Stories from 2002-02-03

"A parade of European security officials expressed alarm today about what they considered an aggressive, go-it-alone stance staked out by President Bush in his State of the Union address last week, especially his warning that the United States was prepared to take preemptive action against Iraq or other countries that provide terrorists with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons." [more]

"The U.S. military has conceded that a major raid in Afghanistan was a mistake. American soldiers believed they were attacking an al Qaeda hideout in a remote village last month, but residents claim the American soldiers killed at least 18 people who were loyal to the new government. Inskeep ... discovered that the families of the dead have received compensation from the United States — paid in American $100 bills." [more]

" 'I would say to everyone, let's step back here, and instead of worrying so much about what the president said Tuesday night, let's put equal energy into working to make sure that these regimes don't get these weapons of mass destruction,' Rice said on Fox News Sunday. Political leaders in allied countries, including Britain, France and Russia, have expressed concern over Bush's declaration in his State of the Union speech Tuesday that the three states were an 'axis of evil' committed to developing weapons of mass destruction and must be stopped." [more]

"The Palestinians have a vision of peace: it is a peace based on the complete end of the occupation and a return to Israel's 1967 borders, the sharing of all Jerusalem as one open city and as the capital of two states, Palestine and Israel. It is a warm peace between two equals enjoying mutually beneficial economic and social cooperation. Despite the brutal repression of Palestinians over the last four decades, I believe when Israel sees Palestinians as equals, and not as a subjugated people upon whom it can impose its will, such a vision can come true. Indeed it must." [more]

"Russia laid bare its differences with the United States over the war on terrorism on Sunday, challenging President Bush's attack on the 'axis of evil' and accusing the West of double standards." [more]