Easy money's been made
Commentary: Nasdaq war rally over; move to cash now
By Irwin Yamamoto, The Yamamoto Forecast
Last Update: 12:10 AM ET May 7, 2003
KAHULUI, Maui, Hawaii (YamamotoForecast) -- I searched through the carnage of the Nasdaq and found some pretty good deals -- but now's the time to capture profits and move back to cash.
Those betting on a new bull market for the Nasdaq aren't paying attention to the fundamentals.
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B5A9A6A6E%2DEF27%2D45E2%2DA2B6%2D0231CD5F4AE8%7D&siteid=mktw
posted by Dil at 6:00 AM
vv good, some good examples.
From America
By Irvine Welsh
(Filed: 05/05/2003)
Fratboy Dim and his buddies are told lies
I promised myself that I would never write another word about Iraq in this column, but that was before I went for an innocuous beer earlier this week. I was in a North Side of Chicago bar, packed full of college fraternity guys, who were watching the assortment of baseball, basketball and news programmes on the multiple screens.
One guy, very much the worse for wear, shouted proudly: "We killed far less Iraqi citizens than Saddam." In a moment of grotesque comedy, his fratboy friend misunderstood him and said defensively: "But we've only been there a few goddamn weeks!"
The pal was aghast and they gaped at each other for a few bemused seconds before laughing and giving each other the high-five. Now, I'm no stranger to this kind of boorish, drunken sports bar behaviour: it goes on everywhere in the Western world.
Right here, right now though, Fratboy Dim seemed symbolic of something deeper. More than anything during the Iraqi affair, this exchange summed up the mood of the American people: total bemusement, followed by a closing of ranks.
The war was a stupid, indulgent binge, but there are some signs that the hangover is already kicking in. Yes, it is taking many Americans a long time to believe that their government and media will try to deceive them. These are seen as Old World tendencies and, if many middle-American citizens appear naïve to Europeans, it's only because they want to believe the best of their rulers.
In Britain, this does not come as much of a cultural shock, as we expect to be hoodwinked by politicians. Our golden rule is ``don't get caught", a dictum broken this week by the White House. Unsurprisingly, few people noticed and even fewer cared.
The most depressing thing about the "revelation" that the Bush Administration hyped up the threat Saddam Hussein posed by distorting the US and British intelligence briefings is that it was so predictable. Sadly, so too was the reaction to it. A Bush spokesman told ABC News: ``We were not lying, it was just a matter of emphasis."
It's a pity that the television news media didn't employ this critical tone leading up to or during the war, concentrating instead on misleading people into acquiescing with this massacre. The New York Times laments that to some Americans this doesn't matter because "we won, and the Iraqi people have been freed".
What was won? This "war" was never going to result in a coalition defeat. The only surprise was that it lasted so long. When faced with the firepower the invading forces had at their disposal, the Iraqi troops were brave to the point of lunacy. Had the positions been reversed, it is extremely doubtful whether we could have shown such utterly desperate courage.
The "freed" Iraqi people now have a retired US general as ruler of their country, and have already faced the guns of American troops. In Falluja, two civilians were shot dead by US troops for protesting about the previous slaughter of another 14.
As always, the peace will be far more difficult to win than the war, and the America may yet come to rue invasion and occupation as a strategy. While starting (and finishing) a war may be easier than reconstructing a society, it still presents problems. Victory needs its glories to be celebrated, or failing that, its tragedies to be mourned. As the world's only superpower, America can now find neither in the act of war.
Just as you wouldn't expect Manchester United to come on all triumphalist after an FA Cup win over Kettering Town, a military victory against Iraq hardly constitutes air-punching stuff. Equally, given the scale of the relative losses, it's hard to put the Hollywood "American tragedy" spin on things.
Last September, George W Bush, near the anniversary of September 11, referred to a report from the Atomic Energy Agency. He claimed this proved that Saddam was only months away from having nuclear weapons. "I don't know what more evidence we need", he trumpeted.
This was a clear lie: the report in question said no such thing. For a few sane hours, the MSNBC's website bore the headline: "White House: Bush Misstated Report on Iraq." Then the story vanished mysteriously.
This is the rub, and it's where, if we believe that a citizenry has the right to be informed, our television news media are doing a disservice to democracy. As the New York Times reported, it is probable that most Americans now believe that America has found weapons of mass destruction thanks to the pattern of each potential find receiving huge television coverage, followed by the short (if that) notice of false alarm later on: "It's a pattern of misinformation that recapitulates the way the war was sold in the first place. Each administration charge against Iraq received prominent coverage; the subsequent debunking did not".
Against this onslaught, we can understand the crassness of Fratboy Dim and his buddies. It's hardly surprising that bar-room politics are a coalition of the stupefied, because it's easy to see how naïve-but-well-meaning, or even healthily cynical, types can quickly become mindless cheerleaders. With the twin towers images still fresh in American minds, Bush evoked a "mushroom cloud" when he warned of Saddam's threat.
Once that perception had served its purpose, the term "nuclear" was quickly dropped from the lexicon. It's now accepted that, if any chemical or biological weapons are found, they will be toytown stuff. Now we have Condoleezza Rice saying, in essence, that Hans Blix got it spot-on. Furthermore, any connections between the former Iraqi regime and Osama bin Laden are far more tenuous than those that link him to Saudi Arabia, or, indeed, to the CIA.
George W Bush graduated with an MBA in management. It seems almost certain that he is aware of the "mushroom theory" of management: "Keep them in the dark and feed them shit." It's just a pity that so much of our "free" television news media seem to agree with him.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/05/05/do0503.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/05/05/ixop.html
posted by Dil at 3:26 AM
Iraqi rage grows after Fallujah massacre
By Phil Reeves in Fallujah
04 May 2003
Nearly a week after troops from the 82nd Airborne Division randomly opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators here, prompting the US military to announce an inquiry, commanders have yet to speak to the doctors who counted the bodies.
Nor, by late yesterday, had US commanders been to the home of a 13-year-old boy who was among the dead, even though it is located less than a mile from the main American base in Fallujah, a conservative Sunni town 35 miles west of Baghdad.
The Americans' conduct over the Fallujah affair – and their highly implausible version of events – has compounded the anger in Iraq over the killings, in which 13 people died after being hit by a hail of US bullets outside a school which the troops were occupying. It combines all the worst elements of the occupation: panicky troops firing at Iraqis instead of seeking to engage with them or understand their circumstances, then insisting that local people have no cause for anger.
The US military's case was enshrined in a 290-word statement issued by its Central Command (Centcom) in Qatar the day afterwards, Tuesday, issued when the interest of the world's media was at its height. This stated that the "parachuters" from the 82nd Airborne Division opened fire in self-defence after being shot at by around 25 armed civilians interspersed among 200 demonstrators and positioned on the neighbouring rooftops. It spoke of a "fire-fight".
Witnesses interviewed by The Independent on Sunday stated that there was some shooting in the air in the general vicinity, but it was nowhere near the crowd, which comprised mostly boys and young men who descended on the school at around 9pm to call for the US troops to leave the premises.
Gunfire in the air is commonplace – and the Fallujah demonstration coincided with Saddam Hussein's birthday. But there is a consensus among Iraqi witnesses on two issues. There was no fire-fight nor any shooting at the school. And the crowd – although it had one poster of Saddam and may have thrown some stones – had no guns.
The evidence at the scene overwhelmingly supports this. Al-Ka'at primary and secondary school is a yellow concrete building about the length and height of seven terraced houses located in a walled compound. The soldiers fired at people gathered below them. There are no bullet marks on the façade of the school or the perimeter wall in front of it. The top floors of the houses directly opposite, from where the troops say they were fired on, also appear unmarked. Their upper windows are intact.
The day after the bloodbath, US soldiers displayed three guns which they said they had recovered from a home opposite, but this proved nothing. Every other Iraqi home has at least one firearm. Centcom also refused to confirm that the soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who raked the crowd had killed or injured unarmed civilians. Although it conceded that this was possible, it described the deaths of unarmed people as "allegations" and estimated the toll at seven injuries, all people who were armed.
Yet a mile from the US army's base is the home of 13-year-old Abdul Khader al-Jumaili. The boy had tagged along with the demonstration as it passed by his home, having spotted some of his friends. He was shot in the chest, and died in hospital a few hours later. His house – No 3 Al-Monjazat Street – is easy to find. Dozens of relatives gathered there for three days of mourning amid an atmosphere of quiet anger, grief and indignation.
"The Americans are just lying," said his father, Abdul Latif al-Jumaili, a clerk. "You can see it for yourself," he added, showing a photograph of his son. "He was just a boy."
The affair has angered British Army officials who believe that the US troops lack the vital experience which the British acquired – painfully at first – in Northern Ireland. "Don't talk to me about the US army," said one British military source. "Let's just say that they face a very steep leaning curve."
The Americans will be hoping that the damage will be repaired once they establish stability and the economy gets going. But they will find no consolation from the signals being sent to them in Fallujah. On Wednesday night, someone fired two grenades into their compound, a former Baath party building, injuring seven soldiers. A banner was hanging from the front gate of the mayor's office next door: "Sooner or later, US killers, we'll kick you out."
Outstanding cases: Still waiting for an explanation
The battlefields are littered with the bodies of those who got in the way, were targeted for the wrong reasons, or were the victims of ill intent. Here are some outstanding cases:
The incident: Terry Lloyd, ITN reporter, killed near Basra on 22 March. Cameraman Fred Nerac and translator Hussein Osman are still missing.
What happened: ITN vehicles caught between Iraqis and US forces, though it is not clear who fired first. Strenuous ITN efforts to establish fate of the two missing men, without success. US military appears highly reluctant to co-operate.
Since then: Colin Powell promised Nerac's wife he would do everything possible, but formal investigation only opened last Monday. Press watchdog Reporters sans Frontières says US shows no interest in a serious inquiry.
The incident: British soldiers killed by US "friendly fire".
What happened: Worst incident was an attack on clearly marked Scimitar light tanks on 28 March by US A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft in broad daylight, killing one soldier and wounding three.
Since then: Pentagon has withheld all information about the names of the offending pilots and the unit they belonged to. British officials say joint investigation with Americans is "still ongoing". No details made public.
The incident: An unknown number of Iraqis, including women and children, shot down at US checkpoints by guards afraid of suicide attacks.
What happened: Ten people, including five children, killed outside Najaf on 30 March by high-explosive shell. Commander heard shouting: "You just killed a family because you didn't fire a warning shot soon enough!"
Since then: US officials defended troops, saying warning shots were ignored. The men did "absolutely the right thing", General Peter Pace said. Not clear if any further inquiry has taken place.
The incident: Al-Jazeera reporter Tarek Ayoub, Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Spanish TV cameraman Jose Couso killed as US troops move into Baghdad.
What happened: Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi television offices bombed from the air. Reuters man killed by US tank round fired at Palestine Hotel. Al-Jazeera, also hit in Basra and during Afghanistan war, believes it was deliberately targeted; similar accusations made about hotel attack.
Since then: Soldiers said to be responding to hostile fire – eyewitnesses disagree. No other information forthcoming.
The incident: Two unknown Iraqi soldiers apparently shot, execution-style, by vengeful Marine, Gus Covarrubias, after mortar shell exploded near him.
What happened: Covarrubias himself told the story to his local paper in Las Vegas, saying he ordered soldier he believed to have fired the mortar to turn around, then shot him in the back of the head. He then chased and shot a second man.
Since then: Covarrubias interviewed by Naval Criminal Investigative Service, but no decision yet made whether to investigate him for war crimes.
Andrew Gumbel
posted by Dil at 4:17 PM 