Thursday, 13 August 2009
Rem Conscious
LIES
It may have started with the Easter Bunny
or St. Nicolas even more ridiculous the Tooth Fairy
From there we’re forced to recite the pledge - Hail Mary
One nation under god? Why us?
Don’t question son you’ll burn in hell
Pay attention to the lies that we’re told to tell
Teacher teaches us Columbus was a hero – he stole lands
He stole lives of so called Indians
From the Tainos to the Africans – respect Thomas Jefferson?
he molested Sally Hemmings
And now they say Regan was a great man
The godfather of Crack Babies – denier of the AIDS plague
I ran fast as I could to the library
To find out they trace the books I read
these lies got me surrounded there’s a war on truth
And it all may have started with that first lost tooth
Chorus
Lies, its all lies
Everything they say
Lies, they keep telling lies
We hear em’ everyday
Do you think that we don’t know
That you’re up to no good
When you’re tellin’ lies
They say milk does a body good! How so, it
causes disease-don’t trust me read about
BGH and IGF-1
The Dairy industry has us drinking poison
Got Milk? Better yet, how ‘bout Got Cancer?
Got a sick prostate and you’re looking for answers?
And while we trust the FDA to protect us
These mad cows are milking us all the way to the bank
From cell phones to pharmaceuticals
children forced vaccinations that carry plague and chemicals
Corporate thugs push drugs like evangelists push miracles
Monsanto, Bayer, Proctor and Gamble
Fluoride in our water supply has got us cockeyed
And still they lie
Telling us it’s for own good
First used in Nazi prison camps now it’s in our hoods
Chorus
From Fox News to the New York Post
and all and these lying Neo-Con right-wing news show hosts
Bill O’Reilly makes me nauseous, Hanity and Colmes are drones for these greedy corporate monsters
Feeding lies to the public, they love it, we’re puppets
Intimidated and Controlled by color codes
Where lie becomes truth and truth becomes myth
Lost in the Rupert Murdoch and Clear Channel abyss
If you don’t agree with Bush then you’re un-patriotic
Even though you’ve never known a man this psychotic
In control of the so called land of brave
We’ve become timid and afraid eager to become slaves
The Patriot Act is for the good of the people
Is like saying the Bush Regime will protect us from evil
How many lies can they tell in just four years
I say the worst is yet to come so it’s time to prepare
Chorus
We saw the towers fall to ashes like they where laced with bombs
Are you sure only 2 planes did that harm?
You told us flight 77 hit the Pentagon
But there’s no photo of parts man plus the science is wrong
You let it happen, like FDR did Pearl Harbor
So you could profit from war just like your father
Taking lives and oil in the name of freedom
While innocent are either tortured, left homeless or bleeding
Death to America – is what they scream
while you preach freedom and the American dream
Troops dying, mother crying, still to trying to cope
While your denying, that the dangers from Iraq was a hoax
Your not a man of the people just a product of evil
Greed, Power and God, a combination that’s lethal
So deceitful it’s criminal but soon the truth will rise
Lies
Saturday, 8 August 2009
If you were born before 1974 your probaly English by law
For hundreds of years the county of Monmouthshire was officially a part of England. However, in 1974, by action of a sparsely-attended parliamentary sitting, inclusive of not one MP for Monmouthshire itself, the county was moved into Wales. Overnight, the entire nationality of the county was changed wholesale without a referendum, or a survey, or even consulting the people informally. This paper will attempt to answer a number of questions surrounding the phenomenon - why did the move take place?, why was there not widespread protest against the move?, how Welsh has Monmouthshire become?, what has changed in the nature of British politics that would make this sort of action utterly unthinkable today? 'The Monmouthshire Question' cuts straight to the heart of contemporary issues surrounding regionalism, nationality, territorialism, democratic involvement, and patriarchal governance.
Monmouthshire's Welsh status was ambiguous until the 1960s. Previously, the legal formula had been to refer to 'Wales and Monmouthshire'. In popular usage, it had been considered part of Wales for many centuries. The ambiguity surrounding its status arose from its not being mentioned in the second Laws in Wales Act in the 16th century. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica unambigiously described the county as part of England, but notes that 'whenever an act [...] is intended to apply to [Wales] alone, then Wales is always coupled with Monmouthshire'.
The Acts that defined Monmouthshire did treat it in a slightly different way to other counties created out of the Marches (for example, it sent two members to the Commons, like English counties, rather than one, like the other Welsh ones). However, this is something of an irrelevance, as the entirety of Wales and the Marches had been part of England since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284.
The question of Monmouthshire's status continued to be a matter of discussion, especially as Welsh nationalism and devolution climbed the political agenda in the 20th century: nonetheless, in the rare event that an Act of Parliament was restricted to Wales, Monmouthshire was always included, and the creation of the Welsh Office in 1964 explicitly included Monmouthshire. A typical example was the division of England and Wales into registration areas in the 19th century - one of which, the "Welsh Division", was defined as including "Monmouthshire, South Wales and North Wales".
The question was clarified in law by an Order in Council of 1968, and further clarified by the Local Government Act 1972, which provided that in legislation after 1974 the definition of "Wales" would include it. The Interpretation Act 1978 provides that in legislation passed between 1967 and 1974, "a reference to England includes Berwick upon Tweed and Monmouthshire", but would exclude the rest of Wales.
Being a part of the diocese of Llandaff, Monmouthshire was included in the area in which the Church of England was disestablished in 1920 to become the Church in Wales.
FREE WALES ARMY
The Free Wales Army (Welsh: Byddin Rhyddid Cymru) was a paramilitary Welsh nationalist organisation, formed out of Lampeter, West Wales by William Julian Cayo-Evans in 1963 as a replacement for the then supposedly moribund Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru.
Eryr WenThe Byddin consisted of a number of commanding units leading a structure of ranks and volunteers. These commanding units were often isolated and worked within the tight precepts of army directives. Activities were largely limited to training in the Welsh countryside armed with surplus IRA equipment, and small–scale operations. Although the media treated this surreptitious movement with some ridicule, the authorities took them seriously enough to bring court action against the leading figures in 1969, resulting in lengthy prison sentences for them.
The Army's motto was "Fe godwn ni eto", Welsh for "We shall rise again". Its crest was Eryr Wen, a white eagle mounted on dark green shield, commonly seen in shorthand. Also incorporated in the national flag on the top left hand corner.
Their objective was to establish an independent Welsh republic which had the sole allegiance of all her citizens. The Byddin's White Eagle of Eryri symbol became a familiar sight painted on walls and bridges throughout Wales.
The exact number of active members is unknown. Conservative estimates approximate the membership at 50, whilst at its most popular the byddin claimed a nationwide network consisting of 2000 active members and many more sympathisers. However, in August 1968 only 200 volunteers attended the Abergewsyn training camp, indicating that the actual membership was probably between the two figures.
Uniform
All volunteers wore a bottle-green peaked cap or beret with eagle crest. A bottle-green combat jacket, civilian trousers, neck scarf, combat boots, and bottle-green webbing belt rounded out the uniform for Privates and NCOs and black or leather webbing belt with peaked officers' cap for officers.
The colour of the beret and neck scarf varied depending on the area of operation of the soldier's attachment.
General service dress uniform consisted of a dark green blazer with an eagle crest.
Decorations and Awards
* These decorations were rarely issued and often crude in appearance. Only ribbons were worn on field uniforms. Medals were worn in order of importance, with the most important on the left.
* Order of St.David Awarded for outstanding furtherance of the freedom movement and recognising outstanding achievements. Ribbon: Black and yellow. Medallion: Gold cross
* Cross Of Llewellyn Awarded for leadership in addition to bravery. Ribbon: Two vertical red and green bars. Medallion: Silver Celtic cross embossed with eagle.
* Cross Of Glyndwr Gallantry in the face of the enemy, and individual acts of courage. Ribbon: Violet. Medallion: Bronze Celtic cross with dragon rampant.
* Merit Of Incarceration In recognition of six or more months incarcerated. Ribbon: Vertical black and white bars with single thin red bar. Medallion: Three bar grid.
* Assault Dagger Participant in at least three separate assaults. Brass hilt ceremonial dagger.
* Blood Medal For serious wounds or loss of life, in the name of freedom. Ribbon: Black with single thin vertical red bar.
* Distinguished Service. Service for specified periods of time. Ribbon: Blue (4 years), Blue with silver trim (12 years), Blue with gold trim (20 or more years)
Structure
The smallest unit of the army was the section, comprised of six volunteers. This was the basis of army organisation in any area. The section volunteers lived in close proximity, and were available for service at short notice. At this level the section commander (highest ranking officer) worked closely with the company adjutant to oversee operations in their Cantref.
Four sections formed one district platoon. Four platoons formed one area company.
So as to avoid overlap of operations the commander in chief split Wales into five areas of operation each made up of their respective Cantrefi:
* Gogledd Orllewin (North West Wales): Brown
* Gogledd Ddwyrain (North East Wales): Red
* Canolbarth (Central Wales): Green
* De Orllewin (South West Wales): Black
* De Ddwyrain (South East Wales): Blue
Ranks
* Gwirfoddolwr - Volunteer.
* Gwir.saf 1af - Volunteer 1st class: Snowdon Lilly on right sleeve.
* Corfforol - Corporal (NCO): One burgundy strip on dark green epaulette slides.
* Sersiant - Sergeant (NCO): Two burgundy strips on dark green epaulette slides.
* Ailisgapten - 2nd Lieutenant: One burgundy Eagle head on dark green epaulette slides, and burgundy flash behind cap badge.
* Isgapten - Lieutenant: Two burgundy Eagle Heads on dark green epaulette slides and burgundy flash behind cap badge.
* Capten - Captain: Three burgundy Eagle heads in triangle on dark green epaulette slides and burgundy flash behind cap badge.
* Uchgapten - Major: Two burgundy strips one burgundy Eagle head on dark green epaulette slides and peaked officers cap with burgundy flash behind cap badge.
* Cadlywydd - Commandant: Two burgundy strips, two Eagle heads on dark green epaulette slides, and peaked officers cap with burgundy flash behind cap badge.
* Cadlwydd Cadfridog - Commandant General: Two burgundy strip, three Eagle heads on dark green epaulette slides, and peaked officers cap with burgundy flash behind cap badge.
Timeline of notable events
Feb 1963 FWA is formed.
Oct 1965 confronts Lord Mayor of Liverpool at the opening of Tryweryn reservoir.
Oct 1967 FWA column appeared on David Frost's show.
Jun 1969 Final preparation to storm Caernarfon Castle to stop investiture of Charles Windsor.
Jul 1969 CID operation "Cricket" comes to fruition with the arrest of the FWA leadership.
Mar 1995 Death of Commandant WEJ Cayo-Evans.
May 2004 Death of Commandant D Cosslett.
Notable members
Commandant William Julian Cayo-Evans (Founder)
Commandant D Coslett
V Davies
K Griffiths AKA G Ap Iestyn
E H Wilkinson
R Jones
V Griffiths
D B Thomas
G Rowlands
B Isaacs
S M Forty-Seven
A H Lewis
V G Davies
W V Griffiths
J C Evans
W Jones
D Williams
U2 POLAND
Today, U2 played their sole Polish concert of 2009 in Chorzow. This is only the third time U2 have ever performed in Poland; last tour, they also played in Chorzow, on 5 July 2005, while the first gig took place during the Popmart Tour, on 12 August 1997 in Warsaw.
As expected, the band played New Year's Day, their tribute to Poland's Solidarity movement, for the Polish audience. Like in 2005, the audience became awash with red and white to make the colours of the Polish flag, thanks to independently organised fan action. The show was made more special by Bono making it an honorary birthday celebration concert; The Edge's birthday is in two days but there is no concert on 08/08 itself. This included Bono leading the crowd in Happy Birthday after Stuck In A Moment (which itself was interrupted by the crowd chanting), and snippeting The Beatles' Birthday at the start of Vertigo.
The full setlist was:
1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
6. Elevation
7. New Year's Day
8. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet)
9. Stuck In A Moment
10. Happy Birthday
11. Unknown Caller
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City Of Blinding Lights / Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (snippet)
14. Birthday (snippet) / Vertigo
15. Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet)
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
17. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
18. MLK
19. Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
20. Where The Streets Have No Name / The Whole Of The Moon (snippet)
21. One
Encore(s):
22. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
23. With Or Without You
24. Moment of Surrender
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Why I know weapons expert Dr David Kelly was murdered, by the MP who spent a year investigating his death
That invasion was supposed to lead to the discovery and disposal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and make the world a safer place.
But as Blair was lapping up the grateful plaudits from the U.S. Congress on July 17, 2003, the man who had done more than almost any other individual on earth to contain the threat from WMD lay dead in the woods at Harrowdown Hill in Oxfordshire.
For Dr David Kelly, the UK's leading weapons inspector, there was to be no adulation, no medal, no standing ovation.
His life ended in the cold, lonely wood where he was found the next morning, his left wrist cut open, and three nearly-empty blister packs of painkillers in his jacket pocket.
His death was, of course, sensational front-page news. Dr Kelly, unknown to almost everybody at the beginning of that July, had in recent days barely been absent from media headlines.
Much to his chagrin he had been thrust into the harsh glare of publicity, accused of being the mole who expressed to the BBC deep concerns about the Government's "sexing up" of its dossier on weapons of mass destruction.
For Blair - accused of misusing, exaggerating or even inventing intelligence in order to justify the overthrow of Saddam Hussein - the stakes could not have been higher.
This was undoubtedly the greatest crisis of his premiership to date.
To add fuel to the flames, his director of communications, Alastair Campbell, had launched an unprecedented and vitriolic attack on the BBC, questioning its integrity and professionalism in the way it reported the story.
Suddenly finding himself under tremendous personal pressure, it seemed that Dr Kelly had buckled and decided to commit suicide.
That, at least, was the official version of events, as decided by the Hutton inquiry, set up by the Government with lightning speed within hours of Dr Kelly's body being found.
The media, the political establishment, indeed almost everybody accepted Lord Hutton's verdict. But the more I examined it, the more it became clear to me that Hutton's judgment was faulty and suspect in virtually all important respects.
I was not alone in these suspicions. Letters began to appear in the press from leading medical specialists, in which they queried the suicide verdict.
The letters were well argued, raising profound and disturbing questions that remain unanswered to this day.
Increasingly concerned, I decided to give up my post on the Liberal Democrat front bench to look into Dr Kelly's death.
My investigations have since convinced me that it is nigh- on clinically impossible for Dr Kelly to have died by his own hand and that both his personality and the other circumstantial evidence strongly militate against suicide.
Given that his death was clearly not an accident, that leaves only one alternative - that he must have been murdered.
This is not a conclusion I have come to lightly. I simply set out to examine the facts, to test the evidence, and to follow the trail wherever it took me.
The account I give in this series may not be correct in all respects, but I suggest that it is rather more credible than the verdict reached by Lord Hutton.
I certainly believe there are enough doubts, enough questions, enough of a smell of stinking fish to justify re-opening this episode officially.
My investigations have been a journey into the unknown, and one that has taken many peculiar turns. Perhaps the most sinister came soon after starting my inquiries last year.
After writing a newspaper article outlining my early concerns, I found myself on a train speeding towards Exeter to see a man who had agreed to meet me only on condition of anonymity and after some rather circuitous arrangements.
These involved much complicated use of public telephone boxes to minimise the chance that his contact with me could be traced.
Finally, we talked over a glass of wine in a rather nondescript club.
He told me that he had recently retired but had connections to both the police and the security services, a claim which I subsequently verified through careful checks.
Like me, he had many doubts about the true circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death and he had begun making his own surreptitious inquiries around Southmoor, the Oxfordshire village which was Dr Kelly's home.
Posing as a freelance journalist, he had attempted to contact the key policemen involved in investigating the case. In this he was unsuccessful but within an hour he received an unexpected return call.
The person on the other end of the line did not bother with formalities, but instead cut to the quick. How would my contact welcome a full tax inspection of his business, VAT, national insurance, the lot?
Life could be made very difficult, he was told. How did he fancy having no money?
Naturally, this prospect did not appeal, and there he left matters until, at a wedding, he chanced upon an old friend whom he described to me initially as a very senior civil servant, but later as a "spook" from MI6.
He told his friend of his interest in the Kelly affair and also of the threatening phone call he had received.
His friend's reply was a serious one: he should be careful, particularly when using his phone or his computer. Moreover, he should let the Kelly matter drop.
But my contact did not do so. Two weeks later he met his friend again, this time in a pub, and pressed him on the matter.
>{? His friend took him outside, and as they stood in the cool air, told him Dr Kelly's death had been "a wet operation, a wet disposal".
He also warned him in very strong terms to leave the matter well alone. This time he decided to heed the warning.
I asked my contact to explain what he understood by the terms his friend had used. Essentially, it seems to refer to an assassination, perhaps carried out in a hurry.
A few months later, I called my contact to check one or two points of his story. He told me that three weeks after our meeting in Exeter, his house had been broken into and his laptop - containing all his material on Kelly - had been stolen. Other valuable goods, including a camera and an LCD television, had been left untouched.
It was sobering to be given such a clear indication that Dr Kelly had been murdered, but the scientist himself appears to have been fully aware that his work made him a target for assassins.
British diplomat David Broucher told the Hutton inquiry that, some months before Dr Kelly's death, he had asked him what would happen if Iraq were invaded.
Rather chillingly, Dr Kelly replied that he "would probably be found dead in the woods".
At the inquiry, this was construed as meaning that he had already had suicidal thoughts. That, of course, is patently absurd.
Nobody can seriously suggest that he was suicidal at the time the meeting took place - yet Lord Hutton seems to have made his mind up about the way in which DrKelly died before the inquiry even began.
The result is a series of gaping, unresolved anomalies.
Crucially, in his report, Hutton declared that the principal cause of death was bleeding from a selfinflicted knife wound on Dr Kelly's left wrist.
Yet Dr Nicholas Hunt, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on DrKelly, stated that he had cut only one blood vessel - the ulnar artery.
Since the arteries in the wrist are of matchstick thickness, severing just one of them does not lead to life-threatening blood loss, especially if it is cut crossways, the method apparently adopted by DrKelly, rather than along its length.
The artery simply retracts and stops bleeding.
As a scientist who would have known more about human anatomy than most, DrKelly was particularly unlikely to have targeted the ulnar artery. Buried deep in the wrist, it can only be accessed through the extremely painful process of cutting through nerves and tendons.
It is not common for those who commit suicide to wish to inflict significant pain on themselves as part of the process.
In Dr Kelly's case, the unlikelihood is compounded by the suggestion that his chosen instrument-was a blunt pruning knife.
This would only have increased the pain and would have failed to cut the artery cleanly, thereby hastening the clotting process.
Statistics bear out the extremely low incidence of individuals dying by cutting the ulnar artery, with only one recorded case in Britain during the entire year of Dr Kelly's death.
Given that the average human body contains ten pints of blood, and that about half of these must be lost before death ensues, we must also ask ourselves why there were clear signs at the postmortem-that Dr Kelly had retained much of his blood.
We cannot be sure exactly how much since, inexplicably, the pathologist's report does not provide an estimate of the residual volume, but what he did record was the appearance of "livor mortis" on Dr Kelly's body.
This purplish-red discolouration of the skin occurs when the heart is no longer pumping and blood begins to settle in the lower part of the body. But if Dr Kelly had bled to death, as we are led to believe, then significant livor mortis would not have occurred. Put simply, there would not have been enough blood in his body.
More significant still, while the effects of five pints of blood spurting from a body could not easily be hidden, the members of the search party who found his body did not even notice that Dr Kelly had apparently incised his wrist with a knife.
Their arrival was followed by that of paramedics who pointedly referred to the fact that there was remarkably little blood around the body.
If the idea that blood loss brought about Dr Kelly's death is flawed, still less plausible is the suggestion that he chose an overdose to quicken his end.
Mai Pederson, a close friend of DrKelly's, has confirmed that he hated all types of tablets and had an aversion even to swallowing a headache pill.
Yet we are told that he removed from his house three blister packs, each containing ten of the co-proxamol painkillers which his wife Janice took for her arthritis.
Each of these oval pills was about half an inch long. Since there was only one tablet left, the implication is that he had swallowed 29 of them. If this is right, we are being asked to believe that Dr Kelly indulged in a further masochistic act in an attempt to take his life.
A further objection is that police evidence states there was a halflitre bottle of Evian water by the body which had not been fully drunk.
Common sense tells us that quite a lot of water would be required to swallow 29 large tablets. It is frankly unlikely, with only a small bottle of water to hand, that any would have been left undrunk.
Stranger still, tests revealed the presence of only the equivalent of a fifth of one pill in Dr Kelly's stomach.
Even allowing for natural metabolising, this cannot easily be reconciled with the idea that he swallowed 29 of them.
Forensic toxicologist Alexander Allan told the Hutton inquiry that although the levels of co-proxamol in Dr Kelly's blood were higher than therapeutic levels, they were less than a third of what would normally be found in a fatal overdose.
Furthermore, it is generally accepted that concentrations of a drug in the blood can increase by as much as tenfold after death, leaving open the possibility that he consumed only a thirtieth of the dose necessary to kill him.
As for Dr Kelly's state of mind, in the eyes of those who knew him well he was the last person who might be expected to take his own life.
A recent convert to the Baha'i faith which expressly forbids suicide, he was a strong character who had survived many difficult situations in the past.
Just a day before his 20th birthday in May 1964, his own mother had killed herself with an overdose. Though this had naturally affected him deeply at the time, there was nothing to suggest that it was on his mind at this point in his life.
His friend Mai Pederson recalled a conversation they once had about his mother's death. Would he ever contemplate suicide himself, she asked. 'Good God no, I couldn't ever imagine doing that," he is said to have replied. "I would never do it."
Later many people would conclude that the seeds of his suicide lay in his uncomfortable appearance before MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, July 15, just three days before his death.
Grilled for more than an hour during this televised hearing, he was clearly under considerable pressure and yet one journalist recalled him smiling afterwards.
By the time he gave evidence before the Intelligence and Security Committee the following day, he was even managing to crack a joke or two.
His emotional state certainly did not appear to give any major cause for alarm on the morning of the Thursday he disappeared.
His wife Janice later described him as "tired, subdued but not depressed" and the e-mails he sent from his home during those hours suggested that his mood, if anything, was upbeat.
"Many thanks for your thoughts," he wrote to one colleague. "It has been difficult. Hopefully will all blow over by the end of the week and I can travel to Baghdad and get on with the real work."
Indeed, so keen was Dr Kelly to get back to Iraq that he spoke to Wing Commander John Clark at the Ministry of Defence about when he could return.
A trip was booked for him the following Friday and his diary, recovered by the police, shows that the trip had been entered for that day. People about to kill themselves do not generally first book an airline ticket for a flight they have no intention of taking.
Since none of this fits the profile of a man about to commit suicide, we are faced with an obvious question. If Dr Kelly did not kill himself, then who might have been responsible for his death?
There are, it must be admitted, a number of possible suspects. In the course of a long career in the shadowy world of arms control, Dr Kelly had made powerful enemies.
Back in 1991, for example, he was part of a team that exposed Russia's tests of biological weapons for offensive purposes - a field in which they had invested huge sums of money. This could easily have sparked a desire for revenge, if not from the state itself then from individual Russians.
Dr Kelly also had intimate knowledge of biological weapons research in apartheid-era South Africa that some might have preferred not to see the light of day.
It has also been suggested that he had dealings with Mossad, the Israeli secret service, about illegal bacterial weapon activity.
But it seems very unlikely that the anger of old foes would have simmered for years and then exploded just as Dr Kelly emerged in the political spotlight in 2003.
Quite simply, it would qualify as an astonishing coincidence if the cause of his death were not rooted in the furore over Iraq.
At this point, it has to be asked whether there were elements in the British intelligence services, or indeed within 10 Downing Street itself, who would have wanted Dr Kelly dead.
This is a possibility I have seriously considered. But it is difficult, frankly, to think that anyone in the Government could have thought DrKelly's death to be in their interest, even were they morally prepared to bring it about.
After all, the death of Dr Kelly presented Tony Blair with his greatest political challenge, and put the political focus firmly onto the whole Iraq debacle, which cannot be where the Government would have wanted it.
The more I investigated this affair, the more I realised that people who had worked with David Kelly suspected some kind of link with the Iraqis themselves.
Diplomat David Broucher told the Hutton inquiry that he interpreted Dr Kelly's remark about being found "dead in the woods" to mean that "he was at risk of being attacked by the Iraqis in some way".
Dr Kelly's friend Mai Pederson confirmed to the police that the scientist had received death threats from supporters of Saddam Hussein, who regarded him as an enemy on account of his past success at uncovering their weapons programmes.
This was something Dr Kelly privately acknowledged but refused to be cowed by, in a very British, stiff upper lip kind of way.
The theory that he may have been murdered by elements loyal to Saddam is supported by Dick Spertzel, America's most senior biological weapons inspector, who worked closely with Dr Kelly in Iraq.
"A number of us were on an Iraqi hit list," he told me matter-of-factly. "I was number three, and David was a couple behind that."
But Saddam loyalists are not the only Iraqis we need to consider. There are others, too, with rather closer links to the West.
Much of the information about Saddam's supposed weapons of mass destruction, on which Britain and America based their case for war, was provided by Iraqi dissidents eager to see his overthrow.
This information was sensational and, as events turned out, wildly distorted and in most regards plain false.
One of the central figures here was Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the so-called Iraqi National Congress and the CIA's favourite Iraqi opposition politician.
A financier with a decidedly chequered past - he was found guilty of embezzlement and forgery after $158 million disappeared from a bank he founded in Jordan - Chalabi made no secret of his wish to drag the United States into war with Saddam and was apparently prepared to say anything to achieve that end.
A key Iraqi informer codenamed "Curveball" - who claimed to have led a team equipping mobile laboratories to produce biological weapons for Saddam, but was later entirely discredited - is believed to have been the brother of one of Chalabi's aides.
Chalabi's fingerprints can also be found on the now notorious claims by another defector that Saddam had 20 or more secret sites where weapons of mass destruction could be found. Subsequent searches showed this allegation to be utterly without foundation.
Alastair Campbell: 'Unprecedented and vitriolic attack on the BBC'
Naturally, those like Dr Kelly who, by sticking to the facts, weakened the case for invasion beforehand and discredited those who had exaggerated it afterwards, were unhelpful to Chalabi and his colleagues. The last thing they wanted was the sober truth to prevail.
Another important figure here is Iyad Allawi, leader of the Iraqi National Accord, another organisation created to oppose Saddam. Before they parted ways, he was Saddam's supporter and friend.
There are many who tell of Allawi's violent history. As a young man, he is alleged to have been present at the torture of Iraqi communists who were hung from the ceiling and beaten.
While living in London in the Seventies, he was allegedly the head of Iraq's intelligence operation in Europe, informing on opponents of Saddam who will have faced torture and death when they returned home.
Allawi went on to develop a fruitful relationship with MI6 and the CIA. After the Iraq invasion, he was appointed Prime Minister in the country's interim government - only to face allegations (which he strongly denied) that he had personally shot seven insurgents in the head with a pistol at Baghdad's Al-Amariyah security centre.
"This is how we must deal with terrorists," Allawi is alleged to have told a stunned audience of close to 30 onlookers. "We must destroy anyone who wants to destroy the Iraqi people."
The new Prime Minister's actions are said to have prompted one U.S. official to comment: "What a mess we're in - we got rid of one son of a bitch only to get another."
The Americans apparently referred to Allawi as "Saddam lite".
Before the Iraq invasion, Allawi's organisation - just like Ahmed Chalabi's - was responsible for eye- catching but groundless intelligence exploited by supporters of war. #
In the case of Allawi's group, it was reports passed to MI6 in the spring and summer of 2002, including the false claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction which he could deploy at 45 minutes' notice.
This now infamous "45-minute claim" fed through to the dossier of intelligence which was used as the justification for our involvement in the invasion of Iraq.
It was this dossier, and the 45-minute claim in particular, that David Kelly challenged in his crucial interview with the BBC.
By doing so, did he sign his own death warrant?
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Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all Jan Hill>>> Exactly. And this is why it needs a full public inquiry, not a whitewash focussing on the events surrounding his death based on the assumption that it WAS suicide.
It's frightening that this is only just starting to actually get any media coverage now, after years of this information being in the public domain and of major relevance.
- M-Res, UK, 23/10/2007 13:44
Sunday, 12 April 2009
U.S. shipped 989 munitions containers to Israel week before Gaza invasion
Australian Herald
April 11, 2009
In the dying days of the Bush administration, and a week before Israel launched an aerial bombing campaign, followed by a land invasion of the Gaza Strip, the U.S. military shipped 989 containers of munitions to Israel.
Each container was 20-feet long with a total estimated net weight of 14,000 tonnes. The shipment reportedly reached Israel last month at Ashod, 40 kiometres north of Gaza. The huge arsenal of munitions will replenish those expended in the Gaza War.
According to Amnesty International in the UK, the shipment included white phosphorous.
The international organization says 300 of the containers had been unloaded at Ashod in March by a German cargo ship, Wehr Elb.
"We are sure that the consignment contained arms and munitions." We have a strong suspicion that it contained white phosphorous which has been used against civilians in Gaza," Brian Wood, head of Arms Control Campaign at Amnesty International in London said late this week.
"The cargo ship had been chartered and controlled by US Military Sealift Command. It left the USA for Israel on December 20, one week before the start of Israeli attacks on Gaza. The vessel was carrying 989 containers of munitions, each of them 20-feet long with a total estimated net weight of 14,000 tonnes," he said.
"The world community including the Palestinians should be able to know where the remaining 680 containers on board the Wehr Elbe have gone and why the US is not transparent about the final destination of the dangerous cargo.
"A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to Amnesty International that "the unloading of the entire US munitions shipment was successfully completed at Ashdod on March 22," Wood pointed out.
The spokesperson had said the shipment was destined for a US pre-positioned munitions stockpile in Israel, he said. Under a US-Israel agreement, munitions from this stockpile may be transferred for Israeli use if necessary.
"There is a great risk that the new munitions may be used by the Israeli military to commit further violations of international law, like the ones committed during the war in Gaza," Wood said.
"Legally and morally, this US arms shipment should have been halted by the Obama administration given the extent of the evidence showing how military equipment and munitions of this kind were recently used by the Israeli forces for war crimes. Arms supplies in these circumstances are contrary to provisions in US law," he said.
An independent inquiry into possible abuses of international law by both sides in the Gaza conflict has been launched by the United Nations. The panel is being headed by Justice Richard J Goldstone of South Africa.
"The victims of this brutal conflict have a right to justice and reparation. The perpetrators on both sides must be held accountable if there is to be an end to the cycles of violence and impunity that have persisted for so long. There must be no excuse for either Israel or the Palestinians not to fully cooperate with the inquiry,' Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Programme Director Malcolm Smart said this week.
As reported in Human Rights Watch,
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/81726/section/2
"The unlawful use of white phosphorus was neither incidental nor accidental. It was repeated over time and in different locations, with the IDF "air-bursting" the munition in populated areas up to the last days of its military operation. Even if intended as an obscurant rather than as a weapon, the IDF's repeated firing of air-burst white phosphorus shells from 155mm artillery into densely populated areas was indiscriminate and indicates the commission of war crimes."
"The dangers posed by white phosphorus to civilians were well-known to Israeli commanders, who have used the munition for many years. According to a medical report prepared during the hostilities by the ministry of health, "[w]hite phosphorus can cause serious injury and death when it comes into contact with the skin, is inhaled or is swallowed." The report states that burns on less than 10 percent of the body can be fatal because of damage to the liver, kidneys and heart."
Your tax dollars at work, folks. The unquestioning US support of Israel has made us all complicit in their ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by whatever means they deem necessary - including the use of white phosphorus on unarmed civilians.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Prescott Bush
Besides business dealings with nazi germany Prescott Bush grandfather and father to dumb and dumber allegedly stole geronimos skull.
For decades, mystery has surrounded an elite secret society at Yale University called the Order of Skull and Bones. One of the organizations most storied legends involves the skull of Apache warrior Geronimo, who died in 1909 after two decades as a prisoner of war at Fort Sill, Okla.
As the story goes, nine years after Geronimo's death, Skull and Bones members who were stationed at the army outpost dug up the warrior's grave and stole his skull, as well as some bones and other personal relics. They then sprinted the remains away to New Haven, Conn., and allegedly stashed the skull at the society's clubhouse, the Skull and Bones Tomb.
To make matters even more intriguing, legend has it that the grave-robbing posse included Prescott Bush, father of George H.W. and grandfather of George W.
A Letter Offers Clues
All of this is speculative; Skull and Bones members swear an oath never to reveal what goes on inside the Tomb. But author Marc Wortman says that when he was at Yale's Sterling Library researching The Millionaire's Unit, his book about young men from the university who flew during World War I, he stumbled on a letter that seemed to confirm the rumor.
Written from one Bonesman to another, the letter, which is dated 1918, reads:
The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club and the Knight Haffner is now safe inside the Tomb, together with his well-worn femurs, bit and saddle horn.
Now 20 descendants of Geronimo have filed a lawsuit against Skull and Bones, Yale University and members of the U.S. government (including Barack Obama), calling for the return of their ancestor's remains from New Haven, Fort Sill and "wherever else they may be found."
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark who represents the Geronimo family says that Geronimo made it very clear — even before his surrender — that he wanted to be in the Apache lands of southwestern New Mexico.
"When he met with Teddy Roosevelt, for instance, in March of 1905, his request was that he and the other Chiricahua Apaches who were prisoners of war be permitted to return to the headwaters of the Gila River ... adding that if he couldn't return in his lifetime, that he wanted to be buried there," says Clark.
But Suzan Shown Harjo, president of The Morning Star Institute, a Native rights organization, says it might not be possible to return Geronimo's remains. Twenty years ago, an Apache tribal chairwoman told Harjo that Geronimo's body had already been moved from Oklahoma to New Mexico. And even if the lawsuit turns up a skull in Connecticut, "then you have the question of who? Whose head is it?" says Harjo.
The Mystery Abides
We may never know the truth about Geronimo's remains, says Jeff Houser, chairman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe. Houser is uncomfortable with the lawsuit and would prefer not to disturb Native human remains. He also disputes the idea that Apaches are traditionally buried in their homeland.
"Unlike what was stated in the complaint, Apaches do not like to disinter remains, and there is no tradition of burying them in their birthplace. Apaches were nomadic people," says Houser. "When somebody is buried we traditionally do not revisit the grave. We don't make a big deal out of it."
And there's a further complication. Alexandra Robbins, author Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power says that even if Bonesmen displayed Geronimo's skull in the Tomb at one time, it's likely not there now.
"There are, at any one time, approximately 800 living members of this organization across the world. So any of them could have put the skull anywhere by now. And it's never going to surface," says Robbins.
In an e-mail, Yale University spokesman Tom Conroy wrote: "Yale does not possess Geronimo's remains. Yale does not own the Skull and Bones building or the property it is on, nor does Yale have access to the property or the building."
Efforts to reach members of Skull and Bones for comment were met with silence.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Robert Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated 40 years ago this month at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan B. Sirhan, a 24 year old immigrant, is the alleged lone gunman and is presently serving a life sentence.
In a new book, An Open and Shut Case, Dr. Robert Joling and Philip Van Praag have joined a growing list of people who don’t believe that Sirhan acted alone.
Joling and Van Praag, both forensic scientists, claim that after analyzing audio recordings of the assassination they have concluded that at least 13 shots were fired. The handgun Sirhan used only had the capacity to fire eight shots. They believe that there were two guns and that the fatal shot came from behind Robert Kennedy, while witnesses claim that Sirhan was in front of Kennedy. According to a March 27, 2008 ABC report by Pierre Thomas, Joling claims, “It can be established conclusively that Sirhan did not shoot Senator Kennedy. And in fact not only did he not do it, he could not have done it.”
Los Angeles Coroner Thomas Noguchi conducted the official autopsy on the body of Robert Francis Kennedy on the morning of June 6, 1968. Noguchi stated that the shot that killed RFK “had entered through the mastoid bone, an inch behind the right ear and had traveled upward to sever the branches of the
At a conference in Connecticut forensic scientists met to discuss their independent findings. The conference presenters argued that Sirhan Sirhan could not have fired the fatal shot that killed Kennedy. Dr. Robert Joling has studied the Kennedy assassination for nearly 40 years, he concluded that the fatal shot came from behind Kennedy, while Sirhan was four to six feet in front of the senator and never got close enough to shoot him from behind.
Philip Van Praag analyzed the Pruszynski recording (a Canadian journalist’s tape recording) and determined that 13 shots were fired while Kennedy was killed, although Sirhan’s gun only held eight bullets. This suggests that a second shooter was involved in the assassination.
Other questions regarding the assassination of Robert Kennedy have recently been voiced in a new BBC documentary by Shane O’Sullivan, which supports the conclusion that the CIA planned and executed the killing of Robert Kennedy. The result of a three year long investigation includes photographic evidence that puts three senior CIA operatives at the scene of the murder. These three operatives have been positively identified as David Morales, Gordon Campbell and George Joannides. All three men worked together in 1963 at JMWAVE, the CIA’s Miami base for its secret war on Castro.
Again the question of the murder weapon is raised. The LAPD claimed no bullets were found lodged in the “bullet holes”, and yet the doorframes in which some of the bullets had lodged were burned and two expended bullets, dug out of the wood, were found in the front seat of Sirhan’s car. Then inexplicably, the LAPD destroyed their records of the tests that had been done on the “bullet holes” in the doorframe.
Michael Ruppert, former Los Angeles Police detective, author, journalist and editor of From the Wilderness, has conducted his own investigation of the RFK assassination, using inside contacts deep within the LAPD. His investigation definitively proves that the assassination was a CIA operation, and he names Thane Eugene Cesar, a private security guard just hired out of Lockheed, as the triggerman.
As in other high profile crimes, JFK, MLK and 9/11, the investigation was bungled and evidence was destroyed. Van Praag and Joling are talking to other forensic experts around the country and lobbying for the case to be reopened. “What we would basically like to see at this point, is a new investigation certainly based on new facts that we have come up with, take a fresh look at this case and to bring the authorities in,” said Van Praag. (ABC News March 27, 2008, Pierre Thomas). Thomas ends with “The question is whether, after nearly 40 years, authorities will have any interest in reopening a painful chapter in American history.” There is no statue of limitations on murder – no matter how painful. superior cerebral artery.”
Friday, 6 March 2009
Ted Kennedy Honorary Knighthood
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Gordon Brown popped in to see Her Majesty to drop the bombshell that he wanted her to confer an honorary knighthood on his old chum, Senator Edward Kennedy.
It’s not enough that this Government knighted Sir Fred Goodwin for “services” to banking – before he went on to destroy the Royal Bank of Scotland. Or even that Brown made his great chum James Crosby a Sir – quite an honour for the man who went on to bring HBOS to its knees and was at the Financial Services Authority when it was exercising nothing of the sort.
Not satisfied with these demonstrations of gratitude, Brown has secured another: for Kennedy in recognition of his services to the Northern Ireland peace process. Excuse me? Wasn’t it Kennedy who cosied up to Gerry Adams at the height of the IRA’s murderous campaign? Kennedy, that champion of nationalism, who declared in 1971 that the Protestants of Ulster “should be given a decent opportunity to go back to Britain”?
We will never know the Queen’s view about this honour. Or what the Prince of Wales thinks. We do know that the Prince was distraught at the death of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA. Nicholas Knatchbull, 14, the Prince’s godson, was one of the other victims when Mountbatten’s boat was blown up in 1979. This is what the Prince said on the 25th anniversary: “I was almost struck dumb, absolutely devastated, when I heard about this terrible disaster…”
Sadly, Gerry Adams was not struck dumb and said at the time: “He [Mountbatten] knew the danger involved in coming to this country. In my opinion, the IRA achieved its objective: people started paying attention to what was happening in Ireland.” Yet Kennedy continued to fete Adams in New York, helping the US fund-raisers who contributed to the republican cause. This is a man who has never covered himself in glory. He was inextricably involved in the drowning in 1969 of Mary Jo Kopechne. One night in Chappaquiddick, he accidentally drove the car they were in off a bridge. Kennedy swam to safety; the young woman was left trapped in the car. He returned to his hotel, went to bed and reported the accident the next day – by which time she had suffocated. Had he called for help she might have lived.
Brown must surely think that his honouring Kennedy, whose backing for Barack Obama electrified the Democratic race, will cement his special relationship with the White House. But back in Britain, people will ask how the son of the manse, who played up his religious upbringing in his Congress speech, could possibly give a knighthood to a man whose contribution to the peace process was to demand British withdrawal from Northern Ireland and who, 30 years on, is still refusing to answer questions about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
Only 85 American citizens have received the honour since the Queen came to the throne and these include Rudy Giuliani, Bob Hope and Henry Kissinger. Kennedy has no business being the 86th.
It’s not enough that this Government knighted Sir Fred Goodwin for “services” to banking – before he went on to destroy the Royal Bank of Scotland. Or even that Brown made his great chum James Crosby a Sir – quite an honour for the man who went on to bring HBOS to its knees and was at the Financial Services Authority when it was exercising nothing of the sort.
Not satisfied with these demonstrations of gratitude, Brown has secured another: for Kennedy in recognition of his services to the Northern Ireland peace process. Excuse me? Wasn’t it Kennedy who cosied up to Gerry Adams at the height of the IRA’s murderous campaign? Kennedy, that champion of nationalism, who declared in 1971 that the Protestants of Ulster “should be given a decent opportunity to go back to Britain”?
We will never know the Queen’s view about this honour. Or what the Prince of Wales thinks. We do know that the Prince was distraught at the death of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA. Nicholas Knatchbull, 14, the Prince’s godson, was one of the other victims when Mountbatten’s boat was blown up in 1979. This is what the Prince said on the 25th anniversary: “I was almost struck dumb, absolutely devastated, when I heard about this terrible disaster…”
Sadly, Gerry Adams was not struck dumb and said at the time: “He [Mountbatten] knew the danger involved in coming to this country. In my opinion, the IRA achieved its objective: people started paying attention to what was happening in Ireland.” Yet Kennedy continued to fete Adams in New York, helping the US fund-raisers who contributed to the republican cause. This is a man who has never covered himself in glory. He was inextricably involved in the drowning in 1969 of Mary Jo Kopechne. One night in Chappaquiddick, he accidentally drove the car they were in off a bridge. Kennedy swam to safety; the young woman was left trapped in the car. He returned to his hotel, went to bed and reported the accident the next day – by which time she had suffocated. Had he called for help she might have lived.
Brown must surely think that his honouring Kennedy, whose backing for Barack Obama electrified the Democratic race, will cement his special relationship with the White House. But back in Britain, people will ask how the son of the manse, who played up his religious upbringing in his Congress speech, could possibly give a knighthood to a man whose contribution to the peace process was to demand British withdrawal from Northern Ireland and who, 30 years on, is still refusing to answer questions about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
Only 85 American citizens have received the honour since the Queen came to the throne and these include Rudy Giuliani, Bob Hope and Henry Kissinger. Kennedy has no business being the 86th.
Please read ted kennedys statement,
On July 18, 1969, at approximately 11:15 PM in Chappaquiddick, Martha's Vinyard, Massachusetts, I was driving my car on Main Street on my way to get the ferry back to Edgartown. I was unfamiliar with the road and turned right onto Dike Road, instead of bearing hard left on Main Street. After proceeding for approximately one-half mile on Dike Road I descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge. The car went off the side of the bridge. There was one passenger with me, one Miss Mary ( Kennedy was not sure of the spelling of the dead girl's last name, and offered a rough phonetic approximation ), a former secretary of my brother Sen. Robert Kennedy. The car turned over and sank into the water and landed with the roof resting on the bottom. I attempted to open the door and the window of the car but have no recolection of how I got out of the car. I came to the surface and then repeatedly dove down to the car in an attempt to see if the passenger was still in the car. I was unsuccessful in the attempt. I was exhausted and in a state of shock. I recall walking back to where my friends were eating. There was a car parked in front of the cottage and I climbed into the back seat. I then asked for someone to bring me back to Edgartown. I remember walking around for a period of time and then going back to my hotel room. When I fully realized what had happened this morning, I immediately contacted the police."
Saturday, 28 February 2009
NASA Return To The Moon 2020
NASA will stay on track to return humans to the Moon by 2020, according to an overview of President Obama's 2010 budget request released on Thursday.
Recently, various groups - including Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the space advocacy group the Planetary Society - have called for NASA to send astronauts to new destinations, such as asteroids.
But the budget request backs a plan developed under the Bush administration to retire the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a system to return humans to the Moon by 2020.
However, the document does not specify whether the Moon return will be accomplished by NASA's Constellation programme, which aims to build a crew capsule called Orion and rockets called Ares to replace the shuttle.
Obama's transition team was reported to have raised questions about the programme's Ares rockets, which have been plagued by design concerns that include excess vibrations.
Some argue that existing rockets, such as the Atlas V or Delta IV currently used to loft spacecraft, would be better alternatives, while others back a new design.
Recently, various groups - including Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the space advocacy group the Planetary Society - have called for NASA to send astronauts to new destinations, such as asteroids.
But the budget request backs a plan developed under the Bush administration to retire the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a system to return humans to the Moon by 2020.
However, the document does not specify whether the Moon return will be accomplished by NASA's Constellation programme, which aims to build a crew capsule called Orion and rockets called Ares to replace the shuttle.
Obama's transition team was reported to have raised questions about the programme's Ares rockets, which have been plagued by design concerns that include excess vibrations.
Some argue that existing rockets, such as the Atlas V or Delta IV currently used to loft spacecraft, would be better alternatives, while others back a new design.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
No Line On The Horizon
“No Line on the Horizon is closer to the transitional risks — the Irish-gothic spell of 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, the techno-rock jet lag of 1993’s Zooropa — but with a consistent persuasion in the guitar hooks, rhythms and vocal lines.”
Here's the full tracklisting:
1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez – Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon
A album to cherish a band going forward not happy to rest on their laurels
Tony Blair honoured with £1 million pound award
Tony Blair honoured with £1 million pound award for his efforts in furthering world peace haven`t they heard of IRAQ.
A clue to why he won may be that the Dan David Foundation is based at a university in Tel Aviv. In case you had forgotten, Blair is the Middle East peace envoy. And very good he is at it, too.So good that he has yet to set foot in Gaza since he took up the post two years ago. Instead, he is holed up in a suite on several floors of a smart Jerusalem hotel, and when he leaves it is in a bulletproof, bomb-reinforced security convoy.
Blair Also went to the White House to accept his Congressional Medal, his reward for leading Britain into war with Iraq, the most disastrous British foreign policy foray since Suez, and the reason suicide bombers have plied their deadly trade over here.
Even when there were 1500 deaths in Gaza even the general sec of the united nations denounced it.Gordon Brown mocked his old adversary, by suggesting that he must be on holiday, that Mr Blair found his voice.
Blair, the newly crowned Dan David laureate, is hailed on the organisation's website as "one of the most outstanding statesmen of our era". It rightly praises his role in the Northern Ireland peace process and his "steadfast determination and morally courageous leadership" over Kosovo. They were both outstanding achievements.But Iraq is a stain on his reputation for which he will never be forgiven and the reason that his award this week has made a mockery of the Dan David Prize.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Lusitania Lies
The Lusitania was sunk off county cork on May 7, 1915. The attack killed 1,198 people, including 128 Americans and helped push the United States into WWI.
The British government has always been evasive about the presence of munitions on Lusitania. Two cargo manifests were submitted; the second, filed after the ship sailed indicated there were light munitions on board. Some believe the ship was carrying much more, however, and that the British Navy attempted to destroy the wreck in the 1950s to conceal its military cargo.
Now a team led by County Waterford-based diver Eoin McGarry, on behalf of Lusitania's American owner, Gregg Bemis, has recovered live ammunition from the wreck ... This past September, Bemis's team used a remotely operated vehicle to penetrate the wreck. They were able to clearly identify a vast amount of ammunition in an area of the Lusitania not believed to have carried cargo. The Remington .303 caliber bullets the team discovered on the ship had been used by the British Military during WW1. Ten of the bullets were brought to the surface."
"The charge that the Lusitania was carrying war materiel is valid," says Bemis. "She was a legitimate target for the German submarine."
However, the official explanation of events contradicts the conspiracy theorists, and supported by a study conducted by GIST (“Government Incompetence of Scientific Technology”), after a 90 plus year, 125 billion dollar investigation. While GIST acknowledges that “vast quantities” of .303 ammunition may have been found, it flatly denies that the ammo was in the Lusitania’s hold prior to its sinking, or that it came from America; a neutral country at the time. Using sophisticated computer models, the details of which are classified, GIST scientists have clearly demonstrated that the Remington bullets found were merely random live rounds accidentally dropped by WW1 soldiers in the battle fields of Europe. Those dropped bullets then washed into streams and rivers that eventually were carried into the ocean where they coalesced into a tidy pile inside the ships hold by a drifting phenomenon called “Tidal Expansion”, without causing any harm to the adjacent cargo.
Moreover, in order for the “twoofers” allegations to be true, it has been suggested that to carry out a sophisticated American-British ammo transport operation, with all the buy/sell ordering paperwork, the manufacturing, the hauling to the ship yard, unloading, storage then re-loading into the ships hold all that ammunition, would have involved thousands of people. Of course some would have talked, and it would have been impossible for the US or British government to keep such a secret for so many yearsHer sinking with the loss of almost 1,200 lives caused such outrage that it propelled the U.S. into the First World War.
But now divers have revealed a dark secret about the cargo carried by the Lusitania on its final journey in May 1915.
Munitions they found in the hold suggest that the Germans had been right all along in claiming the ship was carrying war materials and was a legitimate military target.
The Cunard vessel, steaming from New York to Liverpool, was sunk eight miles off the Irish coast by a U-boat.
Maintaining that the Lusitania was solely a passenger vessel, the British quickly accused the 'Pirate Hun' ofslaughtering civilians.
The disaster was used to whip up anti-German anger, especially in the U.S., where 128 of the 1,198 victims came from.
A hundred of the dead were children, many of them under two.
Robert Lansing, the U.S. secretary of state, later wrote that the sinking gave him the 'conviction we would ultimately become the ally of Britain'.
Americans were even told, falsely, that German children were given a day off school to celebrate the sinking of the Lusitania.
The disaster inspired a multitude of recruitment posters demanding vengeance for the victims.
One, famously showing a young mother slipping below the waves with her baby, carried the simple slogan 'Enlist'.
Two years later, the Americans joined the Allies as an associated power - a decision that turned the war decisively against Germany.
The diving team estimates that around four million rounds of U.S.-manufactured Remington .303 bullets lie in the Lusitania's hold at a depth of 300ft.
The Germans had insisted the Lusitania - the fastest liner in the North Atlantic - was being used as a weapons ship to break the blockade Berlin had been trying to impose around Britain since the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914.
Winston Churchill, who was first Lord of the Admiralty and has long been suspected of knowing more about the circumstances of the attack than he let on in public, wrote in a confidential letter shortly before the sinking that some German submarine attacks were to be welcomed.
He said: 'It is most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores, in the hope especially of embroiling the U.S. with Germany.
'For our part we want the traffic - the more the better and if some of it gets into trouble, better still.'
Hampton Sides, a writer with Men's Vogue in the U.S., witnessed the divers' discovery.
He said: 'They are bullets that were expressly manufactured to kill Germans in World War I - bullets that British officials in Whitehall, and American officials in Washington, have long denied were aboard the Lusitania.'
The discovery may help explain why the 787ft Lusitania sank within 18 minutes of a single German torpedo slamming into its hull.
Some of the 764 survivors reported a second explosion which might have been munitions going off.
Gregg Bemis, an American businessman who owns the rights to the wreck and is funding its exploration, said: 'Those four million rounds of .303s were not just some private hunter's stash.
'Now that we've found it, the British can't deny any more that there was ammunition on board. That raises the question of what else was on board.
'There were literally tons and tons of stuff stored in unrefrigerated cargo holds that were dubiously marked cheese, butter and oysters.
'I've always felt there were some significant high explosives in the holds - shells, powder, gun cotton - that were set off by the torpedo and the inflow of water. That's what sank the ship.'
Mr Bemis is planning to commission further dives next year in a full-scale forensic examination of the wreck off County Cork
"The charge that the Lusitania was carrying war materiel is valid," says Bemis. "She was a legitimate target for the German submarine."
However, the official explanation of events contradicts the conspiracy theorists, and supported by a study conducted by GIST (“Government Incompetence of Scientific Technology”), after a 90 plus year, 125 billion dollar investigation. While GIST acknowledges that “vast quantities” of .303 ammunition may have been found, it flatly denies that the ammo was in the Lusitania’s hold prior to its sinking, or that it came from America; a neutral country at the time. Using sophisticated computer models, the details of which are classified, GIST scientists have clearly demonstrated that the Remington bullets found were merely random live rounds accidentally dropped by WW1 soldiers in the battle fields of Europe. Those dropped bullets then washed into streams and rivers that eventually were carried into the ocean where they coalesced into a tidy pile inside the ships hold by a drifting phenomenon called “Tidal Expansion”, without causing any harm to the adjacent cargo.
Moreover, in order for the “twoofers” allegations to be true, it has been suggested that to carry out a sophisticated American-British ammo transport operation, with all the buy/sell ordering paperwork, the manufacturing, the hauling to the ship yard, unloading, storage then re-loading into the ships hold all that ammunition, would have involved thousands of people. Of course some would have talked, and it would have been impossible for the US or British government to keep such a secret for so many yearsHer sinking with the loss of almost 1,200 lives caused such outrage that it propelled the U.S. into the First World War.
But now divers have revealed a dark secret about the cargo carried by the Lusitania on its final journey in May 1915.
Munitions they found in the hold suggest that the Germans had been right all along in claiming the ship was carrying war materials and was a legitimate military target.
The Cunard vessel, steaming from New York to Liverpool, was sunk eight miles off the Irish coast by a U-boat.
Maintaining that the Lusitania was solely a passenger vessel, the British quickly accused the 'Pirate Hun' ofslaughtering civilians.
The disaster was used to whip up anti-German anger, especially in the U.S., where 128 of the 1,198 victims came from.
A hundred of the dead were children, many of them under two.
Robert Lansing, the U.S. secretary of state, later wrote that the sinking gave him the 'conviction we would ultimately become the ally of Britain'.
Americans were even told, falsely, that German children were given a day off school to celebrate the sinking of the Lusitania.
The disaster inspired a multitude of recruitment posters demanding vengeance for the victims.
One, famously showing a young mother slipping below the waves with her baby, carried the simple slogan 'Enlist'.
Two years later, the Americans joined the Allies as an associated power - a decision that turned the war decisively against Germany.
The diving team estimates that around four million rounds of U.S.-manufactured Remington .303 bullets lie in the Lusitania's hold at a depth of 300ft.
The Germans had insisted the Lusitania - the fastest liner in the North Atlantic - was being used as a weapons ship to break the blockade Berlin had been trying to impose around Britain since the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914.
Winston Churchill, who was first Lord of the Admiralty and has long been suspected of knowing more about the circumstances of the attack than he let on in public, wrote in a confidential letter shortly before the sinking that some German submarine attacks were to be welcomed.
He said: 'It is most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores, in the hope especially of embroiling the U.S. with Germany.
'For our part we want the traffic - the more the better and if some of it gets into trouble, better still.'
Hampton Sides, a writer with Men's Vogue in the U.S., witnessed the divers' discovery.
He said: 'They are bullets that were expressly manufactured to kill Germans in World War I - bullets that British officials in Whitehall, and American officials in Washington, have long denied were aboard the Lusitania.'
The discovery may help explain why the 787ft Lusitania sank within 18 minutes of a single German torpedo slamming into its hull.
Some of the 764 survivors reported a second explosion which might have been munitions going off.
Gregg Bemis, an American businessman who owns the rights to the wreck and is funding its exploration, said: 'Those four million rounds of .303s were not just some private hunter's stash.
'Now that we've found it, the British can't deny any more that there was ammunition on board. That raises the question of what else was on board.
'There were literally tons and tons of stuff stored in unrefrigerated cargo holds that were dubiously marked cheese, butter and oysters.
'I've always felt there were some significant high explosives in the holds - shells, powder, gun cotton - that were set off by the torpedo and the inflow of water. That's what sank the ship.'
Mr Bemis is planning to commission further dives next year in a full-scale forensic examination of the wreck off County Cork
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
So Much For Change
President Barack Obama has authorised the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan.
Mr Obama said the soldiers had been due to go to Iraq but were being redirected to "meet urgent security needs".
It is the first major military decision by the Obama administration, and comes amid a major review of US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On Tuesday, the UN said that 2,118 civilians were killed in the conflict in 2008 - an increase of 39% from 2007.
Militants were to blame for 55% of the deaths, while US, Nato and Afghan forces were responsible for 39%, the UN said.
Mr Obama said the soldiers had been due to go to Iraq but were being redirected to "meet urgent security needs".
It is the first major military decision by the Obama administration, and comes amid a major review of US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On Tuesday, the UN said that 2,118 civilians were killed in the conflict in 2008 - an increase of 39% from 2007.
Militants were to blame for 55% of the deaths, while US, Nato and Afghan forces were responsible for 39%, the UN said.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people" - John Adams - Second President - 1797 - 1801
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,311,696"
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In U.S. War And Occupation Of Iraq 4,243
Cost of U.S. War and Occupation of Iraq
$596,969,903,146
$596,969,903,146
Consider the costs...
$4,681 per household.
$1,721 per person.
$341.4 million per day
$4,681 per household.
$1,721 per person.
$341.4 million per day
US military loses 222,000 weapons sent to Afghanistan since 2001: The report shows that the US military failed to keep proper records of 87,000 rifles, pistols, mortars and other weapons sent to Afghanistan between December 2004 and June 2008. It also failed to track 135,000 weapons donated to Afghan security by 21 other countries
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Oswald`s minox camara
One of the strongest pieces of evidence for Oswald's involvement in spy work concerns a small Minox camera found among his effects by Dallas Police. Information developed by the Dallas Morning News in 1978 revealed the camera was not available to the public in 1963. It may have been spy equipment issued to Oswald. This evidence was so explosive that the FBI tried to get Dallas detectives to change their reports regarding the camera and also kept photos taken by Oswald hidden for nearly fifteen years.... Detective Rose told the Dallas Morning News: "[FBI agents] were calling it a light meter, I know that. But I know a camera when I see it.... The thing we got at Irving out of Oswald's seabag was a Minox camera. No question about it. They tried to get me to change the records because it wasn't a light meter. I don't know why they wanted it changed, but they must have had some motive for it." The motive may have been that the existence of the camera pointed to Oswald's intelligence connections....
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Cheney Warns Of Mass Terror Attack
The only way they can change President Obamas polices in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq is to allow another attack on the usa or get the C.I.A. to set one up (ANTHRAX SCARE) .Americans are setting up another Reichstag.
In an interview with Politico.com the former Vice President was rattling the sabers of terror again. CBS summarized the interview as follows: "Cheney warned that there is a 'high probability' that terrorists will attempt a catastrophic nuclear or biological attack in coming years, and said he fears the Obama administration's policies will make it more likely the attempt will succeed... Cheney unyieldingly defended the Bush administration's support for the Guantanamo Bay prison and coercive interrogation of terrorism suspects. And he asserted that President Obama will either backtrack on his stated intentions to end those policies or put the county at risk in ways more severe than most Americans - and, he charged, many members of Obama's own team - understand."
This is a telling reminder that Cheney, as a real insider knows that the CFR transition team made sure that all of Obama's appointments were on board the same globalist agenda that ruled the Bush regime. Only the rhetoric will be different. Cheney's remarks are all the more significant because he is the only person in the Bush administration upon whom we have hard evidence that he knowingly allowed one of the hijacked airliners to crash into the Pentagon when he had the power to stop it. Cheney was in charge of the White House situation room and kept putting off a young Air Force officer's concern about how close one of the hijacked airliners was approaching the Pentagon. The officer was frantic because Cheney had issued orders NOT to engage the target.
This is a telling reminder that Cheney, as a real insider knows that the CFR transition team made sure that all of Obama's appointments were on board the same globalist agenda that ruled the Bush regime. Only the rhetoric will be different. Cheney's remarks are all the more significant because he is the only person in the Bush administration upon whom we have hard evidence that he knowingly allowed one of the hijacked airliners to crash into the Pentagon when he had the power to stop it. Cheney was in charge of the White House situation room and kept putting off a young Air Force officer's concern about how close one of the hijacked airliners was approaching the Pentagon. The officer was frantic because Cheney had issued orders NOT to engage the target.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
The Damned United release date 27 March 2009
From the best-selling and critically acclaimed novel by David Peace, The Damned United is directed by Tom Hooper and stars Michael Sheen as the legendary, opinionated football manager Brian Clough, with Timothy Spall as his right hand man, only friend, and crutch Peter Taylor.Set in 1960s and 1970s England, The Damned United tells the confrontational and darkly humorous story of Brian Cloughs doomed 44 day tenure as manager of the reigning champions of English football Leeds United. Previously managed by his bitter rival Don Revie (Colm Meaney), and on the back of their most successful period ever as a football club, Leeds had an aggressive and cynical style of football - an anathema to the principled yet flamboyant Brian Clough, who had achieved astonishing success as manager of Hartlepool and Derby County building teams in his own vision with trusty lieutenant Peter Taylor. Taking the Leeds job without Taylor by his side, with a changing room full of Dons boys, would lead to an unheralded examination of Cloughs belligerence and brilliance over 44 days. This is that story. The story of The Damned United. Jim Broadbent plays Sam Longson, Derby Chairman. The Damned United was filmed in locations throughout Yorkshire, Leeds, Derbyshire and Spain.
‘The Boss’ and the E Street Band will perform their first-ever UK festival appearance outside of the United States, at Hard Rock Calling 2009 in Hyde Park, London on June 28th
Main support comes from multi-million album selling American rockers Dave Matthews Band – with their hybrid of jazz, folk and a distinct pop sensibility resonating through capacity stadiums in the United States. They will be joining Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band on Sunday 28 June with full supporting line-up to be announced.
New Jersey’s newest and hottest sons, The Gaslight Anthem, will also be joining the lineup on June 28th. Currently in the midst of a world tour, The Gaslight Anthem are the hottest ticket around and have been cited as the best new band fans will hear in 2009.
Main support comes from multi-million album selling American rockers Dave Matthews Band – with their hybrid of jazz, folk and a distinct pop sensibility resonating through capacity stadiums in the United States. They will be joining Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band on Sunday 28 June with full supporting line-up to be announced.
New Jersey’s newest and hottest sons, The Gaslight Anthem, will also be joining the lineup on June 28th. Currently in the midst of a world tour, The Gaslight Anthem are the hottest ticket around and have been cited as the best new band fans will hear in 2009.
Sunday, 8 February 2009
No Line On The Horizon
Saturday, 7 February 2009
USS MAINE SUNK 15TH FEBUARY 1898
Reasons for the USA to go to war in a article in the national geographic
In 1898, Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal were arguing for American intervention in Cuba. Hearst is reported to have dispatched a photographer to Cuba to photograph the coming war with Spain. When the photographer asked just what war that might be, Hearst is reported to have replied, "You take the photographs, and I will provide the war". Hearst was true to his word, as his newspaper published stories of great atrocities being committed against the Cuban people, most of which turned out to be complete fabrications.
On the night of February 15, 1898, the USS Maine, lying in Havana harbor in a show of US resolve to protect her interests, exploded violently. Captain Sigsbee, the commander of the Maine, urged that no assumptions of enemy attack be made until there was a full investigation of the cause of the explosion. For this, Captain Sigsbee was excoriated in the press for "refusing to see the obvious". The Atlantic Monthly declared flat out that to suppose the explosion to be anything other than a deliberate act by Spain was "completely at defiance of the laws of probability".
Under the slogan "Remember the Maine", Americans went to war with Spain, eventually winning the Philippines (and annexing Hawaii along the way).
In 1975, an investigation led by Admiral Hyman Rickover examined the data recovered from a 1911 examination of the wreck and concluded that there had been no evidence of an external explosion. The most likely cause of the sinking was a coal dust explosion in a coal bunker imprudently located next to the ship's magazines. Captain Sigsbee's caution had been well founded.
On the night of February 15, 1898, the USS Maine, lying in Havana harbor in a show of US resolve to protect her interests, exploded violently. Captain Sigsbee, the commander of the Maine, urged that no assumptions of enemy attack be made until there was a full investigation of the cause of the explosion. For this, Captain Sigsbee was excoriated in the press for "refusing to see the obvious". The Atlantic Monthly declared flat out that to suppose the explosion to be anything other than a deliberate act by Spain was "completely at defiance of the laws of probability".
Under the slogan "Remember the Maine", Americans went to war with Spain, eventually winning the Philippines (and annexing Hawaii along the way).
In 1975, an investigation led by Admiral Hyman Rickover examined the data recovered from a 1911 examination of the wreck and concluded that there had been no evidence of an external explosion. The most likely cause of the sinking was a coal dust explosion in a coal bunker imprudently located next to the ship's magazines. Captain Sigsbee's caution had been well founded.
The explosion on the USS Maine was caused by an internal explosion involving the spontaneous combustion of coal in bunker A16. The fire caused by the combustion detonated nearby magazines.
Evidence Presented:
spontaneous combustion of coal was a fairly frequent problem on ships built after the American Civil War. Coal was exposed to air, oxidized and began burning at 180 degrees. Heat transferred to magazines causing explosion.
bunker A16 had not been inspected since 8 a.m. The explosion occurred around
9:40 p.m. There was ample time (12 hours) for a coal bunker fire to smolder into a disaster.
several other ships sustained damage from coal bunker fires during the Spanish American war.
no one reported seeing a geyser of water thrown up during the explosion, acommon sight when mines explode underwater.
no one reported seeing any dead fish in the harbor and these would have been seen if there had been an external blast.
inward bending of the plates was caused by water displacement occurring at the same time the front of the ship was breaking away from the rear.
9:40 p.m. There was ample time (12 hours) for a coal bunker fire to smolder into a disaster.
several other ships sustained damage from coal bunker fires during the Spanish American war.
no one reported seeing a geyser of water thrown up during the explosion, acommon sight when mines explode underwater.
no one reported seeing any dead fish in the harbor and these would have been seen if there had been an external blast.
inward bending of the plates was caused by water displacement occurring at the same time the front of the ship was breaking away from the rear.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Jeremy Clarkson
I wonder if george bush knows who gordon brown is perhaps he thinks tony blair has had a storke and put on weight.
Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has said he is sorry for calling Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot".
He said: "In the heat of the moment I made a remark about the Prime Minister's personal appearance for which, upon reflection, I apologise."
The broadcaster made the comments to journalists in Sydney when he was speaking about the economic crisis.
The BBC said it noted Clarkson's apology for the comments and would be taking no further action.
Public figures have reacted angrily to the presenter's remarks, with Labour MP Gordon Banks saying what Clarkson said was "unforgivable".
Number 10 would only say that Clarkson "is entitled to his own interpretation of the economic circumstances".
The spokesperson declined to comment on the specific insult about Mr Brown, who lost the sight in one eye after an accident as a teenager.
He said: "In the heat of the moment I made a remark about the Prime Minister's personal appearance for which, upon reflection, I apologise."
The broadcaster made the comments to journalists in Sydney when he was speaking about the economic crisis.
The BBC said it noted Clarkson's apology for the comments and would be taking no further action.
Public figures have reacted angrily to the presenter's remarks, with Labour MP Gordon Banks saying what Clarkson said was "unforgivable".
Number 10 would only say that Clarkson "is entitled to his own interpretation of the economic circumstances".
The spokesperson declined to comment on the specific insult about Mr Brown, who lost the sight in one eye after an accident as a teenager.
The lies of Hiroshima live on, props in the war crimes of the 20th centuryThe 1945 attack was murder on an epic scale.
When I first went to Hiroshima in 1967, the shadow on the steps was still there. It was an almost perfect impression of a human being at ease: legs splayed, back bent, one hand by her side as she sat waiting for a bank to open. At a quarter past eight on the morning of August 6, 1945, she and her silhouette were burned into the granite. I stared at the shadow for an hour or more, then walked down to the river and met a man called Yukio, whose chest was still etched with the pattern of the shirt he was wearing when the atomic bomb was dropped.
He and his family still lived in a shack thrown up in the dust of an atomic desert. He described a huge flash over the city, "a bluish light, something like an electrical short", after which wind blew like a tornado and black rain fell. "I was thrown on the ground and noticed only the stalks of my flowers were left. Everything was still and quiet, and when I got up, there were people naked, not saying anything. Some of them had no skin or hair. I was certain I was dead." Nine years later, when I returned to look for him, he was dead from leukaemia.
In the immediate aftermath of the bomb, the allied occupation authorities banned all mention of radiation poisoning and insisted that people had been killed or injured only by the bomb's blast. It was the first big lie. "No radioactivity in Hiroshima ruin" said the front page of the New York Times, a classic of disinformation and journalistic abdication, which the Australian reporter Wilfred Burchett put right with his scoop of the century. "I write this as a warning to the world," reported Burchett in the Daily Express, having reached Hiroshima after a perilous journey, the first correspondent to dare. He described hospital wards filled with people with no visible injuries but who were dying from what he called "an atomic plague". For telling this truth, his press accreditation was withdrawn, he was pilloried and smeared - and vindicated.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a criminal act on an epic scale. It was premeditated mass murder that unleashed a weapon of intrinsic criminality. For this reason its apologists have sought refuge in the mythology of the ultimate "good war", whose "ethical bath", as Richard Drayton called it, has allowed the west not only to expiate its bloody imperial past but to promote 60 years of rapacious war, always beneath the shadow of The Bomb.
The most enduring lie is that the atomic bomb was dropped to end the war in the Pacific and save lives. "Even without the atomic bombing attacks," concluded the United States Strategic Bombing Survey of 1946, "air supremacy over Japan could have exerted sufficient pressure to bring about unconditional surrender and obviate the need for invasion. Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that ... Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."
The National Archives in Washington contain US government documents that chart Japanese peace overtures as early as 1943. None was pursued. A cable sent on May 5, 1945 by the German ambassador in Tokyo and intercepted by the US dispels any doubt that the Japanese were desperate to sue for peace, including "capitulation even if the terms were hard". Instead, the US secretary of war, Henry Stimson, told President Truman he was "fearful" that the US air force would have Japan so "bombed out" that the new weapon would not be able "to show its strength". He later admitted that "no effort was made, and none was seriously considered, to achieve surrender merely in order not to have to use the bomb". His foreign policy colleagues were eager "to browbeat the Russians with the bomb held rather ostentatiously on our hip". General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project that made the bomb, testified: "There was never any illusion on my part that Russia was our enemy, and that the project was conducted on that basis." The day after Hiroshima was obliterated, President Truman voiced his satisfaction with the "overwhelming success" of "the experiment".
Since 1945, the United States is believed to have been on the brink of using nuclear weapons at least three times. In waging their bogus "war on terror", the present governments in Washington and London have declared they are prepared to make "pre-emptive" nuclear strikes against non-nuclear states. With each stroke toward the midnight of a nuclear Armageddon, the lies of justification grow more outrageous. Iran is the current "threat". But Iran has no nuclear weapons and the disinformation that it is planning a nuclear arsenal comes largely from a discredited CIA-sponsored Iranian opposition group, the MEK - just as the lies about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction originated with the Iraqi National Congress, set up by Washington.
The role of western journalism in erecting this straw man is critical. That America's Defence Intelligence Estimate says "with high confidence" that Iran gave up its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 has been consigned to the memory hole. That Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never threatened to "wipe Israel off the map" is of no interest. But such has been the mantra of this media "fact" that in his recent, obsequious performance before the Israeli parliament, Gordon Brown alluded to it as he threatened Iran, yet again.
This progression of lies has brought us to one of the most dangerous nuclear crises since 1945, because the real threat remains almost unmentionable in western establishment circles and therefore in the media. There is only one rampant nuclear power in the Middle East and that is Israel. The heroic Mordechai Vanunu tried to warn the world in 1986 when he smuggled out evidence that Israel was building as many as 200 nuclear warheads. In defiance of UN resolutions, Israel is today clearly itching to attack Iran, fearful that a new American administration might, just might, conduct genuine negotiations with a nation the west has defiled since Britain and America overthrew Iranian democracy in 1953.
In the New York Times on July 18, the Israeli historian Benny Morris, once considered a liberal and now a consultant to his country's political and military establishment, threatened "an Iran turned into a nuclear wasteland". This would be mass murder. For a Jew, the irony cries out.
The question begs: are the rest of us to be mere bystanders, claiming, as good Germans did, that "we did not know"? Do we hide ever more behind what Richard Falk has called "a self-righteous, one-way, legal/moral screen [with] positive images of western values and innocence portrayed as threatened, validating a campaign of unrestricted violence"? Catching war criminals is fashionable again. Radovan Karadzic stands in the dock, but Sharon and Olmert, Bush and Blair do not. Why not? The memory of Hiroshima requires an answer.
johnpilger.com
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