The War President. Which War is he fighting ?

President Discusses War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom
Renaissance Cleveland Hotel
Cleveland, Ohio (White House official record)

After his speech the President of the Cleveland Club opened the questioning ;

Q. ".... Do you believe this, that the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocalypse? And if not, why not?"

PRESIDENT. (part of answer) ....." I made it clear, I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally, Israel, and -- (applause.)"

THE OVAL OFFICE, FEBRUARY 7, 2004

BROADCAST ON NBC’S “Meet the Press"

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2004

"I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign-policy matters with war on my mind."

UPDATE

As Justin Raimondo reminds us in his review of the Mearsheimer-Walt study of the Israeli Lobby , what he said at Anti War in 2003 ;

"The Iraq war, as we are beginning to discover, had nothing to do with 'weapons of mass destruction,' zero to do with al-Qaeda, and zilch to do with implanting 'democracy' in the inhospitable soil of Iraq. The first phase of the second Yom Kippur War is revealing, in action, the strategic doctrine at the heart of U.S. Middle Eastern policy: the installation of Israel as regional hegemon."

The NEC - asleep at the wheel....

So, it's simply a matter of "internal communications". A go between , Zionist Lord Levy raises at least £14 Mn in "loans" to fund the election.

The parlous state of the Labour Party finances were known by the NEC. Had they suddenly been converted to a belief in tooth fairies, Magic Money Pits ?

Did the sweating Mr Dromey not see fit to ask Matt Carter where the moolah was coming from he was so gaily signing away ?

Was priggish Sir Jeremy Beecham a convert to the idea of "free money". Did no-one amongst the 650 odd Labour candidates ask where the hell all this money to spend came from ?

The National Executive Council need to do a lot of self examination before they start heaving half bricks.

This is what happens when you idly stand by and watch a clutch of greedy, power crazed millionaires fronted by a lying bastard like Tony Blair takeover the Labour Party.

Choose a leader who is a liar - expect to get lied to.

AIPAC gives Bush his orders

Report on Yahoo News today ; CLEVELAND, United States (AFP) - US
President George W. Bush said he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would "use military might" if necessary to defend Israel.

"The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel. That's a threat, a serious threat. It's a threat to world peace," the US President said after a speech defending the war in Iraq.

"I made it clear, and I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel," said Bush.

Tony's "Lavender List" of Labour lenders

Tony's ex flatmate the be-jowelled, dewlapped, fat Lord Chancellor Lord Falconor of Thoroton (bearing a passing resemblance to field Marshal Goering - he had a fondess for fancy dress as well) has provided with great flourish the list of Labour lenders to whom the party is in hock to the tune of some £14 Mn plus interest at commercial rates ;

Lending Labour money - the 12 indivduals - BBC have more biographical information for each of them

Rod Aldridge - £1 million (Capita PLC Chmn.)
Richard Caring - £2m
Gordon Crawford - £500,000
Professor Sir Christopher Evans - £1m
Sir David Garrard - £2.3m
Nigel Morris - £1m
Sir Gulam Noon - £250,000
Dr Chai Patel - £1.5m
Andrew Rosenfeld - £1m
Lord (David) Sainsbury - £2m
Barry Townsley - £1m


Sir David Garrard, property developer and funder of TB's City Academies lent the party £2.3 million, and science minister Lord Sainsbury, provided a loan of £2 million,(in addition to massive gifts previously) were among the 12 individuals who loaned the party £13,950,000 - a significant proportion of Labour's £17.5 million spending on the 2005 election campaign. Of course a peerage is only one benefit a "lender" may seek, access to Government contracts (Capita PLC ?), etc.,

What a joy it is to be a lawyer and seek to use the assembled words of the English language in such a precise yet wholly ambiguous way.

Lord Falconer, asked if the law would be retrospective so people could assess any possible link between past loans and peerages, said: "As far as law is concerned, you very rarely pass a law which changes the law in the past.

Asked directly how many peerages (Torygraph online report)had been given in exchange for cash, replied: "None, as far as I know."

"As far as I know" - could be true, may be true but don't expect me to know.

Well Lord Falconer - yes the Labour Party is in the business of selling honours, and has been for many years - exchanging money for mediaeval titles which any sane socialist party would have abolished years ago - and should be ashamed of peddling.To compare this funding with the open and transparent funding by the Trade Unions is insulting as well.

There you go Lord F. Now you know. ... pic of Lord Falconer of Thoroton courtesy of the BBC at the site of the Millenium dome - remember the Hindujah bothers, Millenium funding and a passport or three ?

Here's his lookalike - an unelected preposterous, pompous, overweight, vain, booby who went in for grandiose buildings on a lavish scale paid for by others or simply stolen. Committed suicide.

Google's Gaza news - curious ?

Google "gaza food" UNDER THE news HEADING and you find this curious source for news ; Israpundit

The UN is worried about food shortages in Gaza
IsraPundit, Israel - 18 hours ago
Now, of course, Israel is blamed for food shortages in Gaza because of the “closure” imposed because of continual rocket attack occurring on a daily basis ...

Now, of course, Israel is blamed for food shortages in Gaza because of the “closure” imposed because of continual rocket attack occurring on a daily basis, and of course the election of the worlds first terrorist government by a huge margin, implying massive support for terrorism from the general population.

Well, no one asked them to destroy perfectly adequate greenhouses given to them as a gift. What do they want? To terrorise and take over Israel and still expect to be fed, watered, electrified, telephoned, fuelled by their sworn enemy?

I say the border should be permanently sealed and like most other animals, let them be trained through their stomachs. They need to go home to Egypt and hand back the stolen Jewish land and right now seems as good a time to start the migration back as any.
------------------------

I suppose Google do us a favour by sourcing news from this evident voice of reason and yet don't include lots of sources such as say, the excellent Cyprus News.

One has to say the solution to the food shortage caused by the Israeli blockade since Hamas was elected by strangling the Kani crossing (open 1 hr today)is novel.

UPDATE MONDAY 23.20 GMT

JERUSALEM, March 20, 2006 (WAFA)- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today that food was running out in the Gaza Strip and appealed to the Israeli authorities to allow food consignments to reach the tens of thousands of people in Gaza who depend on food aid to survive.

WFP said the extended closures of the Karni (Al-Muntar) commercial crossing between Israel and Gaza have had a devastating effect on food availability in the Palestinian enclave. Stocks of wheat flour are already critically low and there are fears that there will soon be no basic commodities in Gaza.

Read more from WAFA Palestinian News Agency here

Looming UK gas crisis......

Vital Trivia will give you as usual a through analysis of the looming gas crisis.

Because of the closure of storage at the Rough North Sea terminal, there is a major drawdown of short term storage.

One last point that must be highlighted is the complete silence on this subject from the DTI's Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group (JESS) writes VT.

"They are meant to publish a report twice a year, it’s description:

"A key part of JESS’s work is compiling information and making it available to the energy markets via published reports. These reports provide an insight into the work of the Group, information on background to the issues relating to security of supply and an update to the indicators on security of supply that the group is developing.

This was due in November 2005 but didn’t appear - I was subsequently promised it by the end of February and it still hasn’t been published. The latest promise from them is the end of March. I won’t hold my breath.

I suspect it wasn’t published last year since they couldn’t get the numbers to add up in such a way to instil confidence and admission of ‘the challenging situation’ was not acceptable. If serious problems do develop JESS might be a good place to start an investigation."

The BBC graph of the wholesale gas prices shows the impact on costs especially to industry - which will of course result in factory shutdowns.This also affects the running and costs and running of closed Cycle Gas trubine electricity generation plants reducing electricity supplies as demand switches to electricity.



The MSM remain totally silent about the tightrope, presumably warned off by No 10 to prevent panic. This wholly predictable shortage and the consequences for industry were apparent to anyone capable of back of the envelope reckoning 2 years ago.

In the long term decisions made today take years even decades to work through - fiddling while the UK freezes. But don't worry we've squandered Lotto money on sunsidizing some of the richest companies in Europe and Britains's biggest and richest landowner - welcome yet again to the economics of the mad house.

Perhaps we could start a "build a gas import terminal and storage facility and get an Earldom" program - even curry zillionaires have to keep warm.

Tam Dalyell claims Zionist 'fluence on Tony Blair

Information Clearing House follow up remarks by Linlithgow MP Labour Tam Dalyell, the Father of the House, says Blair aides are skewing British foreign policy on the Middle East in favour of the Israeli government.

Dalyell suggests Blair was "unduly influenced" by figures including Lord Levy, Labour’s chief fund-raiser and Blair’s unofficial envoy to the region, Peter Mandelson, and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, an Anglican who had a Jewish grandfather.

Dyell was quoted by Vanity Fair writer David Margolick latest edition of the American magazine Vanity Fair in a profile of Blair. In a passage on Blair’s "staunch" support of Israel,Tam is quoted: "The senior member of the House of Commons, Tam Dalyell, even tells me he thinks Blair is unduly influenced by a cabal of Jewish advisers. He mentions Mandelson, Lord Levy and Jack Straw."

Scotland on Sunday checked the quote with Dalyell, he replied: "I’m very open about this. I wouldn’t say I’ve been misquoted."

Dalyell, the longest-serving MP in the Commons, said hawks in Washington were already too close to the right-wing Likud government of Israeli leader Ariel Sharon.

Dalyell told Scotland on Sunday: "Blair and Straw have become far too close to these people and Lord Levy, who is an unaccountable ambassador in the Middle East, is part of this group. They are acting on an extremely Zionist, Likud-nik agenda. In particular I am concerned that some of them are pushing for an attack on Syria, for reasons of Israeli security.

"It is an enormously sensitive issue and that’s why very many of us have been extremely reticent about it, because we don’t want to be seen as anti-Semitic."

Rupes Rags catch up on the Lottery scandal

The Sunday Times March 19, 2006

Lottery throws £10m to the wind
Mark Macaskill and John Elliott
THE government has been accused of raiding £10m of lottery money intended for good causes to subsidise the construction of a wind farm by a foreign energy company.

The grant to a subsidiary of Elsam, a Danish energy giant that is being taken over by the Danish state, will help to pay for a wind farm four miles offshore in Liverpool Bay.

So starts the FRONT PAGE story in the Sunday Times today about the way Lottery money was allocated to altrenative energy projects in Liverpool Bay, Lockernie and to the fabulously wealthy Earl of Buccleuch.

...you could have read about it here on Postman Patel 6 months ago on October 25th 2005 ...



UK Lottery Funds subsidise huge EU companies to produce electricity!

E.ON is to build the largest dedicated UK biomass power station in Lockerbie in Scotland. Work on the innovative 44 Mw power station will commence in late 2005 to go on stream at the end of 2007. The EUR 130Mn (£89Mn) investment by the German company, the world's largest private-sector energy services company, will be built by a consortium of the Norwegian company Kvaerner Power, part of the Aker Kvaerner group and Siemens.

The Big Lottery Fund, supported the development of the new biomass plant with a grant of £18m from the Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme (approx 25% of cost)

In September Siemens Power Generation announced the agreement to supply its new 3.6 megawatts wind turbine for the Burbo Banks offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay, England. The farm is being developed by SeaScape Energy Ltd., a joint Danish( Elsam A/S ), and the French ( state owned EDF Energies Nouvelles) enterprise and will have 25 wind turbines with a total capacity of 90Mw. The order is valued at over EUR90 Mn (£49 Mn). The Big Lottery Fund, supported the development of field with a grant of £10m (20% of cost) from the Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme. Read more click on title

Droit-de-seigneur

Walter Francis John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, 11th Duke of Queensberry (b. 1923) Eton and Christ Church,Oxford,owns five major landed Estates, his estimated personal fortune of £55m is supplemented by a further c.£400m held by the Buccleuch Group, his holding company.

On January 3rd this year, Buccleuch BioEnergy was awarded a tax free grant to develop the business of £571,933 from the Big Lottery renewable Energy Fund to "to develop the business ." Read more click on title

Three cheers for the hard nosed investigative journos on the Sunset Times ... first with the news. Curiously examining the log of page referrals I note a Google search "duke buccleuch lottery" last week from a London site.????

DANGER Zionism at work

The BBC have an on line brief biography of Labour fundraiser (Mr Cashpoint they call him) I quote directly " Michael Abraham Levy, now 61, has never forgotten his working-class Jewish roots or lifelong commitment to the Labour Party.

In 2000, the prime minister made Lord Levy his personal envoy to the Middle East, with an office inside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Currently president of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, Lord Levy has said he will stop fundraising for Labour when Tony Blair goes.

The peer has also worked for Jewish charities, consolidating several into Jewish Care.

He and his wife Gilda have a son, Daniel, who used to work for former Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin, and a daughter."

You may wish to read in the latest London Review of Books ... "The Israel Lobby” by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

UPDATE 20.3.06

"The Israel Lobby" is a brief version of a Harvard Report of 83 pages which you can read here (PDF Alert) e.g

The bottom line is that AIPAC, which is a de facto agent for a foreign government, has a stranglehold on the U.S. Congress. Open debate about U.S. policy towards Israel does not occur there, even though that policy has important consequences for the entire world. Thus, one of the three main branches of the U.S. government is firmly committed to supporting Israel. As former Senator Ernest Hollings (D‐SC) noted as he was leaving office, “You can’t have an Israeli policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here.” Small wonder that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon once told an American audience. “When people ask me how they can help Israel, I tell them—Help AIPAC.”

Livni - the past remembered

Israeli Foreign Minister, Livni, speaking at the foreign ministry offices in Jerusalem, claimed that the Jericho operation was carried out because Abbas is powerless, and that the operation mainly depended on “Abbas's actions and shortcomings“.

She also claimed that the operation was not co-ordinated with Britain and the United States, in spite the fact the the U.S and U.K guards left the prison compound and went out of Jericho before the army carried in attack.

In a defiant and vote catching reminder of the struggles of the heroic founders of the nation and as a reminder to the British of their role in strangling the birth of Israel she added ....

“We did not decide on the timing of the departure of the guards”, she added, “Unlike in 1948, we did not ask the British to leave”

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/17404/1/

US air attacks kill 11 Iraqi civilians

Reuters reports that 11 members of an Iraqi family were killed in a U.S. raid on Wednesday, police and witnesses said. The U.S. military said two women and a child died during the bid to seize an al Qaeda militant from a house.

A senior Iraqi police officer said autopsies on the bodies, which included five children, showed each had been shot in the head. Community leaders said they were outraged at the killings and demanded an explanation from the U.S. military.

Picture shows the dead, go to the story for further unpleasant detail of aerial bombardment, killings, blowing up house and details of morgue / burial and capture of alleged Al Qeaeda "go-between" or "facilitator" .

Don't fuck with Tony Blair Dromey

I have always thought that Jack Dromey should go through a degreasing department before he steps out, the thought of this ugly, sweating oik conjoined with the luscious limbs of Stepford Wife / Blair Babe, Harriett Harman is too much for my sensibilities.

I was mildly seething therefore when I was brougt quickly to my senses when the said lard bag complained on BBC Radio 4 news about the "loans" from assorted crooks, fraudsters, gangsters upright citizens that "Lord" Levy had arranged "loans" to the Labour Party and nobody thought of telling the elected Labour Party Treasurer.

My first thought was , well this is not news but JD is breaking Party ranks, and his delightfully fragrant wife a Minister to boot.

I turned to the web and in minutes the Scotsman had a story at 10.40pm in which a Downing Street Spokesman is quoted

"The day-to-day management of the Labour Party finances are a matter for the general secretary. We can confirm that at the time the loans were taken out, the party treasurer was unaware of them."

In other words JD, we run this party, you can fuck off, we will accept loans even engineered through non elected people like "Lord" Levy and I will propose Knighthoods to whoever I wish ... which by the way you and the missus can forget ever getting one.

I note that JD, has tonight discovered his savoire faire and shut up.

It's Dr Patel I feel sorry for £1.5 Mill down the tubes. As my old man used to say ..."Never trust a white man".

Iraq explained

Read Aaangirffan here

US knew that Israel planned to raid Jericho Prison

US knew that Israel planned to raid Jericho Prison
By NATHAN GUTTMAN Jerusalem Post
Washington 9.21 pm

"Israel briefed the US on its plan to raid the Jericho prison a short time before the IDF forces reached the area and kept the Americans updated on the progress of the raid. Diplomatic sources in Washington said Tuesday that the briefings were done both through the US embassy in Tel-Aviv and by the Israeli embassy in Washington."

So either Jack Straw doesn't know what the fuck is going on or is a fucking liar.

Jericho - prison camp or holiday camp ?

Zionist Organisation of America June 4th 2002 has an interesting report about the actual detention conditions and the monitors at Jericho prison.

Paul Martin, an investigative reporter for the Washington Times,
reported (June 4, 2002) after visiting the Jericho facility:


"Few guards and little more than a hedge confine Ahmed Saadat and five fellow prisoners to a Palestinian Authority jail under a U.S.-brokered deal five weeks ago...Imprisonment of the six men was to be supervised by the United States and Britain. But there was no sign of any Americans or Britons during a visit last week to the cluster of low, brown buildings [in Jericho]

...A few young men, towels slung over their shoulders, walked unconcerned through the
yard, separated from the main road into the city only by a few scattered bushes...

[They] later returned to unlocked cells...where a prison officer lay fast asleep, barefoot but uniformed, on a bed in his office.

"Mr. Saadat and [Fuad] Shoubaki [a senior PA official involved in the 'ship of terror'] appear to occupy the second floor of a wing in the prison described by a stenciled sign in English as 'General Security HQ.' No one answered when a reporter rang a bell next to the brown wooden door.

"The reporter then wandered around the building opening doors at random, without finding a single prisoner in his cell. Only three of the cells were locked."

Recent blogs on same topic here

The Israeli voice of reason ?

National Jewish Front leader Baruch Marzel said that instead of the IDF operation, the prison in Jericho should have been bombed.


"They should have bombed the prison and not risk soldiers' lives with this operation. Better to have a thousand dead foes than one dead soldier," Marzel stated.
Pic Netanyahu today.
Y Net News Jerusalem

Bush weeps

Gospel of John, Chapter 11:35. "Jesus wept"

DANGER Perfidious fucking Albion at work

IDF Nahal Brigade troops, in addition to the police's special anti-terror unit (Yamam) entered the Jericho jail ( designated operation "Pay a Visit") where the killers of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi were being held.

However, the main target of the operation, was Ahmed Sa'adat, the secretary general of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) believed to have masterminded the 2001 assassination,killers of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi

IDF tanks, which fired rounds into the prison, combat helicopters flying overhead, and artillery, which fired shells at the prison from afar, where all part of the force laying seige to the prison. A D-9 heavy bulldozer began tearing down the walls of the prison in order to flush the six suspects out. An IAF helicopter reportedly fired a missile at the compound as part of the IDF's continuing effort to force out the prisoners.

WITHDRAWAL OF MONITORS FROM JERICHO MONITORING MISSION (14/03/06)

Announcing the withdrawal of monitors from Jericho Monitoring Mission, in a House of Commons statement, on Tuesday 14 March, Jack Straw said:(Posted at UK Embassies worldwide see Oslo

'I would like to inform the House that the UK and the US withdrew our monitors from the Jericho Monitoring Mission on 14 March. As I made clear in my statement to the House on 29 April 2002 (Official Report, column 668 see FOOTNOTE), it is the prime responsibility of the Palestinian Authority to ensure the personal security of the United States and United Kingdom monitors. Over the last months it has become increasingly clear that the Palestinian Authority is unable to do this.

'The UK and the US have repeatedly raised our concerns over the security of our monitors with the Palestinian Authority and urged them to meet their obligations under the Ramallah agreement. Unfortunately, there has been no improvement. We therefore issued a joint US/UK letter to President Abbas on 8 March 2006. This letter said that we would have to terminate our involvement with the mission if the Palestinian Authority did not immediately either fully comply with the Ramallah Agreement (which sets out monitoring arrangements) and make substantive improvements to the security of the monitors or come to a new agreement with the Government of Israel. As required by the Ramallah Agreement we informed the Israeli Authorities that we were delivering a letter in these terms. I have placed a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

'The Palestinian Authority has consistently failed to meet its obligations under the Ramallah Agreement. Ultimately the safety of our personnel has to take precedence. It is with regret that I have to inform the House that these conditions have not been met and we have terminated our involvement with the mission today, 14 March 2006.'

The Jerusalem Post online report ...Mid day GMT. (See for more details)

"An IDF officer explained that at around 9:30 in the morning, soldiers at the checkpoint to Jericho noticed the US and British monitors leaving the city, and that was how the IDF found out that the monitors were gone."

FOOTNOTE J Straws Statement April (excerpt)

At the same time, six Palestinian men would be removed from the compound to a Palestinian facility in a secluded location in the occupied territories. Of these six, four have been convicted by the Palestinian Authority for involvement in the murder last October of Israeli Cabinet Minister Rehavam Zeevi. One is secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the group that claimed responsibility for Minister Zeevi's killing, and one is being detained because of alleged involvement in the Karine A arms shipment in January.

Under this initiative, Britain and the United States have agreed to provide a small number of supervisory wardens to oversee the men's detention. The wardens will be unarmed. Let me make this clear: it is the prime responsibility on the Palestinian Authority to ensure the physical security of the facility and the personal security of the United States and United Kingdom wardens.

A British scoping mission visited the region last month. An advance party of experts from the United Kingdom is due to arrive in the region this afternoon to begin to set the detailed arrangements in place and to satisfy themselves as to the personal safety of the wardens. The United Kingdom wardens all have experience of working in similar capacities with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

EDITOR

It is difficult to believe that this was not cooked up when Foreign Minister Livni was in Washington recently glad handing the Whore on terror. The incident has been contrived deliberately to convince the electorate of the need for firm military action on Gaza. It is impossible to believe the result will not be a right wing Likud / Kadema Government led by Livni and Netanyahu.

According to the Times online there was a gun battle, I swear I saw those prisoners driving tanks.

Jerasulam Post reports later ....
"While the forces were not deployed at Jericho's front door, they were on standby and succeeded in arriving at the prison compound within a matter of minutes after the foreign guards withdrew. Senior officers, including OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh told reporters Tuesday night that Israel only made its final decision to act after soldiers stationed at the IDF checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian city saw the prison guards pass through."

Not well planned and co-ordinated then ?

Expect more of the same ....." some IDF officers predicted Tuesday that Jericho-like operations might need to be carried out now on a more frequent basis."

US/UK/IDF Ultimatum letter and plot revealed for assault on Jericho prison.

On March 8th 2006 a joint letter from the US / UK to President Abbas (copied to the Israeli Government) presented an ultimatum to the Palestinian Authority claiming they were concerned about the safety of Prison monitors. It was stated that of security of UK / US staff did not improve, the monitors would be withdrawn.

Monitors were withdrawn today and immediately (although it is claimed the IDF were not directly informed by the UK Government) the Israeli defence Forces assaulted the prison to seize four Palestinian prisoners.

This pre-meditated and clandestine act was a deliberate move to justify the Israeli assult... it is not impossible to believe that the Gaza sacking of the British Council etc., were fomented by Israeli based agents provocateurs.

Jack Straw is to address the House of Commons later this afternoon with a statement he has probably been preparing for several days.

Pearl Harbour Jericho 2006 - re-run of Sharon's Al Aqsa mosque provocation

Israel is now gripped by the forthcoming elections. TV screens reapeatedly show the youthful Sharon sitting at the feet of founder David Ben - Gurion. Likud are laying into Olmerts as a friend of Hamas.

The result is that Likud / Kadema want an external threat to justify the apartheid wall, the Gaza killings and the clampdown on West Bank movement.Save Israel ... vote for the palach's return ... a new Pearl Harbour threatens our state.!!!!

Predictably now the IDF have stormed a jail in the West Bank town of Jericho, killing a Palestinian police officer and wounding another man, according to police reports... all on the pretext of arresting alleged assassins. (EDITOR This sounds like a re-run of the Sharon storming of the Al Aqsa mosque)

Dozens of Israeli troops, flanked by jeeps, tanks and a bulldozer, entered the Palestinian Authority controlled town this morning, calling for the surrender of six prisoners held in the jail, who Israel believes were involved in the assassination of Israeli tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi, in 2001.Meanwhile the US and UK monitors melted away because they felt they were "under threat".

A gunfight broke out when the prisoners refused to give themselves up, with Palestinian security forces reporting that a police officer was killed in the crossfire.

Five of the prisoners eventually agreed to give themselves up, but the most prominent of the six suspects sought by the Israelis, Ahmed Saadat, head of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group, has refused to do so.

At 1.pm GMT BBC is reporting tank fire at the prison, and heavy gunfire within the prison.

To add the international aspect the UK (along with the US having removed UN monitors) have thrown fuel on the fire and have immediately issued an alert advising Britons about travel to Jericho and the West Bank.Britons have been advised not to travel to Jericho because of threats of violence and kidnap.

Palestinian militants have warned US and British citizens to leave Palestinian territories or face kidnap in response to an Israeli raid on a West Bank prison.

Palestinians have set fire to a British Council cultural centre in Gaza and there aappears to be trouble at their offices in Ramallah.

The new advice UK Foreign Office advice states: "We advise against all travel to Jericho. The potential for Palestinian internal violence elsewhere also remains high following the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council that took place from 22-25 January 2006, the potential for Palestinian internal violence remains high.

(The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has confirmed that it had ordered UK monitors out of the jail as it no longer believed that the Palestinian authorities could guarantee their safety.)


"We advise against all but essential travel to West Bank apart from Bethlehem. You should be very careful about, and confident of your personal security arrangements, particularly in major towns and cities."

The Foreign Office also advises against all travel to the Gaza strip because of the security situation and continuing threats of kidnap of foreign nationals.

It also advises against all but essential travel along Israel's border with Lebanon and close to the Israeli side of the Israel/Gaza strip border.

Killing the fucking Arabs and fucking Palestinians

Aangirfan points out that the The Daily Telegraph report
"After three months in Baghdad, Ben Griffin told his commander that he was no longer prepared to fight alongside American forces.


Ben Griffin told commanders that he thought the Iraq war was illegal

He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" - the Nazi term for races regarded as sub-human.You could almost split the Americans into two groups: ones who were complete crusaders, intent on killing Iraqis, and the others who were in Iraq because the Army was going to pay their college fees. They had no understanding or interest in the Arab culture. The Americans would talk to the Iraqis as if they were stupid and these weren't isolated cases, this was from the top down."


www.counterpunch.org/teague02262003.html
Predictable and predicted before the war started.....
CounterPunch published this letter which was sent to every meber of the UK Cabinet and has never been acknowledged or answered....

February 26, 2003
An Open Letter to Tony Blair
Stand Tall, But Tell the Truth

by EDWARD TEAGUE

Wrote that ....

"Nobody gives a shit about Iraqi people--expendable as, Ruandans, Matabele that Mugabe slaughtered (with North Korean mercenary help) in 1,000's, everyone stood back whilst millions of people lost lives in Iran/Iraq war.

Therefore your policy is not only wise but the only sensible one available."

He also added ...

"Be careful however that, if on the "fog of war" the Israelis decide to resolve the Palestinian problem, a la Sabra and Chattila camps."

Gaza is simply Sabra and Chattila on an industrial scale.

Predictable and Predicted.

Blair - Goldsmith gets in Early Defence

It has "emerged", reports the Press today that Sir Ian Blair of that Ilk recorded a telephone conversation with the Attorney General Sir Peter Goldsmith (Liverpool Sephardic Jew, Gonville & Caius College Cambridge) without informing him prior to making the call. (Well might it be said , "my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man" .. of the unruffled Peter G)

One may imagine the circumstances on Saturday when this happened...

At one of the glittering social occcasions which thrust the leading policeman , fresh, bronzed and confident from the ski slopes into the company of the leading lawyer together....

"Ah Goldsmith !" qoth the breezy Plod, "Whilst dressing I couldn't help mulling over what you said in our telephone conversation on the afternoon of 27th September 2005 at 3.47 pm when you said regarding the use of intercepted phone conversation in evidence..... "and went on the detail the Attorneys thoughts on the matter at the time.

Goldsmith one imagines took a restorative sip on his Vega-Mite wholly Kosher Energy Drink, and said "I cannot recall saying...."

[EDITORS NOTE "Recall" is the greatest word in the vocabulary of dissemblers,liars, fraudsters and cheats ranging from , "I am a very busy man and speak to many people on the telephone and cannot be expected to remember ...etc to a world weary, t'was long ago, and far away and besides the girl is dead.It can also be the product of having washed the walls of the urinals of the House of Lords with the proceeds of too many pre - breakfast bottles of Chivas Regal as well]

"Well Goldsmith" breezed on the cheerful Plod," My lovely lady wife, helping me to dress, had been reading out to me the transcript of that conversation and helpfully remembered to tuck into my pockets the transcript most efficiently made by WPC Jones at 4.05pm that day and signed and testified as a true and correct record by three colleagues and handy passing Archbishop of Canterbury ... " with that the worthy policeman proffered the sheaf of notes releasing no doubt the heady, unforgettable and easily defined aroma of "Esprit d'Amour" which graced the Blair's boudoir, into their conversation.

Goldsmith's nose will not only have wrinkled at the smell but the thought that this smiling buffoon had trapped him ... yes, he recalled now the joshing about the lies he told about the war's legality ... no doubt he smiled , left headed for his office and the facts "emerged" as the Westminster gastrointestinal afflatus machine whirled into action over the weekend.

Repairing to his own office , Sir Ian Blair of that Ilk, carefully sought to remind others that telephone conversation had been recorded..with the Chairman of IPCC ... On Monday as they picked up their papers and turned on to the "Today" program , everyone who had had a convertsion with Sir Ian would be hastily "recalling" their conversation .. not a few would be calling for their lawyers.

Like a good lawyer , Goldsmith has his defence in early.

Blair (Christ Church Oxford University) was betrayed by Cressida Jack (Oxford educated say the press ... means she went to school in Oxford) who sent a trained death squad beyond wirelss range and out of control... and his head is on the block.

Blair is a twat (that is not arguable) , he is not however, without power, privilege and influence. CH. Ch. "The House" is a network that the legal profession is riddled with in England, Blair is not without supporters who see POlice death squads trained by the Yids (who know a thing or two about dealing with vermin dontchano .. nudge nudge ...wink wink as they say in the purlieus of St James's) roaming the streets, Section 30 of the Terrorism Act hoovering up any dissenting vicars, and Sect. 59 for banging up any students unwise enough to brag to their mates on their mobile, about having downloaded how to make TATP from the FBI official website, or of the US Official State Patent for the process for producing ricin from castor oil beans.

The press, will be deflected from the IPCC report , Blair will eventually go, trousering immoderate sums of the taxpayers money , an Earldom and half of Hampshire ( Lady Blair will recall in later years the impulse that drove her to stuff those notes into Ian's pocket, he friend Cherie says it would make a good novel) the transcripts of those telephone conversation will already be shredded and the tapes "lost."

The nest of vipers, cheats, shits, fraudsters, financiers who have gained their temporary control over the levers of power will move on, another soiled body or two in their wake.

"What is Truth" quoth jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.

More "facts" will "emerge" during the day ... keep watching.

Meanwhile the Attorney General is, we are told, "cross".

Final Thought on tapping conversation ...is this a re-run of that highly successful group, Telephone BILL and the Smooth Operator ?

A Solicitor writes - it is not illegal to record your own telephone conversation without informing the other person. Disclosure, publication is another matter.

Lord Patel. A statement

I wish to make it clear that my forthcoming peerage Lord Patel of the Internet is not in any way related to donations to the Labour Party, property owned by Tony Blair and his delightfully fragrant barrister wife or the Mr Tessa Jowell "Get out of Jail Free card fund".

Delays in the official announcement are entirely due to the disputatious staff at Buckingham Palace who point out that The Internet , is not a place, state, terrotory, domain, demesne or part of sovereign territory over which the Queen holds control.

Lord Allenby of Armageddon was ennobled for such a territory and nobody has complained at the time or since.

I note that the decidedly disputatious Dr Chai Patel, Ex Kenya Rangers Football Club, whilst sensiblt refraining from being offered any such Title has bruited it about that loans have been made to the Labour Party.

That anybody would loan that bunch of shits, liars, wife beaters,turds, whelps, running tiger dogs, malcontents, anti-royalists a penny is beyond comprehension.

Redemption would be a fantasy and be rated at Fitch or S&P, Moody's at Treble ZZZ.

Blair energizes the Nuclear option

Vital Trivia has excellent article on Nuclear Britian(sic)although he does miss the Scottish dimension - i.e those skirted , short sighted tartan lovers North of the Border whom we cheated and continue to cheat (they say) out of THEIR oil, gas, virgins.

Required reading to provide a good detailed sensible background to current and planned (as at present) UK nuclear capacity.

More information on man killed in Edgware Road Tube Bombing 7/7/2005

The Independent today fleshes out the life of Sidique Khan from his personnel file at the Leeds Education Authority obtained unde the Freedon of Information Act.

They provide a brief outline ...The life of Mohammad Sidique Khan

* October 1974 Born, Leeds

* 1994 Works first for Benefits Agency, then DTI (1995), then learning mentor at Hillside Primary (2001)

* 2001 Upsets father and stepmother by marrying a girl of Indian-Muslim descent, Hasina Patel, whom he met at Leeds Metropolitan University

* 2003 Establishes gyms in Beeston, radicalising young British Muslims. Periods of absence from Hillside

* July 2004 Introduced to government minister Hilary Benn during school tour of Commons. Is also subject of routine MI5 threat assessment after his name crops up in an investigation; check not pursued

* September 2004 Begins long sick leave

* November 2004 Travels to Pakistan with Tanweer to prepare for London attacks

* July 2005 Bombs Edgware Road Tube station

Killling the kids, Livni follows family tradition

On Monday, Raed al-Batsh, 16, and his brother Mahmoud, eight, were killed along with 14-year-old Ahmed Sweisi by a missile that also killed two Palestinian militants on a crowded Gaza City street on Monday afternoon.The two brothers were helping out in their dad's welding shop when an Israeli missile slammed into an ice cream truck carrying Islamic Jihad gunmen.

The Israeli military confirmed the attack, saying the target was one of the dead men, Islamic Jihad operatives Munir Sukar and Ashraf Shaluf who had carried out rocket attacks against Israel.

The Israeli military continued to shell areas of the Gaza Strip, and conducted twenty-nine incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank this week. Houses were raided and thirty-eight Palestinian civilians were arrested. At least one house was occupied by Israeli soldiers and turned into a military post.


If you arrived here in May 2007 by googling for an image of Livni and Sharon, try reading what Lord Patel has written over a long time about Livni and how she will succeed Olmert. Today she made her bid - and she will succeed, and a great deal more blood will be spilt in the Middle East. Read on here

NSA eavesdropping constitutional

The NSA warrantless eavesdropping program has shown there should be limits to Executive power, to what extent a "wartime" President is unconstrained by law, how the Congress and judiciaryfail to check and balance Presidential power, and the ability of the President to ignore Congressional law on national security grounds.

Bush acknowledged that he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on conversations involving suspected terrorists in the months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He contended that his constitutional powers and the prewar resolution gave him that legal authority.

George Bush said a Congressional investigation into this scandal, would be "good for democracy." Republican Senator Arlen Specter has also said that he believes the Bush Administration’s eavesdropping program ought to be investigated, and is busy investigating away.

Mr Specter (then Junior Counsel) has a history of investigations into thorny issues … he was responsible for the single magic bullet theory that struck and killed President J.F. Kennedy and wounded Governor Connelly which the Warren Commission claimed as the fatal single shot. See pic.

Sounds like a slam dunk for the Prez from here...

No 10's Iran Dossier on the way ... Google to rescue

Writely developed by Upstartle as a web based word processor / text editor has been acquired by Google.

Registration has stopped whilst integration with Google takes place. Users will be able to :



* Upload Word documents, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or text (or create documents from scratch).

* Use a simple WYSIWYG editor to format your documents, spell-check them, etc.

* Invite others to share your documents (by e-mail address).

* Edit documents online with whoever you choose.

* View your documents' revision history and roll back to any version.

* Publish documents online to the world, or to just who you choose.

* Download documents to your desktop as Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF*, HTML or zip.

* Post your documents to your blog.

This sounds ideal for the No 10 Based Dodgy Dossier preparation department (Prop A Campbell - see pic in editing mode). However Big Al had better take care of Sec. 58 of the Terrism Act.... about possessing things that terrists might want to use ... Plod has got his size 11l's down to the floor on this at the moment.

No doubt that nice guy in Psy Ops has a list of tricky points to deal with ... FAQ's on why we are bombing (Country of choice select from drop down menu).

Flaming marvel

I reproduce this in it's entirety from Pootergeek .. you have to visit his blog for the photographs. Visit his site www.pootergeek etc., no I won't provide a link if yuo want to see pics of a flaming old age pensioner in a wheel chair, make an effort.

"Brighton and Hove’s local newspaper is called The Argus (writes PG) . Its staff don’t have much to write about: the football team and its struggle for a stadium, resident micro-celebrity Zoe Ball and her slightly more famous husband Fat Boy Slim. I think I’ve only bought a copy twice. Yesterday was the second time. Why? Because of the following wonderful, wonderful story. Under the page three headline “RON SETS HIS HEAD ON FIRE” Siobhan Ryan writes:

Veteran stuntman Ron Cunningham got a little more than he bargained for when he staged his latest show.

Crowds gathered at the Bedford Tavern pub in Brighton to watch the 90-year-old escape from chains while his hat and jacket were set on fire.

Before the stunt Ron, also known as The Great Omani, said he was 99 percent sure that the stunt would be successful.

He said: “I haven’t done this one for a while and I don’t know what is going to happen but we’ll soon find out.

“I enjoy performing. I have done it all my life. “I need a wheelchair as I am on dialysis and have to go to hospital three times a week. I’m also having treatment for cancer but I don’t let it stop me.”

Pubgoers watched as Ron was wheeled into the centre of the pub by his son David. Chains were put around his wrist and locked with a steel bar and padlocks. Petrol was then poured on his jacket and hat…


…Omani’s hat came off and the flames on his arms flicked around his face, scorching it a little. As he successfully removed the chains and padlocks, the flames became bigger and his wheelchair caught alight.


David stepped forward quickly to put out the flames, but Omani—who ended up with a couple of burns on his arms—had managed to escape….

…After a reviving drink, Ron, who lives in Norfolk Street, Brighton, said: “I came a little unstuck there for a moment but I’ve still got my right hand and can still hold my glass.

“I’ve got a couple of burns but I still think it went well. ”

“I’m pleased to have done it. I love to perform.”

Pubgoer Rick Hawdon was stunned by the performance.

He said: “That is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in a pub on a Saturday afternoon.”

European nEUROn UCAV project under way

Everyone wants to fight but not get killed, so flavour of the month when making toys for the boys, is unmanned vehicles, aerial, land or water based either remotely controlled or robotic.

Benefits over manned vehicles include :

1 Reduction or elimination of the risk of (highly trained) pilot loss
2 Lighter and more fuel-efficient platforms, leading to lower costs and less environmental damage and Significantly longer mission time and range than manned aircraft
3 Greater cost-efficiency than equivalent manned aircraft
4 Potential for higher flight performance than manned aircraft

The French Armed forces have been pursuing the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) for some time and made initial announcements at the 2003 Paris Airshow.

Dassault have now been awarded (by France's DGA procurement agency) a USD$486 Mn contract which will co-0rdinate a European 6 nation programme to design, build and fly an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstrator.

The aircraft will have unmanned autonomous air-to-ground attack capabilities with precision-guided munitions, relying on an advanced stealth airframe design that reduces radar and infared cross-sections to penetrate undetected at a speed of about Mach 0.8.The project will also examine the ability to control UCAV swarm flight in automatic mode from an advanced fighter like the Dassault Rafale or JAS-39 Gripen,

Based on the French 6,000 Kg nEUROn project vehicle it will co-ordinate efforts with European partners Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland shared by Alenia Aeronautica, Dassault, EADS Casa, Hellenic Aerospace Industry, Ruag Aerospace, Saab and Thales. Chief project manager Thierry Prunier is from Dassault Aviation, deputy project managers are Mats Ohlson of Saab and Ermanno Bertolina of Alenia.(Saab brochure here)

Saab's Filur vehicle had a 10min maiden flight, which took place from the Vidsel test range on 10 October 2005. Further tests are to follow to test the low radar cross-section design to conduct a mission without being detected by air-defence radars. (see pic)

The French have contributed USD$185 Mn and Sweden is next biggest contributor with USD$100 Mn.

Flight tests are rumoured for 2010 (2012 ?) with 2 x 250 Kg bombs but please do not hold your breath.

nEUROn is envisoned as a competitive system with the American J-UCAS program's Boeing X-45C or Northrop-Grumman X-47B. The project is of course a method of keeping design teams together in Europe now that the Typhoon, Rafaele and Gripen fighters are approaching production. BAE / RAF with the hopeless Corax project do not of course figure on the nEUROn program.

More information from Flight here and here

Dassault Aerospace - nEUROn
Dassault Aerospace - The official Neuron trailer

AFCEA Signal Magazine (September 2005) - Neuron Gains Altitude. Excellent article.

More Islamofascist teenage jihadists banged up

Aitzaz Zafar, 18 and Usman Malik, 19, both from Bradford, have been charged under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act, and appear in Bow Street Magistrates Court today.

They are accused of possessing a record of information likely to be useful to a terrorist under Sec. 58 of the Terrorism Act.

More here

Plod makes move on terrists + Postscript

The BBC report Irfan Raja, 18, from Ilford, Essex and Awaab Iqbal, 18, from Bradford, both described as students" being charged with making a record of information likely to be
useful to a terrorist under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act. (Under which Abu Hamza was charged for possessing the Encyclopaedia Of The Afghani Jihad)
---------------
58. - (1) A person commits an offence if-

(a) he collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a

person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b) he possesses a document or record containing information of that kind.

(2) In this section "record" includes a photographic or electronic record.

(3) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.
-------------------
Mr Raja was arrested on February 27 after attending a police station in London. Mr Iqbal was held at his home in Bradford last Thursday.

The full charge against Iqbal, who turns 19 today, alleges that between February 23 this year and March 3 this year he "possessed a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

The full charge against Raja alleges that between December 31 last year and February 24 this year he "made a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" .

Both men were due to appear before Bow Street Magistrates in London today.

Two other men (unnamed) arrested (described by the Mirror as students) in Bradford last week are still in custody.

POSTSCRIPT 10th March 2006

Irfan Raja, 18, from Ilford, Essex, and 19-year-old Awaab Iqbal appeared at Bow Street Magistrates Court on Thursday 9th March 2006 accused of making a record of information likely to be useful to a terrorist under Sec. 58 of the Terrorism Act.

Lawyers for the pair indicated both would be pleading not guilty - counsel for Mr Iqbal saying the charges had "absolutely no foundation".

Mr Iqbal a first-year forensic science student, at Bradford University,was arrested at his home in Bradford last week had an application for bail refused.

Earlier, Mr Raja had made no application for bail after the Prosecutor Deborah Walsh said the charge against Mr Raja related to information he had allegedly collated and downloaded using a computer.

Senior District Judge Timothy Workman remanded the pair in custody until 16 March and told them they would face a committal hearing on 6 April.

Recent blogs on same topic here

Economics of the madhouse.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total January exports of $114.4 billion and imports of $182.9 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $68.5 billion, $3.4 billion more than the $65.1 billion in December, revised. That’s trending to an annual USD$800 Billion.

January exports exceeded December exports of $111.6 Billion by USD$2.8 Billion.

January Imports exceeded December imports of $176.6 Billion by USD$6.2 Billion.

The FED Flow of Funds report was released today. It shows that household mortgage debt increased at a record pace in 2005.


On a dollar basis, household mortgage debt increased by a near record $290.6 Billion in the 4th quarter. The last 8 quarters (billions increase in household mortgages, Includes loans made under home equity lines of credit):

q1 2004: $190.4
q2 2004: $211.1
q3 2004: $277.1
q4 2004: $232.9
q1 2005: $184.5
q2 2005: $277.9
q3 2005: $314.1
q4 2005: $290.6

…Congress have yet to address raising the lending limit.
Recent blogs on same topic here

Adam Ingram admits CIA flights via RAF Northolt ......

Adam Ingram, described as the armed forces minister, in a letter to Sir Menzies Campbell, has disclosed details of CIA flights through Northolt. This information was only provided when he was threatened with being reported to the parliamentary ombudsman if he continued to refuse to answer detailed questions about flights suspected of being used for "extraordinary rendition".

The shifty Scot has reluctantly disclosed that two aircraft known to have been chartered by the CIA landed 14 times at RAF Northholt, west London, and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire between October 2003 and May 2004.

Mr Ingram did not say the aircraft were used by the CIA, he insists his disclosure was not "at odds with the foreign secretary's statements on the subject". Jack Straw has said that the government is "unaware" of any CIA flights landing in Britain or using UK airspace since 1998 and transporting terrorist suspects. ( an unawareness, or convenient amnesia, that extends to other colleagues on matters of public interest such as the saintly Tessa).

Ministers have repeatedly said that they either have no record of CIA flights since 1998, when they received four requests from the Clinton administration, or that records it might once have had had since been destroyed - plainly they were lying in their fucking teeth - as per usual.

One aircraft, a Boeing 737, was registered N313P, the other, a Gulfstream executive jet , was initially registered N379P and later as N8068V.

Flights of CIA planes through RAF Northolt confirmed by the MoD

N313P Arrived from Brize Norton at 10.15, Oct 19, 2003. Departed to Tripoli at 13.00. Arrived from Tripoli, 15.35, Oct 22. Departed to Tripoli, noon, Oct 28. Arrived from Tripoli, 17.10, Oct 29. Departed to Shannon, 17.45. Arrived from Washington, 08:50, Dec 1. Departed to Tripoli, 11:00. Arrived from Tripoli, 13:00, Dec 3. Departed to Luqa, Malta 12:00, Dec 6.

N379P Arrived from Islamabad, 15:50, Oct 18, 2002. Departed to Washington, 09:00, Oct 20. Arrived from Amman, 12:50, Jan 16, 2003. Departed to Shannon, 10:00, Jan 18 03. Arrived from Washington, 20.05, Feb 24. Departed to Glasgow, 09:00, Feb 26. Arrived from Dohaa, 12:49, Feb 28. Departed to Glasgow, 09:00, Mar 1.

N8068V Arrived from Marrakesh, 12:10, May 15 04. Departed to Luton 13:00. Arrived from Luton, 11:05, May 17. Departed to Shannon, 08:00, May 18.

Pic N8068V (owned by CIA front Premiere Executive Transport ) at Geneva April 16th 2004 (i.e one month before jetting in from Marrakesh)

Recent blogs on same topic here

FOOTNOTE

A government memo leaked to the New Statesman written Dec. 7 by Irfan Siddiq, an official in the foreign secretary`s private office, advised ministers to 'try to move the debate on' and 'avoid getting drawn down on detail," on rendition flights. (see Liberty report)

The memo warned 'The papers we have unearthed so far suggest there could be more such cases... We cannot say that we have received no such request for the use of U.K. territory.'

However, the memo also raised the point that the government was aware that rendition was rarely legal. Foreign Office lawyers had advised that the practice 'is almost certainly illegal' and any British co-operation 'would also be illegal,' it said, before going on to question whether the U.S. definition of torture was consistent with that under international law.

5 days after this internal FO memo was written Straw said at a London press briefing (Dec 12 2005), 'We know of no occasion where there have been any flights involved in rendition through or over U.K. territory nor have we any reason to believe that such flights have taken place without our knowledge.'

He's been spending too much time with Condi, Dubya's washing room asisstant - like her he's a lying fucking bitch.

Hoosiers lead the way ... again

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (Ex CEO Eli LIlly and all round good guy) announced today that Louis Dreyfus Agriculture Industries LLC plans to build the world’s largest biodiesel plant near Claypool, Indiana.That means Indiana will become the leading US producing state in the biofuels industry.

“It’s been a hectic year of dramatic progress in renewable fuels development in our state. If Indiana can do this, think what America can do to work toward energy self-sufficiency. In just one year, we’re growing from one alternative fuels plant to nine, with more to come. We said our ag sector would be a big part of our economic comeback, and here’s the proof,” said Daniels, who made the announcement during his remarks at the 2nd National Agriculture/Forestry Renewable Energy Summit in Washington, D.C. a meeting point for 70 organizations which support a vision of providing 25 percent of the country’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2025.

Indiana, fifth largest corn state, fourth largest soybean state will produce an additional 400 million gallons of ethanol annually and 95 million gallons of biodiesel (including Louis Dreyfus). Indiana’s goal is to produce a combined 1 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel annually.

Through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, the state has reached an agreement with Louis Dreyfus to build the project in two phases at Claypool in Kosciusko County in northeastern Indiana. The first will be a 50-million bushel per year soybean processing plant, and the second phase will be the biodiesel production facility. The plant will utilize Indiana grown soybeans.

When complete, the Louis Dreyfus facility will be one of the world’s first biodiesel production plants to be fully integrated with a soybean processing plant. About 260,000 metric tons of soybean oil from the plant will be used each year for biodiesel production.

1 million tons of protein rich soybean meal will also be produced annually for the livestock and poultry industry. 85 permanent jobs will be created at the plant,as well as 300 construction jobs.

“Today’s announcement says to the nation that Indiana is a state serious about being a leader in biofuels,” remarked Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, who serves as Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development and oversees the Indiana Office of Energy and Defense Development.

Louis Dreyfus, a global mega agri-business was founded in 1851 and operates in more than 50 countries.

The IEDC offered economic development incentives, including up to $95,000 in training grants, $137,500 in infrastructure assistance to the local community, and (here is the kicker folks) up to $5.295 million in tax credits based on anticipated employment and capital investment levels.

Pic is JULIA Louis-Dreyfus who plays Elaine Benes in "Seinfeld" and has no connection with this story whatever.... but, hey ....

Recent blogs on same topic here

Dr Chai Patel - An apology and an explanation

The BBC news programmes and BBC 2 Newnight have today been alive to the complaints of a Dr Chai Patel (no relation) whose name is said to figure on a list of Labour Party donors who are shortly to be ennobled.

Regrettably there has been some confusion for which I must apologise. An ennoblment is due for Patel. It is I. Me. Not he.

Thankfully this is not the result of a squalid donation of immoderate size to the Labour Party coffers. I cannot however, nor will I reveal how I came by CCTV recordings from Stockwell Tube Station when Mr De Menezes was murdered, nor the recordings of conversation between the Prime Minister and Mr Bush about bombing Al Jazeera (although fragments have been published here), nor the interesting result of certain paternity tests and the contents of a safe deposit box in the Isle of Man, nor the diaries of "Miss" Rita Ferrari.My friend "Bernie" Ecclestone and I have also agreed to remain silent upon certain topics relating to motor racing, smoking certain substances and contributions , payment of school fees, use of holiday homes etc., Geoff Hoon can also be sure that my lips are sealed about his "interesting" time in Louisville and the real reson why he is now ex Minister of War.

The main problem, resulting in this tiresome delay is my wish to be known as Lord Patel of the Internet. There are, Patel being a common name, already 2 Lords Patel, one an eminent gynaecologist and the other a very, very close friend of Jack Straw's, so confusion should not arise.

However the pedants of the Honours Office claim there is no such place as "The Internet". Apparently there is also a problem with the copyright of the particular DNA sequencing, displayed on the scroll on my coat of arms, which neither parent, the chambermaid nor the Cabinet Minister will allow to be used.

I much regret the way Dr Chai Patel has been misled, but I would refer him to the unseemly squabble over the unlikely (and deeply unlikeable) Lord Bossom of Brighton, a warning to any one anxious to hire their scarlet and ermine trimmed robes from Ede & Ravenscroft.

Until the official announcement is made, I will, naturally, still be known as... Postman.

De Menezes murder explained ... BBC Panorama

9.00 pm GMT BBC Panorama ... the Murder of De Menezes explained ... well that's what the BBC website says.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program borrows from next year ...

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Federal assistance for home energy costs, dates backto the oil crisis of the 1970s, and affects some 5 million families nationwide. Proponents of expanding the program say the $2 billion budget doesn't go very far when there are some 33 million households, spending about $55 billion a year in energy costs, eligible for the program.

$1 billion had been set aside for fiscal 2007. New legislation, which still must be considered by the House, passed by a voice vote Tuesday, but only after a lengthy debate between northern state senators, who said rising heating costs were creating a crisis in their states, and lawmakers from warmer states who claimed they were being shortchanged.

Sen. Olympia Snowe's, (R-Maine) original bill would have distributed $250 million under an existing formula that would mainly benefit warm-weather states. The remaining $750 million would have been labeled contingency funding and disbursed at the discretion of the President.

"We don‘t deny there is a need," said Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev. But "is it fair across the country or does it benefit some states and not other states?"

Last week Snowe successfully overcame opposition from conservative Republicans, led by Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who tried to kill the bill on the grounds that the spending was not offset by cuts in other programs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said in a statement that he supported Snowe's bill. "This is a positive step to provide additional aid for those in need of energy assistance this year."

Meanwhile Congress have not even considered the Governments ability to raise borrowing limits..... shucks let's spend next years money now.

Cotton pickin' good .....

The US department of Agriculture issued a notice on January 20th 2006, to the cotton trade, including all warehouse operators approved under the Cotton Storage Agreement, regarding temporary storage space in outside yards for the 2005-Crop of Upland Cotton in certain counties in West Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico.

Why ?

Because there is too much of the stuff to fit in the warehouses.

Yet as poor nations press the World Trade Organization (WTO) to stop unfair US farm subsidies, U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 14.44 million acres of cotton this spring, up 1.7 % from 2005, according to the National Cotton Council’s 23rd Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey.

The US government spends US$4.5 billion annually in subsidies on a cotton crop with a market price of $5.9 billion, which otherwise would have to be priced more than double in the world market. This subsidy enables US growers to export profitably three-quarters of their output and control 40% of world trade in cotton.

What the US lost in textile yarn, fabric and clothing manufacturing, it gains back in subsidized cotton export, high returns on investment in overseas textile mills and low consumer prices in cotton goods = a low Consumer price Index, US / CPI is down 69% for clothing in last 10 years.

So the current "tariff war" against Chinese textiles is merely the US wanting its cake and eating it too. USD$4.5 billion is a mere pittance in the USD $2.4 trillion 2005 US fiscal budget, the subsidy effectively simply ruins the economies of the world's poorest nations and maintains US dominance.

The National Cotton Council, a powerful trade group in US domestic politics, while basking in the happy situation of seeing US cotton exports increase by 350% between 1999 and 2004, from 4 million 480-pound (218-kilogram) bales to 14 million bales, explains that the goal of helping African growers is "not to make Africa a big cotton producer", only to make the lives of the poor fucking Africans "a little better".

It is simply a strategy of protecting managed trade with welfare trade. Simply doubling the market price of cotton will not help African growers, whose competitive disadvantages go beyond market price, and cannot be eliminated without fundamental changes in the terms of global agricultural trade.

Those cotton states are mighty important in the upcoming mid-term elections too.

Terrorism - an Israeli family business

He was born Yerucham Bzozowitch in Gerodna, Poland, in 1919 and arrived later in Palestine and at some time adopted the name Eitan Livini.. He became a member of the Irgun group, headed by Menachem Begin, later Israel’s Prime Minister. Irgun began a campaign of violent terrorism against the British administration in Palestine at the beginning of 1944.

Eitan Livni, had been on the British wanted list for several months. He was a member of the Irgun high command and Begin's righthand man.

He was captured and with 31 others, was tried in Jerusalem by a military court on June 27, 1944, and sentenced to 15 years. (pic is of the whore on Terror and Livni's daughter - she is on the left (of the picture) in Washington this week - just in time to meet those friendlt folks (and a few spies) in AIPAC)

His imprisonment was one of the reasons for the Irgun's decision to launch its most militarily spectacular anti-British operation: the attack on May 4, 1946, on the crusader fortress at Acre. The fortress, which was being used as a prison by the British, had successfully withstood a siege by Napoleon's forces in 1799 when it was in Ottoman hands and had been captured by Allenby in 1918.

The Irgun assault on the fortress was well planned both inside and outside the prison, explosives having been smuggled in beforehand. Livni masterminded the operation inside and the escapees included 30 Irgun men, 11 members of the Stern group an extremist breakaway group from the Irgun and many more Arab prisoners. Away from the fortress however they encountered a group of passing British soldiers and in the battle that ensued nine Irgun men were killed.

Livni then resumed his leadership role in Irgun, in spite of being hunted by the British, and in August 1947 was dispatched by Begin to organise Irgun's military activities against British targets in Europe. He returned nine months later on May 15, 1948, the day the British withdrew from Palestine and modern Israel was declared.

Only last week the official records office at Kew, London released details of Israeli terrorists sent to London to assassinate Foreign Minister Bevin and others. The MI5 files contain a report that Irgun carried out the attack after drawing lots with two other militant groups, Stern and Hagana. Stern drew the lot to attack British ships in the Mediterranean while Hagana were chosen to attack army camps.

In August 1946, the month after the King David attack, Major James Robertson, head of MI5’s Middle East section, warned London that both Begin’s group and Stern were sending five terrorist cells to the capital to mirror IRA tactics of bombing and assassination.

“In recent months it has been reported that they have been training selected members for the purpose of assassinating a prominent British personality. Special reference has been several times made to Mr Bevin.”

Bevin, the Labour foreign secretary, was an opponent of the creation of a Jewish state and had recommended that Jewish refugees in Europe should be forcibly prevented from emigrating to Palestine. It is difficult to believe that the release of these papers was a "coincidence". Miss Livni's dad was probably one of the terrorists sent to kill the Foreign Minister - maybe Jack Straw should take note.

In the war that then began (after the founding of Israel), with the Arab forces Levni led the first Irgun battalion into the newly-formed Israel Defence Forces and was a commander in one of the fiercest battles against the Arabs in the Sharon district east of Tel Aviv.

Following independence Livni became chairman of the Irgun veterans organisation but in the 1970s, as a result of pressure from Begin who was by this time the leader of the parliamentary opposition, he was elected a member of the Israeli Knesset. He remained there for three terms and helped to bring about the rightwing Likud coalition which gained power in 1977.

Eitan Livni died in February 1992.

His daughter Tzipi (short for the biblical name Tziporah) was taken to visit Begin every Saturday.

She grew up part of Likud's royalty as a child of what is known as a ''fighting family.' The heroes of the "palach".

Tzipi grew up to become a lawyer She served in the army, becoming a lieutenant, and at the age of 22 began working for the Mossad, the intelligence service, where she stayed for four years. She does not discuss those duties. ''It was wonderful,'' she said, laughing. ''But it taught me skills I cannot use.'' Oh yeah ?

She married Naftali Shpitzer, worked as a real estate lawyer and first ran for Parliament in 1999, eight years after her father died, when she was over 40. Despite the late start, she has risen fast, serving in five ministries and earning the deep trust of Mr. Sharon, who made her Justice Minister and allowed her into his inner circle, the security cabinet, which planned and carried out the painful pullout from Gaza last summer.

Tzipi Livni, 47, is the first woman to serve as Israel's foreign minister since (appointed Jan 16th 2006 and still serves as Justice Minister) Golda Meir did so half a century ago. Some think she may be the first since Ms. Meir to be Prime Minister.

This is what she said after joining her mentor Ariel Sharon into Kadima from Likud … Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people. This should be also the true meaning of the future Palestinian state...In other words, the establishment of a Palestinian state takes [care of] what the Palestinians call the 'right of return'." Now that’s what the rest of the world call apartheid.

Again she spells it out in the Washington Post …” My need as an Israeli and a Jew is to keep a Jewish homeland for the Jewish people, a sovereign, Jewish and democratic state with a Jewish majority. So how do we [do that]? The idea is to divide the land, to give up some of our rights on the land of Israel and to establish a two-state solution.”


Now 47 she regularly visits her father’s grave…. On his gravestone is written, "Here lies the Head of Operations of the Irgun -- the underground that fought for the establishment of the State of Israel." And on his tombstone he left a map of Greater Israel -- with both sides of the Jordan Valley being part of Israel.

When in London last week, this scion of terrorists (her mother was an Irgun heroine) was pressuring the British Government to find an immediate solution that would allow Brigadier-General Aviv Kochavi to arrive in the UK as planned for a year of studies at the Kimberly military academy. Kochavi is currently facing an arrest threat in Britain, due to his service as commander of the Israeli army in Gaza.

Tzipi Livni on Sunday reported to the cabinet ministers that in her visit to London last week, her counterparts in the country have also voiced their concern regarding the issue of Israeli’s visiting the UK facing charges brought by private citizens, and said they intend to resolve it as quickly as possible.

The British Foreign Ministry is currently formulating a solution to the problem that will not necessitate legal amendments to the constitution. According to this new procedure, which has already been approved by British legal officials, courts in the kingdom will be prohibited from issuing arrest warrants against foreign citizens without the authorization of the chief prosecutor.

This new regulation will enable the government to supervise over lawsuits and prevent the mass issuing of arrest warrants against IDF officers and other Israeli officials.

The British hope this new procedure will prevent damage to the relations between the two countries.

Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday that Britain has informed Israel it is close to finding a solution that will enable IDF officers to visit the UK without fear of getting arrested due to war crime lawsuits filed against them.

This is what she said to Newsweek last week ....

"Israel made clear in the last few months that the participation of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority elections is totally against any kind of democratic values," Livni says. "Abu Mazan says he is weak. When a leader is weak and cannot confront the terrorist organizations, this is the real importance of the international community -- to say it will not accept terrorist organizations as part of any parliament, any government."

Recent blogs on same topic here

Rachel Corrie ... the fight continues

The Second Death of Rachel Corrie
Censorship of the Worst Kind

By VANESSA REDGRAVE Counter Punch March 6th 2006

"I am urging the Royal Court Theatre to sue the New York Theatre Workshop for the cancellation of the production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie". Not because I donated money for this production, which the Royal Court have been fundraising for--a target of 50,000 pounds, underwritten by Alan Rickman.

This is censorship of the worst kind. More awful even than that.It is black-listing a dead girl and her diaries.A very brave and exceptional girl who all citizens, whatever their faith or nationality, should be proud and grateful for her existence. They couldn't silence her voice while she lived, so she was killed. Her voice began to speak again as Alan Rickman read her diaries, and Megan Dodds became Rachel Corrie.Now the New York Theatre Workshop have silenced that dear voice."

March 16th is the third anniversary of the murder of Rachel Corrie. For more information about events go here and petition to NYTW , comment, etc., also here and more in the NYTimes today here

Also rather tedious piece but plenty of information about dramatic spat by Walter Davis in Counterpunch Theater, Ideology and the Censorship of "My Name is Rachel Corrie"
The Play's the Thing

By WALTER A. DAVIS
Pic (c) Reuters with permission Royal Court Theatre.

See also William Bowles exposing the way the Zionists have crushed the MSM reporting of this censorship... here

BBC ... never late with the real news.

Even the BBC has noticed that the US has reached it's legal debt limit. Maybe they have been too busy polishing the tarnished image of Miss tess Jowell the 35 year old, fresh faced, saintly lady who looks after Tony's best interests.

Now single again , she is available for sales conventions, promotional work and bar mitzvahs and discussing the BBC TV License fee.... maybe even foreign media take over of ailing ITV....?

Afghanistan. Turning point reached .... again.

Marine General James L. Jones is supreme allied commander in Europe and commander of U.S. European Command (SACEUR). He is reported by the American Forces Information Service saying ...

"I think this is a turning moment for what's left of the insurgency and also for the criminal element, the narcotics traffickers and all the others, who are working on their own in their own way to destabilize the growth of the (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai government," to "CNN Late Edition" host Wolf Blitzer.

Which is almost as funny as correspondentBuzz Hefti, vice president, Van Scoyoc Associates writes a letter to the Hill Julty 2005 .. " count me in as one of the first to register at jljones2008.com."

Useful Knight Ridder report here, detailing growth of Taliban rsistance and growth of opium trade.

7/7 Tavistock Square bomb? Questions ?

Antagonist raised some time ago the curious nature of thes photographs immediately after the Tavistock Square bomb on 7/7. The absence of Police / Emergency / Paramedical services. Do these people look as though they have just been in a bus explosion that smeared and shot blood all over the BMA building ? Do they look traumatised ? Injured ? Upset ?

What is happening here ?

Irving family face more court appearances

67 year old Historian David Irving has pleaded gulity to Holocaust Denial and is set to spend time in a prison cell in Austria. Those who wish to financially assist his cause might wish to donate ... as an urgent appeal for funds to assist Mr Irving and his family: Click this link to donate or mail to Bente Hogh, 8 Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1H 9AA. Cheques should be addressed to Parforce UK Ltd or David Irving, US cheques should be made payable to Focal Point Publications. More at his website.


Interestingly his young cousin John (Johnny) is wanted rather urgently in the United States on charges related to the Food for Oil for Saddam and the Texas based Bayoil Co. and funds that found their way into the "Babylon" account in Abu Dhabi.

The US Warrant for his extradition is here at the US Dept of Justice site.

DAVID N. KELLEY, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, and JOHN KLOCHAN, the Acting
Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing
today of an Indictment against DAVID B. CHALMERS, JR., a Texas
businessman; two entities in which CHALMERS was the sole
shareholder, BAYOIL (USA), INC., an oil company based in Texas,
and BAYOIL SUPPLY & TRADING LIMITED, a Bahamian company
(collectively, the “BAYOIL COMPANIES”); and two individuals who
worked with CHALMERS to purchase Iraqi oil for the BAYOIL
COMPANIES, JOHN IRVING, a British citizen, and LUDMIL DIONISSIEV,
a Bulgarian citizen and legal permanent resident of the United
States, currently residing in Houston, Texas. The charges are
contained in a Superseding Indictment filed under seal on April
13, 2005, and unsealed today in Manhattan federal court.

Northern Ireland Terrorists - business as usual

On Wednesday 1st March, a planned operation carried out jointly by HM Customs and Excise and the PSNI’s Fraud and Organised Crime Squads resulted in a substantial amount of counterfeit and illegal films being seized.

The DVDs, a substantial sum of cash and other items concerned in the making of counterfeit DVDs was seized during searches at shops in Belfast City centre and at a house and commercial premises in Ballymoney. The total value of items seized is estimated at £600,000.
A man and a woman were arrested in the Ballymoney area.

Black Shrouds and Black Markets

SUSAN COOKE KITTREDGE daughter of broadcaster Alastair Cooke tells how her father's body parts were sold on via the gruesome business of selling parts of the deceased.
March 5, 2006 NYT

Afghanistan ...money pit and soldiers grave ...

Douglas Farah has a good blog and valuable insight into the activities of Mr Osama Bin Laden, his influence on the border region of Waziristan etc., and doom laden reports on the wisdom of military action in the home of the opium poppy. It demonstrates how unwise it is to read too much into reports in 2002 such as this ... "On 18 March 2002, the Secretary of State for Defence announced that a Commando battlegroup was being dispatched to work with US, Canadian and other Coalition forces in operations against remaining pockets of Al Qaida and Taliban resistance in Afghanistan. It was confirmed on 16 April that 45 Commando Group had commenced operations."

PS. David Mills the talented international lawyer and separated husband of the tragic but beautiful Tessa Jowell, is NOT involved in heroin smuggling , financing or drug distribution. (Note that a recent report (BBC 5/8/2005) stated that the River Po showed such a concentration of the products (benzoylecgonine (BE)) of cocaine that Italy must claim to be the highest users oc cocaine in the world).

David Mills 7/7 bombing Mastermind ?

"Close" friends of Tessa Jowell attached little credence to rumours of her husband's association with Red September and their bombings of off licences and pubs. The daughter of an ex-Labour Prime MInister said she thought that even if he was implicated in supplying funds to the jihadist muslim brigades he would not have told her about it.

David M, well known in New Labour circles said that even if rumours that Tony Blair (prime Minister) was pressing for beatification of Tessa through contacts Silvio Berlusconi has with the Holy Father, he thought that David Mill's claimed "involvement" with Satanic child abuse was something he kept secret from his lovely and talented wife even if there was no evidence beyond a large file held by the Crown Prosecution Service.

An ex associate of the Prime Minister with Press contacts, (and a close interest in football) thought that now David Mills was "separated" from his "hard working" wife life could return to normal and if David Mills was, as hinted, witholding money from his wife he got all he deserved. Asked if it was true that David Mills had murdered his first wife, he gnomically answered , "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't". "What is important is the saintly Tess gets on with her job, saving the country for 24 hour binge drinking, gambling and watching the Olympics on TV... which will by then be wholly owned by Berlusconi Mega EuroTV " he said winking broadly and grinning.

A family "friend" denied that constant beatings by her husband had sapped her morale and that she was facing the future free of her husband's "attentions" to save the country from boredom by feree access to alcohol , circuses and 24/7 gambling.

"Free of her husband, who is probably planning World War III with the Iranians now" said a well known member of the cabinet, "Tessa will shine like the star she is".

Tessa Jowell is 35.