] The Iraq invasion is the first major war on the Web. Now
] that the tanks have started rolling, millions of
] Americans are crowding the Internet to catch up on the
] latest news, see pictures, and send e-mail to loved ones
] in danger. After you've checked out Slate -- it was your
] first stop, right? -- here's where you should you go for
] updates, speculation, on-the-ground blogging, official
] statements, and even war comedy.

Link-o-rama from Slate.

The War on the Web - Sites to see on the road to Baghdad. By Avi Zenilman

] In other words, Iraq is a means toward an end. It is not
] an end in itself. It achieves nothing definitive by itself.
] Its purpose is to enable the United States to achieve other
] ends later, ends that will bring the nation closer to winning
] the war -- or so Washington hopes.
]
] ...the primary purpose of the Iraq war is to set the stage for
] undermining the foundations of al Qaeda in particular and
] of radical Islam as an effective paramilitary force in
] general.
]
] If the campaign goes well, two points will sink in: First,
] that the international system, alliances and institutions
] cannot contain American power; there is no protection there.
] And second, that the American ability to exercise warfare at
] extreme distances is overwhelming. Therefore, resistance to
] the United States is less rational than accommodating the
] United States.

Stratfor explains US strategy really well...

[IP] Stratfor Weekly: Beyond the Iraq Campaign

cyantist wrote:
] They want people to max out the connections. So, go for it!
]
] http://www.gothic.net:8000/

Its even got music in the background..

RE: Police scanner of the SF Protests

] Traces of the poison ricin have been found at a railway
] station in Paris, according to the French interior
] ministry.
]
] Two vials of the potentially deadly substance were found
] inside a locker at the Gare de Lyon, according to
] ministry officials.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Ricin found in Paris

] This weekend 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel
] Corrie was crushed to death by a bulldozer as she tried
] to prevent the Israeli army destroying homes in the Gaza
] Strip. In a remarkable series of emails to her family,
] she explained why she was risking her life.

Prepare to be angry and sad.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Rachel's war

] A patch for a security flaw that affects Microsoft's Web
] server software running on Windows 2000 has caused system
] freezes for some customers, the company said Thursday.

Typical..

Microsoft patch freezes some systems | CNET News.com

quoted:

As we shiver in the shadow of war, waiting to be shocked and awed by the malevolent magnificence of militarism in action, some in the antiwar movement are calling for "direct action." What this amounts to is what happened the other day in downtown San Francisco, when about 200 people marched to the Pacific Stock Exchange, and a few dozen of these sat down on the steps, refusing to move, while their brethren disrupted traffic and tied up the downtown area for hours. Why did they do it? Let Warren Langley, former president of the Pacific Stock Exchange, and newly converted to antiwar activism, explain it in his own words:

"It's my history and my lifetime. This war seems very wrong for the entire world. I decided I was willing to do whatever it takes to show a strong stand against it."

Me, me, me, it's all about Me! Langley's narcissism is embarrassingly apparent. Like someone standing there with his fly wide-open, happily unaware, he perfectly embodies the unabashed self-absorption of the "direct action" movement. In nominating themselves for sainthood, the direct-actionists are acting out their personal fantasies on the political stage. In their little morality play they are the stars, moral paragons who, by the sheer power of their goodness and bravery, will shut down the war machine.

This Isn't About You, by Justin Raimondo

] The US has offered $10bn to Israel, to bail it
] out of the worst economic crisis in its history.
]
] Israel's Finance Ministry said the package consisted of
] $1bn in direct military aid and $9bn in loan
] guarantees.

What about _our_ economic crisis?

] The US will deduct from the loan guarantees any Israeli
] expenditure on settlement activities in Palestinian areas.

I'd like to see something more then a deduction. Something that hurts, like loosing $200 million in aid for every new settlement.

US offers Israel billions in aid

] The U.S. government has obtained potentially valuable new
] information on Iraq's biological and chemical weapons
] programs in recent days from scientists and intelligence
] agents confronted outside Iraq with threats that failure
] to cooperate could mean unpleasant consequences when
] Baghdad falls, according to two U.S. officials with
] direct knowledge of the effort.
]
] In a top-secret adjunct to an openly reported diplomatic
] initiative, U.S. and allied intelligence services
] summoned scores of Iraqi operatives in foreign capitals
] to present a stark choice. They were told "they could
] either 'turn,' " said one official, using an expression
] for switching sides, or be expelled back to Iraq "to
] enjoy your very short stay in Baghdad."

U.S. Reaps New Data On Weapons (washingtonpost.com)

] This war, should it come, is intended to mark the
] official emergence of the United States as a full-fledged
] global empire, seizing sole responsibility and authority
] as planetary policeman.

ajc.com | Opinion | Bush's real goal in Iraq