Oeuf Bukkake !

Mandelson shows Iran his iron fist..

EU trade chief Peter Mandelson and regular visitor to Bilderberg meetings warned Iran over trade boycotts in response to the publication of “offensive” cartoons in Denmark.

"I would make it clear to the government of Iran that any boycott of Danish goods is a boycott of the European Union as a whole," Mandelson told The Associated Press during a retail conference in Prague. "I hope that the government (of Iran) will think twice."

"Kick one and we all limp", as they say in the leafy purlieus of Brusels.

The EU is Iran's principal trade partner. The 25 EU members had combined exports to Iran worth euro11.8 billion in 2004, while their combined imports were valued at euro9.2 billion,.(Source Eurostat)

Only euro171 million of that trade was with Denmark of which the bulk was machinery and pharmaceutical / medical products.

"I don't believe that a boycott is a legitimate response to public concern," said Mandelson. "I also think that a boycott hurts both sides and damages Iran's interests as much as it would European interests."

He added that the EU was working "to resolve this issue peacefully, quickly and with the minimum disruption to trade."

Any EU sanction available is unclear it has already suspended EU-Iran free trade negotiations because of concerns over Iran's nuclear program. The EU could apply its own economic sanctions, but officials are reported to say that none are currently being considered.

"We can only take action if it is state-sponsored. Chambers of Commerce are not governments," said Mandelson's spokesman Peter Power (see pic above) .

The EU are said to have made has made similar threats of trade and political action against Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern governments either at the WTO or elsewhere, if they are found to be behind boycotts of Danish goods over the cartoon controversy.

Iranian Commerce Minister Masoud Mirkazemi on Monday said that Iran would not allow any new permits for Danish goods. Onon Tuesday he told state-run radio that beginning that day all contracts and negotiations with Danish companies would be suspended.

Iran's Health Ministry said Monday it was canceling previously approved business deals for medical equipment with Danish companies.

Mirkazemi said Iran would not be put off. "The EU can respond any way it wants," he said.

US disembowels, China ramps up ..

In 2003 the The Manufacturing Institute produced the Securing America’s Future:
The Case for a Strong Manufacturing Base they have now published a 2nd follow up report (PDF Alert!) U.S. Manufacturing Innovation at Risk A Study by Joel Popkin and Kathryn Kobe

The authors identify the U.S. share of global trade in manufactures has shrunk, falling from 13 percent in the 1990s to 10 percent in 2004. The U.S. share of global trade in some of the highest value-added export industries such as machinery and equipment is falling. Furthermore, the United States now runs a trade deficit in Advanced Technology Products, goods produced in the industries expected to lead U.S. exports in the 21st century.

Manufacturing continues to pay better than many other industries, and it employs 25 percent of scientists and related technicians and 40% of engineers and engineering technicians — critical skill groups for the R&D process — yet the sector is experiencing a growing shortage of skilled workers.

They identify the challenges to America’s long-standing leadership in R&D and that whilst the United States continues to spend more than any other country on R&D investment, (The United States invested more than $290 billion in R&D in 2003, or 40 percent of all R&D spending in the industrial world; the domestic R&D activities of manufacturers accounting for 42 percent of that total.) U.S. growth in R&D has averaged only about one percent per year in real terms since 2000.

(A National Science Foundation survey identified that in 2003, (2004 figures not yet available) motor vehicle manufacturers spent about 2.4 percent of sales on domestic R&D, down from 3.2 percent in 2000.)

They point out the United States is not keeping up with other countries in insuring a supply of scientific personnel: the portion of doctoral degrees awarded to citizens and permanent residents in the United States in science and engineering is falling, while the combined number of science and engineering graduates in China and India (1 million) now dwarfs those in America (70,000). According to Fortune magazine’s estimates (1), in 2005, the United States graduated 70,000 engineers, compared with 600,000 for China, and 350,000 for India.85 In addition, 20 to 30 percent of the students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan received engineering degrees.


In its latest report on R&D (3) , the OECD reports that China is now the third largest R&D performer behind the United States and Japan and has the second largest number of researchers, behind only the United States.


Manufacturing generates a large share of American prosperity. The authors claim that the sector is in danger and identify 4 key problem areas….
1. Manufacturing output has continued to lag that of earlier economic recoveries

2. Manufacturing capacity remains underutilized (see GM / Ford closures etc.,) so investment in new plant and equipment, particularly Greenfield plants, has slowed

3. U.S. share of world trade in manufactured goods generally, and
capital goods in particular, continues to shrink (the United States lost its leadership in world merchandise exports to Germany in 2003 and the German lead widened in 2004 as its exports (in dollar terms) grew eight percentage points faster than those of the United States.)

4. Lack of job growth has discouraged new workers from entering the industry, which has serious implications for maintaining a skilled workforce at all levels
U.S. leadership in R&D is being challenged.

This could also be said to apply to the Euro area and has been recently discussed in an IMF Paper (2). European investment has also been weak. After declining five percent in real terms between 2001 and 2003, euro area nonresidential fixed investment grew only 2% in 2004.

Furthermore The United States has become more dependent on foreign nations to supply many important raw materials, now importing more than 50 percent of 42 mineral commodities, all of which are important for manufacturing and strategic military uses.31 The reliance on imports of important commodities such as aluminum, copper and cement has nearly doubled since 1996. Most prominent, given its potential economic impact, is the U.S. dependence on imported oil, 65 percent of which was imported as of mid 2005.

Amongst many other proposals the authors identify one major educational objective ..

Along with increasing efforts to improve K-12 education, a special emphasis should be placed on improving the quality and rigor of math and science offerings at all levels. The problem-solving and critical-thinking skills those subjects teach will be vital for the U.S. workforce to compete in a global economy.

For “US workforce” in the above statement substitute any country’s name you wish.

It is of interest that the Chairman of California based National Semi Conductor in speaking this week at DesignCon in Santa Clara, Calif. Tuesday said …

“The big question is whether the United States will participate and lead that boom or whether it will cede that role to emerging nations that recognize the opportunity and are investing in technology and research.
“Exactly what do we have to do to screw this thing up?” he asked.”

And went on to say …

.. the United States is falling behind in deploying new technology such as broadband. And the K-12 schools are not filling the pipeline with students who want to study math and science at the university level.

Finally he posed the question that many in the West , in academia, research and manufacturing should ponder ..

“It’s a very bright future,” Halla said. “I have never seen a more optimal time for the technology industry. But where? In the United States? In China? In Russia?”

There is no better example of the way the wind is blowing than the Feb 2004 IPO of SMIC, the mainland Chinese silicon foundry headed by former Texas Instruments executive Richard Chang, which raised $1.8 billion in an initial public offering (IPO more than Google raised !) that was 15 times over-subscribed. It spent some of that money on buying their Tienjin Fab plant from Motorola. Yesterday their Chairman announcing their latest Quarterly results said “During the fourth quarter, we commenced commercial production for nine new customers, two of whom are among the top fabless companies in the world. We also taped out nineteen new products, of which over half are products for Mainland China customers. Our Mainland China customers continue to represent an important area of growth. More than 8% of our revenues in December 2005 was generated from Mainland Chinese fabless companies. The new products we manufactured for those companies include the first 3G baseband chips on 0.13 micron process for the TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and CDMA2000 standards, a digital satellite receiver chip for set-top boxes, and an HDTV video processor chip.”



1.“America Isn’t Ready,” by Geoffrey Colvin, Fortune, July 25, 2005, p. 72.

2.“Why Is Productivity Growth in the Euro Area So Sluggish?” by Marcello M. Esevao, International Monetary Fund Working Paper WP/04/200, International Monetary Fund, October 2004.

3. Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2005, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, October 2005.

(One reason for China’s R&D record is apparent in Chinese manufacturers’ responses to a recent survey by IndustryWeek. When asked to identify the focus of their marketing strategy, the second most frequent response was innovation, preceded only by high quality, itself enhanced by innovation. U.S. manufacturers, when asked the same question, put innovation much further down the list at number seven). “Manufacturers Like Us,” IndustryWeek, November 1, 2004.)

Danish Freedom of Speech site launched ....

Freedom of Speech is a Danish site which describes itself thus :

Open discussion site and information source aggregation regarding freedom of speech as it applies to the current situation after the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten has published caricatures of the Islamic prophet Mohammed

A curiosity and one may wonder who is behind it .....

UPDATE 8th Feb ... the site now offers a fetching range of T shirts, stickers, etc.,

Afghan bombs kill 12 wound 11 in Kandahar

The BBC report that at least 12 people, mostly policemen, were killed in a powerful bomb explosion in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Eleven others are said to have been injured in the blast which took place outside the police headquarters.

A policeman told a news agency that the bomb may have been "attached" to a motorcycle parked outside the building.

Recent bombs

2 February: Three killed by attacker in south-eastern city of Khost
16 January 2006: Two attacks in Kandahar province kill 24 people
15 January 2006: Canadian diplomat and 2 Afghan bystanders killed in Kandahar
5 January 2006: 10 killed in Tirin Kowt, Uruzgan
November 2005: 3 civilians killed in Kandahar
September 2005: 12 killed outside Afghan army base in Kabul
May 2005: 3 killed in Kabul internet cafe
June 2005: 20 killed in Kandahar mosque

Omar Khayam AKA Skinner wears bulky jacket like bomber and isn't murdered by Police thugs

Omar Khayam 22, was sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2002 for possessing crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply.

He was released on parole in the care of ( a now presumably very nervous) probation officer last June.

To fellow prisoners at Springhill Prison, Bucks he was known as “Skinner” according to a report in the Mirror today …” He was part of a large crew in Bedford. His street name is Skinner and there are a lot of drug users in the town who know him through these connections.” According to Khayam's prison Boswell he was radicalised in prison and said he was going to use the money from dealing for Islamic causes....yeah...yeah.

Curious how Bedford / Luton / Aylesbury keeps cropping up when Islam militancy, “suicide” bombers , drug crime Al Muhajiroun keeps cropping up.

Anyway young Omar is not without contacts and appeared outside his home yesterday in Bedford accompanied by the chairman of his local mosque and his local MP. He claimed to the attending Press / TV scrum he had not intended to cause offence to the victims of the July 7 London bombings or their relatives but added that his protest remained valid because of the hurt caused to Muslims by the publication of the Danish cartoo ns. Those familiar with the dress code , mobile telephony techniques and hair/facial hair styles of the Asian drug community may have identified a few clues from the “can you see me mother” crowd immediately behind him.

Evidently especially despatched Plods from crack crime busters at the met found nothing and returned without contacting the profoundly humble paroled street actor / clown, and now presumably ex-drug dealer.

For previous postings on the Luton connection here see
including Muktar Saed Ibrahim, also known as Muktar Mohammed Saed, 27, who was named by police in connection with the attempted attack on the No 26 bus in Hackney, East London, last Thursday.

In 1996 he was jailed for a series of street robberies (he was then 18), including one in Melbourn Street, Luton in May 1995 (Melbourn is a village outside Royston), and may also have been involved in incidents in Stevenage, Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City.

The local paper the Mercury learnt that the alleged would-be bomber was part of a gang who appeared at Luton Crown Court in February 1996 and pleaded guilty to several charges.

It is believed that when Ibrahim appeared in court with two of his accomplices he had already received a three-year prison sentence from a court in north London for similar offences.

At Luton, he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted robbery, one charge of robbery and another count of handling stolen goods.

Saed is now detained at HM Pleasure whilst Plod tries to find a case to present in court in September - despite the bomb he planted not causing any damage and the non removal of local residents from the area of the bus with a powerfully destructive bomb in it.

No wonder Plod has a puzzled look.

Recent blogs on same topic here

PS for Plod. Remember those "suicide bombers" on 7/7 might have caught a train at Luton and left all those mouth watering "bombs" which made such a graphic icon for the worldwide press in the boot of their hire car ?

Yeltsin bows out disgracefully

Boris Yeltsin (for once nearly sober) with his glamorous young wife Naina Yeltsin and his aide Shevchenko welcomed 300 guests in the Malachite Reception-Room of the Kremlin on February 1st . From the Malachite Hall, they moved on the Alexandrovsky hall, where champagne and juice were served, and further to Adreevsky Hall to listen to a pop concert at which the then not so sober ex Premier danced (see pic).

Apart from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who had actually insisted on the Kremlin celebration, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, the Event lured former president of the United States Bill Clinton, former chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl, former president of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, former president of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akaev. The celebration was not ignored by the business elite of Russia with Vagit Alekperov, Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska easily spotted among the guests. The sport community was represented by Shamil Tarpishchev, Evgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin. Russia’s famous stage director Galina Volchek, violoncellist Mstislav Rostropovich, literature expert Marietta Chudakova, actor Oleg Basilashvili stood for the art, not to mention the pop stars involved in the concert.

“Thank you… thank you that there are people in this hall, who love me or hate me at least,” Yeltsin said. There were many, many in the hall who should have thanked him for the way he allowed them to loot the riches of Russia.

Iraq. War Criminals at work.

The Washington District Court was treated to the squalid money grabbing, uncontrolled excesses of the Iraqi CPA (led , remember by the ex MD of war criminal Henry Kissinger’s International Consultancy business) last week. A tale of incompetence, venality, lack of controls and sheer greed.

Robert Stein held a senior position in the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority, which administered Iraq after American and allied forces invaded in 2003. He was in charge of overseeing money for the rebuilding of shattered infrastructure in south-central Iraq in 2003 and 2004, he was also a convicted felon.

A convicted felon inexplicably put in charge of $82 million in contracts, he pleaded guilty last Thursday to charges included conspiracy, bribery, money laundering, unlawful possession of machine guns and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In a Washington court, he has admitted to stealing more than $2m and taking bribes in return for contracts. The former U.S. Defense Department official who arranged to bilk millions in Iraqi reconstruction money said a U.S./ Romanian businessman Philip H. Bloom, who won construction contracts in 2003 and 2004 after allegedly he and Stein rigged the bids,told Washington District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was how the con started,

According to the New York Times, 2 senior Army Officials (said to be
Lt. Col. Debra Harrison and Lt. Col. Michael Wheeler), have also been arrested in the investigation and more arrests are forthcoming. Up to 7 more reservist officers are said to be implicated.

Stein has admitted in court to conspiring to give out contracts worth $8m to a certain company in return for bribes and also to receiving gifts and sexual favours from women at his luxury Baghdad villa. "He essentially funnelled contracts to his cronies and received bribes," said Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

E-mails cited in court records indicate that some unnamed U.S. officials even demanded specific cars: a white SUV and an electric blue sports car.
And what about the projects that were supposed to be built or refurbished in Iraq? A series of audits found major problems.

"There were millions of dollars in grants and contracts that simply went for no work at all." Bowen says cash was sloppily handled.

"The management of cash in Hilla was haphazard at best. We found that it was kept in footlockers of the trailers that people that lived there," he says. "There was a safe that wasn't locked in the bathroom of the office."

Some of the work that was done was shoddy, according to one audit. For example, a recently repaired elevator at Hilla General Hospital collapsed, killing three Iraqis.

"The reconstruction efforts during the CPA, in the South Central Region, around Hilla, failed," says Bowen. "It failed because we had a person of significant responsibility, the person in charge of that money, the controller, simply committed repeated criminal wrongdoing."

Stein admitted to stealing $2m from reconstruction funds some of it was, he admitted, smuggled onto aircraft and flown back to the United States in suitcases. As part of a plea bargain he has offered restitution of some funds.

A report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction on how the authority went about its business is expected in the coming weeks. Watch this space.
Don’t worry Dubya says we are winning the war. On terrorism that is … the one on crime is taking just a bit longer.

Recent blogs on same topic here

Israeli elections .. now the gloves are off

Now that Arik is as good as dead, 5 years to the day since he became PM, the gloves are off in Israel. Kadima joined in the mudslinging today , with a new negative campaign mocking Likud chairman and ex Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

After Likud and Labor started attacking Kadima, the party released new stickers with the slogans "Bibi is the same Bibi" and "Strong against Hamas: Khaled Mashaal is exploding in laughter." Referencing the abortive and embarrassing assassination attempt in Jordan of the Hamas leader when Bibi was PM. It also negates the Likud sticker "Strong against Hamas: Only the Likud/Netanyahu."

The strategy is to ridicule Netanyahu's failures as PM. When journos asked why they didn’t go after Labor chairman Amir Peretz, a Kadima official responded by saying, "There’s no need, Peretz does the work for us every time he opens his mouth."
Likud officials responded by accusing Kadima of panicking because the Likud is gaining in the polls. They said the negative campaign was proof that Kadima's fall was imminent.

The symbolic 120th slot on the Kadima list will be given to Israel Prize winning molecular biologist Michael Sela, a former president of the Weizmann Institute. Sela, 82, has written more than 800 articles and books.

The list will include candidates that had been considered for the top 50 but were not chosen, along with many top Kadima supporters and mayors in symbolic slots. Sharon will not be on the list because he never signed a form issuing his candidacy, and is not in any state to sign one soon, and because party officials decided that it would be “inappropriate”. It seems it’s only in the US you can elect dead officials.

Euro slips against the dollar

The euro dipped briefly below key technical support at $1.1965 today, increasing chances the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates into mid 2006 are said to have weighed heavily on traders.

The euro initially slipped against the dollar to a fresh one-month low, trading at $1.1963, down around 0.5 percent from Friday, before finally recovering to 1.1972.

Before 9/11 the dollar was trading roughly at parity with the Euro and has declined by 20 % since. This current strength is counter intuitive as the US trade gap widens every month as the costs for their oil / natural gas purchases soar, without any immediate or future prospects of declining.

Of course as US industry and commerce disembowel the US employment market and outsource for cheap labour they make great returns and associated profits (see Chevron, Valero etc.,)so investment in the US makes sense to the markets and keeps the dollar high.

Incapacity Benefit, / Unum Provident UK / UK Gubment Part 2

On July 2nd 2004 Wales’ then First Minister, Rhodri Morgan AM, and the then UK Minister of State in the Department of Works and Pensions, Malcolm Wicks MP, helped applaud the opening of the UnumProvident Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research £1.6million centre at Cardiff University , based in the School of Psychology and sponsored by income protection provider and insurer UnumProvident UK.

Mr Morgan said it was appropriate that the Centre would be based in "an absolutely top-notch psychology school."

Mr Wicks told the launch (before no doubt a hearty lunch) : "It brings together a rigorous approach to research and evidence in a leading academic school in Europe - a refreshing linkage between classical medical studies, medical sciences and wider health-related research, and a partnership between industry and the University.

"The centre will be the first in the UK to develop specific lines of research into the psychosocial factors related to disability, vocational rehabilitation, and the ill-health behaviours which impact on work and employment."

The launch focused the concerns about the sharp rise in the number of people with mental health problems and unexplained health complaints leading to a serious problem of incapacity for work in the UK … and attendant costs to the taxpayer in Incapacity Benefits.

On any working day in the UK, 6 million people report absence from work due to sickness. Whilst unemployment has fallen and the demand for employees has risen, the number of people claiming incapacity benefit remains stubbornly high and rising whilst the age of claimants drops.

Dr Peter Dewis, Customer Care Director at UnumProvident, said: "The Centre’s research will lead to a better understanding of what makes people incapacitated and how to prevent and better support disabling incapacity to help people return to work after illness. This will bring benefits to employers, insurers and to society as a whole; but more importantly, it will benefit the individual who is healthier and happier when actively involved in work."

Dr Dewis added: "It is a modern-day paradox that in spite of an accelerating rate of medical innovation and discovery, more and more people of working age are being certified as incapable of work, often with complaints which cannot be understood in the same way as more identifiable diseases. The new Centre will be looking at the doctor/patient relationship and how this affects an individual’s reaction to their illness. Studies to be conducted at the Centre in Cardiff will focus on why people respond differently to the same illness, rendering some unable to work while others continue."

The new Centre is the first in the UK to develop specific lines of research into psychosocial factors related to disability, vocational rehabilitation and the determinants of ill-health impacting upon work capacity.

Professor Peter Halligan from the School of Psychology at Cardiff University, the brains behind the partnership with UnumProvident UK, said very prophetically : "Within the next five years, the work will hopefully facilitate a significant re-orientation in current medical practise in the UK, whereby ‘enablement’ rather than disability will be the positive focus and goal for those involved in managing disability and those affected by unexplained symptoms."

Professor Mansel Aylward CB, recently appointed Chair in Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff, will head the Centre when he takes up the position as the Centre’s Director later in the year.

Professor Aylward pointed out: "The Government believes that everyone who can work should be given the opportunity to do so. The overwhelming majority of people newly claiming incapacity benefits expect to get back to work: in reality less than a quarter will be back at work after 12 months on benefit. The nature of the health conditions affecting these people are very largely "common health problems." Given the right level of support and intervention the majority of these health conditions are manageable and should not preclude a return to work."

Most of this is taken from the University Press release and probably was missed by the busy Press in those long hot summer months.

Of course.. few of those who may have read of this less than academic bombshell would have been aware of the significance for Incapacity Claimants … or of the role and objectives of Unum Provident UK, subsidiary of Chatanooga , Tennessee based US insurer Unum Provident, the leading provider of group insurance schemes for incapacity to US industry and commerce … with an interesting record in claims payments, multiple million dollar fines from State insurance overseers and a current SEC insider share dealing enquiry.

"Within the next five years, the work will hopefully facilitate a significant re-orientation in current medical practise in the UK, whereby ‘enablement’ rather than disability will be the positive focus and goal for those involved in managing disability and those affected by unexplained symptoms."

Remember those words from Professor Hennigan well. … it would of course be unwise, imprudent even, to say that an insurer with US$20Bn annual Gross income was making a small down payment on academic research that may help in reducing claims on their policies and to help the Government also with the same goals.

Professor Hennigan is a rare academic … one who can forecast five years hence the results of his academic efforts.

Professor Mansel Aylward CB Director of the Unum Provident Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research in the School of Psychology, Cardiff University, is also a rare academic. On the 9th September 2005 the Centre was proud to announce their Director had been appointed to the new Honours committees. He will serve on the health committee for a three-year term. In addition to his University role, Professor Aylward is Chair of the Wales Centre for Health. The Honours committees advise the Cabinet Secretary on candidates for the Prime Minister’s list of recommendations to the Queen…. The sort of guy who can forecast which worthy medical researchers might … say within the next 5 years, receive the grace and favours of HMQ…. Especially if they help lop a few Billions off the IB bill.

Interested to know more about Unem Provident UK ? Go to their website here

Can't work or won't work. Part 1 of the IB story in the UK

Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants scare the UK Government shitless.

With the help of hard pressed GP’s ,long term jobless were stripped for political reasons from the "unemployment" figures in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s – but their numbers have soared and age / sex / illness profile have changed dramatically.

Currently there are 2.7 million IB claimants, largely unchanged since 1995 up from approx 1 Mn in 1980

Last year, 170,000 people aged under 25 were on on IB, higher than the 140,000 who enrolled on the New Deal for Young People last year.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that there are 1.2 million people under 25 who are neither working, studying full time or training.

IB claimants with mental problems such as stress have risen alarmingly. Department for Work and Pensions figures show 1,073,000 IB claimants (39% of the total) with mental health reasons in 2005 up 51% from 709,000 in 1997.

Of all claimants last year 83 per cent of IB claimants have been on the benefit for at least a year; and 48 per cent have been on IB for longer than 5 years.

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton admitted last week the claimant who has been on the benefit for more than two years is “more likely to die or retire than to find a new job”,Data from 2001 (the latest comparable year) shows that the United Kingdom has the highest rate of inactivity because of illness or disability for men age 25-49 of any OECD country except Poland (which includes Slovakia, Greece, Czech Republic and Hungary), and in the top five for inactivity rates amongst women aged 25-49.

There are also dramatic regional variations in over 1.9 million people are on IB in England, representing 3.8 per cent of the total population, and in Scotland and Wales, the figure is 5.7 and 6.4 per cent respectively.

In Wales, 185,000 people claim IB, from a population of 2.9 million. In London the proportion of the population on IB is 3.7 per cent; in the South East, = 2.5 % compared with 6.2 % in the North East.

There is a huge incentive to stay on IB after six months, the value of the IB payment increases from £57.65 to £68.20 a week. After a year, the payment increases to £76.45 per week. This compares with the Jobseekers’ Allowance, the principal unemployment benefit, of £56.20 per week for those over 25, and just £44.50 a week for those under 25.

On top of this, the long-term IB claimants income may be boosted by £92.85 in Housing Benefit and £13.92 in Council Tax Benefit, giving a package of £179 even before Disability Living Allowance, ( £30 to£99 a week)



could begin. Remember , a 35-hour week on the minimum wage yields will Gross £177 a week. It is not surprising therefore that 83 per cent of IB claimants are on the benefit for over a year.

Result ? Massive costs, IB costs the Treasury t £7 billion a year add other sickness benefits and the totals leaps to say the same as the Council Tax raises.

To this you can add the increasing NHS expenditure on the number of people who need long-term treatment for chronic conditions. Ministers are aware that if people stay on Incapacity Benefit, their health tends to deteriorate and they start to cost the NHS more money.

After working himself in the recently appointed Work and Pensions secretary John Hutton, now proposes in a Green paper to replace the current incapacity benefit system with an 'Employment and Support Allowance', to be paid to people for undertaking work-related activity. The obligatory and unsnappy name change covers several proposed initiatives to cut IB claimants by 1 million over a ten year time frame.

Plans include rolling out a £360 Mn 'Pathways to Work' programme across the UK by 2008 - introducing mandatory work-focused interviews, working with employers to develop work-taster programmes for single parents and to extend flexible working arrangements for older workers.

All very laudable, desirable even, but no employers want to recruit people who have been claiming incapacity benefit for a long time, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Just 3% of 750 companies questioned by the CIPD said they actively targeted incapacity benefit claimants as part of their recruitment strategy, and one third deliberately excluded such people.

Most employers said they would be more prone to absence and 45% said they would be less reliable. "Such low expectations may or may not be unfair," said John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD. "But either way, they pose a problem for the government."

Remember that the CIPD recently, also produced a report that showed 30,000 jobs have been transferred overseas each year over the past 5 years. It found that over 1 in 5 organisations they surveyed have offshored one or more business activities in the past 5 years or are considering doing so. The most likely business activities to be offshored are :-
· Manufacturing and production (43%)
· IT support (24%)
· Call centres / customer services (22%)

There is of course no reason why these trends for outsourcing will not continue or even accelerate.

Even the TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, agreed and is quoted as saying "The reforms should recognise that employer prejudice is a key obstacle in the way of many claimants moving back to work."

The government aims to use the reforms to raise national employment to 80% from 75% and help 300,000 lone parents into work.

CBI deputy director-general John Cridland cautions against dismissing the employers as flinty hearted … "With skills shortages in many parts of the economy, employers strongly support the government's goal of helping more people back into work." He then added the expected rider that if the Government wanted their assistance it had to be paid for.

"The government must support companies in reskilling those who have been out of work for some time, and by contributing to the consequential costs of special equipment, transport or mentoring."

GP’s, who contributed to the problem by removing the whingers with persistent back pains from their waiting rooms are said to be being given a key role in getting people off incapacity benefit, with employment advisers to work alongside them and advise sicknote claimants of job opportunities.

GPs “could “be offered financial incentives to reduce the number of sicknotes they issue. Hutton said he hoped to pilot the idea in a number of cities across the country over the next year.... I bet the meedcial proession can hardly wait for such interference to their busy lives.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the GP committee at the British Medical Association (BMA), wanted further clarification on how the proposals would work…. Which is a Doctor tells me is medical language for , “Great ideas John but SHOW US THE MONEY”.
"If these people [employment advisers] are able to offer helpful and sensitive advice to patients, they may prove a positive addition to the services available in a GP practice," he said. "They will only be effective if they are supportive in helping patients to return to work rather than acting as an enforcement arm of the Department for Work and Pensions with the sole purpose of getting people off benefit."

The Green Paper's proposals on older workers also support forthcoming age discrimination legislation, due to come into force in October 2006.

The plans include aligning employment support for long-term unemployed people aged between 50 to 59 with people in their 30s and 40s and improving back-to-work initiatives for jobseekers who are over the age of 50 and their partners. One consequence of this is that participation in New Deal 25+ will become mandatory for those aged 50-59 who are registered as long-term unemployed (i.e. unemployed for 22 months or more). Presently participation is voluntary for this age group.

The Third Age Employment Network, which supports older people in the job market, said the reforms are a vital part of the response to demographic change and increased life expectancy.

Chief executive, Patrick Grattan, said: "We can no longer use incapacity benefit as a surrogate form of early retirement."

A 12 week consultation period on the Green Paper has begun, responses must be in by 21st April 2006. (Visit www.welfarereform@dwp.gsi.gov.uk for a template consultation document or phone :020 7712 2492)

Ms Merkel in Munich slams Iran's nuclear ambitions

Speaking at the Munich security conference ( Under the theme of "Restoring the Trans-Atlantic Relationship," on the future role of the NATO ), the biggest annual gathering of some 250 defence ministers, military commanders and defence industry leaders. Ms. Angela Merkel, (guarded by 4,000 Police) Germany’s new chancellor called for a new debate of Nato’s central strategic concept by 2009 to define new tasks and limits to its capacity. Angela Merkel, upset over Tehran's declared denial of the Holocaust and calls for Israel to be destroyed, made a personal attack on (like her, democratically elected) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

She was applauded by her European and North American audience when saying , 'A president who questions Israel's very existence cannot expect Germany to show even the slightest tolerance.'

There were almost no representatives from the Middle East or Islamic countries among the 300 people at the meeting. A single Iranian delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, defended his country's position, but was rebuked by Ms. Merkel who dismissed his intervention for failing to address the Holocaust.

'We have learned our lesson from history,' she said speaking in the City whose name is redolent of the British appeasement so strongly identified with Chamberlain’s historic flight to the City and a fatal and final meeting with Hitler. "Looking back to German history in the early 1930s, when National Socialism was on the rise, there were many outside Germany who said, 'It's only rhetoric -- don't get excited.There were times when people could have reacted differently and, in my view, Germany is obliged to do something at the early stages.

"We want to -- we must -- prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program."

Ms. Merkel and others also used the conference to try and defuse growing rage in the Islamic world over the publication of caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammed in several European newspapers.

'I can understand that religious feelings of Muslims have been injured and violated,' she said, adding: 'But it is unacceptable to see this as a legitimization for violence.'

On Thursday Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato’s secretary-general,(see pic) like any ambitious European bureaucrat laid out his agenda for broader (ie bigger size = bigger budgets)and more intense political consultations on issues ranging from the Balkans and Afghanistan to Africa and the Middle East, … he added as an apparent afterthought the joint policy on energy security, not one imagines, normally top of the NATO agenda. He also called for closer links with other like-minded nations such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, while warning that “NATO is not a global policeman, but we have increasingly global partnerships”.

"In a time of global threats, our alliance relies on the support of other states more than ever," he is quoted in the Bavarian weekly Bayernkurier, which is published by the German state's ruling Christian Social Union.

"Japan and South Korea can also make important contributions to NATO operations in future," he said. "They have shown clear interest in closer cooperation with NATO. I see building ties with these countries as a major security investment."

The Süddeutsche Zeitung, says, NATO officials discussed the expansion proposal at a January meeting . The Munich daily says US ambassador to NATO, Victoria Nuland, has issued a proposal to establish a permanent joint panel.

This plan is getting none or very lukewarm support from most NATO members. France has already voiced opposition, according to the paper. The Dutch have finally, if reluctantly agreed (after much public hand wringing) to their participation in the ill conceived and militarily doomed Afghan venture on which UK defence Minister John Reid, has happily thrown the lives of UK soldiers and the notoriously unreliable equipment of the UK army and their (as yet) untested in battle Apache helicopters and ageing Chinooks.

Ms Merkel’s speech, was warmly received by the high-level US delegation to the conference, led by Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary and war criminal, but its substance brought very little response.

Instead, Rumsfeld focused almost all his remarks on the terrorist war declared on the US and all its allies, and declined to engage in any debate on the future of the NATO alliance and its role in the world.

'Old NATO' had been limited to the alliance's geographic limits, said Rumsfeld, 'the new NATO ... recognizes challenges which threaten the world are of a global nature.'

It is no secret that the United States would like to see NATO act outside of its traditional remit, playing a role in combating terror attacks, drug and people trafficking and humanitarian assistance following the example of the 1,000 NATO troops deployed to the earthquake-hit areas of Pakistan last year. They also repeatedly point out that the US spend 3.4% of GNP on Defence and most of the EU / NATO countries struggle to spend 2% at best.

Elsewhere at the conference US Senator John McCain , Republican Party frontrunner in the US Presidential 2008 celebrity/reality show said, 'Every option must remain on the table (sounds familiar). There is only one thing worse than a military showdown and that is a nuclear-armed Iran.' US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld warned that 'the Iranian regime is today the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. The world does not want - and must work together to prevent - a nuclear Iran.'

Sergey Ivanov ,Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister dismissed even the idea of sanctions on Iran, and doubts their effectiveness. 'I am not sceptical but a bit pessimistic on sanctions,' said Ivanov, Iran's neighbours would probably not heed international sanctions too rigorously he claims.

In further Press discussions, Ivanov said Russia wants Iran's nuclear programme to be resolved under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) alone and had strong concerns about the decision on Saturday by the IAEA to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council, underlining that the world body would only “consider” the issue, not”decide any concrete actions”.

Furthermore, Ivanov insisted that Iran had the 'legal sovereign right to enjoy the fruits of nuclear energy.' (Just as presumably Israel has ?)

Israel yesterday , via Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom approved the decision by the international community to move against Iran, despite discomfort about the resolution's indirect reference to Israel's own alleged nuclear program. This refers to a clause inserted by Egypt …” "A solution to the Iranian issue would contribute to global non-proliferation efforts and to realising the objective of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery." The US has rebuffed any such efforts repeatedly by Egypt ( who have experienced their own share of terrorist attacks in Cairo and tourist resorts recently) to insert such clauses in IAEA documents. Israel reflexively never admits to possessing, making, nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems for them, even though it is widely agreed that it has almost 200 nuclear warheads.

Silvan Shalom said: "This is a historic decision. Until recent years, the world thought that Iran and terror were Israel's problem.

"After 9/11, and the terror attacks in London, Madrid and Russia, they understood that it's the world's problem."

Evidently there is no agreement or overall strategy yet for a response to further declared Iranian intransigence or if they throw further spanners in the works.
Of course the co-ordinated (?) , unpoliced (?), and co-incidental Muslim demonstrators of Paris in November, and now in London, Egypt, Beirut, Damascus, irritated by (if not sponsored by) repeated European re-printing of the offending Danish (and unfunny) cartoons is a handy tool to ensure public solidarity, to “get tough with the Islamofascists” and chimes with the Zionist stance on democratically elected Hamas to run the Palestinian Government.

The cynical observer in London may wonder at the apparent incapacity (or unwillingness) of the Police to intervene, to disrupt illegally congregating marching hordes of people, calling for murder with successful prosecutions of peace activists for reciting the names of the war dead.

Might this withdrawal of the lethal powers ( viz De Menezes murder , massive stop and searches under the many and varied ant Terrorism statutes available) ) of the “Met” possibly have an effect in stoking up the fires of resistance and resentment of the supporters of the BNP ? Surely not.

No doubt Beefy Clarke’s “Timeline” of the 7/7 “suicide bombers” will uncover the previously unknown , cunningly concealed network of Islamofascist networks with hidden harms to our “democratic” society.

Last time the Secret Services / Police got their “secrets” wrong over WMD and Saddam, this time the dastardly Iranians were so clever the hid their secrets from the denizens of the Purple Palace of Vauxhall Bridge and Horse Guards Parade.

Meanwhile the Met’s “finest” are scrutinising video tapes from their “information gatherers” of the London demonstrations …. and carefully listening to people who claim the protests were “hi jacked” by MI5 funded , Luton and Bedford based Al Muhajaroun.

POSTSCRIPT History re run?

'Old NATO' had been limited to the alliance's geographic limits, said Rumsfeld, 'the new NATO ... recognizes challenges which threaten the world are of a global nature.'

Does he foresee the UN going the way of the League of Nations, resistant to bullying Bolton and a more compliant and more easily bullied NATO alliance more compliant with the aims of the PNAC signatories ?

Postman posted news on Muslim reactions to Danish cartoons in November ... news as and when it happens.

I was interested to see that a posting here in November on the French riots led with a reference to riots in Denmark which received scant attention in the press – related to the cartoons which now have lit the fires of the Muslim world, not to mention Danish Embassies.

It is evident that Muslim resistance in Denmark was vocal and also involved firebombs and other violence and could be seen in context with other continental Muslim reactions and riots etc.,

Nice to think that one is able to pick up the straws in the wind which eventually result in major events.

Muslim Riots Break Out in Denmark As Well
19:26 Nov 06, '05 / 4 Cheshvan 5766

(IsraelNN.com) As Muslim riots spread across France, Denmark is also beginning to see its own Islamic Intifada. In Arhus, Denmark, young Muslims were heard chanting, “This land belongs to us!”

A masked spokesman for the rioters told Danish reporters that Muslims were tired of being oppressed and harassed and warned the police to stay away. "This is our area. We rule this place,” he said.

The riots have increased following a cartoon in Danish paper The Jyllands Post involving Mohammed. Rocks and firebombs have become commonplace in many neighbourhoods and firefighters are afraid to enter them to put out the fires.

Bibi bangs the war drum

Likud chairman and prime minister hopeful Binyamin Netanyahu was joined by senior Likud MKs, Gideon Saar, Yuval Seinitz, Dan Naveh, Limor Livnat, Gilad Erdan, Yisrael Katz, Uzi Landau, and Silvan Shalom as well as 2 non MK Likud candidates, Natan Sharansky and Keren Barak on a tour of the security fence in the settlement of Beit Aryeh.

Speaking from the Ariel Sharon Observation Point overlooking Ben Gurion International Airport at Beit Aryeh, which also overlooks the entire coastal plain, from Ashkelon in the south to Hadera in the north, Netanyahu said,

"We have to distance the fence from the range of missiles to defend Israel. There are those that think we are saying this just for election purposes. It has been my opinion consistently that drivers should be able to go on the roads without the threat of snipers."
"From the Sharon Observation Point a plane can be downed. My government will move the fence backward so that Ben Gurion Airport will not be threatened and our deterrence will be restored,"

Despite recommendations from senior security officials to keep the hills surrounding Beit Aryeh in Israeli territory, a Supreme Court ruling determined that the hills surrounding the settlement would remain on the Palestinian side of the security fence at a distance of some four kilometers.

Netanyahu also took a swipe at the Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government's decision to release funds to the Palestinian Authority, now headed by Hamas. (The Cabinet on Sunday agreed to transfer about NIS 240 million owed to the Palestinians, after delaying the payment last week.

Likud Chairman and prime minister hopeful Binyamin Netanyahu blasted the decision, saying, "We are trying to create international pressure against Hamas - so every shekel we give to a Hamas-led government is unexplainable."
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer indicated Saturday he would advise the government to transfer the funds.

"I generally prefer to abide by agreements I've signed," Fischer said in an Israel Radio interview. "So that is at least one rationale for transferring the money. There are all kinds of other rationales, but that is my starting point."
Under the 1995 Israel-PA interim agreements, Jerusalem is to transfer to the PA each month the customs and tax revenues it collects at the ports and crossing points on behalf of the PA.

"We are trying to create international pressure against Hamas - so every shekel we give to a Hamas-led government is unexplainable," said Natanyahu.

Former foreign minister Silvan Shalom reiterated Netanyahu's position by saying, "It's depressing that despite terror, the government is acting as if nothing has happened, and in a scandalous decision is giving the Hamas money at a time when the world is stopping the flow of money to the PA. How can we expect the world crack down on Hamas when we're not?"

The IDF and the Shin Bet are said to have come out in favour of transferring the money as well, because of concerns that leaving so many people (and families) without salaries would plunge the Palestinian areas deeper into chaos and anarchy. Both Egypt and the US have also urged Israel to transfer the money, at least during the period of a transitional government inside the PA.

Hekmatyar .. watch this space.

Islamabad, 10 January (Asiantribune.com): Afghan rebel leader and chief of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan Enginner Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has urged all Afghans to continue their fight until all "occupation forces" are "driven out" of the country.

In a message released in Pakistan on in advance of the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Adha which falls on Jan 11, the fugitive rebel commander said the "real Eid" (happiness) would be celebrated when Afghanistan was "free of foreign agents" and would not need to seek foreign assistance or to "bow to others".

In order to achieve this, Hekmatyar said, it was incumbent upon "every Afghan and every Muslim" to engage in jihad (holy war).

"With the Grace of God, Afghans waged jihad against former Soviet Russia for the same sacred purpose. Once again, they have waged jihad against the current US and British-led crusade. God willing, this jihad will continue until all occupation forces are driven out of every corner of the country and an Islamic system is established in Afghanistan in accordance with the people's wishes. God willing, that Eid will also come, and it will come very soon."

In his message, the Afghan former Prime Minister also denounced last year's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, saying they had been rigged by the US.

He said the aim of the polls had been to hide "colonialist occupation" under "the disguise of democracy". This was designed to establish "an obedient and weak parliament" which would sign "treaties of subjugation".

Nuclear Power Race under starters orders.

Westinghouse Pleased With Selection of AP1000 Nuclear Technology for Potential Expansion at Plant Vogtle
PITTSBURGH, /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company
President and CEO Steve Tritch said today that he and Westinghouse employees
throughout the world are pleased with the selection of the AP1000 as the
technology of choice for potential new nuclear plants at the Alvin W. Vogtle
Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Ga.
The selection of the AP1000 was announced earlier today by Georgia Power
and Southern Nuclear Operating Company, which operates the plant for a number
of co-owners, including Georgia Power. Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power are
subsidiaries of Southern Company.
"The decision to pursue an Early Site Permit (ESP) and a Combined
Construction and Operating License (COL) for the Plant Vogtle site is the most
recent in a series of positive steps toward a nuclear renaissance in the
United States," Mr. Tritch said. "Southern Company has always been a
progressive force in our industry, and we are both pleased and excited to be
able to now work with such a long-term and valued customer in the new plant
arena."
The AP1000 received Design Certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission on Dec. 31, 2005. It is the only Generation III+ nuclear power
plant to have received either Final Design Approval or Design Certification
from the NRC.
Earlier this week, Progress Energy announced that it had selected the
AP1000 as the technology for possible new plants at the Harris Nuclear Pant
site near New Hill, N.C.
Duke Power announced in October, 2005 that it would pursue a Combined
Construction and Operating License for two AP1000s at a still-to-be-determined
site. In September 2005, NuStart, the nation's largest consortium of nuclear
power companies, selected TVA's Bellefonte Nuclear Plant site for a COL
application for the AP1000.
Westinghouse believes the AP1000 is ideally suited for the worldwide
nuclear power marketplace. The AP1000 is:

- The safest, most advanced, yet proven nuclear power plant currently
available in the worldwide marketplace (conservative probabilistic risk
assessment (PRA): core damage frequency potential at negligible
2.5x10-(7))
- Based on standard Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR)
technology that has achieved more than 2,500 reactor years of highly
successful operation
- An 1100MWe design that is ideal for providing baseload generating
capacity
- Modular in design, promoting ready standardization and high
construction quality
- Economical to construct and maintain (less concrete and steel and fewer
components and systems mean there is less to install, inspect and
maintain)
- Designed to promote ease of operation (features most advanced
instrumentation and control (I&C) in the industry)

For more information about the Westinghouse AP1000, visit its Web site at
http://www.ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com. For images of the AP1000, visit
http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/D6.asp.

Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear power
company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies
to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first
PWR in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis
for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including
60 percent of those in the United States.

SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company

Interesting Fact. The Folks who make the Predator UAV that was so succesful inkilling mums and their kids on the Pakistani border have another side to their business... Mining Uranium. That is called covering all the bases, well the ones that matter.

Kharzai says job in Afghanistan is now 10 - 15 years.

Interviewed before the London summit of babblers, Kharzai welcomes even more aid and men with guns.

The henchmen of Hakmatyr ...see following... are waiting for the UK troops to undertake there as yet unstated mission in the South of Afghanistan. K says poppy plantingsd are down 21 % this year, a curiously accurate figure. 21% are you sure thats not 22% K ? Evidently his agrarian sleuths are far more effective than tyhe EU bureaucrats who manage to miss millions of hectares of Greek and Italian Olive Trees.

Here is a prophetic piece which is worth re-reading

http://www.williambowles.info/asia/hekmatyar.html


22/12/04 “Official” Terrorist lights fires of resistance in Afghanistan by Edward Teague

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar leads the Mujahideen faction, of fundamentalist Sunni Muslim Pashtuns, the Hezb-e-Islami, which was one of the groups that ended the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His forces were a main beneficiary of the 7 mujahideen groups recognised by Pakistan and US intelligence agencies for the channelling of money and arms during the 1979-89 war. Among those arms were Stinger surface-to-air missiles. (The first Stinger was fired by a Hezb-e-Islami soldier near Jalalabad on September 25, 1986. The Stingers traced back to the Afghan Mujahedin have since been located in Chechyna, Tajikistan and the Philippines.)

Mullah Omar supported him during this period.Hezb-e-Islami clashed with other groups but refused to share power with Burhan-ud-Din Rabbani and Ahmed Shah Masood of the Northern Alliance for control of the capital, Kabul. As a result the The Hezb-e-Islami ( who with General Dostum) was blamed for the violence and destruction of that period, and Hekmatyr was called the butcher of the Muslims.

Many Afghan observers accuse Hekmatyar of killing more Mujahideen members than Communists. After losing support from the Pakistan ISI and the Saudis he was forced to flee Kabul when support shifted to the Taliban.Hekmatyr ended up being given refuge in Tehran where the Iranians saw him as a useful Pashtun bargain counter. However his very vocal opposition to the US and their man Kharzai , became an embarassment and he was expelled and his offices closed on Feb 26th 2002.Late in 2002 it was reported that Hekmatyar was giving full support to Karzai administration, although the warlord’s whereabouts were unknown. Soon after Afghan administration arrested 160 people in Kabul in a suspected anti-government plot who were said to be members of Hezb-e-Islami.Another report claimed the CIA reportedly spotted him in the Shegal Gorge, near Kabul, and tried (unsuccessfully) to kill him with a modified anti-tank missile from a Predator unmanned spy plane.

The US still had him in their sights and were said to be behind the arrest in Islamabad in October of his son, Ghairat Baheer.On February 19, 2003 American tolerance snapped and the US DOS designated Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as a Terrorist.All has been quiet so far this year, whilst the poppy harvest have been rolling in and the pipeline of drugs packed in bales of cotton shipped by Karimov’s daughter, to the West through Uzbekistan keeps rolling on. Now the warlords see an opportunity to remove the puppet US administration in Kabul, whilst an increasingly desperate Kharzai is asking his US protectors to set up bases in Kabul and elsewhere.

There are reports that five parties met last week near Mazar-e-Sharif (N Afghanistan) and agreed to support the mass mobilisation of people against the US presence.and to turn it into a political movement. Among those present was former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, Ittahad-i-Islami Afghanistan, a representative of two local Tajik groups and a group from neighbouring Uzbekistan.Whilst Western Press reports have been anxious to suggest that the Afghan rioting last week was directly related to the Newsweek report of Koranic toilet douching ( a widely read weekly in Kabul ?) The Taliban radio and prayer leaders at local mosques, were asking Afghans to rise up against the American presence in the country. A prayer leader at a local mosque in Kabul, Maulvi Habibullah Shariati, was arrested when he told those who had gathered for the prayers to kick out the American forces from the country.The Hizb-i-islami Afghanistan, a Taliban movement led by Maulvi Younus Khalis, as well as Gulbadin Hikmatyar’s Hezb -e- Islami were the most active segments within the Pashtun-dominated cities of Kabul, Jalalabad, Khost, Asadabad and Kandahar, that were asking for a massive mobilisation against the US presence in Afghanistan.

Diplomatic sources in Kabul see a strong spring offensive (That is 2005 remeber and was on the button) that the Taliban fighters have launched, with a much wider and popular a wider political movement against the US.UK / NATO military observers were seen in the region last week considering a call from the White House (Condi / Rummy et. al. as the ordure hits the aircon) to plunge UK troops into this bloody cauldron.

Watch this space for an announcement about troop movements from the Scotsman John Reid AKA Minister of Defence – augmenting NATO forces (now approx 500) – beefing up the response – sharing the burden – spreading the load – part of a widening response in the War on Terror – blah blah … pulling US chestnuts out of the fire – re-run history reel .. Terrorist aided by US bites the hand that feeds … Osama ? Hekmatyar ?Get yer placards out.

Meanwhile reports about the Apache Longbow, talk of hefty maintenance, lack of spoares, unreliability...remember we opened a production line in the UK to make them.. thought the UK could teach the US to make engineering equipment ?

Probably the lost curious aspect of the Reid announcement on salisbury Plain was that nobody pointed out that the Plain , Norfolk and Otterburn are somewhat flatter than the borders of South Afghanistan... but hey he got to wear a natty Cammo jacket.

Project for the New American Century

It makes sense to re-visit the statement of principles (!) of the signatories (and who they were) to the PNAC. The website referenced is well worth visiting if you want to know what is motivating the "manifest destiny".

(C) PNAC no doubt.....

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global
responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;
• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;
• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;
• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.
Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.
Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb Bush

Dick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve Forbes

Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle

Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman Podhoretz

Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen

Donald Rumsfeld Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz
http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

Russians to get first bite at Iraqi oil fields ?

Readers will know how obsessed I get with Mr Alekperov. Even the London based Financial Times has today noticed that Leonid Fedun, Lukoil’s vice-president, said in an interview: “This year we will be able to start specific negotiations to develop fields.” He added: “2006 for us is the year that we are very optimistic. Finally we have a legitimate government in Iraq.”

Lukoil has the major stake in the $3.8bn (€3bn, £2bn) West Qurna oilfield, for which it signed a contract in 1997. But Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s former president, severed the contract in late 2002, shortly before the US invasion that toppled him.
Mr Fedun said Lukoil – which has set up an office in Baghdad, organised training programmes for hundreds of Iraqi engineers in Russia and had discussions between the Iraqi Oil Ministry and the company’s executives, expects the contract to be honoured.

Conoco Phillips have of course got an interest in Lukoil and Chevron share a Director.

Mr A is quietly stitching up major world wide deals in the old CIS states, Venezuela, Bolivia, China....