Slashdot Mirror
World of Ends
epeus writes "At World of Ends, Doc Searls and David Weinberger explain the End-to-End nature of the internet in terms so clear even your manager could understand them. 'The Internet isn't complicated. The Internet isn't a thing. It's an agreement. The Internet is stupid. Adding value to the Internet lowers its value.' and so forth."
OOOOoommmmmmmmmm...OOOommmmmmmmmmmmm - Ooooooommmmmmmmmmm
Oy, its time to go home :/
Iraq border fence cut - U.N.
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) --U.S. Marines have violated the demilitarized zone between Kuwait and Iraq in the past two days and several breaches in the electric border fence have been made, according to the United Nations.
The development comes as chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix prepares to report Friday to the Security Council on Iraqi disarmament efforts.
About 100,000 U.S. and British troops are in Kuwait preparing for a possible air and ground attack on Iraq to dismantle its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies it has any such weapons.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Thursday he had not yet decided whether to invade Iraq, but he added that U.N. Security Council members would decide in a matter of days whether they would join the United States in forcibly disarming the country. (Full story)
CNN's Martin Savidge in Kuwait City said the operations in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) could be scouting missions for any U.S. military action against Iraq.
CNN's Gordon Robison Friday reported from the edge of the DMZ that he witnessed two U.S. military Humvees pull several hundred meters into the zone and park. Robison said the occupants were upset that a CNN camera crew was present and videotaping them, and soon departed the area.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Thursday: "UNIKOM has reported numerous violations of the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait since the 4th of March by personnel in civilian clothes in 4X4 vehicles, at least some of whom were armed, and identified themselves as U.S. Marines."
U.S. military spokesmen in Kuwait had no immediate comment on the UNIKOM report, Reuters reported. The Kuwaiti mission to the U.N. said it was not aware of the story but downplayed its significance.
UNIKOM, the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission, was established in 1991 after a U.S.-led coalition ejected Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. Its job is to monitor the demilitarized zone and to "deter border violations and report any hostile action," according to the U.N.
Because of the activity, a U.N. official in Kuwait told CNN, UNIKOM forces inside the DMZ have requested permission to elevate their alert status from amber, which is level 2, to red, also known as level 3. At level 4, U.N. observers would be removed from the DMZ.
Wednesday, UNIKOM observed three breaches that had been cut in the electric fence erected by the government of Kuwait along the border with Iraq in a sector of the demilitarized zone, Eckhard said.
But according to the U.N. official in Kuwait, the Kuwaitis have opened between 10 and 15 gaps -- some up to 300 meters (328 yards) wide -- in the electrified fence inside the DMZ, and that marks for a total of about 30 have been made. The process began Wednesday and is ongoing, the official said.
Technically, if U.S. troops go through breaches in the demilitarized zone fence to enter Iraq from the south, they would be in violation of Security Council rules and it would be reported to the U.N.
By U.N. mandate, no military activity, other than police presence by Iraq and Kuwait, can take place in the DMZ.
U.S. officials said this scenario was not a problem, because if there is a war with Iraq, it would be a justified attack due to Iraq's treatment of Kuwait in the past and any possible mistreatment in the future.
The U.N. said if there is a violation of the demilitarized zone, it gets reported through a Kuwaiti liaison officer and a similar counterpart on the Iraqi side. The Security Council was informed of the incident Thursday.
Kuwaiti officials said there was construction under way on the Kuwaiti side of the demilitarized zone and it encroached on the fence, Eckhard said.
A spokesman for the Kuwaiti Defense Ministry told CNN while he had no comment on the reports of gaps in the fence, he claimed the structure is entirely within Kuwaiti territory, was constructed by Kuwait, and therefore any modifications to it by Kuwait would be legal.
-- CNN's Richard Roth, Martin Savidge and Liz Neisloss contributed to this report
Bush says he won't leave U.S. at Saddam's mercy
From John King
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has "no intention of disarming" and presents a direct threat to the United States that must be confronted -- with or without U.N. approval, President Bush said Thursday.
"The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow inaction will make the world safer, is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people," Bush said in his prime-time news conference.
"My job is to protect America, and that's what I'm going to do," he said. "I believe Saddam Hussein is a threat to the American people. I believe he's a threat to the neighborhood in which he lives.... I take the threat seriously, and I'll deal with the threat."
Bush stopped short of saying he's decided to take military action against Iraq, and said he still hopes a confrontation can be avoided. However, the president described diplomatic efforts to end the crisis as being in their "last phase," and at times he appeared openly skeptical that war could be averted.
"I wish that Saddam Hussein had listened to the demands of the world and disarmed. That was my hope," he said. "I hope we don't have to go to war. But if we go to war, we will disarm Iraq. And if we go to war, there will be a regime change."
"I know we'll prevail, and out of that disarmament of Saddam will come a better world, particularly for the people who live in Iraq."
Bush also said the United States will push next week for a vote on a new U.N. Security Council resolution, finding Iraq in breach of previous disarmament resolutions, even if it's clear there are not enough votes for it to pass.
"It's time for people to show their cards, let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam."
France, Russia and China, all permanent Security Council members with veto power, have expressed opposition to the resolution, along with Germany, a non-permanent council member. Administration officials had been hinting they might pull the resolution prior to a vote, rather than see it defeated.
Bush also made it clear that though the United States would prefer to work through the United Nations, he is ready and willing to take military action, even if the world body balks.
"I'm confident the American people understand that when it comes to our security, if we need to act, we will act. And we really don't need United Nations approval to do so," he said. "When it comes to our security, we really don't need anybody's permission."
But Bush also said that "when it's all said and done," the United States will have significant international support.
"If we have to use force, a lot of nations will be with us," he said.
The president expressed skepticism that giving U.N. weapons inspectors more time to do their work might lead to disarmament of Iraq, diffusing the crisis without war.
He said that while Saddam was allowing U.N. inspectors to destroy some missiles, the Iraqi president had ordered the production of new missiles. Bush also accused Iraqi operatives of moving biological and chemical agents around once or twice a day and even hiding them inside cars parked in residential neighborhoods to avoid detection.
"If the Iraqi regime were disarming, we would know it, because we would see it. Iraq's weapons would be presented to the inspectors, and the world would witness their destruction," he said. "Instead, with the world demanding disarmament, and more than 200,000 troops positioned near his country, Saddam Hussein's response is to produce a few weapons for show, while he hides the rest and builds even more."
"Inspection teams do not need more time or more personnel. All they need is what they have never received -- the full cooperation of the Iraqi regime."
On Friday, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix will report to the Security Council on the progress of the inspection process. Bush said Blix needs "to answer a single question -- has the Iraqi regime fully and unconditionally disarmed
Making his case for the danger Saddam poses to the American people, Bush said he believes Iraq could provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists wanting to attack the United States, as they did on September 11, 2001.
"The price of doing nothing exceeds the price of taking action if we have to," he said. "The cost of the attacks on America on September 11th were enormous. They were significant. And I'm not willing to take that chance again."
But he also reiterated statements made in a speech last week that he believes a post-Saddam Iraq, with democratic institutions, could "serve as a catalyst for change" in the Middle East.
The president said that U.N. inspectors, aid workers and journalists inside Iraq would be warned and given a change to leave before any military action begins.
Bush also praised the cooperative efforts that led to the recent capture of al Qaeda operations chief, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and said, "We must smoke these al Qaeda types out one at a time."
When asked about North Korea, he said he was concerned about the Communist country developing nuclear weapons because it may choose to use them or sell them to dictators who might use them "to impose their will on the world."
The president said the United Nations, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea were all discussing the matter and he was hopeful for a diplomatic solution.
Inspectors report, Britain readies amendment
Powell: Iraq in 'category of non-cooperation'
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) --Chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that they were making progress, need more time, and have found no smoking gun in terms of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Britain prepared to offer an amended resolution that could include a deadline for Saddam Hussein to come into full compliance with previous U.N. demands for full disarmament.
British Ambassador to the United Nations Jeremy Greenstock said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will propose the amendment to the resolution presented two weeks ago by the United States, Britain and Spain. Greenstock said it could set a date by which the disarmament must be completed under the terms of the resolution. He said such a deadline would be this month.
A U.N. Security Council diplomat said that the possibility of a 10-day deadline was being discussed, but added that this could change.
The new resolution could be brought to a vote within the Security Council between March 10 and March 14, the source said.
Blix, executive chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), told the council that inspectors have been given prompt access to Iraqi sites and have faced "relatively few difficulties." He said Iraq's cooperation could be a result of strong outside pressure.
ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the council that inspectors have found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons program.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was pleased to hear of some cooperation from the Iraqis, but "sorry" to hear that the cooperation had come grudgingly and "primarily under the threat of force."
"I still find what I've heard this morning in the category of non-cooperation," he told the U.N. Security Council Friday.
U.N. Resolution 1441 calls for full and immediate compliance, Powell said, "and we must hold Iraq to its terms."
Blix: Unresolved issues remain
Blix said that Iraq has not resolved all of the remaining issues regarding its weapons programs, and said that verifying Baghdad's disarmament would take time and that inspectors would need to remain once it was completed.
Blix also said that he hoped Iraq would be more forthcoming with documents and other evidence.
"Iraq, with a highly developed administrative system, should be able to provide more documentary evidence about its proscribed weapons programs," Blix said. "Only a few new such documents have come to light so far, and have been handed over since we began inspections."
He said Iraq has provided inspectors with names of people who took part in destruction of biological and chemical weapons in 1991, but that indicates it should have records.
Blix said that inspectors have not found any evidence of mobile or underground weapons facilities. He said Iraq is making a serious effort to quantify biological and chemical weapons destroyed in 1991, unearthing several complete bombs from a re-excavated site.
Blix added that Baghdad must also account for how much of the weapons were produced.
ElBaradei said inspectors have found no evidence that high-strength aluminum tubes and powerful magnets Iraq has purchased were intended for nuclear weapons production.
ElBaradei also said accusations that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger are "unfounded," and documents that allegedly proved it were faked.
He said that Iraqi scientists have agreed to be interviewed without escorts or recording devices -- and that inspectors were still seeking to have those interviews conducted outside of the country.
The briefing was followed by statements by members of the council and planned closed-door consultations on the new U.N. resolution.
Council reactions
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, the first council member to respond to the report said that a new resolution was not needed and that peaceful means of resolving the Iraq matter "have not been exhausted."
"Baghdad could have taken many of the recent steps earlier and more willingly," Fischer said. "In recent days, cooperation has nevertheless notably improved. this is a positive development which makes all the less comprehensible why this development should now be -- should not be abandoned. there is real progress to be noted under implementation of the relevant security council resolutions in all fields.
He said the peaceful disarmament of Iraq would improve stability in the Middle East.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the latest round of inspections have been "fruitful," and called for a U.N.-generated "list of tasks" for Iraq to complete, one that would answer "all remaining questions" about the disarmament.
For the first time in many years in Iraq there is a process of real disarmament under way," Ivanov said.
But Powell told the council that failing to hold Iraq to its resolution would damage the United Nations credibility.
Iraq has decided "to delay, to deceive, to try to throw us off the trail," Powell said.
Powell said the Security Council must tell Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that "we have not been taken in by his transparent tactics."
"Now is the time to tell Iraq that the clock has not been stopped," he said. "In the very near future, we should bring (a new resolution) to this council for a vote."
Bush: Final diplomatic stages
In a news conference Thursday night, President Bush dismissed any Iraqi cooperation as a "willful charade" and promised a vote in a few days on the resolution.
Although he said he had not yet decided whether to invade Iraq, Bush said that U.N. Security Council members would decide in a matter of days whether they would join the United States in forcibly disarming Iraq.
"No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote," Bush said. "It's time for people to show their cards, let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam."
The United States, Britain and Spain have been working hard to win the necessary votes for the resolution. But in the face of clear signals from veto-wielding Security Council members France, China, and Russia that they would oppose it, British and U.S. officials said Thursday they would be willing to amend the resolution in the hopes of overcoming opposition.
Bush accused Iraq of hiding weapons of mass destruction and said that if the world failed to confront that threat, free nations would face "unacceptable risks."
When asked about giving Iraqi President Saddam Hussein an ultimatum, a two- or three-day deadline to disarm, Bush said: "We're still in the final stages of diplomacy."
"I believe Saddam Hussein is a threat to the American people. I believe he's a threat to the neighborhood in which he lives," Bush said, listing how the Iraqi regime has invaded neighboring countries and poisoned its people.
Responding to a question about reluctance among some Security Council members on the issue of military action against Iraq, Bush said: "As we head into the 21st century, when it comes to our security, we really don't need anybody's permission." (Full story)
CNN Correspondents John King, Andrea Koppel, Nic Robertson and U.N. Producer Ronni Berke contributed to this report. For latest developments, see CNN.com's Iraq Tracker.