Wow, cool. Finally some good news. I love to see this kind of article. Hellz yeah!

Well, it shows one thing at least - that the government council is going to be seen even more as a puppet of the U.S.. Given that this is already believed to be true by most Iraqis, I don't really see this as "good news."

I wonder woot;

You been taking straw polls in the sandbox? I don't hold my breath that you can back that up.

Wootdoggies!

dc - the woot's been usin' the straw for other clandestine purposes. While he had the straw in his nose, he had the left ear in the sand...

Wootillery.....I not going to continue treating you for depression and negatism if you continue to refuse to take your perscribed meds. That story that you think 'your pharmasist is an alien trying to poison all the intellects that are the only ones that can save the rest of the world from the Bush Administration', is not going to hold water with me. I'm going to call your mother and make sure that if you don't take these meds, you get cut off from her computer.

By the way...I get the 'Hillary' part of your code name, but whats the 'Woot'???

probably means "vote" Jef B :)

Guys - it's another PtG pseudoNIC - Let me break it down, here - Woot=Toot. Illery=Artillery. Simplicity.

BELGIUM

Cabinet to scrap war-crimes law
BRUSSELS — Belgium said yesterday it has decided to scrap a controversial war-crimes law that has seen cases launched against President Bush and Prime Ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Ariel Sharon of Israel.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said his new government, sworn in yesterday, has decided as one of its first acts to get rid of the law, which has angered the United States.
"I think we have definitely solved this question," Mr. Verhofstadt said, hours after his government had been sworn in by King Albert II.

http://washingtontimes.com/world/briefly.htm

Hmmm, not so sure what the law itself was, but I'll assume it was a dumb one. So good on Mr. Verhofstadt!!

Ed Fish! No need to run a lure out for you... Flop on by any time. Don't try to fart in the dust, however! Pass is first in line...

I had been under the impression that the War Crimes Court thing was a UN entity, not a unilateral Belgian institution.
If this is true, then how can Belgium simply do away with it?

I think what ed was referring to, was the world court thing they had implemented, which gave them the right to charge anyone in the world with war crimes etc. including bush, sharon, Powell, etc.

maybe someone else can be more descriptive than me.

Yes, but the World Court was supposed to try the so- called War Crimes cases- we mean the same institution- which GWB(rightly) refused to support or even legitimize by acknowledging its authority over any U.S. actions.

seth,

The world court rules on international law. it's a very nessasary evil. without it, who is to say anyone is violating international law?

The USA isn't above international law. If it sees itself that way, then there is no point in having international laws.

after all, the USA was the primary country to help form international laws.

what he doesn't support is something a little different than that concept.

I think, but not sure, what Pres. Bush doesn't support is the world court having juridition, and authority to lay charges on its own. It should be, and is or was, just a jury in a sense, and it's role shouldn't be changed. It must never be changed in it's funtion without aproval of ALL countries.

Unfortunatley, I really don't know alot about that issue. best not open my Yap until I do some googling. It would be a good topic to discuss though,

I'd like to be more informed about it as well as alot of people I'm sure

I know a little about international trade law under the FTA thats bout it.
A contract is a contract, under the contract the USA can't suspend what i contract, or agree to contract to usa companies or clients, and the same the other way around. Unless its for specific reasons, like BSE (mad cow)

This is why, while canada is busting at the seams with cows to export, we still have to import USA cows under contract, even though there is no use for them except puritan beef stew and dog food, LOL
Once contrats run out, then obligations run out too, so don't expect the USA beef industry to be good for a while untill things get moving again.

my feed predictions are correct as well, I know whats going on here, as I'm a feed producer.
with all these cows parked in feedlots, the feed demand is really high, so that will drasticly effect feed futures, which will be very short this fall

I'm not blaming Americans so much for the problem either,
The other day, the Japan minister of trade tossed a few rocks into the gears by saying they will ban american beef imports if they mix it with Canadian beef, so we now have a dilema that has grown seriously bad.

The only potential shortcoming of a world court, though, is its being majoritized(is that a legitimate word?) by a small coalition of nations with their own agenda(ie France, Germany and Belgium), who could then rule against any country that doesn't play their game: a good example being their "criminalising" our invasion of Iraq. That was not based on a justice theme, it was based upon our interference with French and German commercial interests with the Husseins, and our refusal to kowtow to those countries'(and Russia's) manipulation of the UN to protect their interests.
That's the kind of international court we don't need.

This will have serious effects on my business very soon, although I export alot of my pork primarly to the USA, my domestic market will be crushed by a glut of cheap beef in the very almost now future. This means i am going to have to cut production, as american finnishing lots that I export to will have a shortage of feed, so they will end up cutting imports as well due to higher feed prices, couple that with not so good corn in the uSa as well a soy crops, and you can see how the ripple effect starts happening.

it's a complicated business which you have to stay up all night figuring out sometimes, Not so easy as slopping pigs as PtG would like to envision it.

Plus it causes lay offs, not only here, but packing plants in the USA as well.

Seth,
On this world court thing, I agree with you 100%
Thats not how it was set up to work.
Getting hijacked like the Un would be a disaster.
I support Pres. Bush in his veto regarding that.
It is fine the way it is for now. It's supposed to be a court, not a governing body

Maybe Chirac is harvesting some of that afghanistan opium if he thinks its a world government.
I think that guy has gone off the deap end. Scratch 'think' add 'has'

I keep up with things in europe. he's fucked up France big time Europe for that matter.

As i said before, serious muslim problems over there. We (as in North America,) have bigger problems brewing in regards to Europe than Iraq.
people just don't see it yet, but they will when the EUro tumbles

It's a nickname I was given when in highschool. My last name is Wooten. Woo Hoo! Isn't that hilarious?!

As for popular Iraqi support for American military presence I point you to this article, though it will be undoubtedly scorned by the ultra-conservatives as Leftist Babble.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3063307.stm

It's quite convenient for you all to throw away everything written by the media. Where do you get your info? Bush's speeches?

No Woodtillery,
Most people here at CP don't get our information from one single source, there are numerous articles from both sides of the fence. You seem only to point out the left leaning ones. I think the opinion of most here is the BBC is not the most reliable, and have been proven wrong on a number of articles.

WootMan! I get my information RIGHT HERE. It took me all of five seconds to find this 'gem' amongst the unwashed boulders in this BBC article - But they are dismissed as outsiders by Iraqis, as people that spent the Saddam years outside Iraq whilst others suffered and struggled within. Would you like me polish it up for you? Glad to be of service.
(1) As far as I can tell, the MAJORITY of this council is FROM Iraq, not Iraqis who spent untold years (like ChalabiTubbi) outside of Iraq. Do you see how misleading that statement is?
(2)Who is 'they' that is dismissing this council?

Looks to me like disgruntled journalism because Bremer met a deadline.

Dave/ anybody.
Has anyone got an accurate breakdown of the background to the council. All I have been able to see are very broad media figures.
Do we know who, what, where they've been , if the BBC is wrong, then I'm sure that No 10 would be delighted to "gently correct" them.

By the way, still having a lot of trouble with the computer at the CP/ connecting and posting to.

Max,
Yes, we do, but I can't point you to a link, because I heard it as part of an NPR radio commentary that was as moiderate as I've heard lately. Not a rant really, more even-handed. Majority is Shia. Two women, both wearing scarves (whatever they're called), and I believe a couple of Christian reps. I'm sure the stats and names and represented groups are available somewhere on the web...

The hiccups started on july 9th mornin of. Started seeing multiple topics on the main page repeated.

Coincidence or not, the problem started around the time that Iranian blogs started being blocked.

Not sure if that helps...