] Who is that masked man? One of Japan's newest
] politicians.
]
] A professional wrestler who fought his way to victory in
] local assembly elections under his ring name and wearing
] his trademark mask has vowed the mask will not leave his
] face even after he enters the staid halls of Japanese
] politics.

Masked Wrestler Wins Japan Assembly Seat

Here's a great story detailing the history of Saddam Hussein. Feel free to forward to anyone who says that Bush is worse than Saddam..

=darwin

quoted:
===

Tales of the Tyrant
by Mark Bowden

What does Saddam Hussein see in himself that no one else in the world seems to see? The answer is perhaps best revealed by the intimate details of the Iraqi leader's daily life

The Atlantic | May 2002 | Tales of the Tyrant | Bowden

] What the war costs in dollars is not the most important
] thing. What it costs in lives and what it achieves are
] the most important things. But right now you can't help
] thinking about the cost in dollars...

What the war will cost you.

] MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti correspondent Viktoria
] Prikhodko) - On Friday head of the State Duma committee
] on international affairs Dmitry Rogozin stated to
] journalists that the statement made by US Deputy
] Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz regarding the necessity
] for Russia, Germany and France to write off Iraqi debts
] "most probably was a careless rather than a well-thought
] idea." Rogozin stated that to forgive Iraqi debts to
] France, Germany and the Russian Federation was like
] mocking at common sense which would never be accepted.
] The head of the Duma committee was confident that it was
] the USA that should repay to Russia USD 8.5 billion of
] the Iraqi debt and about USD 2 billion for losses which
] Russian companies incurred in connection with military
] actions in Iraq.

RUSSIAN DEPUTY SPEAKS IRONICALLY OF WASHINGTON'S DEMAND TO WRITE OFF IRAQI DEBTS TO RUSSIA, GERMANY AND FRANCE

] THREE WEEKS AGO, based on early reports from Iraq, I
] suggested that war against repressive regimes no longer
] necessitates massive casualties. Opponents of the war
] fired back. Some argued that war was always immoral;
] others argued that this war was hasty or unjust. All
] agreed that the immorality of war was based on the
] immorality of killing. Now that Baghdad has fallen,
] here%u2019s my question to peaceniks: Are you against
] killing, or are you against war? Because what happened in
] Iraq suggests you may have to choose.

The redemptive side of war

digitalreporter wrote:
] ] An action-packed trailer for the long-awaited sequel to
] ] The Matrix has been released by Warner Bros.
] ]
] ] The minute-long series of clips from The Matrix Reloaded
] ] offers a glimpse of the action sci-fi feature, due for
] ] release on 23 May.
] ]
] ] It mirrors the first film's combination of acrobatic
] ] martial arts fight scenes, high-octane car chases and
] ] spectacular special effects.

Here's a link to a full-screen Quicktime version of the trailer:
http://progressive1.stream.aol.com/wb/gl/wbonline/progressive/thematrix/us/med/trailer_final_1000_dl.zip

RE: Matrix sequel trailer released

France became a major military supplier to Iraq after 1975 as the two countries improved their political relations. In order to obtain petroleum imports from the Middle East and strengthen its traditional ties with Arab and Muslim countries, France wanted a politico-military bridge between Paris and Baghdad.

Between 1977 and 1987, Paris contracted to sell a total of 133 Mirage F-1 fighters to Iraq. The first transfer occurred in 1978, when France supplied eighteen Mirage F-1 interceptors and thirty helicopters, and even agreed to an Iraqi share in the production of the Mirage 2000 in a US$2 billion arms deal. In 1983 another twenty-nine Mirage F-1s were exported to Baghdad. And in an unprecedented move, France "loaned" Iraq five SuperEtendard attack aircraft, equipped with Exocet AM39 air-to- surface missiles, from its own naval inventory.

...

Iraqi debts to France were estimated at US$3 billion in 1987.

1Up Info | Iraq | Arms from France | Iraqi Information Resource

] With the burgeoning Sars epidemic spreading fear among
] travellers worldwide, the Hong Kong tourist board must be
] ruing the day it commissioned a series of magazine ads
] telling readers a visit to the city will "take your
] breath away".

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Advertising | Hong Kong in hot flush over ad blunder

] A U.S. airstrike on Monday targeted a building in Baghdad
] that time-sensitive intelligence suggested senior Iraqi
] leaders, including Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his
] sons, were meeting there.
]
] How is intelligence like that gathered and how reliable
] is it?

Finally, something about the real bad asses in this conflict. Special Forces.

Ex-SAS commando discusses covert operations

Bob Barr states:
] Some of you may think that I have always been in
] politics, but I haven't. There was a time in the
] distant past, in a land far, far ago, where I actually
] worked as a professional. Came to a job every day. Was
] held to certain standards, where I had actual job
] evaluations and had to get raises and so forth, and I
] actually enjoyed it. It was at the CIA. I spent close to
] eight years at the Agency back in the 1970's. Having
] the opportunity this weekend to visit with Jim Woolsey
] and have the honor of introducing him here today really
] is wonderful.

World War IV