There's some good news, and some bad news

Baghdad expected to destroy missiles; Moscow praises move

Poll: Bush re-election support drops below 50 percent- *Smirk

Friday, February 28, 2003 Posted: 2:30 PM EST (1930 GMT)

With events moving closer to a possible war with Iraq, here is a look at some of the latest developments around the world:

ROAD TO WAR?
TURKEY MEETING INCONCLUSIVE: A meeting of Turkey's National Security Council ended Friday after four hours with no recommendations to the parliament about a proposal to allow more than 60,000 U.S. troops to operate from Turkish soil in the event of a war with Iraq. A Turkish foreign ministry source interpreted the lack of recommendations as a sign that the council preferred to allow the parliament to decide without its input. The parliament is expected to debate and vote on the issue on Saturday. More..

BLIX: MISSILES TO BE DESTROYED: Iraq is expected to begin the process of destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles on Saturday, as demanded, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said. Iraq agreed in principle to destroy the missiles in a letter Baghdad sent to U.N. weapons inspectors Thursday, but said it does not know how to destroy the weapons and wanted a U.N. technical mission to discuss the details. Iraqi and U.N. officials are expected to hold technical talks Saturday, as Blix's latest progress report is submitted to the Security Council. Blix said his deputy, Demetrius Perricos, is in Baghdad and will discuss with the Iraqis the "program for the destruction." More..

WHITE HOUSE: 'DECEPTION': The Bush administration Friday dismissed Iraq's agreement to destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles as "the deception the president predicted." "We expect them to destroy at least some of their missiles, not all," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "And while they will destroy one missile on the one hand, they produce new ones on the other hand." Fleischer said Bush views Iraq's latest move as "the tip of the iceberg" in coming to full compliance to disarm. He pointed to the fact that Iraq has yet to account for the weapons of mass destruction it claims to have destroyed, including 26,000 liters of anthrax, and 1.5 tons of nerve agent. More..

MOSCOW: PRAISE AND THREAT: Russia on Friday -- while threatening to use its veto in the Security Council on a second resolution on Iraq -- praised Iraq's announcement that it will destroy Al Samoud 2 missiles, saying this is one more indication of Baghdad's move toward active cooperation with U.N. resolutions and shows that the United States is premature in saying inspections have failed. A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said the decision on the missiles, as well as Iraq's recent moves to provide new information to inspectors on several disarmament issues, "will help to remove some of the blank spots" in Iraq's disarmament file. More..

WAR OF WORDS, or, "My Dad can beat up your dad!"

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has no intention of disarming and must be forced to do so, President Bush said in a newspaper interview published Friday. "My attitude about Saddam Hussein is that if he had any intention of disarming, he would have disarmed," Bush told USA Today. "We will disarm him now," he said later in the interview. Bush called war his last option, but he also said he believes Americans fully understand that the United States could soon go to war, the newspaper said. "I've thought long and hard about the consequences and the price that could be paid," Bush said.


Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Friday, "We will consider any new resolutions that support the weapons inspectors' work. But we will not support any resolutions that directly or indirectly authorize using force against Iraq." Ivanov spoke at a Beijing news conference following two days of meetings with Chinese officials. "We hold veto power. We would use it if it were for maintaining world stability." More..

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Friday that Iraq's pledge to begin destroying its Al Samoud missiles showed that U.N. arms inspections generated results. "It's an important step in the disarmament of Iraq. It confirms that the inspections give results," he said of Iraq's pledge, which the United States and Britain have said was insufficient. "There is no reason to discontinue the peaceful disarmament of Iraq. We are opposed to the draft second resolution, as is a majority of the Security Council, and notably Russia," he said. More..

IMPACT

, or is that dimpact?

President Bush's support level has fallen again in polling results. The percentage of registered voters who say they would support Bush in 2004 fell below 50 percent for the first time, according to a new CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup poll, which finds more Americans concerned about the economy. Two-thirds of those who responded to the poll describe current economic conditions as poor, a 10-point increase since December. Optimism about the future of the economy also dropped 10 points during that time. Asked their choice for president, 47 percent of the registered voters polled said they would support Bush in 2004 -- compared with 51 percent in December. About 39 percent said they would support the Democratic candidate, compared with 37 percent in December. More..


At least 3,000 protesters in Manama, Bahrain, angrily demonstrated Friday against a war in Iraq, chanting anti-American slogans and burning American flags. Scores of people marched from Ras al Roman mosque in this city, the nation's capital, to U.N. headquarters. Their stance reflected the growing dislike among many for the U.S. and British military buildup in the Persian Gulf. Other demonstrations Friday included ones in Yemen, in Turkey and in the Philippines. In Bahrain, protesters chanted such slogans as "Death to America," "Not one drop of our blood for this war," "Terrorism comes from Bush," and "Baghdad will be a graveyard of the American army."

That's the way it is today.