joseph parikian

From the BBC Iraqis split on Turkish troops plan Turkish troops may not necessarily be welcomed by Arab Iraqis The Iraqi Governing Council has failed to reach agreement with the US-led coalition that controls the country over Turkey's decision to send troops to Iraq. Opposition to the Turkish deployment threatens to bring about the most serious public split so far between the governing council and the American authorities, correspondents say. After a meeting of several hours with US administrator Paul Bremer, the council said the issue had not yet been resolved. Kurdish representatives on the council have been particularly opposed to the presence of up to 20,000 Turkish troops, given the tension between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey. The two sides are expected to meet again in Baghdad on Thursday, in the search for a compromise. We want Iraq to regain its independence and sovereignty at the earliest possible time and that's why we don't want more and more troops added to those already in Iraq IGC President Iyad Allawi Slow start for Iraqi democracy The issue is exposing disagreements not only between the council and the American-led administration, but also within the council itself. Council member Songul Chapouk told the BBC that widely differing views had been expressed at talks on Wednesday, ranging from those who supported deployment to those who were strongly opposed to troops from any of Iraq's neighbours. "Our Kurdish colleagues have rejected the deployment of Turkish troops on their territory because they fear it could create problems for them," she said. But Ms Chapouk said that other members of the council wanted to continue discussing the issue, and focus on the details of the deployment. Credibility 'at stake' The BBC's Jill McGivering, in Baghdad, says there is strong pressure on both sides to work out a compromise. Although it is in charge, the coalition wants to be seen as sympathetic to Iraqi views. TURKISH ARMED FORCES Total strength of 800,000, with second largest army in Nato - mainly conscripts Staged three coups, in 1960, 1971 and 1980 Repeatedly attacked Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq Defeated PKK Kurdish rebels in Turkey in 1999 after 15-year war Commanded Isaf peacekeepers in Afghanistan from June 2002 to February 2003 The council knows its credibility will be badly damaged if it expressed strong opposition to Turkish troops and they were deployed anyway. This is a highly emotive issue, our correspondent adds, but the fact both sides are planning to carry on talking is itself a positive sign. IGC President Iyad Allawi told Associated Press: "We shall positively take into account the needs of our friends in the coalition who are keen on having the Turkish army here, but at the same time there are important sensitivities that must be considered." The deployment of the troops was approved on Tuesday by Turkey's parliament. Wider significance The United States has been pressing for some time for Turkey to join the international force in Iraq and help on the ground. It would be the first major deployment of troops from a Muslim nation since the war ended. They would be deployed in the Sunni areas of central Iraq - where US troops face almost daily attack from hostile Iraqi elements - and not in the northern Kurdish areas. But BBC Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says the American-led administration appears to have once again underestimated regional and cultural sensitivities in Iraq. Although the vast majority of Iraqis are Muslims, he says, this does not necessarily mean they would welcome troops from neighbouring Muslim countries any more than those from far afield. ((( Our correspondent points out that Arab nationalism in Iraq emerged partly in response to what many there saw as the oppressive rule of the Ottoman Turks during the 19th century. )))

Gamavor i think it is America_Hye America_Hye JUST KIDDING

SCOTT STOSSEL Save the women's soccer association By Scott Stossel, 10/4/2003 EVEN AS Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, and the rest of the US Women's National Soccer Team compete to defend their Woman's World Cup title tomorrow night in a semifinal match against Germany in Portland, Ore., there is a sense in which they have already lost. On Sept. 15, six days before the opening game of the 2003 World Cup, the Women's United Soccer Association announced that it was folding after three years of operation. The WUSA, conceived in the delirious aftermath of the 1999 World Cup's dramatic conclusion, when the United States defeated China on penalty kicks in front of 90,000 screaming fans in the Rose Bowl, was the first fully professional women's soccer league in this country. Because it included all of America's best players, plus many of the top international players, the WUSA instantly became the premier women's soccer league in the world. ADVERTISEMENT Yet after three years of declining ticket sales and television ratings, the league ownership determined that there was insufficient sponsorship interest to allow the league to become profitable in the foreseeable future, and so they scuttled operations. There simply was not enough revenue to justify sustaining the enterprise. The end of the WUSA is a tragedy. Let's start with the WUSA players participating in the World Cup; there is a sense, as I say, in which they have already lost. But this is not a loss of their own making. The players in the WUSA did everything they could to build the fledgling league into a viable entity. Endless promotional and public relations work. Charity work in their communities. They worked hard to serve as role models for young girls and as ambassadors of the sport. They took pay cuts. Consider that last act: They took pay cuts for the good of the league. In what other sport on the American landscape is it possible even to imagine star players taking pay cuts for the benefit of the larger good? This alone would have made preserving the WUSA a worthwhile endeavor, an antidote to the money-is-everything culture that has suffused American sports. But there are more pressing reasons to save the WUSA. The fan experience it offered was superior to most professional sports. For three years, my wife and I attended nearly every home game. The tickets were reasonably priced. The size of the venue -- Boston University's Nickerson Field -- was relatively intimate, allowing for good views of the action. There were none of the bleacher brawls or drunken misbehaving that are an integral part of the football or baseball stadium experience. The best part of the experience was the product on the field. The quality of play was excellent -- and visibly improving each year. In fact, the quality of the soccer in this year's World Cup is dramatically improved over four years ago -- and that is due largely to the experience the top players got playing in the WUSA. Women, it is true, are generally slower and weaker than men; this makes women's competitions in any sport qualitatively different from men's. The worst team from the men's American soccer league would easily beat the best WUSA team. Yet the quality of the soccer, in some Platonic sense, is higher in the WUSA. Besides, the exquisite geometry of what the Brazilians call "the Beautiful Game" is the same no matter what the gender of the players. And in their competitiveness, fitness, and intensity, the WUSA players are the equal of their NBA or NFL or Major League Soccer counterparts any day. But the greatest loss caused by the WUSA's demise is to the thousands of adolescent and pre-adolescent girls who are its primary fan base. The women of the WUSA are, as a rule, strong, aggressive, competitive, and skillful. They exemplify the ideals of hard-work, team play, and self-sacrifice. Many of them are also beautiful -- all the more so because of the effort and craft and joy they exhibit in playing the game. For all of the 8- and 9-year-old soccer players (and nonsoccer players) -- of either gender -- across the country, I can imagine no better role models than the combination of intense competitiveness and soft-spoken humility that is Mia Hamm, the relentless effort and effortless grace that is Kristine Lilly, the outspoken political crusading (she is a champion of Title IX and other causes) and self-deprecating humor that is Julie Foudy. I feel the loss of the WUSA acutely now. My daughter, Maren, was born a month ago, and I fear that without the league she will be denied a later generation of Hamms and Lillys and Foudys to look up to. Whether Maren grows up to be a soccer player doesn't much matter to me. But it matters a lot that she grow up to have self-confidence and inner strength, tempered by a sense of fairness and team-play. The league's dissolution is robbing millions of little girls (and boys) of heroes exemplifying these qualities. There is talk that the WUSA may yet be saved by new sponsors or reconstituted in a more modest fashion. Nike alone could save the league by investing $20 million, far less than the $90 million it invested in teenage basketball star LeBron James. On behalf of the sport and of little girls (and of mothers and fathers of little girls) everywhere, I implore new sponsors and investors to step forward. With patience, you stand to profit; so does my daughter's generation. Scott Stossel is a senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. ===================================================== Harut jan i hope this answer your question

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/ap/20031006/i/3751848059.jpg The queens are dead, long live the queens 6 October 2003 by FIFAworldcup.com Enlarge Photo Photo Gallery THE DAY REPLAYED - Tears of joy and tears of pain streamed down many a cheek on a dramatic semi-final night at PGE Park in Portland, Oregon. The hosts and favourites, America’s Sweethearts, crashed out emphatically to a dogged Germany 0-3, and one could almost hear young hearts breaking around the country. Almost as audible was the sound of Canada’s unlikely dreams cracking under the weight of skilful Sweden’s remarkable 2-1 comeback victory. The reigning queen of women’s football, legendary icon Mia Hamm, was left on the pitch at the end of the hard-fought first semi-final, tearfully embracing her coach, no doubt aware that her goodbye to the world’s greatest stage would forever be tainted by this defeat. For her and her veteran midfield partners, Kristine Lilly and Julie Foudy, this is the end of an era and a rather depressing exclamation point to one of America’s greatest sports stories. After years of toiling and winning in relative obscurity, they brought the United States to its feet four years ago as they beat China on penalty kicks to lift their second FIFA Women’s World Cup. The U.S. came into the last four having won 11 consecutive matches in the finals and only having lost once in 22 all-time FIFA Women’s World Cup contests. The only other defeat also came at the semi-final stage in Sweden 1995 where they crashed out to eventual champions Norway. Perhaps one step too far in a new century, the hosts for the first time ran into a team that they could not boss as they had so many opponents at USA 2003, and they were left ruing a host of missed opportunities and a lack of creativity from midfield. The opening goal, in the 15th minute from Kerstin Garefrekes’ head, left Germany the luxury of sitting back and hitting on the counter, a strategy that the hosts, despite valiant amounts of effort, could never overcome. The German defence, inspired by Kerstin Stegemann and marshalled without flaw by dominating goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg, held down the previously dominant Abby Wambach and the rest of the vaunted American attack. Enlarge Photo Photo Gallery Talented heroes Maren Meinert and the new royalty of women’s football, Birgit Prinz, who now leads the tournament with an unassailable seven goals, scored late breakaway strikes to add insult to the holders’ injury. After the dramatic 90 minutes, American coach April Heinrichs claimed the contest was “the greatest game in the history of women’s football,” and FIFA technical Study Group member Vera Pauw concurred, saying, “It was the most exciting women’s game I have ever seen in my life.” High praise indeed, but understandable given the match’s electric atmosphere, end-to-end action and unpredictable outcome. Five-time European Champions, the Germans have long been a global almost-team, but with a performance of remarkable confidence, skill and determination, they have leaped a high hurdle and now must be wary of underestimating an on-form Sweden in an all-European final, a re-match of the European Women’s Champions from two years ago. In that match, Claudia Müller scored a golden goal, the only tally of the match, to give the hosts victory, but Sweden are playing perhaps better than they ever have. Hanna Ljungberg, Victoria Svensson and Malin Moström form an irresistible attacking force that overran Canada for large swathes of their semi-final. Enlarge Photo Photo Gallery The underdog Canadians took the lead in the 65th minute when teenage sensation Kara Lang launched a 25-yard free kick past a despairing Swedish wall and through the hands of stunned Swedish goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson. But, when they looked like folding the most, a quick free-kick by Svensson set Moström free in the box, and her right-footed shot flew in at the near post to save Swedish blushes. But, not happy with extra-time, Sweden continued to pour forward. Their final advantage of 17 shots to six exemplifies their dominance in opportunities, and second-half substitute Josefine Öqvist sent her team into ecstasy with a right-footed shot with eyes that caromed off the inside of the left post and into the back of the net. It was also the 100th goal of the tournament. It was a deserved victory, and one that puts Sweden into their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup final, but spare a thought for Even Pellerud and his brave Canadian side, who came deeper into the tournament than anyone expected, and got within 11 minutes of going farther than their illustrious neighbours to the south.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/bushes_iraqoil.jpg

http://www.galen-frysinger.com/turkey/urfa02.jpg This is why Turkey wants to join EU to pass their missile technology to the West And theese missiles are just in one town Urfa

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/bush_warriors.jpg Did you guyes see this one before

Ahmad Chalabi Jordan would put him in jail were he to return because of the banking fraud.

Sip said ( Yah, but it sure as hell beats having a country named after a bird that gets stuffed through the rear on Thanksgiving every year )

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- US revisions to Iraq resolution fail to impress France Agencies Friday October 3, 2003 France today expressed dissatisfaction with the revised version of a US draft resolution on Iraq, as Shia Muslims gathered in the holy city of Najaf to mourn a revered spiritual leader killed in a bombing last month. One day after the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, rejected the same US draft for ignoring his recommendations, a French foreign ministry spokesman, Herve Ladsous, said US revisions did not go far enough toward incorporating French demands. He said France wants a provisional Iraqi government established as soon as possible, gradually receiving executive powers in a process overseen by the UN. "Our first impression is that our concerns are only reflected in this revised project in a very limited measure and that this revised project does not incorporate the change in approach that we are advocating," he told reporters. Mr Ladsous reiterated, however, that France did not intend to use its security council veto to block any new US Iraq resolution. The US hopes to pass a resolution that would encourage the UN to contribute troops and money the reconstruction of Iraq, and rewrote its original draft to appeal to dissenters in the security council. France, Germany and Russia, however, are pushing for a stronger UN role in the transition and a concrete timetable on the transfer of power to the Iraqi people. In the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, an estimated 50,000 Shia Muslims gathered today for ceremonies marking the 40th day since the assassination of revered cleric Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. Al-Hakim was killed in a car bombing on August 29 in Najaf. The attack killed more than 80 others and wounded more than 140 people. Today the crowd marched into the city chanting anti-Saddam Hussein slogans, some people beating their chests in a traditional Shia gesture of mourning. Others chanted pledges of support for Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, the dead cleric's brother and a member of the US-appointed governing council. "The enemies of the Iraqi people from the remnants of the former regime and their allies are criminals and terrorists and they are determined to commit their crimes against the Iraqi people, who will not remain silent," said Mr al-Hakim. He also was critical of the US-led occupation authority's attempts to pacify the country, which is still rattled by violence nearly six months after Saddam was ousted. "The adopted policies by the occupation forces in dealing with the security situation are wrong and must be reconsidered and abandoned. Political parties must be counted on to handle this difficult task," he said. Iraqi police, the Badr Brigade - the banned military wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) in Iraq - and uniformed soldiers of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) provided security at the memorial services. The slain al-Hakim founded SCIRI while in Iranian exile. His brother has since taken over leadership. Black flags of mourning were strung on buildings throughout Najaf, the site of the Imam Ali shrine, the holiest Shia location in Iraq. Speaking at al-Hakim's grave site, Jalal Talabani, head of the PUK and member of the governing council described al-Hakim's death as a "national disaster for Iraq and Muslims". He called for unity between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Mohsen Abdul Hamid, another member of the governing council, warned of plans to sow discord between Shias and Sunnis and called for strong opposition to this

From google news ===================================================== Simpson attorney Kardashian dies of cancer of esophagus advertisement Eric Malnic Los Angeles Times Oct. 2, 2003 12:00 AM LOS ANGELES - Robert Kardashian, a member of O.J. Simpson's murder trial defense team who later admitted to doubts about his client's innocence, died Tuesday at his home in the San Fernando Valley. He was 59. Kardashian was diagnosed eight weeks ago with cancer of the esophagus, his ex-wife, Chris Houghton Jenner, said. Their four children were with him when he died, she said. Kardashian met Simpson on a tennis court more than 30 years ago, and they became close friends, sharing a social life that spanned decades. They played tennis and golf together, dined at fancy restaurants and took trips to Aspen, Colo.; Mexico; and New York City. So, when the former football star was arrested on June 17, 1994, on suspicion of murdering his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, lead defense attorney Robert Shapiro was quick to recruit Kardashian to the team. Kardashian's job was to serve as a link between Simpson and the outside world, including his attorneys, the media and friends and relatives. "I know O.J. better than anyone on the legal team," Kardashian said at the time. "There are so many things I know about his personality. My job is really strategy and liaison between the lawyers and O.J." It was Kardashian who had read Simpson's rambling letter on television after the former University of Southern California and Buffalo Bills star fled from Kardashian's home just before police arrived to arrest him. And it was Kardashian who talked to Simpson by cellphone as Simpson and former teammate Al Cowlings led police on a televised slow-speed chase. Simpson eventually surrendered at his home. On Oct. 3, 1995, he was acquitted of the murder charges, but he later was found liable for the killings in a civil trial and was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages. During a 1996 interview on ABC's 20/20 program, Kardashian admitted he was no longer sure of Simpson's innocence. Kardashian followed his older brother to USC in 1962. He graduated a year before Simpson came to USC. Not interested in joining the family meatpacking business, Kardashian earned a law degree at the University of San Diego in 1969, the year he met Simpson. Kardashian practiced law for about a decade before leaving for the business world. Simpson lived with Kardashian and Kardashian's brother in Beverly Hills during an off-season with the Bills in the 1970s. Friends described the Deep Canyon house as a bachelor's pad. Kardashian was present when Simpson met Nicole Brown in 1977. They were together again when Kardashian met his first wife, Chris, the following year. Simpson was an usher at Kardashian's wedding. The two families frequently attended nightspots together and had a wide circle of mutual friends. With Simpson and another investor, Kardashian started a corporation called Juice Inc., which established several frozen yogurt shops. Kardashian and Simpson later invested in a music video business called Concert Cinema. Kardashian's later expressions of doubt about Simpson's innocence apparently ended their friendship. In 2000, the two men squabbled over a television miniseries about the Simpson trial that purportedly contained information supplied by Kardashian. Kardashian is survived by his second wife of six weeks, Ellen Pierson; three daughters, Kourtney, Kimberly and Khloe; and a son, Robert.

forgive me this is off the topic but i thought it was intereting to post it ===================================================== AZERI PRESIDENT WITHDRAWS HIS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY IN FAVOR OF HIS SON YEREVAN, OCTOBER 3. ARMINFO. The incumbent Azeri president Haydar Aliev has withdrawn his presidential candidacy in favor of his son, Azeri prime minister Ilham Aliev. In his Thursday address to the Azeri people published by the Ekho newspaper Aliev calls his son his political successor and presents him as a highly intellectual, energetic and pragmatic personality and an excellent politician and economist. "I believe that with your help Ilham Aliev will manage to carry through what I have failed to complete. I trust him like my own self." Then Aliev speaks about the last years' achievements among them social stability, growing economy and quickly developing democracy. In conclusion he promises to quickly recover and return home to be with his people again. Haydar Aliev has been in power for almost 30 years. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My observation is " like father like son " both idiots The idiot father said " I trust him like my own self " big deal

From ArmInfo ARMENIAN ARYANS DETERMINED TO COUNTER JEWISH-MASONIC AGGRESSION YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1. ARMINFO. Armenian Aryans are determined to counter the Jewish-Masonic aggression, Chairman of the Armenian-Aryan Union (AAU) Armen Avetissian told a press conference. According to him, the aggression began as far back as 1900s and was marked by the Armenian Genocide. Armen Avetissian reckoned that it is Jews that masterminded and ordered the Armenian Genocide. The second step after the Genocide was the distortion of Armenian history, an end was put to Armenian studies, historical materials were ordered wherein ""venal scholars" tried to substantiate the theory that Armenians were alien residents in the Ararat valley. Avetissian stated that the Jewish-Masonic aggression is being carried out now as well. Specifically, hundreds of foreign citizens are granted asylums, receive residential permits, whereas the number of Armenian citizens leaving their motherland is steadily increasing. Moreover, many high-ranking officials representing Armenia's political and business elite are Masons and act in the interests of Masonry. The AAU is especially indignant at Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Artur Baghdasarian, who is a Masonic protege being prepared to run for Presidency in Armenia. The AAU leader claims that all the "Rotary Club" members are Masons as well. He pointed out that Chairman of the Nationalist Party of Armenia (NPA)Ruben Gevorgiants is a Mason as well. Avetissian found it difficult to say whether Armenian President Robert Kocharian is a Mason, noting that the Armenian leader only assumed certain commitments to them. Avetissian could not specify the way the AAU intends to counter the Jewish-Masonic aggression, pointing out that today's press conference is a "cry of the Aryan soul." After the press conference, the ARMINFO News Agency received a statement from the Front of Armenian Nationalists (FAN), which says that the parties "Armenian-Aryan Union," "Armenian-Aryan Fist," "Mashtots Union," and "United Alliance of National Forces of Abovian" have been expelled from FAN for violating its Regulations. Therefore, the organization cannot bear responsibility for the activities and statement of the aforementioned forces.

Go back wherever you came from, what makes you think you're welcome there anyway? welcome where dear can you elaborate when i said smartest armenians i did not includ you who ever you are so dont get ofended

Quoting Arpa ( Where is eshekistan? Is that one with the capital of ashakapat? go ahead shoot me! ) Yes Arpa you deserve to be shot three times not one time Look at tha map of Armenia to the west is " eshekistan " with its capital " ankara " When youy Armenians will learn geography And i thought i was here with some of the" smartest " Armenians

ARMENIA MUST NOT BE DIVIDED INTO RICH CAPITAL AND POOR REGIONS Interview of UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Lise Grande to ARMINFO News Agency. Q: Among the main programs implemented by the U.N. in Armenia, the problem of public integration and settlement of refugees occupies a special place. What is your assessment of the program's implementation? How effective is the cooperation with the state structures in the sphere? A: The U.N. Higher Commissariat for Refugees (UNHCR) has been engaged in the problem of refugees since 1992. There were already 360,000 refugees in the country then. In the last 11 years, we have carried out rather an active work in this direction and the right approaches were found to solution to this program so urgent for the country. In the joint work with the country's Government and NGOs, rather impressive results were reached, and, today, according to the general assessment of international structures, the problem of refugees is not so acute in Armenia as it is in other states. In this context, the successful integration and naturalization of refugees was of great importance. Only since 1999, over 55,000 refugees have been naturalized in Armenia. These are not the people not having their state any more. They fully use their right of the country's citizens. It is a very good and progressive approach, but it touches upon the juridical aspect of the problem only. While, we must solve the economic and social aspects of the problem, which are not less important, as refugees are the main part of the country's population living below the poverty level. Majority of them are old disable people who cannot take care of themselves. It means that the state is responsible for their social welfare. Another problem is provision of housing conditions to refugees.Since 1999, due to the UNCHR's support, over 3,200 families of refugees were given permanent houses in Armenia, however, some 12,000 families still live in temporary shelters, hostels and resort houses. I consider the possibility of solving the refugees' problem optimistically, and this optimism is strengthened by the position of the country's leadership. During my recent meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, the latter said that the problem of refugees is a prior for the country's leadership who sees its solution just under the aegis and in close cooperation with the U.N.. New Head of the Armenian Parliament also considers this problem one of the most important ones. A Council for Refugees has been established at the National Assembly of new convocation to involve the maximum number of state structures and departments into its solution. It is important that when solving the problem of refugees' settlement, we try to focus not only on the capital, but also on the regions. If seeking the solution to this problem in the light of the struggle against poverty and focusing just on Yerevan, we shall get an unfavorable picture, where, speaking figuratively, two countries, a rich and dynamically developing capital and poor unsuccessful regions, will exist within the framework of one country. Just with the object of increasing the economic development and the social level of the country's regions, that the parties of the UN Development Program (UNDP) has elaborated a program of cooperation of the state and private sectors, which will allow to more intensively solve the problems of the regions. Under the program, every region of Armenia has elaborated a specific project on improvement of the socio-economic conditions of different communities. In our turn, we shall inform the representatives of the local private sector and that of the Diaspora of these conditions, hereby trying to maximally contribute to their implementation. Q: How do the U.N. and its structures operating in Armenia coordinate their acts with other international organizations and programs to avoid waste of funds? Do you think that it would be more expedient to combine the efforts of all the interested organizations under the Strategic Program on Struggle Against Poverty? A: We work in close interaction with the Armenian Government. At the same time, undoubtedly, all the international organizations and structures interact to prevent duplication of the implemented programs and waste of funds. Under the Strategic Program on Struggle Against Poverty, the priority of the planned events has been determined, as well as specific measures were worked out. Besides, the strategic systematization of the program's implementation, there is a business systematization of all the technical tasks within the framework of combined efforts for achievement of the maximum result. The Government also works out specific measures to coordinate the work of international organizations. Q:It is common knowledge that in the countries where corruption is at a high level, it is very difficult to speak on poverty reduction. What is your opinion on this problem? A: The international experience supposes existence of two scenarios of struggle against corruption. One of them provides for implementation of a large-scale strategy including in it all the aspects of the problem, as it embraces all the sections of the public. In a number of states, the problem of corruption is solved more purposefully and specifically. In such a way we intend to solve this problem in Armenia through a specific work in the most corrupted spheres. From the point of view of international organizations, including the U.N., the given approach is more effective and bases on the priority of events. It, first of all, concerns the struggle against corruption in the taxation, customs structures, in the judicial sphere, in the state sector, in the local self-government bodies, in the election system. In this sphere, we have launched an active cooperation with the Armenian Government and international organizations such as the World Bank, OSCE, IMF, USAID. A special attention is paid to elaboration of a strategy on elimination of bribery in many structures. Q: The Government's anti-corruption program is almost ready. Do you have any remarks? A: The program is being revised now. We approve of it on the whole and hope very much that jointly we shall manage to draft a pragmatic strategy in the sphere and to work out a specific schedule of necessary measures. Q:At the beginning of the year you announced the outset of a UNDP-Territorial Administration Ministry $100,000 program to strengthen local self-governments. What stage are you at? A: As of today we have spent $40,000. Part of the money was spent on drafting a bill on municipal services. It is almost ready and we have decided to present it in Syunik, Shirak and Lori. The question is also about arranging training courses in the regions for raising the qualification and the professional level of representatives of local self-governments. In my opinion, this will make for decentralization, just what you have said above meaning the growing gap between Yerevan and the regions. Q: In order to implement the Millennium Development Goals the local NGOs and media have formed a republican network. What are the results of this project? A: The key objective of the project was to enhance public awareness of the tasks of the Millennium Development Goals program. The questions is about liquidating poverty in Armenia, reducing infant mortality, protecting maternal health, fighting AIDS, protecting environment, raising the quality of education, achieving equality of genders and protecting the rights of women. During my visits to the regions I was glad to see that our project had proved a success and the local population was well aware of the millennium problems. Q: In the early 90s the UN Office in Armenia was the first to give Armenia access to the global internet network. Are you going to continue this tradition by promoting IT development in the country? A: Very soon, in Nov, we are opening the biggest Armenian computer center at the National Academy of Science of Armenia. The center will have 100 modern computers and will much differ from numerous internet-cafes presently operating in Yerevan. The project is aimed to make internet generally accessible in Armenia and to help the country integrate into the world information community. We are also planning to establish internet-centers for regional farmer's associations. In collaboration with Armenia's Foreign ministry we have developed a program of internet advice. Hence, we are actively supporting the development of internet-technologies in the spheres of trade, e-management and education. I am convinced that Armenia will make serious achievements in the sphere. 26 September, 2003 Emmanuil Mkrtchyan, ARMINFO

KnightOfArmenia MJ is MJ it depends on how much wine he had before posting his vews

America-Hye If you were an executive of a company that ends up with 38,000,000,000$ defacit you will be kicked out not not just " recalled " my friend What is your salution to erase the huge defecit , maybe raising taxes???????????

From LATIMES COMMENTARY By Michael Keane, Michael Keane, a lecturer on strategy at the USC's Marshall School of Business, is also a fellow of the U.S. Department of Defense's National Security Education Program. That Iraq would become a troublesome source of guerrilla tactics should come as no surprise to any student of T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence is considered by many strategists to be the father of guerrilla warfare. He articulated a powerful treatise on the topic in his classic book, "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom." During World War I, Lawrence's guerrilla victories against the Turkish forces occupying the Arabian peninsula provided a stunning contrast to the simultaneous slaughter occurring in the trenches of Europe. Although Lawrence claimed that his vision of warfare came to him as he lay dazed in a feverish state, he was actually formalizing a form of war practiced by Arab tribes for centuries. Lawrence's thesis was that a successful rebellion required three elements. First, the rebels must have an unassailable base, not merely a physical base of operations but also a psychological fortress in the mind of every soldier willing to die for his convictions. Second, in what he called the "doctrine of acreage" (what strategists now call the force-to-space ratio), Lawrence stated that an insurgent victory required that the size of the occupying force must be insufficient to pacify the contested area. Finally, the guerrillas must have a friendly population. Although the population need not be actively friendly, it must not be hostile to the point of betraying the insurgents. This support can be generated either from fear of retaliation or sympathy for the guerrilla cause or both. The application of Lawrence's theory to the current military situation in Iraq is not comforting. First, the rebels seem to possess an unassailable base in both physical and psychological terms. Within Iraq, hostile forces have demonstrated an ongoing ability to launch numerous daily attacks. The continuing inability to capture Saddam Hussein is the most significant evidence of this problem. Externally, there is a base of bordering states like Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran that are failing to stop volunteers from infiltrating Iraq. American troops have found foreign passports on the bodies of enemy forces killed. Perhaps more troubling, however, is the psychological "base" — the mind of the enemy. When religious extremism is mixed with nationalistic fervor, it cements to form the bricks of unshakeable conviction. As Lawrence himself noted, "An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot." Then there is the force-to-space ratio of coalition forces, which is clearly inadequate. The Americans have only about 130,000 soldiers in Iraq. To match the number of soldiers per inhabitant as the United States has in Kosovo would require 526,000 troops in Iraq. Finally, guerrilla victories can work to slowly undermine U.S. credibility while simultaneously building support and gaining recruits for the insurgents. Over time, guerrilla tactics tend to frustrate conventional troops, which are increasingly likely to overreact by humiliating men and offending women and thereby alienating the local population. Though Iraqi guerrillas lack the necessary firepower and manpower to forcibly remove the Americans, Lawrence would argue that should not be their proper objective. Even while suffering tactical defeats, the guerrillas could erode the will of the Americans and thereby achieve a strategic victory. As Henry Kissinger succinctly stated: "The guerrilla wins by not losing. The army loses by not winning." After liberating the region from the Turks in World War I, Britain ruled the newly formed country of Iraq under a mandate from the League of Nations. The population's gratitude for having been freed from 400 years of Ottoman oppression was short-lived. There were uprisings and assassinations of British soldiers and civilian administrators. Lawrence was sent back to Baghdad to report on conditions there. He wrote these haunting words: "The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. We are today not far from a disaster."

Nvard the greek word is Tryandaphilo

Arpa God bless the breast that fed you This is the best i ever heard from you Did you read my mined

This artical is from the the British Guardian ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This war on terrorism is bogus The 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global domination Michael Meacher Saturday September 6, 2003 The Guardian Massive attention has now been given - and rightly so - to the reasons why Britain went to war against Iraq. But far too little attention has focused on why the US went to war, and that throws light on British motives too. The conventional explanation is that after the Twin Towers were hit, retaliation against al-Qaida bases in Afghanistan was a natural first step in launching a global war against terrorism. Then, because Saddam Hussein was alleged by the US and UK governments to retain weapons of mass destruction, the war could be extended to Iraq as well. However this theory does not fit all the facts. The truth may be a great deal murkier. We now know that a blueprint for the creation of a global Pax Americana was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice-president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), Jeb Bush (George Bush's younger brother) and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences, was written in September 2000 by the neoconservative think tank, Project for the New American Century (PNAC). The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says "while the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." The PNAC blueprint supports an earlier document attributed to Wolfowitz and Libby which said the US must "discourage advanced industrial nations from challenging our leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role". It refers to key allies such as the UK as "the most effective and efficient means of exercising American global leadership". It describes peacekeeping missions as "demanding American political leadership rather than that of the UN". It says "even should Saddam pass from the scene", US bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain permanently... as "Iran may well prove as large a threat to US interests as Iraq has". It spotlights China for "regime change", saying "it is time to increase the presence of American forces in SE Asia". The document also calls for the creation of "US space forces" to dominate space, and the total control of cyberspace to prevent "enemies" using the internet against the US. It also hints that the US may consider developing biological weapons "that can target specific genotypes [and] may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool". Finally - written a year before 9/11 - it pinpoints North Korea, Syria and Iran as dangerous regimes, and says their existence justifies the creation of a "worldwide command and control system". This is a blueprint for US world domination. But before it is dismissed as an agenda for rightwing fantasists, it is clear it provides a much better explanation of what actually happened before, during and after 9/11 than the global war on terrorism thesis. This can be seen in several ways. First, it is clear the US authorities did little or nothing to pre-empt the events of 9/11. It is known that at least 11 countries provided advance warning to the US of the 9/11 attacks. Two senior Mossad experts were sent to Washington in August 2001 to alert the CIA and FBI to a cell of 200 terrorists said to be preparing a big operation (Daily Telegraph, September 16 2001). The list they provided included the names of four of the 9/11 hijackers, none of whom was arrested. It had been known as early as 1996 that there were plans to hit Washington targets with aeroplanes. Then in 1999 a US national intelligence council report noted that "al-Qaida suicide bombers could crash-land an aircraft packed with high explosives into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the CIA, or the White House". Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers obtained their visas in Saudi Arabia. Michael Springman, the former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah, has stated that since 1987 the CIA had been illicitly issuing visas to unqualified applicants from the Middle East and bringing them to the US for training in terrorism for the Afghan war in collaboration with Bin Laden (BBC, November 6 2001). It seems this operation continued after the Afghan war for other purposes. It is also reported that five of the hijackers received training at secure US military installations in the 1990s (Newsweek, September 15 2001). Instructive leads prior to 9/11 were not followed up. French Moroccan flight student Zacarias Moussaoui (now thought to be the 20th hijacker) was arrested in August 2001 after an instructor reported he showed a suspicious interest in learning how to steer large airliners. When US agents learned from French intelligence he had radical Islamist ties, they sought a warrant to search his computer, which contained clues to the September 11 mission (Times, November 3 2001). But they were turned down by the FBI. One agent wrote, a month before 9/11, that Moussaoui might be planning to crash into the Twin Towers (Newsweek, May 20 2002). All of this makes it all the more astonishing - on the war on terrorism perspective - that there was such slow reaction on September 11 itself. The first hijacking was suspected at not later than 8.20am, and the last hijacked aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania at 10.06am. Not a single fighter plane was scrambled to investigate from the US Andrews airforce base, just 10 miles from Washington DC, until after the third plane had hit the Pentagon at 9.38 am. Why not? There were standard FAA intercept procedures for hijacked aircraft before 9/11. Between September 2000 and June 2001 the US military launched fighter aircraft on 67 occasions to chase suspicious aircraft (AP, August 13 2002). It is a US legal requirement that once an aircraft has moved significantly off its flight plan, fighter planes are sent up to investigate. Was this inaction simply the result of key people disregarding, or being ignorant of, the evidence? Or could US air security operations have been deliberately stood down on September 11? If so, why, and on whose authority? The former US federal crimes prosecutor, John Loftus, has said: "The information provided by European intelligence services prior to 9/11 was so extensive that it is no longer possible for either the CIA or FBI to assert a defence of incompetence." Nor is the US response after 9/11 any better. No serious attempt has ever been made to catch Bin Laden. In late September and early October 2001, leaders of Pakistan's two Islamist parties negotiated Bin Laden's extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for 9/11. However, a US official said, significantly, that "casting our objectives too narrowly" risked "a premature collapse of the international effort if by some lucky chance Mr Bin Laden was captured". The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Myers, went so far as to say that "the goal has never been to get Bin Laden" (AP, April 5 2002). The whistleblowing FBI agent Robert Wright told ABC News (December 19 2002) that FBI headquarters wanted no arrests. And in November 2001 the US airforce complained it had had al-Qaida and Taliban leaders in its sights as many as 10 times over the previous six weeks, but had been unable to attack because they did not receive permission quickly enough (Time Magazine, May 13 2002). None of this assembled evidence, all of which comes from sources already in the public domain, is compatible with the idea of a real, determined war on terrorism. The catalogue of evidence does, however, fall into place when set against the PNAC blueprint. From this it seems that the so-called "war on terrorism" is being used largely as bogus cover for achieving wider US strategic geopolitical objectives. Indeed Tony Blair himself hinted at this when he said to the Commons liaison committee: "To be truthful about it, there was no way we could have got the public consent to have suddenly launched a campaign on Afghanistan but for what happened on September 11" (Times, July 17 2002). Similarly Rumsfeld was so determined to obtain a rationale for an attack on Iraq that on 10 separate occasions he asked the CIA to find evidence linking Iraq to 9/11; the CIA repeatedly came back empty-handed (Time Magazine, May 13 2002). In fact, 9/11 offered an extremely convenient pretext to put the PNAC plan into action. The evidence again is quite clear that plans for military action against Afghanistan and Iraq were in hand well before 9/11. A report prepared for the US government from the Baker Institute of Public Policy stated in April 2001 that "the US remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma. Iraq remains a destabilising influence to... the flow of oil to international markets from the Middle East". Submitted to Vice-President Cheney's energy task group, the report recommended that because this was an unacceptable risk to the US, "military intervention" was necessary (Sunday Herald, October 6 2002). Similar evidence exists in regard to Afghanistan. The BBC reported (September 18 2001) that Niaz Niak, a former Pakistan foreign secretary, was told by senior American officials at a meeting in Berlin in mid-July 2001 that "military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October". Until July 2001 the US government saw the Taliban regime as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of hydrocarbon pipelines from the oil and gas fields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean. But, confronted with the Taliban's refusal to accept US conditions, the US representatives told them "either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs" (Inter Press Service, November 15 2001). Given this background, it is not surprising that some have seen the US failure to avert the 9/11 attacks as creating an invaluable pretext for attacking Afghanistan in a war that had clearly already been well planned in advance. There is a possible precedent for this. The US national archives reveal that President Roosevelt used exactly this approach in relation to Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941. Some advance warning of the attacks was received, but the information never reached the US fleet. The ensuing national outrage persuaded a reluctant US public to join the second world war. Similarly the PNAC blueprint of September 2000 states that the process of transforming the US into "tomorrow's dominant force" is likely to be a long one in the absence of "some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor". The 9/11 attacks allowed the US to press the "go" button for a strategy in accordance with the PNAC agenda which it would otherwise have been politically impossible to implement. The overriding motivation for this political smokescreen is that the US and the UK are beginning to run out of secure hydrocarbon energy supplies. By 2010 the Muslim world will control as much as 60% of the world's oil production and, even more importantly, 95% of remaining global oil export capacity. As demand is increasing, so supply is decreasing, continually since the 1960s. This is leading to increasing dependence on foreign oil supplies for both the US and the UK. The US, which in 1990 produced domestically 57% of its total energy demand, is predicted to produce only 39% of its needs by 2010. A DTI minister has admitted that the UK could be facing "severe" gas shortages by 2005. The UK government has confirmed that 70% of our electricity will come from gas by 2020, and 90% of that will be imported. In that context it should be noted that Iraq has 110 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in addition to its oil. A report from the commission on America's national interests in July 2000 noted that the most promising new source of world supplies was the Caspian region, and this would relieve US dependence on Saudi Arabia. To diversify supply routes from the Caspian, one pipeline would run westward via Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Another would extend eastwards through Afghanistan and Pakistan and terminate near the Indian border. This would rescue Enron's beleaguered power plant at Dabhol on India's west coast, in which Enron had sunk $3bn investment and whose economic survival was dependent on access to cheap gas. Nor has the UK been disinterested in this scramble for the remaining world supplies of hydrocarbons, and this may partly explain British participation in US military actions. Lord Browne, chief executive of BP, warned Washington not to carve up Iraq for its own oil companies in the aftermath of war (Guardian, October 30 2002). And when a British foreign minister met Gadaffi in his desert tent in August 2002, it was said that "the UK does not want to lose out to other European nations already jostling for advantage when it comes to potentially lucrative oil contracts" with Libya (BBC Online, August 10 2002). The conclusion of all this analysis must surely be that the "global war on terrorism" has the hallmarks of a political myth propagated to pave the way for a wholly different agenda - the US goal of world hegemony, built around securing by force command over the oil supplies required to drive the whole project. Is collusion in this myth and junior participation in this project really a proper aspiration for British foreign policy? If there was ever need to justify a more objective British stance, driven by our own independent goals, this whole depressing saga surely provides all the evidence needed for a radical change of course. · Michael Meacher MP was environment minister from May 1997 to June 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did any one notice the words " Wepons Of Masdistruction " was never mentioned in President George Bushes speach yesterday 87B. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Quoting Caucasian <(Another sayin' about Kurds Kuertten ewliya sokma avluya - Don't let a Kurdish mahatma(or saint) in the garden)> But the Kurds are already in Turkeys " Avlu " my friend and sooner or later Turkey is going to feel the pain of their presence in their " Avlu " And since we are living in a diferent times i like to see how Tukey is going to deel with the Kurds if there is another uprising With Turkey serounded with all those hostile countries it will be intersting to watch

KIRK KIRKORYAN CLAIMS $8 BLN FROM DAIMLERCHRYSLER YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3. ARMINFO. The big investor of DaimlerChrysler Kirk Kirkoryan accuses the company of deceiving its investors and claims $8 bln compensation. According to the "Vedomosti" (Russia), the first charges were made as early as 1998 after the merger of Mailer-Bentz and Chryler. The German managers presented the merger as union of equals not to pay the takeover compensation to Chrysler's investors. And if the company agreed to pay $300 mln to settle the $22 bln suit of a group of investors ($220 mln is to be paid by insurers), with Kirkoryan, however, it is going to fight till the end. Among the claimants are several US pension funds. This suit has been separated from Kirkoryan's claim. The company denies the charges and has settled the suit only for fear of not being fined for a larger sum. To remind, in Armenia Kirkoryan is financing several big projects in the spheres of transport, small and medium-sized business, urban development, culture worth a total of $165 mln.

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3. ARMINFO. Representatives of the Kurdish community in Armenia continue their hunger-strike. Today, as part of the action, they went out into the street in front of the organization's office, performing a symbolic dance. Talking to ARMINFO, Head of the "Kurdistan" committee in Armenia Charkyashe Rash said that the dance symbolizes firmness of spirit. According to Rash, the hunger-strike was initially planned as a public action, in the street, in tents. However, the organizers applied to the Yerevan Municipality for permission too late. The next action, children's procession, is scheduled for September 14. Rash reported that the organizers have applied to the Yerevan Municipality for permission. He reported that a number of actions - rallies and processions - are expected to be held in the near future. About 30 people are taking part in the hunger-strike. On September 1, the Labor Party of Kurdistan (LPK) announced a completion of the truce with Turkey declared four years ago. At the first stage, the party intends to hold peaceful actions of protest, which are to last for three months. The principal demand is medical examination of the LPK leader Abdullah Ocalan by international specialists, as well as termination of violence against Kurdish population, in particular, in Iraqi Kurdistan. If the LPK's demands are rejected, the party intends to resume military operations ................................................................................ ...................................... It looks like Turkey is going to have its own problems again with the " Mountain Turks "