Zimbabwe Minister htreatens to shoot opposition

Zimbabwe Security Minister Didymus Mutasa said the government would instruct organs of security such as the army to use all resources at their disposal "including guns" to stop opposition protests.

He boasted that Mugabe and his ruling Zanu (PF) party had "shed blood before" to free Zimbabwe from colonialism.

"Anyone, particularly Tsvangirai, who threatens peace and stability in this country will get capital punishment … and we mean it. We maintain organs of national security such as the army to protect the stability and integrity of our country. They will be instructed to use all resources at their disposal, including guns (to stop protests)," said Mutasa.

About 4.6 million people rely on food aid; children miss school because their parents cannot pay fees and hospitals lack basic equipment and medicine - handing a death sentence to those. Meanwhile people like Nicholas van Hoogstraten have invested heavily in property and mines. Earlier this year he denied reports that he had given Mr Mugabe $10m but made no secret of his financial engagement. "I'm probably the sole supporter, up in the UK, of this country and I think I'm the sole major investor in this country," he said.

Chinese and Indian firms have also snapped up mines and land at bargain prices, filling a gap left by western investors skittish about the risks.... and waiting for Mugabe's death, dismissal or replacement.

Mutasa said no one should expect the government to "keep its security organs in the camps" in the face of opposition-instigated protests meant to oust it. This is the man who stole the famous and prosperous Kondozi farm, a once thriving vegetable concern in Manicaland, which is now in ruins.

Mutasa also said (by Voice of America) that white farmers could apply to have leases on land in a desperate attempt to help develop agriculture. Meanwhile the country plunges into further chaos and misrule.

The Security Minister, who oversees the state's spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) mocked at suggestions that securitycommanders might refuse to order their men to use force to put down protests, especially in the event Zimbabweans heeded opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's call and turned out in the streets en masse.

"We will not fold our arms while the country burns," said Mutasa, one of the most influential members of President Robert Mugabe's Cabinet. In addition to overseeing intelligence operations, Mutasa is also in charge of land reform and food aid redistribution.

Asked at the weekend how the government would handle the planned protests Mutasa replied: "Organs of security are there to maintain security and no sane government in this world will keep its security organs in the camps while some mischievous elements destabilise the country, even threatening to remove a democratically elected government by force."

When put to Mutasa that security commanders might refuse to order their men to fire at civilians - as some political analysts have suggested might happen if demonstrators turn out in the streets in sufficiently large numbers - he responded: "Do you think disciplined forces like the CIO, the army and the police would not listen to orders or let Tsvangirai have his way?

"If Tsvangirai is brave as he says he is, then he should march alone, along Samora Machel Avenue to the Head of State's offices. Then he shall see that we mean business.

"But he doesn't want to lead from the front. He wants to use others as cannon fodder …. Tsvangirai is not a good leader because he wants to put others on the firing line while he cheers from home."

Tsvangirai, who says his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party has lost faith in elections as a democratic tool to change the government because Mugabe always rigs polls, has vowed to call mass anti-government protests this winter to force the government to accept a new and democratic constitution that would ensure free and fair polls.

The MDC leader says he is ready to lead from the front in street protests to force Mugabe to accept democracy even if this could lead to his own death but last Sunday sounded frustrated that police and soldiers might still obey orders to shoot at demonstrators.

"They (police and soldiers) come to my house every day complaining that they are suffering yet when Mugabe says crush the mass demonstration they are ready to shoot the people,"

Zimbabwe has been on edge since Tsvangirai and his MDC party resolved at a congress last month that they would no longer limit themselves to elections but would use what they called "people power" to pressure Mugabe to embrace democracy.

Analysts say the MDC that enjoys strong support in urban areas is best placed to lead streets protests against the government, adding that with strong leadership and organization, mass action could be successful.

Besides the Tsvangirai-led MDC - Arthur Mutambara a former student leads that another faction of the opposition party.

Australias Wheat for Weapons scandal - a bomb due to go off

Commissioner Terence Cole is heading the oil-for-food inquiry in Australia investigating $300 million worth of payments made by wheat exporter Australian Wheat Board (AWB) to the former Iraqi regime in contravention of UN sanctions against Iraq. Dubbed by the Opposition Labor Party as the "wheat-for-weapons" scandal, erupted late October following a report to the U.N. by former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board Paul A. Volcker that found AWB paid kickbacks totaling US$221.7 million (Total sales of US$2.2 Bn.) to Saddam Hussein during the operation of a United Nations oil-for-food program.SBS Dateline will air some fascinating details tonight about the conduit company Saddam used to get his kickbacks from AWB which might jolt a few people's memory.

Former senior Australian Wheat Board AWB executive Charles Stott said he asked The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) about Jordanian trucking company Alia Transportation, a trucking company with no trucks, who did no trucking, six years ago, and they sent him approval of the wheat exporter's deals with the bogus firm a few days later.

Curiously The Department says it has no documentary record, and relevant officers have no recollection of being advised about the AWB's use of Alia in the context that Mr Stott outlines.

Iraq's Wheat and Water Transport Authority regularly chased up payments which AWB has maintained it always believed to be legitimate transport payments.

Almost 20 emails sent to an assistant account manager, higher managers and AWB executives reveal an unusual interest by Iraq government departments in payments to Alia Transportation in Jordan.

Account manager Nigel Edmonds-Wilson says he thought the Iraqi departments just wanted to make sure the wheat would be delivered. He could not than explain why a number of emails said wheat ships could not berth until payments were made.

In 2003 AWB tried to get 2.5 million Euros back because the war had stopped a wheat shipment. Alia Transportation said the money was in Iraq but Mr Edmonds-Wilson says he still did not realise Alia was a conduit to the fallen regime.

However cables were earlier sent to the Foreign Office with warnings about Alia Transportation ...Among the warnings was one dated June 6, 2003, from U.S. Army captain Blake Puckett who said that every contract awarded by Iraq under the oil-for-food program "included a kickback to the regime from between 10 and 19 percent."

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said to the enquiry on April 11th he was not alerted to that cable.

"I do not have a specific recollection of having received or read this cable or of it otherwise being brought to my attention," Downer wrote in his sworn statement about the cables.

On April 13, Howard told reporters after his appearance at the inquiry that the "government was plainly deceived by AWB" about the kickbacks, and that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade "was systematically deceived."

Plainly in an attempt to pre-judge the issue writing a letter to the Wall Street Journal of Tuesday 25th April PM Howard said "While I don't seek to prejudge the outcome, public evidence suggests behavior by some within AWB appears to have been designed to mislead not only my government, but the U.N. as well." He also said the company appeared to have misled Sir Anthony Mason, a former chief justice of the High Court Of Australia, who he described as one of the nation's most senior and respected former judges.

In 2005, Sir Anthony provided an expert opinion to AWB, clearing it of knowingly violating the U.N. sanctions regime against Iraq. "The corruption by Saddam Hussein of the Oil for Food Program was a heinous act of public graft," he continued "Corrupt behavior deserves to be punished and it will be."

The US wheat industry and key senators have expressed anger over AWB's conduct in Iraq, claiming it robbed American farmers of lucrative contracts. AWB has 17.7 million tons of wheat from the late 2005 harvest to sell into the global market, enough to influence a highly competitive global trade of about 110 million tons a year.

The scandal is affecting talks about the AWB marketing monolpoly - US Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services J.B. Penn said state trading enterprises should be brought under under scrutiny."I think it makes people talk more about the costs and benefits of single desks," Penn told a commodities conference in Canberra.European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel said the EU remained committed to removing marketing monopolies from global trade. Denmark's Boel said the EU would continue to push for such monopolies to be dismantled. Meanwhile the Iraqi Trade Board wont deal with the AWB until the enquiry is over.

Due to screen today will be the first television interview, with the managing director of Amman based, Alia Trucking who laims to have had long links with the Australian Trade representative at the Australian Embassy in Jordan from the mid 1990s.

Cole is due to report in June, it is not felt that he will pull any punches. Mr Downer obviously has problems with his memory he evidently shares with Tessa Jowell, Charles Clarke and the late lamented President Nixon.

Reid forced into U turn on Harriers in Afghanistan

It looks like the MOD could be having their "best year ever", Kandahar "Airport" is in a bad state and hasn't been repaired before the UK forces have been deployed (six months late).It is also littered with land mines which haven't yet been cleared up, which is making repairs a big problem.

Last weekend, Kandahar airfield was hit by two Taliban rocket attacks, which caused no casualties but some damage, and last year the RAF lost a jet when a Harrier was destroyed by a rocket attack on the US-run airbase.

It was planned that Dutch F-16 fighters would take over from the Harrier GR7's in June, but failure to repair Kandahar airport runway mean the jump jets, which can take off and land vertically (and can also use 900metres of runway), are the only fighters able to operate from the short functioning section of the dilapidated runway. They can be refuelled in mid-air from USAF Boeing KC-135 tankers.

British and allied commanders had lobbied hard for the 6 Harriers from No 1 (Fighter) Squadron based at RAF Cottesmore with 200-strong RAF contingent to remain at Kandahar airfield because Taleban attacks have risen rapidly in southern Afghanistan over the past three months. Currently there are troops from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania and the USA also have troops in southern Afghanistan.

Forced into a remarkable "U" turn Defence Secretary now Mr Reid calls the Harrier GR7's ( not the upgraded GR9's which are not available - upgraded with more powerful engines and electronic systems and INtegrated Weapons and INS/GPS navigation) an "essential tool" to provide reconnaissance and air support to ground troops under fire from insurgents on Operation Herrick, and they are going to stay - for how long he didn't (or wouldn't stay).Eight Army Air Corps Westland/Boeing Apache AH1 attack helicopters (unused in combat previously) and four Westland Lynx light utility helicopters will also arrive within the next month

United States Air Force data reports that in April alone the Harriers flew ten air support missions for coalition troops "in contact with the enemy". This mainly comprises making a loud noise either at 10,000 feet or in odd cases at 100 feet at a top speed of 1,000 km/h.

So far the Harriers have not been called in to support British troops stationed in Helmand province, where 16 Air Assault Brigade is in the process of setting up bases, but US and Canadian troops operating in the region call up Harrier support regularly.

The Harriers operate in pairs with two in reserve for instant call up. The flight leader carries two 245kg (540lb) freefall bombs with airburst and impact fuzes, two rocket pods respectively containing six and 19 unguided CRV-7 rockets and the digital Joint Reconnaissance Pod, which lacks a datalink, but can provide tactical images within 30min of the aircraft landing. The second Harrier carriers a 450kg unguided airburst bomb, one 540kg Enhanced Paveway II laser/GPS-guided weapon and a TIALD targeting pod.

The UK’s Harriers conduct only daytime operations, with the USAF’s Bagram-based A-10s better equipped for night-time duties.

Additional intra-theatre transport services are being provided by 27 Sqn Chinook HC2s currently operated by the RAF’s 1310 Flight. 6 Chinooks are now positioned at Kandahar. Hot-and- high environmental conditions mean the aircraft are operating “pretty much on the limit of their performance,” says Wg Cdr Dan Startup, officer commanding 1310 Flight, and as temperatures climb to over 40°C (104°F) by mid-year, the aircraft will be forced to carry a reduced payload. However, he notes: “Nothing else can fly throughout the year.”

The vast majority of tasks so far allocated to the RAF’s Chinooks have centred on supporting the establishment of Camp Bastion, and in delivering supplies to the UK task force in Lashkar Gar and Gereshk. Loads have primarily comprised food, water, ammunition and some underslung vehicles. The aircraft do not conduct operations outside Helmand province and have so far not supported any special forces activities, says Startup.

There is a lack of heavylift in the area, so the UK has worked with the Dutch, French, Canadians and Australians – Kandahar airfield also hosts US CH-47s, Boeing AH-64 Apaches, and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks and HH-60 Pave Hawks supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Sun today claim it is a victory for their campaign for them to be kept, to "protect our boys" - an alarming prospect when the Editors of Rupe's rags claim they dictate MOD policy.

Toray can expect world market share of PAN carbon fibre to grow.

Japan's Toray Industries Inc. have announced orders from Boeing for PAN carbon Fibre worth US$3 Bn.billion for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jet. Toray now hold about 32% of global supply which they want to boost to 39% by 2010 to 13,900 tons per annum and to 24,000 tons by 2010.

The high-margin carbon fiber business is a key growth area division is forecast to generate 50 Bn. yen sales with profits of 11 Bn. yen.

Toray has forecast sales of 1.43 Trillion yen and an operating profit of 92 Bn yen on for the last business year.The news sent shares of Toray up 5.4 percent to 1,002 yen outperforming the benchmark Nikkei average, which was up about 0.2 percent.

Toray not only benefits from this deal but is looking at a major increase in a share of Airbus work - which may get an even bigger boost if plans by Airbus to move some manufacture to China are realised.

Toray is evaluating opening a European prepreg carbonfibre production facility to support the Airbus A350 and other European aircraft programmes, they hope to sign an important pre preg Airbus deal soon. Toray manufactures non prepreg carbonfibre for other Airbus aircraft, including the A380, through deals with first- and second-tier suppliers, but has never provided prepared carbonfibres directly to Airbus. Qualifying anew plant can take two years.

Toray only produces prepreg carbonfibres at its Tacoma, Washington facility. Last year plans to expand its Japanese Ehime plant to meet soaring demand driven by its exclusive supplier deal with Boeing for the 787 were announced. This was motivated by the large number of Japanese suppliers (43 at last count) to the 787 program - as well as supplying composite plants in Chengdu , China.

Airbus has tentatively selected Hexcel and Toray to supply prepreg carbonfibre for the A350 program going head to head against the Dreamliner 787, but has not yet awarded raw material contracts for the new aircraft programme.

Toray joint venture Soficar already manufactures in France,producing non- prepreg carbonfibre. The recently upgraded 114,000m2 (1.23 million ft2) Toray Composites America factory in Tacoma is now the only supplier of prepreg carbonfibre for the 777 and 787.

So whichever way the 777/787/A350/A380 fight goes, Toray will be a winner. So far this year Boeing are in the lead with orders. 176/70 after 4 years dominance by Airbus.

Bikini - Lest we forget

If you want to know about the fate of the islanders from the Bikini Atoll, site of the first H bomb tests, visit their website here

This is the Bikini flag

The 23 white stars in the field of blue upper left,are the islands of the Bikini Atoll.

The three black stars in the upper right the three islands that were vaporized by the March 1, 1954, 15 megaton hydrogen bomb blast, code named Bravo.

The two black stars in the lower right represent where the Bikinians live now, Kili Island, 425 miles to the south of Bikini Atoll, and Ejit Island of Majuro Atoll. These two stars are symbolically far away from Bikini's stars on the flag as the islands are in real life (both in distance and quality of life).

The Marshallese words running across the bottom of the flag, "MEN OTEMJEJ REJ ILO BEIN ANIJ" [Translation: "Everything is in the hands of God"], are the words spoken in 1946 by the Bikinian leader, Juda, to U.S. Commodore Ben Wyatt when the American went to Bikini to ask the islanders--on a Sunday after church--to give up their islands for the 'good of all mankind' so that the U.S. could test nuclear weapons.

The close resemblance of the Bikinian's flag to the Stars and Stripes is to remind the people and the government of America that a great debt is still owed by them to the people of Bikini.

See a previous post by Lord Patel Feb 12th 2006
Iran, Uranium, and the UK "nuclear deterrant" that is owned by Uncle Sam ... life today for the Marshallese Bikinians.

Bikinians file lawsuit against the U.S. Government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims [April 11, 2006] [Download complaint in .PDF] (52 years after the H bomb tests) The lawsuit seeks compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for the taking of their property damage claims resulting from the U.S. Government’s failure and refusal to adequately fund the March 5, 2001 order of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal. Alternatively, the people of Bikini seek damages for the U.S. Government’s breaches of its fiduciary duty to provide just and adequate compensation for the taking of their lands in consideration for their agreement to move off Bikini Atoll and for the breach of the implied duties and covenants integral to that agreement, the Compact of Free Association, and the Section 177 Agreement. The lawsuit will seek compensation and/or damages of at least $561,036,320 (which represents the Tribunal’s original award to the Bikinians of $563,315,500 less the two payments totaling $2,279,180), plus interest as required by law. The total with interest on the filing date of April 11, 2006, is approximately $724,560,902.

Also see 10/03/04 WMD lies persist for over 50 years

Contileezza - Natural gas, tear gas, drive by diplomacy SNAFU

Bulgaria woke up Tuesday with more expensive gas, after a series of hikes already. Lukoil Bulgaria upped prices by about 0.55%. In the end of last month, prices increased by 3%. On March 10, Lukoil introduced a 5% hike.

The 67% owned Czech Electricity company is also intending to put up electricity prices.Lukoil have expressed a desire to buy the Bulgarian nationalised gas company when it is privatised, meanwhile they have hiked prices by 5% from Lukoil Bulgaria overnight.

Not only did Sofians wake up to bigger gas bills but the latest drive by diplomacy by Condileeza Rice to seal the deal on US bases approved last week by Bulgaria's Council of Ministers. This followed the 10 year agreement by Bulgaria and the US who agreem the final details for the US military to use several military bases in Bulgaria.(pic of Rice in Turkey to meet Foreign MinisterGul)

The US will be able keep 2,500 troops (doubling at rotation times) to use three Bulgarian military bases - the Novo Selo range and the Bezmer both near Bulgaria's border with Turkey, and the Graf Ignatievo airfield in central Bulgaria. US forces will also use a storage facility near Bulgaria's port of Burgas (and all those gay bars).Rent will not be paid but "operational and maintenance expenses."will be. Troops will be able to be deployed elsewhere using Bulgaira as a holding station.

Contileeza (as the Sofians call her), is expected to sign a broad defense-cooperation agreement with the new NATO ally that would authorize the stationing of foreign forces on its soil for the first time. Their is however opposition , a nationalist party represented in the parliament plans to stage massive protests against the agreement during Contileezza's brief stopover.The possibility that U.S. troops would use a country with a large Muslim minority as a base for an attack on a Muslim nation, such as Iran or Syria, has provoked much strident vocal opposition in Bulgaria.

Contileezza signed a similiar agreement whilst she whizzed through Romania in December 2005. It has been ratified by the parliament's lower chamber and is currently awaiting approval by the Senate, said Sorin Ducaru, the Romanian Ambassador to Washington.

Contileezza is planned to meet NATO Foreign Ministers (another chance of a sneaky meet with Jack the Lad ?). She also paid a fly by night visit to be met by masked rioters throwing gasoline bombs and stones.

5,000 police in riot gear were deployed throughout the Greek capital, firing tear gas at protesters attempted to reach the US Embassy. In scenes reminiscent of Paris in the spring scores of store windows, cafes and hotel lobbies lining one of Athens' premier shopping districts were damaged. Three vehicles were wrecked during a 20-minute rampage. Anti-globalization groups together with Greece's hard-line Communist party had organized the demonstrations, declaring Contileezza "persona non grata" and billing her "a messenger of war." Panos Trigazis, responsible for foreignaffairs of Ecology (Synaspismos) described Rice as a "warmonger" and a "hawk". He said George Bush " has learnt nothing from the fiasco of the war in Iraq which constituted a major political and moral defeat."

An estimated 3,000 peaceful protestors carrying giant banners reading "Rice Go Home" dispersed when police began lobbing tear gas into the crowd. Again it appears the Greeks also call her Contileeza.Anti US sentiment caused Colin Powell to call off a visit at the time of the Athens Olympics.

Contileezza met Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and tough talking Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis (who refuses publicly to support sanctions against Iran) , discussing the appalling situation in Iraq and Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program as well as Cyprus and Greek-Turkish relations. She will also whizz by Turkey and may even drop in on Nicosia, Cyprus.

In Istanbul, two youths were arrested after unfurling a large banner reading: "Murderer Rice Get Out" out of the window of the top floor of a McDonald's fast food restaurant.

In Ankara, some 300 leftists demonstrated in a street just a few hundred yards away from a building where Rice is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. They doused red paint over an American flag and toy dolls, representing children killed in Iraq.

In Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the Turkish separatist movement PKK has free run of a swath of northern Iraq, and has set up training camps and bases. Turkey fears that civil unrest in Iraq could lead to the fragmentation of the country, and has often called on the United States to stop PKK fighters from using Iraq as a base to stage attacks inside Turkey.

Meanwhile the US is anxious that Turkey (who failed to join in the illegal invasion of Iraq) are anxious they do not chase PKK terists over the border into Iraq. They also want help at UN over Iran, but largely Muslim Turkey does not appear to be a willing member of that Coalition.

Hiddden Agendas (Extremely well hidden - certainly not in MSM)

As hinted at initially Contileezza has a hidden but immensely important agenda, Headed Kremlin Energy Power Ltd., Alexei Miller, Chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee, met PM Kostas Karamanlis, Dimitris Sioufas, Greek Development Minister and top executives of the Greek Public Gas Corporation DEPA and the Russian-Greek joint venture Prometheus Gas headed by Greek billionaire, entrepreneur and Greek's "Mr Gas" D. Kopelouzos.

They considered the possibility of increasing Russian gas supply to Greece, in particular, extending the existing Contract after 2016 and developing new transmission routes (with the Blue Stream pipeline on the Balkan corridor) Greece could then be (and profit from) Greece being a transit country when gas is delivered to SW EurAsia.

Sibneft (no longer oart of Chelsea FC) have stepped into Lukoil's shoes to supply oil via the Bourgas - Alexandroupolis oil pipeline . (remember Lukoil run the oil/refined products industry pretty well in Cyprus)

Secondly there was the the promise to make serious investments in Greece relating to the aquisition state owned Phosphate Fertilisers Industry.

Last week a consortium of Russia’s Stroytransgaz and Kopelouzos's Prometheus Gas announced their participation in the construction of a pipeline that will link the Greek cities of Komotini and Alexandroupolis, The pipeline, which is to be completed in March 2007 and linked to the Turkish gas transportation system, will be used to supply gas from Azerbaijan and Iran. Though apparently against Russian gas interests the joint Russian-Greek venture was involved under Miller’s interstate agreement between Greece and Russia on gas supplies and supplements to it - giving Greece a handy and very desirable second gas supply source.

The US is absolutely furious but the Diplomatic scuttlebut is, Lord Patel understands across the tables of Northern Cyprus casinos, from his old chum Vajit that Kostas K or "KK" as he likes to be known has told the US Ambassador to Fuck off.

Contileezza will also be in there pitching for a power plant for General Electric for Larco a state owned mining company.

Who knows Contileezza might just bump into Vajit Alekperov in Cyprus - that would be neat. No wonder one of his yachts is in Limassol harbour tonight.

US State Department Official Brief

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria April 24th through the 28th, 2006. In addition to discussions with leaders of the three countries, she will take part in an informal meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers to discuss preparations for the NATO Summit in Riga, Latvia this coming November. She will also take part in a trans-Atlantic dinner involving the foreign ministers of all NATO and EU countries.

She takes a lovely picture though doesn't she?

Cherie an Ambassador for our hairdressers and tailors.

Her Majesty Cherie looks magnificent, her wonderful, soft golden locks, displaying her petite shell like ears, the understated suit with ruched back panels emphasising the badly seated lapels.

Luckily the roped strand of natural seed pearls, a gift no doubt from the Sheikh of Araby perfectly complements her swan like, lily white neck.

Every penny spent of the fat cat businessmen's wedges, has been well spent on her coiffeuse, and congratulations are due to Tracey Leadbetter of Bootle Beacon of Excellence Coolege for Embroidery for designing the suit for her recent NVQ. Rumours have it that Margaret Beckett has been asking if she can do something for her.

This is for Nur I discover that the Italian is parrucchiere personale

Saddam's trial is an illegal, unfair, unjust American charade

Curtis Doebbler, is a a Washington based, American member of Saddam Hussein's legal defense team and provides a detailed,damning indictment of the trial of Saddam Hussein.The Jurist has a full text of his statement. Pic CNN in triumphalist mode. (C)

At the White House on Sunday, December 14, 2003 President Bush in a brief TV address to the nation said," "Now he will face the justice he denied to millions," "This afternoon I have a message for the Iraqi people: You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again," Bush said, adding a warning. "The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq."... How right he was. His poodle in London said, ""Where his rule meant terror and division and brutality, let his capture bring about unity, reconciliation and peace between all the people in Iraq." yeah, yeah Tony, you straight kinda guy.

"The carefully edited pictures of the trial that are allowed to be broadcast and printed show few Americans in the Courtroom, but behind every door and more disturbingly behind almost every action there are Americans pulling the strings." ....

Curtis Doebbler says ....

"The glaring illegalities of the current process begin with illegal origins. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is widely understood to be illegal. On 5 March 2003, three of the five members of UN Security Council and Germany, which was then a non-permanent member, unambiguously declared that a US-led invasion without further Security Council authorization would violate international law. On 16 September 2004, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reiterated what was by then obvious to almost every international lawyer, that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal. In fact, this is a textbook case of illegal aggression in violation of the prohibition of the use of force by one country against another found in article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations and under customary international law. "

"Despite having acknowledged in UN SC Resolution 1483 that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq is responsible for “promoting the protection of human rights” in Iraq, little successful action has been taken. This was confirmed earlier this year when the outgoing UN human rights chief in Iraqi, John Pace, described the human rights situation as worse than under the previous regime and deteriorating daily. Taking a stand on the issue of unfair trial would be a good place for the UN to start promoting human rights. The fairness of these proceedings, which are closely followed by Iraqis and throughout the Arab world, is a crucial test of the international community’s commitment to the rule of law."

This charade is a severe test of the Coalition of the Willing, so far they have proved to be more than willing to allow this travesty of justice to continue - one wonders who might end up in the dock alongside him if the final submission of documents CD's etc., that he sent to the UN which was helpfully "administered" by the US were freely available ?

See also Guradian Counterpunch Ben Davis Website and for for those who see the funny side of these events WAPO today
Curtis Doebbler can be contacted at cdoebbler@gmail.com.

WTC 1 cut down with thermite bombs - proof

Box section girder from WTC 1 cut with thermite showing melted steel (2500 Celsius)Lord Patel is not an engineer but reckons a sheer cut whould help generate a vertical drop rather than falling out of the base area.The scrap metal has of course been shipped overseas.

Unless some one has a better explanation..... 

Dahab in Sinai holiday resort area bombed 50 (? 30) dead 150 wounded

The question today lingers, by whom ? against whom ? and why ? Of course irresponsible conspiracy theorists say it was Mossad inspired byt they don't do that sort of thing - state inspired terrism - never , never , never, who mentioned the St. David Hotel, Lavon affair , USS Liberty ?

Me, I point my finger at the Chevaliers of the Knights Hospitallers of St John, they have a Castle nearby, where a document in the Vatican (lost in 1643 - or stolen ?) claims Mary Magdalen is buried. Primitive bombs suggest limited acquaintance with explosives - fits perfickly.

Egypt's Sinai resort town of Dahab (arabic for Gold) was rocked by three bomb blasts on Monday night, leaving at least 30 people dead and 160 wounded. (Jerusalem Post)Thomson Holidays, the UK's biggest tour operator, currently has 43 UK holidaymakers in Dahab.

Confusion about the number of dead D Telegraph , BBC, VOA and Aljazeera say 22, Financial Times, Times, and Reuters 30 Guradian 100.(Tuesday 1600 seems to be 23 is agreed figure a 6 yr old German child was among the dead. > 60 people were wounded, 42 Egyptians and 20 foreigners, including 3 Britons, 3 Danes, 2 Italians, 2 Germans, 2 French people, 1 each Lebanes, American, Israeli and Austrialian, the Egyptian interior ministry said.)

One blast hit the el-Khaleeg Hotel alone (17 dead), a second a restaurant and the third explosion was in the market area The blasts were timed at approx about 7:15 p.m. local time (1715 GMT 1815 BST). Egyptian authorities said the blasts were probaly plantes and NOT caused by suicide bombers.Mobile phones are not working and everything is closed by the police.

This is high tourist season - part of a five-day Egyptian holiday "Shamm el-Nessim" (Coptic Easter) when the middle classes head out of town - and hotels all along the Egyptian coasts could be expected to be at near capacity. It is a resort popular with independent travellers and not a "plush" resort like Sharm el Sheikh.There are few dive sites in Sinai more spectacular - or more dangerous - than Blue Hole. This circular, 203-foot drop off lies a few miles north of Dahab, and it looks exactly like its name.

To the north is a Crusader fort at the Island of Coral or Geziret Faraum, is the location of a Crusader fortress originally built by Baldwin I, the King of Jerusalem and was named originally named Ile De Graye Castle. From the top of the fortress, one can see four countries, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Lawrence of Arabia made a somewhat daring and unauthorized visit to the Island during his Wilderness of Zin survey in June 1914.

There were previously bombings in the Egyptian resorts of (again 3 bombs set off) Taba and
Ras Shitan in October 2004 (34 killed, including 12 Israelis,) and (again 3 bombs set off) in Sharm el-Sheikh (88 people were killed) in July 2005.

On 7th April last year, two French tourists and an American were also killed (and the bomber) and about 20 people wounded in a bomb attack in the al-Azhar area of the Egyptian capital.

Seven people (including two Israelis, an Italian and a Swede )were wounded in an attack later the same month(30th April 2005) in Cairo's Abdel Moneim Riad Square, and two women assailants were killed in a failed attack on a tourist bus.

Israeli ambassador in Egypt Shalom Cohen told Israel Radio said that he was in direct contact with Egyptian officials but, as far as he knew, there were no Israeli casualties in the attack. As it was the Passover at the weekend there would be few Israelis about it was reported although other reports say that there were 20,000 now said to be 1,800 Israeli's who ignored Government warnings and were on holiday in the region.

The Palestine news agency reports that during a phone with the Omer Suleiman, Head of Egyptian Intelligence, President Abbas condemned the terrorist attack against innocent civilians in Dahab resort in Sinai.

Emergency number for Israelis to call for information on Dahab explosions: 02-5303155
For UK citizens - 020 7008 0000.

LATE NEWS

Jack Straw said the terror attacks in Egypt had been carried out by "callous" terrorists. "I utterly condemn these appalling bombings in (EDITOR PLEASE INSERT PLACE NAME) ...ETC., ETC., ... what do they do ? Wind him up?

EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak called the explosions a "wicked terrorist act".

In a phone call to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert condemned the three bomb blasts as a "terrorist act,"

By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent

"Al-Qaida was behind Monday's terror attack in Dahab. Despite Egypt's efforts to halt Al-Qaida activity in the Sinai Peninsula, the radical Islamic terror organization clearly continues to operate adjacent to the border with Israel. It also smuggles explosive material from the same area. It emerged recently that Al-Qaida is also trying to set up a base in the Gaza Strip so as to infiltrate from into Israel to carry out strikes.

Egyptian authorities recently informed U.S. and international elements that in the framework of their activities, they successfully got rid of an Al-Qaida base in Jabal Hilal, in central Sinai. The Egyptian authorities moved large police forces and forces from special units into Sinai. After a car carrying two Egyptian officers went over a mine and the two men were killed, the special units were put into action and the base was eradicated."

Katrina - Silver linings for some.

In early February, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE:DO) reported profits Q4 2005 $106.9 million, compared with $11.3 million, for the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2005 were $368.3 million, ($237.3 million Q4 2004).

We noted the shares at $53 in the aftermath of Katrina, they closed on Friday 21/4/06 @ US$95.38 - giving the company a market valuation of US$12.3 Billion.

C & C Technologies of Lafayette were another company highlighted by Lord Patel to benefit from Katrina. One contract awarded to C & C is a portion of a 5 year, US$50 Mn. contract with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coast Survey that allows C & C to perform ocean bottom surveys in the coastal areas of the United States and its possessions.Two additional contracts awarded through NOAA's Ocean Exploration program supported a recently completed ocean exploration cruise, using the company's "C-Surveyor Autonomous Underwater Vehicle," to map the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico.

Another contract, granted by the Department of Defense, requires C&C Technologies to develop a semi-submersible unmanned vehicle.

Diamond Offshore Share price last 12 months

Israel court ruling says PA is sovereign territory.

A far reaching ruling was made in an Israeli civil court yesterday (Sunday) that could potentially have massive consequences, locally and internationally.(Haaretz)

The Association of the Society of Elon Moreh Seminary claim to have purchased land in an area of the West Bank under full PA control.The deal was voided by the village sheikh and the college sued the sheikh (and Israel) in the Israeli civil District Court for their money to be returned claiming the sheikh lacked the authority.The claim was the sheikh falsely declared that people agreeing to sell village land to the society indeed owned the land. After the society paid for the land, it emerged that the sheikh's affidavit was false.

The Judge Boaz Okon ( Judge and registrar of the Israeli Supreme Court ) yesterday (23/4/06) ruled, that because the PA was vested with certain powers held by sovereign entities, it was not obligated to follow Israeli law and that the Israeli courts have no power to enforce their verdicts inside Palestinian territories. THis was clearer after the 2005 Gaza disengagement. Judge Boaz Okon said "One sovereign state does not rule over another sovereign state and does not put it on trial." a curious parallel with the current case where tortured UK citizens seek redress in Uk courts for being tortured in Saudi Arabia.

If this ruling is upheld by the Israel Supreme Court, constitutes a landmark decision that would over 120 lawsuits worth billions of shekels filed by private individuals, companies and victims of terrorism since the outbreak of the second intifada.

Okun was specific.."The application of this rule has nothing to do with the answer to the question of whether the PA is a state. It is sufficient to say that it is a sovereign body, or a quasi-sovereign body that imposes its authority on an area regarded by Israel as outside Israel. The application of immunity to the PA is also derived from a reading of the aims of the [1995 Oslo] Interim Agreement [between Israel and the PLO] as well as the [Israeli] law implementing the interim agreement,"

Okun also rejected the plaintiff's demand to sue the Israeli government.

This ruling contradicts several rulings handed down by the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv district courts that said the PA could be sued by private individuals. The PA has appealed these decisions to the Supreme Court, which has not yet handed down a decision on the matter.

If the Supreme Court rejects the PA appeal, it will also automatically overturn Okun's ruling.

Judge Okun also made a ground breaking decision in January in the Tel Aviv District Court when he ruled that the state could not declare Palestinian land which was abandoned following the 1967 war as "land under Israel's effective sovereignty."

The ruling states that declaring lands owned by West Bank Palestinians as "absentee property" was illegal and no longer in effect.The Absentee Property Law could not be applied to West Bank lands abandoned by Palestinians during the 1967 Six Day War.

This followed Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's decision in February 2005 which cancelled a June 2004 governmental decision made by two ministers (Natan Sharansky and Zevulun Orlev) to apply the absentee property law to tens of thousands of dunams of Palestinian property in East Jerusalem.

In a letter to Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mazuz wrote that Netanyahu must order an immediate halt to the application of the absentee property law to properties owned by West Bank residents in East Jerusalem.

If you want to read about how Judge Okun has been influenced by the Government when the Barry Chamish author of "Who shot Itzak Rabin" sued a bookseller for libel....read more here.

Amazon order here ISBN: 1571290818

Ozone depletion changes will affect asthma drug supplies

Ozone layer/ greenhouse effect chemicals are almost phased all out now and the latest changes will affect some asthma sufferers.

Compliance with the Montreal Protocol (Article 2F) clean air treaty by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will force leading metered-dose inhalers (MDI's) containing ozone-depleting propellants (chlorofluorocarbon's (CFC's)) off the U.S. asthma treatment market by the end of 2008. FDA Reg. 21 CFR 2.125 has been amended to cease the production and use of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) in asthma producst products, which had been exempt long ofater other non essential products such hair sprays etc.,. This regulation change establishes December 31, 2008, as the date by which production and sale of single ingredient albuterol CFC MDIs must stop.

Because all current generic versions of inhaled albuterol contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants, generics will be removed from the U.S. market by 2008. That means higher-priced ( approx US$20 more per metered dode inhaler than generics using CFC) branded albuterol's propelled with hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) (1/3rd the one third of the 'greenhouse' (global warming) effect of the CFCs it replaces),with the result that the U.S. supplies will become branded only. Leading to $1 billion in major market sales for GlaxoSmithKline's Ventolin and Schering-Plough's Proventil to enable access these manufacturers intend to include in their sales prgrams, MDI giveaways, coupons for reducing the price paid and patient-assistance programs based on financial need. However the FDA is already reporting supply problems as manufacturers phase out the HFC product.

More doctors will possibly use nebulized levalbuterol as an alternative to albuterol, which could generate more sales for Sepracor's Xopenex (levalbuterol) but this is unsuitable for children under six years of age.

American generic manufacturer IVAX was taken over by Israel's biggest company last year, TEVA to make the worlds biggest generic company with combined sales to the US market of 330 drugs and sales of US$7 Bn (of which US$1.2 Mn is MS treatment Copaxone); the US HQ will be in Kansas City. They say they will be producing an albuterol with HFA ... real soon.

TEVA recently announced upping their stake in Tienjin, China, based Hualida Biotechnology Co., Ltd. to 60%.

For more information and FAQ's from FDA go here see your doctor or find out more here. Do it NOW for yourself or yuor family.... NOW

Proventil-HFA (NDC 00085-1132-01) Schering Customer Service: 1-877-432-7768.
Ventolin-HFA (NDC# 0173-0682-00) GlaxoSmithKline -Customer service number 1-888-825-5249
Albuterol-HFA (NDC 59310-579-20) from IVAX as it becomes available

Xopenex HFA (levalbuterol tartrate) Inhalation Aerosol metered dose inhalers (NDC 63402-510-01). Sepracor - Customer service 1-888-394-7377

LATE NEWS

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/04-19-2006/0004342607&EDATE=WED+Apr+19+2006,+07:00+AM

Pulmicort(R) HFA-MDI
This new HFA-powered MDI containing AstraZeneca's inhaled
corticosteroid Pulmicort(R) (budesonide) was filed for marketing
authorization in June 2005 on a country-by-country basis in Europe for the
treatment of asthma in adults and children. SkyePharma developed this new
HFA-MDI formulation, which employs its proprietary formulation technology,
and also conducted the clinical development programme for AstraZeneca.

In February 2006, the product received approval in Finland, its first European market. This product has not yet been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration.

PA - is sovereign rules Israeli Court

A far reaching ruling was made in an Israeli civil court that could potentially have massive consequences, locally and internationally.

The Association of the Society of Elon Moreh Seminary claim to have purchased land in an area of the West Bank under full PA control (A area).The deal was voided by the village sheikh and the college sued the sheikh (and Israel) in the Israeli civil District Court for their money to be returned claiming the sheikh lacked the authority.The claim was the sheikh falsely declared that people agreeing to sell village land to the society indeed owned the land. After the society paid for the land, it emerged that the sheikh's affidavit was false.

The Judge Boaz Okon ( Judge and registrar of the Israeli Supreme Court ) yesterday (23/4/06) ruled that because the PA was vested with certain powers held by sovereign entities, it was not obligated to follow Israeli law and that the Israeli courts have no power to enforce their verdicts inside Palestinian territories. This was clearer after the 2005 Gaza disengagement. Judge Boaz Okon said "One sovereign state does not rule over another sovereign state and does not put it on trial." a curious parallel with the current case where tortured UK citizens seek redress in Uk courts for being tortured in Saudi Arabia.

If this ruling is upheld by the Israel Supreme Court, it constitutes a landmark decision that would over 120 lawsuits worth billions of shekels filed by private individuals, companies and victims of terrorism since the outbreak of the second intifada.

Okun was specific.."The application of this rule has nothing to do with the answer to the question of whether the PA is a state. It is sufficient to say that it is a sovereign body, or a quasi-sovereign body that imposes its authority on an area regarded by Israel as outside Israel. The application of immunity to the PA is also derived from a reading of the aims of the [1995 Oslo] Interim Agreement [between Israel and the PLO] as well as the [Israeli] law implementing the interim agreement."

Okun also rejected the plaintiff's demand to sue the Israeli government.

This ruling contradicts several rulings handed down by the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv district courts that said the PA could be sued by private individuals. The PA has appealed these decisions to the Supreme Court, which has not yet handed down a decision on the matter.

If the Supreme Court rejects the PA appeal, it will also automatically overturn Okun's ruling.

Judge Okun also made a ground breaking decision in January 2006 in the Tel Aviv District Court when he ruled that the state could not declare Palestinian land which was abandoned following the 1967 war as "land under Israel's effective sovereignty." For more details of the illegal land grab read the lengthy and detailed piece in the Guradian. Jan 31st 2005.

The ruling states that declaring lands owned by West Bank Palestinians as "absentee property" was illegal and no longer in effect.The Absentee Property Law could not be applied to West Bank lands abandoned by Palestinians during the 1967 Six Day War.

This followed Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decision in February 2005 which cancelled a June 2004 governmental decision made by two ministers (Natan Sharansky and Zevulun Orlev) to apply the absentee property law to tens of thousands of dunams of Palestinian property in East Jerusalem.

In a letter to Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mazuz wrote that Netanyahu must order an immediate halt to the application of the absentee property law to properties owned by West Bank residents in East Jerusalem.

If you want to read about how Judge Okun has been influenced by the Government when the Barry Chamish author of "Who shot Itzak Rabin" sued a bookseller for libel....read more here.

Keep an old carworker happy - Buy GM

Buy This . . . Pay US$1,500 For This

GM lost $10.6 billion last year, Q1 2006 GM sold 2.2 million vehicles and lost $323 million. That means every time the company made a car or truck, it lost $147, its 6th Unprofitable Quarter in a row. (General Motors Acceptance Corp, made $605 million last quarter lending you the money to buy GM vehicles)

GM, who provide health care for 1.1 million employees, retirees and dependents, now tell the world , their shareholders ... and the Unions, that GM is the world's largest private purchaser of Viagra. They are paying out $17 million annually for impotence drugs such as Viagra and Cialis, said GM spokeswoman Sharon Baldwin.

OK so the life style drug bill (even outside the boardroom) is only a fraction of GM's overall health care costs. But at a total of US$5.6 billion each year, that's costing US$1,500 for every vehicle it builds.

St George - Lydda - Ramle and ethnic cleansing by the Zionists

This is a window in a small curch on the Sykes estate in Yorkshire, belonging to Sykes of the Sykes-Picot agreement. It shows St George and the flag of Jerusalem and celebrates the liberation from the Muslim Turks in WW1 by General Allenby of Armageddon.

By a curious coincidence St. George the patron saint of England (whose flag we will see too much of this summer in the World Cup)was entombed at Lydda (Diaspolis) now Hebrew Lod, where there was (circa 6th Century AD) a cult of St. George.

Perhaps we should celebrate the most notorious act of what we now call ethnic cleansing undertaken after WWII, in the area. On the direct orders of Ben - Gurion, countersigned by future Prime MInister Yitzak Rabin, on July 12 and 13, 1948, Israeli forces, led by Moshe Dayan, expelled the 50,000 residents of the towns of Lydda and neighboring Ramle. Which ended in the notorious Lydda/Ramle death march. This Operation Danny (Mivtza Dani in Hebrew) was to remove the threat the two towns had on the Tel Aviv / Jerusalem road. The attack was undertaken by the palmach (the irregular terrorists of the Hagana, Stern gang) initially and on the direct order of Ben-Gurion Israeli forces eventually expelled the 50,000 residents of the towns of Lydda and neighboring Ramle.

Previously the area was softened up as explained by Yigal Allon, the commander of the Palmach who said he had Jews talk to the Arabs in neighboring villages and tell them a large Jewish force was in Galilee with the intention of burning all the Arab villages in the Lake Huleh region. The Arabs were told to leave while they still had time and, according to Allon, they did exactly that.

Yitzak Rabin, later to become Israeli Prime Minister, wrote in his memoirs that "there was no way of avoiding the use of force and warning shots in order to make the inhabitants march the ten or fifteen miles" required to reach Arab positions. Before they left, the townspeople were "systematically stripped of all their belongings,"

Eventually the refugees from Lydda and Ramle made their way to refugee camps near Ramallah along with many others. The whole exodus was over 800,000 people with unknown dead. Count Folke Bernadotte, Swedish nobleman and United Nations mediator, attempted to offer aid. He later wrote that "I have made the acquaintance of a great many refugee camps, but never have I seen a more ghastly sight than that which met my eyes here at Ramallah." (Later that year, Bernadotte was murdered by the Stern Gang. One of its leaders, Yitzhak Shamir, became Israeli Prime Minister in 1983.)

Erskine Childers, British journalist and broadcaster, writing in The Spectator, May 12, 1961:
... the immediately responsible officer was Moshe Dayan…Kimche has described how, on July 11, 1948, Dayan with his columns: “drove at full speed into Lydda, shooting up the town and creating confusion and a degree of terror among the population.“ Ramallah, on the road to which these particular Arabs — numbering over 60,000 from this one area alone — were herded, was up in the Judaean hills, outside Zionist-held territory.

Simha Flapan, Israeli journalist and historian in “The Birth of Israel,” 1987, p. 100:

The most significant elimination of these “Arab islands” took place two months after the Declaration of Independence. In one of the gravest episodes of this tragic story, as many as fifty thousand Arabs were driven out of their homes in Lydda and Ramleh on July 12-13, 1948…In Lydda, the exodus took place on foot…With the population gone, the Israeli soldiers proceeded to loot the two towns in an outbreak of mass pillaging that the officers could neither prevent nor control.

Kenneth Bilby, correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, who entered Lydda the second day it was occupied, writing in “New Star in the New East,” New York, 1950, p. 43:

Moshe Dayan led a jeep commando column into the town of Lydda with rifles, Stens, and sub-machine guns blazing. It coursed through the main streets, blasting at everything that moved...the corpses of Arab men, women, and even children were strewn about the streets in the wake of this ruthlessly brilliant charge.

British General John Glubb, Commander of Jordan’s Arab Legion, in “A Soldier with the Arabs,” Harper, 1957, p. 162:

No sooner were the enemy in the towns [Lydda and Ramle] than they set about an intensive house-to-house search, all men of military age being arrested and removed to concentration camps. Then Israeli vans fitted with loudspeakers drove through the streets, ordering all the remaining inhabitants to leave within half an hour...Suffice it to say that houses were broken into and women sufficiently roughly handled to give point to the warning to be clear of the town in that time.

Perhaps thirty thousand people or more, almost entirely women and children, snatched up what they could and fled from their homes across the open fields. The Israeli forces not only arrested men of military age, they also commandeered all means of transport.

This is the exodus, note the absence of men.

2 Interesting Footnotes

By Yuval Azoulay wrote an article in Haaretz 31/08/2004

"Jewish residents in Ramle are trying to block the opening of an Arab school in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood, fearing it will harm property values and increase crime. The Jewish residents, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union and veterans from the Bukharan community, are demanding that Mayor Yoel Lavi prevent the school's opening Wednesday"......

This week the Jerusalem Post (and elsewhere)has the story of a find of three (very large) gold bracelets and the six silver ones, as well as an assortment of money, were discovered inside a jar found at the site these date from early Arab period (638-1099 AD ).

"This is the first time gold bracelets have been found in an organized archeological excavation," said Arab-period archeologist Ayala Lester. Hmmm early Arab Period.Could be St.George's wife's jewellery ?

March 30th is the Land Day in Israel when the Palestinians remember the ethnic cleansing. Perhaps we could remember St George's burial, say on Holocaust Day and combine the two memorial remembrances together. Apply to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. .. I am going to- send me an e-mail if you would like to join in.
Pic of the Ramle bracelets - early Arab.

Tony Blair is Mad ... as a Hatter

Tony Blair interviewed by the grossly overweight Con Coghlan Sunday Telegraph 23/4/06

"Yes, it's true a lot of people expressed that view. But I had come to the conclusion before we came to office - and even more so afterwards - that the transatlantic alliance was crucial to the security of the world."

"I never had a moment's doubt about this. Because 9/11 for me was, "Right, now I get it. I absolutely get it."

"And suddenly a light was switched on and you saw the whole picture. It was a defining moment. We stood shoulder to shoulder with America because my belief then, and my belief now, is that America was attacked not because it was America - but because it was the repository of the values of the Western world, and it was the main power embodying them. It was an attack on all of us."

"Yeah, but I think spreading democracy and human rights is very progressive. I can't quite get this idea it is supposed to be neocon."

"I just go with my instinct."

There was a crystallising moment when we all realised that Mrs Thatcher was batty ... for me it was her appointment of the grinning bearded loony Branson as Litter Czar ... she assembled the Press, threw down a few crisp bags and toffee wrappers and armed with a sharp stick and a bin liner, attacked the squalor of the usually pristineand manicured gardens of St. James's.

Reading the above, you can see the Messianic glitter in the Dear Leader's eyes, the intensity , the sweating brow ...."I just go with my instict" ... Poll Tax ? ... Iraq ? ... Iran ? ..... North Korea ... all the people attacking "our values" ?

Call the men in the white coats.

What is Hekmatyar up to?

There is one major paradox in Iran's policy on Afghanistan: the "release" of the notorious warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in February 2002. Iran wants a stable Afghanistan to deal with vital issues such as drug trafficking and the refugee problem, but also to nurture the booming trade between Mashhad and Herat, where there are regional plans to integrate Central Asia, Pakistan and India; the routes of the ancient Silk Road. So why did Iran unleash Hekmatyar, one of the most destructive and destabilizing factors in modern Afghan history?

Perhaps the reason for Iran to let Hekmatyar go was security, not for Afghanistan, but for Iran. The Islamic Republic's main concern is to be squeezed in between two US armies, stationed right on its western and eastern borders (Iraq and Afghanistan), with the option to strike at the whim of hardliners in Washington.

To promote instability in Afghanistan eases their worries.

Hekmatyar could not have left Iran safely,crossed to eastern Afghanistan, without assistance from Iran's government. It was Iran's Supreme National Security Council that took the decision to expel Hekmatyar from his Iranian exile and too many Iranian ministers were involved on the issue for Hekmatyar to "disappear" unnoticed. Hekmatyar may have lived low profile in his villa in northern Tehran, but one can be sure that he was under strict surveillance by Vevak - Iranian intelligence.

So what is Hekmatyar up to?

It is evident that there are an increasing number of incidents in Waziristan and now, as the NATO forces start to arrive in Helmund, Kabul.

Hekmatyr made a call to the faithful in January, he has been active for some time now.

So what is Hekmatyar up to?

Pic of H when he was exiled qietly in N Tehran.

Ian Harvey - Zimbabwean "Biggles" RIP

The Zimbabwe defence forces held a military parade in honor of the late retired air vice marshal Ian Mowbray Harvey at Manyame air base on April 11th after he died from a stroke at the age of 65.He is survived by wife Penny and son Robert.General Constantine Chiwenga,(see pic) commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was visibly moved to tears at the ceremony to remember the last serving white officer in Zimbabwean military forces.

One of those larger than life characters who can only survive in the military. Ian Harvey was Rhodesian born white African who were determined to stay in his native countries even in times of radical transition and upheaval. First, the Royal Rhodesian Air Force, then the Rhodesian Air Force of Ian Smith’s rebel minority regime, and finally of the Air Force of an independent Zimbabwe, of which he rose to become deputy commander and become personal pilot to Robert Mugabe for nearly 20 years.

At 17 he left Umtali Boys’ High School and entered the RRAF as a trainee pilot cadet. After basic training on piston-engined Provosts, he graduated to Vampire jets.

In September 1961 Harvey was one of an escort of Vampire pilots waiting at Ndola airport in Northern Rhodesia to meet the UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold’s DC4 aircraft, which was approaching from the Comgo border. The Vampires were to provide protection from fire from secessionist rebels. The aircraft never came into radio contact.

At first light the next day, Harvey went out with his squadron to find the aircraft, which was eventually found burnt out in deep forest, with no survivors. Harvey contributed to the official crash report which said that the pilot had misread the name of Ndola on the

His Boys Own Paper (he is often called "Biggles") lifestyle started in earnest after Ian Smith’s unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) in 1965, Harvey served with the rebel air force and was a flight lieutenant when guerrilla incursions began in the following year. Over the next few years he served in helicopter attack operations against Zimbabwean rebels and also against guerrilla camps in neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia.

President Mugabe’s election was no problem for Harvey. “I’m a third-generation Zimbabwean,” he said. “I refuse to be a refugee. The only thing I’ve ever done since I left school was fly aeroplanes. So when the war was over, I said, fine, let’s get on with life.”

After a brief spell in the Air Force of Oman in 1980 with David irbing the revisionist historians brother, Harvey was eventually promoted to air vice-marshal and became chief of operations in 1994. He was involved in Zimbabwe’s campaign in Mozambique against Renamo rebels and also in the controversial war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

By 2000 Mugabe had plunged the country into chaos with violent suppression of the opposition and lawless invasions of white-owned farms. The handful of whites left in the security forces were under suspicion. Harvey was now forbidden to pilot Mugabe.

In 2001 he reluctantly left the air force. He continued to work at flying instruction and aviation consultancies. But his pension was rapidly eroded by inflation as Mugabe’s policies wrecked Zimbabwe’s economy. Two months before he died from complications after suffering a stroke, he took on a job as a warehouse manager to supplement his income.

After suffering a stroke, he took on a job as a warehouse manager to supplement his income.

Apparently his passing was celebrated with rather a severe wake at Cranleigh Park Club, Prospect.No doubt many would remember the tearful General Chiwenga's brutal, nasty wife.

Gugulethu Moyo, a solicitor who had gone to try to secure the release of a detained journalist at Harare police station was beaten up by here.

A year earlier Mrs Chiwenga threatened a terrified white farmer: "I have not tasted white blood since independence." She ordered one of her guards to "kill the white bastards." He cocked his automatic weapon but didn’t fire.

Bagman / Bomber - Syrian Al Quaeda Bad Guy Killed

A Qaeda Bomb Expert Killed in Pakistan Was a Paymaster
By MOHAMMED KHAN and CARLOTTA GALL New York Times Published: April 22, 2006

Can you believe these guys good luck ? A Syrian man, Mr. Suri was killed after his bus was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint. He shot one of the soldiers and was shot and killed as he tried to flee outside the town of Kaar a tribal area close to the Afghan border, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said on Saturday 22nd April 2006.

Marwan Hadid al-Suri, 38, AKA Abu Marwan, was not only dead but had an amazing collection of incriminating diaries, hand grenades,a pistol, circuits diagrams for bombs, details of chemicals, TNT and C-4 explosives - well naturally he was Al Quaeda's "explosives expert" - although some press reports have the more headline grabbing, and glamorous job description of "Al Quaeda Bagman". That's what "experts/ bagmen" do, carry notes around about making bombs ( but no money apparently ?)His body was taken to Peshawar and his DNA verified to confirm his identity - checked against what ?.

A diary cunningly written in Arabic contained a list of families of senior Qaeda operatives who received regular cash payments from the organization, including relatives of Mr. Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Whilst not saying where the families lived, it described paying $2,500 per family every three months. According to the list, each family was also paid $500 per child every three months.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao told astonished journalists of their immense skill in catching Suri but when asked about the reported killing of Mohsin Musa Mutawali Atwah alias Abdur Rehman Al-Suri in an air raid in North Waziristan last week refused to comment.

Fox News has an even more exciting tale saying Suri's identity was confirmed after experts scanned a laptop computer, a diary and some other documents found in his vehicle ( not on a bus as other reports) after the shootout, which left one agent dead and two wounded.

PS Read more of the Pentagon "villainisation" of the mysterious (one or two legged)Mr Zarkawi.

Canadian Huseyincan Celil left to rot by Harper's stooges

A Canadian citizen, Huseyincan Celil, was arrested in Uzbekistan when he returned there to take his children to Canada. Celil has been an outspoken critic of Uzbekistan’s neo-communist dictator, Karimov, the body boiler. He is also an advocate of China’s oppressed Uighur Muslims, whose homeland is being inundated by Chinese Han settlers. The Canadian government has done little - almost nothing . Celil faces ghastly tortures, like other Uzbek political prisoners, and possible execution – or, just as bad, being handed over to China.

Further information is available at a Huseyin Celil supporters website

The Good news so far is that Mrs. Celil arrived in Toronto together with her two children on April 21st. A large group of people welcomed her. We would like to thank media for their sincere support and coverage both on TV and newspaper.Turkish community members were all united with single voice.

The legal counsel for the Celil family, Chris MacLeod stated that there will be media conferences throughout next week in Hamilton, Burlington and Ottawa.

Mrs. Celil reiterated, based on the Uzbek officials assertion, that the Canadian officials have not yet requested Mr. Celil officially as a citizen of Canada. The Canadian fficials, instead, asked Mr. Celil's situation and why he was under detention. The Uzbek authorities once again implied that if they had received a request from Canada, they would definitely consider returning to Canada. Advocates of Mr. Celil, are gravely concerned about the government's steps, as to whether they are doing something or just hiding behind the Privacy Protection Act.
Pic Hamilton Spectator (c)

US Mumps spreads to Canada - MMR vaccine under close scrutiny

CTV reports Canadian officials are closely monitoring the the worst mumps epidemic in the U.S. since 1988 -- 9 Midwestern states are now reporting cases.

A travel advisory was issued on April 13th for Canadian travellers to areas most affected. In early April, doctors in Hamilton, Ont., west of Toronto, discovered a patient who developed the mumps after visiting Iowa.

Starting in Iowa and moving rapidly into 9 states the virus has affected about 1,200 young people. No deaths have been reported.

Of concern to experts, however, is that an unusually high proportion of those affected have previously received the two-dose vaccine that covers measles, mumps and rubella.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the anomaly.

Dr. Neil Rau, an infectious disease specialist, told CTV Newsnet,"We used to believe the vaccine was 95 per cent effective,"

"There may be something novel about this strain of virus that indicates this vaccine is not as effective as we once thought."

"It could also be that the vaccine works very well when you keep having the disease in your midst," Rao said.

However, he added, it's possible that people lose their immunity to the virus once the risks have been minimized through vaccination, and when it reappears, people aren't prepared to deal with it and the effect is amplified.

The virus is said to be identical to the strain causing an epidemic in the UK last year. More background on the US outbreak here

Here is a blog which makes some astonishing (unprovable and mysterious) claims about the Mumps Mid West outbreak and the hospitalization and isolation of people - which is an unusual step to take as it is usually dealt with at home.

Here is the previous post about the outbreak with lots more information.

Pic (c) Newsweek archive of an outbreak in the 50's in Wisconsin

Proud moment for all Kentuckians

With a teensy weensy lump in his throat Lord Patel admits he predicted here that Tara Elizabeth Conner, 20, of Russell Springs would be crowned Miss USA 2006, in Baltimore last night.

"I am an easygoing, down-to-earth girl," Conner said to me in her distinctive Kentucky drawl. "Throughout my life, hardships and different experiences have made me a very humbled, yet strong individual. It is because of these life lessons that I have become the person I am today."

What a girl .... and these two delightful ladies ..... they just got to share a little bit of history with Tara.

For the hard core pics of previous Miss USA's go here

Google's copyright wars ... record profits and share price

April 20th was the birthday of Jean Miró (born 1893) and Google reworked their logo to look like some of the artist's work.

The Artists Rights Society, representing the Miró family and more than 40,000 visual artists and their estates, demanded Google remove the logo.A Miró family member logged onto Google's on Thursday and was upset discovered a reworked logo that incorporated images used in multiple copyrighted works.

``It's a distortion of the original works and in that respect it violates the moral rights of the artist,'' said Theodore Feder, president of Artists Rights Society (ARC). ``There are underlying copyrights to the works of Miró, and they are putting it up without having the rights.''

Google said that it would honor the request but that it did not believe its logo was a copyright violation.

Google frequently changes the logo on its home page to reflect or honour people's acheivements Olympics or Albert Einstein's birthday, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day. Thursday's logo had painted versions of each letter in the Google name -- allegedly incorporating images from Miró's "The Escape Ladder,'' 1940; "Nocturne,'' 1940; and "The Beautiful Bird Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of Lovers,'' 1941.

This isn't the first time the ARC have had to complain, they did in May 2002 when images created by Salvador Dali were allegedly incorporated into the logo. Google removed the Dali images soon after it was contacted by the society.

In September, the Authors Guild sued Google for reproducing works in a "library project" that were still under the protection of copyright. In a press release, Authors Guild President Nick Taylor called the project ``a plain and brazen'' violation of copyright law.

Mountain View,CA.-based Google reported 1Q net income today of $592 million, ( $1.95 a share) up from $369 million ( $1.29 a share) a year earlier.

Shares closed up 5.3% to $437.10 after trading as high as $450.72 in early action. The stock has risen more than 20% since hitting an intraday low of $331 on March 10 and nearly 500% since launch.

Today's logo, it being Earth Day reminds us of the sunny Mountain View skies with their onshore breezes ... perhaps bags of gold rather than golden sunlight might be more appropriate ?

Dick Asleep

Bad knees, dodgy ticker, 4 heart attacks, 2 heart ops, oesophagitis , that ligth hurt my eyes, needed my sunglasses, bastards boooing me at RFK Stadium .... and this boring Chinese guy to listen to ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


VP Cheney asleep at the White House whilst Hu Jintao tells a joke or three. See end piece.


Aside ... The President after a few pleasantries launched straightaway into a very revealing rant about Chinese influence on North Korea (DPRK) ...

"......I appreciate China's role as host of the six-party talks, which will be successful only if North Korea makes the right strategic decision: to abandon all its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs as pledged to the other five parties. I will continue to seek President Hu's advice and cooperation, and urge his nation to use its considerable influence with North Korea to make meaningful progress toward a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons....."

Lord Patel , who has been to the DPRK and keeps contacts has been noticing the increasing drumbeat with interest, see recent North Korea - USAF keeps a watch . When the Pres. said "Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons" he meant DPRK nuclear weapons NOT, Definitely not, US nuclear weapons ... and if his sleeping partner had anything to do with it, ...used ones.

END PIECE

Oh! by the way "Plan of Attack" Bob Woodward

Page 9: The first sign of the Bush administration's desire to attack Iraq comes days before Bush's 2001 inauguration. Dick Cheney asks outgoing Defense Secretary Bill Cohen to brief the president "about Iraq and different options." During the briefing, Cheney falls asleep.

order from Amazon

How The President spies on us ..... all

TASH HEPTING, GREGORY HICKS and
ERIK KNUTZEN on Behalf of Themselves
and All Others Similarly Situated,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
AT&T CORP., AT&T INC. and DOES 1-20,
Defendents

Full Plaintiff writ here

Writ preamble tells it succintly ;

"This case challenges the legality of Defendants’ participation in a secret and illegal government program to intercept and analyze vast quantities of Americans’ telephone and Internet communications, surveillance done without the authorization of a court and in violation of federal electronic surveillance and telecommunications statutes, as well as the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution."

This case has also attracted a great deal of Press interest and especially in the cyberworld. Naturally AT&T, and no doubt the US Government wish to bury these documents, and prevent any discussion either in court or in public of the mechanics of wholesale surveillance of private telcoms and internet traffic between individuals, companies , many of which are overseas.A previous post here April 8th covers the case and the supplier of spying equipment Narus more here.

Hepting et al are named for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) bringing this class action in which a retired employee, and whistleblower, of AT&T, Mark Klein supplied 3 confidential company documents totalling 140 pages detailing how AT&T diverts internet traffic to the National Security Agency via a secret room in San Francisco and allege that such rooms exist in other AT&T switching centers...effectively a massive unselective internet wiretap. EFF filed these documents in the court under a temporary seal last Wednesday. This is the only direct evidence filed so far by the EFF.

Now AT&T is seeking the return of these technical documents.

In papers filed late Monday, AT&T argued that confidential technical documents provided by an ex-AT&T technician to the EFF shouldn't be used as evidence in the case and should be returned.
Lexis-Nexis
provides an excellent layers view of the issues involved and discussion with legal observers. Other sites report on the case Wired CorpWatch The Knowledge Base

A Google Alert "Hepting v AT&T" should keep you up to date. Meanwhile just don't post that you intend to drop an H Bomb on the Houses of Parliament.

Guns before battering

The UK Government will intervene in a case brought by a group of British citizens against Saudi Arabian officials who allegedly tortured them. The UK Government via a spokesperson from the UK Department for Constitutional Affairs (Fatty Falconers hang out) said "The UK government condemns torture in all its forms and works to eradicate it wherever it occurs. The intervention in this case is not about criminal responsibility for torture, nor about the UK government's attitude to torture. It concerns jurisdiction, and the way in which civil damages can be sought against a foreign state for acts allegedly committed in its own territory."

A Peter O'Connor from the same department said "You can't come to the United Kingdom and sue a foreign state for actions that occurred in that state."

BBC online have a useful background article and the Guradian reported this week

For a handy and excellent legal discussion, the excellent JURIST - Legal News & Research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (available as daily e-mail digest) provides a useful update on the legal issues involved.

For one of the most sustained, cogently argued, well researched, dissections of the hypocrisy of Government policy, it's arms sales and indifference to tortured UK citizens, go to the excellent Chicken Yoghurt THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT VS MORALITY: WHERE’S THE BEEF? (see pic of author and assistants) Required reading.

POSTSCRIPT

A case arose in the US in 2004 of a US citizen who claimed to have ben tortured whilst in Saudi detention. Wapo had the story then but this very odd (and fascinating "Al Quaeda ") case is another story which you can follow on from here.

Abu Ali's ( a student from Virginia) parents argued in their court petition that their son's detention is an example of "extraordinary rendition," a practice in which U.S. authorities transfer individuals suspected of terrorist connections to foreign intelligence services that use coercive interrogation techniques illegal in this country.

The Justice Department sought to have the family's petition dismissed. It has argued in court papers that under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over a U.S. citizen's detention by foreign powers.