<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Greetings –<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Remember back during the presidential debates when the CIA
warned of best case/worst case scenarios? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Remember when the CIA stated that the worst case scenario
concerned US involvements in an Iraqi civil war? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Remember when Bush said that they were poorly exaggerating?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Well . . . now the man that Bush appointed as interim prime minister
of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>
is giving the same warning, only this time the potential is getting greater.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>This in from today’s (December 21, 2004) Spokesman
Review.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Allawi warns of civil war <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Shiites bury dead after bombings kill 67<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Dusan Stojanovic<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Associated Press<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>December 21, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq's interim prime minister warned
Monday that insurgents are trying to foment sectarian civil war as well as
derail elections, while thousands of mourners turned out for funerals in the
Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala a day after car bombs killed 67 people.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the mainly Sunni Muslim
insurgents, blamed for Sunday's bloody attacks, want to "create ethnic and
religious tensions, problems and conflicts … to destroy the unity of this
country."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"These attacks are designed to stop the political
process from taking place in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>,"
Allawi told reporters. He added that his administration would not be deterred
despite expecting more strikes before key Jan. 30 parliamentary elections
– the first free vote in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>
since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Although members of his Cabinet have made similar warnings
about the danger of a civil war, Allawi himself had regularly played down that
possibility.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Political and religious leaders of the Shiite community also
have discounted the threat of an armed conflict with Sunnis, instructing their
followers not to react violently to attacks. These included a bombing in August
2003 that killed Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, leader of the main Shiite
party – the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In a new attack in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Karbala</st1:place></st1:City>
on Monday, a bomb exploded at a police checkpoint, damaging nearby buildings
but inflicting no casualties. Police said they arrested the attacker. In Najaf,
police said they defused a bomb stashed in a car.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Shiite Muslims, who make up around 60 percent of <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region>'s people, have been strong supporters of
the electoral process, which they expect to reverse the longtime domination of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s Sunni
minority. The insurgency is believed to draw most of its support from Sunnis,
who provided much of Saddam Hussein's former Baath Party leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Shiite officials and clerics blamed Sunnis for Sunday's
bombings, which caused the worst carnage in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> since July. The strikes
appeared designed to cause heavy casualties, and provoke reprisals by Shiites
against Sunnis.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The bombings – aimed at a funeral procession in Najaf
and a packed bus station in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Karbala</st1:place></st1:City>
– again highlighted the capability of the guerrillas to strike. Their
attacks have undermined confidence in repeated claims by <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> military
commanders that the capture of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah last month
dealt a serious blow to the insurgency.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The head of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region>'s
electoral commission appealed to security forces to protect his officials after
three were shot to death in a daylight attack Sunday by dozens of guerrillas in
the heart of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>.
The ambush was the latest attack to target Iraqi officials working to organize
the vote.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"We send an appeal to the Iraqi government and all the
people to protect our employees," Abdul Hussein Al-Hindawi said. "We
have no real protection because we work everywhere in the country and have more
than 6,000 employees."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State>,
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly condemned Sunday's violence and
called on Iraqis "to come together in a spirit of national
reconciliation," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"No cause can justify the killings of innocent
civilians and the cold-blooded murder of election workers," Eckhard said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Allawi said Monday that a big factor in the strength of the
insurgency was the dismantling of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s security forces after the
U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam's regime.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"What is happening is that we are facing an enemy
heavily supported even in some cases with superior weapons," he said.
"We will have setbacks, we are having setbacks, but we are determined to
continue the fight."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Police and troops were nowhere to be seen Sunday while the
gunmen conducted spot checks of cars and their occupants on <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address
w:st="on">Haifa Street</st1:address></st1:Street>, the capital's main
thoroughfare. It was only after the insurgents had fled after the slayings of
the election workers that U.S. Apache helicopters appeared over the scene.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>There have been fears the intimidation campaign aimed at
electoral workers will not only hurt preparations for the ballot, but also
could reduce voter turnout enough to bring the legitimacy of the election into
question.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:country-region w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Iran</span></font></st1:country-region><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>'s supreme
leader on Monday called the planned elections a sham, saying they were designed
to help the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>
keep control of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
oil wealth.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>