UN's Annan in New Scandal After Clearing Sex Harassment Official

UN's Annan in New Scandal After Clearing Sex Harassment Official
AFP: 10/29/2004

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was embroiled in a new scandal after it emerged that he cleared a top official of sexual harassment despite an internal enquiry which backed the victim's claims.

Annan cleared Ruud Lubbers in July after a woman on his staff claimed she had been groped by the ageing former Dutch prime minister, who has been the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva since 2001.

However, red-faced UN officials admitted on Thursday that an investigation by the watchdog Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) had backed the unnamed woman's allegations in a report to Annan.

The UN chief, rocked this year by other scandals involving allegations of fraud in Iraqi oil sales and the bizarre discovery of a missing airplane black box locked in a file cabinet, then decided to pardon Lubbers.

"The secretary general has the right to accept or reject such recommendations," spokesman Fred Eckhard said at a testy press conference at UN headquarters in New York.

"The secretary general reviewed the evidence and he made his decision," Eckhard said.

He said Annan had consulted lawyers and concluded that the case against the 65-year-old Lubbers outlined in the OIOS enquiry report, which was never released to the public, was "unsustainable."

Pressed to explain what that meant, a visibly irritated Eckhard replied: "Legal basis, legal basis, legal basis."

Eckhard said that a "technical error" had accounted for the release of an early draft of a separate, wide-ranging OIOS report into UN wrongdoing that made no mention of the findings of the Lubbers enquiry.

However, the United Nations released a correction that made clear that the oversight office had backed up the woman's claims.

The damning paragraph said the female staffer had complained of having been sexually harassed by Lubbers and later, in "related" incidents, had been harassed by a senior manager of his staff.

"OIOS submitted a report to the secretary general supporting the allegations and recommended that appropriate actions be taken accordingly," it said, noting Annan had decided the allegations "could not be substantiated by the evidence and closed the matter."

In July, Annan sent UNHCR staff a letter saying he had informed Lubbers of his "duty to defend the right of staff members," such as the woman who made the claim, to be allowed to raise any kind of complaint, after it emerged that Lubbers had pressed the woman to drop her complaint.

Lubbers has denied having sexually harassed the woman.

In an ironic twist, the news about Lubbers broke as the UN Security Council was discussing a report from Annan that denounced the world's "collective failure" to prevent violence against women.

The UN chief has tried to keep the lid on a number of scandals that have erupted over the past year. Earlier this month, he blamed a "campaign" against the United Nations for having damaged the world body's image.

Investigators are probing allegations that UN officials had been paid off by Saddam Hussein's regime while the United Nations supervised Iraq's oil sales between 1996 and 2003.

And, earlier this year, UN officials admitted they had been holding a black box from an airplane in a locked file cabinet for a decade -- two days after ridiculing the idea, which had been reported in a French newspaper.

The report said the flight recorder may have come from the plane crash that killed Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana, setting off the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which occurred when Annan was in charge of UN peacekeepers who were on the ground but did not prevent the slaughter.

The black box was found in a UN peacekeeping office. The United Nations said an investigation had determined that the flight device had not come from the plane in question.

The 54-page OIOS report outlined other instances of wrongdoing, including the fact that a UN staffer had embezzled millions of dollars in Kosovo that it said were subsequently recovered.

It also said investigators were looking into allegations of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UN Official Dismissive of Sex Harassment Charges

UN Official Dismissive of Sex Harassment Charges
29 Oct 2004 20:47:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
BY Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - U.N. refugee chief Ruud Lubbers on Friday dismissed as unsubstantiated a U.N. watchdog agency report that concluded he sexually harassed one of his senior staff members.

The report by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services, condensed to one paragraph and circulated on Thursday, supported allegations made against Lubbers and recommended "that appropriate actions be taken accordingly."

But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has rejected the report and cleared Lubbers, whose agency deals with some 17 million refugees around the world.

"The facts could not be substantiated at all," Lubbers, the Geneva-based U.N. high commissioner for refugees, told a small group of reporters after a meeting in New York of the heads of U.N. agencies.

"I found it a very weak report," he said, adding that he first saw the report in June, asked for a legal opinion from a Dutch jurist, and gave Annan his response.

"The outcome of this analysis (was) was convincing for the secretary-general, "Lubbers said. "He concluded these facts could not be substantiated and so he closed the case.

The incident involved a 51-year old American woman, who alleged Lubbers groped her as she was leaving his office in Geneva after a meeting late in 2003.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard on Thursday said Annan had rejected the OIOS report after seeking his own legal advice.

"He did not say there was no evidence," Eckhard said. "He said he found the allegations unsustainable on a legal basis."

Diplomats, some of whom were dismayed by Annan's decision, said the secretary-general had shown the report to judicial experts who said the complaint would not hold up in a court. Other women who had alleged harassment backed away from a formal protest, the envoys said.

In July, Annan decided to keep Lubbers in his post but voiced concern in a letter about how he had handled the complaint amid an investigation.

Lubbers had written to the woman at her home asking her to drop the complaint and promising to protect her from reprisals if she did. And in a message to staff in late May, Lubbers also acknowledged making what he considered to be a "friendly gesture" that he said the woman had misunderstood.

Lubbers was Dutch prime minister for 12 years, from 1982 to 1994, and in 2000 became high commissioner of the U.N. agency that has an annual budget of close to $1 billion and 6,000 staff in 115 countries. His term expires on Dec. 31, 2005.

UN Refugee Chief Dismisses Report by UN Watchdog Supporting Sex Harassment Allegation Against Him

UN Refugee Chief Dismisses Report by UN Watchdog Supporting Sex Harassment Allegation Against Him
EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer
Friday, October 29, 2004
(10-29) 20:32 PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) --

U.N. refugee chief Ruud Lubbers insisted Friday the secretary-general found no evidence he sexually harassed an American woman in his agency and dismissed a report by U.N. investigators supporting the allegation.

The Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N. watchdog, disclosed Thursday that its investigation supported an allegation of sexual harassment against Lubbers, but Secretary-General Kofi Annan later rejected that conclusion on grounds it could not be sustained by the evidence.

"The report was miserable. It was not well-founded by OIOS," Lubbers told The Associated Press, using the initials of the U.N. watchdog.

The revised annual report of the U.N. oversight agency circulated Thursday revealed for the first time that U.N. investigators supported the allegation by the 51-year-old woman, who had worked for the agency for about 20 years, and recommended that "appropriate actions" be taken.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard, pressed Thursday on why Annan rejected the investigators' recommendation, said the secretary-general "sought legal advice and on the basis of that advice he concluded that the allegations were not sustainable."

"He did not say there was no evidence," Eckhard said. "He said he found the charges unsustainable on a legal basis."

When this statement by Eckhard was put to Lubbers, the refugee chief shot back saying: "Fred Eckhard is wrong. There was no evidence that was concluded by the secretary-general. It's as simple as that."

Eckhard declined to respond.

Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister, spoke to the AP outside a meeting chaired by Annan for senior U.N. staff.

In July, Annan rejected the sexual harassment allegation against Lubbers but raised strong concerns about the incident and possible attempts to influence the investigation.

The secretary-general said in a letter to staff of the Office of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees that he wrote to Lubbers "conveying in the strongest terms my concerns about the incident which gave rise to the complaint."

He also sent Undersecretary-General for Management Catherine Bertini to Geneva to consult Lubbers and the agency's management on ways to "rebuild mutual trust and confidence."

Lubbers said in a statement in May that the case was filed April 27 and related to a Dec. 18, 2003, meeting in his office that also was attended by five other staff members.

He acknowledged making "a friendly gesture," which he said was misunderstood by the woman.

"There was no improper behavior on my part," he said.

The woman who made the complaint has been described as a senior American staffer.

Lubbers, 65, was appointed to head the refugee agency by the U.N. General Assembly in 2000. His original three-year term was extended last year and now runs until Dec. 31, 2005.

Lubbers was the longest-serving postwar premier of the Netherlands, serving from 1982 until he retired from politics in 1994. He is married and has three children.

Bush, Kerry React to New Osama bin Laden Videotape

Bush, Kerry React to New Osama bin Laden Videotape
Friday, October 29, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Bush said Friday that "Americans will not be intimidated" by Usama bin Laden as a new videotape of the terrorist leader surfaced four days before the election. Campaign rival John Kerry criticized Bush for failing to capture bin Laden earlier and said that "I can run a more effective War on Terror."

The sudden surfacing of the bin Laden tape jolted the campaign's closing days, accentuating the terrorism theme that already had been a dominant issue. Bush and Kerry made hurried appearances before television cameras to respond.

"Let me make this very clear," Bush said in Toledo, Ohio, standing next to Air Force One. "Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Senator Kerry agrees with this."

Kerry, too, said, "My reaction is that all of us in this city are completely united." But he criticized Bush for not capturing bin Laden earlier, and he added pointedly, "I believe I can run a more effective War on Terror than George Bush."

On the videotape, aired by the Arab television station Al-Jazeera, bin Laden address Americans: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands."

Bush said intelligence officials continued to analyze the tape. The administration said it believed the tape was authentic and had been made recently.

Bush said, "We are at war with these terrorists and I am confident that we will prevail."

Kerry, in an interview with WISM in Milwaukee, said of Bush, "He didn't choose to use American forces to hunt down Usama bin Laden. He outsourced the job." Kerry has criticized Bush throughout the campaign for failing to capture the leader of the terrorists who struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, questioning U.S. strategy in pursuing bin Laden in Afghanistan.

"Democrat, Republican, there's no such thing," Kerry said. "There's just America and we are all united in hunting down and capturing or killing those who conducted that raid and we always knew that that was Usama bin Laden."

"My policy is there's no such thing as negotiation with terrorists," the Democratic candidate said. "And terrorists, terrorism are going to be hunted down and killed, we are united on that."

"I am absolutely confident I have the ability to make America safer," he said.

Bush, Kerry Camps Hit With UBL, Ammo

Bush, Kerry Camps Hit With UBL, Ammo
Friday, October 29, 2004
By Liza Porteus

The presidential campaigns of President Bush and John Kerry were roiled by a series of events Friday as a new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll showed that the president still has a lead over his Democratic challenger, 50 percent to 45 percent.

Also Friday, a new video purporting to be from Usama bin Laden was aired by Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera, where the Al Qaeda leader directly admitted for the first time that he carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and promised to lay out "the best way to avoid another Manhattan." He said the 2001 attacks would have been less severe if Bush had been more alert.

It was the first footage of the terrorist mastermind to surface in more than a year. Multiple sources told FOX News that the 18-minute long videotape was authentic. No one has yet indicated that the national terror threat level would be raised.

The Bush administration said it believed the tape was authentic.

"Let me make this very clear: Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country," the president said in Toledo before getting back aboard Air Force One. "I'm sure Sen. Kerry agrees with this. I also want to say to the American people that we are at war with these terrorists, and I am confident that we will prevail."

Kerry also made some brief comments about the bin Laden video.

"As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Usama bin Laden and the terrorists," Kerry said as he boarded a campaign plane in West Palm Beach, Fla. "They're barbarians and I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes, period."

Republicans have insinuated that terrorists would like to see Kerry in office over Bush, since they charge the Massachusetts senator would be too soft in the War on Terror.

"This almost looks like an endorsement from Usama bin Laden for John Kerry," said David Johnson, former campaign manager for Bob Dole.

But Alan Colmes, co-host of FOX News' "Hannity and Colmes," said, "I don't think he's [bin Laden] there with a Kerry-Edwards sticker in the cave ... I think he'd like to feel he can have an effect."

While Johnson said it's too early to determine what impact — if any — the bin Laden tape will have on the election, "it helps President Bush because in the War on Terrorism, the American people are more comfortable with him."

"We're in a global war against international terrorism ... it's going to take a long while and there's going to be some setbacks in the way before we achieve final victory over Usama bin Laden."

Explosive Ammunition

The other hot-button issue that continued to heat up on Friday was that of the missing cache of explosives that disappeared from the Al-Qaqaa munitions base in Iraq.

The Massachusetts senator has charged the president with dereliction of his duty as commander in chief and not owning up to the alleged blunder while Bush has accused Kerry of being willing to "say anything" to get elected by using the issue on the campaign trail. Republicans have said that Kerry's use of the murky issue signaled that he had nothing else on his own record to talk about in the last week of campaigning.

Both candidates' comments on this issue on Friday, however, were muted in comparison to their back-and-forth blasts over it throughout the week.

After four days of tough attacks on Bush over missing explosives in Iraq, Kerry said the election offered a fundamental choice. "Do you want four more years of the same failed course?" he asked voters in pivotal Florida, the state where the race was decided four years ago. "Or do you want a fresh start for America that takes us in the right direction?"

Bush returned to the central theme of his campaign, that he is a stronger leader than Kerry and would do a better job of protecting the country.

"I've learned firsthand how hard it is to send young men and women into battle, even when the cause is right," the president said in New Hampshire, the only northeastern state he carried four years ago — and where he is trailing now, according to a new poll.

"The issues vary. The challenges are different every day. The polls go up. The polls go down. But a president's convictions must be consistent and true," Bush said. He did not even mention Kerry in his first speech in Manchester, N.H., but brought up his opponent at the next stop, in Portsmouth.

A spate of new state polls reflected the tightness of the race. The race is essentially tied in Wisconsin, which narrowly voted Democratic four years ago.

Reports of an estimated 377 tons of explosive ammunition that disappeared from a munitions depot have proved to be a lightning rod in this year's presidential election. But questions continue to surface regarding exactly how much, and when, the ammunition went missing as the original story began to shred.

On Friday, the Pentagon put forth a U.S. soldier who said he actually led efforts to remove and destroy about 250 tons of material from the facility.

In New Hampshire, demonstrators at the Bush rally held up signs that spelled out "360 TONS." Bush backers shouted them down with chants of "four more years!" and the president's supporters ripped the placards from the protesters' hands.

New videotape released Friday added even more fuel to the fire.

Footage shot by a Minnesota television crew traveling with U.S. troops in Iraq when they first opened the bunkers at Al-Qaqaa — nine days after the fall of Saddam Hussein — shows what appeared to be high explosives still in barrels and bearing the markings of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The video taken by KSTP of St. Paul on April 18, 2003, could reinforce suggestions that tons of explosives missing from that location were looted after U.S. troops entered the country.

The Pentagon also declassified and released a single image, taken by reconnaissance aircraft or satellite just days before the war, showing two trucks outside one of the dozens of storage bunkers at Al-Qaqaa.

Kerry running mate John Edwards said the missing cache and the FBI investigation into Halliburton's contracts in Iraq prove that new leadership is needed in the White House.

"They've been incompetent in Iraq, and here at home they always look out for their powerful friends at the top," the Democratic vice presidential candidate said at a campaign stop in La Crosse, Wis.

Wanted: New Direction or Experience?

Throughout the day, Bush and Kerry were setting up the race for the White House as one between tested experience and a fresh start.

Clear majorities of both Bush and Kerry supporters say they definitely plan to vote for their candidate, and the number saying they may change their mind is now fewer than one in 10, according to the poll released Friday. One source of the president’s advantage is the War on Terror — more than twice as many voters say Bush is the candidate who would more aggressively fight terrorism.

Bush's five-point lead is down from a seven-point lead last week, when he had a 49 percent to 42 percent edge. The number backing independent candidate Ralph Nader is now less than one percent. Bush’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The rivals were revisiting tightly contested states Friday, with the president heading to New Hampshire and Ohio and his Democratic challenger looking to rally Florida voters.

In Manchester, N.H., on Friday, Bush focused on his leadership in a post-Sept. 11 world, saying the U.S. strategy for winning the War on Terror is working.

"Freedom is on the march and America and the world are more secure. Our strategy to win the war is succeeding," Bush said at a rally. "The terrorists are on the run. So long as I am your president, we will be determined and steadfast and we will keep the terrorists on the run."

"When a president speaks, he must speak clearly and he must mean what he says," Bush told supporters. "I meant what I said and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan doubted our commitment — the regime is no more and America and the world are safer."

Simultaneously, in Orlando, Fla., Kerry urged supporters to cast their ballots on Nov. 2 for the candidate who can steer America in a new direction.

"Four days from now, Americans will face a choice. How will we find our way forward? How will we keep America safe, and keep the American dream alive? I believe we begin by giving this country we love a fresh start," Kerry said, before laying out what he called his "summary" of his case on "how, together, we can change America."

Later, in Orlando, Kerry said Bush "just doesn't understand the problems facing America" and urged Floridians to "walk out of here and vote," a reference to early voting allowed in the crucial battleground state. The senator also renewed his contention that Bush diverted attention from the real threats of Al Qaeda and Usama bin Laden by going to war in Iraq.

Bush was campaigning in Ohio Friday afternoon with actor-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Organizing a big finish, Bush planned election-eve rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico and Texas, the White House said. Kerry's tentative plans for Monday call for stops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. Looking beyond the election, the president was planning a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

After scalding Kerry earlier this week as weak and wavering, Bush told a rally in Portsmouth, Maine, "I'm sure Senator Kerry means well but his policies are the wrong policies at this time of threat."

Kerry appealed for Jewish support in Florida, saying he has been a reliable friend of Israel. "I have never wavered on one vote, on one resolution, on one issue," he said.

A University of New Hampshire poll gives Kerry a four-point lead in New Hampshire, after polls earlier this month put the president up by five.

In a thinly veiled slap at his Democratic opponent — who has been accused by the GOP and others as being a flip-flopper on the war and other issues — Bush said if re-elected, he would never waiver when it comes to America's security.

"In any war, there are good days and bad days, but on any day, you need the same resolve," Bush said during the Manchester rally, adding that as president, people "notice your shortcomings."

"Sometimes I'm a little too blunt — I get that from my mother. Sometimes I mangle the English language, I get that from my dad," the president said to thunderous applause and cheers. "In all the times, you know where I stand, what I believe and where I'm going to lead this country."

Bush was traveling with relatives of some of the heroes of Sept. 11, including the father of Todd Beamer, who was involved in bringing down United Flight 93, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania.

"The president is playing defense today. He's going to be in the two states that he's carried in 2000 that he's been running behind in," said FOX News' political contributor Michael Barone.

Bush went from Manchester to Portsmouth, which is near the border of Maine, which Al Gore carried in 2000, then headed to Toledo and Columbus, Ohio.

"If he doesn't carry Ohio and all the other states go the same way [as they did in 2000], he's got 258 [electoral] votes and that's a losing total," Barone said.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared with Bush, hoping to provide some extra muscle and tip the Ohio tally in the incumbent's favor. The president was supposed to be introduced by Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling at one campaign stop Friday, but the White House later said doctors ordered Schilling not to travel, presumably because of the hurt ankle he suffered during the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

Kerry will get more help from rock star Bruce Springsteen, who was expected to back him at a "Fresh Start for America" rally in Miami Friday evening.

The Massachusetts senator on Friday was enumerating what his campaign has called "a series of wrong choices" made by Bush on Iraq, the economy, health care and other issues. Campaign staffers say their candidate may also mention the controversial issue of missing ammunition in Iraq on Friday as part of his final argument challenging Bush's ability to perform as commander in chief.

"John Kerry is playing offense today," Barone said, noting that Kerry will be hitting important regions of the Sunshine State — Orlando, West Palm Beach and Miami.

"I think he's going there to shore up his support among Jewish Americans," Barone said, noting that Gore and his running mate, Joe Lieberman, in 2000 received big margins in Florida among Jewish voters. "That's one of the reasons the election was so close," Barone said, but noted that Bush is making inroads with that community, with the help of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat.

Aloha, Hawaii

For his part, Cheney on Sunday night will rally voters in Hawaii where just two Republicans have ever won the state in a presidential race. The Bush-Cheney campaign says Hawaii is within reach and that its four electoral cotes are worth fighting for in an election where every vote will count.

"We are competitive in the state; this is a very close race," said Cheney spokeswoman Anne Womack.

Hawaii may prove to be a surprise on Election Day; polls there show the candidates neck and neck, even though Al Gore won the state in 2000 by 18 percentage points.

Kerry's daughter, Alexandra, and Al Gore were also campaigning in Hawaii on Friday.

"I think Hawaii is seriously in play for the Republicans," Barone said, noting that polls show that Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans in the Aloha State are voting for Bush even though they vote heavily democratic in state election.

Hawaii has two characteristics when it comes to elections, he said. "First it votes for Democrats, second, it tends to vote for incumbent presidents of both parties."

FOX News' Wendell Goler, Molly Henneberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Osama bin Laden Claims Responsibility for 9/11

Bin Laden Claims Responsibility for 9/11
Friday, October 29, 2004

WASHINGTON — Usama bin Laden made his first televised appearance in more than a year Friday in which he admitted for the first time ordering the Sept. 11 attacks and accused President Bush of "misleading" the American people.

Injecting himself into the campaign four days ahead of the presidential election, bin Laden said the United States can avoid another Sept. 11-style attack if it stops threatening the security of Muslims.

In the segment broadcast, the Al Qaeda leader refrained from directly threatening new attacks, although he said "there are still reasons to repeat what happened."

"Your security is not in the hands of Kerry, Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands," bin Laden said, referring to the president and his Democratic opponent. "Any state that does not mess with our security, has naturally guaranteed its own security."

Admitting for the first time that he ordered the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden said he did so because of injustices against the Lebanese and Palestinians by Israel and the United States.

In what appeared to be conciliatory language, bin Laden said he wanted to explain why he ordered the airline hijackings that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon so Americans would know how to act to prevent another attack.

"To the American people, my talk is to you about the best way to avoid another Manhattan," he said. "I tell you: Security is an important element of human life and free people do not give up their security."

It was the first footage in more than a year of the fugitive Al Qaeda leader, thought to be hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The video, broadcast on Al-Jazeera television, showed bin Laden with a long gray beard, wearing traditional white robes, a turban and a golden cloak, standing behind a table with papers and in front of a plain, brown curtain.

His hands were steady and he appeared healthy.

The Bush administration said Friday it believes the videotape was authentic and had been made recently. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the administration did not plan to raise the nation's threat level for now.

Multiple sources told FOX News that the tape is authentic and that it was made recently.

A U.S. official in Washington said the 18-minute tape lacks an explicit threat and repeats well-worn themes.

Al-Jazeera broadcast about one minute of the tape. The station's spokesman, Jihad Ali Ballout, said they aired what was "newsworthy and relevant" and refused to describe the unaired portions, including whether they included any threats.

There was no way to determine exactly when the tape was made — but it offered evidence that bin Laden was alive and following events. Sen. John Kerry emerged as the Democratic candidate in the spring.

In Florida, Kerry said all Americans are united against bin Laden, adding he would "stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes, period."

Bin Laden accused President Bush of misleading Americans by saying the attack was carried out because Al Qaeda "hates freedom." Bin Laden said his followers have left alone countries that do not threaten Muslims.

"We fought you because we are free ... and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours," he said.

He said he was first inspired to attack the United States by the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in which towers and buildings in Beirut were destroyed in the siege of the capital.

"While I was looking at these destroyed towers in Lebanon, it sparked in my mind that the tyrant should be punished with the same and that we should destroy towers in America, so that it tastes what we taste and would be deterred from killing our children and women," he said.

"God knows that it had not occurred to our mind to attack the towers, but after our patience ran out and we saw the injustice and inflexibility of the American-Israeli alliance toward our people in Palestine and Lebanon, this came to my mind," he said.

Bin Laden suggested Bush was slow to react to the Sept. 11 attacks, giving the hijackers more time than they expected. At the time of the attacks, the president was listening to schoolchildren in Florida reading a book.

"It never occurred to us that the commander-in-chief of the American armed forces would leave 50,000 of his citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone," he said, referring to the number of people who worked at the World Trade Center.

"It appeared to him [Bush] that a little girl's talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers. That gave us three times the required time to carry out the operations, thank God," he said.

In planning the attacks, bin Laden said he told Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers, that the strikes had to be carried out "within 20 minutes before Bush and his administration noticed."

Bin Laden also said the Bush administration was like repressive Arab regimes "in that half of them are ruled by the military and the other half are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents."

The image of bin Laden reading a statement was dramatically different from the few other videos of the Al Qaeda leader that have emerged since the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the last videotape, issued Sept. 10, 2003, bin Laden is seen walking through rocky terrain with his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, both carrying automatic rifles. In a taped message issued at the same time, bin Laden praises the "great damage to the enemy" on Sept. 11 and mentions five hijackers by name.

In December 2001, the Pentagon released a videotape in which bin Laden is shown at a dinner with associates in Afghanistan on Nov. 9, 2001, saying the destruction of the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded even his "optimistic" calculations.

But in none of his previous messages, audio or video, did bin Laden directly state that he ordered the attacks.

U.S. authorities have long said they believe bin Laden is hiding in a rugged, mountainous tribal region of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan, but there has been no firm evidence of his whereabouts for three years.

The last audiotape purportedly from bin Laden came in April. The speaker on the tape, which CIA analysts said likely was the Al Qaeda leader, offered a truce to European nations if they pull troops out of Muslim countries. The tape referred to the March 22 assassination by Israel of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Al-Zawahri, bin Laden's Egyptian deputy, has spoken on three recent audiotapes that emerged on June 11, Sept. 9 and Oct. 1 this year. In the latest, he called on young Muslims to strike the United States and its allies.

Retired Lt. Col. Bill Cowen, a FOX News military analyst, said bin Laden timed the tape deliberately.

"I think he's just trying to slap the president around a little bit and in my opinion is trying to influence the election," Cowen said.

Cowen said that while the tape showed that the most wanted terrorist was still at large, it also should be seen in another light.

"This tape is also a reminder of how we've decimated the top Al Qaeda leadership," Cowen said. "It took us 20 years to find Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, right here in the United States."

FOX News' Bret Baier, Ian McCaleb, Anna Persky and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Osama bin Laden, From 10.29.04 Videotape

Osama bin Laden

Transcript

Transcript: Bin Laden Video
Friday, October 29, 2004

The following is a translation of a speech delivered by terrorist mastermind Usama bin Laden in a new tape aired by Al-Jazeera:

We had agreed with Mohammed Atta, may Allah bless his soul, to carry out all of the operations within 20 minutes, before Bush and his administration pays attention.

And we didn't think at all that the commander in chief in the United States will leave all of these people, all of the U.S. citizens fighting for themselves, fighting for their lives.

Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.

The event that affected me most personally was in 1982, when America gave permission for Israel to invade Lebanon. That built a strong desire in me to punish the guilty.

It never occurred to us that he, the commander in chief of the country, would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone, because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important.

When America allowed the Israelis to raid Lebanon, the 6th American Fleet helped in that. And during that difficult time many feelings went through me, which were difficult for me, but it has resulted in creating a feeling of rejection of oppression and to try to take revenge against the oppressors.

And as a result of seeing these towers, destroyed towers in Lebanon, I thought that we have to destroy towers in America, too, so that they may taste what we have tasted and would be deterred from killing our children and women.

Intel Officials: Tape Made Recently

Intel Officials: Tape Made Recently
Friday, October 29, 2004

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence officials believe the tape of Usama bin Laden aired Friday was made recently and are intrigued that it carried English subtitles — a first for the terrorist leader, a U.S. official said Friday.

Intelligence experts have determined the tape "lacks what we assess to be an explicit threat, and reiterates well-worn themes," said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Analysts have been able to determine with a "high degree of confidence" that the voice and image on the 18-minute tape — parts of it aired by al-Jazeera — are of bin Laden, the official said.

A U.S. senior law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tape was being closely scrutinized by a special FBI task force formed to disrupt a potential attack timed to coincide with the U.S. election campaign.

The FBI is especially interested in finding any hidden messages or other clues that might signal an Al Qaeda attack, the official said. The FBI also is comparing the tape to one that was aired by ABC Thursday evening in which an unidentified, disguised man claiming to be an American threatens more attacks against the United States.

On the campaign trail, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the administration also believed the videotape was authentic and had been made recently.

The administration did not plan to raise the nation's threat level for now, four days before the election, the White House spokesman said.

Among the indications that the video was made recently, the U.S. official noted that bin Laden mentions that it's been four years since Sept. 11, 2001, and that U.S. deaths in Iraq have reached 1,000.

That milestone was reached in early September.

At the beginning of the video, there is also text that attributes the video to al-Sahab for Media Production, Al Qaeda's media committee, and says it was made 10 Ramadan, which was last Sunday. However, officials cannot confirm that precise dating, the U.S. official said.

This video is of further interest to analysts because it has English subtitles — a first for bin Laden. "We are still really early in our analysis, and we are proceeding with caution," the U.S. official said.

Nothing about bin Laden's health or appearance has jumped out yet, the U.S. official said. However, the official noted, if you compare it to the last known time bin Laden could be seen speaking on video — in December 2001 — he looks a little thinner.

Most of the United States has been at yellow alert, the middle of the government's five-point warning scale, for the bulk of the year.

However, the financial sector in New York, Washington and northern New Jersey, has been at orange, or the second-highest alert level, since August. Then, government officials disclosed Al Qaeda surveillance footage of four financial buildings.

U.S. Team Took 250 Tons of Iraqi Munitions

U.S. Team Took 250 Tons of Iraqi Munitions
Friday, October 29, 2004

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Army officer came forward Friday to say a team from his 3rd Infantry Division took about 250 tons of munitions and other material from the Al-Qaqaa arms-storage facility soon after Saddam Hussein's regime fell in April 2003.

Explosives were part of the load taken by the team, but Major Austin Pearson was unable to say what percentage they accounted for. The material was then destroyed, he said.

The Pentagon believes the disclosure helps explain what happened to 377 tons of high explosives that the International Atomic Energy Agency said disappeared after the U.S.-led invasion.

Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita acknowledged the Defense Department
did not have all the answers and could not yet account for all of the missing explosives, but stressed that the major's disclosure was a significant development in unraveling the mystery.

"We've described what we know, and as we know more we'll describe that," said DiRita.

Pearson, accompanied by DiRita, appeared at a Pentagon news conference and said his team's mission in April 2003 was to clear material from the Al-Qaqaa facility in order to secure it for U.S. forces. He admitted he was not an explosives expert.

The IAEA reported the disappearance of the explosives to the United Nations on Monday, suggesting they had fallen into the hands of looters after American troops had swept through the area.

U.S. military officials have retorted that they suspect the munitions were removed by Iraqis before Saddam was ousted from power on April 9, 2003.

The officer's story came the morning after new videotape surfaced supporting the contention that the explosives were still at the base following Saddam's fall.

Videotape shot by a Minnesota television crew traveling with U.S. troops in Iraq on April 18, 2003 shows what appeared to be high explosives still in barrels bearing IAEA seals.

The video was taken by a reporter and cameraman employed by KSTP, an ABC affiliate in St. Paul. It was broadcast nationally Thursday on the ABC national network.

"The photographs are consistent with what I know of Al-Qaqaa," David A. Kay, the former American official who directed the hunt in Iraq for unconventional weapons and visited the site, told The New York Times. "The damning thing is the seals. The Iraqis didn't use seals on anything. So I'm absolutely sure that's an IAEA seal."

The Pentagon late Thursday released a satellite photograph of Al-Qaqaa taken on March 17, 2003, just before the war. It showed showing several bunkers, one with two tractor-trailers next to it.

Senior Defense officials said their photo shows that the Al-Qaqaa facility "was not hermetically sealed" after international weapons inspectors had paid their last visits to the facility earlier in the month.

Officials were analyzing the image and others for clues into when the nearly 380 tons of explosives were taken. The munitions included HMX and RDX, key components in plastic explosives, which insurgents in Iraq have used in bomb attacks.

The Pentagon insisted that the image shows the Iraqis were moving something at the site before the first U.S.-launched bombs fell.

Meanwhile, an IAEA report obtained by FOX News said the inspectors noted that despite the fact that the Al-Qaqaa bunkers were locked, ventilation shafts remained open and provided easy access to the explosives.

The IAEA can definitively say only that the documented ammunition was at the facility in January; in March, an agency spokesman conceded, inspectors only checked the locked bunker doors.

The question of what happened to the explosives has become a major issue in the closing days of the 2004 presidential campaign.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry says the missing explosives — powerful enough to demolish a building, bring down a jetliner or even trigger a nuclear weapon — are another example of the Bush administration's poor planning and incompetence in handling the war in Iraq.

President Bush says the explosives were possibly removed by Saddam's forces before the invasion.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld entered the debate Thursday, suggesting the 377 tons of explosives were taken away before U.S. forces arrived, saying any large effort to loot the material afterward would have been detected.

"We would have seen anything like that," he said in one of two radio interviews he gave at the Pentagon. "The idea it was suddenly looted and moved out, all of these tons of equipment, I think is at least debatable."

The bunker with the trucks parked next to it in the Pentagon's satellite image is not one known to have contained any of the missing explosives, and Defense spokesman DiRita said Thursday the image only shows that there was some Iraqi activity at the base on March 17.

DiRita acknowledged that the image says nothing about what happened to the explosives.

Rumsfeld, in one radio interview, also cast doubt on the suggestion by one of his subordinates that Russian soldiers assisted Iraqis in removing the munitions.

The Washington Times on Thursday quoted John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, who said he believed Russian special-forces personnel, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material from Al-Qaqaa.

Shaw said he believed the munitions were moved to Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 invasion.

Senior Defense officials urged caution over the Washington Times article because they could not verify its allegations as true.

"I have no information on that at all, and cannot validate that even slightly," Rumsfeld said.

The article prompted an angry denial from Moscow.

At the core of the issue is whether the explosives were moved before or after U.S. forces reached that part of the country in early April.

No one has been able to provide conclusive evidence either way, although Iraqi officials blamed the munitions' disappearance on poor U.S. security after Baghdad fell.

The Pentagon has said it is looking into the matter, and officials note that 400,000 tons of recovered Iraqi munitions have either been destroyed or are slated to be destroyed.

FOX News' Bret Baier, Ian McCaleb and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

U.S. Military Releases Al-Qaqaa Image

U.S. Military Releases Al-Qaqaa Image
Friday, October 29, 2004

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon released a photograph of an Iraqi military facility taken before the U.S.-led war in 2003 but officials won't speculate about what happened to tons of explosives kept there.

The image shows several bunkers at the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility, one of which has two tractor-trailers parked next to it. The picture was shot from the air on March 17, 2003.

Senior Defense officials adamantly refused to speculate as to what is happening at the bunker highlighted in the photo, saying it's anyone's guess. They said that the photo has been released to show that the Al-Qaqaa facility "was not hermetically sealed" after international weapons inspectors paid their last visits to the facility earlier in the month.

Officials are analyzing the image and others for clues into when the nearly 380 tons of explosives were taken. The munitions included HMX and RDX, key components in plastic explosives, which insurgents in Iraq have used in bomb attacks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which reported the disappearance to the United Nations on Monday, believes they were taken after Saddam Hussein was driven from power but Bush administration officials maintain the explosives were already gone when U.S. troops got to the base.

The scrutiny over the missing explosives also has dominated the presidential race in its closing days.

Defense officials told FOX News they have other photos in their possession, which they will not release, that show similar activity. One purportedly shows several similar heavy lift transports parked on an airfield about one or two kilometers away from the bunkers seen in the unclassified photo. The airfield picture was taken on April 1, 2003.

One senior official, pointing to the bunker seen in the uppermost right-hand corner of the unclassified photo, said it is "believed" that bunker was one of the HMX storage units. However, there is no public speculation as to what was inside that bunker when the picture was taken.

Overhead photos taken on March 14 and March 20 show no vehicular activity at Al-Qaqaa, officials said.

"We take no view of the purpose of these trucks," a senior official said. "All we're saying is this is two big trucks in front of a bunker."

When Were Inspectors at Al-Qaqaa?

The last time the IAEA knew with certainty the contents of the Al-Qaqaa bunkers was in January of 2003, when its inspectors logged all the explosives there. The IAEA action report, which was obtained by FOX News, placed the inventory of HMX and RDX explosives at Al-Qaqaa at 221 tons – not 377 tons, as the IAEA reported Monday.

To read the IAEA action report, click here (11 pages, pdf).

On Thursday, an IAEA spokesman said another 150 tons of RDX was stored at a facility known as Al-Mahaweel, a storage site under Al-Qaqaa's jurisdiction located outside the main Al-Qaqaa site. Al-Mahaweel was controlled by the same Iraqi administrators who ran Al-Qaqaa.

The January 2003 IAEA action report noted that the explosives were stored in nine different bunkers at Al-Qaqaa. Each of the bunkers was locked and marked with IAEA tags and seals on them.

But the report also included a warning. "Of note was that the sealing on the bunkers was only partially effective because each bunker had ventilation shafts on the sides of the buildings. These shafts were not sealed, and could provide removal routes for the HMX while leaving the front door locked,” it said.

The IAEA said Thursday it warned the United States about the vulnerability of explosives stored at Al-Qaqaa after another facility -- Iraq's main nuclear complex -- was looted in April 2003.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told The Associated Press that U.S. officials were cautioned directly about what was stored at Al-Qaqaa and its vulnerability after the Tuwaitha nuclear complex was looted.

"It is also important to note that this was the main high explosives storage facility in Iraq, and it was well-known through IAEA reports to the Security Council," Fleming said.

IAEA inspectors last saw the explosives in January 2003 when they took an inventory and placed fresh seals on the bunkers. Inspectors visited the site again in March 2003, but didn't view the explosives because the seals were not broken, she said.

Agency inspectors who have returned twice to Iraq since the war focused only on Tuwaitha, a sprawling nuclear complex 12 miles south of Baghdad.

Powell and Rice Urge Caution

Two of President Bush's top policy advisers on Thursday said the issue of the missing explosives in Iraq is being overplayed and urged caution in coming to any conclusions before the issue is fully investigated.

"I think we're going to have to wait until the Iraqi Survey Group, the group that looks into these kinds of things, can actually get to the facts," Powell told Bill Bennett on his "Morning in America" radio show, "The facts are really kind of muddled right now and we are just going to have to try to do the best we can in the very near future to get the ground truth out."

Powell said there are suggestions that there might not have been that much of explosives missing in the first place and he questioned when the explosives went missing. Powell also said it's an extremely small amount compared to the amount that the United States has been able to bring under control.

Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, sat down with FOX News' Brian Kilmeade on Thursday to talk about Iraq and the missing ammo issue, among other things.

"It is a complicated issue. What we need to do is find out the facts before we jump to conclusions, we need to find out the facts," Rice said during the interview, which aired Thursday morning. The second installation will air Friday morning. "It's not clear if the explosives were there when our troops got there or not … we'll get to the bottom of it, we'll ask the tough questions ... but we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"Iraq was a place awash in weapons," Rice added, noting that U.S. troops have already destroyed thousands of munitions. "That process is well underway and continues to this day."

L. Paul Bremer, who served as the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, told FOX News' Brit Hume that there was a four-week time frame before U.S. troops arrived in the area in question when Saddam Hussein could have moved the munitions.

"It seems to me very irresponsible to assert that one knows what happened here," right now, he said.

A Russian Connection?

In another new development, The Washington Times reported Thursday that Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation.

John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, told the Times that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

"The Russians brought in, just before the war got started, a whole series of military units," Shaw said. "Their main job was to shred all evidence of any of the contractual arrangements they had with the Iraqis. The others were transportation units."

Senior Defense officials urged caution over the Times report because they don't know the substance of the report to be true at this time. A similar report appears on the Financial Times Web site, with the following response from Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita: "I am unaware of any particular information on that point."

Senior sources told FOX News that Shaw actually works in a defense building away from the Pentagon, and it isn't clear how this person has the authority or the knowledge to speak on such a matter.

FOX News' Bret Baier, Ian McCaleb and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The New York Times (50 Words) Through the Years - It's All Spelled Out So Clearly

John Kerry uses the New York Times as his main source of information for his campaign. So, I thought I'd pull a few articles (from the archives) from the years leading up to the war.

Please remember the article John Kerry is using now was a "plant" by ElBaradei, the UN Nuclear Watchdog for the UN. The UN, a body rife with corruption which was in league with Saddam Hussein against the impending war. President Bush has asked that ElBaradei, an avowed American-hater, not be reinstated in his position at the UN.

Through the headlines you will notice there was no rush to war, as Kerry is so fond of saying. There were months of warnings to Saddam, from around the world, there were weeks of diplomacy when the warnings failed.

There are also articles, especially from about this time, three years ago, showing the connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Also seen through the articles is the beginning of the Oil-For-Food program's crumbling and its participants having "difficulty" with the decision to go to war.

Please take the time to go through the articles. They are numerous, but only the first fifty works of each article is given. Full reference is provided if you'd care to do further research.

IRAQ SAID TO STUDY BIOLOGICAL ARMS; Reports of Baghdad Research on Weapons That Spread Cholera and Anthrax
By STEPHEN ENGELBERG
Jan 18, 1989. pg. A7, 1 pgs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 -- Iraq is developing biological weapons, including arms that can spread typhoid, cholera and anthrax, Government officials said tonight.

Iraqi Chemical Arms: Difficult Target
By MALCOLM W. BROWNE
Sep 5, 1990. pg. A15, 1 pgs

Among the potential targets of American air strikes if war with Iraq should break out are the sites where chemical weapons are manufactured or stored. But although chemical plants are vulnerable, experts say United States intelligence may not be good enough to pinpoint the hundreds of secret caches where chemical weapons are already stockpiled.

C.I.A. Fears Iraq Could Deploy Biological Arms by Early 1991
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Sep 29, 1990. pg. 4, 1 pgs

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 -- Iraq has developed biological weapons that will be able to deliver significant quantities of the deadly agents on the battlefield by early next year, according to American intelligence reports.

A Search and Destroy Priority: Unconventional Iraqi Munitions
By ERIC SCHMITT
Jan 30, 1991. pg. A9, 1 pgs

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29 -- The United States-led coalition has destroyed Iraq's ability to produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, but Baghdad still has vast stocks of deadly nerve gas and germ agents, American military officials say.

IRAQI REPORT SAYS CHEMICAL ARSENAL SURVIVED THE WAR; ACCOUNTING TO THE U.N. But U.S. Accuses Baghdad of Omitting Items From List, Like Nuclear Material Iraq Says Chemical Arsenal Survived the War
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Apr 20, 1991. pg. 1, 2 pgs

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 -- Iraq has informed the United Nations that a substantial arsenal of chemical and ballistic weapons survived the Persian Gulf war, but it denies having nuclear arms, nuclear-weapons-grade materials or biological weapons, according to documents made public today.

BAGHDAD REVEALS IT HAD PLUTONIUM OF WEAPONS GRADE; SAFEGUARDS IN QUESTION
By JERRY GRAY, Special to The New York Times
Aug 6, 1991. pg. A1, 2 pgs

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 5 -- Iraq has disclosed that its scientists were secretly able to extract a small amount of plutonium, suitable for making an atomic bomb, from spent fuel at a nuclear installation whose operations came under international safeguards, United Nations officials said today.

U.N. Weapons Inspectors Renew Hunt in Iraq
By PAUL LEWIS
Nov 17, 1991. pg. 12, 1 pgs

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 -- A team of United Nations inspectors, acting on information obtained from intelligence agencies and on previous visits, will start hunting for a secret Iraqi biological weapons plant next week.

CLINTON BACKS STEP; About 40 Rockets Fired From Navy Ships -- Hotel Is Damaged Raid on Iraq: Speaking to Baghdad With Tomahawks U.S. Launches Attack on an Industrial Site Close to Baghdad
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Jan 18, 1993. pg. A1, 2 pgs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 -- Navy ships in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea launched about 40 cruise missiles at what officials say was an Iraqi military complex in a Baghdad suburb today, as the United States brought battle to the Iraqi capital for the first time since the end of the Persian Gulf war.

Armed and Dangerous; The authors think everybody's running in the most perilous stage of the arms race so far.
By Michael Krepon
Feb 6, 1994. pg. BR7, 1 pgs

THE proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons has never been more troubling, even though the tools to deal with the problem have never been better. To understand this paradoxical, changeable situation or to predict the future of these weapons takes the combined sensibilities of a Taoist master and a New England meteorologist.

Iraq's Threat: Biological Warfare; 'Dr. Germs' deceives the U.N.
WILLIAM SAFIRE
Feb 16, 1995. pg. A27, 1 pgs

With Iraq's nuclear and poisongas production capability limited by the scrutiny of U.N. inspectors, Saddam Hussein is developing the means to produce a terror weapon much harder to find: the deadly micro-organisms of biological warfare.

AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE OVERVIEW; U.S. Says Iraq Aided Production Of Chemical Weapons in Sudan
This article was reported by Barbara Crossette, Judith Miller, Steven Lee Myers and Tim Weiner, and was written by Mr. Myers.
August 25, 1998, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 1

The United States believes that senior Iraqi scientists were helping to produce elements of the nerve agent VX at the factory in the Sudan that American cruise missiles destroyed last week, Administration and intelligence officials said ... The evidence cited today as justification for the attack consisted of a soil...

AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE OVERVIEW; PRESIDENT SWEARS TO USE 'ALL TOOLS' AGAINST TERRORISM
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
August 23, 1998, Late Edition - Final , Section 1 , Page 1 , Column 6

President Clinton vowed today that the United States would use ''all the tools at our disposal'' to fight the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, as the Administration outlined efforts to squeeze him financially after Thursday's American cruise-missile strikes against sites linked to him in Afghanistan and the ... ''Our...

Abroad at Home; Weighing the Price
By ANTHONY LEWIS (NYT) Op-Ed 733 words
September 1, 1998, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 25 , Column 5

With its special power and responsibility in the world, the United States has to be free to act unilaterally in urgent circumstances. We cannot wait for international approval before responding to terrorism. ... President Reagan was right to attack Colonel Qaddafi's headquarters after an apparent act of Libyan terrorism. And...

A Much-Shunned Terrorist Is Said to Find Haven in Iraq
By JAMES RISEN (NYT) 1699 words
January 27, 1999, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 1

Abu Nidal, one of the world's most infamous terrorists, moved to Baghdad late last year and obtained the protection of President Saddam Hussein, according to intelligence reports received by United States and Middle Eastern government officials. The reports have raised questions about whether Iraq is pushing to establish a terrorism...

Allies Against Terror
(NYT) Editorial 419 words
September 13, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 26 , Column 1

If the United States is to combat terrorism effectively in the weeks ahead it will have to act in concert with other nations, including a number of Islamic countries. President Bush has recognized the need for international cooperation in his public statements and conversations with foreign leaders since the terror...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE DIPLOMACY; World Leaders List Conditions On Cooperation
By PATRICK E. TYLER AND JANE PERLEZ (NYT) 1342 words
September 19, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 2

After a week of unconditional support from abroad, the Bush administration confronted its first significant difficulties today in building a broad international coalition to support using military power and other means against a still-faceless terror network rooted in Afghanistan and ... A procession of world leaders was either on the...

A NATION CHALLENGED: NEWS ANALYSIS; A Clear Message: 'I Will Not Relent'
By R. W. APPLE JR. (NYT) News Analysis 1348 words
September 21, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 2

Siding with those of his advisers who favor the broadest possible campaign against terrorism, President Bush told Congress, the nation and the world last night that the forthcoming American effort would not cease ''until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and ... The terrorist network, he...

Abroad at Home; 'To Thine Own Self Be True'
By ANTHONY LEWIS (NYT) Op-Ed 750 words
September 22, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 25 , Column 1

''I ask you to uphold the values of America,'' President Bush said to Congress and the nation. That will be a fair test of his policy for dealing with terrorism as the policy unfolds: Does it uphold the values of ... Our government's actions both external and internal should be...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE ADVISERS; From Many Voices, One Battle Strategy
THIS ARTICLE WAS REPORTED AND WRITTEN BY JANE PERLEZ, DAVID E. SANGER AND THOM SHANKER. (NYT) 1815 words
September 23, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section 1A , Page 1 , Column 2

In his speech on Thursday night, President Bush boldly defined the enemy in his war against terrorism: ''From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile ... While seemingly straightforward, the wording and new strategy that...

A NATION CHALLENGED: DIPLOMACY; U.S. Prepares to Brief NATO on Strategy to Fight bin Laden
By ELAINE SCIOLINO (NYT) 584 words
September 25, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section B , Page 2 , Column 1

As President Bush pressed his case against terrorism with foreign governments, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz prepared to brief NATO defense ministers in Brussels on the overall American strategy to root out the bin Laden terrorist network. ... As part of the effort to shore up international support for...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE ALLIANCE; So Far, Europe Breathes Easier Over Free Hand Given the U.S.
By STEVEN ERLANGER (NYT) 891 words
September 29, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section B , Page 1 , Column 5

European anxiety that NATO had handed the United States a blank check to retaliate against terrorism worldwide has lessened for now, with Washington winning praise for its deliberate response to the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. ... Officials from Germany, France and Britain -- the European heart of...

A NATION CHALLENGED: UNITED NATIONS; U.S. Ambassador Warns Iraq Against Stirring Up Trouble
By SERGE SCHMEMANN (NYT) 483 words
October 10, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section B , Page 5 , Column 5

The United States ambassador to the United Nations relayed a warning to Iraq this week not to ''take advantage'' of the attacks on New York and Washington by stirring up trouble, American officials said ... The envoy, John Negroponte, met the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Aldouri, on...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE WHITE HOUSE; BUSH OFFERS TALIBAN '2ND CHANCE' TO YIELD; SAYS HE'D WELCOME U.N. IN NATION-BUILDING; F.B.I. ISSUES ALERT ON SIGNS OF NEW TERROR
By PATRICK E. TYLER AND ELISABETH BUMILLER (NYT) 1843 words
October 12, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

President Bush said today that United States forces would attack Afghanistan for ''as long as it takes'' to destroy the Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, but he offered to reconsider the military assault on Afghanistan if that country's ruling Taliban would surrender Mr. bin ... At a news...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE INVESTIGATION; Czechs Confirm Iraqi Agent Met With Terror Ringleader
By PATRICK E. TYLER WITH JOHN TAGLIABUE (NYT) 2017 words
October 27, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 5

The Czech interior minister said today that an Iraqi intelligence officer met with Mohammed Atta, one of the ringleaders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, just five months before the synchronized hijackings and mass killings were carried ... The official confirmation of the meeting, the details...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE SCHOOL; Defectors Cite Iraqi Training For Terrorism
By CHRIS HEDGES (NYT) 1427 words
November 8, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

Two defectors from Iraqi intelligence said yesterday that they had worked for several years at a secret Iraqi government camp that had trained Islamic terrorists in rotations of five or six months since 1995. ... They said the training in the camp, south of Baghdad, was aimed at carrying out...

A NATION CHALLENGED: CHEMICAL WEAPONS; Al Qaeda Sites Point to Tests Of Chemicals
By JAMES RISEN AND JUDITH MILLER (NYT) 1450 words
November 11, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section 1B , Page 1 , Column 5

The United States has identified sites in Afghanistan that are suspected of involvement in Osama bin Laden's efforts to acquire and produce chemical and biological weapons, but none have been bombed since the military campaign began, according to American military and intelligence ... The American bombing has spared the sites...

Essay; Prague Connection
By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 785 words
November 12, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 19 , Column 5

The undisputed fact connecting Iraq's Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11 attacks is this: Mohamed Atta, who died at the controls of an airliner-missile, flew from Florida to Prague to meet on April 8 of this year with Ahmed al-Ani, the Iraqi consul. ... Al-Ani was known to the B.I.S.,...

A NATION CHALLENGED: ATOMIC ENERGY; Lax Nuclear Security in Russia Is Cited as Way for bin Laden to Get Arms
By STEVEN ERLANGER (NYT) 1556 words
November 12, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section B , Page 1 , Column 1

In the last year, there have been dozens of violations of nuclear security rules in Russia and at least one loss of fissile material; Taliban emissaries have tried to recruit Russian scientists, and terrorists have tried to stake out a Russian nuclear storage site at least twice, say senior officials...

A NATION CHALLENGED: A WARNING; Readmit Inspectors, President Tells Iraq; 'Or Else' Is Unstated
By ELISABETH BUMILLER (NYT) 1144 words
November 27, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

President Bush warned Saddam Hussein today that if he did not admit United Nations inspectors to determine if Iraq is developing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, he would face consequences. ... Mr. Bush declined for now to say what those might be. ''He'll find out,'' Mr. Bush ...

A NATION CHALLENGED: DIPLOMACY; U.S. TO PRESS IRAQ TO LET U.N. SEARCH FOR BANNED ARMS
By PATRICK E. TYLER AND DAVID E. SANGER (NYT) 983 words
December 1, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 4

A top State Department official said today that the United States was on ''a roll'' in its campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan and that President Bush intended to use the momentum to force Iraq to open its borders to United Nations inspectors looking for weapons of mass ... At...

A NATION CHALLENGED: IRAQ; U.S. AGAIN PLACING FOCUS ON HUSSEIN
By PATRICK E. TYLER (NYT) 1181 words
December 18, 2001, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 3

The option of taking the war against terrorism to Iraq and Saddam Hussein has gained significant ground in recent weeks both inside the administration and among some important allies in the Muslim world, according to administration officials and diplomats from the ... President Bush's top national security advisers have made...

Arab States Urge Iraq to Allow Arms Inspectors Back in Country
( Reuters ) 303 words
January 1, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 4 , Column 5

Gulf Arab states urged Iraq today to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country or risk more tension in the Middle ... The leaders of the states, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, also called on Iraq at their year-end summit meeting here today to show good will...

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE LESSONS; If Saddam Hussein Is Next, Experts Say, Do It Fast
By SERGE SCHMEMANN (NYT) News Analysis 1190 words
January 6, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section 1 , Page 14 , Column 5

If Saddam Hussein is to be taken out, experts agree, much of the reaction in the Arab world and elsewhere could be mitigated if the operation were ... That, at least, is the apparent lesson of Afghanistan, where the rapidity with which the Taliban collapsed and the swift installation of...

Terrorism's Other Battlefields
(NYT) Editorial 549 words
January 9, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 22 , Column 1

From the first days of America's new war against international terrorism, President Bush has made clear that the use of United States military force would not necessarily end with the defeat of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan or the killing or capture of Osama bin Laden. He rightly warned governments...

Why Europe Is Wary of War in Iraq
By MICHAEL NAUMANN (NYT) Op-Ed 941 words
February 18, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 15 , Column 1

In June 1981, Israel's prime minister, Menachem Begin, ordered a posse of F-16 jets to take out Saddam Hussein's two nuclear reactors. With vast petroleum reserves, Iraq had no imaginable need for nuclear energy -- except to make bombs. And Mr. Hussein had openly declared his intention to attack ......

Protecting Saddam
By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 737 words
March 18, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 25 , Column 5

Soviet propagandists used to touch up photographs to remove the face of a Kremlin official who had fallen from favor, making him a ''nonperson.'' ... The same disinformation technique is now being used to wipe out the fact of a meeting in Prague in April, 2001 -- five months before...

Saddam's Offensive
By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 760 words
April 8, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 19 , Column 5

Sixty Islamic terrorists, trained in Afghanistan by Osama bin Laden, are holed up in the town of Biyara in northern Iraq, guests of Saddam Hussein. Their assignment is to infiltrate the no-flight zone and to kill the Kurdish leaders, who Saddam assumes will be allied with the U.S. in his...

TELEVISION REVIEW; Close Look at Iraq on Poison Gas and bin Laden
By CARYN JAMES
Published: July 11, 2002, Thursday

''Many people were collapsing around us and dying,'' says a Kurdish man who survived a poison gas attack. ''The gas smelled of garlic and rotten apples.'' As he recalls that day, we see videotape shot immediately after the attack. The gas -- a combination including the nerve gas sarin and cyanide -- caused paralysis and death so fast that the stonelike corpses littering the ground look flash-frozen, fists clenched, one child's arm still lifted in the air.

The attack, launched by Saddam Hussein in 1988 in his own country, hit the town of Halabja and was meant to punish the Kurds for their resistance to his control. That story is only one part of tonight's extraordinary documentary ''Saddam's Ultimate Solution,'' the timeliest possible beginning to ''Wide Angle,'' a 10-week PBS series on varied international issues. Only last week Iraq once again refused to let United Nations weapons inspectors into the country, and much front-page news has focused on the Bush administration's possible plans to topple Mr. Hussein and on the role the Kurds might play in such a move.

In this hourlong film, its reporter and producer, Gwynne Roberts, travels to Iraqi Kurdistan searching for links between Mr. Hussein and Osama bin Laden. He is accompanied by a doctor studying the long-term effects of poison gas on the towns and villages (more than 200 of them) attacked by Mr. Hussein in the late 1980's. The Hussein-Bin Laden connection is the more explosive subject. The claims are chilling if true, but while the evidence is convincing it remains unproved here. The effects of the poison gas, however, are viscerally, undeniably horrifying. On both counts the narrative and the images in ''Saddam's Ultimate Solution'' are as gripping as any drama.

The documentary includes black-and-white videotape taken immediately after Mr. Hussein's first known chemical attack in April 1987 on a village called Scheich Wassan. Taken by a Kurdish mercenary working with the Iraqis, the tape shows a huge cloud hanging in the air, people helplessly throwing buckets of water on the smoking ground, villagers wailing. Color video from 1991 shows skulls and remnants of clothing being unearthed from a mass grave for victims of that attack. Today the film shows shells from the missiles lying in a school playground, a residue of poison gas still on them.

In Halabja the film captures an old woman's wizened face and body. Mr. Roberts then tells us she is 16 years old; she was 3 when the poison gas hit. A man who was a healthy 9-year-old at the time now has curvature of the spine. There is an increase in babies born with cleft palates, Down syndrome and other disorders. A sign over a large burial ground reads, in imperfect English, ''The Graveyard for Halabja Chemical Martyr.''

While in Kurdistan, Mr. Roberts's investigation of the Hussein-Bin Laden tie focuses on Al Ansar al Islam, a militant Islamic group (the Iraqi counterpart to the Taliban in Afghanistan) with widely reported links to Mr. bin Laden's Queda. Only one source faces the camera: Barham Salih, the prime minister of the Kurdish Regional Government, who survived an assassination attempt. One of the captured suspects claims to be a member of al Ansar and says he was recruited by Al Queda agents in Jordan.

Two other men are filmed with their backs to the camera or lurking in shadows. A man who is now a prisoner of the Kurds claims he was an Iraqi intelligence agent and says that Aymar al Zawahiri, Mr. bin Laden's second in command, met with Mr. Hussein in Iraq in 1992.

Even more alarming claims come from an Iraqi whom Mr. Roberts tracks down in Turkey, his identity disguised by a jittery camera in a hotel room that shows his hands, his feet, never his face. He says he worked in a chemical weapons factory near Baghdad and that he actually saw Mr. bin Laden visit a terrorist training camp in Iraq in 1998, when Al Queda members were about to ''graduate'' from its program. ''Saddam's Ultimate Solution'' carefully couches all this information in phrases like ''if these claims are true,'' but it has a cumulative credibility when added to similar stories from many other sources.

The trappings of the series are less successful. After each film either James Rubin, a former spokesman for former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, or Daljit Dhaliwal, the former anchor of ''World News for Public Television,'' will interview an expert on the documentary's subject. Mr. Rubin's guest on tonight's program is Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. Mr. Perle offers an argument rather than analysis when he says an American operation in Iraq will be ''quicker and easier than many people think,'' a matter of weeks not months. Mr. Rubin questions what he calls this ''optimistic scenario,'' but because it's not his role to take a position, the Perle interview is the lopsided half of a debate. Still, in a television landscape where network news is dominated by tiny sound bites and cable by shouting heads, ''Wide Angle'' has a distinct and valuable place.

WIDE ANGLE
Saddam's Ultimate Solution

On most PBS stations tonight (check local listings)

Gwynne Roberts, producer and reporter; Andy Halper, senior producer; Stephen Segaller, executive producer; Pamela Hogan, series producer; James P. Rubin, host. Produced by 13/WNET New York.

Published: 07 - 11 - 2002 , Late Edition - Final , Section E , Column 1 , Page 5

Europeans Split With U.S. on Need for Iraq Attack, Citing Mideast as Priority
By PATRICK E. TYLER (NYT) 1541 words
July 22, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 5 , Column 1

The last thing Europe wants is to be accused of going wobbly on Iraq. ... But the American talk of overthrowing Saddam Hussein by military force is raising alarms in European governments. ...
They are saying that any American miscalculation could undermine the international coalition that is fighting...

U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike As Iraq Option
By DAVID E. SANGER AND THOM SHANKER (NYT) 1481 words
July 29, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 5

As the Bush administration considers its military options for deposing Saddam Hussein, senior administration and Pentagon officials say they are exploring a new if risky approach: take Baghdad and one or two key command centers and weapons depots first, in hopes of cutting off the country's leadership and causing a...

Qaeda Videos Seem to Show Chemical Tests
By JUDITH MILLER (NYT) 1342 words
August 19, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 1

A vast cache of videotapes from Afghanistan provides the clearest evidence yet to corroborate United States government charges that Al Qaeda developed and tested chemical agents, according to experts who have seen some of them. ... Last night, CNN began broadcasting portions of tapes it obtained, one of which shows...

Saddam And Terror
By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 766 words
August 22, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 23 , Column 1

Brent Scowcroft and his leave-Saddam-alone acolytes on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board insist ''there is scant evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations.'' But here are two names of intense current interest to American counterterror agents. ... One is Fowzi Saad al-Obeidi, an Iraqi intelligence officer who supposedly defected...

TRACES OF TERROR: PERSPECTIVES; German Leader's Warning: War Plan Is a Huge Mistake
By STEVEN ERLANGER (NYT) Series 1473 words
September 5, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 3

Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, believes that the Bush administration is making a terrible mistake in planning a war against Iraq, and he is not afraid to say ... A new war in the Middle East, he says bluntly, would put at risk all that has been gained so far...

TRACES OF TERROR: LEGAL ACTION; Suit by Victims' Kin Says Iraq Knew of 9/11 Plans
By TINA KELLEY (NYT) 332 words
September 5, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 15 , Column 1

Families of some victims of the Sept. 11 attacks filed a class action lawsuit yesterday against Iraq and others, charging that Iraqi government officials knew about plans for the attacks and conspired with Al Qaeda to seek revenge for Iraq's defeat in the Persian Gulf ... The suit, filed in...

VIGILANCE AND MEMORY: THE PRESIDENT; Bush to Warn U.N.: Act on Iraq or U.S. Will; He Leads Nation in Mourning at Terror Sites
By DAVID E. SANGER AND JULIA PRESTON (NYT) 1729 words
September 12, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

President Bush plans to challenge the United Nations today to enforce resolutions it has passed since 1991 requiring Iraq to ''unconditionally accept'' the destruction of its chemical and biological weapons and nuclear research facilities, according to administration officials. He will warn that if the United Nations fails to act, the...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: NEWS ANALYSIS; A New Face In the Sights
By PATRICK E. TYLER (NYT) News Analysis 1187 words
September 13, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 5

President Bush has formally changed the face of America's primary enemy from Osama bin Laden, whereabouts unknown, to Saddam Hussein, an old nemesis who cheated both Mr. Bush's father and President Clinton out of fulfillment of the terms of surrender that ended the 1991 Persian Gulf war. ... The president's...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE PRESIDENT; Bush Presses U.N. to Act Quickly on Disarming Iraq
By DAVID E. SANGER AND ELISABETH BUMILLER (NYT) 1626 words
September 13, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

President Bush challenged the United Nations today to force Saddam Hussein to disarm and end torture and repression of his people, saying that if Iraq continued its defiance of international resolutions, ''action will be ... In a forceful, blunt address at the General Assembly, Mr. Bush told world leaders that...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: AMSTERDAM; On Tip, Dutch Border Police Detain Iraqi Kurdish Militant
By WALTER GIBBS (NYT) 379 words
September 14, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 9 , Column 4

A reputed Iraqi Kurd guerrilla leader who has refugee status in Norway and has been linked by some Americans to Al Qaeda has been detained in Amsterdam, according to Norwegian and Dutch ... The man, Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, better known as Mullah Krekar, was deported by Iran on Thursday, the...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE PRESIDENT; PUTIN QUESTIONS U.S. TERROR ALLIES
By ELISABETH BUMILLER AND PATRICK E. TYLER (NYT) 1246 words
November 23, 2002, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 5

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia welcomed President Bush to his hometown today, then raised pointed questions about the reliability of two important American allies in the campaign against terrorism, Pakistan and Saudi ... In remarks made at Mr. Bush's side in the majestic setting of Catherine Palace outside St....

Memo to the Democrats: Quit Being Losers!
By TUCKER CARLSON (NYT) 3112 words
January 19, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section 6 , Page 36 , Column 1

This fall, for the second time in a row, the Democratic Party lost an election it should have won. Democrats offered no rationale for why they should be running the country and no vision for how they would run it. The party got the drubbing it deserved. I enjoyed ......

THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE CONTINENT; To Some in Europe, The Major Problem Is Bush the Cowboy
By DAVID E. SANGER (NYT) 1681 words
January 24, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

In Europe, it often seems that it is not only the wisdom of a war against Iraq that lies at the heart of trans-Atlantic differences, but the personal style of George W. Bush ... To European ears, the president's language is far too blunt, and he has been far too...

Clear Ties of Terror
By WILLIAM SAFIRE (NYT) Op-Ed 799 words
January 27, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 25 , Column 6

In the days following the Sept. 11 attacks, Secretary of State Colin Powell could find ''no clear link'' between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. ... One soon appeared. On Sept. 24, 2001, I reported: ''The clear link between the terrorist in hiding [Osama] and the terrorist in power [Saddam]...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: TERROR NETWORK; Intelligence Break Led U.S. to Tie Envoy Killing to Iraq Qaeda Cell
By PATRICK E. TYLER (NYT) 1179 words
February 6, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 4

An intelligence breakthrough in the last several weeks made it possible for Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to set forth the first evidence of what he said was a well developed cell of Al Qaeda operating out of Baghdad that was responsible for the assassination of the American diplomat...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE EVIDENCE; Islamists in Iraq Offer a Tour of 'Poison Factory' Cited by Powell
By C. J. CHIVERS (NYT) 1038 words
February 9, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section 1 , Page 17 , Column 1

Ansar al Islam, the militant Islamic group that occupies a small part of northern Iraq, briefly opened access today to a primitive military compound that the United States has described as a poisons and explosives factory that is supported by both Baghdad and Al ... The existence of this camp,...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE TERRORISTS; Tape Ascribed to bin Laden Urges Muslims to Stand With Iraq
By NEIL MACFARQUHAR (NYT) 612 words
February 12, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 18 , Column 3

A recorded message apparently made by Osama bin Laden called on Muslims today to repulse any United States attempt to invade Iraq, urging them to apply the lessons learned by Al Qaeda, his terror network. ... The message stressed that no matter how distasteful it might be to believers, fighting...

THREATS AND RESPONSES: BAGHDAD; EXPERTS CONFIRM NEW IRAQI MISSILE EXCEEDS U.N. LIMIT
By JULIA PRESTON WITH ERIC SCHMITT (NYT) 1869 words
February 13, 2003, Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6

A panel of arms experts convened by United Nations weapons inspectors has confirmed that a missile Iraq has developed exceeds range limits set by the Security Council. ... The panel's conclusion will add fuel to the United States' argument that Iraq is defying Security Council disarmament resolutions, and it is.

I posted the above to the corkboards (Left and Right respectively) I visit quite often using the name "ohkneel". The responses I received were just like the e-mail Bill O'Reilly reads at the end of his show!

Fri Oct 29 11:58 * - Subject: The New York Times, Iraq, and More (x-post)
ohkneel said:

Here, please. article too long for posting on cork

An intersting look at articles through recent years regarding the war, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Iraq, and the UN.

Please read through the numerous articles, provided in chronological order. They are given in brief format; however, the full thrust of each article is understood through its first fifty words.

Responses from the Left:

Fri Oct 29 23:36 ~ - Subject: * - 0 reaction(s)
Lethal said:
Exactly how much does Rove pay you to pollute these corks, anyway?

Fri Oct 29 12:15 ~ - Subject: * - 0 reaction(s)
Just watchin said:
If it survives, there's a good job waiting for you in the Office of Special Plans.

Responses from the Right

Fri Oct 29 14:54 ~ - Subject: * - 0 reaction(s)
Lord Lex said:
Thanks for this..impressive.

Fri Oct 29 13:44 ~ - Subject: * - 0 reaction(s)
lessa said:
that history is incredible...
just awe inspiring...
thank you...
all that work...
you are just incredible...
how anyone can read this and then still insist kerry is "da'man!"...
is just not able to comprehend what those articles really mean...

Fri Oct 29 13:26 ~ - Subject: * - 0 reaction(s)
DarkFantasy said:
that is incredible...
thank you ohkneel....
it delineates exactly what happened, lest we forget and kerry's lies obscure...
kerry would have let the inspectors do their job...
Bush was there and begged and threatened Saddam to do just that....
kerry would have continued to rely on the sanctions...
we now know, Oil for Food made a mockery of them and had been since '96...

kerry is either stupid or lying...
and, the NYTimes is aiding and abetting, if not leading him...
all of his flip flops - you can watch the way the wind shifted and time his moves...

Fri Oct 29 12:16 * - Subject: * - 0 reaction(s)
Bushit said: