IRAQ counting the cost

Resistance to the illegal invasion of Iraq and a determined effort to fuck the occupation forces is destroying not only the economy of Iraq, the resolve of the US forces on the ground, and the US defence budget.

The threadbare infrastructure of the the Iraq oil industry suffered $6.25 billion in losses in 2005 as a result of sabotage to infrastructure and lost export revenues, Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said on Saturday.

Iraqi oil installations last year suffered 186 attacks , in which 47 oil engineers, technicians and workers, as well as 100 police protecting pipelines and other oil facilities, were killed plus many injured Jihad said.

Most attacks ocurred in the North, preventing exports of around 400,000 barrels a day from its northern oil fields via the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The US wants $9 billion to “reset” its war-depleted stocks this year, the vast bulk to replace and repair tanks, helicopters and vehicles, destroyed since the illegal invasion, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said in a Feb. 7 interview.

Since the illegal invasion and the determined effort to really fuck the hearts and minds of the occupying forces 20 M1 Abrams tanks, 50 Bradley fighting vehicles, 20 Stryker wheeled combat vehicles, 20 M113 armored personnel carriers and 250 Humvees, service sources said.

The number of vehicles lost in battle comes to nearly 1,000, when heavy and medium trucks and trailers, mine clearing vehicles and Fox wheeled reconnaissance vehicles are added.
Nearly all of these losses were caused by improvised explosive devices.

Aircraft losses also have been heavy since fighting began in Afghanistan in 2001. The Army has lost 85 helicopters there and in Iraq, including 27 Apaches, 21 Black Hawks, 14 CH-47s and 23 Kiowas.

Things are getting worse ... Aircraft and vehicle losses were heavier in 2005 than 2004.

Many more vehicles are simply being worn out by a punishing pace of operations that is about five times the peacetime load.

In 2005, AMC and its contractors repaired and overhauled 230 M1 Abrams tanks; this year, that number will top 700. Bradleys will go from 318 last year to more than 600; M113s from 219 to 614; Humvees from 5,000 to almost 9,000; and aircraft from 44 to 85.

Chinese Mobile telcom market powers ahead

China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. (HK: 0941) With a base of around 250 million subscribers (they cover 98% of the population) in China had 42 million net subscriber additions during 2005, with the average pace of net monthly additions rising to 3.9 million during the last quarter.Non-voice revenue continued to grow and accounted for more than 20% of the carrier‘s total revenues - they delivered more than 250 bln short messaging messages (SMS) in 2005.It is expected users will be 500MN in China by the end of
the decade.

Worldwide GSM subscribers total 1.56Billion and grows at 1 Mn per day.

In addition wireless music services such as music download, CRBT (color ring back tone), IVR (interactive voice response) are growing quickly in China, already creating more business value than the traditional music industry.

CM is Asia's most valuable telecom company, in which Vodafone has a 3.27 percent stake.

Mobile industry watchers expects China's entry into third generation mobile services to help drive down prices of 3G handsets and give the service a much-needed boost.China will award its 3G licenses in the first half of this year (Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is responsible), a move anticipated to unleash up to US$12 billion in spending as the country sets up the high-speed mobile data networks in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Most of the world's major telecom equipment makers are hoping to get a piece of the action, and have also entered into various partnerships to support China's own 3G technology TD-SCDMA - which is claimed to have superior performance to WCDMA for a varirty of technical reasons - try Wikipedia TD-CDMA. Network firms ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies are the biggest Chinese players in the global market.

Major investors in TD-SCDMA include European firms Siemens and Nokia, while others who have formed alliances to support the technology include Motorola, Ericsson, Nortel Networks and Lucent Technologies.China Telecom Corp (HK: 0728)or China Netcom Group (HK: 0906)will get TD-SCDMA licenses.

On January 20, 2006, MII formally announced that TD-SCDMA is the country's standard of 3G mobile telecommunication. On February 15th, 2006, a timeline for deployment of the network in China was announced, stating pre-commercial trials would take place starting after completion of a number of test networks in select cities. These trials are expected to run from March to June, 2006. TD-SCDMA enabled handsets are also set to start testing around the same time, and are expected to be available in Q2 or Q3 of 2006. A TD-SCDMA forum provides up to the minute technical information and news.

Chinese (Shanghai based) fabless Spreadtrum announced the industry first TS - SCDMA baseband chips at the 3GSM World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, on Feb 15th, 2006, made interestingly enough by Taiwan based Taiwan Semi Conductor Manufacturing TSCM. At the same Forum Vodafone it has signed a global supply deal with Huawei Technologies for exclusive Vodafone-branded third-generation handsets which will be expected to drive down the costs of 3G handsets worldwide.

The deal represents Huawei‘s first significant handset deal in Europe ... and will not be the last.

WCDMA is a natural technology upgrade for the GSM standard, which is based on technology developed in Europe and widely used in China and is the natural route for China Mobile.

W-CDMA trial networks have proliferated in leading Chinese cities with equipment provided free by foreign manufacturers such as Nokia, Ericsson and Lucent Technologies as well as domestic producers such as ZTE and Huawei Technologies, in an attempt to secure future business although MII have tried to halt such trials.

China Unicom,(SHA: 600050) the second mobile operator with 25% of the market is rumoured to be split up. It was previously headed by Wang Jianzhou said now head of China Mobile.



Recent blogs on same topic here

STOP PRESS

Mobile weblog today reports China's Ministry of Information claiming almost 400 million mobile phone subscribers in China, a rise of almsot 59 million over last year, indicating more than 3 million new people subscribed every month.

Pacific Epoch has a report that China Mobile announced on February 20 that it recorded 4.07 million new users January and 251 million users end of January. Only 119,000 of the new users are contract subscribers. (Shares 36.95 closed up 0.35 = 1%)

China Unicom also announced on Monday that it registered 1.31 million new users in January and hit 129 million users by end of January. Of these 96.06 million were GSM users and 33.03 million CDMA users at the end of January, an increase of 990,000 and 316,000 new users from December, respectively.

Prepaid users accounted for less than half of China Unicom's new GSM users while the majority of new CDMA users were contract subscribers.

So CM and CU have 366 Mn subscribers between them.

Dubya's bathroom lady finally exposed

EU military sales to China ... US Strikes back

Gloom descended at the Allison engine plant in Indianapolis now HQ of Rolls Royce in the US On Feb 12th when George Bush announced his '07 Defence Budget request . The planned ditching of the alternate engine program for the multi-national USD$ 256 Billion, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) he announced, would shut them out of a planned 40 year defence program.

The JSF is being built in three variants: a conventional take-off and landing aircraft (CTOL) for the US Air Force; a carrier based variant (CV) for the US Navy; and a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft for the US Marine Corps and the Royal Navy which will equip the two new RN aircraft carriers under development. The STOVL variant F-35B, has the engine coupled with a shaft-driven lift fan system for STOVL propulsion. The counter-rotating lift fan, developed by Rolls-Royce Defence, can generate more than 20,000lb of thrust. There will be commonality of parts especially the power plants.

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technology Corp., has a contract to build the engine for the first JSF (a derivative of the F119 fitted on the F-22). GE–Rolls-Royce team won a USD$2.4 billion contract last year to develop a second engine. Mike Ryan, Rolls-Royce’s executive VP for Government affairs said “The merits [of the program] are overwhelming, and we are hopeful that Congress in providing its oversight role [will] recognize those merits and restore the whole program.”

Due to problems over the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, which relied on one engine, Congress more than a decade ago started an alternative fighter-engine program.

Some observers on the Hill see this simply as a pork barrel issue which will hit Indiana and Ohio (The alternate engine would be made in Bristol, UK Indianapolis and assembled in Cincinatti, Ohio). Others taking a global view (rare in DC) see this as the first public fissure in a transatlantic split about EU military sales to China which explains UK PM Tony Blair's anxious pleading with Dubya.

For the Europeans to undermine US dominance in Asia by resuming arms sales to China (commended by Deputy PM Prescott last year), in a part of the world where the Europeans have little influence and zero responsibility, is seen in the Pentagon as an act just as hostile as the Franco-German blockade in the U.N. Security Council over Iraq. ( Prescott acknowledged the "concerns" - but predicted that "the good sense in Europe will be that they will come to some agreement on this matter and lift that embargo".)

That is the message that Blair gets every time he and Bush sit down to work out what on earth they can do about the mess they have made of Iraq. No doubt Ms Merkel also had her ear bent went she sat down for a chat with Bush.

In May 2004 China signed an agreement to be a full development partner on the EU Galileo project. CGI, a joint venture owned by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, China Satcom and China Academy of Space Technology, was designated by the EU as the Chinese partner on the Galileo Project.In September 2005 at the 8th EU - China Summit there were detailed talks on the conditions related to China's joining of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority which will manage Galileo.

As the official communique on 5th September had it ..

Both sides expressed their satisfaction at China-EU cooperation within the framework of the Galileo programme. They stressed their full commitment to making Galileo a commercial and technical success worldwide, and called for detailed talks on the conditions related to China’s joining of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority and the participation of Chinese enterprises in the Galileo Operation Concessionaire.

This means giving the Chinese government a say in the global management and control of the system. Now, the Chinese are aiming for total control within their own areas of stategic interest, giving them the ability to deploy their high-tech missiles without fear of the EU shutting down to guidance signals as signal continuity is a vital factor for the Chinese military use of the Galileo data..... TThe EU is now China's biggest trading partner.

A shrewd observer at the time claimed

With the ever-strengthening relationship between China and the EU, however, the UK is being dragged further into the China sphere, and arousing increasing distrust in US circles. With crucial production decisions having to be made on the JSF by the end of the year, the US might consider that this current development is a step too far and cut the UK adrift.

Whilst the world has come to welcome the US Global Positioning System (GPS), which is of course a military system which provides a slightly degraded signal for civilian use, that signal can be cut off or hugely degraded at will.

Galileo, conceived as a joint EU civilian project, and like many such projects with a long gestation is now well under way. Significantly in October 2003 India took USD350 Million stake in Galileo ... Israel and the EU and Israel reached an agreement GALILEO agreement which was initialled in Jerusalem on 17 March 2004. More countries are joining, on Jan 12th 2006 Korea was the first to sign up in 2006 and more are expected to join this year.

The new era commenced on December 28th 2005, an experimental 600-kilogram spacecraft named Giove-A was launched into orbit on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan to demonstrate the key technologies required by Galileo, the EU sat-nav system. The first "Galileo" signal was received on 12 January 2006. Four operational satellites for the in-orbit validation (IOV) phase will launch in 2005 the full operational capability (FOC) phase will be reached in 2008.

When fully deployed, Galileo will have 30 satellites (27 operational plus three active spares), positioned on three circular medium earth orbit (MEO) planes - at an altitude of 23,616 kilometers above Earth - with an orbital plane inclination of 56 degrees with reference to the equatorial plane.

Galileo will be under civilian control provide a highly accurate, guaranteed global
positioning service under civilian control, and assure interoperability with the other two global satellite navigation systems, the United States' GPS and Russia's GLONASS (Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System).

The accuracy of the information that the new system will provide is superior to GPS and represents a majorand significant improvement in sat-nav technology.

With Israel and China being supportive, the US has been suspicious of the Galileo project since it's tardy birth.On December 1, 2001, then US deputy secretary of state Paul Wolfowitz sent a letter to EU defense ministers to "convey [his] concerns about security ramifications for future NATO operations if EU proceeds with Galileo satellite navigation services".

Pressure was intense from the Pentagon but in in March 2002 the EU and the European Space Agency agreed to fund Galileo. Not only had Washington's pressures failed to stop the program, they had irritated France, Germany and other EU members (Old Europe !) at a time of looming trans-Atlantic discord over the forthcoming illegal invasion of Iraq.

Launched officially May 2003, China joined the project in September 2003, by investing US$259 million.(As did India where Bush is due soon to talk military aid, sales and nuclear issues) This gave the US two headaches,how to avoid possible malfunctions and useless duplications in the trans-Atlantic security system, and, above all, what to do about China's participation.

A conference was held in Ireland on June 26th 2004 after 4 months of very intense diplomatic negotiations. The two systems would "navigate side-by-side", and would not
interferewith each other's signals. The project's commercial natures was stressed but its military potential remains.

GPS is pivotal and critical in assuring strategic air dominance to the US in the 1st Gulf

War, and since then the world definitively discovered how the concept of air power - and of power itself - had changed thanks to space technology.

The geopolitical equilibrium is changing at a frightening speed, the EU and US arms embargo on China ( a 17-year arms embargo imposed after the bloody Tiananmen Square protests in 1989) is keeping the lights on in Embassies as a careful diplomatic stance is maintained with the US to maintain the civilian nature of the program. This is re-inforced by the unwillingess of EU nations to discuss military expenditure directly with their electorates European citizens, and make funding more difficult.

Beijing (now rumoured to be building their first aircraft carrier) is becoming increasingly technically sophisticated and their language is increasingly peperred with concepts "battlefield digitalization", "anti-satellite weapons", "cyberwar" and "space strategy" in strategic discourse, reflecting fast-growing Chinese technological capabilities.

Furthermore there is confusion over what the EU arms embargo means for there is no precise and univocal interpretation of the ban.Essentially it seems to mean the sale of major weapons systems and breaches in spirit have surfaced ...engines for China's new Song-class diesel submarine are German and its newest 054-class frigates have French engines. The United Kingdom sold China naval aviation radars and France has sold Crotale ship-to-air missiles and launchers.

Israel now a Galileo partner is China’s second largest arms supplier. Coincidentally, the newest addition to the Chinese air force, the F-10 multi-role fighter, is an almost identical version of the Lavi (Lion). The Lavi was a joint Israeli-American design based upon the F-16 for manufacture in Israel, but financed mostly with American aid. Plagued by cost overruns, it was canceled in 1987, but not before the U.S. spent $1.5 billion on the project.

In 2001 when the Navy EP-3E surveillance plane was forced to land in China after a Chinese F-8 fighter flew into its propeller, photos showed Israeli-built Python 3 missiles under the fighter’s wings.

A row brewed up in 2000 for Israel to scrap a $250 million deal to sell China the Phalcon airborne radar system (similiar to US AIWACS) equipped with advanced Israeli-made aeronautics on board a Russian-made plane. Washington’s argument was that providing Beijing access to the technology would upset the military balance over Taiwan and threaten US interests in the region. When the US Congress threatened to cut the annual $2.8 billion military aid to Israel they gave in and scrapped the deal. Read this article "Chinese Whispers" 10/3/05

European governments and defense companies have an incestuous relationship and they know that the US is a crucial political, strategic and economic ally. To boost sales of dual-use technology (which is where Galileo fits in) to China may be a huge business opportunity for the EU. The cancellation of the JSF alternate engine highlights the political, security and economic consequences of ignoring the transatlantic connection.

U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense annual report issued July 19th 2005 -- The Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 2005 – reviewed China’s growing space capability and flatly claims that China is developing and intends to field anti-satellite (ASAT) systems.

"China is working on, and plans to field, ASAT systems. Beijing has and will continue to enhance its satellite tracking and identification network - the first step in establishing a credible ASAT capability. China can currently destroy or disable satellites only by launching a ballistic missile or space-launch vehicle armed with a nuclear weapon."

The report also claims China is conducting research on the development of ground-based laser ASAT weapons .. " [China could] eventually could develop a laser weapon capable of damaging or destroying satellites." Critics argue there is no evidence to substantiate these bald assertions.

"Building a modern ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance] architecture is likely one of the primary drivers behind Beijing’s space endeavors and a critical component of its overall C4ISR modernization efforts," the report states.

China launched its first manned spacecraft into Earth orbit on October 15, 2003.

Finally, remember that one of the 5 main goals of the Project for the New American Century is clearly stated as ...

CONTROL THE NEW “INTERNATIONAL COMMONS” OF SPACE AND “CYBERSPACE,” and pave
the way for the creation of a new military service – U.S. Space Forces – with the mission of space control.

(Pic Pratt & Whitney (P&W) FX631, the CTOL/CV was successfully tested for the first time on 11 October 2003. JSF website )

£50 Mn up in smoke

On 17th January 2006 this £50Mn (ish) Typhoon jet landed at RAF Coningsby, Lincs, when the computer controlling the nose wheel failed to operate. Funded jointly by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain this plane is way over budget, years late and has multiple problems.

Tony Blair claims the Typhoon is the "cornerstone" of Britain's air defence. Two new aircraft carriers ordered by the Navy are each due to carry 36 Typhoons.

Former Tory Defence Secretary John Nott said recently that his decision to go ahead in the early 80's "my biggest mistake", and added "It's a complete waste of money."

Critics say it was designed to fight a now non-existent enemy - the Soviet Union. It is also claimed the development of air-to-air missiles have rendered the Typhoon obsolete.The computer systems are a mess ... the missiles don't fit ...

For a sequence of Power Point pics of this spectacular landing and cool precision of the RAF pilot go here

Go here for detailed Press report

UK Defence assets sell off continues ....

If you thought the sell off of DERA as Qinetiq last week at a modest profit to the Carlyle Group and it's senior executives was of interest ... read on.

The Italian defence company Finnmeccanica took over Westland Helicopters, based in Yeovil, Somerset, in 2004. The firm was then merged with Italy's Agusta helicopter manufacturer.

Last year the company paid £355m for a 75% stake in BAe's avionics division, including the radar and laser research and production site at Crewe Toll in Edinburgh which it is claimed saved 2000 , since renamed Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems.

Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) who had Archie Hughes, a Scots wheeler dealer who has worked for Rolls-Royce and BAE, was installed as DARA chief executive in 2004 has pushed for privatisation and consolidation.

In the first move, November MoD announced that its other DARA bases at Fleetlands, Hampshire, and St Athan, in Wales, were to close with 550 redundancies.

Finnmeccanica helicopter subsidiary Agusta-Westland has already sub-contracted between 40% and 50% of its component repair work on the Royal Navy's fleet of Sea King helicopters to Dara Almondbank and is now poised to bid for control of the operation.

Archie is now poised to sell the rest to Finnmeccanica. Consult the House of Commons Defence Committee report "Delivering Front LIne Capability to the RAF" for more information about the "End to End" review of the UK defence capabilities especially Page 5/6

In another development extending privatisation of UK defence assets ....

The UK Ministry of defence have 40 Boeing Chinook (Mk2 and Mk 2a) helicopters. Under a newly awarded non-competitive, single source strategic partnering agreement with Boeing, the Through Life Customer Support (TLCS) contract, Boeing will ensure that MoD has an agreed number of serviceable aircraft available at the Chinook main operating base, RAF Odiham, Hampshire and depth maintenance hub at DARA Fleetlands

The 34 year contract, worth almost £200m for the first five years, is expected to generate savings of some £170m over the life of the contract compared with current "in house" support arrangements.

The Chinook can perform a variety of different roles:

* Support Helicopter (SH) - the tactical movement of troops, weapons, ammunition and

support stores in the battlefield.
* Casualty Evacuation (Casevac) - removal of casualties and medical emergencies from

forward areas.
* Search and Rescue (SAR) - the location and evacuation of people in emergency

situations.

Odiham supports three operational squadrons - No 7 Squadron, No 18 Squadron and No 27 Squadron - and the Operational Conversion Flight (OCF). One aircraft is also flown by No 78 Squadron from Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands on support helicopter tasks.

Minister Andrew Ingram says the taxpayer will see a £170 Mn saving in 5 years. Learn More by reading Lord "Dodgy Donations" Drayson The Minister for Defence Procurement, , when addressed the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) - 12 September 2005 Military Capabilities in the 21st Century

..."the Defence Industrial Policy is 'driven by the need to provide the Armed Forces with the equipment which they require, on time, and at best value for money for the taxpayer'"

Cheney shooting .... the truth at last ? Expert opinion.

Go here *WARNING* scenes of violence

de Menezes murder ...More astonishing evidence "emerges" ...yeah, yeah.

Sophie Goodchild (MIND Journo of the Year)in today's Independent on Sunday (Story 1 Story 2) has been talking to "senior Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) sources" about the murder at Stockwell tube station of Charles de Menezes .... The damning charge: who faked logbook after Stockwell killing? ... she asks. ( Having previously revealed the fakery on Jan 29th 2006 )

These "Senior CPS sources", she says confirm that the Independent Police Complaints
Commission (IPCC) report last month does allege that police "tried to fake evidence relating to the killing of 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station JUne 22nd 2005." This is a curious statement ... do you "try" to fake evidence ... or do you fake evidence?

It has now "emerged" according to the IPCC report, one of the team wrongly identified the Brazilian electrician as Hussain Osman which set in chain the events that resulted in BRazilians death by being shot in the head 7, 11, or 13 times.

Once they realised that an innocent man had been killed, the police log was altered so that instead of reading "it was Osman", the records were changed to say "it was not Osman". (Was this the incontinent, leaking "SAS trained" obbo man whose toilet problems were previoulsy "leaked" ?)

The de Menezes family (and one assumes their legal representative, Asad Rehman , the Brazilian Government etc.,) , have not yet been allowed to see a copy of the IPCC report which has been seen by the Met as well as by Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary.

"Senior legal sources" ... whoever they may be, she claims, say that officers who were allegedly involved in altering the log, which detailed the last movements of Mr de Menezes, face charges of obstructing public justice or conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

One prosecution source (presumably from the CPS ?) she reports: "This was a deliberate and obvious attempt to smear the firearms officers and there is a great deal of anxiety about it at the Met."

.... yet again all the details from the 7/7 bombing, the 21/7 bombing the Stockwell murder ..."emerge", unknown and anonymous official sources from the CPS, the Met, and "Senior legal sources" release gobbets of information to well placed journalists.

Here is a previous and entertainingpiece Sophie wrote about 7/7 ..

Police hunt 'mercenary' terror gang recruited by al-Qa'ida
By Sophie Goodchild, Severin Carrell and Raymond Whitaker Published: 10 July 2005

Police and intelligence agents are investigating the theory that a gang of white "mercenary terrorists" was hired by al-Qa'ida to carry out last week's devastating attacks on London.

Remember how the Sunday after the 7/7 bombings Michael Howard was bouncing around on David Frost's sofa on TV demanding a Public Enquiry - yet the following day in the House of Commons, Tony Blair decided there would be no enquiry and Mr H ... and everyone else shut up.

The very last thing this Government want into these events is public scrutiny .... especially when they can dribble out anything they want to a credulous and manipulated press.

Remember how the Independent and other papers, had a stunning front page worth with X ray photographs from ABC in the USA via it is said the NYPD of the terrorists "lethal nail bomb" discovered in a car boot at Luton Railway Station ?

If you want to know about throwing sand in the public's eyes for 7 years , go to the Scotland on Sunday and read about the McKie case where a detective was fitted up by false fingerprint evidence, manufactured by the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) , how she has received £50K compensation after 7 years a, the involvement of the FBI, CIA drug smuggling and how it all relates to covering up about the Lockerbie trials.

"It is understood that, this week, the Scottish Parliament's Justice 1 Committee will consider launching a full parliamentary inquiry ..... First Minister Jack McConnell (who famously refused to meet the American peace campaigner, Cindy Sheehan, when she flew into Scotland - and is busily paving the way for a Scottish Labour U-turn on nuclear power) is under pressure to call a public inquiry."

Don't hold your breath.

Pentagon Porn

Salon have more from Abu Ghraib here. Not a single MP / Minister / Religious leader in the UK has condemned or commented on these images.

As far as can be ascertained no US media have published or made the images accessible, nor have any public figures commented.

......unless you know different ?

Plod arrests Guantanamo 3 plus actors who portrayed them

*INTERNET EXCLUSIVE*: UK police arrest stars of award-winning film "The Road to Guantanamo" under the Prevention of Terrorism Act

Citing the "Prevention of Terrorism" act, British Police have arrested and interrogated three of the stars of the award-winning film "The Road to Guantanamo", together with the three ex-Guantanomo detainees on whose story the film is based.

Read the complete story which has not appeared or been discussed in mainstream media at Craig Murray's blog

Ron Paul - Tough Talkin' Texan

"We have not seen Ron Paul's like in Washington since the days of the Founding Fathers. He is the 20th Century's Thomas Jefferson." -- Lew Rockwell, Founder and President of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Speaking Before the U.S. House of Representatives / Feb 15th 2006

As a gynaecologist he has delivered over 4,000 babies, he delivered this astonishing speech this week.

The End of Dollar Hegemony

Excerpts from the speech. For the full text go here
............
The artificial demand for our dollar, along with our military might, places us in the unique position to “rule” the world without productive work or savings, and without limits on consumer spending or deficits. The problem is, it can’t last.
............
Price inflation is raising its ugly head, and the NASDAQ bubble-- generated by easy money-- has burst. The housing bubble likewise created is deflating. Gold prices have doubled, and federal spending is out of sight with zero political will to rein it in. The trade deficit last year was over $728 billion. A $2 trillion war is raging, and plans are being laid to expand the war into Iran and possibly Syria. The only restraining force will be the world’s rejection of the dollar. It’s bound to come and create conditions worse than 1979-1980, which required 21% interest rates to correct. But everything possible will be done to protect the dollar in the meantime. We have a shared interest with those who hold our dollars to keep the whole charade going.
............
Most importantly, the dollar/oil relationship has to be maintained to keep the dollar as a pre- eminent currency. Any attack on this relationship will be forcefully challenged—as it already has been.

In November 2000 Saddam Hussein demanded Euros for his oil. His arrogance was a threat to the dollar; his lack of any military might was never a threat. At the first cabinet meeting with the new administration in 2001, as reported by Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, the major topic was how we would get rid of Saddam Hussein-- though there was no evidence whatsoever he posed a threat to us. This deep concern for Saddam Hussein surprised and shocked O’Neill. SEE FOOTNOTE

............
But real threats come from our political adversaries who are incapable of confronting us militarily, yet are not bashful about confronting us economically. That’s why we see the new challenge from Iran being taken so seriously. The urgent arguments about Iran posing a military threat to the security of the United States are no more plausible than the false charges levied against Iraq. Yet there is no effort to resist this march to confrontation by those who grandstand for political reasons against the Iraq war.
............
It seems that the people and Congress are easily persuaded by the jingoism of the preemptive war promoters. It’s only after the cost in human life and dollars are tallied up that the people object to unwise militarism.




FOOTNOTE : Outraged Moderate obtained under the Freedom of Information of the Act Department of Defense seeking DoD staffer Steven Cambone's notes from meetings with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the afternoon of September 11, 2001 and only published today .... see for yourself the notes Donald Rumsfeld's 2:40 PM instructions to General Myers to find the "[b]est info fast . . . judge whether good enough [to] hit S.H. [Saddam Hussein] at same time - not only UBL [Usama Bin Laden]" (as discussed on p. 334-335 of The 9/11 Commission Report and in Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack).
... 11 pages as PDF and also available on Flikr. Brilliant work.

Recent blogs on same topic here

Mosquito Sonic Teenage Deterrant

There have been many stories in the Press / TV this week regarding the trials being undertaken of the "Mosquito" Sonic Teenage Deterrant, which is a device that generates an irritating signal at a perceived 80Db at approx 19MHz.

The claimed effect is to move on teenagers / children when they congregate in public places. They represent the latest move in the adults War against Children. When you ask the Question "OK so the device scares the kids and they go away, what do you mean by away ?" ... such devices simply metastasise the problems if unrult youth by dispersing them over wider and less public and unobservable areas.

They represent the last move of the morally bankrupt Local Authorities who starve the area of youthful enetertainment and leisure and then repress them with legal threats of ASBO's, Dispersal Orders,Parental Control orders, Truancy Fines by an army of officials of State control ranging from Youth Offending Teams to quasi Police, resplendant in fluorescent jackets and a smug bearing.... " Man proud man, dress'd in a little brief authority."

These units aimed at youth work because with age, humans experience diminished sensitivity to high frequency sounds. Youthful hearing extends as high as 20,000 Hz (Hz = cycles/second). However, the average person (especially among men) over fifty years of age has completely lost the very highest frequencies and often suffers moderate hearing loss in the range from 4,000 to 10,000 Hz. Moderate to severe hearing loss above 4,000-5,000 Hz becomes the norm for many individuals living sixty and beyond.

Loss of hearing with age, technically referred to as "presbycusis," is a widespread phenomenon that seemingly cannot be avoided. To make matter worse, prolonged exposure to loud music and other loud background sounds also results in reduced sensitivity in the high range.

For very helpful information about the workings of the human ear go to "How stuff Works" here

Professor Roberts at Bristol University has been investigating the auditory systems of insects at the nanoscale level. His colleague DR Windmill ..."The moth’s ears typically have only two mechanoreceptor cells, making them some of the simplest ears known to exist. However, many moths can hear large frequency ranges, from 20 kHz to over 80 kHz, in order to listen out for the echolocation calls of their predator, the bat."

Apparently these simple ears operate with incredible precision ..."Dr Windmill’s investigations have shown that the faintest sounds that moths can hear cause motions of the tympanal membrane of about 50 picometres (one picometre is a thousandth of a nanometre, which is a billionth of a metre). This extreme sensitivity is the equivalent of the Clifton Suspension Bridge moving up and down a fraction of a millimetre."

In work at Cornell University ..."Ormia flies, can detect changes in sound-source position as small as 2 degrees. Even humans trying to detect who is speaking in a crowded room can't do better than that.

The need for such precise location is due to the need for the female Ormia fly to detect and locate singing male crickets -- where they climb aboard and deposit tiny larvae that develop into larger maggots which feast on the crickets, from the inside out.(Ugh!)

Crickets have been observed in the field and can hear bat echo location signals and move faster than the response time for the bat to locate them.

Microbats, which exist in the UK use echo-location to locate their prey - mainly insects. (Pic Brown Long Eared Bat) Megabats like the Flying Foxes of the Tropics and Australia do not use echo location. The UK pipistrelle bat uses a range of 54-90 KHz for echo location of prey but the toal range varies from 9KhZ to 1ooKHz. In the UK bats are a protected species and it is against the law to disturb them.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) protects bats and their roosts in England, Scotland and Wales. Some parts have been amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW) which applies only in England and Wales, and by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 which applies in Scotland.

The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (better known as the Habitats Regulations) implements the Council Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora - better known as the Habitats Directive. All bats are listed as 'European protected species of animals'.

It is an offence for any person to:

Intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat while it is occupying a structure or place that it uses for shelter or protection.

The potential fine for each offence is £5,000. If more than one bat is involved, the fine is £5,000 per bat. An offender can also be imprisoned for six months. On conviction the forfeiture of any bat or other thing by the court is mandatory, and items used to commit the offence (for example vehicles) may be forfeited.

The average frequency of the songs of songbirds is about 4,000 Hz, approximately the same pitch as the highest note of a piano. Many warblers, sparrows, waxwings, kinglets, and a number of other birds produce sounds that reach 8,000 Hz and beyond.

Ultrasonic "silent" bird scarers are available which generate sounds in the range 15 KhZ - 30 KHz for protecting crops, preventing bird strikes at airports or flocks of pigeons , starlings in towns. details of commercial units are here, here and here.

Ultrasonic generators are available to act as mosquito repellants and underground (at 300KHz) for moles and rodents. There is no scientific evidence these have any effect whatever - except the profits generated by the manufacturers.

Portable units are very widely available also available for dog trainers / deterrant / alarms for joggers , postmen that operate at 20KHz - 45 KHz range. At high decibel levels (in excess of 85Db) this is painful to dogs and is used to deter attacking dogs and also to provide an invisible perimeter to limit dog movement.

Interestingly in the UK there are laws in place over causing a nuisance by noise ..

Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43)

79.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) to (6) below, the following matters constitute "statutory nuisances" for the purposes of this Part, that is to say—
premises ....kept in such a place or manner as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance; ...

(g) noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance;

...and it shall be the duty of every local authority to cause its area to be inspected from time to time to detect any statutory nuisances which ought to be dealt with under section 80 below and, where a complaint of a statutory nuisance is made to it by a person living within its area, to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to investigate the complaint.

80.—(1) Where a local authority is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, or is likely to occur or recur, in the area of the authority, the local authority shall serve a notice ("an abatement notice") imposing all or any of the following requirements—

(a) requiring the abatement of the nuisance or prohibiting or restricting its occurrence or recurrence;
(b) requiring the execution of such works, and the taking of such other steps, as may be necessary for any of those purposes,

and the notice shall specify the time or times within which the requirements of the notice are to be complied with.

--------------
Presumably this was brought to the attention of the Councillors when this was introduced to prior to installation of this device and when a full risk asessment was undertaken by Council / POlice officers.... but I wouldn't bet on it.

Djibouti. 2 US Helicopters crash ...10 missing.

The US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, visited Camp Lemonier the ex French Foreign Legion base in Djibouti in December 2002 where at least 1,000 US troops are based. He made it clear that their arrival was not temporary: "These are serious problems. I suspect that if you look in one, two, three or four years, this facility will be here."

A missile from a Predator UAV drone, which was controlled by the CIA, eliminated six presumed members of al-Qaida, including one of its leaders, in the province of Marib, in Yemen, across the strait. The drone took off from Djibouti but was controlled from CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The Voice of America has been approved to broadcast from Djibouti, targeting Yemen and Somalia.

In 2002 (Los Angeles Times, 23 December) Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti’s minister of international cooperation, said: "We readily enrolled in this global war on terror after 11 September, and we’ve given the Americans everything they have wanted. But for now, we haven’t seen anything from the US in return". He took it as an insult when a visiting US delegation offered $4m in aid, three-quarters of which had to be spent on improving security at the airport.

Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) began moving all headquarters personnel and equipment from its flagship, USS Mount Whitney, in the Gulf of Aden, into facilities at Camp Le Monier on May 6, 2003.The Kellogg, Brown & Root Company (Halliburton subsidiary) administers the contract for facilities and support operations at the camp.

A notice in Camp Lemonier announces: Toilets for Djiboutians only."It is for reasons of hygiene," said the camp's spokesman.

However the US presence in this part of Africa has been very low key and the news today that 2 American military CH53 "Super Stallion" marine transport helicopters (see pic) carrying a total of 12 people have crashed off the coast of Djibouti in East Africa will remind many of their growing military presence and influence in the region .

The BBC reports the rescue of 2 crew members but the remaining 10 are still missing.

The helicopters were on a nighttime training mission at the time of the crash, whose cause had not been determined Friday night. At the Pentagon, a spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, said there was no indication of hostile fire.

Members of the Djiboutian military notified U.S. officials at about 5:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. EST) that the helicopters had crashed in the Gulf of Aden not far from the Djiboutian coastal town of Ras Siyyan. a US defence spokesman said. The cause of the crash is not yet known.

Good. Funny. Offensive cartoon...

....HERE

Whose finger on the Trigger ?

Excerpts from White House spokemans McClellan's Press Conference ....

The initial report that we received was that there had been a hunting accident. We didn't know who all was involved, but a member of his party was involved in that hunting accident. And then additional details continued to come in overnight.
-----------------
Saturday night I find out that there was a hunting accident -- it was late Saturday night -- of a member in his party. But I did not know who was involved in that hunting accident. It wasn't until very early Sunday morning that I found out that the Vice President was involved in this accident.
--------------------------
Q So as of Saturday night, you didn't know, the White House did not know that Vice President Cheney was involved?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, there were details coming in throughout that night and into the morning. There was additional information coming in.
----------------

Q But, again, Saturday night, you did not know the Vice President was involved, you just thought someone from his hunting party was --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I, personally, was informed by the Situation Room that there had been a hunting accident, and that is was a member of the Vice President's hunting party.
---------

Now go here for a VERY interesting (and plausible) theory.

Sally Clark Part II Meadows is re-instated

Professor Roy Meadows has been re-instated see BBC report here

The British system of Justice is adversarial, it is the job of the defence to challenge the evidence of the prosecution and to call witnesses to challenge any such evidence.

They failed to do this at the trial of Sally Clark - significantly the Jury did challenge with a written question to the Judge the pathologists post mortem evidence.

Discarding the original QC at the Appeal, Sally Clark was acquitted and released from prison.

The following Book Review provides a more detailed review of the points raised by today's judgement.

Of course the deal stitched up by the Judge and the respective legal teams to suppress evidence and to prevent the introduction of character witnesses ensured that the Jury were denied all the evidence required to make a fully informed decision.

John Batt , a family friend and solicitor for the Clarks (and author with Sally Clark of the book reviewed) said: "The family has been consistent right the way through - all they have wanted is that those who were responsible for this miscarriage of justice be called to account for what they did."

"The fundamental point that the Clark family made is they wanted the people who put her in jail wrongly, for two heinous crimes that never happened, be called publicly to account for what they did and that has happened." the BBC item reports.

Perhaps they might now start pursuing their lawyers with the relish, and determination that they and others have pursued Professor Meadows.

Sally Clark Part 1

21/07/04 Stolen Innocence: The Story of Sally Clark Reviewed by Edward Teague

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE

“What is Truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.”
Francis Bacon. Essay on Truth

Sally Clark, smart and attractive daughter of a Chief Constable, a high powered and highly paid solicitor, resident of Wilmslow, the stockbroker rich and soft underbelly of Metropolitan Manchester, was found guilty at Chester Crown Court in November 1999 of the murder of her two baby sons.

The press went crazy. The Sunday Mirror: “Fall from grace for the woman with everything;” the Daily Mail, “Driven by drink and despair, the solicitor who killed her babies;” Manchester Evening News: “Pregnant days after murdering baby son.” ,”Baby killer was 'lonely drunk” headlined the Daily Telegraph.

Det. Insp. John Gardner, who led the investigation, said he was pleased with the verdicts and hoped that Clark could finally come to accept responsibility for what she had done. It had been the most difficult of tasks, he said, to confront a parent and accuse her of killing her own children. “Most people believe it is an unbelievable act. It is harder to accept when you have a woman who has advantages in life.”

Mr Gardner said of Clark's husband: “I don't know how much he knows, how much he suspects, or whether he has almost turned a blind eye to what has gone on.”

Professor Meadows, a renowned expert medical witness in the field of paediatric pathology, had declared that the possibility of 2 cot deaths occurring in the same family at the committal hearings was 1: 1 million, at the trial he said it was 1: 73 million.

On being recalled to give evidence during the trial Dr Williams, a Home Office consultant forensic pathologist was asked to answer questions about blood samples taken from the body of Harry (the second child to die) in a written question submitted by the jury he said “…the chemistry of blood is so unreliable after death as to be of no diagnostic value…”. Of the post mortem blood sample “…it was submitted for toxicological examination and would have been sent for viral studies”.

Cross examined by the defence, Williams claims that the appropriate microbiology reports had been provided to the prosecution (and therefore available under disclosure to the defence). This was untrue.

The significance of this question and the answer slid past the Rolls Royce mind of Julian Bevan QC renowned as a prosecutor, and his Junior John Kelsey Fry, the medical witnesses and the press as does the need to question Prof. Meadows remarkable statistics, subsequently described by the Royal Statistical Society as “statistically invalid”.

The significance of the question, the actual reports and its findings eventually yielded to years of terrier like digging and pestering of statisticians, pathologists and paediatricians by her devoted and unswervingly faithful husband Steve Clark and legal defence team. On Monday 11th February 2002 the post mortem microbiology report on Harry eventually surfaces from Macclesfield Hospital. It is reviewed by leading pathologists who say that the evidence of 8 sites of Staphylococcus aureus infection in Harry's corpse and the presence of polymorphs within the cerebrospinal fluid show that Harry's death was caused by overwhelming staphylococcal infection and that no other cause of death can be sustained. It later emerges that these samples had been sent at the time to the national reference laboratory at Colindale for further testing. The significance of Dr Williams remarks in answer to the jury's apparently innocent question at the trial about post mortem blood results become crystal clear.

Nonetheless it is twelve months later at the Royal Courts of Justice on January 28th 2003, that the Court of Appeal meets a second time to consider Sally Clark's case. Clare Montgomery QC (who has replaced Julian Bevan QC, that ornament of the Bar), explains that there is a clear case of non-disclosure of the microbiology report, that Harry died of natural causes due to Staphylococcal infection. Invited by the court to explain, Dr Williams refuses or at least fails to appear, this is announced by Robin Spencer QC for the Prosecution.

“My Lords, Dr Williams has decided not to appear as a witness…and the prosecution no longer seeks to uphold these convictions… The Crown does not seek a retrial”

Lord Justice Kay (who died recently and was preparing to preside over the appeal of Sion Jenkins who now faces a re-trial) delivers a short verbal judgement, later expanded in written form “…The statistic 1: 73 million is clearly inadmissible in law, could not have failed to mislead the jury, and should have never been allowed in evidence… Sufficient in itself to make these convictions unsafe. Dr Williams is responsible for failing to disclose a material document, which must have affected the outcome of the trial and is a serious matter. The appeal is allowed with costs. There will be no retrial.”

Dr Williams silence at the Court of Appeal was the “Open Sesame” that released Sally Clark from the grip of Group 4. A fax arrived at the Courts of Justice authorising her release from Bullwood Hall Prison in Essex, Sally's home for three long, dark years of Kafkaesque nightmare. The Governor has added a personal hand written message to the fax, “We all knew you would do it, Sal”

The media go crazy. Worldwide. Lawyer cleared of murder of 2 sons.

In addressing the British Academy of Forensic Sciences February 18th 2004, Clare Montgomery QC said, “Sally Clark had not killed her sons, they were not murdered. This grotesque miscarriage of justice was the result of flawed evidence given by forensic scientists”.

The murders were imaginary, apparently the faulty construct of blinkered and obtuse and elderly experts, their apparent causes illusory, the consequences unimaginable to any parent. The capacity the of medical forensic profession for increasing the population of imaginary murders was not however stilled. Earlier, Professor David Southall had seen a Channel 4 programme concerning the Clark case, a colleague of Professor Meadow. He complained to the Police on the basis of seeing the programme, that Steven Clark, the father, has been involved in the death of his 2 children. This bizarre allegation was judged on June 5th 2004 by the General Medical Council who ruled that Prof Southall acted in a manner that was “inappropriate”, “irresponsible” and “misleading” in compiling a report outlining his accusations and concerns. They will re-convene on August 5th for further consideration. Meanwhile Dr Southall resolutely refuses to withdraw his accusation. Steve Clark and the author describe these claims as a “sick joke”.

John Batt held a watching brief for Sally Clark's father, he is an experienced solicitor and TV writer on legal issues. Necessarily his book is partial, but close access to the family (he knew Sally Clark as a child), the defence case and the very public campaign orchestrated by PR professional Sue Stapely, the book provides a unique and essentially coherent insight into the case. It takes a serial diary type format, in places it is confused and jumbled, the absence of an index makes cross-referencing difficult, but the tale almost cinematic in its dramas and dénouements, even given its leaden prose, is worth the effort.

Child killers are few, mothers who murder even fewer. Stereotypically they are harassed vulnerable, inadequate, uneducated waifs, abused by drunken or drugged boyfriends living in squalor in rented accommodation, strung out and barely supported by overworked, understaffed social services and exiguous medical support.

When a well-educated solicitor is charged with murdering her 2 children in her bedroom, the world watches with the eager fascination that Orwell identified. At the conclusion of the trial, the judge allows Robin Spencer QC to announce that Sally Clark has had treatment at the Priory Hospital for alcohol problems. This had been revealed when Police found receipts for payment for the treatment when searching their house, long before charges had been laid.

In a curious agreement approved by the judge, the jury were denied hearing anything about Sally Clark's alcoholism, binge drinking or evidence concerning her character. Julian Bevan QC, who never met Sally Clark, traded with Robin Spencer QC for the defence in pre-trial hearings, silence on the alcohol problems Sally had suffered, which it was agreed have no direct bearing on the case, with an agreement not to introduce character witnesses for Sally. The world of high pay, high pressure solicitors who charge hundreds of pounds per day for their time, expertise and legal and technical skills, where taking half bottles of vodka to work and slipping out to Marks & Spencer for gin and tonic mixer drinks is outside most newspaper reader's experience.

Despite the advice of her Rumpolish, criminal court savvy solicitor Mike Mackay, to appear “mumsy”, she appeared in smart, tailored, dark legal business suits. This does nothing to soften the image presented by the prosecution of an ambitious highly paid and glamorous lawyer, living in the wealthy purlieus of Manchester, trapped by unwelcome parenthood, smothering or in some other way killed her children in her own bedroom.

This is an unusual case; the jury first have to be convinced two murders took place, and then consider if Sally Clark was responsible. They approach the case with the correct and simplistic view that the accused is innocent until proven guilty, finally 2 of the jury cannot accept she is guilty and a majority verdict is given.

Despite this, the dishonesty of the Crown Prosecuting Counsel's forensic scientists finished her off. The jury, unnamed, unknown, were truly the heroes of the case, described by the author as “…most in their teens, or early twenties, one man perhaps one woman is over 40. 3 have difficulty reading the oath. They look as if they have been beamed up to an alien planet by Scotty in Star Trek”.

It was these (to Mr John Batt) apparent simpletons, who penetrated the obfuscating fog of legal terms, medical terminology, and pedantic process. It was these 12 peers, good and true, who identified the simple clear need to answer a simple clear question. A question they framed in writing and presented to the judge. Harry died, blood samples were taken, what did they show?

Faced with this clear simple question, Dr Williams, the Home Office consultant forensic pathologist produced a simple response. He lied. Remarkably the Appeal Court judges said they discounted the possibility that Dr Williams deliberately concealed the information. Three years after Sally Clark had entered prison and her family's unbelievable anguish, enormous legal costs, and the press world wide had published photographs of Hope Cottage, their family home entitled “The Death House”, Dr Williams precipitated her release by refusing to explain himself.

Mr John Batt says in a word of advice “…if anybody is arrested for anything – but particularly if it is for murdering a baby – they should refuse to answer the questions without a criminal lawyer's advice”.

As anyone familiar with the world of criminal prosecution knows, the Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Press, don't want the Truth.

They want a result.

POSTSCRIPT

In a not dissimilar case at Winchester, Angela Cunnings, by an extraordinary coincidence, like Sally from Salisbury, who had been convicted for the murder of two of her three children who died, was released. Margaret Hodge, Blairite Minister for Children, announced the review of 5,000 possible injustices in the Family Court. The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, was no doubt still otherwise busy determining the legality of invading Iraq and thereby killing hundreds of Iraqi children with high explosive bombs, napalm, mines, missiles, cluster bombs, and the other violent consequences of all out modern warfare on densely populated cities. He stated that 258 convictions for murder, manslaughter and infanticide of babies would be “urgently” reviewed and 57 people in prison, would be examined and if necessary fast-tracked to the Court of Appeal. (The concept of m'learned members of the legal profession fast tracking has an especial appeal – perhaps fast-track has some relationship with a fast buck?)

Not to be outdone in this tsunami of legal (and no doubt highly remunerative) re-cycling and navel gazing, Harriet Harman, the Solicitor General announced the following day, that the Director of Public Prosecutions would personally review 15 cases awaiting trial.

It is not known (and it's unlikely) that any members of the jury who framed the written question that opened this medico-legal scandal are being canvassed for their forensic skills and clear simple, straight thinking. Perhaps Scotty has beamed them back home.

Stolen Innocence: The Story of Sally Clark byJohn Batt, Ebury Press 2004 ISBN 0091900700 336 pps. Amazon Books

International villain is Danish - ALERT

40 year old, Danish actor and heart throb, Mads Mikklesen is to be evil villian Le Chiffre in the latest (21st) James Bond fillum .. "Casino Royale" ... thus confirming all the doubts of the Muslim world about the evil, nature of the Danes.

...he is the one without the blonde hair.

Baghdad bombed ... again

4 USAF F-15E Strike Eagles, bombed a known terrorist facility at approximately 4:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in southern Baghdad says a military Press release.

Terrorists were using a former Iraqi regime munitions storage bunker, located in a large, uninhabited weapons-storage complex in the Babil province, to acquire and transport bomb-making munitions to be used in attacks against the Iraqi people and Coalition Forces.

The sorties made multiple passes to ensure the complete and methodical destruction of the bunker.

This says a resident was probably al-Saha, on the other side of the neighborhood of Dora, where a major refinery is located and remarks, " the Iraqis are taking the fight to the terrorists, blah blah, why are the Americans resorting to air strikes here?"

So, 3 years after the illegal and crushing invasion there are (near Baghdad) still “former Iraqi regime” munitions lying around in unguarded “former Iraqi regime” depots where insurgents can “acquire” them to make IED's.

Incidentally the FY '07 USAF budget proposal includes $752 million to buy six (yes 6 that;s over USD 100 Mn each !!!) Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned air vehicles and three ground stations in FY07. The budget would also buy 24 MQ-1 Predators and two test models of the MQ-9 Predator B for a total of $349 million.

"Real" democracy at work

An amusing bloggo (?) spotted at a blog for Condi

Presumably the promoters would like Iran to acheive the democratic status of say, Coalition supporters such as Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Emirates, Qatar, etc.,