Australian Firm vies for Iraqi Reconstruction Contracts: "From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) says it is in negotiations with the United Nations and several US companies about securing a consulting role for Iraq's rehabilitation.It will be interesting to see if contracts are only awarded to US firms."
SMEC has been repairing infrastructure in northern Iraq for the past three years and has bases throughout the Middle East.
In Command Post
Lift Iraqi sanctions? Nyet!: "From The Australian
Russia will not support a US proposal to lift UN sanctions on Iraq if UN inspectors do not confirm the country has no weapons of mass destruction, a Russian foreign ministry official said."
" Regime change in Baghdad is not a condition for lifting economic sanctions on Iraq ," the official told the Interfax news agency on condition of anonymity.
" There is a UN Security Council resolution for this, which clearly stipulates the disarmament of Iraq - something international inspectors must decide ," he said, adding that Russia supported the return of UN inspectors.
In Command Post
Saddam's Half Brothers Killed for Him: "Saddam Hussein has three half brothers from his mother's second marriage. They have been close to Saddam for most of the past three decades. Their willingness to kill and conspire for him, eliminating even members of their own extended clan, was one of the mainstays of the regime."
In Associated Press war headlines via GoUpstate.com
US floods Iraq with dollars in BBC News | War in Iraq
Powell may travel to Syria to discuss tensions after Iraq war: "US Secretary of State Colin Powell may travel to Syria for talks on defusing new tensions between the two countries in the wake of a US-led military operation that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
