BASRA'S Governor said last night the simultaneous bombings that killed 68 people and wounded more than 200 others in the southern Iraqi city bore all the hallmarks of Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida network.

Two more car bombs and their drivers were captured before carrying out their attacks, Mr Abdul-Latif said.

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peggy noonan
Mr. Bush has survived not finding of the weapons of mass destruction for two reasons. One is that Americans have come to be sure that Saddam was an unusually bad man and a threat to whatever stability the Mideast enjoys. The other is that Americans believe Mr. Bush himself honestly believed Saddam was a threat.

Mr. Bush's critics say he sees things too much in black and white, but he is addressing the central issues of life and death. He isn't dithering or dodging and he isn't spending all his time trying to maintain his viability within the system. He's calling the shots, bearing the burden and taking the heat. He reminds me of a man I know who was imprisoned in Vietnam. We went to lunch in a place with short candles on the table. I was asking about the Hanoi Hilton. A waiter walked by and bumped the table, which made a candle tilt against a wicker basket full of bread. The basket was lined with paper napkins, which went up in flames. The man didn't change his tone of voice as he continued his story, quietly picked up the flaming basket, placed it on the floor and softly stepped on it with his large right shoe. The flames went out. He continued his narrative as he eyed a waiter, handed him the smoking basket and asked for more bread. President Bush reminds me of that guy. He would not offer sensitive or witty commentary on how odd it is to be surprised by fire on a spring day, but he would put the fire out.

Mr. Bush has the calm and anxious face of an American man who believes in God but just read the raw threat file. He knows what trouble we're in and he knows what time it is. He is alert and determined but ultimately trusting and hopeful, because there really is a God and he really is watching. This is very American.

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This week he guaranteed that more Americans will die from terrorist attacks due to his stabbing the Palestinians in the back. He has from the beginning acted as if he were a ventriloquist's dummy and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were the ventriloquist.

How dare George Bush tell Palestinian refugees, ethnically cleansed in 1947-48 and again in 1967, that they have no rights? What unmitigated gall and arrogance he shows, what contempt for the Palestinians and indeed for the whole Muslim world. When did God give George Bush the power to abolish the human rights of other people?

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The current talk about reviving the draft represents the initial trial balloons, to be followed at some point by a media offensive aimed at depicting conscription as both a patriotic and democratic initiative. Thus, a cynical campaign has begun to dragoon many thousands of American youth, who are to be used as cannon fodder in an illegal colonial war, launched on the basis of lies for predatory aims that have been concealed from the American people.