World information
1)Despite the eradication of smallpox, strands still exist in two laboratories in the US and Russia. Research is being done to develop even more deadly versions of the smallpox virus. The Department of Homeland Security claims they are experimenting with the virus in order to facilitate the development of vaccines to combat the possible use of smallpox in a terrorist attack. Despite criticism that accidental release of the virus could threaten millions of lives, the World Health Organization has approved the genetic modification of the deadly smallpox virus and continuing research.
2)Ecuador’s president Alfredo Palacios has stood up to pressure by the US and refused to sign a bi-lateral pact that would give US citizens immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The US has consequently cut aid to Ecuador, as it has done in 11 other nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 100 countries have signed US immunity agreements while 53 countries have declined.
3)
While thousands of innocent lives have been lost due to the war in Iraq, new information has come out that President Bush and Tony Blair had many opportunities for a peaceful solution before the war began. As most already know there appears to have been no weapons of mass destruction and no evidence to suggest that, as President Bush claimed in March, Saddam had “trained and financed…al Qaeda”. But now, even more lies are starting to surface.
Over the four months before the coalition forces invaded Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s government made a series of offers to the United States. In December, the Iraqi intelligence services approached Vincent Cannistraro, the CIA’s former head of counter-terrorism, with an offer to prove that Iraq was not linked to the September 11th attacks and to permit several thousand US troops to enter the country to look for weapons of mass destruction. If the object was regime change, then Saddam, the agents claimed, was prepared to submit himself to internationally-monitored elections within 2 years. According to Cannistrao, these proposals reached the White House, but were “turned down by the President and vice President.”
By February, Saddam’s negotiators were offering free access to the FBI to look for weapons of mass destruction wherever it wanted, support for the US position on Israel and Palestine, and rights to Iraq’s oil. Another attempt was made on Sept. 20, 2001, before the war with Afghanistan. The Taliban offered to hand Osama bin Laden to a neutral Islamic country for trial if the US presented them with evidence that he was responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington. The US rejected that offer. On October 1st, they repeated the offer and once again, the US rejected it.
The charter of the United Nations specifies that “the parties to any dispute…shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation” and as we are beginning to see, President Bush and Tony Blair have somehow, become exempt from international law.
2)Ecuador’s president Alfredo Palacios has stood up to pressure by the US and refused to sign a bi-lateral pact that would give US citizens immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The US has consequently cut aid to Ecuador, as it has done in 11 other nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 100 countries have signed US immunity agreements while 53 countries have declined.
3)
While thousands of innocent lives have been lost due to the war in Iraq, new information has come out that President Bush and Tony Blair had many opportunities for a peaceful solution before the war began. As most already know there appears to have been no weapons of mass destruction and no evidence to suggest that, as President Bush claimed in March, Saddam had “trained and financed…al Qaeda”. But now, even more lies are starting to surface.
Over the four months before the coalition forces invaded Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s government made a series of offers to the United States. In December, the Iraqi intelligence services approached Vincent Cannistraro, the CIA’s former head of counter-terrorism, with an offer to prove that Iraq was not linked to the September 11th attacks and to permit several thousand US troops to enter the country to look for weapons of mass destruction. If the object was regime change, then Saddam, the agents claimed, was prepared to submit himself to internationally-monitored elections within 2 years. According to Cannistrao, these proposals reached the White House, but were “turned down by the President and vice President.”
By February, Saddam’s negotiators were offering free access to the FBI to look for weapons of mass destruction wherever it wanted, support for the US position on Israel and Palestine, and rights to Iraq’s oil. Another attempt was made on Sept. 20, 2001, before the war with Afghanistan. The Taliban offered to hand Osama bin Laden to a neutral Islamic country for trial if the US presented them with evidence that he was responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington. The US rejected that offer. On October 1st, they repeated the offer and once again, the US rejected it.
The charter of the United Nations specifies that “the parties to any dispute…shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation” and as we are beginning to see, President Bush and Tony Blair have somehow, become exempt from international law.