Did Donald Rumsfeld Scuttle Out Of France Like A Rat On The Run? via Colcam.Image
"Donald Rumsfeld must be feelinghowSaddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down.”Donald Rumsfeld, former US Defense Secretary and the man who authorized the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, attended a breakfast meeting with Foreign Policy magazine in Paris the other day.According to unconfirmed reports, Rumsfeld had to flee France after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against him alleging the “ordering and authorizing” of torture.The authorities in France are obliged to investigate when a complaint is made while the alleged criminal is on French soil.Protesters in France believe that the defense secretary fled over the border to Germany.Read: RUMSFELD FLEES FRANCE FEARING ARRESTRINF... Doris Lessing, An Artist Who Doesn’t Mince Her Words via Colcam.Image
Blair - A Warmongering Speech For A Religious Charity via Colcam.Image
Which Children Do You Include, Mister Brown? via Colcam.Image
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his speech to the Labour Party Conference this week, actually did mention Iraq - once - but despite his apparent concern, wrapped in biblical quotes, for all children, he failed to mention:The estimate by Iraq's Ministry of Health that half of the country’s children suffer from some form of malnutrition.The fact that less than a third of Iraq’s children now attend school, compared to 100 percent attendance before the March 2003 invasion.The countless numbers of orphaned Iraqi children who survive by begging, stealing or scavenging garbage for food.The 70 percent of young children who suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress.The virtual collapse of the Iraqi health service, causing sick or injured children who could otherwise be treated by simple means,... Oil. via On the outside looking in.
This is well worth watching. Very cleverly put together.......
Is Prince Harry’s Blood More Precious Than That Of The Others In Iraq? via Colcam.Image
Question mark over Harry’s role as he is barred from joining his men in... Bush’s Great Wall Of Baghdad - Puppet al-Maliki’s Words Have Little Effect. via Colcam.Image
When Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said during a visit to Egypt on Sunday that the construction of Bush’s Great Wall Of Baghdad must stop, the question was who carried the authority to decide the future of the barriers - Maliki, so-called Prime Minister, democratically elected, or the US military and George Bush.The answer, it would appear, is that Maliki does not have such authority making him, as many suspected, little more than a puppet whose strings are pulled by Washington, to be ignored and overruled when his opinions do not fit in with the wishes of his masters.The construction of the three-mile wall in Baghdad continued Monday, a military spokesman for the Iraqi government said, despite Premier Nuri al-Maliki's opposition.Experts say the building of walls around Sunni districts...
Bush’s Baghdad Wall - Maliki Orders Halt. via Colcam.Image
According to AFP, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, on a visit to Egypt, announced that he had ordered a halt to the construction by US troops of the controversial three mile wall around Adhamiyah."I am opposed to the building of the wall and its construction is going to stop," he said at a press conference.In earlier update, the US military announced it was extending its scheme of erecting concrete barriers around districts in Baghdad. I cannot help but wonder who is going to win this 'battle' - the US military or the supposed democratically elected Prime Minister of Iraq.See all recent...
Update On Bush’s Great Wall Of Baghdad. via Colcam.Image
Since this earlier post today, the US military has announced it is extending its scheme of erecting concrete barriers around districts in Baghdad, An official has said it is extending its scheme of erecting concrete barriers around districts in Baghdad, calling them "gated communities".Aljazeera Report hereSee all recent...
Bush’s Great Wall Of Baghdad. via Colcam.Image
In the Ghetto: Bush Begins Forced Ethnic Partition of Baghdad in the dead of nightWorking only at night, heavily guarded by tanks, the Bush Regime in Iraq, taking a cue from Cold War Soviet policy in Berlin – not to mention the enlightened approach of the Israeli government in the West Bank – has begun walling off a Sunni enclave in Baghdad, driving a stake into the heart of the flickering reconciliation efforts among the Iraqi grassroots.The wall, three miles long, 12ft high, made up of 14,000 pound concrete barriers, is designed to separate Sunni and Shia Muslims, and effectively seals the Sunnis of Adhamiya into a ghetto."When the wall is finished, the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah, located on the eastern side of the Tigris River, will be completely gated, and traffic...
Bush Sees Gains In Iraq. via Colcam.Image
Speaking on Friday, George Bush urged people not to be swayed by the violence inflicted by suicide bombers and focus, instead, on gains Iraqi and U.S. forces are making day by day, block by block in Baghdad.He said early signs show the operation to quell violence is meeting expectations.......See all recent... Tony Blair’s “Progress In Iraq.” via Colcam.Image
“I think the evidence on the ground in Baghdad is that progress is being made........“As the BBC and other news channels in Britain continue to give blanket coverage of the killings at Virginia Tech University in the US, a limited amount of airtime was grudgingly given on Wednesday to the horrific events of the day in Iraq where more than 190 were killed and over 200 injured in the series of bomb attacks.That was only for the major coordinated bomb attacks in Baghdad.The true figures for the day, if the media could have been bothered researching and reporting, actually added up to 313 killed and 302 injured throughout the country.The Herald today reports (they too only quote the lower numbers) the comments made by Blair’s Downing Street spokesman yesterday that...
Beckett Inflicts Herself On The UN. via Colcam.Image
Hapless and hopeless Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, chairing the United Nations Security Council's first debate on climate change, got a roasting from China, Russia and leading developing nations when she spouted, no doubt in her usual supercillious and pompous manner, that climate change posed a threat to world peace, making it a fit subject for the 15-nation Security Council."Our responsibility in this council is to maintain international peace and security, including the prevention of conflict. An unstable climate will axacerbate some of the core drivers of conflict such as migratory pressures and competition for resources," she said.Russian UN Ambassador Vitali Churkin advised Beckett to "avoid panicking and over-dramatising the situation."Impossible advice for New Labour's...
Blair’s Legacy Will Indeed Stand The Test Of Time - Who Could Ever Forget It? via Colcam.Image
Prime Minister Tony Blair talks about his legacySee all recent... General Calls For Blair To Be Impeached before He Stands Down. via Colcam.Image
General Sir Michael Rose, former head of the elite SAS Force and Commander of UN Forces in Bosnia, warns that Prime Minister Tony Blair must be impeached before he leaves office over the Iraq war because of the damage caused to the country's armed forces during his ten years in office.The politicization of the army was one of the most damaging developments under Blair. "If Blair had been a director of Enron (the American energy firm which spectacularly collapsed in 2001 after massive accountancy fraud), he would be doing 40 years in jail,“ he said. Rose, who retired from the military in 1997, underlined his opposition to the invasion of Iraq from the start, by saying that if he had been chief of general staff, he would have resigned. "I would not have been prepared to sign up to that...
International Crisis Over Arfurs iPod via Colcam.Image
Released sailor Arthur Batchelor has complained that the goody bags given to the 15 prisoners as they left Iran contained a "load of junk."He is also displeased at the quality of Iranian tailoring, and extremely miffed at the capture of his iPod for propaganda purposes.See all recent... I’m A British Sailor - Get Me Captured. via Colcam.Image
Frogmarching them out to win the propaganda war. Some of them are acting like reality TV stars.So, the 15 sailors and marines captured and then released by the Iranians are to be allowed to sell their stories to the highest bidders, and even the goody bags given to them on their release will appear on eBay - and the suits given to them too, no doubt.One of the hostages, Dean Harris, 30, an acting sergeant in the Royal Marines, told a Sunday Times reporter yesterday: “I want £70,000. That is based on what the others have told me they have been offered. I know Faye has been offered a heck more than that. I am worth it because I was one of only two who didn’t crack.”The father of Joe Tindell, another of the hostages, said his son had turned down an offer of £10,000.He...
Howard Comes To Earth With A Bump - And A Sore Head. via Colcam.Image
Politicians are brave enough when it comes to ordering troops into life-threatening situations, but of course they seldom have to face anything more dangerous than a ballot box full of votes for their opposition partiesAustralian Prime Minister John Howard, however, paying a wee visit to Baghdad the other day, was unfortunate enough to find himself aboard a Hercules aircraft which started to fill with smoke, which prompted a rather hasty emergency landing.Howard, exiting the aircraft as fast as his flak jacket and Gucci shoes would allow, ran across the tarmac away from the plane, looking extremely unhappy, and was reported as shaken but not hurt.Apparently, though, he did suffer from a headache caused by the steep descent to safety, poor dear.Thank goodness his troops don’t have to...
Iran Attacks Blair’s Trident. via Colcam.Image
”Britain does not have the right to question others when they're not complying with their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.“ (Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the IAEA)It was entirely predictable, and it has not taken Iran long to comment after Tony Blair won the vote in parliament on 14th March to renew Trident."It is very unfortunate that the UK, which is always calling for non-proliferation ... not only has not given up the weapons but has taken a serious step towards further development of nuclear weapons," said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency.See all recent...
Kids Starve For ‘Democracy’ In Iraq & Afghanistan. via Colcam.Image
While Blair and Bush keep repeating, parrot-like, that life is so much better for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq since the violent occupations of their countries, children are dying for the want of a decent diet, despite billions of dollars in aid spent on the two countries.Iraqi children suffer from high levels of malnourishment because of poverty and insecurity, with violence and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people making it very difficult for monthly food rations to reach those that need them most.UNICEF say about one in ten children under five in Iraq are underweight and one in five are short for their age, which means that around 4.5 million children in the country are under-nourished.In Afghanistan, where an average of 165 out of every 1,000 children born die...
A Delusional Bush Sees Encouraging Signs In Iraq. via Colcam.Image
President Bush speaking about Iraq on Tuesday 6th March 2007 said:"It is too early to judge the success of this operation. . . . This strategy is going to take time, yet even at this early hour, there are some encouraging signs."On the same Tuesday 6th March 2007, in the real world, in the real Iraq: 10 American soldiers killed and 4 injured in separate incidents.115 Shi’ite pilgrims killed and 237 injured in a double suicide bomber attack in Hilla.Also in Hilla, a former Baath Party member was shot dead.Mosul: around 140 prisoners were freed in a jailbreak staged by dozens of militia members.Mosul, two bodies found in the town, and a car bomb killed five and wounded 18 others.The head of the tourism agency, Ahmed Gati'a, shot dead in Iskandariyah.One child killed and two men injured by...
Putin The Boot In. via Colcam.Image
"People are always teaching us democracy but the people who teach us democracy don't want to learn it themselves."Russian president Vladimir Putin, speaking to security and defence officials in Munich, Germany, has launched an outspoken attack on the US for attempting to force its will on the rest of the world.He criticized the United States for what he said was its "almost uncontained" use of force around the world."What is a unipolar world? No matter how we beautify this term it means one single centre of power, one single centre of force and one single master."Putin said that the US, above other western nations, had repeatedly overstepped its national borders in questions of international security, a policy that he said had not made the world safer.On the contrary, the...
WMD At An Affordable Price. via Colcam.Image
Rumour has it that the delusional Tony Blair has one plugged into every orifice..... sorry - that should read USB port.See all recent...
One Saturday In Iraq. via Colcam.Image
135 people killed, 305 injured in a lorry bombing at a market place in Baghdad.Five American soldiers dead in separate incidents.One killed, four wounded when minibus strikes roadside bomb in Baghdad.One killed, ten wounded by bomb in southern Baghdad.Two killed, 20 injured in mortar barrage between Sunni and Shi'ite neighborhoods in Baghdad.19 dumped bodies found in various neighborhoods.Suicide car bomber targets offices of Kurdish Democratic Party in Kirkuk; two people killed, 30 wounded.Eight wounded in Kirkuk petrol station bombing.In Kirkuk, two killed, 5 injured in two car bomb attacks.Four policemen killed and one wounded when gunmen attack checkpoint in Samarra; three gunmen killed and one wounded.Mahmudiya. Eight people killed, 12 wounded in marketplace bombing.Five dumped...
George Galloway’s Speech On Iraq. via Colcam.Image
On the 26th of January I highlighted George Galloway's remarkable speech to the House of Commons during the debate on Iraq, but watching it is far better.'A powerful speech highlighting the appalling situation in Iraq, and the pathetic handling of it by the British government: Ill-equipped troops, brutal treatment of civilians, and support for death squads: Welcome to democracy, Bush & Blair style!'See all recent...
Too Young To Vote, Old Enough To Die. via Colcam.Image
The British Ministry of Defense has acknowledged that at least 15 17-year-old soldiers have been deployed to Iraq, violating a United Nations protocol.Making an immoral war more immoral.The Scotsman ReportSee all recent...
MoD Given A Week To Produce Video. via Colcam.Image
The Ministry of Defence, ordered yesterday by a coroner to produce the cockpit video from a US plane which fired on a British army convoy, killing a serviceman, has failed to get permission from the US to show the tape today.The coroner has now adjourned the inquest, allowing high level diplomacy to take place with US authorities, saying it is crucial the court see the video before taking more evidence from witnesses.It was left to the coroner, not the MoD, to apologise to the family of the dead man for the delay and their further suffering.The MoD have been given till next Friday to release the classified video.See all recent...
British Coroner Not Intimidated By US Authorities. via Colcam.Image
Oxfordshire Coroner Andrew Walker, hearing the inquest on Lance Corporal Matty Hull, who was killed in 2003 in Iraq when a US plane fired on British troops, was ‘shaking with rage’ when he heard the Ministry of Defence say it did not have the authority to allow a cockpit video of the incident to be played in court, because the US regards it as highly classified.Perhaps highly embarrassing would be more accurate.Tonight the coroner demanded that the tape should be made available for viewing by Friday morning (2nd Feb), rejecting a request by the MoD to be given a week to negotiate with the US authorities.Thankfully, while our Prime Minister may be a poodle to the US, this coroner is not.See all recent...
Black Hills Of Scotland Leave Their Mark. via Colcam.Image
A german storm trooper who was captured in Normandy in 1944 and taken to a prison camp in Perthshire has said his experience in the camp changed his view of the war.Heinrich Steinmeyer was 20-years old when he was captured and, now 84, has asked to have his ashes scattered in Scotland."I was captured by a Scots regiment and taken to Cultybraggan in a lorry, and stayed there from 1944 until spring 1945," he said yesterday. It was a top security Nazi camp and we were never allowed out. But I loved looking at the scenery all around us, the black hills I called them."Cultybraggan was a holiday camp compared to fighting or being a PoW in Russia. The whole place was so beautiful. It went straight to my heart, and I thought, 'why have I been fighting this bloody war'?Released in 1949, he stayed...