*** "YOU KNOW you cannot exercise your powers to the point of humiliation for others... And I do think the Western world is getting too rich in relation to the poor world... we're looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied greedy with no limits."

(Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien linking September 11 suicide attacks to West's arrogance)

*** "IF IT DISRUPTS the region, if it disrupts Pakistan and Iran, which are two very important neighbours, that will affect us. There is no doubt about that."

(Chief UN official in Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi saying that US attack on Iraq would mean increased suffering for Afghanistan as it could affect international efforts to rebuild the country)

*** "39"

(Number of Scud missiles landed in Israel during the Gulf War according to Israeli army chief Moshe Yaalon)

*** "THE CHANCES of a soldier being a psychiatric casualty here is much higher than becoming a physical casualty."

(Clinical psychiatrist and a member of US Army Reserve in Afghanistan saying that the lack of a concrete 'end point' has resulted in psychiatric counseling and treatment for many US soldiers)

*** "HIS DEPARTURE had nothing to do with his July 10 presentation to the Defense Policy Board."

(Rand Corporation announcing the resignation of French expert Laurent Murawiec who described the Saudis as enemies and suggested invading of Saudi Arabia in his presentation to a Pentagon advisory board in July)

*** "WHAT RIGHT HAS BUSH to come and say the offer is not genuine. We must condemn that very strongly. That's why I criticize leaders for keeping quiet when one country wants to bully the whole world."

(Former South African president Nelson Mandela lambasting US President George W. Bush for brushing aside Iraq's decision to allow weapons inspectors back. He accused the US of bullying the whole world)

*** "BUSH WANTS TO divert attention from domestic political problems. It's a method that is sometimes favoured. Hitler also did that."

(German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin comparing US President Bush to Adolf Hitler. The analogy made by the minister while talking to metal workers about US plans to attack Iraq has thawed an already deteriorating relationship between the two countries)

*** "Rs 17.28"

(Amount of tax levied on every litre of petrol selling for Rs 34.41 at the pumps)

*** "TO ME, this is like charging someone with a thought crime... It has not been established that visiting Afghanistan is a crime."

(Lawyers representing six men allegedly belonging to a terrorist cell in upstate New York saying that their Muslim clients were victims of 'McCarthyism', referring to an anti-communist witch-hunt launched by late US Senator Joseph McCarthy)

*** "NO ONE WAS INJURED but members of the delegation were forced to take cover immediately and to end their visit."

(UN spokesman Fred Eckhard describing the firing of Israeli soldiers on a delegation of UN Refugee agency at a Palestinian camp in the Gaza Strip which forced it to abort its visit to the camp)

*** "The prize means that when the winner is pronounced legally dead, he or she will be prepared and cooled to temperature where physical decay of the body stops."

(Promotional scheme launched by British weekly New Scientist offering one lucky subscriber, after he or she dies, to be frozen in liquid nitrogen to wake up in future, at a time when medical science will be able to revive them and fix what caused their demise)

*** "YES, MR. Rumsfeld, I think we need weapons inspectors not war."

(Rebuttal offered by a female member of an audience during US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's opening remarks at a congressional hearing on Iraq in reply to the question asked by the Secretary "The question facing us is this what is a responsible course of action for our country?")