Des Brown spends money on defence equipment overseas

Much has been said about the way Des Browne had helped beef up the armed forces equipment - which is desirable, after decades of decay, but we still have a spatchcock policy see Lord Patel March 2007

MOD to get 14 more 'copters. 8 refurbed turkeys and 6 on the borrer from the Prince of Denmark

"14 additional helicopters will become available over the next 2 years for use on military operations (please note the (very) careful wording).

Well up to a point Lord Copper.

Basically we have borrowed 6 Merlins from our Danish friends as they withdraw from Iraq and we finally get to use the Chinooks we ordered in 1995 in 2 years time... at a cost conservatively estimated at "around" £250Mn. Quite what the MOD would use these helicopters for other than military operations defies understanding - ferrying Prince Andrew between Golf courses ?"

On the 13th March the MOD took the opportunity to unroll the Mastiff at the time Lord Drayson was out in Basra.

The MASTIFF, a heavily armoured, wheeled vehicle suitable for road patrols and convoys, is the newest delivery in a range of protected patrol vehicles being used in Iraq.

The MASTIFF is the newest delivery in a range of protected patrol vehicles being used in Iraq

It is a 6x6 wheel-drive patrol vehicle from Force Protection Inc. which carries six people, plus two crew. It has a maximum speed of 55 mph (89 kph), and can be armed with a machine gun, 50mm canon or 40mm automatic grenade launcher. (But the one in the picture Copyright MOD is not armed)

These were dissected by Lord Patel Thursday, September 14, 2006

Too Large, Too Late and incredibly expensive MOD runabouts bound for sunny Afghanistan.
Presented as a replacement (at £1/4 Mn per throw) for the indaequately armoured "snatch" Land Rovers this hugely expensive sticking plaster adds a further burden of costs of spares, and base training , and a further front line burden , of training mechanics, the need for low loaders , more back up equipment, spares to carry and a higher overhead of maintenance staff, plus their housing , catering etc., Press reports state they cost £1/4 Mn. each but the manufacturers press release at the date of order 11th August (4 weeks ago!) states the order for 85 vehicles is US$63 Mn. = approx £400,000 "The contract also includes associated spares, technical manuals, and field service support and is worth approximately $63 million. "

The manufacturers are a start up company Force Protection Inc. (OTCBB:FRPT) at the time announced their Q2 results on August 15th. Record sales of US$56 Mn. and highest qrtly profits of US$ 1.3 Mn.The official announcement included the statement..."A recent contract from the British Ministry of Defense for protected vehicles to support infantry patrols marks an additional expansion of the company to the international defense industry."

This has done wonders for their share price, see the graph. For more info see their website -

Almost unnoticed, at the same time (03/14/2007) Force Protection, Inc. announced that it had received a contract modification from the British Ministry of Defence for 22 additional Cougar Mastiff Protected Patrol Vehicles (Mastiff PPV). The order will bring the total number of vehicles produced for the British government to 108 at an approximate value of $70.1 million. US$800,000 give or take a few bucks each = £400,000 at this fatrenoon's exhnage rate of £1 = US£1.991.

Basically the Mastiff PPV is the same as the Mastiff but with some armament and a turret - which seemingly they forgot from the first specifications. It is still a 27 tonne Mack truck with a lot of body armour and very little interior space.

In the MOD piece much atention is paid to the levels of protection ..

The MASTIFF Company Commander, Major Dan Bradbury, 1st Yorkshire Regiment, said:

"The soldiers love it. It's a real investment in their protection."

Royal Logistic Corps MASTIFF driver, Private Ciaran Castles, said:

"All round it's a good bit of kit. It's enjoyable to go out there because you feel more safe and you know if it comes down to it, you've got that extra armour to protect you."

Superb protection ...but what do you DO with it, apart from provide a mobile comms platform for BOWMAN, which was designed to fit on a Land Rover but doesn't.

Brent Oil a whisker from US$70 a barrel

Quietly Brent oil has been glidng up and hit a 7 month high of 69.59 dollars a barrel Friday. Whilst there are concerns that with the US driving season approaching demand will strengthen the market is very nervous about Middle East developments. Goldman Sachs increased its 3 month price forecast for London Brent by US$1 to US$70, and raised its 6 month forecast by 50 cents toUS$ 72. It is this price that is the benchmark for the 20mn barrels that are traded every day of crude oil.

The other benchmark is the West Texas Index (WTI) whai over the last two months has drifted lower for very specific and local condition of the US market. At the end of the week New York Mercantile Exchange’s WTI traded at US$63. There are as many reasons given as you chase seekers of the truth. Essentially WTI is the internal US market and Brent is oil actually on board tankers that can land anyhwere. Essentially it reflects the deep concern in the shipping markets that oil traded at sea may be difficult to replace at the oil terminal with all the concerns in the Gulf, declining North Sea resevoirs, bombs in Algeria.

The average US pump price of unleaded is US$2.819 a gallon (3.79 litres).

Des Browne and Loose Bowel Syndrome

Des "I speak your weight" Browne, our erstwhile Minister of Defence reflects the Peter Principle of management theory. This is my old friend Pete who reckons any Member of Parliament is by definition, promoted beyond the level of their ability.

As a provincial Ayrshire solicitor , conveyancing your cowshed or dealing with your divorce, Des is probably modestly competent. In dealing with the great affairs of State, in coping with egregious shits of doubtful parentage like Lord Drayson, the Prima Donna's of the 3 services, whose internecine warfare is continually erupting in public , he is a babe in arms.

On top of this he has No 10's devious media circus heading for the horizon (along with prime amnesiac Tony) , the PCC and warring Press owners and their editors stirring the ordure as only they know how, aggrieved jolly jack tars and their families - and maybe even that ex military chap from the D Notice committee on his back.

Unsupported by the proximity of parliamentary colleagues he is very much on his own.

Hence no doubt, many visits to the water closet this weekend (Always presuming they now have flushing toilets in the Doon Valley).

The question, is WWDB do ?

Here at Patel Towers we see he has 2 options.

1) He makes a swift, short statement outlining very briefly the cock-up, communications SNAFU's and tenders his resignation. This settles and buries the matter for the instant and everything is left until the various committees, enquiries report - which they probably never will.

2) He treats us to a detailed forensic analysis of events starting with Invasion Day 2003 , the Queen's Regulations, phases of the moon, blusters about stolen iPOD's , human rights, and explains that while he accepts respsonsibility he is not ..er... actually ..er .. responsible.

It is evident that events in the Middle East and elsewhere the Al Quaeda aligned organisation have upped their game in recent weeks. Whatever the view of the legality, good sense, of the original Iraqi invasion it is essential that the current military effort is undertaken with a clear solid vision.

Let us face it, if the Coalition of the Dishonest does not succeed in controlling Iraq - a prospect that seems more unlikely as every day passes - if a determined assault is made on the Green Zone - the Plain of Jars will be seen as a picnic.

The next 6/8 weeks are critical - not to the success of the invasion, but the survival of the coalition land forces. This will result in greater dependence on massive aerial superiority expressed in a terminal blitzkreig.... whose intensity and extension will become uncontrollable by the forces of democracy (viz the secret bombing of Cambodia,Laos) ... which is exactly what the bunch of sex maniacs and crooks in Tel Aviv want.

So Des takes his lunch pail... who gets the job ? ..... step forward Jack Straw.

Insurgents Re-surging

Two helicopters that "collided" north of Baghdad, originally reported to be US have been confirmed as UK Pumas, leaving 2 crew dead and one seriously.

The BBC reports "heavy" fighting in Basra has broken out and 5 insurgents are reported dead.

Near al-Sarafiyah bridge, collapsed by a suicide truck bomb on Thursday (or by rockets from a US helicopter) killing 11 people, a suicide bomber blew himself up today on a minibus near a courthouse in the al-Utafiyah neighborhood in NW Baghdad, killing at least eight people and wounding 11.

The Islamic State of Iraqa group said to have al- Qaida links posted a Web statement on Saturday . They have and hold as hostages 20 Iraqi soldiers to avenge the alleged rape of a woman by police. The statement demands the government hand over the alleged rapists within 48 hours.

Gen. David Petraeus has writen to all deployed toops who are going to extend their tours in Iraq by 25% to 15 months. He expressed appreciation for "the hardship and strain the extension will put on you and your families," and he warned of "an enormous amount of hard work ahead."

In Afghanistan 2 French aid workers and 3 Afghans kidnapped by Taliban insurgents appeared in a video broadcast Saturday by the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya. All 5 were seized on April 3rd in Afghanistan's SW Nimroz province they were all said to be employees of the humanitarian group Terre d'Enfance.

Operation Achilles , NATO led offensive supported by Afghan troops more than 5,000 strong was launched last month to flush / kill Taliban militants entrenched in the northern tip of the Helmand.
A series of bomb and gun attacks have killed 11 NATO soldiers since last weekend.

Combined with bombings recently in Morocco, Algeria, in the recent past in Tunisia, and low level activity which is starting in the old CSI states, a pattern of spring resurgence is becoming apparent. One can only expect that soft targets throughout the Mediterranean littoral will increase as summer comes.

This is a critical time for the US as anti war sentiment is growing. The most vocal Republican war sceptic and Dubyas's potential nemesis, Nebraska U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (his 5th visit) and Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral and member of the House Armed Services Committe are in Iraq and return on Monday.

Pic : 200,000 march to Ataturks memorial in Istanbul in a pro-secular anti Government (and in public display to discourage Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from making a bid for the presidency) . The principal organisers were retired senior ex Army officers - to date only one candidate has declared - a popular comedian Metin Uca. See also Asia Times for news of Turkish military advances against the Kurds disregarding US advice.

We expect to take casualties

Reid sends ill equipped troops to certain deaths in S Afghanistan wrote Lord Patel January 2006

"Defence Secretary "Dr" John Reid met some of the troops due to die (We expect to take casualties)in Afghanistan. In a nationwide 2 bases *Salisbury Plain , Dittingham Norfolk, and Otterburn) exercise 3 Para are part of the 3,300 army personnel are due to go to the lawless southern region of the country.

They will help provide a "stable environment for reconstruction and help the government gain control of the more troubled areas" it says on this press release here."

Some mother's son

19-year-old Private Chris Gray from Leicester was on a routine patrol in Helmand province with the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian regiment when he came under small arms fire and became the 53rd UK soldier to die in action in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence said it took place after troops challenged a Taleban team trying to set up an ambush. He was based near the town of Now Zad, in north-west Helmand province, southern Afghanistan.

Pte Gray joined the British Army just over a year ago.

"Jimmy", an 18 year old , a member of our pigeon racing club, with 9 months in Signals is off there in a few weeks. He is wildly excited at the prospect.

Osprey - The MV-22 Widowmaker to finally, finally, finally see active service in Iraq real soon now...well maybe September

Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway announced at the Pentagon this morning that the MV-22 Osprey aircraft (360 are ordered) will make its combat debut in Iraq this September, when Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, with 10 Ospreys and 171 personnel, deploys to Al Asad Air Base.The MV-22, can travel up to 900 miles before refueling, is set to phase out the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter introduced in the 1960s.

The Osprey provides much greater range and flexibility than other helicopter platforms and is capable of in-flight refueling from Marine KC-130 Hercules aircraft. It also has no means of defense..i.e. no armaments at all. [Awkward Fact: Most helicopters are shot-down in combat landing zones. ]

"This deployment directly supports our Corps' number one priority, the Marines and sailors in contact at the tip of the spear," Conway said. "This is a great day for our Corps and for my aviation folks in particular." It won't be however if special ops want to rappel down ropes on a hillside that the aircraft cannot land on, as the downwash beats them to death on the rocks.

One of the better things Dick Cheney has ever done was, when Secretary of Defense, he tried to kill it. In 1992, he said “You’ve [Congress] directed me to buy the V-22, a program I don’t need.…My problem with the program’s always been primarily one of affordability.” Lots more about this monument to the porkery here.

PS R.Merle Washington Post Feb 10th 2007 Page DO1 The Marine Corps said yesterday it was temporarily grounding its fleet of V-22 Osprey tilt rotors after discovering a glitch in a computer chip that could cause the aircraft to lose control....Testing showed that in below-freezing temperatures, the computers could lose their redundancy features -- a safety net if one of the computers is damaged by enemy fire, according to the Marine Corps. That could cause the pilot to lose control of the aircraft. [Awkward Fact : This plane has been in production for over 25 years, and costs more than $113 million each.]

US Dollar dives again - when(and why) does it stop ?

As the G7 meet and Gordon Brown * meets the Great Satan face to face, (not the posture Tony normally adopts) there are increasing news reports that Iran is seeking (and receiving) payment for oil in Euros and that China is attempting to slow the accumulation of foreign exchange the US$ traded 0.3% lower again on Friday.(US$ 1.35290 = 1 Euro)....a 35% drop since the illegal invasion of Iraq.

The Australian dollar has continued its remorseless rise to a fresh 17-year high against the US dollar and a 10-year high against the Japanese yen.

The Pound Sterling showed new strength against the US$ finishing. US£ 1.98635 - £ Sterling. Even the Malaysian ringgit is showing ten year highs against the US$.

The US National Association of Realtors issues their Monthly Existing Home sales report on or about the 24th of April for the month of March. Good news is not expected as new housing available for sale is expected to climb from 6.7 months to over 7 months.


* Few of us will forget the visit of Dubya to London and Sedgefield for several days, in November 2003, when the street were full of folks bearing placards "Bush is a War Criminal" ... yet Gordon never got a chance to meet him ? Was he locked up for the duration by Tony ?... after all few will forget what he said at what Dubya disarmingly called the Queen's house...

" The third pillar of security is our commitment to the global expansion of democracy, and the hope and progress it brings, as the alternative to instability and to hatred and terror. We cannot rely exclusively on military power to assure our long-term security."

LATEST DEATH SCORES

Sunnis playing away from Home, exploded a car bomb in Kabala killing 40 and injuring 60. Back Home in Baghdad another cross Tigris bridge was damaged.

Wolfowitz - Just the guy to rob run a bank

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz:

“There’s a lot of money to pay for this that doesn’t have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people…and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years…We’re dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.”

[Source: House Committee on Appropriations Hearing on a Supplemental War Regulation, 3/27/03]

Smart guy though , he gets the World Bank to pay for his whore.... oops that was the "acting manager" of World Bank job of Manager of External Affairs and Outreach for the Middle East and North Africa .... with a tax free salary that exceeds Condi's and has a built in annual 8% pay rise. ... but then his predecessor Mr Wolfensohn did like to travel with a lot of VERY helpful ladies. Wolfie and his beautiful sidekick are a latter day Bonnie & Clyde, they don't blow the bank up, they just walk through the front door and take the money.



Update 21/4/07 Guradian

Rumour has it they say that she can suck the chrome off a fender ...Salon update here about how she also got a security pass.... " Wolfowitz's World Bank scandal over his girlfriend reveals many of the same qualities that created the wreckage he left in his wake in Iraq: grandiosity, cronyism, self-dealing and lying -- followed by an energetic campaign to deflect accountability."

"Riza was unhappy about leaving the sinecure at the World Bank. But in 2006 Wolfowitz made a series of calls to his friends that landed her a job at a new think tank called Foundation for the Future that is funded by the State Department. She was the sole employee, at least in the beginning. The World Bank continued to pay her salary, which was raised by $60,000 to $193,590 annually, more than the $183,500 paid to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and all of it tax-free. Moreover, Wolfowitz got the State Department to agree that the ratings of her performance would automatically be "outstanding." Wolfowitz insisted on these terms himself and then misled (he lied) the World Bank board about what he had done."

"Riza, who is not a U.S. citizen, had to receive a security clearance in order to work at the State Department. Who intervened? It is not unusual to have British or French midlevel officers at the department on exchange programs, but they receive security clearances based on the clearances they already have with their host governments. Granting a foreign national who is detailed from an international organization a security clearance, however, is extraordinary, even unprecedented. So how could this clearance have been granted?

"State Department officials familiar with the details of this matter confirmed to me that Shaha Ali Riza was detailed to the State Department and had unescorted access while working for Elizabeth Cheney. Access to the building requires a national security clearance or permanent escort by a person with such a clearance. But the State Department has no record of having issued a national security clearance to Riza."

"Surrounded by his Praetorian Guard, Wolfowitz insulated himself at the World Bank from the career staff. There, as at the Pentagon, Wolfowitz pushed aside the professionals and replaced them with a small band of politically reliable assistants. Wolfowitz rewarded them, too, on his own authority, with enormous tax-free salaries. Consider Kevin Kellems, his public affairs officer at the Pentagon, who had guided conservative media from that perch and is known as "keeper of the comb," for having been the person to hand Wolfowitz the infamous comb he licked before slicking down his hair in the Michael Moore film "Fahrenheit 9/11." Kellems was given a salary of $240,000, at least equal to what World Bank vice presidents with years of service earn."

SNP romping to Victory in Scotland

Weber Shandwick's excellent website has issued their latest poll of polls with statistics on the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

For the constituency vote the poll puts Labour on 31%, SNP on 36%, Conservatives on 13%, and Liberal Democrats on 15%. For the regional vote Labour are on 29%, SNP on 35%, Conservative on 12%, Liberal Democrats on 14% and the Green Party on 4%.

Using Weber Shandwick’s election predictor, this poll of polls would see 44 Labour MSPs, 51 SNP, 14 Conservatives and 18 Liberal Democrats

UPDATE Monday - Hello to all the visitors here from Weber Shandwick.

Bad Officers - Bad Apples

The Channel 4 docu/drama The Mark of Cain finally got it's overdue showing last night.

The training activities at Deepcut has left no-one in any doubt about the systematic brutalisation of young men (and latterly women)in the Army. It was only the absence of lavish ornate tattoos which seemed to be missing to show the alienation that is built in and the replacement of older and personal loyalties to a supposed bond of a band of military brothers. "One for all, All for one"

The formation of the mind of the officer class was left unstated until the end when it weighed more on the Senior personnel of the regiment what they would lose by disciplining the NCO than by him being adequateley punished.

There are excellent reviews in the Times by Ian Johns and by Sam Wollaston in the Guradian

The failure of moral courage and the Army method of dealing with it, recalls Kipling's "Danny Deever"

They are hangin' Danny Deever, you must mark 'im to 'is place
For 'e shot a comrade sleepinn - you must look 'im in the face;
Nine hundred of 'is county an' the regiment's disgrace,
While they're hanging Danny Deever in the mornin'.

You can read the complete poem here.
No posting of it on You Tube

Robert Jackson reviews it also, it worked for us. The frightening thing is that this represents a tiny fraction of what modern imperialism is doing in Iraq / Afghanistan. Deep forebodings for this summer as a clearly organised, highly motivated muslims seek their revenge in the Mahgreb, the Sh'ite crescent and Newasian / old CSI states erupts.

An Hiatus

The smart arse technical / accounts wanted to move ISP from BT to talktalk. Despite the honeyed words of the vendor's marketing department who assured us that the intital well publicised difficulties were behind them, transition is proving to have what a lot of people with halting English in India call technical problems.

Apologies until Normal Service is resumed - if you are in the UK and considering migrating to talktalk, based on the experience here. DON'T.

Sarkozy/Chirac Amnesty deal exposed - and Nicholas shows his genes

Ex Paris mayor, President Jacques Chirac generously gave Nicholas Sarkozy his official endorsement in his bid for the presidency last month, shortly after announcing that he would be stepping down after 12 years in office and would not be seeking a third term. Chirac's presidential immunity runs out a month after he steps down on May 16 and there are 3 outstanding matters that relate to his time as the mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.

Two cases deal with the illegal use of Paris city funds to pay his own staff and sympathisers of Chirac's Rally for the Republic (RPR) party, the predecessor of the governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

A third case surrounds a Paris printing firm which is suspected of rigging public tender contracts and of funding the RPR via the mayor's office.

Le Canard Enchaine reports that Sarkozy has agreed to protect Chirac in exchange for an endorsement of his candidacy ahead of the April 22 election. Predictably Sarkozy 52 said"It's grotesque, it's hurtful and it's untrue, I deny it in the firmest and fullest terms," as he campaigned through the north Paris suburb of Villepinte and attended a ceremony for new French citizens.

Sarkozy is battling against startling views he aired in a weekend interview for Philosophie magazineon a belief that their is a genetic component in paedophilia and has been quoted saying: "I'm inclined, personally, to think that you are born paedophile, and it's a problem that we don't know how to treat this pathology.

"There are 1,200 to 1,300 youths who kill themselves in France each year, and it's not because their parents took care of them badly.It's because, genetically, they had an underlying fragility and pain ... circumstances aren't everything, the share of the innate is immense."

On Tuesday he sought to downplay his comments, rhetorically asking "Who can tell me it's normal to rape a three-year-old boy? In relation to that, what is nature and what is nurture? I would refrain from deciding one way or the other".

A remark if not calculated to, it certainly raised the political temperature. Right Wing demagogue Le Pen called Sarkozy's comments "absurd".

On the left, the Greens and the anti-globalisation candidate, Jose Bove, accused Mr Sarkozy of preaching "eugenics". Communist Party candidate, Marie-George Buffet, said the genetic argument was a "monstrosity" which had served as an ideological basis for Nazism.

The Catholic archbishop of Paris, Mgr André Vingt-Trois, said he was alarmed at the implication that the destiny of certain people was irrevocably written into their DNA.

Ségolène Royal, the beautiful, Socialist candidate (whose brother helped blow up the Rainbow Warrior) in 2nd in the polls, said it was the place of scientists and not politicians to pronounce on such matters.

Latest opinion polls suggest Sarkozy will win the first round of voting on April 22 with 29% of the vote against 24% for Ms Royal.

Algiers rocked by Salafist / Al Quaeda bombs - 23 dead 162 injured

2 bombs exploded in Algiers today killing at least 23 people with 162 wounded.

A car bomb exploded 100 metres from the entrance to the Algerian prime minister's office (10.50 local time) in the center of Algiers while another bomb hit a suburban police station in the suburbs at Bab Ezzouar. GSPC, or Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, Algeria's largest remaining Islamic guerrilla group were initially blamed.

Al-Jazeera television said a man identifying himself as Abu Muhammad Salah called the station's Rabat bureau to say he's al- Qaeda's spokesman in North Africa and that the group carried out the attacks. Agence France Presse reported the 2 suicide bombers and their photos were later published on an al-Qaeda linked Internet site.(see pic)

Parliamentary elections are due on May 17

Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem spoke publicly about an hour after the attack. "This criminal attack is perpetrated at the time when the Algerian people are seeking national reconciliation,'' he said. It is certain that these events will be used by the Government to further restrict even non-violent Islamic candidates from running in the May 17 elections.

The GSPC was founded in the mid-1990s as a rival to the Armed Islamic Groups, or GIA, Algeria's main Islamic guerrilla group. The civil war began after the military-backed government banned 1992 elections that the now banned Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win. While both groups want to impose an Islamic state, the GSPC objected to the GIA slaughter of civilians during the conflict that killed an estimated 200,000 people in the 1990s.

Unlike the GIA, the GSPC didn't accept a 1999 amnesty offer that largely brought the civil war to an end. After virtually disappearing in the mid-1990s, foreign direct investment hit $1.1 billion a year in 2001, 2002 and 2005, the most recent year available, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says.

Foreign Investment

UNCTAD reports growing foreign direct investment rising to $8.3 billion in 2005 from $3.1 billion in 1999, BP have huge developments in the interior for gas and oil development.

In 2003, the GSPC pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda. Ayman al- Zawahiri, who is said to be the top aide to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, reciprocated last September, announcing a "blessed union'' and saying the GSPC would be al-Qaeda's weapon to attack France and Algeria's military-dominated government, which cooperates closely with both France and the U.S.

The attacks follow the deaths of 4 alleged terrorists and a policeman yesterday in police raids in Morocco. Tunisian police and Islamic militants fought gun battles around Tunis last December

In a statement, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy expressed his 'horror and indignation' at the attacks and conveyed France's 'total solidarity' with the Algerian government's fight against terrorism.

Lord Patel posted recently about the Salafist / Al Quaeda link up and recent bombings of oil workers. Also the President's very low key visit last June to mee the Queen and buy arms.Plus the US$4Bn. worth of arms sold to Algeria in 2006 by Russia.

By the way, UK energy security is relying on LNG supplies from Algeria... and is a major investment zone for BP - the energy company.

Is the Pope a Jew ? No but he hangs out with a few

In 1986, the late Dr. Joseph L. Lichten was named a knight commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II the first American Jew to receive such an award.

Now German born Pope Benedict XVI has and great admirer of the Muslim Faith has named Rabbi Leon Klenicki, Director Emeritus of Interfaith Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his historic contributions in improving the relationship between Catholics and Jews.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, who will present a scroll from the Holy See as a formal recognition of Knighthood, and the medallion and sword which are the insignia of the Order, said, " Rabbi Klenicki has been a pioneer in Jewish-Catholic relations for decades."

Pic of Pope Benedict XVI having a chat with Rabbi Leon Klenicki.

No identifiable evidence that 21/7 bombs were intended to explode - Prof. Hans Michels

Hans Michels, is the Professor of Safety Engineering at Imperial College London . He made a presentation to the court today in the case of the alleged 21/7 "bombers."

His presentation was entitled "Is there any conclusive scientific or technical evidence related to an intentional major explosive objective? None that I have been able to identify."

Stephen Kamlish QC, on behalf of Mr Ibrahim's co-accused Manfu Kwaku Asiedu, asked Prof Michels: "It's the main question in this case, do you understand?"

Prof Michels answered: "I do understand."

Mr Kamlish replied: "And you can't answer it."

During the events of 7th July 2005 and the following three weeks, Professor Michels gave over 25 live or recorded interviews in front of the cameras of the BBC, Channel 4, Sky News and ITV. He also wrote eight press releases, spoke to journalists from most UK broadsheets and gave radio interviews over the 'phone to a variety of stations around the world.

Could perfume have made the London bombs more dangerous? asked journalist Alok Jha in the Guradian Thursday July 21, 2005

He had also previously commented on the 21/7/2005 bombs in print suggesting that blasting caps had been used, and that the explosive had degraded so the "bombs" failed to detonate.

He told the Times " it was ''extremely improbable'' that all four devices would have failed to explode. ''It may be that the object this time was not to kill people but to cause chaos,''

Readers are reminded that one of the accused Ibrahim Said, was known to the Home Office and particpated in interviews with the authors of a Home Office report on the Qat drug trade in the UK prior to the 21/7 bombing.

Readers will remember that the activities of the "bombers" as described by witnesses were not inconsistent with the "bombers" having been under the influence of psychotropic drugs at the time.

6 years for £1Mn VAT fraud

Abdullah N'Jie (43), also known as Adam Michael Cole, of 9, Dolben Court, Willen, Milton Keynes. Abdullah N'Jie traded over a three year period, using three different business names Jainbi Seafoods Limited, a restaurant/takeaway formerly operating at 123 Midland Road, Bedford, Integration Innovators Limited, purporting to sell electrical goods at Glynn Square, Wolverton, Milton Keynes, and ANA Business Enterprises Limited, allegedly trading in a similar market together with consultancy work from his address at 1 Clarence Road, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes.

He made false VAT claims totalling £1,104,795 and was charged at Aylesbury Crown Court with 11 counts of Cheating the Revenue and one count of False Accounting under the Theft Act 1968. He pleaded 'not guilty' to all but one of the charges. The jury returned an unanimous 'guilty' verdict on all 11 counts.

He was sentenced today to 6 years for VAT fraud and a Confiscation Order is currently being pursed to reclaim the illegal profits N'Jie gained.

Met Office Summer Forecast - Maybe Hot /Cold, Wet / Dry

The Met Office have today issued their Forecast for Summer 2007 - this is it ...

Temperature

"There is a high probability (at least 70%) that mean summer temperatures will be above the 1971-2000 long-term average over much of western Europe, including the UK. Indications for this year suggest the odds for a particularly hot summer, similar to those experienced in 2003 and 2006 across the UK, are around 1 in 8."

Precipitation

"Prospects for rainfall are uncertain. However, there are currently no indications of an increased risk of either a particularly dry or a particularly wet summer." ENDS

Apparently this garbage is "derived using global forecasting models and statistical methods."

It is employees of this outfit that can tell us what the climate will be in 50/100 years but boiled down there is a 12.5% chance of a hot summer (if you want the Bayesian analysis) and it probably won't be very dry or very wet.

They helpfully add that "The summer forecast will next be updated at 10 a.m. 1 May 2007." Peer reviewed scientists my arse.

Tony Blair is a Fucking Liar

The bulky but always entertaining Mr Kelvin MacKenzie, sometimes described as the ex Editor of the Sun, inventor of such great novelties as the news bunny and naked darts, was for a change being interviewed. He claimed at the weekend (presumably in his role as Jester in Chief at the Sun) that he would not have touched the accounts of the ex Prisoners of Zenda “with a barge pole” and accused the Government of a “catastrophic error". He defended the sailors and Marines, saying he laid the blame “exclusively and wholly at the bloody idiots currently running the Ministry of Defence”.

Mr McKenzie told the Today program

“My sense is that the Government... are very concerned that they have lost the propaganda battle with Iran and these 15 are simply pawns in this battle, They have opened up a can of worms. It is a catastrophic error by our Secretary of State for Defence.”

Bang goes the Knighthood of another Editor.

Big Mac is now telling anyone who will listen,

"I know that David Hill (Chief Clerk No 10 Press relations) was whistling round newspaper offices last week asking editors if they needed "Help with their editorials" in relation to the freeing of the 15 - ie that you must get over the sense that Tony Blair had had a major triumph,"

Anybody walking through Whitehall must have heard a low whizzing sound this week as they heard the endless whizzing known as "The Passing of the Buck". So far it rests, Des Browne admits, on his desk - he has now been persuaded to fall on his sword and accept responsibility.

Naturally members of the Press were pressing their shillings into the warm sticky palms of the Prisoners of Zenda because they were, in unprecedented fashion, allowed access to them - which could have quite simply been rejected. De-briefing, R&R in Cyprus and then back on duty. Compare and contrast the staff on "holiday" from Addis Abbaba recently.

Given the undenied stories of Mr Hill's urgency in providing editors,"Help with their editorials"(probably the very last thing any newspaper editor anywhere feels he needs) one must accept it as correct. So if this Truffle Hound for the Truth was on the case last week it is impossible to believe that like an obedient gun dog he sat waiting patiently for instructions for his next task.

Mr Hill only obeys one master, The Prime Minister. It is inconceivable that once protected by the liberty afforded by the sovereign and the warmth and love of their families, their Protector , groggy after 5 bruising rounds with the Middle Eastern Middleweight, and a final standing count, the Prime Minister did not seek some redress in the battle for the eye, ear and sympathy of the public. The colossus that bestrode the world had been laid low by the pygmy David from Teheran....

We are never going to be privy to how Mr Hill was instructed, nor how precisely he interceded between Mr MacKenzie's successor, Faye (distinguishable from the Big Mac only by the colour and length of her hair) and the bone headed Second Lord of the Admiralty.... who is perhaps as unlearnt in the ways of the Press as the rest of the Navy appears to be in organising boarding parties.

What is certain is that No 10 got exactly what they wanted, tears, sobs, near nakedness, knickers, fears of rape, not quite the full monty as Fleet Street revelations go but in the circumstances ...er ...adequate.

It was the ever pliant and heavily knighted Sir Trevor McDonald (bloody Scotsmen everywhere) who added the esential gravitas , as the bottom lip biting, pale, vulnerable Faye haltingly jerked the tears worldwide to complete the national humiliation.

Perfick! Simply Perfick!

The Senior Service will be resumed as soon as possible.

US$ down again against surging Eurozone

The euro has risen today to a record against the Japanese yen (Close London 159.95500) and another 2 year high against the US$ (CloseLondon 1.34335).

Traders expect the US$ to reach 1.35 and assume that the forthcoming ECB Governing Council is due to meet this week, on Thursday will put up rates from 3.75% to 4.0% is the only thing stopping a runaway.

The Australian $ was trading @ 82.31 U.S. cents a 19 yera high and is expected to move up to 82.40 - rise of 5.5% in the last month.

The Australian dollar reached 98.09 yen, the highest since May 1997 dealers are expecting it to reach 100 yen over the next six months suported by a increase in the carry trade wityh the opening of the new Financial year.

Australia will nearly double its military deployment in Afghanistan to about 1,000 soldiers by the middle of next year, the country's prime minister, John Howard, announced yesterday, a move supported by the Labour opposition. Special forces are expected in the dangerous Oruzgan province, he added, to beef up the area's security and disrupt Taliban command and supply routes.

Only 1 Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan , this year 151 foreign armed forces have died there. 6 Candians were killed when their vehicle was hit by an IED over the weekend.

UPDATE 11/4/07

China's trade surplus almost doubled in the first quarter, widening to US$46.4. billion from $23.3 billion in the first quarter of 2006. China's trade surplus swelled to a record US$177.5 billion last year, helping to fuel a 10.7 % annual growth rate.

Japan seeks influence in energy and mineral rich Newasia - Putin pops in as well

Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi toured Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan last 28-30th August . This was the first ever visit by a Japanese Prime Minister, where his objectives were seen to be securing access to energy and through financial and other means establish a bulwark against Russia and China.

The world' s second largest economy receives some 90% of it's oil from the Middle East and problems in Iran will directly impact upon the Japanese / Iranian agreement to jointly explore the Iranian Azaegan oilfields. Kazakhstan is rich in oil, Uzbekistan is seen as a useful source for Uranium.

Subsequent to this initial visit Akira Amari the current Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry leads a trade delegation on April 20th -23rd of over a 100 to Kazakhstan with senior representatives from some 30 power utilities, trading houses and manufacturing companies and they seek to negotiate deals in the energy sector, including Japanese investment in Kazakh uranium mines, he said.

The mission seeks to improve reciprocal deals and the official announcement says,

"The mission will not only aim to secure uranium and other fuels but also seek wide-ranging cooperation, including Japan's assistance to Kazakhstan's acquisition of nuclear reactors.'"

The Japanese also have a long term in-depth political purpose in trying to win the support for Japan's desire to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The trip also demonstrates one element in a US agreed strategy of plural influence with
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) reflected by a trip to Mongolia at around the time he visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Before this visit, Japan has through the overall New National Energy Strategy stressed the importance of “drastically strengthening the supply of risk money” , especially for natural gas and oil developments overseas by domestic development companies.

The government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) after Koizumi's visit, signed a loan agreement with APPAK, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom. This is the first time that JBIC has provided loans for an overseas uranium project. Kazakhstan has the world's second-largest uranium resources and Kazatomprom is the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer. Sumitomo Corp and Kansai Electric Power Co have stakes in APPAK of 25% and 10%, respectively. (Pic Koizumo meets his pal Karimov the Body Boiler)

The Government-funded Nippon Export and Investment Insurance NEXI has also underwritten insurance for the uranium project. JBIC also recently signed separate agreements with Kazatomprom and Uzbekistan’s Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade on forging a comprehensive strategic partnership.

NEXI also underwrites Japanese companies’ insurance in 13 high-risk countries. This list, which became effective as of mid-August last year, includes Libya, Angola, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon, Gabon, Dominican Republic, Armenia, Macedonia, Senegal, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Niger and the Central African Republic.

There are of course competing interests in the region Sergei Kiriyenk CEO of Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) announced plans only 3 weeks ago for a joint venture to build a new nuclear power plant in Aktau, Kazakhstan, he is quoted as saying

"It will be a nuclear power plant equipped with a third-generation modular reactor using technologies characteristic of reactors installed in nuclear submarines,"

Russia and Kazakhstan are the 2 largest Uranium suppliers in the world, "Integration will help bolster our positions on the global market," said Kiriyenk, Kazatomprom has just announced plans to increase its annual uranium output to 18,000 tons by 2010.

Kazakhstan transported 43 million tons of oil and 24 billion cubic meters of gas to Russia last year and , Russia and Kazakhstan have a large joint venture offshore the Caspian Sea.

“Russia is using four military facilities in Kazakhstan including the Baikonur Cosmodrome and we are jointly carrying out a very large space project including Kazakhstan joining GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) ”

said President Nursultan Nazarbaev 2 weeks ago when he announced that President Putin would be making an official visit early this summer.

Picture of children picking cotton in Uzbekistan, a fillum showing the conditions of children cotton pickers in Uzbekistan can be seen here.Green TV. Who are looking for male/female models for modelling ethical fashion.michelle or mia @green.tv or ethicalfashion@green.tv