Libya 'to give up WMD'

BBC ^ | 19/12/2003 | BBC

[Da_Shrimp]

Libya's leader Colonel Gaddafi has said his country sought to develop weapons of mass destruction capabilities but will dismantle this programme completely, Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced. "This decision is an historic one and a courageous one and I applaud it," Mr Blair said.

Colonel Gaddafi had told him the process of dismantling the programme would be "transparent and verifiable", the prime minister said in a statement from Durham Cathedral.

The range of all Libya's missiles would be restricted to "no more then 300km, he added.

Mr Blair said Britain had been engaged in talks with Libya for nine months.

"Libya came to us in March following successful negotiations on Lockerbie to see if it could resolve its weapons of mass destruction issue in a similarly cooperative manner," he said.

[BSunday]

Who was it that said something about "the world is not safer..."

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!

[proud American in Canada]

Goodnight, Da Shrimp! And many thanks from this side of the Atlantic...

:)

[mylife]

"the world is not safer..."

That was DR Deanmento!

[Maynerd]

He can't pronounce Kaddafi's first name either. Not that it really matters. The guy is such a whack job that he never promoted himself past Colonel.

LOL

[BSunday]

Now THAT....is simply INSPIRING

[woodyinscc]

If we knew, he wouldn't be the Stealth President!

It is going to get beter and better, President Bush is playing his hand perfectly. The dims are running out of ammo, and their powder is all wet.!!

[Grampa Dave]

GW can have another nice weekend while the left wing mediots, the DNC, the nine drawfs and the rats in Congress have another sleepless weekend worrying.

This is a pattern he has done since he was president. The left wing mediots never do any real reporting to find out what GW and his cabinet are doing. They just create the lie, the spin and mantra of the week about him.

Miss Marple noted this with GW early in his presidency. While the mediots and left wingers are trying lynch him electronically, he is behind the scenes solving problems.

Miss Marple labeled GW, the stealth President, as this is how he handles situations. The lefties and far out righties never realize this. They just get upset that GW refuses to come on the stage with them put a pre rigged noose around his neck re some phoney issue.

We can only hope that the enemies of GW continue to operate the same way in the next 5 years as they have the past 3 years.

[Huck]

LOL! John F Kerry and Wesley Clark. The Doofus and the Fruitcake.

[Socratic]

"I dunno, could be more stick than carrot. A BIG stick."

That all depends upon where you intend to "stick" that carrot.

[Grampa Dave]

Check out John Huang2's tagline about where GW has driven the libs and continues to drive them!:)

[putupon]

...he's tasted the metal of an angry Republican before,

[MeekOneGOP]

Suits me, friend. lol !

Reposted via The Dialectizer (Redneck), for humorous purposes only !! ...

Bush still kin't pronounce "nulclear". Thet is true. ah's mighty amazed at how menny folks misprounounce it. It's:

NU'-KLEE-UR ! Fry mah hide!

---

No offense MeeknMin', but...

Am ah th' only one tired of hearin' about how someone pronoooces nucular?

Give it a bust already. Th' way a wo'd is pronounced will eventully be how ev'ryone pronounces it.

Of all th' problems in th' wo'ld today, how President Bush, (o' ennyone fo' thet matter) pronounces "nucular" sh'd be too low t'even comment about. Yet, ev'ry time someone says "nucular", we haf varmints postin' about how they mis-pronounce it.

ah's so'ry ah have even this hyar much time on th' subjeck.

Bah-hoombug, acco'din' t' th' code o' th' heells!

[Peach]

Somehow our president always gets what he wants, doesn't he? He's a strongly principled man. God bless him.

If you are interested, this link takes you to a Weekly Standard article posted on FR that shows how former President Clinton believed in an Al Qaeda and Iraq link during his 8 years as president.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1043724/posts

[Peach]

Thanks for the ping, prairiebreeze. Somehow our president always gets what he wants. The rest of the world is slowly getting on board.

[MeekOneGOP]

Suits me, friend. lol !

Reposted via The Dialectizer (Jive), for humorous purposes only !! ...

No offense MeeknMin', but. Man!..

Am ah' de only one tired uh hearin' about how some sucka pronouces nuclear?

Give it some bust already. Slap mah fro! De way some wo'd be pronounced gots'ta eventully be how everyone pronounces it. Man!

Of all de problems in de wo'ld today, how Super-dude Bush, (o' any sucka fo' dat matter) pronounces "nuclear" should be too low t'even comment about. Man! Yet, every time some sucka says "nuclear", we gots sucka's postin' about how dey mis-pronounce it. Man!

I's gots'ta be so'ry ah' have even dis much time on de subject. Man!

Bah-humbug. What it is, Mama!

[mylife]

Now the DUmmies are arguing that Libya wasnt responsible for Lockerbie and arent part of the axis of evil.

From DU: I'm pretty sure for example that Libya was not involved in the Lockerbie bombing.

Unreal

[Capt. Tom]

The guy is such a whack job that he never promoted himself past Colonel.

What about us we can't agree on how to spell his name.

Qaddafi Qatafi Quathafi Kadafi Kaddafi Khadaffi Gadhafi Gaddafi Gadafy

[doug from upland]

President Bush is a stupid, drunken, incompetent partying frat boy. Oh, he isn't? Never mind.

[MJY1288]

I couldn't wait to get home and read about this amazing news, This is really good news and if Khadaffi follows through with his commitments, we and the Brits need to open some doors to the west for Khadaffi.

It Looks like Dubya's "strategery" is working pretty good

[Grampa Dave]

The Screaming Heads will have to dodge their lies about Haliburton. This is not a good weekend for the screaming heads. Of course that makes our weekend a great one!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1043742/posts

Halliburton’s “Gouging”: What Really Happened
National Review Online ^ | December 19, 2003 | Byron York


Posted on 12/19/2003 2:50:40 PM PST by Map Kernow


New details are emerging that suggest the energy giant Halliburton did not overcharge the Defense Department for fuel in Iraq — contrary to the claims of critics in Congress and in the field of Democratic presidential candidates.


The Pentagon is investigating allegations that Halliburton overcharged it by $61 million for gasoline and other fuels delivered to Iraq. Halliburton delivered gasoline to Iraq from Kuwait at a price of $2.27 per gallon, while it delivered gas from Turkey for $1.18 per gallon.


The obvious question raised by the discrepancy was: Why would Halliburton deliver high-priced fuel from Kuwait when it could be obtained at a much lower price from Turkey?


The company says it did so because the Army demanded that it deliver fuel from Kuwait. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said to find a fuel source in Kuwait," Halliburton said in a press release yesterday. "[Halliburton] sought and received bids from four suppliers in Kuwait. One met the Corps' specification, and that is the one the Corps approved."

But why did the Corps specify that fuel be delivered from Kuwait? The answer appears to lie with the nature of fuel shortages that swept Iraq in the late spring. After the war, the country's oil refineries were operating far below capacity. Both gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas, which millions of Iraqis use for cooking, were in very short supply.


American officials feared that the shortages might spark civil unrest. Of particular concern was Basra, the city in southern Iraq that had seen increasingly violent expressions of popular anger against coalition forces. According to a source in the Corps of Engineers, in May, Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, leader of American forces in Iraq, demanded that fuel be supplied to Basra — fast.


"The initial import of fuel was in response to a request from General Sanchez to do this because there was an uprising in Basra over the lack of gas and cooking fuel," says the Corps source. "Basra is near the Kuwaiti border. The fastest way to get it there is Kuwait. So we directed them [Halliburton] to do that."


"Basra was a flash point; we were close to civil unrest," the source continues. "Probably at the time we didn't care what it cost, because we were trying to stop a riot. Cost was probably not an issue."


But the rest of Iraq was suffering from fuel shortages as well. On May 8, in an article headlined, "Angry Iraqis Blame U.S. for Fuel Shortage," the Washington Post reported on a "ubiquitous scene" in Iraq: "lines that stretch toward dusty horizons as people wait for gasoline, a problem that confronts U.S. authorities with both a complex engineering challenge and a continuing threat to their prestige."


Soon the U.S. military was ordering fuel shipments to the rest of Iraq as well. While the Kuwaiti source is relatively close to Basra, it is a great distance from northern Iraq, which made for very long shipping lines. And the violent insurgency then beginning inside Iraq made the work not only expensive but also dangerous for the crews hired by Halliburton to deliver the fuel.


"Not many people want to drive eight to fifteen days through a war zone with a truck full of flammable materials," the company says. "Three drivers have been killed and many others injured while performing this mission, and 60 vehicles have been damaged."


As a result, Halliburton officials say they came up with the idea of arranging for another fuel source in Turkey. "[Halliburton] initiated the idea to source fuel from Turkey," the company says. [Halliburton] presented this idea to its customer, and because of this, saved taxpayers well over $100 million."


Since that time, fuel has come into Iraq from both sources. According to both the Corps and Halliburton, neither country can, on its own, provide the amount of fuel needed inside Iraq.


So far, Halliburton says, about two-thirds of the fuel delivered to Iraq has come from Turkey, at the lower price, and about one-third has come from Kuwait, at the higher price. Given those proportions, Halliburton says the average fuel cost from both Turkey and Kuwait has been $1.60 per gallon, "well within what auditors think it should be."


Although Halliburton's actions have been intensely criticized by the administration's opponents, the Pentagon says it has not found any wrongdoing. Said Defense Department comptroller Dov Zakheim on Tuesday, "From what I've seen so far...I have no basis whatsoever to see anything nefarious."