys), who are taking the heat.

Never mind that the French played a major role in the American Revolution, that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France and that French resistance provided some of the bravest fighters in World War II. The hits just keep on coming.

"I had a guest last week who canceled a reservation because of France's stand on Iraq," said Antoine Louro, owner of Chateau France in St. Petersburg.

Louro, who was born in Nice but has lived in America for 22 years, said he tried to explain that France has a large Muslim population, and that France and America have been allies for more than 200 years.

"But he didn't want to hear that," Louro said.

"Somebody was telling me about the French army rifle that was being advertised on e-Bay. The description was, "Never shot. Dropped once.' " -- U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

Melissa Bosc, who works at her parents' restaurant, Cafe Croissant in northwest St. Petersburg, is bothered by all this French-bashing.

Bosc, 21, was born in New York. But her parents are both from France, and she speaks fluent French.

"I'm hanging with my friends and they start talking about how America should go to war and the French should go along. I told them I didn't want to talk about it because it could affect our friendship. Just change the subject.

"My parents and I talk about it with our customers," she added, "but nothing gets too heated. I have heard the stories about the wine dumping, but I don't think those people really understand the French people."

Florida is not a prime destination for French tourists. About 160,000 people visited Florida from France in 2000, the last year for which statistics are available. That's about one-tenth the number who come from the United Kingdom. Visitors listing France as their home country ranked seventh in 2000, behind Canada, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.

Some observers have suggested the animosity is little more than a series of media-driven publicity stunts directed less at the French than at Francophiles, the snooty chablis and brie set.

A Gallup poll in early February found that nearly 60 percent of Americans view France favorably.

"Know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates America, he loves mistresses and he wears a beret. He is French." -- Conan O'Brien, TV personality

At the Cafe Largo restaurant Friday, a dozen French winemakers, many making their first trip to the United States, completed a week of tastings and sales calls in Florida without encountering anti-French sentiment.

One winemaker said a customer in Miami wondered what President Bush would think of his buying all that French wine.

"We agree Saddam (Hussein) must go," said Francois Labet, the proprietor of Chateau de la Tour, a winery in Vougeot, France. "It is only a question of how."

Still, the jokes persist.

"A lot of folks are still demanding more evidence before they actually consider Iraq a threat. For example, France wants more evidence. And you know I'm thinking, the last time France wanted more evidence they rolled right through Paris with the German flag." -- David Letterman, TV personality

Philippe Richou, a spokesman for the French consulate in Miami, accompanied his parents to St. Petersburg two weeks ago to visit the Dali Museum. He has lived in America less than three years.

"We've never heard anything rude or disrespectful," Richou said, "and I have a very strong accent. In fact, no one has called the consulate to complain. Florida is quiet. Except for Aaronson.

"Sometimes," he said, "there are differences between the French and Americans. But I know the main feeling in France is that the Americans are our friends.

"And I hope and think it's the same here."

-- Times staff writer Chris Sherman contributed to this report.

www.dailytimes.com.pk

By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: Pakistan signalled to the United States on Wednesday that it will back a new resolution on disarming Iraq, according to an exclusive report in the Los Angeles Times. The report described it as “a major boost from an Islamic nation that could help swing wavering votes on the Security Council,” quoting US and Pakistani officials. Daily Times was unable to obtain confirmation of the reported decision from officials at Pakistan’s permanent mission to the United Nations. “We are very good allies of the United States and value our relationship and want to see that blossom,” a senior Pakistani official told the Los Angeles Times. “The issue of Iraq will not become a problem between us.” “Pakistan’s decision came as Mexico also signalled its potential backing, and as the United States intensified the diplomatic squeeze for key votes from the council’s African and Latin American members. US diplomats hope that building up a bloc of support will put pressure on France and Russia not to veto the resolution, which would allow the use of force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,” said the Los Angeles Times report. Pakistan’s private signal of potential support could mark a turning point, US officials said Wednesday. Besides adding an important vote, its critical decision could prevent any move to create a bloc among the 10 rotating members of the council. Six of the 10, including Pakistan, have discussed group abstention, which would cause a resolution to fail if the permanent members can’t find common ground. The intention, they have said, would be to preserve the council’s moral authority. The report said that the decision has not been easy for Islamabad, which has favoured giving the process more time and working through the United Nations. The government, already struggling to control anti-American sentiment, could face a popular backlash for supporting further action perceived to be against Islam. “We have public opinion very exercised about the plight of the Iraqi people, and we wouldn’t like them to suffer any more. But we have a firm position that Iraq must comply with the Security Council and Resolution 1441 and divest itself of weapons of mass destruction,” the senior Pakistani official who was not identified told the newspaper, referring to the November resolution that returned inspectors to Iraq. “It’ll help us politically to have UN inspectors come back and say Iraq is in final material breach,” a second official said. “But will the [Pakistani] government fall if this does not happen? No. A lot of American flags are being burnt, but we can weather that,” he added. The report noted that the economic backlash is a greater immediate concern in Islamabad, Pakistanis say. About 70 percent of Pakistan’s imported oil comes from the nearby Persian Gulf, mainly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. Instability in the region could have severe repercussions, and Pakistan would need help if the supply were cut off. “We don’t have Venezuela and Mexico nearby to back us up,” the second Pakistani official said. Despite the potential political and economic cost to the government, Pakistani officials insisted that the United States did not offer President Pervez Musharraf any deals in exchange for his country’s vote. “We are not asking any price for our support. The US has not leaned on us. We have a principled position. We’re aware of each other’s point of view and agreed on what Iraq has to do,” the senior official said. The report said that the United States has been pressing its case in frequent contacts, and in the context of the importance of Iraq in Islamabad’s long-term relationship with Washington, according to other Pakistani sources. “The issue was not framed in terms of merely, ‘Are you with us or against us?’ It was more like, ‘Just how with us are you?’” said an additional Pakistani source.

news.bbc.co.uk Last Updated:  Thursday, 27 February, 2003, 22:45 GMT

Aid agencies have warned that the international community has some dramatic decisions to make if diplomacy fails and war starts in Iraq.

They say extra funding is needed to prepare for the consequences of a conflict.

Do you think the world is doing enough to prepare for the humanitarian consequences of a second Gulf war?

We'll be discussing this subject in our phone-in programme, Talking Point, this Sunday at 1400GMT on the BBC World Service. Our guest will be Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, Carol Bellamy. Please leave a phone number with your comments if you'd like to take part. It will not appear online.

www.counterpunch.org CounterPunch February 26, 2003 by EDWARD TEAGUE

Dear Tony,

Stand tall, yield to no-one. Your stand by George is to be admired. You need however, to tell the UK electorate the truth.

1. This war is to protect US interests. The US has a massive Trade Deficit, revealed only on Friday for Y/E 2002 @ $460Bn.

2. That means for the US they have to maintain the flow of dollars in world trade / capital flows etc., (Gordon will provide details)--so far this has been mainly supported by the Japanese buying US Bonds, property etc.,

3.However, the euro since launching has shown a very healthy appreciation against the $ caused by;

4. Build up of national Forex reserves in Euros worldwide--UK, Russia, China(see Prodi's visit Sept 2002 with Chirac), and consequent run down of $ rserves overseas--EU etc.,

5. Increasing world trade denominated in euros--EU has bigger share of World Trade than US--set to rise when EU expands.

6.Iraq denominated oil sales inn euros in April 2000 and UN held reserves. Then euro = 83 cents$ now (today) $1.09 a 20% appreciation.

7.Venezuela holding back oil supplies, arranging barter deals. Euro bond market increasing worldwide--eg. Oil producing Maylaysia raised $500Mn $ bonds for State Oil Co.

8. Resulting not only in $/euro decline but increased oil/energy cost in US (e.g gas at the pump up from $1.20 June 2002 to $1.90 plus today.

9.France wants to sell Air Buses in euros. Maximise returns on costs incurred in euros.

10.By the way, don't forget that George II dismissed Kyoto obligations and Under Secretary Bolton (jewish) signed letter to Khofi Annan withdrawing from World Court proposals. (Also factor on counterfeit $'s from Iran and DPRK). When will the drugs merchants want payment in euros?

Therefore as you have seen the only route is for US (unless they sell dollars to buy euros and prompt further decline in the dollar), to use it's second major tool for dominating world affairs and economy--Military force. Hence need for swift, short, sharp resolution at UN. Those not with us(US) are against us--buy off the Turks with aid, sort out post Saddam trade with French and Russians. (Main recipient of Iraqi oil (currently) is US via Russian Oil traders).

Therefore your bold move to support is to be applauded. As everyone knows, Saddam has no weapons of mass destruction (i.e gas, biological nor the means of deliveryo outside Iraq) including all military forces in NATO and UN also know such weapons have limited lethality or use in the battlefield.

Iraq has not and is unlikely to have nuclear weapons or means of delivery in foreseeable future.

Nobody gives a shit about Iraqi people--expendable as, Ruandans, Matabele that Mugabe slaughtered (with North Korean mercenary help) in 1,000's, everyone stood back whilst millions of people lost lives in Iran/Iraq war.

Therefore your policy is not only wise but the only sensible one available.

Be careful however that, if on the "fog of war" the Israelis decide to resolve the Palestinian problem, a la Sabra and Chattila camps.

As a point of solidarity I will be circulating my letter of support for you.

Regards

Edward Teague can be reached at Edward@softwaresystemseurope.com

Yesterday's Features

Gary Leupp The Weekend the World Said No to War: Notes on the Numbers

Jason Leopold Powell Warned Bush About Bloody Price of Unilateral War

Ross Vachon Joe Lieberman: Yankee Tartuffe

Ahmad Faruqui Killing with Sanctions, Then Bombs Estimating Civilian Casualties in Iraq War

Reza Ghorashi Why War with Iraq? What Should Iranians Do?

Craig Axford Environmentalism as Homeland Security

Harvey Wasserman There's Nothing Patriotic About It

Ramzi Kysia Dispatch from Baghdad: Living Against Disaster

Charles Sullivan The Failure of Mass Education

Gilad Atzmon The Birth of the Tragedy: On Reason, Justice and the Victim Mentality

Website of the Day Lysistrata Project