Thursday, November 04, 2004
November 4, 2004OP-ED COLUMNIST
Two Nations Under GodBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
ell, as Grandma used to say, at least I still have my health. ...
I often begin writing columns by interviewing myself. I did that yesterday, asking myself this: Why didn't I feel totally depressed after George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis, or even when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore? Why did I wake up feeling deeply troubled yesterday?
Answer: whatever differences I felt with the elder Bush were over what was the right policy. There was much he ultimately did that I ended up admiring. And when George W. Bush was elected four years ago on a platform of compassionate conservatism, after running from the middle, I assumed the same would be true with him. (Wrong.) But what troubled me yesterday was my feeling that this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for George Bush by people who don't just favor different policies than I do - they favor a whole different kind of America. We don't just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America is.
Is it a country that does not intrude into people's sexual preferences and the marriage unions they want to make? Is it a country that allows a woman to have control over her body? Is it a country where the line between church and state bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers should be inviolate? Is it a country where religion doesn't trump science? And, most important, is it a country whose president mobilizes its deep moral energies to unite us - instead of dividing us from one another and from the world?
At one level this election was about nothing. None of the real problems facing the nation were really discussed. But at another level, without warning, it actually became about everything. Partly that happened because so many Supreme Court seats are at stake, and partly because Mr. Bush's base is pushing so hard to legislate social issues and extend the boundaries of religion that it felt as if we were rewriting the Constitution, not electing a president. I felt as if I registered to vote, but when I showed up the Constitutional Convention broke out.
The election results reaffirmed that. Despite an utterly incompetent war performance in Iraq and a stagnant economy, Mr. Bush held onto the same basic core of states that he won four years ago - as if nothing had happened. It seemed as if people were not voting on his performance. It seemed as if they were voting for what team they were on.
This was not an election. This was station identification. I'd bet anything that if the election ballots hadn't had the names Bush and Kerry on them but simply asked instead, "Do you watch Fox TV or read The New York Times?" the Electoral College would have broken the exact same way.
My problem with the Christian fundamentalists supporting Mr. Bush is not their spiritual energy or the fact that I am of a different faith. It is the way in which he and they have used that religious energy to promote divisions and intolerance at home and abroad. I respect that moral energy, but wish that Democrats could find a way to tap it for different ends.
"The Democrats have ceded to Republicans a monopoly on the moral and spiritual sources of American politics," noted the Harvard University political theorist Michael J. Sandel. "They will not recover as a party until they again have candidates who can speak to those moral and spiritual yearnings - but turn them to progressive purposes in domestic policy and foreign affairs."
I've always had a simple motto when it comes to politics: Never put yourself in a position where your party wins only if your country fails. This column will absolutely not be rooting for George Bush to fail so Democrats can make a comeback. If the Democrats make a comeback, it must not be by default, because the country has lapsed into a total mess, but because they have nominated a candidate who can win with a positive message that connects with America's heartland.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of talk that Mr. Bush has a mandate for his far right policies. Yes, he does have a mandate, but he also has a date - a date with history. If Mr. Bush can salvage the war in Iraq, forge a solution for dealing with our entitlements crisis - which can be done only with a bipartisan approach and a more sane fiscal policy - upgrade America's competitiveness, prevent Iran from going nuclear and produce a solution for our energy crunch, history will say that he used his mandate to lead to great effect. If he pushes for still more tax cuts and fails to solve our real problems, his date with history will be a very unpleasant one - no matter what mandate he has.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
Two Nations Under GodBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
ell, as Grandma used to say, at least I still have my health. ...
I often begin writing columns by interviewing myself. I did that yesterday, asking myself this: Why didn't I feel totally depressed after George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis, or even when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore? Why did I wake up feeling deeply troubled yesterday?
Answer: whatever differences I felt with the elder Bush were over what was the right policy. There was much he ultimately did that I ended up admiring. And when George W. Bush was elected four years ago on a platform of compassionate conservatism, after running from the middle, I assumed the same would be true with him. (Wrong.) But what troubled me yesterday was my feeling that this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for George Bush by people who don't just favor different policies than I do - they favor a whole different kind of America. We don't just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America is.
Is it a country that does not intrude into people's sexual preferences and the marriage unions they want to make? Is it a country that allows a woman to have control over her body? Is it a country where the line between church and state bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers should be inviolate? Is it a country where religion doesn't trump science? And, most important, is it a country whose president mobilizes its deep moral energies to unite us - instead of dividing us from one another and from the world?
At one level this election was about nothing. None of the real problems facing the nation were really discussed. But at another level, without warning, it actually became about everything. Partly that happened because so many Supreme Court seats are at stake, and partly because Mr. Bush's base is pushing so hard to legislate social issues and extend the boundaries of religion that it felt as if we were rewriting the Constitution, not electing a president. I felt as if I registered to vote, but when I showed up the Constitutional Convention broke out.
The election results reaffirmed that. Despite an utterly incompetent war performance in Iraq and a stagnant economy, Mr. Bush held onto the same basic core of states that he won four years ago - as if nothing had happened. It seemed as if people were not voting on his performance. It seemed as if they were voting for what team they were on.
This was not an election. This was station identification. I'd bet anything that if the election ballots hadn't had the names Bush and Kerry on them but simply asked instead, "Do you watch Fox TV or read The New York Times?" the Electoral College would have broken the exact same way.
My problem with the Christian fundamentalists supporting Mr. Bush is not their spiritual energy or the fact that I am of a different faith. It is the way in which he and they have used that religious energy to promote divisions and intolerance at home and abroad. I respect that moral energy, but wish that Democrats could find a way to tap it for different ends.
"The Democrats have ceded to Republicans a monopoly on the moral and spiritual sources of American politics," noted the Harvard University political theorist Michael J. Sandel. "They will not recover as a party until they again have candidates who can speak to those moral and spiritual yearnings - but turn them to progressive purposes in domestic policy and foreign affairs."
I've always had a simple motto when it comes to politics: Never put yourself in a position where your party wins only if your country fails. This column will absolutely not be rooting for George Bush to fail so Democrats can make a comeback. If the Democrats make a comeback, it must not be by default, because the country has lapsed into a total mess, but because they have nominated a candidate who can win with a positive message that connects with America's heartland.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of talk that Mr. Bush has a mandate for his far right policies. Yes, he does have a mandate, but he also has a date - a date with history. If Mr. Bush can salvage the war in Iraq, forge a solution for dealing with our entitlements crisis - which can be done only with a bipartisan approach and a more sane fiscal policy - upgrade America's competitiveness, prevent Iran from going nuclear and produce a solution for our energy crunch, history will say that he used his mandate to lead to great effect. If he pushes for still more tax cuts and fails to solve our real problems, his date with history will be a very unpleasant one - no matter what mandate he has.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
November 4, 2004OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Red ZoneBy MAUREEN DOWD
ASHINGTON
With the Democratic Party splattered at his feet in little blue puddles, John Kerry told the crushed crowd at Faneuil Hall in Boston about his concession call to President Bush.
"We had a good conversation," the senator said. "And we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need, the desperate need, for unity, for finding the common ground, coming together. Today I hope that we can begin the healing."
Democrat: Heal thyself.
W. doesn't see division as a danger. He sees it as a wingman.
The president got re-elected by dividing the country along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts; he wants to bring any riffraff who disagree to heel.
W. ran a jihad in America so he can fight one in Iraq - drawing a devoted flock of evangelicals, or "values voters," as they call themselves, to the polls by opposing abortion, suffocating stem cell research and supporting a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.
Mr. Bush, whose administration drummed up fake evidence to trick us into war with Iraq, sticking our troops in an immoral position with no exit strategy, won on "moral issues."
The president says he's "humbled" and wants to reach out to the whole country. What humbug. The Bushes are always gracious until they don't get their way. If W. didn't reach out after the last election, which he barely grabbed, why would he reach out now that he has what Dick Cheney calls a "broad, nationwide victory"?
While Mr. Bush was making his little speech about reaching out, Republicans said they had "the green light" to pursue their conservative agenda, like drilling in Alaska's wilderness and rewriting the tax code.
"He'll be a lot more aggressive in Iraq now," one Bush insider predicts. "He'll raze Falluja if he has to. He feels that the election results endorsed his version of the war." Never mind that the more insurgents American troops kill, the more they create.
Just listen to Dick (Oh, lordy, is this cuckoo clock still vice president?) Cheney, introducing the Man for his victory speech: "This has been a consequential presidency which has revitalized our economy and reasserted a confident American role in the world." Well, it has revitalized the Halliburton segment of the economy, anyhow. And "confident" is not the first word that comes to mind for the foreign policy of a country that has alienated everyone except Fiji.
Vice continued, "Now we move forward to serve and to guard the country we love." Only Dick Cheney can make "to serve and to guard" sound like "to rape and to pillage."
He's creating the sort of "democracy" he likes. One party controls all power in the country. One network serves as state TV. One nation dominates the world as a hyperpower. One firm controls contracts in Iraq.
Just as Zell Miller was so over the top at the G.O.P. convention that he made Mr. Cheney seem reasonable, so several new members of Congress will make W. seem moderate.
Tom Coburn, the new senator from Oklahoma, has advocated the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions and warned that "the gay agenda" would undermine the country. He also characterized his race as a choice between "good and evil" and said he had heard there was "rampant lesbianism" in Oklahoma schools.
Jim DeMint, the new senator from South Carolina, said during his campaign that he supported a state G.O.P. platform plank banning gays from teaching in public schools. He explained, "I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend should be hired to teach my third-grade children."
John Thune, who toppled Tom Daschle, is an anti-abortion Christian conservative - or "servant leader," as he was hailed in a campaign ad - who supports constitutional amendments banning flag burning and gay marriage.
Seeing the exit polls, the Democrats immediately started talking about values and religion. Their sudden passion for wooing Southern white Christian soldiers may put a crimp in Hillary's 2008 campaign (nothing but a wooden stake would stop it). Meanwhile, the blue puddle is comforting itself with the expectation that this loony bunch will fatally overreach, just as Newt Gingrich did in the 90's.
But with this crowd, it's hard to imagine what would constitute overreaching.
Invading France?
E-mail: liberties@nytimes.com
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
Election Observers Draw Mixed Reactions
11 minutes ago
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - In some quarters, they were seen as outside intruders trying to tell the United States how to run its affairs. They were welcomed and honored in others, even asked to pose for souvenir photographs.
AFP
Slideshow: Elections
Latest Headlines:
·
Election Observers Draw Mixed Reactions AP - 11 minutes ago
·
Bush Outlines Agenda for Second Term AP - 29 minutes ago
·
Elizabeth Edwards Has Breast Cancer AP - 36 minutes ago
All Election Coverage
The Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe monitored a U.S. presidential election for the first time, sending 92 observers — including 56 parliamentarians — from 34 countries. They fanned out to voting precincts in 11 states Tuesday.
At the local level, election workers "were delighted and honored and surprised" by the arrival of observers, Italian parliamentarian Giovanni Kessler said Thursday during a news conference. He said he was aware others did not appreciate their efforts, but he called them part of a very small minority.
"If they are here to learn, that's fine," said one opponent, Thomas P. Kilgannon of the conservative group Freedom Alliance. "But if they are here to cast judgment, that's where conservatives take issue."
Kilgannon alleged that Democrats asked for the observers to lay the groundwork for complaints of fraud in the event of a loss by Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites).
"Americans do not need ... the OSCE (news - web sites) intruding into their voting places to ensure the integrity of the system," he said.
The State Department invited the observers to monitor the presidential vote after they had observed the 2003 governor's recall race in California and congressional midterm elections in 2002, focusing mainly on reforms started in Florida after the hotly contested 2000 vote.
This year's vote "mostly met" standards agreed to by the 55-nation body, the OSCE team said in preliminary findings issued Thursday. The election was marked by "free and vigorous media coverage," exceptional public interest, and professionalism and dedication on the part of state and county election officials, it said.
But reforms started in answer to problems with the prolonged and court-contested 2000 presidential election are still "a work in progress," the report said. The group noted that long lines at voting stations made voting difficult and that there were allegations of fraud and voter suppression, primarily among minorities, before the election.
Monitors were banned from some polling places in North Carolina and Florida because there were no provisions in state law for allowing them in, the group said. It suggested changing state laws to allow unimpeded access for international observers.
"The high turnout indicates the importance of this election for the electorate and the strong democratic tradition in this country," said Barbara Haering, the Swiss chairwoman of the observer mission. "Although it was not possible for our observers to access polling stations in all states ... it appears that the voting and the processing of ballots proceeded in an orderly manner."
The OSCE, with member states including the United States and spanning from Vancouver to Vladivostok, routinely observes elections in other parts of the world. The only participating state to outright refuse to invite an election observation mission was Yugoslavia in 2000 under then-President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites), it says.
___
On the Net:
OSCE: http://www.osce.org/news
11 minutes ago
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - In some quarters, they were seen as outside intruders trying to tell the United States how to run its affairs. They were welcomed and honored in others, even asked to pose for souvenir photographs.
AFP
Slideshow: Elections
Latest Headlines:
·
Election Observers Draw Mixed Reactions AP - 11 minutes ago
·
Bush Outlines Agenda for Second Term AP - 29 minutes ago
·
Elizabeth Edwards Has Breast Cancer AP - 36 minutes ago
All Election Coverage
The Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe monitored a U.S. presidential election for the first time, sending 92 observers — including 56 parliamentarians — from 34 countries. They fanned out to voting precincts in 11 states Tuesday.
At the local level, election workers "were delighted and honored and surprised" by the arrival of observers, Italian parliamentarian Giovanni Kessler said Thursday during a news conference. He said he was aware others did not appreciate their efforts, but he called them part of a very small minority.
"If they are here to learn, that's fine," said one opponent, Thomas P. Kilgannon of the conservative group Freedom Alliance. "But if they are here to cast judgment, that's where conservatives take issue."
Kilgannon alleged that Democrats asked for the observers to lay the groundwork for complaints of fraud in the event of a loss by Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites).
"Americans do not need ... the OSCE (news - web sites) intruding into their voting places to ensure the integrity of the system," he said.
The State Department invited the observers to monitor the presidential vote after they had observed the 2003 governor's recall race in California and congressional midterm elections in 2002, focusing mainly on reforms started in Florida after the hotly contested 2000 vote.
This year's vote "mostly met" standards agreed to by the 55-nation body, the OSCE team said in preliminary findings issued Thursday. The election was marked by "free and vigorous media coverage," exceptional public interest, and professionalism and dedication on the part of state and county election officials, it said.
But reforms started in answer to problems with the prolonged and court-contested 2000 presidential election are still "a work in progress," the report said. The group noted that long lines at voting stations made voting difficult and that there were allegations of fraud and voter suppression, primarily among minorities, before the election.
Monitors were banned from some polling places in North Carolina and Florida because there were no provisions in state law for allowing them in, the group said. It suggested changing state laws to allow unimpeded access for international observers.
"The high turnout indicates the importance of this election for the electorate and the strong democratic tradition in this country," said Barbara Haering, the Swiss chairwoman of the observer mission. "Although it was not possible for our observers to access polling stations in all states ... it appears that the voting and the processing of ballots proceeded in an orderly manner."
The OSCE, with member states including the United States and spanning from Vancouver to Vladivostok, routinely observes elections in other parts of the world. The only participating state to outright refuse to invite an election observation mission was Yugoslavia in 2000 under then-President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites), it says.
___
On the Net:
OSCE: http://www.osce.org/news
Three British Troops Die in Iraq, City Hit
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Three British soldiers have been killed in a deadly Iraqi region to which their unit had just redeployed to free up U.S. forces for an expected all-out offensive on Falluja, the country's most rebellious city.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow: Iraq
Iraqis React To Bush Victory(Reuters Video)
Latest headlines:
·
Allawi Receives Boost From Italian Gov't AP - 3 minutes ago
·
3 British Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attack AP - 10 minutes ago
·
Marines Go Through Urban Warfare Drills AP - 29 minutes ago
Special Coverage
U.S. forces launched fresh air and artillery strikes on Falluja late on Thursday after overnight air and tank attacks killed five people in the Sunni Muslim city, braced for assault now the U.S. presidential election is over.
Further underlining the rapid deterioration in security in Iraq (news - web sites), Medecins sans Frontieres, one of the few remaining international aid groups, said it was quitting the country due the "extreme risk" to aid workers.
The British Black Watch soldiers' deaths are likely to stoke anger at Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s decision to extend their tour of duty by a month and move them to a dangerous U.S.-run area near Baghdad from their relatively safe southern base.
Details are sketchy, but junior defense minister Adam Ingram told parliament on Thursday some soldiers had also been wounded.
Medecins sans Frontieres said Iraq had become too dangerous to work in and it would end all operations within a few days.
"It has become impossible ... to guarantee an acceptable level of security for our staff, be they foreign or Iraqi," the agency's general director Gorik Ooms said in Belgium.
Another major aid group, Care International, also ceased its operations last month after the British-Iraqi woman running them was kidnapped. She is still being held by an unnamed group.
Iraqi's government and its U.S. backers are battling to capture rebel-held cities such as Falluja and Ramadi and pacify the country to prepare for elections due in January.
But they face a mounting insurgency and kidnappings aimed at driving out U.S.-led forces and foreign workers.
AIR STRIKES
There was no immediate word on casualties on the latest U.S. raids. Rebels responded with fierce mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks against U.S. positions on the edge of the city, witnesses said.
U.S. forces also launched air and tank attacks on Wednesday and into Thursday morning that witnesses said where the heaviest for several weeks. Hospital doctor Ahmed Mohammed said five people had been killed, including a woman and a child. All had been in a car hit in an air raid while trying to escape.
U.S. artillery was back in action during the day, said a Reuters reporter with marines near Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, visiting Europe, has not publicly given the go-ahead to storm Falluja and the sister city of Ramadi, but the marines say they only need the order from him and newly re-elected President Bush (news - web sites).
Shi'ites in the slums of Baghdad's Sadr City, where anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has a strong following, said Bush must keep his pledges to reconstruct Iraq and hold polls.
"It is Bush who destroyed this country and our city and he is obliged to rebuild them," said resident Qassem al-Kaabi.
Sadr, whose militia staged two uprisings this year, has recently moved toward joining the political process, ordering his Mehdi Army fighters to hand in their weapons in Sadr City.
People in Falluja said the prospect of four more years of Bush depressed them.
"Choosing Bush creates a crisis for Iraqis and especially for Falluja because we believe he will continue his policy against our country and our city," said Mohammed Ali.
"His policy is based on violence and hatred against Muslims and Arabs," the 20-year-old student added.
A car bomb killed four Iraqis in al-Dujail, north of Baghdad, and another exploded in Iskandariya, 50 km (30 miles) south of the capital, but there was no word of casualties.
Militants in Iraq issued a videotape of three Jordanian truck drivers pleading with their government to warn its nationals against working with U.S.-led forces in the country.
"We will not have mercy on anyone. We will strike with an iron fist whoever deals with the occupation," one of three masked gunmen said on the videotape released to Reuters.
It showed the drivers sitting in front of the gunmen under a black banner that reads Army of Islam Counter-Attack Brigades. The tape showed close-ups of their passports. It was not clear if they were among four Jordanian drivers kidnapped on Tuesday.
Militants have seized scores of foreigners since April. Many have been freed. More than 35 have been killed, some beheaded.
There was no word on whether the captors of Care's Iraq chief, Margaret Hassan, had carried out a threat made on Tuesday to hand her to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy near Falluja, Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad and Madeline Chambers in London)
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Three British soldiers have been killed in a deadly Iraqi region to which their unit had just redeployed to free up U.S. forces for an expected all-out offensive on Falluja, the country's most rebellious city.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow: Iraq
Iraqis React To Bush Victory(Reuters Video)
Latest headlines:
·
Allawi Receives Boost From Italian Gov't AP - 3 minutes ago
·
3 British Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attack AP - 10 minutes ago
·
Marines Go Through Urban Warfare Drills AP - 29 minutes ago
Special Coverage
U.S. forces launched fresh air and artillery strikes on Falluja late on Thursday after overnight air and tank attacks killed five people in the Sunni Muslim city, braced for assault now the U.S. presidential election is over.
Further underlining the rapid deterioration in security in Iraq (news - web sites), Medecins sans Frontieres, one of the few remaining international aid groups, said it was quitting the country due the "extreme risk" to aid workers.
The British Black Watch soldiers' deaths are likely to stoke anger at Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s decision to extend their tour of duty by a month and move them to a dangerous U.S.-run area near Baghdad from their relatively safe southern base.
Details are sketchy, but junior defense minister Adam Ingram told parliament on Thursday some soldiers had also been wounded.
Medecins sans Frontieres said Iraq had become too dangerous to work in and it would end all operations within a few days.
"It has become impossible ... to guarantee an acceptable level of security for our staff, be they foreign or Iraqi," the agency's general director Gorik Ooms said in Belgium.
Another major aid group, Care International, also ceased its operations last month after the British-Iraqi woman running them was kidnapped. She is still being held by an unnamed group.
Iraqi's government and its U.S. backers are battling to capture rebel-held cities such as Falluja and Ramadi and pacify the country to prepare for elections due in January.
But they face a mounting insurgency and kidnappings aimed at driving out U.S.-led forces and foreign workers.
AIR STRIKES
There was no immediate word on casualties on the latest U.S. raids. Rebels responded with fierce mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks against U.S. positions on the edge of the city, witnesses said.
U.S. forces also launched air and tank attacks on Wednesday and into Thursday morning that witnesses said where the heaviest for several weeks. Hospital doctor Ahmed Mohammed said five people had been killed, including a woman and a child. All had been in a car hit in an air raid while trying to escape.
U.S. artillery was back in action during the day, said a Reuters reporter with marines near Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, visiting Europe, has not publicly given the go-ahead to storm Falluja and the sister city of Ramadi, but the marines say they only need the order from him and newly re-elected President Bush (news - web sites).
Shi'ites in the slums of Baghdad's Sadr City, where anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has a strong following, said Bush must keep his pledges to reconstruct Iraq and hold polls.
"It is Bush who destroyed this country and our city and he is obliged to rebuild them," said resident Qassem al-Kaabi.
Sadr, whose militia staged two uprisings this year, has recently moved toward joining the political process, ordering his Mehdi Army fighters to hand in their weapons in Sadr City.
People in Falluja said the prospect of four more years of Bush depressed them.
"Choosing Bush creates a crisis for Iraqis and especially for Falluja because we believe he will continue his policy against our country and our city," said Mohammed Ali.
"His policy is based on violence and hatred against Muslims and Arabs," the 20-year-old student added.
A car bomb killed four Iraqis in al-Dujail, north of Baghdad, and another exploded in Iskandariya, 50 km (30 miles) south of the capital, but there was no word of casualties.
Militants in Iraq issued a videotape of three Jordanian truck drivers pleading with their government to warn its nationals against working with U.S.-led forces in the country.
"We will not have mercy on anyone. We will strike with an iron fist whoever deals with the occupation," one of three masked gunmen said on the videotape released to Reuters.
It showed the drivers sitting in front of the gunmen under a black banner that reads Army of Islam Counter-Attack Brigades. The tape showed close-ups of their passports. It was not clear if they were among four Jordanian drivers kidnapped on Tuesday.
Militants have seized scores of foreigners since April. Many have been freed. More than 35 have been killed, some beheaded.
There was no word on whether the captors of Care's Iraq chief, Margaret Hassan, had carried out a threat made on Tuesday to hand her to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy near Falluja, Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad and Madeline Chambers in London)
." Iraqis Turn Blind Eye to U.S. Vote Amid New ViolenceWed Nov 3, 2004 07:32 AM ET
By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis traumatized by violence largely ignored the U.S. presidential election Wednesday as rebels mounted fresh attacks and kidnappers seized a U.S.-Lebanese contractor and four Jordanian drivers.
While President Bush's campaign declared victory over Democratic challenger John Kerry, many Iraqis kept their television sets tuned to Ramadan religious programs.
"Will Kerry turn occupation into liberation? No. Has Bush kept his promises? No. Whoever wins we will be at their mercy," said Raad Fadel, selling musical instruments in Baghdad.
In an Internet video, Bush's deadliest Islamist enemy Osama bin Laden said the U.S. president had dragged his country into a quagmire in Iraq and warned for the first time of retaliation for Iraqi deaths.
Gunmen killed an Oil Ministry official in the Iraqi capital and a car bomb blew up near a U.S. convoy on the airport road, killing an Iraqi security man, but causing no U.S. casualties.
U.S. Marines watched television coverage of the Bush-Kerry contest at a base near Falluja, west of Baghdad.
"A Bush win would mean we would stay the course in Iraq. A Kerry win means we would probably leave before the job is done," said 1st Lieutenant Tony King, 33.
First Lieutenant Sara Hope, 24, had only one thought in mind: "I am leaving in March no matter who wins."
BIN LADEN THREAT
In a full Internet broadcast of a video partly aired by Al Jazeera television last week bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, said Bush had launched "an unjustified war on Iraq" against advice.
"Bush's hands are sullied with the blood of those on both sides just for oil and to employ his private companies," he said. "Remember that for every action, there is a reaction."
In Baghdad, four gunmen seized Radim Sadiq, a U.S. national of Lebanese origin, from his Lebanese company's office in the Mansour district late Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.
An American, a Filipino and a Nepali were kidnapped on Monday when gunmen stormed a Saudi company villa in Mansour.
Insurgents seized four Jordanian drivers on a highway in western Iraq Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry official in Amman said. Relatives said the men were taking goods to U.S. bases.
The Care International charity that employs British-Iraqi captive Margaret Hassan said it was distressed by the latest video issued by her kidnappers and urged them to free her.
The tape showed Hassan -- seized by unidentified kidnappers in Baghdad on Oct. 19 -- fainting on camera with water thrown at her to revive her, a witness who saw the tape told Reuters.
"She was making a very, very emotional plea. She appeared distressed and suddenly fainted on camera. Water was tossed on her," said the witness who asked not to be identified.
Al Jazeera television aired another part of the video that showed a masked gunman speaking, but there was no audio.
Hassan's unidentified captors threatened to turn her over to a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq, Al Jazeera said.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks.
BEHEADING
A militant group said it beheaded a man it called a senior member of Iraq's armed forces in the northern city of Mosul and posted a video of the killing on its Web site.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna accused the officer, Major Hussein Shunun, of helping U.S. forces against insurgents.
The same group has claimed responsibility for killing many hostages, including 11 Iraqis it said were National Guard members, 12 Nepalese men and several Iraqi Kurds.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said gunmen had killed Hussein Ali, director-general of state-owned Refined Oil Products distribution company, as he left his home in Baghdad.
Guerrillas have killed scores of Iraqi officials to try to undermine Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government.
The car bomb on the airport road set a U.S. Humvee on fire, witnesses said. Reuters photographs show U.S. troops taking a corpse in a body bag to a military ambulance. A U.S. spokesman said later the body was that of an Iraqi security man.
Attacks and kidnappings have intensified as Marines step up pressure on Falluja and Ramadi before an expected offensive to retake rebel cities to enable elections to go ahead in January.
U.S. planes bombed targets in Falluja overnight, destroying an arms cache and an insurgent command post, the military said.
No Iraqi oil was flowing from a northern pipeline to Turkey after this week's sabotage attacks, shipping sources said.
By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis traumatized by violence largely ignored the U.S. presidential election Wednesday as rebels mounted fresh attacks and kidnappers seized a U.S.-Lebanese contractor and four Jordanian drivers.
While President Bush's campaign declared victory over Democratic challenger John Kerry, many Iraqis kept their television sets tuned to Ramadan religious programs.
"Will Kerry turn occupation into liberation? No. Has Bush kept his promises? No. Whoever wins we will be at their mercy," said Raad Fadel, selling musical instruments in Baghdad.
In an Internet video, Bush's deadliest Islamist enemy Osama bin Laden said the U.S. president had dragged his country into a quagmire in Iraq and warned for the first time of retaliation for Iraqi deaths.
Gunmen killed an Oil Ministry official in the Iraqi capital and a car bomb blew up near a U.S. convoy on the airport road, killing an Iraqi security man, but causing no U.S. casualties.
U.S. Marines watched television coverage of the Bush-Kerry contest at a base near Falluja, west of Baghdad.
"A Bush win would mean we would stay the course in Iraq. A Kerry win means we would probably leave before the job is done," said 1st Lieutenant Tony King, 33.
First Lieutenant Sara Hope, 24, had only one thought in mind: "I am leaving in March no matter who wins."
BIN LADEN THREAT
In a full Internet broadcast of a video partly aired by Al Jazeera television last week bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, said Bush had launched "an unjustified war on Iraq" against advice.
"Bush's hands are sullied with the blood of those on both sides just for oil and to employ his private companies," he said. "Remember that for every action, there is a reaction."
In Baghdad, four gunmen seized Radim Sadiq, a U.S. national of Lebanese origin, from his Lebanese company's office in the Mansour district late Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.
An American, a Filipino and a Nepali were kidnapped on Monday when gunmen stormed a Saudi company villa in Mansour.
Insurgents seized four Jordanian drivers on a highway in western Iraq Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry official in Amman said. Relatives said the men were taking goods to U.S. bases.
The Care International charity that employs British-Iraqi captive Margaret Hassan said it was distressed by the latest video issued by her kidnappers and urged them to free her.
The tape showed Hassan -- seized by unidentified kidnappers in Baghdad on Oct. 19 -- fainting on camera with water thrown at her to revive her, a witness who saw the tape told Reuters.
"She was making a very, very emotional plea. She appeared distressed and suddenly fainted on camera. Water was tossed on her," said the witness who asked not to be identified.
Al Jazeera television aired another part of the video that showed a masked gunman speaking, but there was no audio.
Hassan's unidentified captors threatened to turn her over to a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq, Al Jazeera said.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks.
BEHEADING
A militant group said it beheaded a man it called a senior member of Iraq's armed forces in the northern city of Mosul and posted a video of the killing on its Web site.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna accused the officer, Major Hussein Shunun, of helping U.S. forces against insurgents.
The same group has claimed responsibility for killing many hostages, including 11 Iraqis it said were National Guard members, 12 Nepalese men and several Iraqi Kurds.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said gunmen had killed Hussein Ali, director-general of state-owned Refined Oil Products distribution company, as he left his home in Baghdad.
Guerrillas have killed scores of Iraqi officials to try to undermine Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government.
The car bomb on the airport road set a U.S. Humvee on fire, witnesses said. Reuters photographs show U.S. troops taking a corpse in a body bag to a military ambulance. A U.S. spokesman said later the body was that of an Iraqi security man.
Attacks and kidnappings have intensified as Marines step up pressure on Falluja and Ramadi before an expected offensive to retake rebel cities to enable elections to go ahead in January.
U.S. planes bombed targets in Falluja overnight, destroying an arms cache and an insurgent command post, the military said.
No Iraqi oil was flowing from a northern pipeline to Turkey after this week's sabotage attacks, shipping sources said.
