News – This Space For Rent

Ok, so its not being rented, but I’m short on snappy titles this morning. So you’ll have to forgive that bit of silliness. 😉 On with the news.

US forces captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al- Tikriti, Saddam’s half brother, Thursday with no bloodshed. He’s a former head of Iraqi Intelligence.

Franks blithely says he has no regrets about how things happened, what with the looting and all. Of course, one reason the looting is calming now is likely because they’ve already taken what they need/want, as much as the tighter control enforced by actual policing. Cash is being flown in to help pay civil servants and the like as well.

One of Chalabi’s aids has been selected for an interim council to run Baghdad. He says he has no plans to stand as Iraq’s president.

The current cost of this war has been estimated at about 20 billion. It is estimated that it will cost about 2 billion a month to keep current troops there. Which doesn’t include the costs of bringing them all home.

Now the issue of lifting the UN Sanctions comes forward. Were the US and UN working in harmony, the issue would likely be a simple one, but because of the obvious split and the grudge held by Bush, getting rid of them is likely to be a major issue and a major hassle.

By the look if it, Tony Blair is the one doing the real politicking for Bush in the EU. And he’s still pushing for UN involvement. Good for him. Further down, they talk of the continuing violence in Mosul and more is noted about the same here. One Iraqi is quoted as saying “We want Saddam back. At least there was security.” Just how far the ‘we’ extends is debatable, but it is a clear note that #1 should be security at the moment. And restoring services.

Brigadier-General Vince Brooks did finally admit to US culpability in the shooting in Mosul. It is a tense area and will likely only get worse before getting better. Shia Of Najaf seem intent to resist any government that they see as being run by a stooge of the US. Expected. Hopefully those doing the rebuilding will keep in mind things like this. This Guardian article on Truthout suggests that, despite the general end of the war, Pro-Saddam gangs still hold some of Tikrit.

Thousands of Americans didn’t pay their taxes as a form of protest against the Iraq War. Brave, but I think ultimately foolish now. But it is their life to use as they choose. With all the talk of Private Lynch, no one has talked about Private Lori. But for every person who is thrust into the spotlight is someone that is forgotten. Many will likely never be known by the public. Only by their loved ones.

Slate assesses the ruler of Syria. Personally, I don’t doubt that Bashar Assad is a freak. Most repressive rules are. But until I see some proof of him sheltering Saddam’s people and proof that Syria has chemical weapons it shouldn’t, I’ll never back any action against it like was done in Iraq. Bush and his crew can talk all they want, but their words carry as much impact on me as the breath used to form them round about now. Truthout has a few articles on Syria.

Officials are concerned about Kurdish, Shi’ite and Sunni regions gaining too much autonomy as part of a future Iraqi government. Meanwhile bush is running off at the mouth about envisioning a federation made up of the countries ethnic groups, which no one has actually agreed to on the officials side. So your guess is as good as mine as to who will ultimately ‘remake’ Iraq politically.

Meanwhile Jay Garner seems oddly optimistic about it all. But I suppose he has to be, since he’s the one that has to make it work. He says the Iraqis will choose their own leaders. We’ll see.

Israeli troops shot a young Palestinian man during the Israeli enforced Passover curfew. A spokesman for them said they did so because he threw two petrol bombs at patrolling troops and was preparing to light a third.

International Papers are hot on SARS and include the three stages of it. “First there was denial, then sluggish response—and now irrational fear.” Today’s Papers lead off with sanction talk and cover most of what I’ve had above.

China is resisting charges from the World Health Organization that they’ve understated the number of SARS cases they’ve had. Meanwhile there have been four more deaths in Hong Kong. A lab in India has detected the country’s first case of SARS.