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NASA Slashing Observations of Earth
mattnyc99 points us to a new report by the National Research Council warning that, by 2010, the number of NASA's Earth-observing missions will drop dramatically, and the number of operating sensors and instruments on NASA spacecraft will decrease by 40 percent. The report says, "The United States' extraordinary foundation of global observations is at great risk." Popular Mechanics asks an MIT professor what it all means. From these accounts it is clear that the Bush administration's priorities on a Mars mission and a moon base are partly to blame for the de-emphasizing of earth science. Neither article quite says that some responsibility must fall to the administration's footdragging on global warming.
Does the Kyoto Climate Treaty ring a bell? The one that the United States declined to ratified?
Actually, Saddam had WMD. Ask the Kurds who were gassed. Also, check out the volumes of Iraqi gov docs recently translated. He had them. He either dismantled, hid or gave them away. Unfortunately for him, the 19 UN resolutions made it incumbent upon him to show that he had done so and he wouldn't or couldn't. Tuff. Let him swing.