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<p>Top officials of the Defense and State departments have been busy on the lecture circuit, trying to rationalize the urgency of war. But their descriptions of "weapons of mass destruction" remain hazy. Secretary of State Colin Powell alluded to missing artillery shells and bombs "capable of" carrying chemical agents, and growth material which might be used to make "biological agents," saying these "terrible weapons put millions of innocent people at risk." But how could millions be killed by undiscovered warheads or surplus growth material?</p>

Colin Powell, the United States secretary of state, yesterday appeared to pull back from claims that he would show the United Nations a link between al-Qa'eda and Iraq, amid anger among Washington's spies over the way intelligence was being distorted to prove the link existed. There will be "no smoking gun" in the evidence he will present to the Security Council tomorrow in an attempt to persuade it to back force against Iraq, he said. It will just be "a straightforward and compelling demonstration that Saddam is concealing evidence of weapons of mass destruction, while preserving the weapons." He faces...

The Supreme Court has not yet declared it, but the "separation of church and State" is being redefined in our time. It is no accident that while the role of the state is continually expanding, the influence of the church over even its internal affairs is shrinking. In Massachusetts last year, the state’s attorney general announced he was seeking a role for his office in "monitoring" the recruitment, selection and training of candidates for the priesthood in the Catholic Church. To avoid prosecution under the state’s child endangerment law, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester late last year signed an...

CARACAS (Dec. 18) "Where are they getting their money?" asks historian Samuel Moncada, as the television displays one opposition commercial after another. Moncada is chair of the history department at Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. We are sitting in one of the few restaurants that is open in the eastern, wealthier part of Caracas. For two weeks during this country's business-led strike, the privately owned stations that dominate Venezuelan television have been running opposition "info-mercials" instead of advertisements, in addition to what is often non-stop coverage of opposition protests. "I am sure there is money from abroad," asserts Moncada....

AP ‘ s One-Sided Venezuela Coverage On Desk Reporters Who "Phone-in"the Spin By Dan Feder Special to the Narco News Bulletin December 18, 2002 The statement seemed clear enough. After a total of 25 hours of negotiations that framed this past weekend, the Organization of American States representing 34 governments - released a much-awaited declaration on the crisis in Venezuela. The OAS rejected any solution that is not consistent with the Venezuelan constitution "which went into law with the support of President Hugo Chavez in 1999 only after the entire nation approved the text in a referendum" and "fully support(s)...

CP/RES. 833 (1348/02) SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE IN VENEZUELA AND THE FACILITATION EFFORTS OF THE OAS SECRETARY GENERAL THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, HAVING HEARD the presentation of the Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the Organization of American States regarding incidents that could destabilize the democratic constitutional order in Venezuela; HAVING HEARD the oral report by the Secretary General on his role in the facilitation efforts concerning the situation in Venezuela; TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the serious political situation confronting the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and deploring the acts of violence in that country; CONSIDERING...

The buzzwords in Washington concerning Iraq these days are "regime change," which in a sense is surprisingly honest. It means the upcoming Gulf War II will not be about protecting Kuwait or stemming Iraqi aggression. The pretenses have been discarded, and now we’ve simply decided Saddam must go. We seem to have very little idea, however, what a post-Saddam Iraq will look like. We should expect another lesson in nation-building, with American troops remaining in the country indefinitely while billions of our tax dollars attempt to prop up a new government. With this goal of regime change in mind, the...

Nineteen Roman Catholic bishops, nine of them Americans, have resigned since 1990 in the context of sex scandals. U.S. cases: --Cardinal Bernard Law, archbishop of Boston, on Friday, following months of criticism for his mishandling of sex abuse claims against priests. --Bishop J. Kendrick Williams of Lexington, Ky., on June 11, following allegations he abused two minors and an 18-year-old decades ago, which Williams denied. --Auxiliary Bishop James McCarthy of New York, on June 11, after apologizing for affairs with adult women. --Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, following May 23 news that his archdiocese paid $450,000 to a man claiming...

<p>Boston's Bernard Cardinal Law was just following orders from his boss - Pope John Paul II - when he sent suspected pedophile priests back to work in parishes with kids, a damning church document reveals.</p> <p>The pope, in a 1999 order defrocking a Boston priest with a history of molesting boys, acknowledged that the man "ought to live away from the place where his previous condition is known."</p>

"Simply put, it is not ethical to give a medicine that will kill and maim persons for no demonstrable benefit. Assuaging fears about vulnerability to a potential disease is not a benefit any physician should accept." -Dr. Jeffrey S. Sartin, MD A controversy over vaccines, specifically the smallpox vaccine, is brewing in Washington. The administration is considering ordering mass inoculations for more than one million military personnel and civilian medical workers, ostensibly to thwart a smallpox outbreak before it occurs. Yet dangerous side-effects from the vaccine- ranging from mild flu symptoms to gangrene, encephalitis, and even death- cause many to...

Literally minutes before adjourning for the year, the House of Representatives without debate unanimously approved a $261 million-a-year legislative grab bag of goodies for environmentalists and their allies in government, and sent it to the Senate for final approval. Co-authored by Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Bob Smith, R-N.H., The American Wildlife Enhancement Act – S 990 – provides the wherewithal for massive land acquisition by state government agencies and non-profit groups, boosts the powers and status of the environmental organizations, and enacts a major amendment to the 1973 Endangered Species Act by adding a new designation – "species at...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Czech intelligence officials have knocked down one of the few clear links between al Qaida terrorists and the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, UPI has learned. Senior Czech intelligence officials have told their American counterparts that they now have "no confidence" in their earlier report of direct meetings in Prague between Mohammed Atta, leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers and an Iraqi diplomat stationed in Prague who has since been expelled for "activities inconsistent with his diplomatic status." "Quite simply, we think the source for this story may have invented the meeting that...

Congressman Ron Paul U.S. House of Representatives September 10, 2002 QUESTIONS THAT WON'T BE ASKED ABOUT IRAQ Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq. I am concerned there are some questions that won’t be asked- and maybe will not even be allowed to be asked. Here are some questions I would like answered by those who are urging us to start this war. 1. Is it not true that the reason we did not bomb the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War was because we knew they could retaliate? 2. Is it...

Important Questions About War in Iraq Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) September 4, 2002 As Congress reconvenes this week, the possibility of war with Iraq looms larger than ever. I believe the Constitution clearly requires a declaration of war by Congress before a military invasion of Iraq can take place. I also believe that Congress and the American people need to engage in a sober and thorough debate over the wisdom of such an invasion before we commit our young soldiers to a new war in Iraq. At a minimum, the following questions should be carefully considered: Why do so many...

As the Bush administration intensifies talk about toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, military officials are confronting what some see as a looming problem: that by launching a war in the Persian Gulf, the administration will divert attention and resources from the military campaign against al Qaeda and terrorism. Although Pentagon officials are proceeding to refine plans for a war against Iraq, military officers warn that a major campaign in the Middle East would place a serious drain on intelligence gathering and Special Forces units, two central components of the military's efforts to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban members in...

<p>As the Bush administration raises prospects of war with Iraq, USA TODAY asked experts to explore critical military, diplomatic and political factors involved and the possible consequences. This is part of that occasional series.</p> <p>Vice President Cheney's speech this week showed that the administration has no new evidence to support its claim that Iraq poses an immediate threat to the United States. Instead, Cheney used standard, vague terms: "no doubt" Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction or will acquire nuclear weapons "fairly soon." The administration also points to the possible presence of fleeing al-Qaeda members in northern Iraq, perhaps of senior rank. But it has difficulty tying them directly to Saddam because the area is largely under the control of Kurdish opposition leader Jallal Tallabani, who has worked with the Bush administration against Saddam.</p>

We all know about the ideological double standard that exists everywhere in the secular world. All points of view are welcome – unless they’re right of center. "Extreme right" candidates are endlessly denounced on television and in print, but, mysteriously, there appears to be no such thing as an extreme left candidate. Despite the routine denunciations of the supposedly "intolerant" right wing, there is no one more intolerant than the committed leftist. I recall from my days as an undergraduate that even though the Harvard faculty was composed, by and large, of committed leftists, this was never enough for activists...

The recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings highlight a development that ought to have inspired a great public debate but hasn’t. From the very beginning, the Bush administration has been intent on waging war against Iraq, and by now nearly the whole country seems resigned to a U.S. attack. Within the government, discussion concerns matters of timing, strategy, mobilization of military resources, provision of bases, and so forth. Hardly any prominent person has questioned the attack's underlying rationale. Yet the justification for this war remains extremely problematic. “If we do this,” said Anthony Cordesman, military guru and Iraq specialist, “it...

Congress's race to complete the most complicated reorganization of the federal government in history prompted a senior leader at one conservative think tank to caution his colleagues, who hoped to improve the proposal. "I reminded them that we were watching the creation of a department we'll likely spend the rest of our careers criticizing," he ruefully explains. Although just several weeks old, it is already clear that President Bush's plan to toss 22 agencies into a grand new enterprise dedicated to homeland security will keep conservative critics and congressional meddlers busy for years to come. Despite the president's desire to...

Washington, DC- Anti-terrorism legislation introduced by Congressman Ron Paul today passed unanimously in the House International Relations committee. Paul sits on the committee, which plays a key role in developing new homeland security policies. Paul’s bill implements tough new visa rules aimed at preventing terrorists from entering the country. Specifically, the bill requires the State department to apply extreme scrutiny before issuing student and diversity visas to any individuals from terror-sponsoring nations. "We must take control of our borders and prevent potential terrorists from entering the country," Paul stated. "Most of the criminals responsible for the September 11th attacks entered...