Watch on the Rhine

2003-04-09T16:15:00.000-04:00

The caption to this one in the FAZ says "Somalia, with the imagery reversed".

2003-04-09T13:11:00.000-04:00

Der Spiegel: "Baghdad has Fallen"

Spiegel takes its headline from a Reuters correspondent, Khaled Yacoub Oweis, whom it quotes at the bottom of five long paragraphs.

2003-04-09T00:41:00.000-04:00

Der Spiegel lines up its war stories as a neat clickable lineup of heads and subheads. Here's the lineup:

"Saddam was not in the bombed building" -- British Secret Service

US Fighter Plane Down: Pilots Missing

Frustrated Allies: the five lives of "Chemical Ali"

Post-war Iraq: Counter-summit in Russia

US Grenades hit Journalist Hotel: Bloodbath on the 15th floor

Bush and Blair in Belfast: Iraq to the Iraqis

Suspicion of Murder: Nuremberg Prosecutor investigates Saddam

Arabic Press Review: "Sunrise in Iraq"

Iraq War: Overview of all Reports

Video: Slaughter around Baghdad

2003-04-08T22:54:00.000-04:00

Ah! Welcome to my blog. It exists as a vehicle for me to provide some near-time translation of stuff in the German press. The piece below is one such. I had wanted to start with one about a movement to replace English borrowed words with French ones ("d'accord" instead of "OK"), but then some chimp at the Command Post beat me to it.

Also, I need to establish some blog cred so I can join the CP.

2003-04-08T22:44:00.000-04:00

http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/0,2828,243709,00.html

Manager Magazin’s online piece dated 7 April 2003

Interview

“My Bunkers Don’t Shoot”

by Clemens von Frentz

The bunker under the Presidential Palace of Saddam Hussein is the work of German engineers. Karl Bernd Esser of Munich, who participated in its construction, tells manager-magazin.de why the installation is practically indestructable.

[me] They don’t get any more specific on which pres. pal. they’re talking about. [/me]

[me] I’m leaving out some general paragraphs. You’ll have to trust that I’m leaving the tone intact. [/me]

mm.de: How much room does the bunker provide?

Esser: From the beginning this bunker had a special function, namely the safeguarding of the Iraqi government together with its staff. For our planning purposes, that was taken to mean 50 to 80 people plus staff.

mm.de: How long can the inhabitants of the bunker hold out without help from the outside?

Esser: The bunker has its own spring, which is located a bit outside it. Additionally, there's a huge water tank, an NBC-protection unit and food caches. The stored provisions are theoretically sufficient for a stay of three months. That’s actually all standard and follows the usual guidelines. In that respect it is similar in construction to President Bush’s bunker.

mm.de: There are rumors of various escape tunnels, among them one 200 meters long to the bank of the Tigris. Do these really exist?

Esser: Escape tunnel isn’t quite the right concept. We’re talking more about emergency exits for the event that the two other entrances are blocked by rubble.

mm.de: How exactly should we envision these tunnels, then?

Esser: They are long hallways that lead away from the bunker. At the end of the tunnel comes a vertical shaft going up. About one meter underground is a trap door, which was delivered by ThyssenKrupp. On top of the trap door is roofing paper, which has been covered in dirt. So the exit is not visible from the outside. If you want to leave the bunker this way you open the trap door downward, then cut through the roofing paper. The dirt above it will fall down and your exit is clear.

[me] more snips [/me]

mm.de: Even in the current war no bomb has apparently been able to harm the bunker. Can you tell us something about its main construction features?

Esser: [me] to be continued. Esser goes on to describe a roof of 10' thick steel-reinforced concrete, interior walls creating survival chambers, and claims that the bunker could withstand a direct hit from an atomic bomb. [/me]