<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black">From: <A title=rhisiart@earthlink.net href="mailto:rhisiart@earthlink.net">R</A> </DIV> <DIV>To: <A title=weasel@yahoogroups.com href="mailto:weasel@yahoogroups.com">Weasel</A> </DIV> <DIV>Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2002 11:45 PM</DIV> <DIV>Subject: Axis of errors has America's friends Bushed </DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Axis of errors has America's friends Bushed <o:p></o:p></DIV> <DIV> By Paul McGeough, Herald Correspondent in New York <o:p></o:p> June 15 2002  <o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/14/1023864349316.html">http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/14/1023864349316.html</A> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> The White House stumblebum team played fast and loose this week - rushing headlong into every crisis, their loose lips risking greater tension, fear and panic in a world that was trying to cool it.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Along the way they angered, upset or confused the Israelis and the Palestinians, and European and Arab leaders who want to see more effective world leadership in settling the Middle East conflict; the warring Indians and Pakistanis; and an anxious American public and increasingly testy Democrats in the war on terror.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> The latest embarrassment was yesterday's backflip by the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, on whether or not al-Qaeda terrorists were fomenting the volatile tension over Kashmir. First the terrorists were in there, now it seems they are not.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Mr Rumsfeld set his own trap after talks with the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, this week when he told reporters: "I have seen indications that there are al-Qaeda operating [in Kashmir]."<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> But after meeting yesterday with a furious General Pervez Musharraf, and others in the Pakistani leadership who made little effort to hide their ridicule of the Defence Secretary for being suckered by Indian propaganda, Mr Rumsfeld backed down.<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> This time he tortured the language as he told reporters: "We do have a good deal of scraps of intelligence that come in from people who say they believe al-Qaeda are in Kashmir or are in various locations. It tends to be speculative, it's not actionable, and it's not verifiable."<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> It is not surprising that the Indians, who want Washington to believe they each face the same enemy in their war on terror, would tell a visiting American that al-Qaeda was involved. It is staggering that Mr Rumsfeld bought it with little or no qualification. <o:p></o:p>   -- continued<o:p></o:p></DIV></BODY></HTML>