Sunday 23 February 2003

Prohibited Missile Is 'Tip of Iceberg' in Iraq, Bush Says. President Bush called the next U.N. talks "final deliberations," signaling Iraq may have only weeks before a U.S. attack. By Elisabeth Bumiller. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] It's the same old story and the same old tune! We want to follow the UN route, but even if Saddam does as the Inspectors ask we still don't believe he's cooperating. How does this make sense? The way in which the same situation can be spun and interpreted in totally different ways is quite extraordinary, really. The same thing happened here when the head of the Irish government somehow managed to read the 100,000 anti-war marchers as an indication of support for government policy! To interpret the banners which screamed 'no war' as somehow actually reading 'support the UN' is some achievement! 12:41:36 PM  Your view

On Rules for Environment, Bush Sees a Balance, Critics a Threat. Where the White House sees progress on environmental issues, critics see examples of significant retreat. By Douglas Jehl. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] I must admit that I haven't yet read the entire article here, but I fully intend to later. The general gist seems to be that the Bush administration is trying to encourage environmental protection without affecting economic activity ? which sounds awfully like an attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable. Refusing to ratify the Kyoto Treaty is the most obvious instance, of course, and the 'undesireable economic conseuqences' cited as the reason behind this decision sum up the apparent prirorities: business and profit are more important than everything and anything else. It's a pathetic and dangerous premise. 12:27:59 PM  Your view

		© Copyright 2003 Jim MacCormaic . Last update: 23/02/2003; 12:41:53 pm .