Those of you with access to American PBS on Wednesday 25th April, between 21:00 and 22:30, should make sure that you tune in.
PBS will be showing a 90-minute video "Buying The War" which documents the lies that the Bush administration told to sell the Iraq War to the American public, with a special focus on how the media aided and abetted Bush lie to the public.
There are even house parties in homes and community centres being arranged for groups of people to come together to watch it. Prior to viewing Bill Moyers, who made the video, will be available for an exclusive conference call with house party attendees.
Those of you who want to host a house party can register here Host House Party.
You can watch a preview here: Buying The War.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Saddam's Body Taken
It is reported that Saddam Hussein's corpse has been taken from his grave.
The Kurdistan patriotic party said on its website that there had been unofficial reports that Saddam's grave in Auja village, just outside Tikrit had been exhumed.
It is also reported that the body was devoured by dogs.
These reports have not been validated.
The Kurdistan patriotic party said on its website that there had been unofficial reports that Saddam's grave in Auja village, just outside Tikrit had been exhumed.
It is also reported that the body was devoured by dogs.
These reports have not been validated.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
The Surge
When is a "surge" not a "surge"?
When it will take until June for the troops to be in situ.
When it will take until June for the troops to be in situ.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The Crucible
Over a year ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Iraq had become a "crucible" in the so called "war against terror".
The slaughter of around 200 people in Iraq yesterday, by terrorists, certainly confirms Blair's statement.
However, the unasked/unanswered question is this:
Did the people of Iraq want their country turned into a crucible?
As Blair's friend said:
"Mission accomplished!"
The slaughter of around 200 people in Iraq yesterday, by terrorists, certainly confirms Blair's statement.
However, the unasked/unanswered question is this:
Did the people of Iraq want their country turned into a crucible?
As Blair's friend said:
"Mission accomplished!"
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
AWB Sued
AWB Ltd, the Australian wheat exported implicated in the oil for food kickback scandal, is facing lawsuits in both Australia and the USA.
Lawyers in both Sydney and New York have lodged claims for a combined $125M.
Retired farmers John and Kaye Watson are the lead plaintiffs in a class action lodged on behalf of AWB shareholders in Sydney's Federal Court.
Mr Watson owned 10,000 AWB shares, which were once worth more than $6 each. The share price halved during the Cole inquiry into the Iraq kickback scandal, which found that AWB had been channeling money to Saddam Hussein's regime in the build up to the Iraq war.
Mr Watson says he lost around $10,000 of his investment in AWB.
Mr Watson said:
"The evidence suggests they were corrupt, full-stop. They were supposed to keep the market informed but they misled the government and the shareholders."
The US law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld and Toll filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of American wheat farmers in federal district court in New York.
The suit seeks up to $100 million in damages from AWB Ltd and its US subsidiary, AWB (USA) Ltd.
US farmers claim they were "stuck with an oversupply of wheat" between 1999 and 2003, because Iraq dealt only with AWB Ltd.
The suit invokes the RICO racketeering law, it says AWB "paid bribes to the Iraqi government" to "exploit a monopoly on wheat sold into Iraq."
Partner Benjamin Brown said:
"AWB knew that, by paying these bribes, it would profit at the direct expense of American farmers -- its only real competition in the Iraqi market.
Unfortunately, AWB achieved its monopoly in the Iraqi market not through fair competition, but by deceiving the United Nations into unwittingly funding Hussein's corrupt regime."
What goes around, comes around.
Lawyers in both Sydney and New York have lodged claims for a combined $125M.
Retired farmers John and Kaye Watson are the lead plaintiffs in a class action lodged on behalf of AWB shareholders in Sydney's Federal Court.
Mr Watson owned 10,000 AWB shares, which were once worth more than $6 each. The share price halved during the Cole inquiry into the Iraq kickback scandal, which found that AWB had been channeling money to Saddam Hussein's regime in the build up to the Iraq war.
Mr Watson says he lost around $10,000 of his investment in AWB.
Mr Watson said:
"The evidence suggests they were corrupt, full-stop. They were supposed to keep the market informed but they misled the government and the shareholders."
The US law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld and Toll filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of American wheat farmers in federal district court in New York.
The suit seeks up to $100 million in damages from AWB Ltd and its US subsidiary, AWB (USA) Ltd.
US farmers claim they were "stuck with an oversupply of wheat" between 1999 and 2003, because Iraq dealt only with AWB Ltd.
The suit invokes the RICO racketeering law, it says AWB "paid bribes to the Iraqi government" to "exploit a monopoly on wheat sold into Iraq."
Partner Benjamin Brown said:
"AWB knew that, by paying these bribes, it would profit at the direct expense of American farmers -- its only real competition in the Iraqi market.
Unfortunately, AWB achieved its monopoly in the Iraqi market not through fair competition, but by deceiving the United Nations into unwittingly funding Hussein's corrupt regime."
What goes around, comes around.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Bomb Blast at Iraqi Parliament
A suicide bomber has killed eight people in Iraq's Parliament building, including at least two lawmakers, after penetrating the security of Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
The bomber exploded a device in a cafe where members of Council of Representatives were eating lunch.
In addition to the eight deaths, 23 people were hurt.
Four years since the "regime change" and there is still chaos.
The bomber exploded a device in a cafe where members of Council of Representatives were eating lunch.
In addition to the eight deaths, 23 people were hurt.
Four years since the "regime change" and there is still chaos.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Four Years On
Four years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, by the US, life for the Iraqi people can be reasonably described as being "pretty awful".
In the midst of the corruption, revenge killings, sectarian warfare and chaos that the enforced "regime change" has brought about there have been some attempts to instill a spirit of freedom and hope for the future. Yet none of these have captured the hearts or minds of the people of Iraq.
Four years ago Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, for all the world to see, by US marines; this was a potent symbol of the regime's downfall.
However, nature abhors a vacuum. What was there to replace the regime?
It became all to clear that the US had not thought through its post regime change occupation, and indeed had very naively hoped that democracy "light" would magically take root.
Two months after the statue was felled a replacement statue, called Najeen (survivor), was erected. It shows a woman, supported by a man and a child, holding up an Islamic crescent moon that frames a Sumerian sun.
It failed to inspire and was derided.
The most telling sign of trouble to come is the fact that the "new" Iraq has yet to create a new flag. This failure is the most potent symbol of the failure of the invasion and enforced regime change, the inability to agree on the design of a flag means that the Iraqi's themselves do not see that they they have a future.
A country without a flag, is a country without a future.
In the midst of the corruption, revenge killings, sectarian warfare and chaos that the enforced "regime change" has brought about there have been some attempts to instill a spirit of freedom and hope for the future. Yet none of these have captured the hearts or minds of the people of Iraq.
Four years ago Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, for all the world to see, by US marines; this was a potent symbol of the regime's downfall.
However, nature abhors a vacuum. What was there to replace the regime?
It became all to clear that the US had not thought through its post regime change occupation, and indeed had very naively hoped that democracy "light" would magically take root.
Two months after the statue was felled a replacement statue, called Najeen (survivor), was erected. It shows a woman, supported by a man and a child, holding up an Islamic crescent moon that frames a Sumerian sun.
It failed to inspire and was derided.
The most telling sign of trouble to come is the fact that the "new" Iraq has yet to create a new flag. This failure is the most potent symbol of the failure of the invasion and enforced regime change, the inability to agree on the design of a flag means that the Iraqi's themselves do not see that they they have a future.
A country without a flag, is a country without a future.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Re Baathification
Most commentators agree that one of the worst mistakes made, post Iraq invasion, by the US and interim Iraq administration was the "de Baathification law" which removed anyone with Baath party connections from positions of responsibility.
This naive and foolish ruling resulted in utter chaos, as there was no one left in positions of responsibility with the ability or understanding to run organisations and government ministries effectively.
Finally someone has seen come commonsense, and Iraq's prime minister and president will introduce legislation to let former members of the Baath party to resume their jobs in the government.
Whether this is measure is enough to pull Iraq out of its engulfing chaos remains to be seen.
This naive and foolish ruling resulted in utter chaos, as there was no one left in positions of responsibility with the ability or understanding to run organisations and government ministries effectively.
Finally someone has seen come commonsense, and Iraq's prime minister and president will introduce legislation to let former members of the Baath party to resume their jobs in the government.
Whether this is measure is enough to pull Iraq out of its engulfing chaos remains to be seen.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Bolton Attempts To Rewrite History
John Bolton's, President Bush's acerbic ex ambassador to the UN, attempted to rewrite history on CNN's Late Edition, by claiming that Bush never said that Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat.
In answer to a question from Wolf Blitzer, Bolton said:
"He himself (Saddam Hussein) and his regime were the threat to international peace and security. The president never made the argument that he constituted an imminent threat. It was the existence of the regime that was the threat. And that is why it was right to overthrow it".
Unfortunately for Blizter, historical records show that in fact Bush's administration did make that claim.
Donald Rumsfeld, for example, said in November 2002:
"When did the attack on September 11 become an imminent threat? Now, transport yourself forward a year, two years or a week or a month...So the question is, when is it such an immediate threat that you must do something?"
Bolton should know that history can only be rewritten by the winning side; the Neo Cons have lost the argument, and the war, they are in no position to try to rewrite history.
In answer to a question from Wolf Blitzer, Bolton said:
"He himself (Saddam Hussein) and his regime were the threat to international peace and security. The president never made the argument that he constituted an imminent threat. It was the existence of the regime that was the threat. And that is why it was right to overthrow it".
Unfortunately for Blizter, historical records show that in fact Bush's administration did make that claim.
Donald Rumsfeld, for example, said in November 2002:
"When did the attack on September 11 become an imminent threat? Now, transport yourself forward a year, two years or a week or a month...So the question is, when is it such an immediate threat that you must do something?"
Bolton should know that history can only be rewritten by the winning side; the Neo Cons have lost the argument, and the war, they are in no position to try to rewrite history.
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