From: "Media Review" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 02:39:07 -0000 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [AM] US going after Iraq, Iran, Korea Bush points gun at Iraq, Iran and North Korea http://www.iol.co.za January 30 2002 at 10:41AM Washington - President George Bush warned in his first state-of-the- union speech that tens of thousands of Osama bin Laden followers were "ticking time bombs" around the world. He used the address on Tuesday night to chart a path towards winning the war on terrorism and curing the recession-bound economy. In his nationally televised address from the House of Representatives chamber, Bush identified Iraq, Iran and North Korea as attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction, calling them "an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world". "As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilised world faces unprecedented dangers. "Yet the state of our union has never been stronger," he said, prompting cheers and a standing ovation from members of the congress, top military brass and other dignitaries gathered to hear the address. Bush's address was an attempt to use his wartime popularity to advance his aims of defeating terrorism beyond Afghanistan and his domestic agenda: a prescription drug plan for senior citizens, patients' rights protections and a stimulus plan to create jobs and jump-start the economy with corporate tax breaks opposed by many Democrats. In an attempt to escape the shadow of the Enron bankruptcy, Bush urged more accountability in corporate America as well as full disclosure and better accounting to avoid a repeat of the collapse that wiped out pensions for thousands of Enron employees. He did not name Enron, which was his biggest campaign contributor. The stock market fell 2,5 percent on Tuesday on fears that other companies might go the way of Enron. Bush cited new intelligence saying tens of thousands of followers of bin Laden had been trained in terrorism tactics in Afghanistan since 1996 and were deployed in more than 60 countries. "Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs - set to go off without warning," he said. As for future threats, Bush said diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities, detailed instructions for making chemical weapons, surveillance maps of American cities and thorough descriptions of landmarks in America and throughout the world were found in Afghanistan. - Reuters _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
