US proposes giving UN more authority in Iraq: "US and British officials proposed giving the UN special representative in Iraq increased authority in a bid to draw more international support for an interim government. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
France's open letter to the U.S.: "The previous post "France Says It Is Target of Untruths" linked to a WaPo article that said, "The French government believes it is the victim of an "organized campaign of disinformation" from within the Bush administration, designed to discredit it with allegations of complicity with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein..."
The letter from France is here , and their (partial) list of "false accusations" is here . The following are very brief summaries of each:
1. NYT alleged "that in 1998, France and Germany had supplied Iraq with high-precision switches used in detonating nuclear weapons..."
2. Disputes the WaPo article saying that "France, along with Russia, Iraq and North Korea, possesses prohibited human smallpox strains..."
3. Disputes Bill Gertz' report "that two French companies had sold Iraq spare parts for airplanes and helicopters..."
4. Disputes William Safire's claim that France sold a missile propellant to Iraq.
5. Disputes MSNBC's Joe Scarborough claim that France sold Iraq ""planes, missiles, armored vehicles, radar equipment and spare parts for Iraqi fighter planes," and of offering to sell nuclear reactors, without mentioning specific dates..."
6. "On April 21, Newsweek reported the "possible" discovery of Roland 2 missiles by coalition forces in Iraq and implied that they had been manufactured in 2002. A charred Roland 3 missile launcher was also allegedly found..."
7. Disputes the story claiming that France provided passports to Iraqi leaders .
8. Disputes WashTimes' WashTimes reports that "France and Russia of seeking to sign oil contracts with Iraq just before the start of the war."
And, "A "military expert" asked by MSNBC about the coalition's failure to discover banned weapons insinuated that "weapons could well have been discovered" and that they "could very well be French or Russian," which would have led the administration not to mention them "out of concern for easing tensions."
Some of these are hard to prove or disprove, but please leave links to additional information in the comments."
In Command Post: Irak
Saddam Plotting Return to Power, Ex-Generals Say: "[Rueters via Yahoo]
Saddam Hussein is hiding in Iraq with a small group, probably including his sons, and issuing orders to trusted supporters as he plots a return to power, according to former Iraqi generals returned from exile.
The generals, who were in exile for years and now play a key role in working with U.S. forces to purge the Iraqi public service and security apparatus of Saddam die-hards, said the deposed president had ordered a name-change for his Baath party.
Maj. Gen. Tawfiq al-Yassiri told Reuters that Saddam had changed its name in the last few days to "Auda," meaning return.
Full story..."
In Command Post: Irak
