Death's dichotomy. If someone fires a missile at you, two things can happen. It can miss you, or it can hit you. If it misses you, you have no problem. If it hits you, two things can happen.

"In a war that's being fought for the benefit of the Iraqi people, you can't afford to kill any of them," Mr. Hewson said. "But you can't drop bombs and not kill people. There's a real dichotomy in all of this."

Russians hand over list of cultural treasures to save. Chances of their being heeded? Slim.

MOSCOW, Rosbalt, Interfax, 01/04/03 -- Russian Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi has handed a list of the most valuable historic and cultural monuments located in Iraq, which are considered part of the heritage of humankind, to US Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow.

The list was drawn up by specialists from the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg at Mr Shvydkoi's request, the Culture Ministry press office told journalists. Several dozen monuments are on the list, including an architectural complex of ancient Babylon, Mesopotamian art works, and cuneiform texts. Among architectural sites on the list are Assyrian and Sumerian palaces and the ancient cities of Ur, Uruq, Lagash, Nippur, and Baghdad, which was founded in 762.

Mr Shvydkoi and Mr Vershbow also discussed the upcoming celebrations of the 300th anniversary of Saint Petersburg and US involvement in the festivities, and a festival of Russian movies in Hollywood to open on April 18.