Jinn of Current Events

No wonder the German government is scared of the US going after Saddam and finding out where all the weapons material come from. Asia Times: German firms [make] up the bulk of suppliers for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. What's galling is that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his minions have long known the facts, German intelligence services know them and have loads of information on what Saddam Hussein is hiding, and Schroeder nonetheless plays holier than thou to an easily manipulated, pacifist-inclined domestic audience. 

Brian Carnell links to an analysis written by [senior] NASA engineer Gregory Katnik about damage sustained to the [Columbia] Shuttle's heat shielding tiles following the use of a newly formulated, freon-free insulation. The New York Times has more about the NASA risking astronauts' lives for the sake of environmentalist doctrine. Katnik found that, after the launch of STS-87, over 300 tiles on the Columbia space shuttle were damaged by "environmentally-friendly" break-away insulation. NASA later declared it was not a danger. 

Richard Perle, former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and now chairman of the Pentagon's Policy Advisory Board, said yesterday that France is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance. According to UPI, he condemned French and German policy on Iraq in the strongest terms... Perle also questioned whether the United States should ever again seek the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council on a major issue of policy, stressing that Iraq is going to be liberated, by the United States and whoever wants to join us, whether we get the approbation of the U.N. or any other institution.