-Caveat Lector- Print this article | Close this window Embattled Blair seizes on student's email By Becky Barrow in London February 18 2003
An Iraqi student found herself in the spotlight after Tony Blair seized on an email she sent to friends, telling them about Saddam Hussein's atrocities, including the "disappearance" of 17 members of her family. Rania Kashi, 19, a first-year student at Cambridge University, sent the email to about 15 friends who were thinking of going on London's protest march. "This may be hard to believe, and you may not even appreciate the extent of such barbaric acts, but believe me you will be hard pressed to find a single family in Iraq which has not had a son/father/brother killed, imprisoned, tortured and/or 'disappeared' due to Saddam's regime." One of her uncles was tortured after trying to escape. Before sending the email, she let her father, Dhiaa, a businessman, check the facts, and he forwarded it to some friends. The email was quoted on Sunday in a speech by the Prime Minister at Labour's conference in Glasgow after a copy was given to him by a group of Iraqis in Scotland on Saturday morning. A copy has subsequently been published on the Prime Minister's website. In her email Ms Kashi wrote: "Whatever America's real intentions behind an attack, the reality on the ground is that the majority of Iraqis, inside and outside Iraq, support the invasive action, because they are the ones who have to live with the realities of continuing as things are. "I say to them [the protesters]: do not continue to allow the Iraqi people to be punished because you are 'unhappy' with the amount of power America is allowed to wield in a faulty world. "Do not use the Iraqi people as a pawn in your game for moral superiority. When you allow a monster like Saddam to rule for 30 years without so much as protesting against his rule, you lose the right to such a claim." But newspapers yesterday forecast that Mr Blair would become a victim of the Iraq crisis. "In the past three days Mr Blair's nightmare became more than a remote possibility," wrote the Financial Times. The Independent said: "The price for Blair's misplaced conviction will be a loss of authority. Mr Blair finds himself firmly attached to the losing side of the argument." The Guardian commented: "If the conflict was messy and prolonged with nasty outcomes, Mr Blair might even depart from office." According to the Daily Telegraph, a victory by France and Germany would be a disaster for Mr Blair, who would no longer enjoy the confidence of the US or the European Union and would be weakened domestically. The Daily Mirror, the only tabloid that opposes a war, headlined "Britain tells Blair: You're on your own" and spoke of a plan by members of Mr Blair's Labour Party to get rid him. The Telegraph, London; AFP This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/17/1045330539947.html Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. 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