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7 April 1944 Good Friday; at least I suppose it must be somewhere. I remember the 'Karfreitag' I spent in Heidelberg seven years ago. A party of us had an early supper and then went into Mannheim to the opera house to hear 'Parsifal,' which on this day would be playing in every opera house in Germany. I remember returning to Heidelberg, tired and slightly stunned by 5 hours of concentrated Wagner, the first time I had ever heard of 'Parsifal' in its entirety. The next time I heard it was about a year later at the Colon Opera House...

The United States Library of Congress has meanwhile honored DEBKAfile with the following request: ?The United States Library of Congress preserves the Nation?s cultural artifacts and provides enduring access to them. The Library?s traditional functions, acquiring, cataloging, preserving and serving collection materials of historical importance to the Congress and to the American people to foster education and scholarship, extend to digital materials, including websites. The Library has selected your site for inclusion in the historic collection of the 2003 War on Iraq Internet materials. The Library requests your permission to collect your website. Our plan is to engage the Internet...

War Diary: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003Feb 26, 2003 The commander of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks -- who will have responsibility for an invasion of Iraq-- arrived at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Qatar houses the primary command facilities for U.S. forces deployed around Iraq. Franks is now at his command post. His command normally is housed in Tampa, Fla., and a "senior command official," probably Franks himself, said that he probably would be returning to Tampa in a few days. The official also said, "Modern command and control does not require him...

Iraq War Diary: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003Feb 22, 2003 On Feb. 21, rumors continued to sweep the world that the war would not begin until mid-March. The continuing theme is that British Prime Minister Tony Blair has literally begged the White House to seek a second resolution, even if it means putting off the war until mid-March. Blair is said to fear that he would be forced from office by his own party if there is war without a second resolution. The administration has worked strenuously to corroborate the story, with President George W. Bush himself, speaking on background,...