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Sunday, January 15, 2006 |
TimesOnline: "A row erupted between the US and Spain yesterday after Washington tried to block Madrid from selling military aircraft to the left-wing Government of President Chávez of Venezuela. Spain reacted with defiance, saying that the $2 billion (£1.2 billion) deal for military aircraft, which contain US technology, would go ahead."
Statewatch: "Statewatch has been denied access to an EU document because the views expressed in a high-level committee uses: 'frank and non-diplomatic language' in recording 'in extenso' on positions taken by the US side."
Could that be threats and blackmail by the US?
Aftenposten: "US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatened Norway with 'serious political consequences' after Finance Minister and Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen admitted to supporting a boycott of Israeli goods."
I am pretty sure the Dutch government received threats from the US with regard to the uncertain deployment of Dutch troops in Afghanistan. Making these threats public would jeopardize the support of the Dutch Parliament. A majority of the Dutch people does not support sending more troops.
11:58:11 AM 
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WashingtonPost: "Two weeks into the new Medicare prescription drug program, many of the nation's sickest and poorest elderly and disabled people are being turned away or overcharged at pharmacies, prompting more than a dozen states to declare health emergencies and pay for their life-saving medicines."
11:39:09 AM
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LATimes: "After more than 2 1/2 years of sputtering reconstruction work, the United States' 'Marshall Plan' to rebuild this war-torn country is drawing to a close this year with much of its promise unmet and no plans to extend its funding.
The $18.6 billion approved by Congress in 2003 will be spent by the end of this year, officials here say. Foreign governments have given only a fraction of the billions they pledged two years ago.
With the country still a shambles, U.S. officials are promoting a tough-love vision of reconstruction that puts the burden on the Iraqi people.
But embassy and reconstruction officials outlined a program of private investment and fiscal belt-tightening by the new Iraqi government as the long-term solution to the country's woes, even if that causes short-term suffering for Iraq's people."
BrusselsTirbunal: "A little known aspect of the tragedy engulfing Iraq is the systematic liquidation of the country's academics. Even according to conservative estimates, over 250 educators have been assassinated, and many hundreds more have disappeared. With thousands fleeing the country in fear for their lives, not only is Iraq undergoing a major brain drain, the secular middle class - which has refused to be co-opted by the US occupation - is being decimated, with far-reaching consequences for the future of Iraq."
LATimes: "Declaring that the United States was at a crossroads in Iraq, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops said Thursday the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops as fast as responsibly possible and to hand control of the country to Iraqis."
11:32:17 AM
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