] There's a new breed of combat personnel at the war front:
] soldier "bloggers."
]
] Once the narrow domain of geeks and technology
] journalists, "Web logs" -- or diary accounts published
] online -- have gone mainstream, making it possible for
] even soldiers to transmit daily updates to Web sites
] about the rigours of battle.
]
] War-themed blogs, appearing on sites such as
] www.blogsofwar.com and www.sgtstryker.com, have become a
] popular alternative news source since fighting broke out
] in Iraq a week ago, sometimes beating newspapers and
] television with war developments.

Soldier 'bloggers' report from war

] The BBC's unrivalled team of correspondents is bringing
] you news from the Gulf and reaction from around the
] world. On this page BBC News Online logs their
] impressions and personal experiences as they watch events
] unfold.
]
] Wednesday, 26 March
]
] Most recent postings are at the top.
]
] Southern Iraq :: Clive Myrie :: 1743GMT
]
] The firefight has now been going on for sometime, almost
] 90 minutes. I understand there are 120 vehicles in this
] Iraqi convoy heading south from Basra, a huge convoy.
]
] The attack is still going on, I can hear the dull thud of
] missiles being dropped on these vehicles.

Reporters' Log: War in Iraq

] NEW DELHI: War risk insurance premiums and shipping
] delays due to security fears could mean falling profits
] for Indian exporters as a drawn-out military conflict in
] Iraq becomes more likely.
]
]
] Foreign-registered vessels have imposed premiums as high
] as 0.9 per cent on goods carried from India to the Middle
] East, and Indian ships may follow suit, Dow Jones
] Newswires reported Tuesday.
]
]
] Some goods are stuck in port, the Indian Export
] Organization said, with ships unwilling to venture near
] the battle zone. Shipping agents say total costs could
] rise by $100 per container due to higher fuel charges

Indian exporters may face big war premiums, higher costs - The Times of India

] NEW YORK (CNN) -- French diplomats at the United Nations
] have put forward a proposal for a new weapons monitoring
] regime for Iraq that would result in lifting the oil
] embargo imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
]
] And in a direct swipe at the United Nations' existing
] weapons inspection program for Iraq, the French proposal
] said "it is high time for the Security Council to
] recognize that no additional progress on disarmament work
] can be reached by an illusory resumption of unchanged
] previous methods."
]
] U.N. weapons inspectors left Iraq in December before
] airstrikes by the United States and Britain. They have
] not returned, and Iraqi officials have vowed to keep them
] out.

CNN - French propose new Iraqi inspection program, end of oil embargo - January 13, 1999

] Canberra, March 25 (Dow Jones) - Australia, a major trade
] beneficiary of a suspended United Nations oil-for-food
] program, wants it quickly resumed to meet the needs of
] the Iraqi people, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said
] Tuesday.
]
] The program was suspended early last week when the U.N.
] withdrew its staff in Iraq ahead of the invasion by
] U.S.-led forces, including some from Australia.

] AWB Ltd., Australia's bulk wheat export monopoly
] operator, has been the biggest supplier of wheat to Iraq
] under the program since the mid-1990s, in an annual trade
] sometimes in excess of two million metric tons, or more
] than A$500 million.
]
] Australia wants to maintain its share of Iraqi wheat
] imports but fears that U.S. farmers want to muscle in on
] the trade.

Australia Wants Iraq Oil-For-Food Program Resumed Quickly

] When the Troops Are Away....
]
] After a short drive, we were in Safwan, the southern
] Iraqi town where residents danced in the streets last
] week as a U.S. Marine tore down a poster of Saddam
] Hussein.
]
] But on the day we were there %u2014 with no U.S. troops
] in sight %u2014 the atmosphere was very different. We
] learned that just because the townsfolk don't like
] Saddam, it doesn't mean they like the Americans for
] trying to take him out.
]
] The people were friendly to us at first, but then things
] got a little tense. They were angry at America, and said
] U.S. forces had shot at people in the town. They were
] also angry because they needed food, water and medicine
] and the aid promised by President Bush had not appeared.
]
] I realized that these people %u2014 after years of
] hearing anti-American propaganda and suffering under
] economic sanctions %u2014 had no reason in their personal
] experience to see Americans as the good guys. They asked
] us why the United States was taking over Iraq, and
] whether the Americans would stay in Iraq for ever.
]
] They saw the U.S.-led invasion as a takeover, not
] liberation.
]
] By the time we left, children were banging on our car
] windows, demanding money and food. They had already
] stolen some radios, a telephone and a camera from our
] cars. They weren't dancing in the streets.
]
] Casualties Close Up

War Coverage: 'Unilateral' or 'Embed'?

] They were unforgettable images: Residents of this
] southern Iraqi town openly welcoming coalition forces.
] They danced in the streets as a picture of Saddam Hussein
] was torn down.

That was yesterday.
Traveling unescorted into Safwan today, I got a far different picture. Rather than affection and appreciation, I saw a lot of hostility toward the coalition forces, the United States and President Bush.

Some were even directed towards the media. (It was the first time I heard somebody refer to me as a "Satan.")

To be sure, conversations with people on the street here begin relatively calmly. But the more they talked, the angrier they got.

In part, much of their discontent stems from the unknown. In speaking with them, the newly-liberated Iraqis ask the same questions that seem to nag many outside Iraq.

Why are you here in this country? Are you trying to take over? Are you going to take our country forever? Are the Israelis coming next? Are you here to steal our oil? When are you going to get out?

Show Us the Aid

'Liberated' Iraqis Question U.S. Motives

] Russia has called for a meeting of the United Nations
] Security Council to examine the legality of the US-led
] war with Iraq.
]
] Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Russia
] and other countries would ask the UN's legal department
] for a ruling on the conflict.
]
] He said the US-led coalition had acted "in violation of
] the norms of international law" by failing to secure a
] fresh UN resolution sanctioning war.
]
] Russia, together with fellow Security Council members
] France and Germany, led the opposition to American
] attempts earlier this month to persuade the 15-member
] group to back the use of force against Iraq.

Russia seeks UN ruling on Iraq

] Most of the stars shunned politics at this Oscar ceremony
] but the personal was truly political for filmmaker
] Michael Moore, who finally received some long-deserved
] recognition from the Academy when he won the best
] documentary feature award for "Bowling for Columbine".
] Moore not only brought his wife and the film's producers
] on stage, he led all the other documentary nominees onto
] the platform as well.
]
] After thanking the film's producers, Moore launched into
] a blistering attack on both the war and President Bush,
] calling him a " fictitious president" who won with
] "fictitious election results."

Stars Shun Politics, Except for Michael Moore

] Michael Moore criticized President George W. Bush (news -
] web sites) and the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web
] sites) during his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards
] (news - web sites), drawing a partial standing ovation
] and some jeers from Hollywood's elite.
]
]
] The documentary maker won his first Oscar Sunday for
] "Bowling for Columbine," but he brought the other
] nominees on stage with him in what he called a show of
] solidarity for nonfiction during these "fictitious
] times."
]
] "We live in the time where we have fictitious election
] results that elect a fictitious president," Moore said.
] "We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us
] to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction
] of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts.
]
] Applause gave way to some boos, as the orchestra began
] playing to cue the filmmaker to leave the stage.

Michael Moore criticizes U.S. war in Iraq during Oscar acceptance speech