Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.02.2005, Page 1

IC
E
LA
N
D
S
U
P
P
O
R
T
S
W
A
R
IN
IR
A
Q
“16%
is a
lo
t, co
n
sid
erin
g w
e
a
re a
sm
a
ll co
u
n
try” exp
la
in
s
P
rim
e M
in
ister Á
sgrím
sso
n
In
a foreign
affairs m
ove so bold
an
d
d
ecisive
it got th
e atten
tion
of th
e en
tire n
ation
, form
er
Foreign
M
in
ister (an
d
cu
rren
t P
rim
e M
in
ister)
H
alld
ór Á
sgrím
sson
in
gen
iou
sly stream
lin
ed

th
e foreign
relation
s p
rocess by elim
in
atin
g
th
e ted
iou
s an
d
often
u
n
satisfactory step
of
p
u
ttin
g d
ecision
s before p
arliam
en
t first. In

ad
d
ition
, th
is m
ove h
as sh
ow
n
great foresigh
t:
a fu
ll 16%
of th
e cou
n
try n
ow
back
s th
e d
eci -
sion
to go to w
ar w
ith
Iraq, an
d
it on
ly took

20 m
on
th
s to con
vin
ce th
em
. T
h
is w
ell-sp
rin
g
of su
p
p
ort in
su
ch
a sh
ort tim
e h
as been
very
en
cou
ragin
g for th
e ru
lin
g p
arty. “You
can’t
say w
e d
on’t listen
to th
e voice of th
e m
in
ority
an
ym
ore, can
you
?” said
Á
sgrím
sson
.
A
tlan
tic A
llian
ce stren
gth
en
ed
T
h
e A
tlan
tic A
llian
ce betw
een
Á
sgrím
sson
is
rem
in
iscen
t of th
e on
e betw
een
W
orld
W
ar
T
w
o lead
ers C
h
u
rch
ill an
d
R
oosevelt. T
h
en
,
th
e aw
k
w
ard
th
ird
w
h
eel w
as an
in
fam
ou
s
com
m
u
n
ist k
n
ow
n
as U
n
cle Joe. T
h
is tim
e,
som
e gu
y n
am
ed
Ton
y is con
stan
tly tryin
g to
m
ak
e h
im
self a p
art of th
e in
tim
ate allian
ce
betw
een
th
e tw
o lead
ers graces. Á
sgrím
sson

says th
at th
e p
lan
n
ed
N
orth
A
tlan
tic m
eetin
g,
w
h
en
h
e w
ill sail ou
t in
th
e n
aval vessel T
ýr to
m
eet th
e p
resid
en
t on
board
th
e U
S
S
N
im
itz,
w
ill tak
e p
lace an
y d
ay n
ow
.
To fu
rth
er stren
gth
en
th
e A
tlan
tic A
llian
ce,
th
e P
rim
e M
in
ister h
as h
an
d
ed
P
resid
en
t B
u
sh

a w
ritten
statem
en
t p
rom
isin
g fu
ll Icelan
d
ic
su
p
p
ort for th
e in
vasion
of a cou
n
try of h
is
ch
oice, th
e blan
k
sp
ace to be filled
ou
t at th
e
P
resid
en
t’s d
iscretion
.
K
h
atam
i-Á
sgrím
sson
su
m
m
it m
eetin
g in

Sw
itzerlan
d
P
resid
en
t K
h
atam
i of Iran
, u
p
on
h
earin
g th
at
Icelan
d
w
ou
ld
back
a p
oten
tial in
vasion
of
Iran
, im
m
ed
iately requ
ested
an
au
d
ien
ce w
ith

Icelan
d
ic P
rim
e M
in
ister H
alld
ór Á
sgrím
sson
.
A
su
m
m
it m
eetin
g is to be h
eld
in
S
w
itzerlan
d

th
is m
on
th
. “O
u
r fate is in
you
r h
an
d
s,” h
e said

to
Icelan
d
ic
rep
orters
before
bord
erin
g
th
e
p
lan
e to G
en
eva.
K
im
Il Jong C
ongratulates Iceland
K
im
Il Jon
g, th
e “D
ear L
ead
er” of N
orth
K
orea, told
a grou
p
of rep
orters at a statu
e u
n
veilin
g in

h
is h
on
ou
r, “I also w
an
t to tak
e th
is op
p
ortu
n
ity to con
gratu
late th
e P
rim
e M
in
ister of Icelan
d
for
d
em
ostratin
g w
h
at tru
e lead
ersh
ip
is. A
tru
e lead
er w
ill d
em
on
strate th
at h
e can
m
ak
e d
ecision
s
by h
im
self. A
tru
e lead
er also k
n
ow
s w
h
at is best for h
is cou
n
try - in
fact, h
e k
n
ow
s th
e p
eop
le
better th
an
th
ey k
n
ow
th
em
selves, as m
y fath
er u
sed
to say.”
Protest C
ancelled
D
ue to Lunch
R
E
Y
K
JA
V
ÍK
, FR
ID
A
Y
, FE
B
R
U
A
R
Y
11, 2005
Y
O
U
R
FR
E
E
C
O
P
Y
V
O
L. III . . N
o
. 2
“A
ll th
e N
ew
s
T
h
at Fits on th
e P
age”
A
grou
p
of p
rotestors w
h
o h
ad
p
lan
n
ed
on
as-
sem
blin
g in
fron
t of p
arliam
en
t to voice op
p
o
-
sition
to Icelan
d
’s su
p
p
ort of th
e w
ar in
Iraq
d
iscovered
at 11:30 th
is m
orn
in
g th
at it w
as
11:30 in
th
e m
orn
in
g. “L
ack
in
g an
y reason
able
am
ou
n
t of tim
e to p
rep
are before n
oon
,” said

on
e w
ou
ld
-be p
rotestor, “w
e h
ad
n
o ch
oice bu
t
to p
ostp
on
e th
e d
em
on
stration
an
d
go to R
u
by
T
u
esd
ay’s.” T
h
e grou
p
is still sortin
g ou
t th
eir
sch
ed
u
les for th
e rest of th
e w
eek
am
on
gst
th
em
selves, bu
t th
ey seem
op
tim
istic abou
t
d
em
on
stratin
g som
etim
e n
ext T
h
u
rsd
ay, p
ro
-
vid
ed
th
at w
eath
er forecasts rem
ain
favou
r -
able.
T
h
e Icelan
d
ic p
arliam
en
t h
as recen
tly p
assed

a law
w
h
ich
states th
at th
ey w
ill n
ow
start
receivin
g th
eir p
en
sion
s on
th
e d
ay th
ey get
elected
to p
arliam
en
t. T
h
is w
ill be in
ad
d
ition

to th
eir regu
lar w
ages as M
P
’s. “T
h
is is d
on
e
in
ord
er to m
ak
e it easier for p
arliam
en
t m
em
-
bers to leave p
olitics. W
e’re su
re th
e p
eop
le
w
ill su
p
p
ort th
at,” an
A
lþ
in
gi sp
ok
esm
an
said
.
M
P
’s give
th
em
selves a
raise
A
n
arm
ed
robber m
ad
e aw
ay w
ith
a five th
ou
-
san
d
k
rón
u
r bill from
a S
h
ell gas station
in

G
arðabæ
r, an
d
attem
p
ted
to m
ak
e h
is escap
e
by callin
g a taxi. H
e w
as arrested
by p
olice
an
d
sen
ten
ced
to give h
alf th
e m
on
ey back
,
w
h
ich
w
as later com
m
u
ted
to givin
g a qu
arter
of th
e m
on
ey back
. T
h
e taxi d
river w
as fired
as
a w
arn
in
g to oth
ers.
R
obber asked
to give som
e
m
oney back
S
eem
to
o

rid
icu
lo
u
s to
b
e
tru
e?
For the real story,
see inside
Fa
sh
io
n
-co
n
scio
u
s a
n
d
co
m
b
a
t rea
d
y
T
h
e G
rap
evine p
latoon are gearing up
to take p
art in m
ilitary op
erations
in Iraq
b
ut rem
ain unw
illing to settle for th
e d
rab
, d
reary and
(let’s face it)
d
ep
ressing olive green or b
eige th
at sold
iers in th
e region often w
ear. For th
is
reason, th
ey’ve p
ut togeth
er th
ese p
rototyp
es of w
eap
ons th
ey w
ill b
e using
in th
e field
of com
b
at. “T
h
is is a great d
ay for fash
ion,” said
one d
esigner.
“Finally, w
e can sh
ow
th
at w
e can com
b
ine sassy p
atterns and
urb
an com
b
at
m
aneuvers.”