Tuesday, April 29, 2003

BY THE WAY (FOLLOW UP) Maybe the question I posed earlier today will be answered, at least in part, tonight on ABC's Nightline when Dr. Nissar Hindawi, an Iraqi microbiologist, is interviewed by Bill Blakemore. Apparently, Dr. Hindawi will state that he had little choice when Saddam Hussein "asked" his help to create biological weapons such as botulinum toxin and anthrax. Apparently he will state that he "was just following orders." Dr. Hindawi began his work for Saddam in the 1980s during the Iraq/Iran war.  He left in 1989 but after the 1991 Gulf War, he was "pressed" back into service as a bioweapons consultant when U.N. inspectors arrived and he was coached on how to lie to them. In another story out of the Mideast it appears that President Yasser Arafat's newly appointed Palestinian Authority prime minister does not have the squeaky clean past touted by his supporters, at least according to an Israeli civil rights group.  WorldNetDaily reports that Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, provided financing for the terrorist attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. This information came from Israeli attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of the Shurat Hadin - Israel Law Center. In yet another story, CNN reports that an Iraqi lawyer (of all things) who helped U.S commandos locate and rescue prisoner of war Jessica Lynch has been granted asylum in the United States. Finally, according to Reuters, an Arab television network said on Tuesday it wants to give a job to former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf (a/k/a Comical Ali a/k/a Baghdad Bob), whose colorful daily briefings during the U.S.-led invasion won him a cult following. Ali al-Hadethi, supervisor of the Dubai-based al-Arabiya satellite channel, told Reuters that Sahaf, who does not figure on Washington's list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, was welcome to join the network immediately as a commentator and analyst. Seems to me there should be plenty of work for him in Washington D.C. File under Current Events. 9:02:19 PM    Go ahead, make my day  []

BY THE WAY Uh, I know this may be a bad time and you're real busy and all Dubya, but where are all these WMD's you promised us? File under Current Events. 7:49:57 AM    Go ahead, make my day  []