Thursday, May 08, 2003

 
Bush Breaks the Law! (Again)

Back in 1972, George W. Bush was grounded from flying in the Texas National Guard for refusing to take the required physical. As far as anyone knows, he has never flown since.

.....That is until the recent publicity stunt that included flying a jet fighter (by his own admission. "Yes, I flew it!") before the aircraft landed on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

So Bush has not flown for over 30 years, but feels compelled to fly a multimillion dollar fighter jet without a license. Hey, anything for a taxpayer-funded publicity stunt.

Nevertheless, flying without a license is a felony and Bush should be punished as the felon that he is.

Unfortunately, in my search for truth, I made multiple calls to the FAA before finding my way to an agent in the San Diego Flight Standards office (I believe the airspace that Bush flew in was off the coast there). The agent explained to me that military planes outside international airspace (which extends 15 miles off shore. The Carrier was 39 miles offshore) were outside the jurisdiction of the FAA (except in egregious cases where the public is somehow threatened).

The bottom line: Bush got away with flying without a license. No laws were technically broken. The spirit of most laws were.

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posted by Thomas Ball 12:12 PM

 
Bush, Iraq, North Korea News Summaries

Powell Expects Iraq Resolution at UN 'This Week' (Reuters) Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday he expected to produce 'this week' a U.N. resolution that would lift sanctions against Iraq and give the United Nations a role in the country's future. The draft is expected to be distributed to the 15 U.N. Security Council members on Friday, shortly before they start a weekend retreat. Failing that, it would be circulated on Monday, diplomats and Bush administration officials said.

Iraq (Bush) Wants to Boost Oil Production to 1.5 Mln Bpd (CNN) Iraq aims in three weeks to boost oil production to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from current rates of 200,000 bpd to supply the battered country's power and domestic needs, a top Iraqi oil official said on Wednesday. Veteran Iraqi technocrat Thamir Ghadhban, recently appointed chief executive of Iraq's oil sector, told Reuters the country's export network was in good shape but the priority now was to meet Iraq's internal fuel requirements. The aim is to reach 1.5 million bpd -- two-thirds of Iraq's pre-war volume -- by the end of May if not earlier, he said.

Diplomat: U.S. to Let Inspectors Back in Iraq (Reuters) The United States will let the U.N. nuclear watchdog return to Iraq to verify Baghdad's compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a diplomat said on Wednesday. "There is no question that inspectors from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will eventually go back to Iraq," the diplomat, familiar with U.S. thinking, told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The diplomat did not say when the United States would give the go ahead, but said it was clear Washington saw the IAEA playing a "long-term role in Iraq," monitoring nuclear activity.

U.S. Officials in a Quandary Over N. Korea (LA Times) Washington will judge the Pyongyang regime's intentions in large part by whether it actually churns out the nuclear material that is the stuff of global proliferation nightmares. U.S. officials say they remain convinced a diplomatic settlement is possible, but in case diplomacy fails, the administration is reportedly considering a strategy of preparing to stop North Korea from exporting its nuclear wares.

S.Korea Sees No Sign of North's Nuclear Activity (Reuters) South Korea said on Thursday it had no evidence that the communist North, embroiled in a tense nuclear standoff with the United States, had started reprocessing nuclear fuel rods for possible weapons use. 'For now, we judge it is difficult to say decisively North Korea has begun reprocessing nuclear fuel rods,' a presidential spokesman told reporters. 'Seoul and Washington are exchanging intelligence and are looking into such a possibility.'

S. Korea: U.S. spy photo shows North may be reprocessing fuel rods (Associated Press) The United States has given South Korea a satellite photograph showing smoke coming from a North Korean nuclear facility, a possible sign the communist nation has started reprocessing spent fuel rods, a South Korean official said Thursday. Reprocessing the rods would be a key step toward producing nuclear weapons. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said other signs of nuclear activity, such as traces of chemicals used in reprocessing or heat signatures, had not been detected from the Yongbyon nuclear complex. He said the smoke was coming from radiation and chemical laboratories in the facility.

New U.S. Concerns on Iran's Pursuit of Nuclear Arms (NY Times) The Bush administration is concerned that Iran has stepped up its covert nuclear program, and the government is now seeking broad international support for an official finding that Tehran has violated its commitment not to produce nuclear weapons, officials said today. The officials said that the United States was pressing nations that sit on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare that Iran has violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which it has signed. The atomic energy agency is to meet on the matter next month.

Syria Wants Peace Talks, Denies Secret Approach (Reuters) Syria said on Wednesday the time was ripe to seek a just peace between Arabs and Israel, but insisted any negotiations must build on the outcome of previous peace efforts and U.N. resolutions. "It (Syria) has always displayed a willingness to return to negotiations on the ground set through Madrid (peace conference in 1990), United Nations resolutions and the land-for-peace formula. This stance has not changed," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban told reporters. "I really believe it's about time we do that (achieve peace) in the region because all small solutions are not going to solve problems, what is needed is a whole settlement."

Germany Rejects Participation in Iraq Force (Reuters) Germany rejected on Wednesday a proposal by Warsaw for German troops to team up with Polish and Danish soldiers to keep the peace in part of postwar Iraq. Poland stunned Germany on Tuesday when its defense minister, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, proposed in Washington that a Polish-led stabilization force in Iraq could be based on an existing joint Polish-German-Danish corps. "The participation of German soldiers in such a common mission is not planned and so will not take place and Germany's policies remain consistent," Bela Anda, chief German government spokesman, told a regular news conference.

France Urges Swift Move to U.N.-Backed Iraqi Govt. (Reuters) French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Wednesday U.S.-led forces could not guarantee durable stability in post-war Iraq, and urged the deployment of a multinational force with U.N. backing. Villepin also said a temporary post-war administration assembled by the United States must be replaced with an authority backed by the United Nations. "The stabilization force risks offering only limited and temporary solutions, it is only an enlarged coalition around the U.S.-British nucleus," Villepin said in an interview with regional newspaper Ouest France.

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posted by Thomas Ball 9:21 AM