George Bush this morning ordered 21,500 more US troops to Iraq to try to quell sectarian violence, but promised a war-weary public that "America's commitment is not open-ended". Only months after he declared that the US could win the war in Iraq, Mr Bush, appearing somewhat chastened, admitted that the US strategy had failed, and that the administration had not anticipated the eruption of sectarian violence that now posed the gravest danger to Iraq. In a rare admission for a president famously averse to expressing regret, he fully accepted responsibility for that failure. "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people - and it is unacceptable to me," he said in a prime-time address from the White House. "Where mistakes have been made the responsibility rests with me." The speech was a last-ditch attempt by Mr Bush to persuade a sceptical Congress to remain committed to a deeply unpopular war. It puts Mr Bush on a collision course with the new Democratic majority which opposes a troops increase - as do a number of Republican senators. Congress is set to vote next week on the troop deployment.
Only months after he declared that the US could win the war in Iraq, Mr Bush, appearing somewhat chastened, admitted that the US strategy had failed, and that the administration had not anticipated the eruption of sectarian violence that now posed the gravest danger to Iraq.
In a rare admission for a president famously averse to expressing regret, he fully accepted responsibility for that failure.
"The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people - and it is unacceptable to me," he said in a prime-time address from the White House. "Where mistakes have been made the responsibility rests with me."
The speech was a last-ditch attempt by Mr Bush to persuade a sceptical Congress to remain committed to a deeply unpopular war. It puts Mr Bush on a collision course with the new Democratic majority which opposes a troops increase - as do a number of Republican senators. Congress is set to vote next week on the troop deployment.
There will be timetables, deadlines, benchmarks, goals for both America and its Iraqi satraps. But the war against terror can still be won. We shall prevail. Victory or death. And it shall be death. President Bush's announcement early this morning tolled every bell. A billion dollars of extra aid for Iraq, a diary of future success as the Shia powers of Iraq still to be referred to as the "democratically elected government" march in lockstep with America's best men and women to restore order and strike fear into the hearts of al-Qa'ida. It will take time oh, yes, it will take years, at least three in the words of Washington's top commander in the field, General Raymond Odierno this week but the mission will be accomplished. Mission accomplished. Wasn't that the refrain almost four years ago, on that lonely aircraft carrier off California, Bush striding the deck in his flying suit? And only a few months later, the President had a message for Osama bin Laden and the insurgents of Iraq. "Bring 'em on!" he shouted. And on they came. Few paid attention late last year when the Islamist leadership of this most ferocious of Arab rebellions proclaimed Bush a war criminal but asked him not to withdraw his troops. "We haven't yet killed enough of them," their videotaped statement announced. Well, they will have their chance now. How ironic that it was the ghastly Saddam, dignified amid his lynch mob, who dared on the scaffold to tell the truth which Bush and Blair would not utter: that Iraq has become "hell" .
President Bush's announcement early this morning tolled every bell. A billion dollars of extra aid for Iraq, a diary of future success as the Shia powers of Iraq still to be referred to as the "democratically elected government" march in lockstep with America's best men and women to restore order and strike fear into the hearts of al-Qa'ida. It will take time oh, yes, it will take years, at least three in the words of Washington's top commander in the field, General Raymond Odierno this week but the mission will be accomplished.
Mission accomplished. Wasn't that the refrain almost four years ago, on that lonely aircraft carrier off California, Bush striding the deck in his flying suit? And only a few months later, the President had a message for Osama bin Laden and the insurgents of Iraq. "Bring 'em on!" he shouted. And on they came. Few paid attention late last year when the Islamist leadership of this most ferocious of Arab rebellions proclaimed Bush a war criminal but asked him not to withdraw his troops. "We haven't yet killed enough of them," their videotaped statement announced.
Well, they will have their chance now. How ironic that it was the ghastly Saddam, dignified amid his lynch mob, who dared on the scaffold to tell the truth which Bush and Blair would not utter: that Iraq has become "hell" .
President is sending more U.S. troops, but says Iraqis must take the lead in the war. President Bush appealed directly to the American people Wednesday night to support a renewed campaign to pacify Iraq, saying it was necessary to add new troops so that the beleaguered Iraqi government can regain control of the streets of Baghdad and revive the process of political reconciliation and economic rebuilding. In a nationally televised address from the White House, Bush acknowledged for the first time that he had not sent enough troops to provide security in Iraq last year. Standing in the library of the White House, Bush described the situation in Iraq as "unacceptable" to the American people and to him. "Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do," he said. "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."
President Bush appealed directly to the American people Wednesday night to support a renewed campaign to pacify Iraq, saying it was necessary to add new troops so that the beleaguered Iraqi government can regain control of the streets of Baghdad and revive the process of political reconciliation and economic rebuilding.
In a nationally televised address from the White House, Bush acknowledged for the first time that he had not sent enough troops to provide security in Iraq last year. Standing in the library of the White House, Bush described the situation in Iraq as "unacceptable" to the American people and to him. "Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do," he said. "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."
Kansai Electric Power Co. restarted a nuclear reactor Wednesday in Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, 2 1/2 years after it was shut down by a steam pipe rupture that killed five people and injured six others in the nation's deadliest atomic plant accident. Kepco conducted a two-week test run in September, but Wednesday's restart marks the first time the No. 3 reactor has been in full-scale operation since the fatal accident in Aug. 9, 2004. The pressurized water reactor will start generating electricity starting Thursday. After about a month of fine-tuning, commercial operations are expected to resume in early February. The deadly accident happened when a corroded pipe in the reactor's turbine building ruptured and sprayed plant workers with superheated steam and boiling water, killing four and injuring seven others. One worker died 16 days later. The steam that burst from the pipe was not radioactive. The accident was blamed on pipes that had not been inspected since the reactor went online 28 years earlier. Some of the victims' kin remain opposed to the restart and many experts are concerned that the aging reactor may suffer more accidents.
Kepco conducted a two-week test run in September, but Wednesday's restart marks the first time the No. 3 reactor has been in full-scale operation since the fatal accident in Aug. 9, 2004.
The pressurized water reactor will start generating electricity starting Thursday. After about a month of fine-tuning, commercial operations are expected to resume in early February.
The deadly accident happened when a corroded pipe in the reactor's turbine building ruptured and sprayed plant workers with superheated steam and boiling water, killing four and injuring seven others. One worker died 16 days later. The steam that burst from the pipe was not radioactive.
The accident was blamed on pipes that had not been inspected since the reactor went online 28 years earlier.
Some of the victims' kin remain opposed to the restart and many experts are concerned that the aging reactor may suffer more accidents.
Daily Yomiuri: Government to OK India as N-state The government will in effect recognize India as a nuclear power although the South Asian nation is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a move that will treat the nation as an exception to its steadfast nonproliferation principle, government sources said Tuesday. As a concrete step, the government will announce its support of the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement, which stipulates U.S. assistance to civilian nuclear power programs in India, paving the way for such cooperation. The government has been arranging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's schedule to enable him to visit India within the year. While carefully observing negotiations between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency over the U.N. nuclear watchdog's nuclear inspections, Abe likely will announce his support of the U.S.-Indian pact on civilian nuclear cooperation, the sources said. AP via Japan Times: Tokyo tells India to forsake nukes and join the NPT Japan refused on Wednesday to acknowledge India as a legitimate nuclear weapons state and demanded that it join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki also urged India to drop its nuclear arms, denying a newspaper report Wednesday that Tokyo was thinking of accepting India's possession of such weapons. "Japan and the global community have valued the international system of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation based on the NPT," he said. "We'll continue to seek the admission of India into the NPT as a nonnuclear weapons state." Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna declined comment.
The government will in effect recognize India as a nuclear power although the South Asian nation is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a move that will treat the nation as an exception to its steadfast nonproliferation principle, government sources said Tuesday.
As a concrete step, the government will announce its support of the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement, which stipulates U.S. assistance to civilian nuclear power programs in India, paving the way for such cooperation.
The government has been arranging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's schedule to enable him to visit India within the year. While carefully observing negotiations between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency over the U.N. nuclear watchdog's nuclear inspections, Abe likely will announce his support of the U.S.-Indian pact on civilian nuclear cooperation, the sources said.
Japan refused on Wednesday to acknowledge India as a legitimate nuclear weapons state and demanded that it join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki also urged India to drop its nuclear arms, denying a newspaper report Wednesday that Tokyo was thinking of accepting India's possession of such weapons.
"Japan and the global community have valued the international system of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation based on the NPT," he said. "We'll continue to seek the admission of India into the NPT as a nonnuclear weapons state." Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna declined comment.
California will create the world's first global warming pollution standard for transportation fuels, ratcheting down fuel carbon content 10 percent by 2020 under a plan put forward by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday in his State of the State address. "Our cars have been running on dirty fuel too long. Our country has been dependent on foreign oil for too long. I ask you to set in motion the means to free ourselves from oil and from OPEC," Schwarzenegger told a joint session of the Legislature. Schwarzenegger plans to issue an executive order requiring the state's Air Resources Board to draft rules for a new carbon fuel standard, which would take effect in January 2010. His authority to do that comes from landmark legislation signed last year aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions across a wide spectrum of industries. Although the European Union is weighing a similar rule on carbon emissions, California would be the first government to create one. Heitz of the Energy Foundation said the new standard would be the equivalent of taking 3 million cars off the road by 2020. The new standard is expected to reduce emissions by 13 million metric tons, more than half of the 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide the state will need to eliminate to meet 1990 vehicle emission levels. Transportation accounts for 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in California.
"Our cars have been running on dirty fuel too long. Our country has been dependent on foreign oil for too long. I ask you to set in motion the means to free ourselves from oil and from OPEC," Schwarzenegger told a joint session of the Legislature.
Schwarzenegger plans to issue an executive order requiring the state's Air Resources Board to draft rules for a new carbon fuel standard, which would take effect in January 2010. His authority to do that comes from landmark legislation signed last year aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions across a wide spectrum of industries.
Although the European Union is weighing a similar rule on carbon emissions, California would be the first government to create one.
Heitz of the Energy Foundation said the new standard would be the equivalent of taking 3 million cars off the road by 2020.
The new standard is expected to reduce emissions by 13 million metric tons, more than half of the 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide the state will need to eliminate to meet 1990 vehicle emission levels.
Transportation accounts for 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in California.
US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized five members of staff. The troops raided the building at about 0300, taking away computers and papers, according to Kurdish media and senior local officials. The US military had no immediate comment on the raid, which comes amid high tension between Iran and the US.
The troops raided the building at about 0300, taking away computers and papers, according to Kurdish media and senior local officials.
The US military had no immediate comment on the raid, which comes amid high tension between Iran and the US.
They'd corrected it by the second time around.
China failed last year to meet its target for improved energy efficiency, a senior official said, underlining the challenge faced by Beijing in balancing the need for fast economic growth with higher environmental standards. (...) "2006 has been the bleakest year for China's environmental situation," Mr Pan said. "The target laid down by the State Council at the start of last year, to cut energy consumption by 4 per cent and pollution emissions by 2 per cent, has not been achieved." Central government has yet to announce formally the figures for 2006 but the National Bureau of Statistics has reported energy consumption per unit of economic output in the first half of 2006 rose by 0.8 per cent.
(...)
"2006 has been the bleakest year for China's environmental situation," Mr Pan said. "The target laid down by the State Council at the start of last year, to cut energy consumption by 4 per cent and pollution emissions by 2 per cent, has not been achieved."
Central government has yet to announce formally the figures for 2006 but the National Bureau of Statistics has reported energy consumption per unit of economic output in the first half of 2006 rose by 0.8 per cent.
That's a frightening number: not only output is increasing, but energy required per unit of output is still increasing.
Even in the US that indicator has been decreasing for the past 30 years (i.e. energy use growth is slower than GDP growth). That's really bad news. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
