US
Democrats attack Bush on economic policy,
Iraq
US
Democrats attacked President George W.
Bush on his economic and Iraq policies in
his State of the Union address on Tuesday
night, saying his economic revival plan
was "upside-down economics."
"We
think it's upside down economics; it does
too little to stimulate the economy now
and does too much to weaken our economic
future," Governor Gary Locke of
Washington state said in response to
Bush's State of the Union address.
"It
will create huge, permanent deficits that
will raise interest rates, stifle growth,
hinder home ownership and cut off the
avenues of opportunity that have let so
many work themselves up from
poverty," said the Chinese-American
governor.
"Today,
the economy is limping along. Some say
it's a recovery, but there's no recovery
in our states and cities. There's no
recovery in our rural communities. There's
no recovery for working Americans and for
those searching for jobs to feed and
clothe their families," Locke said.
Locke's
selection to represent the Democratic
Party this year reflected the growing
power of Democratic governors. While
Democrats gave ground in the House and
lost control of the Senate in the last
midterm election, they picked up four
governorships, for a total of 24. Locke
said in comparison, Democrats have a plan
"to restore prosperity so the United
States once again becomes the great job
engine it was in the 1990s."
In his
speech, Bush touted his 10-year and
674-billion-US dollar economic stimulus
plan, the largest tax-relief in a
generation, which he said would promote
economic growth and create more jobs. But
Democratic Party argued that Bush's
economic plan would only help the wealthy.
Democrats have proposed a far more modest
100 billion dollar package, which they say
would help working families.
Bush
accused Iraq of hiding weapons of mass
destruction and vowed to fight with
"the full force and might of the
United States military " to disarm
Iraq if necessary.
"We
will consult, but let there be no
misunderstanding: If (Iraqi President)
Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm for
the safety of our people, and for the
peace of the world, we will lead a
coalition to disarm him," Bush said.
Locke said
the US should not go it alone in the war
against terrorism, instead, it should work
with the allies and the United Nations to
insist on strong weapons inspections.
"We
need allies today in 2003, just as much as
we needed them in Desert Storm and just as
we needed them on D-Day in 1944 ... We
urge President Bush to stay this course
for we are far stronger when we stand with
other nations than when we stand
alone," Locke said
Britain
mounting efforts to gain support for war
on Iraq
Ahead of
his Jan. 31 summit with US President
George W. Bush, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair has been launching intensive
efforts aimed at winning support for a
possible war against Iraq.
Blair, the
firmest US ally on disarming Iraq by force
if necessary, stressed his determination
Wednesday to cooperate with the United
States in military action against Iraq,
urging the Britons to unite to put
"maximum pressure" on Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein. Speaking to the
House of Commons, Blair said that a signal
of weakness in the world's determination
to deal with the Iraqi regime would make
conflict inevitable.
Beside his
efforts aimed at winning domestic support
for a war against Saddam, Blair has also
mounted diplomatic hustle on Iraq with the
aim of persuading some countries, in
Europe and beyond, to give their support
for a new UN resolution sanctioning
military action against Iraq.
Blair and
Bush's tough line on Iraq has been
criticized in Europe and elsewhere, with
France and Germany clearly expressing
their objection to a war with Iraq without
further UN approval.
One day
after chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix
told the UN Security Council that Iraq had
not come to a "genuine
acceptance" of the disarmament
demanded in UN resolution, Blair rushed
Tuesday to discuss Iraq on telephone with
leaders of France, Canada, Australia,
Turkey and Greece, maintaining that Iraq
was in "material breach" of UN
demands.
During his
talks with French President Jacques Chirac
on Tuesday, Blair was told that nothing
justifies military action against Iraq for
the time being. In an effort to prove that
he was not as isolated in Europe over Iraq
as some would say, Blair on Wednesday
furthered his diplomatic drive to meet
with visiting Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi, who media reports said
was possible to offer support for the
Anglo-American action against Iraq.
Blair also
planned to stop in Madrid to see Spanish
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on
Thursday, en route to his Friday meeting
with Bush, a summit media reports
described as "council of war"
against Iraq.
Analysts
here said that although Blair strongly
supported Bush's tough stance on Saddam,
he was still expected to use the meeting
to urge US caution over timing and further
patience for a new UN resolution.
Britain,
which has had a quarter of the British
army ready to be sent to the Gulf,
insisted that it favors a UN approach to
address the Iraq crisis. But it never
gives up its right to disarm Iraq by force
even without a new UN resolution
sanctioning such an action. It warned
Tuesday that time was up for Saddam to
comply with the resolution on dismantling
its banned weapons. But it said there was
still an opportunity for Iraq to comply,
denying that a further report by
inspectors to the Security Council on Feb.
14 would see a deadline issued for Iraq
Nigeria's
first satellite to be launched in Russia
 The
launching of Nigeria's first satellite
scheduled for July is to take place in
Russia, a high-ranking official announced
Wednesday in the capital Abuja.
Robert
Borofface, director-general of the
National Space Research and Development
Agency (NSRDA) of Nigeria, made the
remarks in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria, saying that the 15
Nigerian engineers being trained abroad on
satellite technology would return home as
from the end of February.
Borofface
said the Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.
would assist as the technical partner in
launching the satellite.
Reacting to
fears being expressed in some circles over
the ability of Nigerian engineers to
launch and maintain the satellite,
Borofface said," we have the
technical know-how to do it."
"This
is the reason why we sent the 15 engineers
abroad to train and specialize in this
technology, and I want to tell you that we
are going to be assisted by the Surrey
Satellite Technology Ltd. in launching
this first one because that was the
agreement," he said.
"After
this first launching, Nigeria will not
need any assistance in launching
subsequent ones," he stressed.
"Nigerians
are intelligent and we can excel in so
many fields as long as the enabling
environment and facilities are
provided," he added. The Nigerian
federal government had in July 2001
formally adopted a national space policy
with the objective of launching its own
satellite and space research programs.
The NERD in
early 2002 said the country would launch
its first satellite in June 2003.
Arafat
says ready to negotiate with Sharon
"immediately"
Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat announced Wednesday
that he is ready to meet with Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and start
peace negotiations immediately.
Arafat made
his announcement in an interview with
Israeli Television Channel 10, just one
day after Sharon and his Likud party won
as number one party in the parliamentary
elections on Tuesday.
In comments
to Arafat's calls, a statement issued by
Sharon's office said that Arafat "who
supports terror" would never be a
peace partner and "Israel would only
contact Palestinians who are not involved
in any terrorist activity."
Saeb Erekat,
Palestinian National Authority (PNA)
cabinet minister said that Sharon's
rejection to Arafat's invitation
"indicates that Sharon rejects to
resume the peace process."
He said
that since electing Sharon for the first
time as a Prime Minister in 2001, "he
(Sharon) had frozen peace talks, expanded
settlements and intensified his military
actions against the Palestinians."
"Sharon
imposed curfews, closures and sieges on
all the Palestinian cities and practiced
killing and destruction," Erekat
denounced, adding "the next stage for
Sharon is not resuming the peace process,
it will be reoccupying the Gaza
Strip."
Erekat
accused Sharon of planning to undermine
the PNA and the Palestinian
infrastructure, adding that this time
"no one would be able to stop Sharon
doing whatever he wants." Erekat
expected that the first tough action
Sharon is going to take "is to hurt
President Yasser Arafat," which
"is exactly what he is planning to do
next."
Arafat's
announcement doesn't express his personal
point of view, the PNA minister said,
noting that "it expresses the
Palestinian people point of views and the
official point of view of the PNA.
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