...

The Headlines, January 11, 2003

• Rumsfeld Orders 35,000 More Troops Deployed Near Iraq
• Cheney Returns Fire In Battle On Tax Cuts
• Allies Slow U.S. War Plans
• NSC Weighs Giving UN Inspectors More Sensitive Data On Iraq




The Stories




RUMSFELD ORDERS 35,000 MORE TROOPS DEPLOYED NEAR IRAQ

Rumsfeld ups the pressure on Saddam Hussein by signing a “mammoth deployment order” sending 35,000 additional troops to the Persian Gulf. Reported by Thom Shanker for the New York Times.

...

CHENEY RETURNS FIRE IN BATTLE ON TAX CUTS

According to Elisabeth Bumiller in the NYT, the Vice President used his speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to explain that Bush’s $674,000,000,000,000 tax cut plan “is not geared to the rich, would not hurt state budgets and would not increase the federal deficit over time.”

...

ALLIES SLOW U.S. WAR PLANS

“British & French urge time for inspector. Turkey delays [on letting troops enter Iraq through Turkey].” By Michael Dobbs for the WP.

...

NSC WEIGHS GIVING U.N. INSPECTORS MORE SENSITIVE DATA ON IRAQ ARMS

“Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said this week that the United States has begun delivering some intelligence to the inspectors and is reviewing other more sensitive material with an eye toward presenting it to the Security Council if inspections fail to uncover a smoking gun. One senior official familiar with U.S. intelligence said recently that the quality of U.S. data ‘is not that good,’ adding, ‘I don't expect anything dramatic before January 27’”

Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung reported for the WP that this move is being taken because the U.S. realizes it needs actual proof in order to assemble a true coalition to invade Iraq.

(I’ve been trying to resist sarcastic remarks, but why didn’t we just tell the weapons inspectors what Don Rumsfeld already knew, that “We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad, and east, west, south and north...” It would have saved so much time and everyone would have been convinced when the inspectors walked right up to the WMD sites.}

...