] Kamal Qubeisi reported that Iraq has been showing
] mounting interest in public opinion following the
] anti-war demonstrations in various cities around the
] world. Therefore, Iraq started as of February 18, 2003
] "to implement a project called 'WebCam in Iraq' which
] places cameras in various areas in Baghdad to transmit,
] via the Internet to millions of viewers in five
] continents, scenes of everyday life in the Iraqi capital.

I'd love to see this webcam, but haven't had any luck in finding a link to it! If anyone else knows the URL, please post it?

I also poked around to find out who or what "Kamal Qubeisi" is. My guess is that it's "Kamal Kobeissi", a reporter for the London-based Arabic-language paper "Asharq Al-Awsat". I'm also going to try writing to him, to see if he can offer any assistance!
His pic and (Arabic language) info is here:

http://www.asharqalawsat.com/pcstatic/02staff/0editors/kobeisi.html

Baghdad Webcam?

] TERRIFIED Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border
] and tried to surrender to British forces - because they
] thought the war had already started.
]
] The motley band of a dozen troops waved the white flag as
] British paratroopers tested their weapons during a
] routine exercise.
]
] The stunned Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade were forced
] to tell the Iraqis they were not firing at them, and
] ordered them back to their home country telling them it
] was too early to surrender.
]
] The drama unfolded last Monday as the Para batallion
] tested mortars and artillery weapons to make sure they
] were working properly.

Saddam's Soldiers Surrender

] Some world leaders and strategists have proposed five
] options for dealing with what they claim is a clear and
] present danger to their vital national interest in the
] Persian Gulf.

This is a review of the book "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq", by Kenneth Pollack, an Iraq specialist.

The options for dealing with Iraq basically boil down to:

(1) Containment
(2) Deterrence
(3) Covert Action
(4) The "Afghan" approach (encouraging local groups to take over)
(5) Invasion

When I'm talking to people offline about the Iraq situation, I often hear the anti-war folks say things like, "Well, war is just bad." "We shouldn't attack." "Innocent people will die." "Saddam might attack other countries if we do anything." "If we attack Iraq, then terrorists might set off attacks here in the U.S." To which I respond, "Okay, you say that invasion is a bad idea, I hear you. But, what *should* we do? Is Saddam an innocent peace-loving individual here? If we don't attack or find some other way of getting rid of Saddam, will the problem go away?" And more often than not, I'm greeted with a blank look or a confused expression. In other words, many people seem to be jumping on the anti-war bandwagon for no other reason than because of a gut feeling that "war is bad," but they're not thinking about the potentially even more serious consequences of inaction.

This book "The Threatening Storm", does an excellent job, IMHO, of carefully discussing each of the 5 options, pro and con. It's got a ton of hard data and analysis about the Iraq situation, and I recommend it highly.

The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq

] Two North Korean MiG29 fighters and two other aircraft
] that Davis said appeared to be MiG23 fighters intercepted
] the Air Force RC-135S reconnaissance plane, which Davis
] said was conducting a routine intelligence mission over
] the Sea of Japan about 150 miles off North Korea's coast.
]
] The closest the fighters came was about 50 feet, Davis
] said.

This wasn't going after a high-altitude spyplane on an overflight of Korean airspace. This was going 150 miles into international waters, sending fighters to buzz a wing's length away from a 707....

N. Korea Jets Intercept U.S. Spy Plane

] Under threat of severe penalties, the vast majority of
] North Korea's 22 million people are not allowed any
] contact with the outside world -- letters, telephone
] calls, travel, radio or television programs.
]
] All citizens are required to register their radios with
] the local police. On registration, foreign-made radios
] are tuned to the state radio frequency, soldered into
] place, and sealed.

Some Korean-American activist groups are advocating the smuggling in of thousands of tiny radios, capable of receiving foreign broadcasts.

I *like* this idea.

(Note: This link is for a NY Times article, so registration may be required)

Infiltrators of North Korea: Tiny Radios

] I was in a dinner with heads of Saudi and German FBI,
] plus the foreign minister of Afghanistan. They all said
] that at its peak Al Qaeda had 70,000 members. Only 10% of them
] were trained in terrorism -- the rest were military recruits.
] Of that 7000, they say all but about 200 are dead or in jail.

Supposedly this is from a compromised private Email, from a Newsday reporter at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. There's a thread on slashdot about how the Email was compromised, and the various privacy implications, etc. etc. But I have to say, now that it's public, I still found the Email fascinating!

Slashdot thread here:
http://slashdot.org/articles/03/02/28/1823256.shtml?tid=158

Newsday Reporter's 'Spilled' Email

] A U.S. attack on Iraq might destroy Saddam Hussein's
] presidential palaces, but don't worry about him becoming
] homeless. With an estimated $2 billion fortune, he will
] still have plenty of pocket money to find suitable digs
] elsewhere.

On the Forbes list of the world's richest heads of state, Saddam Hussein comes in at #4.

Forbes.com: What's Saddam Worth?

] WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Anti-terror police
] issued a public warning about a security threat to the
] America's Cup Tuesday after letters containing cyanide
] crystals and white powder were seized by postal workers.

This occurred on February 25th, two days ago. My guess is that if it would have been anthrax in the envelopes, this would have gotten much more news coverage. But just plain ol' cyanide seems to be relegated to a minor news blurb? In the *Sports* section of USA Today??

New Zealand - Terror Warning at America's Cup

] Islamist Website: An Imminent Terrorist Attack (Possibly
] by Al-Qa'ida) Within "About Ten Days" (Apparently in the
] U.S.)

This site contains the English-translated text of a message that was posted on the Arabic-language www.alfjr.com site a couple days ago. It may just be general ranting, or then again, it may not. It's unusual for MEMRI to post something like this, so I found it worth noting.

MEMRI: Terrorist Attack Within 10 Days?

Each report begins with a daily overview, followed by summarized news items (with supporting URLs to the full text) in each of fifteen industry-specific categories.

NIPC Daily Report