Posted 2:49 PM by Steve
More "I told you so!"

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz predicted that the Iraqis would welcome a U.S. invading force, The Nation's Eric Alterman sniffed: "Is Wolfowitz really so ignorant of history as to believe the Iraqis would welcome us as 'their hoped-for liberators'?"

In an article headlined "Panic in the White House," writer Andrew Stephen of the New Statesman sniped: "And they thought it was going to be so easy. They really did believe it: that troops would be welcomed in Iraq, with flowers and hugs and kisses, as liberators for whom they had been waiting so long."

Quentin Peel of the Financial Times added gloomily: "The danger for Mr. Bush is that he will win the war, eventually and unpleasantly, but he will never be seen as a liberator."

Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times opined: "(I)f this isn't Vietnam, neither is it the Afghanistan campaign, where Americans were hailed as liberators. I was in Afghanistan during that war, and the difference is manifest. Afghans were giddy and jubilant, while Iraqis now are typically sullen and distrustful and thirsty."

And while co-hosting ABC's "Good Morning America," Diane Sawyer derided: "What happened to the flowers expected to be tossed the way of the Americans? Was it a terrible miscalculation?"

This week, as all the world has now seen, the flowers were in full bloom. Jubilation rocked the streets. Coalition troops were showered with petals, kisses and hugs from Basra in the south to central Baghdad to the northern-most cities of Iraq. Here are just a few of the captions that accompanied the tender and telling photos taken across the liberated country:

"An Iraqi girl waves an American flag to U.S. Marines of the 15th Expeditionary Unit at the Marines Battalion Combat Operation Center in Nasiriyah, southern Iraq."

"U.S. Army Spc. John Dresel from Oxford, Conn., is kissed by an Iraqi child in Baghdad. The soldiers from the A Company 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment took over a section of northern Baghdad with a warm welcome from many residents . . . "

"A Kurd kisses a picture of United States President George W. Bush during celebrations in the streets of Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq . . . "

"Lance Corp. Shawn Hicks of Arizona gets a kiss Wednesday from an Iraqi man as they celebrate the arrival of American troops in central Baghdad."

"An Iraqi man puts flowers on the head of a U.S Marine in Saddam City in eastern Baghdad. Iraqis joyously welcomed U.S. Marines driving through eastern Baghdad . . . "

"Two U.S. special forces soldiers are seen atop their jeep, front, as Kurdish fighters pose for a group picture with flowers received from the Kurdish Students Union, near the town of Dibagan . . . in northern Iraq. The students' union presented them with flowers in gratitude for their war efforts."

"Samantha Sheppard, 28, from Plymouth in Britain, a soldier with the 2nd Light Tank Regiment, smiles as she receives a flower from an Iraqi man during a patrol on the streets of east Basra, southern Iraq."


SCHOOLBELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 2:42 PM by Steve
Great article by Rich Lowry from Townhall.com:

The eternal frustration of political debate is that big, complicated issues take so long to play out that it's difficult to tell who was right and who was wrong. Not so in the war in Iraq.


Much remains unknown about the ultimate fate of the U.S. intervention: Will we find weapons of mass destruction? Manage to form a decent post-Saddam Hussein government? But we already know whether the invasion was a military disaster, and whether the Iraqis cheered our arrival. On these two counts, the level of sheer, cussed wrongness among journalists and Bush critics is stunning.

Most of them were infected with a willful pessimism, prepared to believe the worst about America's capabilities and its image among Iraqis, while puffing up the forces of Saddam. Now that reality has intruded, with a swift military victory and a warm welcome from Iraqi civilians, one wonders:

Will TV jabberer Chris Matthews admit his foolishness in writing, "This invasion of Iraq, if it goes off, will join the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, Desert One, Beirut and Somalia in the history of military catastrophe"?

Will Barry McCaffrey, bluntly, regret his prediction that in the Battle for Baghdad, "we could take, bluntly, a couple to 3,000 casualties"?

Will Newsweek's Eleanor Clift say she's sorry for warning, "This looks more like a war of conquest than a war of liberation," or writing, "We're embroiled in a conflict that looks like a bad remake of Vietnam"? Will Newsweek be ashamed of its "down arrows" for President Bush ("His war cluelessly flings open the gates of hell, making any sort of victory Pyrrhic") and Dick Cheney ("Tells 'Meet the Press' just before war, 'We will be greeted as liberators.' An arrogant blunder for the ages.")?

Will The New York Times demand retractions from R.W. Apple ("Already [Saddam] is seen as less of an ogre and more of a defender of Islamic honor across the Arab world"), Maureen Dowd ("It was hard not to have a few acid flashbacks to Vietnam at warp speed") and Nicholas Kristoff ("Iraqis hate the United States government even more than they hate Saddam")?

Will Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen make amends for gleefully slamming "'the plan,' which the Bush administration describes as both 'brilliant' and on schedule. As anyone can see -- and as some field commanders keep saying -- it is neither"?

Will quisling journalist Peter Arnett admit not just that he exercised poor judgment, but that he was wrong when he spoke on Iraqi television of "the determination of the Iraqi forces, the determination of the government and the willingness to fight for their country"?

Will muckraker Seymour Hersh take back his suggestion that the United States was lying about the war, as he lamented that for those of us who "went through the Vietnam War, it's sort of terrifying to think it's starting already"?

Will left-wing journalist Eric Alterman apologize for asking, are Bush officials "really so ignorant of history as to believe the Iraqis would welcome us as 'their hoped-for liberators'?"

Or author Robert Wright for prognosticating, "As more civilians die and more Iraqis see their 'resistance' hailed across the Arab world as a watershed in the struggle against Western imperialism, the traditionally despised Saddam could gain appreciable support among his people"?

Or celebrity intellectual Edward Said for writing, "The idea that Iraq's population would have welcomed American forces entering the country after a terrifying aerial bombardment was always utterly implausible"?

Will actress Janeane Garofalo take out a new TV ad, correcting the impression left by her old TV ad, in which she noted, ominously, "If we invade Iraq, there's a United Nations estimate that says there will be up to a half a million people killed or wounded"?

I suspect the collective answer is, "Uh, no." As time erases the memory of their words, the naysayers will simply be willfully pessimistic about the next U.S. intervention. They will always predict "another Bay of Pigs," never "another Iraq."

Posted 2:28 PM by Steve
The Media Research Center put together some of the stupidest quotes, quips and commentary about the war in Iraq.

"Even the optimists say if it were to go on for months, if Saddam Hussein eludes capture, then the cost to the American economy is likely to be heavy.”
-- ABC's John Cochran, World News Tonight, August 22, 2002.

The former South African President Nelson Mandela said today he is appalled by the U.S. threats. He said an attack would cause international chaos.”
-- ABC's Elizabeth Vargas anchoring World News Tonight, September 2, 2002.

“On the streets of Baghdad, the word to the U.S. is essentially, 'Put up or shut up!' People here just don't believe their President is hiding weapons of mass destruction. These men say the inspectors have found nothing because Iraq has nothing to hide, that the U.S. government's real agenda is to seize
Iraq's oil fields.”
-- NBC's Ann Curry on Today, February 5, 2003.

“If War Happens, Another Quagmire?” On-screen graphic during CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports on February 26.

"Not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what bin Laden did to us.”
-- Bill Moyers on PBS's Now, February 28.

Ok, you would have to be total idiot to compare a terrorist act that specifically targeted non-combatants to a military action to deal with a country that has A) Weapons of Mass Destruction B) Terrorist Ties and C) An opressed and victimized people.

Diane Sawyer: “I read this morning that he's also said the love that the Iraqis have for him is so much greater than anything Americans feel for their President because he's been loved for 35 years, he says, the whole 35 years.”
Dan Harris in Baghdad: “He is one to point out quite frequently that he is part of a historical trend in this country of restoring Iraq to its greatness, its historical greatness. He points out frequently that he was elected with a hundred percent margin recently.”
-- Exchange on ABC's Good Morning America, March 7.”

“Within the United States there is growing challenge to President Bush about the conduct of the war and also opposition to the war. So our reports about civilian casualties here...help those who oppose the war....” “Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces....And I personally do not understand how that happened, because I’ve been here many times and in my commentaries on television I would tell the Americans about the determination of the Iraqi forces, the determination of the government, and the willingness to fight for their country. But me, and others who felt the same way, were not listened to by the Bush administration....” “Now America is re-appraising the battlefield, delaying the war, maybe a week, and re-writing the war plan. The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance now they are trying to write another war plan.”
-- NBC/MSNBC/National Geographic Explorer correspondent Peter Arnett’s comments on Iraq’s state-controlled television, March 30.

Your ass got canned like tuna, Arnett! Face!

“With every passing day, it is more evident that the failure to obtain permission from Turkey for American troops to cross its territory and open a northern front constituted a diplomatic debacle. With every passing day, it is more evident that the allies made two gross military misjudgments in concluding that coalition forces could safely bypass Basra and Nasiriya and that Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq would rise up against Saddam Hussein. Already, the commander of American ground forces in the war zone has conceded that the war that they are fighting is not the one they and their officers had foreseen. 'Shock and awe’ neither shocked nor awed.”
-- R. W. Apple, Jr., in a March 30 news analysis in the New York Times.

OOOPS! Guess you were completely wrong R.W. !

John McWethy: “As the U.S. begins to really squeeze Baghdad, U.S. intelligence sources are saying that some of Saddam Hussein’s toughest security forces are now apparently digging in, apparently willing to defend their city block by block. This could be, Peter, a long war.”
Peter Jennings: “As many people had anticipated.”
-- ABC’s World News Tonight, April 4.

Vice President Cheney was ripped by Newsweek after telling Meet the Press ‘We will be greeted as liberators.’ Newsweek called it an arrogant blunder for the ages.”

Looks like Cheney was right on the money and Newsweek was a bit confused.

“Given that level of fight that has been seen in the Iraqis...does the President have any judgment as to whether these aren’t just soldiers who are being terrorized to fight, and not just essentially gangsters who are loyal to Saddam, but these are Iraqis who believe they are acting as patriots defending their country from an invasion?”
-- ABC’s Terry Moran questioning White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer at a televised briefing on March 28.

You mean the "patriots" who use women and children as human shields, Terry? Pray you never meet me face to face, chump.



I couldn't resist some of my own commentary. I must admit my support for the liberation of Iraq has been completely and totally vindicated. It feels good. Are there still problems in Iraq? Of course, but the real military presence of Iraq, alongside statues of Saddam, have been demolished. The bias of the left wingers in the press particularly on the networks and CNN not to mention Arnett's comments on Iraqi State TV prove that these people are biased out of touch and desperately trying to pass their agendas off as commentary and their political slant as journalism.

Posted 12:02 AM by Steve
Liberation Update

Voices of freedom are rising across Iraq. News accounts show liberated Iraqis welcoming American and coalition troops. Their voices have been silenced for too long, but now they are beginning to be heard inside Iraq and around the world.

VOICES OF FREEDOM

“Smiling citizens crowded every street around the American positions. There was a constant stream of people willing to give information and loudly condemn Saddam. American soldiers who a day before had been in close combat were now basking in the cheers and applause, their arms tired from returning friendly waves.”
Time, 4-14-03
“There were women and children in the crowds, but only the men did any talking. They would say the word Saddam and spit. Or run up to U.S. soldiers and shout 'George Bush good.'”
Time, 4-14-03

“The American people, particularly the movie stars against us being here, need to see this. These people need us. Look how happy they are.”
Sergeant Reuben Rivera in Iraq, Time, 4-14-03

“It confirms why we're here. This regime, all it does is honor itself. They build these huge lavish living quarters for the select few, but the rest of the country lives dirt-poor.”
Lt. Col. Rock Marcone, USA Today, 4-8-03

“The unit's interpreter, Khuder al-Emiri, is a local hero, a guerrilla leader who was forced to flee… in April 1991 after leading a failed uprising against Saddam Hussein. Word of Mr. Emiri's arrival spread through town by way of children's feet. Their hero was with the Americans and the crowd believed the marines' intentions were good. They began to chant in English. 'Stay! Stay! U.S.A.!'”
New York Times, 4-8-03

“The euphoria nearly spilled over into a riot. Children pulled at the marines, jumped on their trucks, wanting to shake their hands, touch their cheeks. A single chicken hung in the butcher's window and still the residents wanted to give the Americans something, anything. Cigarette? Money?”
New York Times, 4-8-03

“You are owed a favor from the Iraqis. We dedicate our loyalty to the Americans and the British. We are friends."
Iraqi Ibrahim Shouqyk to Marines, New York Times, 4-8-03

“For years we have lived oppressed lives here. Sunday was a day we had prayed for and now we are free of Saddam’s rule.”
Qusay Rawah, a student in Basra, Daily Mirror, 4-8-03

“The whole Iraq will be happy if the news about Saddam’s death is confirmed.”
Hussein Al-Rekabi, Iraqi exile of 30 years now in Kuwait, Arab News, 4-8-03

“For some, it was a day to hand flowers to British soldiers stationed in armored vehicles at a traffic circle or to gawk at British troops patrolling the city on foot beside their armored vehicles. For others, it was a day to vent rage at icons of the former authority.”
Washington Post, 4-8-03

"'Ameericaah?' a little girl asked a Marine who had entered her village and taken a defensive position as others began to search homes. The streets were deserted. People peered around their gates. The Marine smiled, wiggled his fingers in the girl's direction and her fear - and that of the rest of the townspeople - melted. Within minutes people had left their houses and began to shake hands with the Marines. Liberation from the strictures of the regime of...Saddam Hussein had come for a nameless village just a few miles from downtown Baghdad."
United Press International, 4-7-03

"The reception that we received by the Iraqis have been mainly positive. Many children have come up to me wanting to hold my hand. Many of the British troops have been kissed by the children as they’ve gone by. Now, a few people have motioned to go back or to leave but they’re certainly in the minority."
Travis Fox, washingtonpost.com, 4-7-03

“The Marines here are still concerned some Iraqi fighters remain. ‘Keep away from the area,’ scream the loud speakers in Arabic. ‘It is for your security. The coalition forces will not hesitate to shoot you.’ But hundreds ignored that, surging forward to greet the Marines with an emotional celebration in this predominantly Shia Muslim town.”
CNN Correspondent Bob Franken, 4-7-03

"The closer the marines got to Baghdad, the warmer their reception. Troops soon encountered cheering crowds, with some people giving the thumbs-up sign. ‘You go to Baghdad, and then I am free,’ an Iraqi man told one soldier."
U.S. News and World Report, 4-14-03

"We shall never forget what the coalition has done for our people. A free Iraq shall be a living monument to our people's friendship with its liberators."
Hojat al-Islam Abdel Majid al-Khoi, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03



“When some (Iraqi paramilitaries) fled, civilians from the nearby Shia Flats slum poured onto the streets in support of the British attack. Some shouted and cheered, greeting the British soldiers with waves, thumbs up and smiles. Other surrounded and attacked the fleeing Fedayeen Saddam forces.”
Washington Times, 4-7-03

“Believers (should) not to hinder the forces of liberation, and help bring this war against the tyrant to a successful end for the Iraqi people…. Our people need freedom more than air (to breathe). Iraq has suffered, and it deserves better government."
Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03

“The cool, cement walls were welcome relief from the blistering afternoon heat. The colonel walked across a worn rug and sat at the far end of the room, next to the community patriarch, an old man who stayed mostly silent. The patriarch's eldest son, 63-year-old Said Brahim, served as ambassador. ‘We are so happy to see the Americans forces,’ Mr. Brahim told a Marine translator.”
Detroit News, 4-7-03

“Hundreds of people poured out to welcome and shake hands with the soldiers. Women in chadors hovered in the background, as soldiers talked and joked with civilians and let some boys look through their gunsights. A jubilant crowd of about 100 Iraqis surrounded two British tanks near a Saddam mural and cheered the soldiers inside, giving one soldier a small bunch of yellow flowers.”
Associated Press, 4-7-03

"Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani is...the undisputed A'alam al-ulema (the most learned of the learned) of the mullahs who minister to the religious needs of Shiites, 60 percent of Iraq's population. This week he will resume lectures, banned by the Saddam regime for seven years, at the oldest Shiite seminary.



"As dusk fell yesterday evening, only a small girl dressed in rags could be seen on the streets of Jazirah al-Hari. She approached a [British] tank standing guard at one end of the village, and said: 'My parents will not come, but we need water.' The tank driver leant down and gave her a bottle of water. 'This is why we've come, isn't it?' he said."
The Daily Telegraph (UK), 4-1-03

"U.S. troops [are] getting a very warm welcome from the local Shia population. Now naturally, the Shiites...have no love lost for the Iraqi leader President Saddam Hussein. They have been very repressed by him in the past. And obviously...what they believe to be a continuous presence that they can count on, interest from the U.S. troops is something that they are quite happy to see."
Ryan Chilcote, CNN correspondent, 4-2-03

"Hundreds of Iraqis shouting 'Welcome to Iraq' greeted U.S. Marines who entered the town of Shatra....'There's no problem here. We are happy to see Americans,' one young man shouted. The welcome was a tonic for soldiers who have not always received a warm reception despite the confidence of U.S. and British leaders that the Iraqi people were waiting to be freed from Saddam Hussein's repression. 'It's not every day you get to liberate people,' said one delighted Marine."
The Independent (UK), 4-1-03

"'Saddam has given us nothing, only suffering,' said Khalid Juwad, with his cousin, Raad, nodding in assent. Mr. Juwad said he had four uncles who were in Hussein's jails, and he said he had deserted from the Iraqi Army three times in recent years. 'If the Americans want to get rid of Saddam, that's O.K. with me,' he said. 'The only thing that would bother me is if they don't finish the job. Then Saddam will come back, like he did in 1991.'"
New York Times, 3-31-03

We've been waiting for you for 10 years. What took you so long?’ said an Iraqi man who, along with more than 500 others, surrendered near the Rumaila oil fields. Many had written such phrases as ‘U.S.A. O.K.’ on their arms or hands. Some even tried to kiss the hands of the nervous young Marines guarding them.”
Newsday, 3-24-03

“Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under the Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian’s Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. ‘You just arrived,’ he said. ‘You're late. What took you so long? God help you become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand. We came out of the grave.’”
The Guardian, 3-22-03

“As Iraqi Americans reach out to their relatives in Baghdad and Basra, in Kirkuk and Irbil, some are hearing words they never thought possible: Iraqis are speaking ill of Saddam Hussein. They're criticizing him out loud, on the telephone, seemingly undeterred by fear of the Iraqi intelligence service and its tactics of torture for those disloyal to the Baath Party regime. ‘I was shocked,’ said Zainab Al-Suwaij, executive director of the American Islamic Congress, a nonprofit group in Cambridge, Mass., that promotes interfaith and interethnic understanding. ‘It's very dangerous. All the phones are tapped. But they are so excited.’”
Los Angeles Times, 3-24-03

“’Me and my husband, an old man, have to stay at home because we are afraid. We want the American government to remove Saddam Hussein from power and kick these soldiers out of these hills.’”
Fatma Omar, San Francisco Chronicle, 3-24-03

“‘We're very happy. Saddam Hussein is no good. Saddam Hussein a butcher.’”
Abdullah (only identification available), as he welcomed U.S. troops in Iraq
Associated Press, 3-21-03

“I have been waiting for this for 13 years. I hate him more than American government because I told you the Iraq government killed many people from Iraq. They just put (my brother) in jail for a year. After this, they killed him because he don't want to go to the army because his brother is American citizen, and his brother lives in United State.”
Ayid Alsultani, WFIE-14 television station in Evansville, Indiana, 3-24-03

“‘(The trip) had shocked me back to reality.’ (Some Iraqis) told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head.”
Kenneth Joseph, anti-war demonstrator who traveled to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers, UPI, 3-21-03

“I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. ‘Don't you listen to Powell on Voice of America radio?’ he said. ‘Of course the Americans don't want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam's palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam.’ … The driver's most emphatic statement was: ‘All Iraqi people want this war.’… Perhaps the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we explained that this was categorically not the case, I don't think he believed us. Later he asked me: ‘Really, how much did Saddam pay you to come?’” Daniel Pepper in an article “I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam,”
Sunday Telegraph, 3-23-2003

“As US forces push deep into Iraq, farmers and remote villagers are greeting them with white flags and waves. But the ground forces, backed by massive artillery and air support, are encountering pockets of resistance from Iraq's military. One man, about 30, yesterday ran from a field towards a US convoy shouting insults about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Other men and boys stood in fields waving white flags. In keeping with the local Muslim custom, no girls or women appeared from their houses.”
Lindsay Murdoch in southern Iraq, The Sun-Herald, 3-23-2003

“….The return of the Americans to Safwan was also an occasion for hope, even if mixed with wariness. ‘Saddam finished!’ shouted another young [Iraqi] man, who gave his name as Fares. ‘Americans are here now.’ His friend, Shebah, added, in broken English, ‘Saddam killed people.’”
Washington Post, 3-23-03

“Coming into Basra as part of a massive military convoy, I encountered a stream of young men, dressed in what appeared to be Iraqi army uniforms, applauding the US marines as they swept past in tanks.”
BBC reporter, 3-22-03

"Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under the Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian's Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. 'You just arrived,' he said. 'You're late. What took you so long? God help you become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand. We came out of the grave.'"
The Guadian, 3-22-03

“As hundreds of coalition troops swept in just after dawn, the heartache of a town that felt the hardest edges of Saddam Hussein's rule seemed to burst forth, with villagers running into the streets to celebrate in a kind of grim ecstasy, laughing and weeping in long guttural cries.

“‘Oooooo, peace be upon you, peace be upon you, peace you, oooooo,’ Zahra Khafi, a 68-year-old mother of five, cried to a group of American and British visitors who came to the town shortly after Mr. Hussein's army appeared to melt away. ‘I'm not afraid of Saddam anymore.’”
New York Times, 3-22-03

"We've been driving since dawn today in southern Iraq, and so far we've come across scores of Bedouin herdsmen. We've been greeted by friendly greetings of ‘inshallah’ and ‘salaam aleikum’…we've seen both women and men waving greetings and shouting greeting to the U.S. troops.”
Radio Free Europe correspondent Ron Synovitz, 3-21-03

"They told me that Saddam Hussein is not allowing anyone to leave Baghdad. I don't fear the Americans. I was in Baghdad in the war in 1991 and I saw how surgical an operation it was. Saddam Hussein has persecuted everyone except his own family. Kurds, Arab Shiites, Turkoman - everybody has suffered. But our country was a rich country and we can be rich again.'”
Financial Times Information, 3-21-03

"These are US Marines being greeted if not with garlands, with hand shakes by residents of the town in the deep-south corner of Iraq.”
CBS News, 3-21-03

"One little boy, who had chocolate melted all over his face after a soldier gave him some treats from his ration kit, kept pointing at the sky, saying 'Ameriki, Ameriki.'"
Associated Press, 3-21-03

"Milling crowds of men and boys watched as the Marines attached ropes on the front of their Jeeps to one portrait and then backed up, peeling the Iraqi leader's black-and-white metal image off a frame. Some locals briefly joined Maj. David 'Bull' Gurfein in a new cheer. 'Iraqis! Iraqis! Iraqis!' Gurfein yelled, pumping his fist in the air...

"....A few men and boys ventured out, putting makeshift white flags on their pickup trucks or waving white T-shirts out truck windows....'Americans very good,' Ali Khemy said. 'Iraq wants to be free. Some chanted, 'Ameriki! Ameriki!'

"Gurfein playfully traded pats with a disabled man and turned down a dinner invitation from townspeople. 'Friend, friend,' he told them in Arabic learned in the first Gulf War.

"'No Saddam Hussein!' one young man in headscarf told Gurfein. 'Bush!'"
Associated Press, 3-21-03

"Iraqi citizens were shown 'tearing down a poster of Saddam Hussein' and Dexter Filkins of The New York Times was interviewed, saying that Iraqis he had seen were 'hugging and kissing every American they could find.'"
NBC Nightly News, 3-21-03

"Here was a chance to stop and I clambered down, eager to get a first word from an Iraqi of what he thought of this whole affair. 'As salaam alekum,' I said in the traditional greeting, then ran out of Arabic and quickly added, 'Do you speak English?' No go. But with a fumbled exchange of gestures we slowly managed to communicate. Thumbs up for the American tanks, thumbs down for Saddam Hussein. Then he pointed north into the distance and said 'Baghdad.'"
Reuters, 3-21-03

"A line of dancing Kurdish men, staring directly into the mouth of the Iraqi guns less than a mile away, defiantly burned tires, sang traditional new years songs and chanted, 'Topple Saddam.'

"March 21 is the Kurdish New Year....And bonfires have long been a symbol of liberation in this part of the world. 'We're celebrating [Nawroz] a national holiday,' said Samad Abdulla Rahim, 22. 'But today we also celebrate the attack on Saddam.'

"Many expressed hope that deadly fire would light the night sky over Baghdad in the days ahead, bringing an end to the Kurd's epic 30-year struggle against Hussein and his Baath Party. 'I can't wait for the U.S. planes to come and liberate Kirkuk,' said Shahab Ahmed Sherif, a 33-year-old Kurd who had fled the oil-rich city four days earlier."
Copley News Service, 3-21-03

Unidentified Iraqi man: "Help us live better than this life. Let us have freedom."
ABC World News Tonight, 3-21-03

Posted 11:48 PM by Steve
'So much fury, so much resentment of Saddam'
From PAUL THOMPSON
in Baghdad


TWENTY-FOUR terrible years of tyranny, cruelty and oppression came crashing to an end yesterday as statues of Saddam Hussein were torn down across Baghdad.

In amazing scenes reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, crowds of jubilant Iraqis whooped and cheered as one huge effigy was tugged off its concrete plinth.

Freed at last from Saddam’s regime of terror and torture, they leaped on the 20ft bronze figure the moment it hit the ground.

Then they danced furiously on the tyrant’s “corpse”.

The downing of the statue was the climax of a historic day as Baghdad was liberated by Allied troops.

Thousands of young people who have known only the dictatorship of Saddam saw it as a new dawn — calling it the first day of their lives.


Watching Iraqis gave victory signs, cried “Saddam is God’s enemy” and hailed the US President by chanting “Good, good Bush”.

They also hurled shoes at the statue in a dramatic display of hatred for the dictator.

It was a deeply symbolic act. Showing the sole of your foot is a sign of contempt in the region as it is considered one of the dirtiest parts of the body.

The toppling of the statue came at 3.49pm our time — 20 days, 13 hours and 15 minutes after the Allies launched the war.

The scenes of joy were repeated at Arbil in the north, where people realised they were at long last free from Saddam’s control as his militiamen fled US and Kurdish forces.

The eruption of unfettered elation proved doubters who opposed the war were WRONG.


And the ecstatic faces of millions of Iraqis showed George Bush, Tony Blair and Allied commanders were RIGHT to take on and topple Saddam.

Even Iraq’s ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Al-Douri, ushered in a new era by admitting last night: “The game is over. The war is over. I have no communication with Saddam.”

And at US Central Command in Qatar, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said: “I think we are at a tipping point where for the population there is a broader recognition this regime is coming to an end.”

But the sense of supreme achievement came against a backdrop of warnings from Coalition commanders that the fighting was NOT over — and enduring sorrow over those who have lost their lives.

Even as delirious Iraqis danced in the streets of the capital, battles raged around them.

Marines fought militiamen armed with rockets at Baghdad University.

And diehard snipers took pot-shots at passing Allied soldiers.

Saddam’s whereabouts were unknown last night.

There was renewed speculation he may have been killed as he met cronies in a Baghdad restaurant bombed by a US plane on Monday.

But British intelligence agents in the city believe he could have fled with sons Qusay and Uday to Tikrit, his home town north of the capital.

Other rumours had him hiding in the Russian embassy in Baghdad.

Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iraqis left their homes to salute American convoys as they rolled into the city centre with little opposition.

Excited crowds blew kisses at soldiers, yelled out in broken English and waved shirts above their heads.

News spread like wildfire that Saddam’s iron-fisted regime had just melted away overnight.

Government officials and the police vanished into thin air. State minders left journalists to their own devices.

And finally, with a spectacular release of emotion, the people of Baghdad felt able to overcome their fear of Saddam and his evil lieutenants.

Posters of the dictator were spat on, torn down and ripped apart across the city.

Looters rushed into government buildings, stripping offices of furniture, fixtures and even sheets of paper.

Shops were also plundered by mobs who ran off with everything from microwave ovens to bunches of plastic flowers.

Throngs of people gathered at crossroads to welcome the troops.

US tanks rolled up outside the Palestine Hotel, where newsmen from around the world have been based during the conflict.

Sky News reporter David Chater said: “The pincers have closed on the heart of Baghdad.

“It is an extraordinary sight and a very welcome one.”

Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis said: “It’s like Iraqi tanks pulling up on Fifth Avenue in New York or Piccadilly Circus in London. The fall of Baghdad is complete.”

Amid a party atmosphere in the city’s Firdos Square, Marines took off their helmets and put on sun hats.

Grateful Iraqis picked yellow flowers and handed them to soldiers as symbolic gifts.

Mobbed Marine Corporal Steven Harris said: “This is just great — it’s what the Iraqi people have been waiting for for so many years.

“At first when we started to roll we thought this would be the battle we were waiting for.

“But we kept pushing forwards and didn’t get any resistance. So we just kept on rolling and hit the centre. We are still on alert but it is such a big relief for us, and even more so for the Iraqi people. They’ve been liberated.

“I was surrounded by children wanting to talk to me. There was a lot of jubilation.”

The bronze Saddam statue quickly became the focus of the liberation.

Groups of young Iraqi men ran to the square to try to topple it.

They climbed the column and tied a heavy rope around the effigy’s neck, then hurled rocks and stones at Saddam’s face.

One huge man took swipes at the plinth with a sledgehammer, sending out a shower of concrete lumps.

Others snatched the hammer to take a turn at battering the statue — unveiled a year ago to mark Saddam’s 65th birthday.

Newsman Chater said: “They are celebrating their freedom with the lynching of Saddam Hussein. There is so much fury, so much resentment, so many years when they have not been able to say what they wanted.

“Everyone wants a go with the sledgehammer.”

The Marine recovery vehicle rumbled into the square at 3.08pm our time to help with the demolition job.

Another rope was attached to the head but broke when the Americans pulled it by using their vehicle like a tow truck.

One soldier climbed up its extending A-frame to place a US flag on Saddam’s face.

But it was quickly removed on the orders of commanders desperate to make Iraqis understand they were being liberated, not conquered.

The Stars and Stripes was replaced by an Iraqi flag. But that, too, was soon whipped away.

The Marines then put the chain in place and tugged again.
This time the hollow five-ton effigy gave way and leaned forwards.

It tumbled to a horizontal position, then stayed there for a moment until one more pull snapped it at the heels and sent it crashing to the ground.

Some Iraqis immediately threw rubbish at it — and beat it with sticks and stones.

Many could contain their emotions no longer.

Corporal Joshua Keyes was hugged and kissed by Iraqi women and MEN alike.

Laughing, the 22-year-old soldier asked the men: “Hey guys, are you sure this is OK?”

One replied: “Thank you, thank you. We are free at last. Saddam is gone. He can’t hurt us any more.”

The statue vanished under a sea of bitter Iraqis. Soon, its head was broken off and dragged through the streets on a rope.

Millions saw the drama unfold on TV — including Tony Blair, who watched in 10 Downing Street.

His official spokesman said: “We are delighted at what we are seeing in the reaction on the ground.

“It shows what ordinary people thought of Saddam and just how much of a burden his rule has placed on them.

“We have seen today the scales of fear falling from the people of Iraq.”

George Bush watched early attempts to fell the statue with White House aides in a room near the Oval Office.

But he missed the historic moment when it toppled as he had to attend a meeting with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Slovak President Rudolf Schuster.

He glimpsed a recording as he left the meeting — and exclaimed: “They got it down.”

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr Bush had been “moved” by the celebrations of the Iraqis, some of whom waved posters of the President.

Posted 11:44 PM by Steve
Arabs Shocked, Relieved at Baghdad's Fall

By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The fall of Baghdad provoked shock and disbelief Wednesday among Arabs, who expressed hope that other oppressive regimes would crumble.

"We discovered that all what the (Iraqi) information minister was saying was all lies," said Ali Hassan, a government employee in Cairo, Egypt. "Now no one believes Al-Jazeera anymore."

Tannous Basil, a 47-year-old cardiologist in Sidon, Lebanon, said Saddam's regime was a "dictatorship and had to go."


"I don't like the idea of having the Americans here, but we asked for it," he said. "Why don't we see the Americans going to Finland, for example? They come here because our area is filled with dictatorships like Saddam's."


Tarek al-Absi, a Yemeni university professor, was hopeful Saddam's end presaged more democracy in the region.


"This is a message for the Arab regimes, and could be the beginning of transformation in the Arab region," al-Absi said. "Without the honest help of the Western nations, the reforms will not take place in these countries."

Many viewers were shocked by the fall of Baghdad, but claimed they were against Saddam and felt sorry for the long-suffering Iraqis.

Posted 11:37 PM by Steve
The most beautiful moments of today's liberation:

1. 5 ton Statue of Saddam ripped off it's foundation and spat upon, and beaten by free Iraqis.

2. head of Saddam statue dragged down the street while Iraqi children kicked it and rode it.

3. Iraqi receiving food and water from coalition forces.

4. Two Iraqis marched down Baghdad's main street holding a banner that said: "US HUMAN SHIELDS: GO HOME YOU WANKERS!

Posted 11:53 PM by Steve
Oh so you're "against the war"?

Then let's see what you are for:

1.You support the opression of the Iraqi people. You are in favor of kidnapping, beatings, torture, rape and murder. All without fair trial.
2.You just love the little Iraqi CHILDREN being locked up. The little bastards deserve it, right?
3.You think that chemical weapons in the hands of a despot with terrorist ties is "giving peace a chance".
4.You are under the impression that nerve gas at a military training camp Albu Mahawish, on the Euphrates river is inspections that are "working".
5. You think it's right that the Feyadeen shoot fleeing Iraqi women and children to discourage surrender to coalition troops.
6. You think egomaniacal tyrants should have plenty of time and resources to develop weapons of mass destruction.
7. You think dissent and freedom of speech is a good thing as long as you don't have to lift a finger to defend it. Dissent and freedom of speech is for you and you alone, not for any filthy Iraqi.

Posted 11:17 PM by Steve
U.S. Finds Missiles with Chemical Weapons

WASHINGTON - Coalition forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public Radio reported on Monday.
NPR, which attributed the report to a top official with the 1st Marine Division, said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire." It quoted the source as saying new U.S. intelligence data showed the chemicals were "not just trace elements."

It said the cache was discovered by Marines with the 101st Airborne Division, which was following up behind the Army after it seized Baghdad's international airport.

U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar had no immediate comment.

The United States and Britain launched the war against Iraq to rid the country of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies having such weapons.

Posted 10:56 AM by Steve
Jailed Iraqi children run free as marines roll into Baghdad suburbs




BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 100 children held in a prison celebrated their freedom as US marines rolled into northeast Baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians loot weapons from an army compound, a US officer said.

Around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a US military Humvee vehicle approached, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla told an AFP correspondent travelling with the Marines 5th Regiment.


"Hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," Padilla said.


"There were parents running up, so happy to have their kids back."


"The children had been imprisoned because they had not joined the youth branch of the Baath party," he alleged. "Some of these kids had been in there for five years."


The children, who were wearing threadbare clothes and looked under-nourished, walked on the streets crossing their hands as if to mimic handcuffs, before giving the thumbs up sign and shouting their thanks.

Civilians also took advantage of the collapse of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s authority to grab weapons from an army base, said Group Sergeant Jeff Treiber.



But his friend, Abdul Amir Jaffa, said he did not resent the Americans despite the shooting.


"Americans are coming to free us," he told AFP.


The marines became increasingly edgy as crowds of people took to the streets to observe their progress.

"It's a problem with so many people in the area. Its hard to tell if there are enemy forces among them. You have to be careful returning fire with civilians all over the place," Lieutenant Anthony Sousa said.

Troops from the Marines' 1st Expeditionary Force also entered Baghdad on the east of the city Tuesday as thousands of armoured vehicles and Humvees poured into the capital for a showdown with Saddam Hussein's troops.

Posted 11:45 AM by Steve
FYI update, now the reports of possible Sarin nerve gas being found in Iraq are being changed. Now it is being claimed the material is a pesticide. It should be noted that Sarin was invented in the 1930's by German scientists seeking stronger pesticides.

Posted 11:39 AM by Steve
Compound evacuated; troops show symptoms

Knight Ridder News Service

Albu Muhawish, Iraq - U.S. soldiers evacuated an Iraqi military compound on Sunday after tests by a mobile laboratory confirmed evidence of sarin nerve gas. More than a dozen soldiers of the Army's 101st Airborne Division had been sent earlier for chemical weapon decontamination after they exhibited symptoms of exposure to nerve agents.

The evacuation of dozens of soldiers Sunday night followed a day of tests for the nerve agent that came back positive, then negative. Additional tests Sunday night by an Army Fox mobile nuclear, biological and chemical detection laboratory confirmed the existence of sarin.

Sgt. Todd Ruggles, a biochemical expert attached to the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne said, "I was right" that chemical agents Iraq has denied having were present.

In addition to the soldiers sent for decontamination, a Knight Ridder reporter, a CNN cameraman and two Iraqi prisoners of war also were hosed down with water and bleach.

U.S. soldiers found the suspect chemicals at two sites: an agricultural warehouse containing 55-gallon chemical drums and a military compound, which soldiers had begun searching Saturday. The soldiers also found hundreds of gas masks and chemical suits at the military complex, along with large numbers of mortar and artillery rounds.

Chemical tests for nerve agents in the warehouse came back positive for so-called G-Series nerve agents, which include sarin and Tabun, both of which Iraq has been known to possess. More than a dozen infantry soldiers who guarded the military compound Saturday night came down with symptoms consistent with exposure to very low levels of nerve agent, including vomiting, dizziness and skin blotches.

A hand-held scanning device also indicated that the soldiers had been exposed to a nerve agent. Two tests were negative, but further testing indicated sarin was present.

Sarin can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin and is considered one of the most feared but also the most volatile of the nerve agents. A cloud of sarin can dissipate after several minutes or hours depending on wind and temperature.

The soldiers, journalists and prisoners of war who tested positive were isolated as everyone else evacuated the area. After about 45 minutes, the group was walked, single-file, down a road for about a city block to where two water trucks awaited them. The men stepped between the two trucks and were hosed down as they lathered themselves with a detergent containing bleach.

1st Lt. Elena Aravjo of the 63rd Chemical Company said she thought there might well be chemical weapons at the site. "We do think there's stuff in this compound and the other (agricultural warehouse) compound, but we think it's buried," she said. "I'm really suspicious of both of those compounds."

The suspicions were widespread. The 2nd Brigade's commander, Col. Joseph Anderson, toured the site on Sunday, as did Brig. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, assistant commander of the 101st Airborne for operations. A short time later, the division commander, Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, also visited the site. They made no official comment about suspected nerve agents.

Troops not wearing chemical protection suits later reoccupied the military complex, while sections of the agricultural warehouse remained taped off.

Posted 11:19 AM by Steve
Early Tests Suggest Weapon 'Cocktail' Found in Iraq
Updated 1:19 PM ET April 7, 2003


KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Preliminary tests on substances found at a military training camp in central Iraq suggest they contain a cocktail of banned chemical weapons, including deadly nerve agents, U.S. officers said on Monday.

Maj. Michael Hamlet of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division said the initial tests revealed levels of nerve agents sarin and tabun and the blister agent lewisite, Reuters correspondent Kieran Murray reported from a U.S. military post at Kerbala.

Hamlet said a team of experts would carry out further tests as early as Tuesday on the substances, discovered at the camp in Albu Mahawish, on the Euphrates river between the central Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Hilla, site of ancient Babylon.

"If tests from our experts confirm this, this could be the smoking gun. It would prove (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) has the weapons we have said he has all along," Hamlet said. "But right now we just don't know."

The United States invaded Iraq on March 20 to overthrow Saddam and prevent him using banned chemical weapons. Many other members of the United Nations opposed the attack, saying U.N. inspectors should be given more time to disarm Iraq.

Posted 12:06 AM by Steve
Fascinating website:

www.freetheworld.com

Posted 11:31 PM by Steve
There are three major factors why the United States is using military force in Iraq. I defy anyone to find these ALL of these three factors in any other nation on the planet.
1. State sponsorship of terrorism. Looking at the issue as a spectrum, on one side Iraq pulls all the terrorist strings and directly orders attacks. No one, not even the Bush administration has made these sorts of claims. On the other extreme end of the spectrum, Iraq is completely blameless for Islamic terrorism. No one, not even the most hardened anti-war “one-world” socialist have the gall to believe this. The fact is that Iraq engages in some level of state sponsorship of terrorism. Beyond the praise and financial support Iraq offers to the Palestinian terrorist bombers, several sites within Iraq are known as training camps for terrorists. Al-Queda terrorists reportedly had a special barracks at the Salman Pak terrorist training camp south of Baghdad. Mohammed Atta flew halfway across the world to meet with a high level Iraqi operative in Europe four months prior to the attacks of 9/11. Atta flew to Prague not once but twice because of problems with his papers. The Iraqi operative subsequently lost his diplomatic cover and was expelled from the Czech Republic. Refuge, weapons, training, and logistical support provided to terrorists amount to state sponsorship.

2. Weapons of Mass Destruction. Iraq has them and has used them. In using nerve and mustard agents to kill thousands of Iranians and Kurds in Halabja and other villages, Saddam Hussein has proven how ruthless and evil he can be. Many anti-war protesters claim, without offering a shred of evidence, that the United States somehow provided these weapons or sanctioned their use. Some history: Prior to the hostage crisis and the death of the Shah in Iran, the United States was clearly closer to Iran and saw it as a strategically valuable ally. The Soviet Union and France provided Iraq with weaponry. With the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran became the enemy of both the Soviet Union and the United States. In an unpredictable world, the realities of world politics has required the United States to deal with dictators we would ordinarily have nothing to do with. In WWII, the United States teamed with Stalin to defeat the Third Reich. Given the choice between uncompromising theocrats or corrupt moderns, the United States tries to choose the lesser of two evils. In most cases it is the right choice. The history of atrocities in the 20th century by Absolutist regimes is replete with 119,000,000 murders. The United States saves lives when it engages in wars against Absolutist regimes.



3. Iraq’s human rights conditions. President Clinton didn’t have any subversive economic strategy behind the use of military force in Kosovo. His goal was to oust the war criminal Slobodon Milosevich. He proceeded without any UN resolutions and without congressional approval to bomb for 77 days. President Clinton justified his actions by pointing out the genocidal conditions in the Balkans. President Bush has a much easier case against Iraq. Not only does Bush have a UN resolution, he has congressional approval for his decision to use military action against Iraq. The current regime in Iraq is based on the Marxist principles of the Baath party. Dissent is not tolerated. Kidnappings, beatings, torture, rape and murder are common occurrences under Saddam Hussein. Although the U.N. sanctions on Iraq did not include food or medicine, the sanctions are routinely (and incorrectly) blamed for widespread starvation and lack of health care in Iraq. Baby formula shipped to Iraq is easily found on the black markets in other Middle-Eastern and African nations. Meanwhile, Saddam builds more palaces and finds enough money to purchase night-vision equipment and GPS jamming systems from Russia. Even now, as coalition forces fight to liberate Iraq, the last disgusting actions of Saddam's loyal Fedayeen is to fire upon fleeing civilians. Intentionally killing their own people who are just trying to find refuge and safety. Even now grisly mass graves are being discovered. Ther have been several reports of the families of Iraqi soldiers being threatened and soldiers being coerced into fighting.

The United States is leading a coalition force. Our allies consist of not only Great Britain and Australia, but Spain, Kuwait, Poland, Albania, Romania, Czech Republic, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Netherlands, Hungary Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda Iceland, Singapore, Mongolia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Palau, and Panama. Many other countries are also unnamed partners in the coalition. Some of these may be Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Belgium, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. It is colossally arrogant to believe that everyone in the world is opposes the war. If one were to listen to the networks, CNN, or National Public Radio one might come to the conclusion that most Americans are unsure about the war. This, when the latest CNN/Gallup numbers suggest that 71% of Americans support the liberation of Iraq. The liberal media, like the "Wizard of Oz" exposed, is trying to tell us to "pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain."

You want some hard economic factors to explain some of our allies widespread opposition?

France
France controls over 22.5 percent of Iraq’s imports. French total trade with Iraq under the oil-for-food program is the third largest, totaling $3.1 billion since 1996, according to the United Nations. In 2001 France became Iraq’s largest European trading partner.
Roughly 60 French companies do an estimated $1.5 billion in trade with Baghdad annually under the U.N. “Oil-for-Food” program.
France’s largest oil company, Total Fina Elf, has negotiated a deal to develop the Majnoon field in western Iraq. The Majnoon field purportedly contains up to 30 billion barrels of oil.
Total Fina Elf also negotiated a deal for future oil exploration in Iraq’s Nahr Umar field. Both the Majnoon and Nahr Umar fields are estimated to contain as much as 25 percent of the country’s reserves.
France’s Alcatel company, a major telecom firm, is negotiating a $76 million contract to rehabilitate Iraq’s telephone system.
From 1981 to 2001, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), France was responsible for over 13 percent of Iraq’s arms imports.



Germany
Direct trade between Germany and Iraq amounts to about $350 million annually, and another $1 billion is reportedly sold through third parties.
It has recently been reported that Saddam Hussein has ordered Iraqi domestic businesses to show preference to German companies as a reward for Germany’s “firm positive stand in rejecting the launching of a military attack against Iraq.” It was also reported that over 101 German companies were present at the Baghdad Annual exposition.
During the 35th Annual Baghdad International Fair in November 2002, a German company signed a contract for $80 million for 5,000 cars and spare parts.
In 2002, DaimlerChrysler was awarded over $13 million in contracts for German trucks and spare parts.
German officials are investigating a German corporation accused of illegally channeling weapons to Iraq via Jordan. The equipment in question is used for boring the barrels of large cannons and is allegedly intended for Saddam Hussein’s Al Fao Supercannon project.
Russia
Russia controls roughly 5.8 percent of Iraq’s annual imports. Under the U.N. “Oil-for-Food” program, Russia’s total trade with Iraq was somewhere between $530 million and $1 billion for the six months ending in December of 2001.
According to the Russian Ambassador to Iraq, Vladimir Titorenko, new contracts worth another $200 million under the U.N. “Oil-for-Food” program are to be signed over the next three months.
Soviet-era debt of $7 billion through $8 billion was generated by arms sales to Iraq during the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq war.
Russia’s LUKoil negotiated a $4 billion, 23-year contract in 1997 to rehabilitate the 15 billion-barrel West Qurna field in southern Iraq. Work on the oil field was expected to commence upon cancellation of U.N. sanctions on Iraq. The deal is currently on hold.
In October 2001, Salvneft, a Russian–Belarus company, negotiated a $52 million service contract to drill at the Tuba field in Southern Iraq.
In April 2001, Russia’s Zaruezhneft company received a service contract to drill in the Saddam, Kirkuk, and Bai Hassan fields to rehabilitate the fields and reduce water incursion.
A future $40 billion Iraqi–Russian economic agreement, reportedly signed in 2002, would allow for extensive oil exploration opportunities throughout western Iraq. The proposal calls for 67 new projects, over a 10-year time frame, to explore and further develop fields in southern Iraq and the Western Desert, including the Suba, Luhais, West Qurna, and Rumaila projects. Additional projects added to the deal include second-phase construction of a pipeline running from southern to northern Iraq, and extensive drilling and gas projects. Work on these projects would commence upon cancellation of sanctions.
Russia’s Gazprom company over the past few years has signed contracts worth $18 million to repair gas stations in Iraq.
The former Soviet Union was the premier supplier of Iraqi arms. From 1981 to 2001, Russia supplied Iraq with 50 percent of its arms.
China
China controls roughly 5.8 percent of Iraq’s annual imports. China National Oil Company, partnered with China North Industries Corp., negotiated a 22-year-long deal for future oil exploration in the Al Ahdab field in southern Iraq. In recent years, the Chinese Aero-Technology Import–Export Company (CATIC) has been contracted to sell “meteorological satellite” and “surface observation” equipment to Iraq. The U.N. “Oil-for-Food” program approved the contract. CATIC also won approval from the U.N. in July 2000 to sell $2 million worth of fiber optic cables. This and similar contracts approved were disguised as telecommunications gear. These cables can be used for secure data and communications links between national command and control centers and long-range search radar, targeting radar, and missile-launch units, according to U.S. officials. In addition, China National Electric Wire & Cable and China National Technical Import Telecommunications Equipment Company are believed to have sold Iraq $6 million and $15.5 million worth of communications equipment and other unspecified supplies, respectively.

China- continued:
According to a report from SIPRI, from 1981 to 2001, China was the second largest supplier of weapons and arms to Iraq, supplying over 18 percent of Iraq’s weapons imports.

Of course we can't ignore, as President Clinton did, the reality of dangers around the world. North Korea is developing more weapons. Iran is under the control of a radical theocrats. There is no separation between Church and State. Admittedly, the Shi’a in Iran are a slightly less extreme sect when compared with their Sunni counterparts in Al-Queda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Jamaat Islamiyya, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, the Islamic Army of Aden, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammed, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat and the Armed Islamic Group, Abu Sayyaf Group. However, a less extreme state-sponsor of terrorism is still a sponsor of terrorism. If Iran’s inclusion in the “axis of evil” was surprise to anyone they need to read a history book.