“We believe Trinidad and Tobago to be one of a number of countries where there may be an increased terrorist threat,” a statement on the Foreign Office website said.Since the story, American and British officials have been cautious in public on how much credence to lend to the group. An expert from the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute watched video footage of the reporting trip and said the man in the lab “sounded as though he knows what he is talking about and what he intends to do”.It is not clear who the Islamic group is, although it is likely to be related to Jamaat al-Muslimeen, a radical sect that launched an unsuccessful coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990. They were shown various materials and told they could be used to manufacture a form of nerve gas as well as toxins strong enough to poison the island’s water supply. It also illustrates Mr Bush’s belief that the way out of America’s energy squeeze lies in technological advance, rather than conservation.SOCIAL POLICY”Our … But the proposal leaves the impression of a President out to dispel the image of him as a man who does not care about the environment and is beholden to the oil industry. Like Reagan, he is taking a cavalier attitude to the federal deficit, forecast at $200bn this year, before tax cuts and the costs of a possible war with Iraq.ENERGY POLICY”Tonight I’m proposing $1.2bn in research so America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered vehicles.”This is a classic example of a policy that may never see the light of day.

The President is relying on classic Reagan-style supply-side, “trickle-down” economics His $670bn (£407bn) tax cut is geared to the wealthy He is also committed to his earlier income tax cuts. The economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest, and the best and fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place.”There, in a nutshell, is the strategy Mr Bush hopes will reinvigorate US growth and reduce unemployment, the two greatest domestic threats to his re-election in November 2004. And on every topic, his words sent a clear political message.THE ECONOMY”The economy is not growing fast enough Jobs are created when the economy grows. On Tuesday evening he was sombre, exuding determination, as he took his country to the brink of war. Yet Iraq was not his only theme.From the tax policy to the struggle against Aids, from energy independence to the domestic terrorist threat and aid for drug addicts, Mr Bush covered most of the bases.

He has come on mightily as a public speaker in office, above all, since 11 September 2001.The frat-brat has acquired, contrary to expectations, something close to gravitas. Above all, the State of the Union is a political self-portrait, a prime-time speech in the most flattering setting possible, a piece of theatre when the country pays homage, not so much to the man as to the office of the Presidency.State of the Union messages are rarely bad, nor should they be, given the small army of speech-writers that work on them for weeks Mr Bush’s was no exception. And, early domestic reviews show, he largely succeeded.
The annual State of the Union is a declaration of intent, with many ideas that will never be translated into fact, even this year when Mr Bush’s Republicans control both houses of Congress. That was the image George Bush wanted to project on Tuesday, with war against Iraq perhaps just a few weeks away. Resolute yet caring Moral yet compassionate.

Mr Picula said the task facing the government was to “re-engineer a complete country because we inherited so many problems”. He admitted that the EU’s assessment of Croatia’s political progress would be decisive. Continuing economic and political reform was the only way to defuse the nationalist tensions that affected all countries, he argued.A spokeswoman for the European Commission said: “Croatia has made good economic progress; where there is room for improvement is on the political side. Co-operation with ICTY is certainly one of the yardsticks.”Croatia must hold elections by the summer of 2004 and some fear a resurgence of Mr Tudjman’s HDZ party. Britain and the Netherlands have so far declined to ratify a European co-operation agreement with Zagreb because of lack of co- operation with ICTY.The Croatian government will make its formal EU membership application at a ceremony in Athens on 18 February. We don’t know what will happen if there are new indictments relating to Croatia.”Zagreb’s approach towards war crimes is crucial because it will be one yardstick by which the EU judges the country’s ability to stick to the EU’s democracy and human rights standards.