January 28, 2004

Iraqi govt. papers: Saddam bribed Chirac WashingtonTimes - Documents from Saddam Hussein's oil ministry reveal he used oil to bribe top French officials into opposing the imminent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The oil ministry papers, described by the independent Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, are apparently authentic and will become the basis of an official investigation by the new Iraqi Governing Council, the Independent reported Wednesday. This is exactly what I wrote about Feb 6th 2003.  If France, Germany, and Russia were against the war because Saddam told them to be, then the UN is nothing.  But you already knew that. 10:32:35 PM

US court orders Hamas to pay damages - Jerusalem Post In a landmark decision, US District Judge Ronald Lagueux upheld a preliminary ruling issued by a magistrate judge in July, 2003 that found Hamas responsible for the deaths of Yaron Ungar, a US citizen, and his Israeli wife Efrat, who were gunned down by terrorists near Beit Shemesh while returning from a wedding. The ruling was made after Hamas repeatedly failed to respond to the lawsuit; an attorney for the Ungar family, David Strachman, noted that Hamas officials in Gaza and Damascus, including the organization's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, were served with court papers. Judgments against Hamas's co-defendants in the suit, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, are pending. An Israel court has convicted four Hamas members in the June 9, 1996 slaying. 9:09:41 AM