Saturday, August 09, 2003

IRAN PLANS TO TRY QAEDA SUSPECTS "An Iranian government minister has said that foreigners suspected of being Al Qaeda operatives whose home countries refuse to take them back will be put on trial in Iran, the daily Entekhab reported today. Ali Yunessi, Iran's minister of intelligence, said such people "will be tried in Iran and the trial will follow its legal procedure," Entekhab said. The minister, who was interviewed on Thursday, did not state how many people were in this category or what charges they would face..." New York Times 10:44:37 PM    Permission To Speak Freely []

BUSH CALLS IRAQ LONG-TERM UNDERTAKING IN MIDEAST "President Bush on Saturday vowed a "long-term undertaking" to bring democracy and economic prosperity to Iraq and across the Middle East. In his weekly radio address, broadcast amid renewed violence in Iraq and marking 100 days since he announced major combat operations over, Bush offered an upbeat assessment. Despite almost daily attacks on U.S. troops in which 55 have been killed, Bush said Iraq was more secure with 6,000 Iraqi police patrolling Baghdad and about 20,000 more on duty in other towns. The U.S. military and its allies had made "steady progress," he asserted. "We're keeping our word to the Iraqi people by helping them to make their country an example of democracy and prosperity throughout the region..." Reuters 10:38:48 PM    Permission To Speak Freely []

HANGING DARPA OUT TO DRY "For the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 2003 is turning out to be a bad year that's only gotten worse. The agency's rich history is associated in the popular mind with the leading role DARPA played in the development of the Internet. But flaps over the Total Information Awareness and FutureMAP (Futures Markets Applied to Prediction) programs now have critics painting this venerable institution as a Strangelovian collection of tech weirdos out to rob law-abiding Americans of their privacy..." CNET 10:35:03 PM    Permission To Speak Freely []