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Statistics on Progress Made in Iraq

NewsMax Wires
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
A look at progress in Iraq reported by the Bush administration:

- Electricity production has reached 4,100 megawatts, short of the coalition's goal of 6,000 megawatts by June 30. Estimates of Iraq's prewar production have varied wildly - from 300 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts.

- Electricity is now spread evenly across the country. Baghdad, which used to be favored under Saddam Hussein's regime, now gets 8-12 hours of electricity a day compared to 20 hours before the war.

- The overall number of telephones in Iraq, including cell phones, is up nearly 46 percent since before the war. Cellular phone usage has soared with more than 429,300 subscribers nationwide. More than 201,000 subscribers have had their land telephone lines reinstated, but there are still only 784,200 land lines, compared to 833,000 before the war.

- More than 2,200 schools and 240 hospitals have been "rehabilitated," the coalition said - though the amount of work performed has varied.

- As of January 2004, 860 secondary school master trainers, and 31,772 secondary teachers and administrative staff, were trained in programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

- School supply kits have been distributed to 1.5 million secondary school students, 808,000 primary school students and 81,735 primary school teachers.

- About 8.7 million new math and science textbooks have been distributed. The World Bank has issued a grant for $40 million for new textbooks for 6 million primary and secondary students.

- Twenty Iraqis have received Fulbright grants to study abroad, and six are women.

- More than 77,000 public works jobs have been created through the National Employment Program.

- Sixteen provincial councils have been established, along with 78 district councils, 192 city or sub-district councils, and 392 neighborhood councils.

- Health-care spending in Iraq has increased some 30 times over prewar levels. Between June 2003 and April 2004, more than 3 million children under five were vaccinated against diseases. A U.S. grant to the Iraqi Nursing Association will go toward training more nurses and buying uniforms, bed linens and nurses' kits.

- The new Iraqi dinar has been stable, and its value has risen by 25 percent over last fall, when the conversion was under way.

Kilborn

And there’s going to be a new movie about the flaws in the Clinton administration. It’s called "White Chicks”.

Clinton says that his affair with Monica Lewinsky has brought him and Hillary closer together. In fact last night in bed he and Hillary shook hands.

Letterman

Are you excited about Bill Clinton’s new book? "My Life” is out and Bubba is out on a book tour. Now be prepared if you go to one of the book signings. Lots of security. You’re going to get frisked, patted down, and strip searched – and that’s just what Bill Clinton is going to do to you.

You know the kids look up to me and everywhere I go they ask, "Mr. Letterman how do you keep doing it night after night after night?” This is the show I’m talking about. I say, "Well it’s easy. Red Bull and vodka.”

In New York today it was hot. To give you an idea of how hot it was over at St. Patrick’s Cathedral I saw two priests loading their Super Soakers with holy water.

Conan

President Clinton is out promoting his new book. This guy is everywhere. Do you notice that? In fact last night on Larry King former President Clinton said he’s been married to Hillary so long he can just look at her and know what she’s thinking – and usually she’s thinking, "you son of a bitch!”

This weekend in New York it’s the big series. The Yankees and the Mets. It’s known as the subway series or as the Yankees like to call it – batting practice.

Bush And Iraq President Made Media And liberals look like Fools

Liberals Again bring Knifes to a Gun fight

Liberals have been in skock all day- Sen Sunbler- Check other
scripts-also Rush

Remarks by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair on Transfer of Iraqi Sovereignty

Q A question for both of you. How do you counter the impression you've created today that you couldn't hand over the burden of Iraq quickly enough, and the way that it was done is proof, is a symbol, if you like, of a shambles in Iraq?

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: It's a little bit tough there, Bill -- I mean, you know -- (laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, let me try it then. You know that last Friday we handed over the final ministry to the Iraqi interim government. In other words, we have been making a transfer of sovereignty all along. And the -- actually, we've been contemplating this move for a while. But the final decision was by Prime Minister Allawi, and he thought it would strengthen his hand. And so that's why the handover took place today, as opposed to 48 hours later.

And so, not only is there full sovereignty in the hands of the government, all the ministries have been transferred and they're up and running. And I supported the decision; I thought it was a smart thing to do, primarily because the Prime Minister was ready for it.

And it's a sign of confidence. It's a sign that we're ready to go. And it's a proud moment, it really is, for the Iraqi people. And, frankly, I feel comfortable in making the decision, because I feel comfortable about Prime Minister Allawi and President al-Yawar. These are strong people. They're gutsy, they're courageous. They're, as we say in Texas, stand-up guys. You know, they'll lead. They'll lead their people to a better day. And it's going to be very hard for them and very trying, but they just -- they and the Iraqi people need to hear, loud and clear, they'll have our friendship and our support, no matter how tough it gets.

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: I think it's worth just pointing out, as well -- I agree, obviously, with what's just been said, but I think you've got somewhere in the region of, is it 10 or 11 ministries that are already effectively run by the Iraqis themselves. I mean, their health and education ministries are already run by Iraqis. But it's a sign of their confidence and their desire to get on with it. They want to do it. They know that, in the end, they've got to do it. They want that responsibility.

Mugger 'in wheelchair'

Ananova: Police are searching for a mugger who attacked a student and then sped off in a wheelchair.

The Sun says the disabled thief grabbed the 22-year-old victim's takeaway Chinese meal on a Northampton street.

When the student protested, the mugger's accomplice punched him in the face.

The two muggers then sped off, leaving their victim bruised and bleeding.

Police said: "The offenders were laughing during their crime."

German thief caught by trail of blood

A thief in Germany was caught after a sniffer dog followed a trail of blood from the scene to a local hospital.

The 21-year-old man had broken into a computer shop in Ludwigslust, but cut himself after smashing a window in the premises.

Despite suffering a cut hand, the man still managed to make off with several computers.

When police arrived on the scene, they set sniffer dog Rex to work and he followed a trail to a nearby flat.

He then followed the trail of blood to a local hospital where the thief had gone for treatment.

A police spokesman said: "He was pretty stunned when a policemen turned up with the police dog just as the wound was being stitched. He couldn't really deny it - and admitted the theft on the spot."

Bike thief tries to sell it to police

A German man who stole a bike from beside a police station has been arrested while trying to sell it to two plainclothes officers.

The 27-year-old approached the two men in the city of Wuppertal. He showed them the bike, offering to sell it for £50.

However, the officers noticed a bolt cutters sticking out from under the man's jacket.

The man refused to say where he got the bike from, but he later told them he'd taken it from a house beside the police station.

The man's facing theft charges.

Thieves steal toilet - with man still in it

Thieves who stole a public toilet in a Belarus city accidentally kidnapped a man who was sitting on it at the time.

Pravda reports that the thieves stole the portable toilet in the city of Gomel, Belarus, and loaded it on to their tractor trailer.

They played it so cool that passers-by presumed they were taking it away legitimately - but one man knew better.

He was sat on the toilet at the time and was startled to suddenly find himself being carried through the city on the back of a tractor.

The 45-year-old man was trapped and could not release himself until the rope the thieves had tied around the cubicle loosened because of the jolting ride.

He finally opened the door to find he was being driven at full speed through the city's suburbs. He jumped off the tractor and broke his collar-bone, SPB-Vedomosti reported.

The man reported the incident to the police and officers eventually tracked down the missing toilet to the house of a local resident.

Bush Pleads For Courtesy From Reporter

Washington, DC, Jun. 25 (UPI) -- An Irish reporter threw courtesy aside and repeatedly interrupted President George W. Bush during a television interview at the White House.

"Let me finish. Let me finish. May I finish?" Bush said early in his interview with Radio and Television Ireland Thursday, according to a transcript released Friday.

"Let me finish. Let me finish, please. Please. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind," he said in a second interruption moments later.

The two pleadings were followed by three more during an 11-minute exchange in advance of Bush's trip to Ireland, where he was to attend a summit meeting of the European Union.

In the interview with reporter Carole Coleman, Bush defended the invasion of Iraq and denied the contention that the world was more dangerous because of it. He also rejected the idea that bringing democracy to the Middle East -- a key aim of the United States in Iraq -- should not await resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.


Interview of the President by Radio and Television Ireland
The Library
June 24, 2004



4:08 P.M. EDT

Q Mr. President, you're going to arrive in Ireland in about 24 hours' time, and no doubt you will be welcomed by our political leaders. Unfortunately, the majority of our public do not welcome your visit because they're angry over Iraq, they're angry over Abu Ghraib. Are you bothered by what Irish people think?

THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I hope the Irish people understand the great values of our country. And if they think that a few soldiers represents the entirety of America, they don't really understand America then.

There have been great ties between Ireland and America, and we've got a lot of Irish Americans here that are very proud of their heritage and their country. But, you know, they must not understand if they're angry over Abu Ghraib -- if they say, this is what America represents, they don't understand our country, because we don't represent that. We are a compassionate country. We're a strong country, and we'll defend ourselves -- but we help people. And we've helped the Irish and we'll continue to do so. We've got a good relationship with Ireland.

Q And they're angry over Iraq, as well, and particularly the continuing death toll there.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can understand that. People don't like war. But what they should be angry about is the fact that there was a brutal dictator there that had destroyed lives and put them in mass graves and had torture rooms. Listen, I wish they could have seen the seven men that came to see me in the Oval Office -- they had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein because the currency had devalued when he was the leader. And guess what happened? An American saw the fact that they had had their hands cut off and crosses -- or Xs carved in their forehead. And he flew them to America. And they came to my office with a new hand, grateful for the generosity of America, and with Saddam Hussein's brutality in their mind.

Look, Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, against the neighborhood. He was a brutal dictator who posed a threat -- such a threat that the United Nations voted unanimously to say, Mr. Saddam Hussein --

Q Indeed, Mr. President, but you didn't find the weapons of mass destruction.

THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. Let me finish. May I finish?

He said -- the United Nations said, disarm or face serious consequences. That's what the United Nations said. And guess what? He didn't disarm. He didn't disclose his arms. And, therefore, he faced serious consequences. But we have found a capacity for him to make a weapon. See, he had the capacity to make weapons. He was dangerous. And no one can argue that the world is better off with Saddam -- if Saddam Hussein were in power.

Q But, Mr. President, the world is a more dangerous place today. I don't know whether you can see that or not.

THE PRESIDENT: Why do you say that?

Q There are terrorist bombings every single day. It's now a daily event. It wasn't like that two years ago.

THE PRESIDENT: What was it like September the 11th, 2001? It was a -- there was a relative calm, we --

Q But it's your response to Iraq that's considered --

THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. Let me finish, please. Please. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind.

On September the 11th, 2001, we were attacked in an unprovoked fashion. Everybody thought the world was calm. And then there have been bombings since then -- not because of my response to Iraq. There were bombings in Madrid. There were bombings in Istanbul. There were bombings in Bali. There were killings in Pakistan.

Q Indeed, Mr. President, and I think Irish people understand that. But I think there is a feeling that the world has become a more dangerous place because you have taken the focus off al Qaeda and diverted into Iraq. Do you not see that the world is a more dangerous place? I saw four of your soldiers lying dead on the television the other day, a picture of four soldiers just lying there without their flight jackets.

THE PRESIDENT: Listen, nobody cares more about the death than I do --

Q Is there a point or place --

THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish, please. Please. Let me finish, and then you can follow up, if you don't mind.

Nobody cares more about the deaths than I do. I care about it a lot. But I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place. I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world. Listen, people join terrorist organizations because there's no hope and there's no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom. And so the idea is to promote freedom, and at the same time protect our security. And I do believe the world is becoming a better place, absolutely.

Q Mr. President, you are a man who has a great faith in God. I've heard you say many times that you strive to serve somebody greater than yourself.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q Do you believe that the hand of God is guiding you in this war on terror?

THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I think that God -- that my relationship with God is a very personal relationship. And I turn to the good Lord for strength. And I turn to the good Lord for guidance. I turn to the good Lord for forgiveness.

But the God I know is not one that -- the God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom. But I get great sustenance from my personal relationship. That doesn't make me think I'm a better person than you are, by the way. Because one of the great admonitions in the Good Book is, don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I've got a log in my own.

Q You're going to meet Bertie Ahern when you arrive in Shannon Airport tomorrow. I guess he went out on a limb for you, presumably because of the great friendship between our two countries. Can you look him in the eye when you get there and say, it will be worth it, it will work out?

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. I wouldn't be doing this, I wouldn't have made the decisions I did if I didn't think the world would be better. Of course. I'm not going to put people in harm's way, our young, if I didn't think the world would be better. And --

Q Why is it that others --

THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish.

And so, yes, I can turn to my friend, Bertie Ahern, and say, thank you, thanks for helping, and I appreciate it very much. And there will be other challenges, by the way.

Q Why is it that others don't understand what you're about?

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know. History will judge what I'm about. But I'm the kind of person, I don't really try to chase popular polls, or popularity polls. My job is to do my job and make the decisions that I think are important for our country and for the world. And I argue strongly that the world is better off because of the decisions I have made -- along with others. America is not in this alone. One of our greatest allies of -- in the world is your neighbor, Great Britain. Tony Blair has been a strong advocate for not only battling terrorists, but promoting freedom, for which I am grateful.

Let me say one other thing about America that your viewers must know -- is that not only are we working hard to promote security and peace, we're also working to eradicate famine and disease. There is no more generous country on the face of the earth than the United States of America, when it comes to fighting HIV/AIDS. As a matter of fact, it was my initiative --

Q Indeed, that's understood --

THE PRESIDENT: -- my initiative, that asked Congress to spend $15 billion over five years to battle this pandemic. And we're following through on it. And no other country in the world feeds more of the hungry than the United States. We're a compassionate nation.

Q Mr. President, I know your time is tight, can I move you on to Europe? Are you satisfied that you are getting enough help in Iraq from European countries? You have come together, you are more friendly now -- but they're not really stepping up to the plate with help, are they?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think, first of all, most of Europe supported the decision in Iraq. And, really, what you're talking about is France, isn't it? And they didn't agree with my decision. They did vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution that said, disclose, disarm or face serious consequences. We just had a difference of opinion about when you say something, do you mean it.

But, nevertheless, there's no doubt in my mind President Chirac would like to see a free and democratic and whole Iraq emerge. And same in Afghanistan. They've been very helpful in Afghanistan. They're willing to forgive debt in Iraq. But most European countries are very supportive and are participating in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Q And how do you see the handover going? The next few weeks are going to be crucial. Can democracy really flourish with the violence that's going on? A hundred Iraqis dead today, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I don't like death, either. I mean, you keep emphasizing the death and I don't blame you -- but all that goes to show is the nature of the enemy. These people are willing to kill innocent people. They're willing to slaughter innocent people to stop the advance of freedom. And so the free world has to make a choice: Do we cower in the face of terror, or do we lead in the face of terror?

And I'm going to lead in the face of terror. We will not let these terrorists dash the hopes and ambitions of the people of Iraq. There's some kind of attitude that says, oh, gosh, the terrorists attacked, let's let the Iraqis suffer more. We're not going to let them suffer more. We're going to work with them. And I'm most proud of this fellow, Prime Minister Allawi. He's strong and he's tough. He says to me, Mr. President, don't leave our country, help us secure our country so we can be free.

Q Indeed, Mr. President, just to get back to that. Can I just turn to the Middle East --

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q -- and you will be discussing at the EU summit and the idea of bringing democracy to the broader Middle East.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q Is that something that really should start, though, with the solving of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think, first of all, you've got a democracy in Turkey. And you've got a democracy emerging in Afghanistan. You've got a democracy in Pakistan. In other words --

Q But shouldn't that be on the top of the list --

THE PRESIDENT: Please. Please. Please, for a minute, okay. It'll be better if you let me finish my answers, and then you can follow up, if you don't mind.

What I'm telling you is democracy can emerge at the same time that a democracy can emerge in the Palestinian state. I'm the first American President to have called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the first one to do so. Because I believe it is in the Palestinian people's interest; I believe it's in Israel's interest. And, yes, we're working. But we can do more than, you know, one thing at a time. And we are working on the road map with the Quartet, to advance the process down the road.

Like Iraq, the Palestinian and the Israeli issue is going to require good security measures. And --

Q And a bit more even-handedness from America?

THE PRESIDENT: -- and we're working on security measures. And America -- I'm the first President to ever have called for a Palestinian state. That's, to me, sounds like a reasonable, balanced approach. But I will not allow terrorists to determine the fate -- as best I can, determine the fate of people who want to be free.

Q Mr. President, thank you very much for talking to us.

THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome.

The Angry Left - Bush Is Another Hitler

If Bush is another Hitler, what words are left to describe Hitler?
On Thursday, the campaign launched a web video titled Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed. The video featured Democrats who support John Kerry making negative and baseless attacks against the President. Interspersed in the video were segments of two ads that appeared on a website sponsored by MoveOn.org - a group campaigning for Kerry - in January.

On Friday night, John Kerry's campaign denounced our use of these ads, and called that use "disgusting."

The Kerry campaign says, "The use of Adolf Hitler by any campaign, politician or party is simply wrong."

We agree. These ads, like much of the hate-filled, angry rhetoric of Kerry's coalition of the Wild-eyed, are disgusting.

Where was John Kerry's disgust when he hired Zack Exley - the man responsible for encouraging the production of these ads as part of a MoveOn contest - to run the Kerry campaign's internet operation?
Where was John Kerry's sense of outrage when Al Gore, just yesterday afternoon, compared the Bush Administration to the Nazis saying, "The Administration works closely with a network of 'rapid response' digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for 'undermining support for our troops.'"
Where was John Kerry's anger when Al Gore in May spoke of "Bush's Gulag"?
Why has John Kerry not denounced billionaire and Democrat Party donor George Soros for comparing the Bush Administration to Nazis. Soros stated, "When I hear Bush say, 'You're either with us or against us,' it reminds me of the Germans. It conjures up memories of Nazi slogans on the walls, Der Feind Hort mit ('The enemy is listening')."
Why has Kerry not spoken out against filmmaker Michael Moore who last October compared the Patriot Act to Mein Kampf. "The Patriot Act is the first step. 'Mein Kampf' - 'Mein Kampf' was written long before Hitler came to power."
We created this web video to show the depths to which these Kerry supporters will sink to win in November.

Is this the Democratic Party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who reassured his countrymen we have nothing to fear but fear itself?

No. This is John Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed, who have nothing to offer but fear-mongering.

Sincerely,

Ken Mehlman
Campaign Manager







Just Like Stalingrad

BY BRET STEPHENS
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

According to Sidney Blumenthal, a onetime adviser to president Bill Clinton who now writes a column for Britain's Guardian newspaper, President Bush today runs "what is in effect a gulag," stretching "from prisons in Afghanistan to Iraq, from Guantanamo to secret CIA prisons around the world." Mr. Blumenthal says "there has been nothing like this system since the fall of the Soviet Union."

In another column, Mr. Blumenthal compares the April death toll for American soldiers in Iraq to the Eastern Front in the Second World War. Mr. Bush's "splendid little war," he writes, "has entered a Stalingrad-like phase of urban siege and house-to-house combat."

The factual bases for these claims are, first, that the U.S. holds some 10,000 "enemy combatants" prisoner; and second, that 122 U.S. soldiers were killed in action in April.

As I write, I have before me a copy of "The Black Book of Communism," which relates that on "1 January 1940 some 1,670,000 prisoners were being held in the 53 groups of corrective work camps and 425 collective work colonies. In addition, the prisons held 200,000 people awaiting trial or a transfer to camp. Finally, the NKVD komandatury were in charge of approximately 1.2 million 'specially displaced people.' "

As for Stalingrad, German deaths between Jan. 10 and Feb. 2, 1943, numbered 100,000, according to British historian John Keegan. And those were just the final agonizing days of a battle that had raged since the previous August.

Mr. Blumenthal is not alone. Al Gore last month accused Mr. Bush of creating "more anger and righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our country in the 228 years of our existence as a nation." Every single column written by the New York Times' Paul Krugman is an anti-Bush screed; apparently, there isn't anything else worth writing about. A bumper sticker I saw the other day in Manhattan reads: "If you aren't outraged, you're not paying attention."


There are two explanations for all this. One is that Mr. Bush really is as bad as Sid, Al and Paul say: the dumbest, most feckless, most fanatical, most incompetent and most calamitous president the nation has ever known. A second is that Sid, Al and Paul are insane.


The best test of the first argument is the state of the nation Mr. Bush leads. In the first quarter of 2004, the U.S. economy grew by an annualized 4.4%. By contrast, the 12-nation eurozone grew by 1.3%--and that's their highest growth rate in three years. In the U.S., unemployment hovers around 5.6%. In the eurozone, it is 8.8%. In a recent column, Mr. Krugman wrote that the U.S. economic figures aren't quite as good as they seem. But even granting that, the Bush economy is manifestly healthy by historical and current international standards.

There is the situation in Iraq, where the U.S. has lost about 800 soldiers in action over the course of more than a year, as well as several thousand Iraqis. The fact that events have not gone well over the past two months is somehow taken as proof that they've gone disastrously.

Yet in the run-up to the war, the German Foreign Ministry was issuing predictions of about two million Iraqi deaths, making the actual Iraqi death a very small percentage of that anticipated total. As for the American rate, the U.S. lost more than 6,000 soldiers in Vietnam in 1966, the year U.S. troop strength there was comparable to what it is now in Iraq. That's about nine times as many fatalities as the U.S. has so far sustained in Iraq.

There is the charge that, under Bush, the United States has qualified for most-hated-nation status. Maybe so. But it is not entirely clear why this should be so decisive in measuring the accomplishments or failures of the administration. President Reagan was also unpopular internationally back in his day. Nor is Israel an especially popular country. But that's no argument for Israel to measure itself according to what Jordanians or Egyptians think of it.


The point here is not that Mr. Bush has a flawless or even a good record or that his critics don't have their points. The point is that, at this stage in his presidency, Mr. Bush cannot credibly be described as some kind of world-historical disaster on a par with James Buchanan and Herbert Hoover, nor can he credibly be accused of the things of which he is accused.
This brings us to our second hypothesis, which is that his critics are insane.

This is an easier case to make. Mr. Blumenthal, for instance, is the man who described Bill Clinton's presidency as the most consequential, the most inspiring and the most moral of the 20th century, only possibly excepting FDR's. Mr. Krugman spent his first couple of years as a columnist writing tirades about how the U.S. economy was on the point of Argentina-style collapse.

What makes these arguments insane--I use the word advisedly--isn't that they don't contain some possible germ of truth. One can argue that Mr. Clinton was a reasonably good president. And one can argue that Bush economic policy has not been a success. But you have to be insane to argue that Mr. Clinton was FDR incarnate, and you have to be insane to argue Mr. Bush has brought the U.S. to its lowest economic point since 1932. This style of hyperbole is a symptom of madness, because it displays such palpable disconnect from observable reality.

If you have to go looking for outrage, the outrage probably isn't there. That which is truly outrageous tends to have the quality of obviousness.

So here is one aspect of this insanity: no sense of proportion. For Mr. Blumenthal, Fallujah isn't merely like Stalingrad. It may as well be Stalingrad, just as Guantanamo may as well be Lefertovo and Abu Ghraib may as well be Buchenwald, and Mr. Bush may as well be Hitler and Hoover combined, and Iraq may as well be Vietnam and Bill Clinton may as well be Franklin Roosevelt.

The absence of proportion stems, in turn, from a problem of perspective. If you have no idea where you stand in relation to certain objects, then an elephant may seem as small as a fly and a fly may seem as large as an elephant. Similarly, Mr. Blumenthal can compare the American detention infrastructure to the Gulag archipelago only if he has no concept of the actual size of things. And he can have no concept of the size of things because he neither knows enough about them nor where he stands in relation to them. What is the vantage point from which Mr. Blumenthal observes the world? It is one where Fallujah is "Stalingrad-like." How does one manage to see the world this way? By standing too close to Fallujah and too far from Stalingrad. By being consumed by the present. By losing not just the sense, but the possibility, of judgment.


Care for language is more than a concern for purity. When one describes President Bush as a fascist, what words remain for real fascists? When one describes Fallujah as Stalingrad-like, how can we express, in the words that remain to the language, what Stalingrad was like?

George Orwell wrote that the English language "becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts." In taking care with language, we take care of ourselves.

Mudslinging in '04 Nothing Compared to History

Contested presidential elections and negative campaigning go hand in hand -- all the way back to 1796 and America's first competitive race between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Adams' foes accused him of being a closet monarchist. In the 1800 election, with the same two participants, the slime only thickened. Adams was now a solicitor of women, having allegedly ordered a U.S. warship to fetch his mistresses from England. Jefferson added legal prostitution, incest and rape to his portfolio.

And so it went in America for the remainder of the 19th century -- no rules, but plenty of unruly behavior. Among the lower points along the low road of presidential politicking:

1856: Californian John C. Frémont runs on the slogan "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Men, and Frémont." His enemies add "Free Love" to the list, alluding to Frémont's illegitimate birth.

1860 and 1864: Democratic newspapers picture Abraham Lincoln as a primate, calling him "Honest Ape."

1868: Republican spokesmen allege that Democrat Horatio Seymour's family is prone to insanity (Seymour's father had committed suicide). Democrats caricature Republican Ulysses S. Grant as a slob and a drunk.

1876: Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, a Union general, is accused of robbing the Civil War dead and shooting his mother in a mad pique. Democrat Samuel J. Tilden is, in GOP words, "a drunkard, a liar, a cheat, a counterfeiter, a perjurer, and a swindler."

1884: Grover Cleveland becomes the Democratic president. After a newspaper reveals that Cleveland fathered a child out of wedlock a decade earlier, Republicans chant: "Ma, Ma, where's my pa?" "Gone to the White House, ha-ha-ha" (GOP campaign parades also feature a baby carriage).

Cleveland backers go into damage-control mode, alleging that Republican James Blaine was the groom at a shotgun wedding. And they insinuate that the GOP candidate is a dishonest influence peddler, chanting: "Blaine, Blaine, the Continental liar from the State of Maine."

Fast-forward now to the presidential campaigns of the modern era. There are still instances where candidates crossed the line.

In California's 1950 Senate race, Nixon had called Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas "the pink lady" for her leftist voting record.

The 1964 election produced the fabled "Daisy Spot" linking the hawkish Republican Barry Goldwater to an atomic blast... the ad showed a little girl counting petals on a flower, followed by the countdown to a nuclear bomb explosion, as mirrored in her eye.

Even the now-infamous Willie Horton ads from the 1988 election pale in comparison to 19th century tactics. The ads linked a Horton murder-and-assault spree to a Massachusetts weekend prison-pass program.

A century earlier, Dukakis himself would have been portrayed as the rapist.

So where does the 2004 election stand in this scheme of presidential mudslinging? Look no further than the gold standard of vicious campaigns: the elections of 1824 and 1828 pitting Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams.

Let's suppose Kerry were so bold as to directly blame Bush for soldiers' deaths in Iraq. Jackson was accused of executing his own troops in the War of 1812.

Maybe the Bush campaign would then suggest that Kerry is an opportunist for twice marrying a wealthy woman. Adams was called "The Pimp" for allegedly providing a woman to the czar of Russia.

Would either side go negative against either Laura Bush or Teresa Heinz Kerry with the same savagery that was directed against Louisa Adams?

Democrats claimed Adams was an illegitimate child and had premarital sex with her husband.

Like professional wrestling, voters will have to differentiate between genuine wounds and feigned injuries.

America the Beautiful? Not in this campaign. Welcome to Whine Country.

Leno

John Kerry has called for an increase in the minimum wage. He said people out there are struggling and you can't always fix the problem by marrying a rich woman.

Today is the first day of summer – it’s also the longest day of the year. Unless of course you’re Hillary Clinton watching "60 Minutes” then yesterday was the longest day of the year.

Clinton told Dan Rather last night that the worst day of his life was the "day he told Hillary the truth”. So he’s not going to do that again. Not fool around. Tell Hillary the truth. Not gonna make that mistake. "What the hell was I thinking of when I did that?”

I was watching President Clinton tell his story last night, I promo came on the screen that said "stay tuned for ‘Cold Case’” which I though was an interview with Hillary.

You thought the Reagan funeral helped the Bush campaign, wait till you see the Osama bin Laden funeral. That’s going to be the big one.

Northwest Airlines announced a new slogan today – "where the hell are we?”

This is unbelievable! A Northwest Airlines flight landed at the wrong airport in South Dakota. How many airports are there in South Dakota? How do you land in the wrong one?

The plane landed at an Air Force base miles away. It’s bad enough when they were just losing our luggage. Now they can’t find the plane either.

In fact the pilots didn’t even realize they landed at an air force base until they got off the plane and couldn’t find the skybar.

Not so good news for Disney’s new film "Around the World in 80 Days"? It looks like it's going to be in blockbusters in around 8 days.

According to Forbes magazine Mel Gibson is the world’s most powerful celebrity. After he won the award Mel said, "Thank you Jesus!”

How to Kill an Inconvenient Story
06/19/04 | vanity

Yesterday,Russian President Vladimir Putin made what CNN called a "bombshell" statement: that Russian Intelligence services had warned the US Government several times-between 9/11/2001 and the beginning of the Iraqi invasion-of Iraqi plans to mount terrorist operations on the USA and on American interests overseas.

Putin said,in effect,Iraq was planning terror strikes;but (sigh of relief)he did not say Iraq had actually carried any of these plans out.He also said (Thank Heavens !) he had been opposed to the Iraqi invasion,because it did not meet international norms.

Putin's announcement caused no end of consternation in the world media,and a check of Google showed some 600 newspapers had printed something about the story.

The prestigious New York Times led off with a story on its International Page-which,I believe,is about where the comics would be in a well-ordered newspaper.(But I digress.)

The tone of the Times article was suitably "sniffy".It suggested rather strongly Putin had been referring to the period immediately preceeding the cruel,ill-considered Iraqi invasion: pointing out the USA had asked neighbors of Iraq to keep their eyes open,and thuggish,jack-booted FBI agents had swarmed all over,seeking a large number of missing Iraqis.

The Times said it had consulted its sources ( 3 aging "queens" and a young crossdresser ) in the State Department,who knew nothing about Putin having forwarded intelligence,and were "scratching their heads" over the matter...so there !

Nothing to see here ! Move along !

Not to be outdone, The Washington Post ran a sensational story (on Page A-11)that looked as if it might have been cribbed (well,just a BIT )from The New York Times-complete with head-scratching,and suggestions Putin really didn't mean it.

The Post did add one small detail:that Putin told a British documentary crew in 2001 he had passed a warning to President Bush about a possible terrorist attack-not long before 9/11.Putin apparently told the crew the data he had was too vague to be of use.

The Post hinted-with elephantine delicacy-Putin may have made yesterday's disclosure out of friendship with Bush-(not that there's anything WRONG with that,you understand !)

The Gannett paper in my area usually puts stories it is uncomfortable with in the "filler" section.The editor decided to follow his heart and skip it altogether.

The editor was in good company: NBC, ABC, and CBS ignored the story too,and Fox relegated it to "the crawler" at the bottom of the screen.

Well, I guess you couldn't blame those folks: There wasn't a single Abu Ghraib photo to go with the story,a single way for Hillary Clinton,Al Schumer, Ted Kennedy,or Rev. Al Sharpton to go before the cameras. There was just some foolish, no-longer-Communist Russian shooting his mouth off !

Dog psychology lessons 'help postmen'

Ananova: Giving postmen training in dog psychology has reduced attacks on them by 80 per cent, the German post office is claiming.

Deutsche Post said yesterday that all 79,000 of its delivery workers have now been on the courses, introduced in 2001, says the Daily Mail.

And it says the training has been much more successful than a previous attempt to issue all workers with CS gas.

That failed because they claimed they were attacked before they could use the canisters.

On the two-day courses workers learn how to read a dog's body language, how to mask their fear, and how to move slowly and speak in a soothing voice.

Trainer Rolf Stoewe said: "The biggest mistake most postal staff make is to run off.

"It's not rocket science. I am surprised more postal services do not use trainers."

The Largest Coalition Ever Built

International Contributions to the War on Terrorism

Citizens from more than 80 countries died that day – innocent men, women and children from across the globe. Within hours of the tragedy, coalitions involving many nations assembled to fight terrorism – literally hundreds of countries have contributed in a variety of ways – some militarily, others diplomatically, economically and financially. Some nations have helped openly; others prefer not to disclose their contributions.
The United States began building the coalition on September 12, 2001, and there are currently 70 nations supporting the global war on terrorism. To date, 21 nations have deployed more than 16,000 troops to the U.S. Central Command’s region of responsibility. This coalition of the willing is working hard every day to defeat terrorism, wherever it may exist.

In Afghanistan alone, our coalition partners are contributing nearly 8,000 troops to Operation Enduring Freedom and to the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul – making up over half of the 15,000 non-Afghan forces in Afghanistan. The war against terrorism is a broad-based effort that will take time. Every nation has different circumstances and will participate in different ways. This mission and future missions will require a series of coalitions ready to take on the challenges and assume the risks associated with such an operation.

Coalition forces have made important contributions in the war against terrorism across the spectrum of operations. Particular contributions include, but are not limited to, providing vital intelligence, personnel, equipment and assets for use on the ground, air and sea. Coalition members also have provided liaison teams, participated in planning, provided bases and granted over-flight permissions – as well as sizable contributions of humanitarian assistance.

United States Central Command

Conan

Recently John Kerry was asked to describe his wife in three words. Not surprisingly he said, "My meal ticket.”

Big day at the White House. Yesterday at a ceremony the official portrait of President Clinton was unveiled. Apparently the portrait is so realistic that Hillary started yelling at it.

Leno

I was watching one of the news channels last night and some legal expert said he was shocked that the U.S. still has not set a trial date for Saddam Hussein.

Saddam Hussein! We can’t even set a trial date for Robert Blake. When was that ’68? I think it was the first season of "Barretta” when that happened.

The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed by an atheist who wanted the words "under God” removed from the "Pledge of Allegiance.” In a related story Jennifer Lopez asked the Supreme Court to remove "till death due us part” from the marriage vows.

Yesterday at the White House they unveiled the official portrait of former President Bill Clinton. It’s very classy have you see it? It’s on black velvet. It’s beautiful. They had it today at the gas station over here.

There was one embarrassing moment this morning when they found it on top of the portrait of Dolly Madison.

President Bush presided over the unveiling. The Clinton’s were there as were a number of their friends and fellow democrats. In fact when bush saw all those democrats in the White House he thought it was November already.

McDonalds is now featuring low-carb Coke on their menu. They say it’s Atkins approved, so apparently it has chunks of meat in it.

Harry Potter was the #1 movie at the box office again this weekend. Have you noticed Harry’s getting older? In this one his girlfriend is Demi Moore.

Female Daggers Out for Teresa

Folks, you ought to see some of the things women are saying in the e-mail. It's some of the most vicious stuff.

There's a story out there from the Associated Press about Teresa Heinz Kerry and why she joined the Democrats. Apparently it's because she couldn't handle it anymore when she saw the way they went after Max Cleland, a multiple amputee from the Vietnam War. She claims she switched parties when Republican Saxby Chambliss tarnished and challenged Cleland's patriotism (and that's not what the Republicans did, but the Democrats portrayed it that way). Check out this e-mail a woman sent me as her reaction to this story.

"Teresa Heinz Kerry wraps herself in a Pashmina shawl to take attention away from her Botoxed face, caresses the microphone like Barbra Streisand's country cousin, bends over for Hollywood and clutches her ancient swollen ankles and then tries to convince the world that she's wanted for herself and not for her checkbook. She's nuts."

I have to tell you, my friends. I must be honest. I couldn't have put this together myself. Babes can be vicious out there, and I've always known this. Women are jealous of each other. You don't even want to get in the middle if you can help it.

Bush Compares Iraq To World War II

President Bush:

Our coalition is helping the Iraqi people to rebuild the basic infrastructure of their country. This is work that America has done before.

I want you to remember this. In 1947, two years after the Nazi surrender, there was still starvation in Germany. Reconstruction seemed to be faltering.

Some questioned whether a free and stable Germany could emerge from the rubble. Fortunately, America and her allies were optimistic. They stood firm.

We helped the German people overcome these challenges and resist the designs of the Soviet Union. We overcame many obstacles, because we knew that the only hope for a secure America was a peaceful and democratic Europe.

And because we persevered, because we had faith in our values, because we were strong in the face of adversity, Germany became the stable, successful great nation that it is today.

Fourteen months have passed since the fall of Baghdad. And today, in spite of terrorist insurgency, Iraq's economy is moving forward.

Markets are beginning to thrive. New businesses have opened. A stable new currency is in place. Dozens of political parties are organizing. Hundreds of courts of law are opening across the country.

Today in Iraq, more than 170 newspapers are being published. I saw the other day they'd even got talk radio. I don't know if they've contacted Rush yet.

Life is better in other ways for the people of Iraq. Electric power is being restored, and is no longer being distributed based on loyalty to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Our coalition has rehabilitated nearly 2,500 schools, and over 1,200 more should be completed by the end of the year.

All of Iraq's hospitals and most medical clinics are opened and are serving the people. Since the liberation, the vast majority of Iraqi children under 5 years old have been vaccinated for polio, measles, tuberculosis and other diseases.

In the south of Iraq, our coalition is re-flooding the wetlands that Saddam Hussein systematically drained to decimate the marsh Arabs. We're bringing back a 5,000-year civilization to life.

This summer, will bring another milestone for our friends, the Iraqis. Under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, members of the Iraqi national soccer team were imprisoned and tortured when they failed to perform.

Last month, inspired by love of country, rather than the fear of a dictator, the Iraqi team won an upset victory over Saudi Arabia and earned its first trip ever to compete in the Olympic games. All countries gathered in Greece will be able to cheer for the athletes from a free Iraq.

With each step forward on the path to self-government and self- reliance, the terrorists will grow more desperate.

And more violent. They see Iraqis taking their country back. They see freedom taking root. The killers know they have no future in a free Iraq.

But our coalition is standing firm. New Iraq's leaders are not intimidated. I will not yield, and neither will the leaders of Iraq.

President Salutes the Military at Macdill Air Force Base

Remarks by the President to Military Personnel - Transcript (Click Here)

Bush: I will not yield

President Bush:

They want America to abandon the mission and to break our word, so they're attacking our soldiers and free Iraqis. They're doing everything in their power to prevent the full transition to democracy.

And we can expect more attacks in the coming few weeks -- more car bombs, more suiciders, More attempts on the lives of Iraqi officials.

But our coalition is standing firm. New Iraq's leaders are not intimidated. I will not yield, and neither will the leaders of Iraq.

We're committed. We're consistent. We're focused. The terrorists will fail.

They will fail because the Iraqi people will not accept a return to tyranny. The terrorists will fail because the resolve of an America and our allies will not be shaken.

And the terrorists will fail because courageous men and women like you are standing in their way.

All who serve in the United States military, can take pride in the great work you have accepted.

Your fellow citizens know that your work is not easy. The days are hot. Your mission is hard... You've missed your families. Your families miss you.

Some of you have lost comrades, good men and women you will never forget. And America will never forget them either.

You're sacrificing greatly for our country. And our country has needed that sacrifice.

By fighting terrorists abroad, you are making the American people more secure here at home.

And by acting in the best traditions of duty and honor, you are making our country and your commander in chief incredibly proud.

May God bless you. And may God continue to bless the United States. Thank you, all. Thank you, all, very much.

President Salutes the Military at Macdill Air Force Base

Remarks by the President to Military Personnel - Transcript (Click Here)

From Iran-Contra To Iraqi Weapons, Just What Is a Lie?

By ALAN MURRAY
Among the many memories dredged up by the tributes to Ronald Reagan last week was his apology for misleading the public about the Iran-Contra affair.

"A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages," the president said in March 1987. "My heart and my best intentions still tell me that is true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not."

Did he lie? Historians will have to grapple with the convoluted syntax of that statement. But at the time, much of the public took the president at his word. If he believed what he was saying to be true, then it wasn't a lie. He was clueless, perhaps, but not a liar.

Ever since Mason Weems published his popular biography of George Washington, which included the legend of the cherry tree (a bit of a lie itself), "liar" has been the worst charge that can be leveled against an American president. Lying was the principal reason for impeachment proceedings against Presidents Nixon and Clinton. Above all, we want our leaders to be honest with us.

These days, however, George W. Bush is accused with abandon of lying. Google the words "Bush" and "liar" and you can wallow for hours in diatribes against the president. Calling him a liar on the stump seems the quickest way to whip up the Democratic faithful. Calling him one in print seems the surest route to the bestseller list. Presidential lying is no longer unthinkable; it has become commonplace.

Part of the problem here is that, as St. Augustine recognized, there are many levels of lying. Jody Powell, one-time press secretary to a president who insisted he never lied, Jimmy Carter, tells of a television reporter who went to visit President Carter's mother, Miss Lillian, and grilled her on the topic.

"Is it true that your son doesn't lie?" the reporter asked. "Can you tell me he has never told a lie?"

"Well, I reckon he might have told a little white lie now and then," she replied.

"Just what do you mean by a white lie?" the reporter asked skeptically.

"Well," drawled Miss Lillian, "do you remember when you came in this morning and I told you how nice you looked and how glad I was to see you?"

Bush critics argue that the importance of the lie should depend on the weight of the consequences. President Clinton lied about sex, they argue, which is of no great import. But President Bush lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its ties to terrorists, resulting in a war that has left hundreds of young Americans dead.

But that argument misses the main point, which Reagan grasped when making his Iran-Contra apology. Avoiding uncomfortable truths, massaging facts, "spinning" stories -- these are part of every politician's repertoire. But telling the American people something that he knows "in his heart" to be false is a president's worst sin.

American presidents "make a covenant with the American people" to be truthful, says historian Douglas Brinkley. And it is a covenant that most of them have taken seriously. Of course, there have been breaches. President Eisenhower lied about spy flights over the Soviet Union, for instance, and agonized about it afterward. President Kennedy lied about the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. But in each case, the lie had consequences.

Did President Bush lie about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? Before the war, it would have been difficult to find anyone involved in Iraqi policy in this country, Republican or Democrat, who didn't believe that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. Indeed, many who opposed the war did so because they feared he would use those weapons if provoked. Perhaps President Bush should have questioned the intelligence his advisers presented him, but he didn't know it to be false.

Did he lie about Iraq's ties to terrorism? There has never been hard evidence of Iraqi involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, but there is plenty of evidence of Saddam Hussein's support for anti-Israeli terrorists. Mr. Bush's broad-brush division of the world into good guys and bad guys can be criticized for its crudeness and simplicity. But most who know him believe it is how he sees the world.

Even many of the most fervent admirers of Bill Clinton believe that the day he went on television and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," he broke his covenant with the American people. And many of the harshest critics of George W. Bush will acknowledge that, however wrongheaded his policies, he has not, to their knowledge, broken that same covenant.

The distinction is important. We can vigorously debate President Bush's policies without impugning his character. If the day comes when Americans conclude that all presidents are liars, then all presidents will lose the incentive to tell the truth.

Bin Laden is Quite Sane — Are We?


Victor Davis Hanson

Murdering 3,000 Americans, destroying a city block in Manhattan, and setting fire to the Pentagon were all pretty tough stuff. And for a while it won fascists and their state sponsors an even tougher response in Afghanistan and Iraq that sent hundreds to caves and thousands more to paradise. And when we have gotten serious in the postbellum reconstruction, thugs like Mr. Sadr have backed down. But before we gloat and think that we've overcome our prior laxity and proclivity for appeasement, let us first make sure we are not still captives to the Minotaur's logic.

True, al Qaeda is now scattered, the Taliban and Saddam gone. But the calculus of a quarter century — threaten, hit, pause, wait; threaten, hit, pause, wait — is now entrenched in the minds of Middle Eastern murderers. Indeed, the modus operandi that cynically plays on Western hopes, liberalism, and fair play is gospel now to all sorts of bin Laden epigones — as we have seen in Madrid, Fallujah, and Najaf.


So al Qaeda is both worse and not worse than the German Nazis: It is hardly the identifiable threat of Hitler's Wehrmacht, but in this age of technology and weapons of mass destruction it is more able to kill more Americans inside the United States. Whereas we think our fascist enemies of old were logical and conniving, too many of us deem bin Laden's new fascists unhinged — their fatwas, their mythology about strong and weak horses, and their babble about the Reconquista and the often evoked "holy shrines" are to us dreamlike.
Yet what a human comedy it has now all become.

The billionaire capitalist George Soros — who grew fabulously wealthy through cold and calculating currency speculation, helping to break many a bank and its poor depositors — now makes the moral equation between 9/11 and Abu Ghraib. For this ethicist and meticulous accountant, 3,000 murdered in a time of peace are the same as some prisoners abused by renegade soldiers in a time of war.

Recently in the New York Times I read two articles about the supposedly new irrational insensitivity toward Muslims and saw an ad for a book detailing how the West "constructed" and exaggerated the Islamic menace — even as the same paper ran a quieter story about a state-sponsored cleric in Saudi Arabia's carefully expounding on the conditions under which Muslims can desecrate the bodies of murdered infidels.

Aristocratic and very wealthy Democrats — Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, and John Kerry — employ the language of conspiracy to assure us that we had no reason to fight Saddam Hussein. "Lies," "worst," and " betrayed" are the vocabulary of their daily attacks. A jester in stripes like Michael Moore, who cannot tell the truth, is now an artistic icon — precisely and only because of his own hatred of the president and the inconvenient idea that we are really at war. Our diplomats court the Arab League, which snores when Russians and Sudanese kill hundreds of thousands of Muslims but shrieks when we remove those who kill even more of their own. And a depopulating, entitlement-expanding Europe believes an American president, not bin Laden, is the greatest threat to world peace. Russia, the slayer of tens of thousands of Muslim Chechans and a big-time profiteer from Baathist loot, lectures the United States on its insensitivity to the new democracy in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Iraq, and the rest of the Middle East, we see the same old bloodcurdling threats, the horrific videos, the bombings, the obligatory pause, the faux negotiations, the lies — and then, of course, the bloodcurdling threats, the horrific videos, the bombings...

No, bin Laden is quite sane — but lately I have grown more worried that we are not.

— Victor Davis Hanson, an NRO contributor, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of The Soul of Battle and Carnage and Culture, among other books. His website is www.victorhanson.com.


The latest:
Feeding the Minotaur 06/14

The New Defeatism 06/04

Our Reptilian Brains 05/28

Season of Apologies 05/21

Previous Articles Ripples of Battle
The wars of the past are not just the stuff of history. Read VDH's latest.

NewsMax
U.N. Quakes over Scandal Book

Tear Down This U.N. Stonewall

By WILLIAM SAFIRE

The secretary general of the U.N. tapped me on the shoulder at a recent luncheon and said, "May I have a word with you?"

Because several columns of mine zapped the U.N. for its cover-up of the costliest financial rip-off in history — even calling it "Kofigate" — I braced myself for an icy rebuke. But Kofi Annan assured me, in his courteous way, that the committee he had appointed to look into the oil-for-food scandal, headed by former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, would do a thorough job.

I respectfully asked if this included an inquiry into his own potential conflict of interest: when Annan's son was a consultant to Cotecna Inspections, that Swiss company won the lucrative U.N. contract to monitor the shipments of food and medicine to Saddam's sanctioned regime. Annan revealed that a competitor had protested undue influence in that contract award, and that an internal U.N. report would be delivered to the Volcker committee.

But that was further evidence of corruption containment. When the International Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on May 20 requested 55 internal U.N. audit reports on oil-for-food, Annan wrote Chairman Henry Hyde on June 2 that Volcker "believes the policy of the Organization not to release non-public documents is entirely appropriate."

I suggested that the U.N. was using Volcker, a man of spotless reputation, to control all information about the scandal. The secretary general said "I will look into this further and ask Mr. Volcker to call you."

Annan was true to his word. In came a call two days later from a very tall former central banker who prefers that his name not be used. "I thought I had a large staff together weeks ago, but they backed out on me. Now we have some top-flight investigators coming on and we'll announce them soon. The budget crunch hasn't come yet, but the U.N. will have to come though with the amounts we need."

A U.N. official tells me the Volcker committee's first choices were turned off not just by lack of subpoena or oath-requiring powers — which Volcker considers "not fatal" — but by an inadequate budget to dig into the largest financial rip-off in history. As a result, after nearly three months, a foot-dragging bureaucracy has successfully frustrated the independent committee dependent on it. "Some people have indicated eagerness to show us what they have, but we haven't had the staff, the office space, the administrative structure. I haven't even had a press person."

My Nixon-era colleague was a tad testy about any imputation to the secretary general that his retention was being used to block outside inquiries backed by the force of law. "I don't think it's a great idea to have parallel investigations of U.N. contracts." Not even by the House of Representatives? "Henry Hyde wants to be supportive; whether his staff agrees with him is another matter."

This well-meaning financial wizard is determined to resist all investigative competition. "Take BNP Paribas," he says of the French-owned bank central to the financing of the U.N.'s oil-for-food debacle. "Government authorities can get their stuff, but to the extent that they're contractors of the U.N., no bank can give that up without due judicial procedure. That would violate banking law."

Let's advance this story. Two BNP Paribas sources tell me this: in a storage facility in Lower Manhattan, the bank had a large room containing some 5,000 oil-for-food file folders.

Each folder contained a copy of the bank's letter of credit authorized by a U.N. official to pay a contractor for its shipment; a Notice of Arrival monitored by Cotecna at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr if by ship, or the Jordanian border crossing of Trebil if by truck; and a description of the contract. The original paperwork went to the Rafidain bank in Amman, Jordan; copies of the damning documents are stored by BNP Paribas in New Jersey.

Though the U.N. purchases were supposedly to supply desperate Iraqis with food or medicine, most of this evidence deals with items like construction equipment from Russia, hundreds of Mercedes-Benz limousines from Germany and thousands of bottles of perfume from France.

The money trail grows cold; won't some lawful authority (Hyde? Snow? Spitzer?) issue a subpoena that would start "due judicial procedure"?

U.N. Chief Rebuts Critics of the Iraq 'Oil for Food' Program

Talk Radio Comes to Baghdad

In the surest sign yet that the U.S. liberation is beginning to have a lasting impact on Iraq's culture, Baghdad now has its own talk radio station - where callers are allowed to complain about anything as long as they don't incite violence.

"There are no Rush Limbaughs here - yet," reports Newsday. In fact, the station, dubbed Radio Dijla, has a rule for its hosts: Don't butt in with opinions.

Still, the rules don't seem to inhibit listeners from dialing in. So far, callers' most pressing issue is the lack of electricity, reports the station's founder, 34-year-old Ahmad al-Rikaby.

What about that U.S. media obsession, Abu Ghraib?

The Radio Dijla founder made no mention of the prison abuse scandal among his list of hot topics.

Instead, Baghdadis want to know why, for instance, if the U.S. can put a man on the moon and repair oil pipelines in record time, it can't provide air conditioning to counter the city's 100-degree heat?

Most of the station's talk jockeys are young women with little radio experience. They listen patiently as callers flood the phone lines - "18,000 attempted calls on its two lines every day" - says Newsday.

Numbers like that suggest that Iraqis are eager to take advantage of their newfound freedom.

Before the liberation, talk radio in Baghdad was limited to al-Shabab Radio, run by Saddam's murderous son Uday. Callers were allowed to discuss only love and poetry, but anti-government talk was strictly forbidden.

Border Collie Has A Vocabulary Of 200 Words

Ananova: Dogs learn words like children.

Scientists in Germany tested a border collie and found it had a vocabulary of 200 words.

Nine-year-old Rico, who lives with his owners in Dortmund, could also pick up the meaning of new words on first hearing.

Researchers said its language learning skills were comparable with a three-year-old child.

Rico's owner, Susanne Baus, began teaching him to fetch different objects by name when he was less than a year old.

She would would place three different toys in different locations around the flat and ask the dog to retrieve one. He was rewarded with food or play and soon developed an impressive word count.

Dr Julia Fischer and colleagues from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig decided to put him to the test.

In a series of controlled experiments, he correctly retrieved 37 out of 40 toys from a collection when its name was called.

The scientists estimated that Rico's vocabulary was comparable with language-trained chimpanzees, sea lions, dolphins and parrots.

They then tested Rico's ability to learn new words, placing seven well-known toys in a room with one that the dog had never seen before.

His owner then asked him to fetch the toy using an unfamiliar word. Seven times out of 10 he brought back the correct toy. A month later, the dog correctly remembered the name of the new toy.

"This retrieval rate is comparable to the performance of three-year-old toddlers," the researchers said.

The Largest Coalition Ever Built

International Contributions to the War on Terrorism

Citizens from more than 80 countries died that day – innocent men, women and children from across the globe. Within hours of the tragedy, coalitions involving many nations assembled to fight terrorism – literally hundreds of countries have contributed in a variety of ways – some militarily, others diplomatically, economically and financially. Some nations have helped openly; others prefer not to disclose their contributions.
The United States began building the coalition on September 12, 2001, and there are currently 70 nations supporting the global war on terrorism. To date, 21 nations have deployed more than 16,000 troops to the U.S. Central Command’s region of responsibility. This coalition of the willing is working hard every day to defeat terrorism, wherever it may exist.

In Afghanistan alone, our coalition partners are contributing nearly 8,000 troops to Operation Enduring Freedom and to the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul – making up over half of the 15,000 non-Afghan forces in Afghanistan. The war against terrorism is a broad-based effort that will take time. Every nation has different circumstances and will participate in different ways. This mission and future missions will require a series of coalitions ready to take on the challenges and assume the risks associated with such an operation.

Coalition forces have made important contributions in the war against terrorism across the spectrum of operations. Particular contributions include, but are not limited to, providing vital intelligence, personnel, equipment and assets for use on the ground, air and sea. Coalition members also have provided liaison teams, participated in planning, provided bases and granted over-flight permissions – as well as sizable contributions of humanitarian assistance.

United States Central Command

Leno

I’ve been watching the news all day and these ceremonies and services for President Reagan are really quite touching and dignified, don’t you think?

See I wonder if it will be that way for future presidents? Like years from now can you imagine President Clinton’s funeral. Hundreds of women throwing themselves on top of the casket. (crying) big heavy women throwing themselves on it.

According to the "New York Times”, last year white house lawyers concluded that President Bush could legally order interrogators to torture and even kill people in the interest of national security - so if that's legal, what the hell are we charging Saddam Hussein with?

On this day in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, the first so-called witch was hanged. She was convicted under the original patriot act.

Pier One announced they are recalling 48,000 beaded fish tea light candleholders. The reason for the recall. The product just isn’t gay enough.

NBA Hall of Famer Larry Byrd said in a news interview on ESPN this week that the NBA needs more white superstars. More white superstars. More white superstars? How ‘bout a white superstar?

Four of America’s top sprinters are facing a possible Olympics ban for allegedly using performance-enhancing substances. One of our sprinters first drew suspicion last month when he won the Kentucky Derby.

Nevada’s famous Chicken Ranch brothel is now for sale. So if you really want to surprise dad on Father’s Day…

Did you hear about this? Britney Spears injured her knee during a video shoot yesterday. I’ll tell ya, that lip synching is more dangerous than it looks….

A TV producer is now developing a rap version of "American Idol”, isn’t that called "Cops”?

The rumor is J. Lo may be pregnant. They think it may be a girl. And the girl may already be engaged.

Letterman

Be honest tonight. How many of you are here tonight because you heard I was lying in state?

We had some hot weather and now it’s lovely. When it’s nice like this everyone is outdoors. It was so nice today that Donald Trump was out looking for a nice unspoiled spot in the city that could be ruined.

Today is day five of the J. Lo marriage. She got married to Latin music heartthrob Marc Anthony. In fact the honeymoon is going so well that J. Lo places it in her top five.

President Bush's Eulogy at Funeral Service for President Reagan

Remarks by the President in Eulogy at National Funeral Service for Former President Ronald Wilson Reagan

The National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.

12:09 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Mrs. Reagan, Patti, Michael, and Ron; members of the Reagan family; distinguished guests, including our Presidents and First Ladies; Reverend Danforth; fellow citizens:

We lost Ronald Reagan only days ago, but we have missed him for a long time. We have missed his kindly presence, that reassuring voice, and the happy ending we had wished for him. It has been ten years since he said his own farewell; yet it is still very sad and hard to let him go. Ronald Reagan belongs to the ages now, but we preferred it when he belonged to us.

In a life of good fortune, he valued above all the gracious gift of his wife, Nancy. During his career, Ronald Reagan passed through a thousand crowded places; but there was only one person, he said, who could make him lonely by just leaving the room.

America honors you, Nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful journey, and to that journey's end. Today, our whole nation grieves with you and your family.

When the sun sets tonight off the coast of California, and we lay to rest our 40th President, a great American story will close. The second son of Nell and Jack Reagan first knew the world as a place of open plains, quiet streets, gas-lit rooms, and carriages drawn by horse. If you could go back to the Dixon, Illinois of 1922, you'd find a boy of 11 reading adventure stories at the public library, or running with his brother, Neil, along Rock River, and coming home to a little house on Hennepin Avenue. That town was the kind of place you remember where you prayed side by side with your neighbors, and if things were going wrong for them, you prayed for them, and knew they'd pray for you if things went wrong for you.

The Reagan family would see its share of hardship, struggle and uncertainty. And out of that circumstance came a young man of steadiness, calm, and a cheerful confidence that life would bring good things. The qualities all of us have seen in Ronald Reagan were first spotted 70 and 80 years ago. As a lifeguard in Lowell Park, he was the protector keeping an eye out for trouble. As a sports announcer on the radio, he was the friendly voice that made you see the game as he did. As an actor, he was the handsome, all-American, good guy, which, in his case, required knowing his lines -- and being himself.

Along the way, certain convictions were formed and fixed in the man. Ronald Reagan believed that everything happened for a reason, and that we should strive to know and do the will of God. He believed that the gentleman always does the kindest thing. He believed that people were basically good, and had the right to be free. He believed that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be guilty of. He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer. He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the hope of the world.

And he believed in taking a break now and then, because, as he said, there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.

Ronald Reagan spent decades in the film industry and in politics, fields known, on occasion, to change a man. But not this man. From Dixon to Des Moines, to Hollywood to Sacramento, to Washington, D.C., all who met him remembered the same sincere, honest, upright fellow. Ronald Reagan's deepest beliefs never had much to do with fashion or convenience. His convictions were always politely stated, affably argued, and as firm and straight as the columns of this cathedral.

There came a point in Ronald Reagan's film career when people started seeing a future beyond the movies. The actor, Robert Cummings, recalled one occasion. "I was sitting around the set with all these people and we were listening to Ronnie, quite absorbed. I said, 'Ron, have you ever considered someday becoming President?' He said, 'President of what?' 'President of the United States,' I said. And he said, 'What's the matter, don't you like my acting either?'" (Laughter.)

The clarity and intensity of Ronald Reagan's convictions led to speaking engagements around the country, and a new following he did not seek or expect. He often began his speeches by saying, "I'm going to talk about controversial things." And then he spoke of communist rulers as slavemasters, of a government in Washington that had far overstepped its proper limits, of a time for choosing that was drawing near. In the space of a few years, he took ideas and principles that were mainly found in journals and books, and turned them into a broad, hopeful movement ready to govern.

As soon as Ronald Reagan became California's governor, observers saw a star in the West -- tanned, well-tailored, in command, and on his way. In the 1960s, his friend, Bill Buckley, wrote, "Reagan is indisputably a part of America, and he may become a part of American history."

Ronald Reagan's moment arrived in 1980. He came out ahead of some very good men, including one from Plains, and one from Houston. What followed was one of the decisive decades of the century, as the convictions that shaped the President began to shape the times.

He came to office with great hopes for America, and more than hopes -- like the President he had revered and once saw in person, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan matched an optimistic temperament with bold, persistent action. President Reagan was optimistic about the great promise of economic reform, and he acted to restore the reward and spirit of enterprise. He was optimistic that a strong America could advance the peace, and he acted to build the strength that mission required. He was optimistic that liberty would thrive wherever it was planted, and he acted to defend liberty wherever it was threatened.

And Ronald Reagan believed in the power of truth in the conduct of world affairs. When he saw evil camped across the horizon, he called that evil by its name. There were no doubters in the prisons and gulags, where dissidents spread the news, tapping to each other in code what the American President had dared to say. There were no doubters in the shipyards and churches and secret labor meetings, where brave men and women began to hear the creaking and rumbling of a collapsing empire. And there were no doubters among those who swung hammers at the hated wall as the first and hardest blow had been struck by President Ronald Reagan.

The ideology he opposed throughout his political life insisted that history was moved by impersonal ties and unalterable fates. Ronald Reagan believed instead in the courage and triumph of free men. And we believe it, all the more, because we saw that courage in him.

As he showed what a President should be, he also showed us what a man should be. Ronald Reagan carried himself, even in the most powerful office, with a decency and attention to small kindnesses that also defined a good life. He was a courtly, gentle and considerate man, never known to slight or embarrass others. Many people across the country cherish letters he wrote in his own hand -- to family members on important occasions; to old friends dealing with sickness and loss; to strangers with questions about his days in Hollywood. A boy once wrote to him requesting federal assistance to help clean up his bedroom. (Laughter.)

The President replied that, "unfortunately, funds are dangerously low." (Laughter.) He continued, "I'm sure your mother was fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster. Therefore, you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer program in our nation. Congratulations." (Laughter.)


Sure, our 40th President wore his title lightly, and it fit like a white Stetson. In the end, through his belief in our country and his love for our country, he became an enduring symbol of our country. We think of his steady stride, that tilt of a head and snap of a salute, the big-screen smile, and the glint in his Irish eyes when a story came to mind.

We think of a man advancing in years with the sweetness and sincerity of a Scout saying the Pledge. We think of that grave expression that sometimes came over his face, the seriousness of a man angered by injustice -- and frightened by nothing. We know, as he always said, that America's best days are ahead of us, but with Ronald Reagan's passing, some very fine days are behind us, and that is worth our tears.

Americans saw death approach Ronald Reagan twice, in a moment of violence, and then in the years of departing light. He met both with courage and grace. In these trials, he showed how a man so enchanted by life can be at peace with life's end.

And where does that strength come from? Where is that courage learned? It is the faith of a boy who read the Bible with his mom. It is the faith of a man lying in an operating room, who prayed for the one who shot him before he prayed for himself. It is the faith of a man with a fearful illness, who waited on the Lord to call him home.

Now, death has done all that death can do. And as Ronald Wilson Reagan goes his way, we are left with the joyful hope he shared. In his last years, he saw through a glass darkly. Now he sees his Savior face to face.

And we look to that fine day when we will see him again, all weariness gone, clear of mind, strong and sure, and smiling again, and the sorrow of his parting gone forever.

May God bless Ronald Reagan, and the country he loved.

END 12:26 P.M. EDT

Text of Margaret Thatcher's Eulogy

A text of Baroness Margaret Thatcher's eulogy at the funeral of former President Ronald Ronald:

We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man. And I have lost a dear friend.

In his lifetime Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism. These were causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk.

Yet they were pursued with almost a lightness of spirit. For Ronald Reagan also embodied another great cause - what Arnold Bennett once called `the great cause of cheering us all up'. His politics had a freshness and optimism that won converts from every class and every nation - and ultimately from the very heart of the evil empire.

Yet his humour often had a purpose beyond humour. In the terrible hours after the attempt on his life, his easy jokes gave reassurance to an anxious world. They were evidence that in the aftermath of terror and in the midst of hysteria, one great heart at least remained sane and jocular. They were truly grace under pressure.

And perhaps they signified grace of a deeper kind. Ronnie himself certainly believed that he had been given back his life for a purpose. As he told a priest after his recovery `Whatever time I've got left now belongs to the Big Fella Upstairs'.

And surely it is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan's life was providential, when we look at what he achieved in the eight years that followed.

Others prophesied the decline of the West; he inspired America and its allies with renewed faith in their mission of freedom.

Others saw only limits to growth; he transformed a stagnant economy into an engine of opportunity.

Others hoped, at best, for an uneasy cohabitation with the Soviet Union; he won the Cold War - not only without firing a shot, but also by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends.

I cannot imagine how any diplomat, or any dramatist, could improve on his words to Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva summit: `Let me tell you why it is we distrust you.' Those words are candid and tough and they cannot have been easy to hear. But they are also a clear invitation to a new beginning and a new relationship that would be rooted in trust.

We live today in the world that Ronald Reagan began to reshape with those words. It is a very different world with different challenges and new dangers. All in all, however, it is one of greater freedom and prosperity, one more hopeful than the world he inherited on becoming president.

As Prime Minister, I worked closely with Ronald Reagan for eight of the most important years of all our lives. We talked regularly both before and after his presidency. And I have had time and cause to reflect on what made him a great president.

Ronald Reagan knew his own mind. He had firm principles - and, I believe, right ones. He expounded them clearly, he acted upon them decisively.

When the world threw problems at the White House, he was not baffled, or disorientated, or overwhelmed. He knew almost instinctively what to do.

When his aides were preparing option papers for his decision, they were able to cut out entire rafts of proposals that they knew `the Old Man' would never wear.

When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership.

And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding.

Yet his ideas, though clear, were never simplistic. He saw the many sides of truth.

Yes, he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power and territorial expansion; but he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform.

Yes, he did not shrink from denouncing Moscow's `evil empire'. But he realised that a man of goodwill might nonetheless emerge from within its dark corridors.

So the President resisted Soviet expansion and pressed down on Soviet weakness at every point until the day came when communism began to collapse beneath the combined weight of these pressures and its own failures. And when a man of goodwill did emerge from the ruins, President Reagan stepped forward to shake his hand and to offer sincere cooperation.

Nothing was more typical of Ronald Reagan than that large-hearted magnanimity - and nothing was more American.

Therein lies perhaps the final explanation of his achievements. Ronald Reagan carried the American people with him in his great endeavours because there was perfect sympathy between them. He and they loved America and what it stands for - freedom and opportunity for ordinary people.

As an actor in Hollywood's golden age, he helped to make the American dream live for millions all over the globe. His own life was a fulfilment of that dream. He never succumbed to the embarrassment some people feel about an honest expression of love of country.

He was able to say `God Bless America' with equal fervour in public and in private. And so he was able to call confidently upon his fellow-countrymen to make sacrifices for America - and to make sacrifices for those who looked to America for hope and rescue.

With the lever of American patriotism, he lifted up the world. And so today the world - in Prague, in Budapest, in Warsaw, in Sofia, in Bucharest, in Kiev and in Moscow itself - the world mourns the passing of the Great Liberator and echoes his prayer "God Bless America".

Ronald Reagan's life was rich not only in public achievement, but also in private happiness. Indeed, his public achievements were rooted in his private happiness. The great turning point of his life was his meeting and marriage with Nancy.

On that we have the plain testimony of a loving and grateful husband: `Nancy came along and saved my soul'. We share her grief today. But we also share her pride - and the grief and pride of Ronnie's children.

For the final years of his life, Ronnie's mind was clouded by illness. That cloud has now lifted. He is himself again - more himself than at any time on this earth. For we may be sure that the Big Fella Upstairs never forgets those who remember Him. And as the last journey of this faithful pilgrim took him beyond the sunset, and as heaven's morning broke, I like to think - in the words of Bunyan - that `all the trumpets sounded on the other side'.

We here still move in twilight. But we have one beacon to guide us that Ronald Reagan never had. We have his example. Let us give thanks today for a life that achieved so much for all of God's children."

They hated Reagan

So Now They Think He Was Charming

Ann Coulter:

America's greatest president has gone home. God worked through Ronald Reagan on Earth and now He's taken him back.

Reagan is survived by his wife, three children, and the hundreds of millions of people he saved by winning the Cold War.

Now liberals claim they liked Reagan at the time. This is extremely believable – aren't we all fond of someone who regularly exposes us as liars, cowards and hypocrites?

Liberals loathed Reagan. Their European friends loathed Reagan – the protests against our current president are positively anemic compared to the massive protests against President Reagan when he went to visit our dear "allies," whose sorry asses we spent billions of dollars defending against the Soviets for 50 years.

Only authentic Americans loved Reagan.

From the descriptions in the media, you would think the reason Reagan was beloved by Americans was that he was an affable fellow who could tell a good joke.

Reagan was a March hare right-winger. He had enough faith in the American people to know that as long as the facts were clear, they would rise to the occasion and be March hare right-wingers, too.

Reagan forced Americans to confront the real ideological divide between conservatives and, as he said, "our liberal friends."

But now liberals are trying to muddy the political waters by passing off Reagan's popularity as a result of his personal magnetism.

While Reagan had undeniable magnetism, what set him apart was that he had the courage to speak the truth and trust the American people.

In the throes of the Cold War – still hot in Vietnam – Reagan forthrightly said liberals refused to acknowledge that the choice was not between "peace and war, only between fight and surrender."

In words that would have come in pretty handy in Spain just a few months ago, he said liberals tell us "if we only avoid any direct confrontation with the enemy, he will forget his evil ways and learn to love us."

Reagan quoted "Mr. Democrat himself," Al Smith, for the proposition that the Democratic Party was no longer the party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland, but was now the party of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. (And that was 30 years before they tried to push Hillarycare on us.)

Reagan was a bulldog, completely, implacably right-wing on every issue. He was the right-wing Energizer Bunny. He never quit and he kept beating liberals.

He cut taxes 25 percent across the board his first year in office; he walked away from Gorbachev at Reykjavik;.. he gave speeches about "welfare queens" and polluting trees; he nominated Antonin Scalia and Robert Bork to the Supreme Court; and he enraged grim liberals when he warmed up his radio mike by saying, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

In 1980 moderate weenies in the Republican Party were trying to move him to the "center," Reagan said: "No, I'm not moving my positions any. ... I believe the same things that I've been speaking on for years, and I don't see any reason to change."

Thank God he didn't. Because Reagan lived, the world is a better place.

Rush:

They hated Reagan. I'm seeing all these hosts and everybody say, "You know, it's different out there now. I mean, Reagan and Bush, why, they're pretty much the same kind of guys ideologically doing the same things, and yet Reagan, they loved him, and Bush, he's hated."

I said, "Wait a minute. They didn't love Reagan. They didn't love him. They hated Reagan, too.