QUES: Washington The Iraqi government has agreed to let U.S. Rep. Tony Hall visit the country next week to assess a humanitarian crisis that has festered since the Gulf War of 1990, Hall's office said Monday. The Dayton Democrat, who has traveled to other crisis points including Sierra Leone and North Korea, will spend three days visiting hospitals and other facilities to seek understanding why aid has been ineffective in stemming malnourishment and other medical problems. Iraq has been under economic sanctions since the war ended, which some say have thwarted the country's ability to recover from the devastation of the bombing campaign. The Persian Gulf War destroyed much of the country's medical infrastructure, according to a report by the World Health Organization. In 1996 the WHO found that much of the population existed in a state of ''semi-starvation.'' Hall will be only the second member of Congress to travel in Iraq since the war, according to Hall's office. The last visitor was then-U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who went to help a pair of U.S. oilmen in diplomatic trouble. Hall flies to Amman, Jordan, on Friday, where he'll spend the night before driving to Iraq. Flights are not permitted into Iraq. Hall is to return to Washington on April 22. Story Filed By Cox Newspapers
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MY QUESTION: Why is Hall flying to Amman?

QUES: Washington The Iraqi government has agreed to let U.S. Rep. Tony Hall visit the country next week to assess a humanitarian crisis that has festered since the Gulf War of 1990, Hall's office said Monday. The Dayton Democrat, who has traveled to other crisis points including Sierra Leone and North Korea, will spend three days visiting hospitals and other facilities to seek understanding why aid has been ineffective in stemming malnourishment and other medical problems. Iraq has been under economic sanctions since the war ended, which some say have thwarted the country's ability to recover from the devastation of the bombing campaign. The Persian Gulf War destroyed much of the country's medical infrastructure, according to a report by the World Health Organization. In 1996 the WHO found that much of the population existed in a state of ''semi-starvation.'' Hall will be only the second member of Congress to travel in Iraq since the war, according to Hall's office. The last visitor was then-U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who went to help a pair of U.S. oilmen in diplomatic trouble. Hall flies to Amman, Jordan, on Friday, where he'll spend the night before driving to Iraq. Flights are not permitted into Iraq. Hall is to return to Washington on April 22. Story Filed By Cox Newspapers
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Why is the population in a state of semi-starvation?.

QUES: In March 2001, Rice asked the CIA to prepare a new series of authorities for covert action in Afghanistan. Rice's recollection was that the idea had come from Clarke and the NSC senior director for intelligence, Mary McCarthy, and had been linked to the proposal for aid to the Northern Alliance and the Uzbeks. Rice described the draft document as providing for "consolidation plus," superseding the various Clinton administration documents. In fact, the CIA drafted two documents. One was a finding that did concern aid to opponents of the Taliban regime; the other was a draft Memorandum of Notification, which included more open-ended language authorizing possible lethal action in a variety of situations. Tenet delivered both to Hadley on March 28. The CIA's notes for Tenet advised him that "in response to the NSC request for drafts that will help the policymakers review their options, each of the documents has been crafted to provide the Agency with the broadest possible discretion permissible under the law." At the meeting, Tenet argued for deciding on a policy before deciding on the legal authorities to implement it. Hadley accepted this argument, and the draft MON was put on hold. As the policy review moved forward, the planned covert action program for Afghanistan was included in the draft presidential directive, as part of an "Annex A" on intelligence activities to "eliminate the al Qaeda threat." The main debate during the summer of 2001 concentrated on the one new mechanism for a lethal attack on Bin Laden-an armed version of the Predator drone. In the first months of the new administration, questions concerning the Predator became more and more a central focus of dispute. Clarke favored resuming Predator flights over Afghanistan as soon as weather permitted, hoping that they still might provide the elusive "actionable intelligence" to target Bin Laden with cruise missiles. Learning that the Air Force was thinking of equipping Predators with warheads, Clarke became even more enthusiastic about redeployment. The CTC chief, Cofer Black, argued against deploying the Predator for reconnaissance purposes. He recalled that theTaliban had spotted a Predator in the fall of 2000 and scrambled their MiG fighters. Black wanted to wait until the armed version was ready. "I do not believe the possible recon value outweighs the risk of possible program termination when the stakes are raised by the Taliban parading a charred Predator in front of CNN," he wrote.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Why did Cofer Black, argue against deploying the Predator for reconnaissance purposes?

QUES: Charlie Y. Reader is a 35-year-old theatrical agent in New York , living a seemingly idyllic life as a bachelor . Numerous women ( among them Poppy , Helen , and Jessica come and go , cleaning and cooking for him . Charlie 's best friend since kindergarten , Joe McCall , who has a wife named Ethel and children in Indianapolis , comes to New York for a stay at Charlie 's apartment , claiming that the excitement is gone from his 11-year marriage and that he wants to leave his wife . Joe envies and is amazed by Charlie 's parade of girlfriends , while Charlie professes admiration for Joe 's married life and family . At an audition , Charlie meets singer-actress Julie Gillis . She has her life planned to a tight schedule , determined to marry and retire from performing to a life of child-rearing by 22 . Although at first she wards off Charlie 's advances , she comes to see him as the ideal man for her plans . Julie demands that Charlie stop seeing other women . Charlie balks , but he begins to fall in love with her . Joe starts keeping company with Sylvia Crewes , a sophisticated classical musician and a typically neglected lover of Charlie 's . Sylvia is approaching 33 and desires marriage as much as the younger Julie does . One day , annoyed by Julie and possibly jealous of Joe 's attentions , Charlie blurts out a proposal of marriage to Sylvia . She is thrilled , only to discover the morning after their engagement party that he has proposed to Julie as well . Joe confesses his love to Sylvia and asks her to marry him .
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Why does Joe start seeing Sylvia?