Bill Sykes' Newsletter from America.
(Special Edition - Mid February 2003)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
The Space Shuttle Disaster:
 You
will notice that I have not made any reference to the
terrible disaster experienced by the Space Shuttle Columbia.
Having worked on the Space Shuttle design project in the
early 1970s, I have always felt that the very brittle
silica tile heat shield was always susceptible to damage
and the loss of several tiles during the extremely hot
3000^F environment of the re-entry phase, when descending
from orbit for landing, could be catastrophic. So, knowing
the intense scrutiny that this tragic accident will receive
I will reserve my judgment until the disaster team have
announced their findings. I of course commiserate with
the grieving families of the astronauts that perished
during their return flight from the International space
Station.
Late breaking news.
 New
York: (14th of February 2003). Chief Weapons Inspector
Dr. Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei head of the International
Atomic Energy Agency made their report to the United Nations,
as to whether in their teams opinion Iraq has complied
with United Nations resolution 1441, with respect to the
complete and unqualified destruction of all chemical,
biological, and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
First indications are that the weapons inspections teams
have not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Initial observations: The French Foreign Minister, Dominique
de Villepin, made an impassioned speech stating that the
use of force is not justified at this time and suggesting
that more weapons inspectors and more time is necessary.
This was fully supported by speeches of similar content
made by the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China.
The speech, given by the French Foreign Minister was received
applause from a large number of the members of the United
Nations Security Council.
It would appear that most of the Nations of European do
not support a war with Iraq at this time.
Unfortunately it will take me a little more time to fully
absorb the information, which I expect to be made available
in full in the next few days, so I don’t wish to
comment at this time and will reserve all opinions and
judgment until then.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents
of these newsletters. Please send all correspondence to
bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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