Independent: "'I thought the Americans said they wanted a democracy in Iraq,' said Kassem al-Sa'adi, a 41-year-old merchant. 'If it is a democracy, why are they allowed to make the rules?'"

Arab News on jokes in Egypt: "Bush and Blair are giving a press conference. 'Right,' Bush says, 'we’re going to kill two million Iraqis and one construction worker.' Question from the press: 'Why do you want to kill a construction worker?' Bush leans over to Blair and whispers: 'Told you nobody gives a damn about the two million Iraqis.'"

Guardian: "Washington's battle to win public support in the Arab world has begun in earnest with the first broadcasts of what officials say will become a 24-hour satellite television network aimed at changing minds throughout the region by American-style morning chat-shows, sports, news and children's programmes."

Counterpunch: "If the September 11 suicide hijackers hated us for our freedoms, today there is less to hate."

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity: "The Bush administration's refusal to allow UN inspectors to join the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in US-occupied Iraq has elicited high interest in foreign news media. The most widely accepted interpretation is that the US is well aware that evidence regarding the existence and location of such weapons is 'shaky' (the adjective now favored by UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix), and that the last thing the Pentagon wants is to have Blix' inspectors looking over the shoulders of US forces as they continue their daunting quest."

Edward Said: "What a travesty of strategic planning when you assume that 'natives' will welcome your presence after you've bombed and quarantined them for thirteen years."