"Bush, Sharon lurching from crisis to crisis"

by Haroon Siddiqui

Events in Iraq and the Israeli-occupied territories show how George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon continue to create one nightmare after another. Whereas recent headlines have been about two events — an Israeli tank firing on a Palestinian protest march, and American jets bombing what was said to be an Iraqi wedding — there's been no shortage of horrors. www.thestar.com

Memos Reveal War Crimes Warnings
Could Bush administration officials be prosecuted for 'war crimes' as a result of new measures used in the war on terror? The White House's top lawyer thought so

The White House's top lawyer warned more than two years ago that U.S. officials could be prosecuted for "war crimes" as a result of new and unorthodox measures used by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism, according to an internal White House memo and interviews with participants in the debate over the issue.

The concern about possible future prosecution for war crimes—and that it might even apply to Bush adminstration officials themselves— is contained in a crucial portion of an internal January 25, 2002, memo by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales obtained by NEWSWEEK. It urges President George Bush declare the war in Afghanistan, including the detention of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters, exempt from the provisions of the Geneva Convention. www.msnbc.msn.com

Tension rises as bulldozers tear down zoo in Rafah
By Donald Macintyre in Rafah

With a parrot that had escaped the Israelis perched on his shoulder, and a kangaroo crouching in the corner of the room, Mohammed Juma contemplated the little that was left of the zoo he had spent five years creating. "This was my life," he declared. "I watched my dream being destroyed." news.independent.co.uk