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Wijitmaker

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    German Legislator Says Bush Has Good Chance Of Hea

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    German Legislator Says Bush Has Good Chance of Healing Rift With Europeans

    By Barry Schweid The Associated Press

    Published: Sep 18, 2003

    http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGANG4O2RKD.html

    WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush stands a good chance of healing a rift with European allies over the U.S. war in Iraq if he pursues a partnership with Europe, a senior German legislator said Thursday.

    With nearly 2,000 troops in Afghanistan and willing to help train Iraqi police, Germany is contributing to U.S. efforts in both countries, Wolfgang Schaeuble, deputy chairman of the conservative opposition in the Bundestag, said.

    Schaeuble said he had told Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security assistant, during talks here that there is a need for Europe to become a stronger partner of the United States.

    The German legislator said Bush would meet with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder next week in New York while the two leaders attended the U.N. General Assembly session.

    The meeting may help to close the gap between the United States and Germany on Iraq, he said. If Bush "shows he is not going a unilateral way he could bridge the differences," Schaeuble said.

    Germany opposed the war with Iraq, lining up with France. Schroeder met in Berlin Thursday with French President Jacques Chirac and they will meet also with British Prime Minister Tony Blair this weekend.

    Chirac said in Berlin that he would like to see a transfer of power in Iraq in a matter of months. Earlier, he had called for an end of the U.S. occupation in one month's time.

    Chirac also voiced support for an offer by Schroeder to help train new Iraqi security forces in Germany, which Schroeder renewed at Thursday's news conference outside the chancellery in Berlin.

    In Washington, a senior U.S. official hesitated to assess Chirac's apparent willingness to delay a handover of power to Iraqis for months. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States also wanted to see Iraqis taking charge of their country. But he said the timetable was up to the Iraqis to set.

    At the same time, the official said the United States and Germany agreed on several Iraq issues and Germany's offer to train security forces reflected a shared interest in a free, prosperous and stable Iraq.

    Schaeuble said he hoped the Schroeder-Chirac-Blair meeting on Saturday would help close the gap with France and Germany.

    Pondering the reasons for the rift, Schaeuble said it is very difficult for Americans to understand what is going on in Europe and it is very difficult for France to accept the loss of its position as a world power.

    He advised all sides to look to the future, and not to the past.

    AP-ES-09-18-03 1341EDT

  4. What Car Do You Drive ?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Sorry my mistake, its a '29 Ford Model A ... don't know what I was thinking *slaps forhead*

    Mine is all in pieces unassembled and painted primer gray, but here is what it is going to look like one day:

    http://www.eurasia85.be/test/nieuweversief...%20a%201930.jpg

    Here is what my new mustang looks like (its a special kind they only made 9,000 of them)

    http://www.maximum-cars.com/Cars/Ford/1983...stang-SVO-1.jpg

    Why Tim? Cause I'm crazy!

  9. What Car Do You Drive ?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    I actually have 2 cars (technically 6, you know how americans are with thier cars =])

    I own a big bad SUV I drive in the winter

    I just purchased a Mustang for commuting to college

    I also own a Chevy Citation (retarded car) that my new mustang replaced - will be selling soon.

    I own 2 more Citations for parts for my retarded car

    And finally I own an old Ford '26 Model A that I am slowly restoring =]

    Sad isn't it ;)

  10. Hi, I'm Esus

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Hey cool, glad you could make it Esus.

    I haven't seen many AoM modding teams out there, besides those guys doing the LOTR one.

    Tell us when your website is up!

    I used some of the AoM modding tools a while back ago, just to take a look at how ES did things. I tried to copy their methods with their gia objects =] But, yeah good stuff ;)

  12. Favorite Civ

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Actually your civ list is a little out of date :P

    If your going off the current 0 A.D. webpage your forgetting the macedonians and carthaginians.

    But, I'm looking forward to playing those Britons with their super skilled woad warriors and rumbling war chariots ;)

    Analysts Unsure Of N. Korea's Nuke Weapons

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    Analysts Unsure of N. Korea's Nuke Weapons

    Fri Sep 19, 4:43 AM ET

    THE STORY

    By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

    WASHINGTON - Some American intelligence analysts are becoming increasingly concerned that North Korea (news - web sites) may have three, four or even six nuclear weapons instead of the one or two the CIA now estimates.

    Every new weapon would enhance North Korea's nuclear capability and give the country significantly more authority at the negotiating table, experts say.

    One or two nuclear weapons would be considered last-resort devices, because once used they could no longer deter a U.S. nuclear response. But a half-dozen would give North Korea the ability to strike and then be ready to strike again.

    In addition, if North Korea had weapons to spare, its leaders might be more willing to part with one, either in a test or by selling it. The leaders also could more easily afford to put one weapon on display at a missile launch site for U.S. spy satellites to see — to up the ante in negotiations.

    "We're trying to nail that down," Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said of analytical efforts to study North Korea's weapons program. "The consequences of them having more nuclear warheads is significant, in terms of them conducting a test, or possibly traf@#$%ing in nuclear materials," said Bayh, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee,

    Among the issues being debated by American intelligence analysts is whether the North Koreans have refined their nuclear weapons designs so they are able to use less plutonium to make a working weapon.

    Some analysts presume the North Koreans have made steady advances in their weapons' designs, and thus are able to use their existing stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium more efficiently, according to several U.S. government officials. They all discussed intelligence information on the condition of anonymity.

    However, the CIA, as an agency, has not reached that conclusion. It is sticking with its unclassified estimate of one or two weapons, the officials said. Other U.S. estimates put the number at three or four; still others are floating five or six weapons as a possibility.

    The Defense Intelligence Agency, State Department and Energy Department all have experts who examine intelligence on foreign nuclear weapons programs. It could not be ascertained if a particular agency is making the higher estimates.

    Ultimately, American intelligence officials acknowledge they simply don't know what the North Koreans have. Pyongyang claims to be a nuclear power. However, it has never tested a nuclear weapon, and it is unclear how capable its designs are.

    "The inherent ambiguity of intelligence was put in stark relief by events in Iraq," Bayh said. "A certain level of humility is in order in making intelligence assessments about any country, but particularly one as closed as North Korea."

    The U.S. estimates arise from three key variables: how much weapons-grade plutonium North Korea was able to make in the late 1980s, how much it has made this year, and how efficient its weapons designs are. Another unknown is whether Pyongyang is able to secretly make uranium-based weapons; U.S. intelligence currently believes the North Koreans cannot.

    The most pessimistic analysts say North Korea may be able to make a nuclear weapon with as few as 8.8 pounds of plutonium — an advanced design that many believe is beyond North Korea's capability. Officials predict such a bomb would probably have a yield of around 10 kilotons, meaning the blast would be equivalent to that from 10,000 tons of TNT.

    The bomb the United States dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, used 13 pounds of plutonium to produce a roughly 20-kiloton explosion that killed 70,000 people.

    But the other end of estimates suggests North Korea was able to make only about 33 pounds of plutonium from its reactor line at Yongbyon in the early 1980s — enough for perhaps three nuclear weapons if used in very efficient weapon designs.

    Some foreign intelligence services have suggested North Korea made more plutonium or smuggled some from outside of the country, according to published reports.

    North Korea also has material, in the form of 8,000 spent fuel rods, to make five or six more weapons. But this material must be reprocessed before it can go into a weapon.

    U.S. intelligence believes North Korean officials may have processed some of these rods this year, after U.N. inspectors left the country. How much is unclear but it is believed to be well under all 8,000.

    North Korea can also begin producing more of those fuel rods from a nuclear reactor, but it would take a year of operation before it can produce enough to make a new weapon.

    North Korea could deliver its nuclear weapons using aircraft bombs, covert means or long-range missiles. The country's longest-range missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear weapon can reach Japan. Pyongyang is developing longer-range missiles but it is unclear whether those missiles could carry a heavy nuclear payload.

    Wijit's Articles

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    Well, just so you guys know I'm going to be posting an article that I find interesting at least 2 times a week. The catch is, I'm not going to discuss it. The reasons are:

    1) I don't have time to be defending my viewpoints

    2) I would be doing ALLOT of defending because I probably disagree with you all about almost every 'hot' topic.

    So, these articles will just be for you to read... and if you just think that is the most insain and outragous thing you have ever heard then post your thoughts!

    I'll find my first one today ;)

    Oh, and I'll try to post the author's name and a link to the source when possible.

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