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COMMENTARY -- WAR -- (click here for news directly below this commentary):
You have gone back in time and are standing in the midst of a lush ancient forest. You hear and see some large vegetarian dinosaurs feeding on the moist soft leaves of brush and trees. You also see skulking about like a cat after a mouse, other smaller dinosaurs with a lighter build about them trying to catch and eat even smaller dinosaurs. You also see small dinosaurs feeding on the vegetation. Suddenly you hear a loud screech which terrifies every creature in this setting and sends them running for fear. The screech is coming from a large version of the lighter built and fast moving dinosaur with teeth designed to rip and tear other animal flesh. It quickly moves up on the large vegetarian. It lacks the weight of the vegetarian it is pursuing but has more speed and agility. It's massive and powerful jaws are set into motion as it lunges upon the vegetarian and immediately draws blood as it rips and tears away at a vital spot. The vegetarian tries to defend itself by using its heavy tail to whack the aggressor but it was too slow this time in defending itself and it quickly weakened because of pain and loss of blood. Dizzy and in weakness it dropped to the ground and took its last breath. The aggressor ruthlessly tore away at the most tasty spots and then left the carcass for scavengers.
In the natural world this story describes the "food chain" and the "predatory" character of those creatures at the top of the food chain. The predatory behavior is driven by hunger and the instinct of the predator to feed and care for it's young. Although all animals have some kind of reasoning capability their instincts most often prevail and their reasoning is subordinate to these instincts to make them more effective at surviving.
How does this story relate to war? Is war wrong? Is war necessary? What is accomplished by war?
Mankind is to be above the animals, that is he should be exercising his reasoning capabilities over his instincts. But mankind often does not do that. Tribal behavior is something like wolf pack behavior. There is a kind of civilized order within the pack but anything outside the pack is considered fair game. There is usually a pack leader. In many ways, the societies and cultures and communities of mankind are like the pack where the reasoning capabilities of the individuals in the pack and the consensus of the pack is directed at serving the primitive instincts of survival.
Although man is more technically capable as he sits atop the food chain, many of the nations, societies, cultures, and communities of man are more predatory in character with leaders that know how to control the pack and maintain their control over the pack. If allowed, these predatory packs of mankind will act just like the predatory dinosaur. No amount of talk or reasoning will prevent the attack because the overall social behavior is predatory and reason is used to make the predatory behavior more successful. The only defense against such predators is to be both prepared and more capable if attacked. But often a defensive posture will fail as it did with the vegetarian dinosaur which was no threat to the other dinosaurs. Many animal packs that are vegetarian adopt defensive and preventative postures as a pack to minimize any predatory attack on members within the vegetarian pack. Buffalo, cattle, and many other animals do this.
But only mankind has two things the animals don't have. Man is smart enough to anticipate a predatory attack and respond in a defensive manoeuvre of defense to disable or kill the predatory enemy before the "screech" of death is heard. Man has the means and abilities to develop sophisticated weaponry. Compare this weaponry to the teeth of the attacking dinosaur and the tail of the vegetarian dinosaur.
But if a society or community of man is not aware of such dangers by other predatory type societies and communities then it peacefully and obliviously eats, drinks, sleeps, reproduces, plays, and in other ways occupies itself. When the "screech" of impending death is heard it may be too late. This is especially true if the predatory society has technological superiority and readiness to use that technology in an aggressive manner. This susceptibility scenario is also true if a society or community of man has been deceived into thinking that the predators are their friends or that arbitration, deals, and discourse will stop the aggression. Nothing will stop the predatory nation or community from its behavior other than its own destruction. A predatory human or human society is far more committed to violent aggression than is a predatory animal seeking a prey for a source of food. A predator is ruthless and uncaring whether it be a dinosaur, a wolf, or man. The "whimper" (or dialog to prevent aggression) that precedes death is understood by the predator as victory and the prey can be savaged. There are those that feel that a kind of social remedial exercise involving discourse, and various other forms of reward and penalty administered against the predatory society, by some powerful majority, will cause such predatory communities to change. This is foolishness as long as the pack leader remains leader. The leaders drive the communities. This is true even in western democratic nations. Sometimes leaders reflect the views of the community that elected them and perhaps leaders exploit the community that elected them.
When leaders have control of the key social institutions they can use these institutions to brain wash the community as a whole. If leaders don't have control of the key social institutions then new potential pack leaders can use these institutions to brain wash the community and thereafter supplant the pack leader. For example, often the educational institutions are infiltrated with authority figures that have a profound influence on those they teach. So it is not unusual in just about every society to see social discontent first voiced by universities and institutions of higher learning. The so called media in the form of newspapers, magazines, radio and TV industry, the publishing industry, and the movie industry are powerful means of brainwashing a society and re-engineering the "average" social mentality. A third category is the religious institutions, seminaries, and related organizations. Whoever controls the content of these institutions inevitably controls the pack mentality. Laws and government are derived from this mentality. As the mentality changes so also do the laws and inclinations of government.
As long as the average human being allows himself or herself to be herded along in a pack type social environment there will be predatory societies that feed on the other societies. They will skulk about and wait for their moment. They will form unholy and wicked alliances with each other only to eventually turn on one another. War in this context simply realigns those at the top of the food chain. War is for the purpose of establishing different leaders, it rarely occurs for the purpose of true peace and prosperity directed from a global perspective. Although the word peace is used a lot today its meaning varies depending upon who uses it. Peace as used by world leaders means the establishment of their objectives at the cost of their opponents. World leaders shake each others hands in such deceptive gestures of peace. It is a paradox. It is a horrible dilemma. If any society disarms, adopts arbitration and dialog to effect change then they will be perceived as manipulatable through that dialog. They will also be perceived by the potential aggressor as weak because they rely too heavily on a so called diplomatic solution to disputes. Meanwhile the predatory society or societies will take whatever gain they can through the dialog and when their moment comes, lunge, and with their mighty jaws and sharp teeth rip and tear away at the vulnerabilities of their prey.
Therefore, God must manipulate the devil who influences man towards predatory behavior. The devil incarnate is Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ or Satan is any human being that uses their reasoning capabilities to serve their primitive instincts. By so doing they have opened up and turned over their mental "real estate" to the spiritual forces of darkness that bring only death. The spiritual force of evil is only able to influence the human mind through the mechanism of our primitive instincts for survival. If we lust and are preoccupied with the things and values of a world driven by such instincts then we have been deceived into a form of mental slavery that brings only hatred and death in its wake.
Jesus Christ is the answer. He is both an example of what we must be like as humans and he is the facilitator/mediator/interface whereby we can all know and experience the love/caring of God.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns you can email this ministry at thilts@help-for-you.com
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Palestinian officials say two farmers were killed and two other civilians were wounded by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip. The officials say the farmers were working in a field in the village of Abassan Monday, near the border with Israel, when the incident occurred. Also in Gaza, an Israeli military court sentenced a Palestinian man to 27 years in prison on charges that he trained with al-Qaida in Afghanistan to carry out attacks on Israelis. Israeli prosecutors said 29-year-old Nabil Okal is a member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and had traveled to Afghanistan in 1998 to learn how to make bombs for use in attacks against Israelis. Prosecutors say he did not join al-Qaida, but returned to Gaza with the intention of using his al-Qaida training to set up terrorist sleeper cells in Gaza and Israel. The defendant's lawyer said Okal denied all the charges. Nabil Okal was arrested by the Israelis in June 2000 and prosecutors were not able to tie him to any attacks that took place before his arrest.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
. End of article 1.
African heads of state and representatives from 35 countries have begun a two-day summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to strengthen the role of the African Union. The officials attended a morning ceremony to open the new headquarters of the African Union. Welcoming his guests, Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi expressed his resolve to help the African Union achieve its full potential.
But just how many of the African Union's 53 member states have confidence in the grouping itself is still not clear. Summit organizers had hoped at least 40 heads of state would be in Ethiopia for the two-day talks but only 25 leaders are attending. They include the leaders of Libya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sudan.
Addis Ababa was also the home for the Organization of African Unity for nearly 40 years. The body, which was widely viewed as powerless for its inability to bring stability to Africa and effectively promote good governance, was recently dismantled to make way for the African Union. Unlike the Organization of African Unity, the new grouping is to have the power to intervene in member states in cases of genocide and war crimes. It also advocates a peer review system for AU heads of state, to show Africa's commitment to human rights and better governance. But several African leaders have already expressed doubts about their readiness to get tough with each other over alleged wrongdoings. And analysts say most of what African Union hopes to achieve are long-term goals at best. The continent is still ravaged by 20 civil wars and rampant corruption. But South African President Thabo Mbeki says he believes the African Union represents the best hope for the continent's future. "Our peoples throughout the continent are determined that we advance in a decisive manner toward the realization of the goals of African political and economic integration and unity," President Mbeki said. "We have to do this so that we overcome the problems of poverty and underdevelopment that afflict Africa, impose misery on millions of Africans, and lead to the global marginalization of our continent and its people." African Union leaders are expected to issue a joint statement, urging the United States to work with the U.N. Security Council to bring about a peaceful resolution to the weapons standoff with Iraq. Many leaders believe a war with Iraq would raise oil prices and devastate fragile African economies. The leaders are also to discuss the wars raging inside Africa, such as those in Ivory Coast, Burundi, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. African Union leaders acknowledge that without peace on the continent, the grouping has no chance of turning its goals into reality.
. End of article 2.
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The space shuttle Columbia had been returning from a 16-day mission
when it lost contact with controllers.
End of article 4Nasa said the shuttle was about 200,000 feet up and travelling at 12,500 mph (20,000 km/h) at the time.
Initially, the shuttle's re-entry over Texas appeared to be going to
plan
However, the plume following the shuttle soon thickened, indicating
there was trouble
As pieces began to fall from Columbia, explosions of light could be
seen from the ground
Debris from Columbia soon began landing over a wide area of Texas,
including just outside Rice High School in Texas
People pay their respects at the site of fallen debris found in
Nacogdoches, Texas . .
People across the US
are mourning the astronauts US President George W Bush has vowed to continue America's space
programme, following the Columbia shuttle disaster which claimed the lives of
seven astronauts.
"America's journey into space will go on," the president said, after discussions with Nasa's chief administrator on the investigation into what went wrong.
As authorities continued to retrieve debris from the shuttle, Nasa officials said latest evidence showed a sudden surge in temperature on the shuttle's left side as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere, indicating a possible problem with the spacecraft's protective tiles. Mr Bush paid tribute to Columbia's crew, saying they "will be remembered for their achievements, their heroism and their sense of wonder". "Their 16-day mission held the promise of answering scientific problems that elude us here on Earth," he said.
Earlier, in a statement released through Nasa, the astronauts' families said that despite their deep grief "the bold exploration of space must go on." Nasa said its primary responsibility was to recover the remains of the crew and return them to their relatives. Remains of some of the astronauts have already been found. Monumental task Nasa officials said the sudden rise in temperature and strong winds caused the shuttle's automatic pilot to make the most adjustments ever for a shuttle on re-entry.
The shuttle's left wing was hit by a falling piece of insulating foam during Columbia's launch on 16 January, which might have damaged the tiles.
Nasa assistant administrator Bill Readdy told reporters on Monday that officials "will search for every shred of evidence" to identify the cause of the disaster. He renewed an appeal for members of the public to inform authorities if they find any debris from the shuttle. Search teams from about 30 agencies are involved in the hunt for pieces of the craft, which fell into woodland, back gardens and reservoirs after breaking up some 40 miles (65 kilometres) above the Earth.
Pieces landed over at least a 100 mile area of east Texas and Louisiana, from fragments to chunks of twisted metal as big as cars. Officials plan to eventually assemble the parts and reconstruct the shuttle to try to establish what happened in its final moments. But collecting the remains is a monumental task: authorities have so far identified more than 1,200 debris sites in Nacogdoches, Texas, alone. "There is no way to describe how many pieces there are and how spread over the landscape they are," said James Kroll, of the geospacial mapping centre at Stephen F Austin State University in Nacogdoches. "Ten years from now, folks are going to be walking around the woods and finding stuff," he said. 'Unique disaster' As speculation over what caused the accident continued, Nasa officials rejected accusations that agency chiefs ignored a series of safety warnings.
"Our focus is painfully clear," said Nasa Deputy Administrator Mike Kostelnik. "It's all about the people who fly and fix and maintain and design these operation vehicles," he said. "This is a unique disaster that is not comparable," he said. The disaster has raised questions about the future of the 16-nation International Space Station (ISS). However, Russia on Sunday went ahead with the launch of an unmanned cargo vessel to serve the ISS. . End of article 5.
Four of the seven crew
were on their first space mission As America mourns the loss of space shuttle Columbia, BBC News
Online looks at the careers of the crew killed in the disaster.
Among the team was the first Israeli to go to space, Ilan Ramon. Four were on their first shuttle mission.
He received a bachelor of science in electronics and computer engineering from the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1987. Ramon was married with four children.
He served as commander for the flight and was due to guide in and land the shuttle. He was married with two children.
He was selected by Nasa in 1996 and served as pilot for what was his first shuttle mission. He was married.
Prior to the flight, Anderson had more than 211 hours experience in space. He was married.
Selected by Nasa in 1996, he served as mission specialist 1 for what was his first shuttle flight. He was not married.
She served as Flight Engineer and Mission Specialist 2 on the shuttle, and had nearly 400 hours of experience in space. She was married.
. End of article 6.
Chancellor Schroeder's
economic woes are mounting German retail sales fell last year for the first time since 1997, as
recession-hit consumers reined in spending.
For 2002 as a whole, retail sales declined by 2.3%, their worst performance since records began two decades ago. Especially gloomy are month-by-month figures, which show an apparent slowing of sales during the year, contradicting the impression that Germany may be recovering from its slump of a year ago. The retail figures represent further bad news for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government, which is coming under fire for its alleged mishandling of the economy. Down again The overall German economy is still growing, but only sluggishly. Gross domestic product inched up by 0.2% in 2002, the feeblest growth in nine years. Germany flirted with recession at the end of 2001, but seemed to have recovered by the middle of last year. Now, however, there are mounting fears that it is heading towards a deeper slump. Since Germany accounts for one-third of eurozone economic output, any signs of weakness are seen as bad news for the euro. . End of article 7.
Blair is Washington's
staunchest ally on Iraq UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted there is unmistakable
evidence that Iraq is failing to co-operate with United Nations weapons
inspectors.
"Eight weeks have now passed since Saddam Hussein was given his final chance. The evidence of co-operation withheld is unmistakable," Mr Blair told British MPs, many of whom are unsure if war against Iraq can be justified. Mr Blair's comments follow the release by Downing Street at the weekend of a dossier which accuses the Iraqi regime of "deliberately hampering" the searches by weapons inspectors. The report declares that Iraqi officials "start long arguments" with their colleagues while investigations are under way to allow time for "incriminating evidence" to be hidden, and insists that car crashes are being organised to hinder inspectors if they start heading to another site. These were not issues raised by chief arms inspector Hans Blix in his recent report to the United Nations Security Council. Mr Blix said his teams had not uncovered to date the weapons of mass destruction which the US insists Baghdad possesses, although he said that co-operation needed to be improved. 'No deadline' Both Washington and London have frequently re-iterated that failure to actively assist the weapons inspectors is a breach of a tough UN resolution on Iraq adopted last year. The resolution raised the prospect of "serious consequences" should Iraq fail to comply, which many in the US administration interpret as an authorisation for military action. President George Bush has warned that Baghdad has "weeks, not months" to disarm peacefully. However, on Monday a White House spokesman dismissed as "guesswork" reports that the US and Britain have agreed on a plan to limit UN weapons inspections in Iraq to no more than six more weeks. President Bush "has not put a definitive period" of time by which the inspections must end, "so any reports to the contrary would not be based on anything substantive," said Ari Fleischer. Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is a member of the Security Council which may be asked to approve war, said on Monday he wanted inspectors to be given more time. However, he stressed that primary responsibility with ending the crisis peacefully now lay with Iraq. War plans Senior US military officials have already been outlining what they say are their plans for a military assault on Iraq. The onslaught would begin with ground attacks combined with a massive assault from the air, defence officials told the BBC.
According to officials, the first few days of any assault on Iraq would aim to blow a crater in the Iraqi leadership and military. Correspondents say while these plans may have been leaked in an attempt to scare the Iraqi leadership, this does not necessarily mean they are not true. Nonetheless, there is some scepticism even within the Pentagon that such tactics will play out in reality as they do on paper. Sparring Meanwhile, sparring over the justification for war has continued. A senior Iraqi official said he expects Washington to present falsified evidence of Iraqi wrongdoing to the Security Council on Wednesday. General Hossam Mohammed Amin - responsible for liaising with UN weapons inspectors - told the BBC that the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, would unveil "fabricated space photos or aerial photos". He said Mr Powell's testimony - which US officials and commentators have hinted is dramatically damning - was part of a "political game". . End of article 8.
 Following the loss of the US space shuttle, Columbia, with seven
astronauts on board, what is the future for space travel?
The families of the astronauts killed in the accident have said space exploration must continue. Columbia broke up soon after re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The family of astronaut Laurel Clark said she had sent them e-mails on Friday speaking of her love of space. "She was proud to be representing her country and dealing with advanced scientific projects from all over the world," her aunt Betty Havilan told local television in Wisconsin.
In an address to the nation President Bush said the space programme will go on. Is he right to say that mankind's urge to explore and longing to understand mean that space exploration should continue? Or are the dangers simply too great - and the costs too high to justify such flights? Should this be the last space mission?
The
ultimate goal of the human species is self preservation. It is a fact that the
earth will become uninhabitable for us someday. Space exploration is the
activity of a responsible society, whose interest lies in ALL of us. Therefore
our ultimate fate as a species lies in the hands of their research. This is
not a time for arguments, we can learn from our mistakes, and go ahead. We need
to explore more than space.
S. Ahmed, UK People
don't realise how many of today's great inventions started as something to be
developed for the space programme. We may as well give up on everything as
everything has an element of risk if we follow the same logic. We're worried
about earth overcrowding when there's so many moons and planets to explore and
colonise. Should we stop? No! I am just
as curious as anyone else to learn that there is life on other planets, and
that we are not truly alone in this universe, however; I think that the sheer
cost of space exploration and the fact that we haven't exactly got our rocket
science down pat, as demonstrated recently, is a strong indication that we need
to put our needs to discover on hold for the time being. We obviously have
enough problems on the ground that we need to address.
Tristan Ankerstar, USA If we
don't get out into space, we may still become extinct. As Tsiolkovsky said,
"Earth is the cradle of Mankind, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever."
The
astronauts spent years training to know the risks. It is a horrific tragedy,
but to cancel the space programme would be wrongly focusing on this, one (of
only a few) failures rather than the many amazing successes and scientific
progresses Nasa has made. I believe that the astronauts who died would
certainly not want that to happen. I sympathise with the family, friends and colleagues of the Columbia astronauts, however stopping the endeavour for which they willingly gave their lives would not be the epitaph they would have wanted. Yes manned spaceflight is dangerous and will be for some considerable time, however it is only by doing and experimenting and learning from our mistakes that we improve. We cannot
predict the long term benefits of manned spaceflight, that doesn't mean we
shouldn't do it. If we really wish to honour the memories of those 7 men and
women there is only one road to travel: we must go onwards. Now is the time for
greater investment to prove that their sacrifice was not in vain. Space
travel should definitely continue, there are vast amounts of knowledge and
resources just waiting to be found! But this continued exploration should be
built upon a continued improvement of the hardware, not some 1980's technology.
There has to be a complete review of the organization if space research were to
progress. As has been said many times above, space exploration is just as dangerous today as was the early exploration of the oceans tall ships and little navigational technology. Space exploration must continue but I think the time has come for a world space organisation with participating nations contributing towards the cost. The
current situation with disparate agencies ploughing separate furrows is a waste
of resources with duplicated expenses and research and little shared
experience. I know it will not happen overnight, and may not happen for many
years, but we all also know it is inevitable one day. Why not now? This is
another terrible tragedy but it should not stop us from striving to better
ourselves and to understand more of the universe than the tiny speck upon which
we live. Nasa should be bold in dealing with this and retire the remaining
shuttles. The money spent on maintaining technology which is thirty years old
would be better spent developing the next generation of space vehicles which
could only build upon the proud pioneering spirit of the shuttles. Isn't
there enough to do on earth let alone looking to going into space? There is so
much suffering on earth and man is so selfish wanting to fulfil his own
ambitions.
One day I
hope to go into space, and see the world as a great blue marble. I know deep
down this will never happen in my lifetime, but for the Columbia Crew, they
lived the life that my dreams are made of. God bless them all. On the
same day that the Columbia broke up, seven skiers died in an avalanche in
Canada. Does that mean that skiing should be banned? If anything should be
banned, it should be war. I would say that it's time to retire the shuttles. I've heard there have been plans for years for a space plane, which is much cheaper to operate. Maybe it's
time to look into that, since the shuttles themselves have been sending Nasa
warning signs that they are ready for the museum. How many missions have been
cancelled in the last 3 or 4 years due to mechanical, structural, and
technological problems with the shuttle? Nasa receives only a paltry $14.5bn a year. This should be compared with the nearly $350bn per year the Defense Department receives. Considering the scientific importance of space travel, it would seem that our priorities are just a bit mixed up. It is high
time that space travel and exploration took a higher place on the list of
American priorities. Rather than spending all of our time ruining the world for
future generations, as we are now doing, America, as the most powerful nation
on earth, should lead the way to a better, safer, and more enlightened future.
The future for space exploration should be bright. I believe it needs to be. What will come out over the next few days may well obscure the fact that the US Governments have over the years been paring Nasa's budgets back to the point where safety, always the main criterion, was beginning to be eroded.
Richard Blake-Reed, Bath, UK I strongly feel that we just aren't ready for space exploration. Rocket technology, however advanced by earth standards are primitive as far as space is concerned. Sitting on top of a small nuclear bomb is not my idea of exploring the unknown. Until we acquire radically new propulsion know-how and new space worthy materials we must concentrate on unmanned missions and work on A1 software/smart machines/image recognition/robotics etc which will minimise the need for humans. As things
stand now, space flight is equivalent to crossing the Atlantic on a
log....possible but certainly not practical. We just aren't ready yet !! D. Sanjit,
India is spot on. What additional benefit does manned space travel provide over
unmanned exploration? None. I can only think that prestige is at stake. Why do
they waste billions on space research when half of the world go without food.
More of this wasted money should be allocated to dealing with world poverty.
Aliens do not exist when will they realise this? If they did exist they would
have found them many years ago. The loss
of the Columbia and its crew was tragic. Yet it is certain that the exploration
of space will continue as well as the Nasa program. With so much success in the
past we seem to take these mission as being routine, they are anything but.
Hopefully we will also look at the colonisation of the seas and explore our
inner space as well. We need space research. We always try to be hard-nosed, looking at the economic value of space research. It is true that today's computer systems, aero-engineering and, yes, Velcro and frying pans owe a lot to the space programme.
Craig Livingstone, UK The loss of the space shuttle and death of seven crew members is a tragedy. On the other hand every single day thousands of people get killed or are going to be killed, especially in the perspective of the war against Iraq led by the US. When there
is a plane crash, dozens of people are gone, nevertheless such accidents do not
stop us flying. We are only pioneers in the space and every mission is as
dangerous as it was dangerous and dared to sail across the oceans in earlier
times. Space travel has been happening for 40 years, but even so our knowledge and understanding of both it and the Universe is still woefully small. It is tragic that lives are lost, but the exploration and eventual colonisation of space are so incredibly important to the future of mankind that the programme must continue, with more vigour not less. Hundreds
of years ago many lives were lost as ships departed overseas on voyages of
discovery. If these pioneers had abandoned their efforts then our development
as a species today would be significantly less. Although
the loss of the Columbia is an extremely sad event, and all my sympathies go to
all the families involved, the casualties involved may go some way to
demonstrating the futility of space travel. We spend billions each year on
un-illuminating travel into space while millions of others on our own planet
starve to death. Curiosity and exploration may help make us human, but
compassion defines our very humanity. If humans
stopped pursuing endeavours after each setback, we would still be living in the
stone age. Space travel is not more dangerous than flying by airplane at the
dawn of avionics. Space technology hasn't matured enough yet, and unfortunately
there is human cost involved while refining it. But space exploration should
and will continue for the good of mankind. Although the loss of Columbia was shocking and terribly sad, it is important to remember that this crew of seven brave explorers and brilliant scientists died doing precisely what they loved doing - literally loved doing more than anything on Earth. Let's also remember that they knew very keenly the great risks they were undertaking, just as many explorers from Europe knew the risks when trying to reach the Americas.
Space
flight brings innumerable tangible and intangible benefits to the entire human
race. I offer this: let's never forget the Columbia's admirable crew, but let's
keep striving assiduously for the stars, in their names and memories. We lost
our first Israeli astronaut but our children will continue his mission. Accessing
space is the ultimate human challenge. But it's catastrophically expensive,
which is why the unique and extraordinarily Space Shuttle won't be replaced
even in the next 20 years. No-one can politically justify the money at the
moment. But there are huge - if not immediately apparent to the man in the
street - benefits to space exploration, which is why it will and must go on.
The loss
of the Columbia and its crew is no less of a tragedy than the loss of the
Challenger. I don't, however, think that this should spell the end of space
exploration since I am sure all aboard were aware of the risks and chose to
take them. The fact that in this incident the mission ended in disaster should
not end our space research, just as the tragedy of a train crash does not spell
the end of travel by rail. Exploration is part and parcel of who we are. Explorers are our heroes
and they have changed the world. The space programme is important for so many
reasons. However we should develop better space-faring technology. The space
shuttle has been described as a "flying brick". Surely it's time for the next
generation of craft? A sense of
curiosity and a compulsion to explore are what makes us human. Without these
traits we would still be living in caves or - more likely - we would have
become extinct long ago. . End of article 9.
Geographic spread in
the 30 minutes after release The Slammer worm that recently crippled the internet was the fastest
spreading computer bug in history, say security experts.
An analysis of the attack has shown that the worm took just 10 minutes to spread across the world. At its peak on 25 January, the malicious code caused scattered slowdowns in net traffic and effectively shut down the internet in South Korea, the world's most wired country. The experts said the attack marked a "significant milestone in the evolution of computer worms," warning that these sorts of bugs "should be considered a standard tool in the arsenal of an attacker". Fast-moving The analysis published by the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) provides an insight into how fast the Slammer worm, also called Sapphire, spread across the internet. The malicious code first appeared on the net around 0530 GMT on Saturday 25 January.
As it began spreading, it doubled in size every 8.5 seconds. Within 10 minutes it had infected more than 90% of vulnerable hosts, said the experts. At its peak, achieved approximately three minutes after it was released, Slammer was carrying out 55 million scans per second across the internet. Fortunately the bug did not contain a malicious payload - a set of computer commands designed to harm a machine. Instead once the worm infected a server, it would send out multiple data requests in a random manner to other internet addresses, looking for more computers to infect. Aggressive scanning Slammer infected at least 75,000 hosts, perhaps considerably more said the experts, and caused network outages and such unforeseen consequences as cancelled airline flights and problems with cash machines.
The speed of infection was part of the reason why the bug had such a major impact in such a short time. This was because Slammer contained a simple, fast scanner to find vulnerable machines in a small worm with a total size of only 376 bytes. By using an internet protocol called UDP, it was able to aggressively send these scans without requiring an answer from the potential victim. "Though very simple, Sapphire represents a significant milestone in the evolution of computer worms," said the report. "Although it did not contain a destructive payload, Sapphire spread worldwide in roughly 10 minutes causing significant disruption of financial, transportation, and government institutions. "It clearly demonstrates that fast worms are not just a theoretical threat, but a reality - one that should be considered a standard tool in the arsenal of an attacker," said the experts. The report was put together by David Moore and Stefan Savage of the University of San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Vern Paxson of the ICSI Center for Internet Research in California, Colleen Shannon of CAIDA, and Stuart Staniford and Nicholas Weaver of computer security firm Silicon Defense. . End of article 10.
US troops in Kuwait are
being joined by UK forces Tony Blair has told MPs "we are entering the final phase of a 12-year
history of the disarmament of Iraq".
The UK prime minister said that a second UN resolution should be passed unless Iraq cooperates fully with the weapons inspectors. "I continue to believe the UN is the right way to proceed," he said. He and US President George Bush had agreed on this "provided, as ever, that seeking such a resolution is a way of resolving the issue not delaying or avoiding dealing with it at all".
But the prime minister warned that there was no way the US and Britain would back down over Iraq disarming. "Show weakness now and no one will ever believe us when we try to show strength in the future," he said. Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith told MPs: "If the international community backs away from dealing with Saddam Hussein now, this will be seen as a green light for every rogue state and terrorist group around the world." Saddam confident But the prime minister knows that he has a battle on his hands not just to convince the British public of his case for war but in order to win over many of his own backbenchers. Within hours of Mr Blair's statement a group of actors from the National Theatre including Ralph Fiennes and Corin Redgrave mounted a demonstration against war with Iraq on the south bank of the River Thames. In the Commons there was particular concern at the thought of military action without a fresh UN resolution.
A US dossier claiming to expose Iraq's deliberate weapons concealment has bolstered Mr Blair's suggestion that he can win over sceptics. And Downing Street has published its own report detailing ways, the government claims, that Iraq has been deliberately obstructing the weapons inspectors. Among its main points are:
However, Saddam Hussein is said to be optimistic about avoiding war, according to former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn who travelled to Iraq to interview the president. Meanwhile, front-line British soldiers have started to arrive in Kuwait bringing their number to more than 1,000 with the build-up continuing later this week. United Nations? Following the talks with Mr Blair, the US president warned that he would not tolerate delay on acting against Iraq. The UK prime minister's strategy has been to maintain that the US president is willing to work through the UN. But support for action is by no means guaranteed. Among the European nations concern has been voiced about military action against Iraq most notably by France and Germany. Mr Blair has briefed French President Jacques Chirac on his talks with Mr Bush, in advance of Tuesday's Anglo-French summit in Le Touquet. Clock ticking France's support is vital as it has a veto in the UN security council and could break a resolution against Iraq. Chief UN weapons and nuclear inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei are to return to Baghdad for talks. Meanwhile the British troops arriving in Kuwait, alongside the growing US military presence in the region, have included combat soldiers from 3 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines. Military officials are not saying how many of them have arrived so far, but they are saying that a further 200 or so will fly in on Monday and a full commando unit of several hundred will be in place within the next few days. The government will also announce the deployment of RAF personnel to the Gulf later in the week. It is believed another 60 aircraft will join the 21 already in the region. . End of article 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is not
a time for arguments, we can learn from our mistakes and go ahead
Missiles will aim
to eliminate Iraqi power structures
Technicians
raced to repair infected systems
Tony Blair insists
George Bush is willing to go through the UN