1 April 03

'DISOBEY ORDERS URGES [British MP] GALLOWAY

'Anti-war Labour MP George Galloway has urged British soldiers to refuse to obey "illegal orders" because the war in Iraq "is illegal".

'The Glasgow Kelvin MP made the comments while defending an interview he gave for Abu Dhabi TV.

'The MP predicted that the International Criminal Court will take legal action against British policy-makers and some officers for "illegal orders".

'In the interview [with Abu Dhabi TV] he had questioned why Arab countries were still selling oil to the coalition forces and had branded Tony Blair and George Bush as "wolves".'

(ITV Teletext, p.304)

He is surely over-rating the British PM. If Bush is a wolf, Blair is a coyote, or jackal.

'ANGER AT "GUANTANAMO PLAN"

'Amnesty International has voiced fears that Iraqi paramilitaries may be taken to the American prison camp in Guantanamo Bay as "illegal combatants".

'Speculation in the US is mounting that PoWs found to have employed tactics such as using civilians as human shields may be sent to the Cuban base.

'Amnesty has expressed severe concerns over the conditions in which al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters are being kept in.'

(ITV Teletext, 1 April 03, p.310)

'UK AND US LAUNCH TASKFORCE

'Britain and the United States have launched a joint taskforce to tackle the threat of a simultaneous terror attack on both countries.

'[British] Home Secretary David Blunkett said the group would include officials from his own department and America's Department of Homeland Security.

'He said the new group aimed to "build on" the co-operation in fighting the terror threat since September 11[ 2001].'

(ITV Teletext, 1 April 03, p.313)

In other words Britain is to become a subsection of the American police state. (It's already a proving ground for it, with prospective identity cards and whatnot.)

'An aircraft from Tokyo has been quarantined in the US after a number of passengers showed signs of ... Sars. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 1 April 03, p.122)

Meanwhile, two more have died of the disease in Canada, bringing the total to six there.

SARS is spreading worry nicely around the world, simultaneously with the Iraq war, and providing a platform for global clampdown and control.

2 April 03

For a survey of the SARS situation so far, see 'Travel warning over deadly bug', BBC News online, 2 April 03.

The US says it has shattered the Baghdad section of the elite Iraqi Republican Guard. Some US units are said to be within 20 miles of Baghdad.

'Britain has "absolutely no plans" to invade Syria or Iran in response to their alleged assistance of the regime in Baghdad, Tony Blair has said. ...'

(ITV Teletext, p.309)

'Israeli troops rounded up 2,000 Palestinians in the West Bank in a fresh crackdown on suspected militants, witnesses said.'

(ITV Teletext, 2 April 03, p.318)

This "little" item was almost buried under the flood of Iraq-war news.

The Israelis have done this kind of thing before, so we don't — yet — have evidence that they're using the war as cover to boost their aggression to a higher level — like ethnic cleansing. But this is a time for vigilance (to borrow one of the US junta's fave terms).

3 April 03

'Israeli helicopters and tanks raided a Palestinian refugee camp near the Gaza-Egypt border, killing four. Two others died in the West Bank.

(ITV Teletext, p.318)

US forces "are at the gates of Baghdad" (the Iraqi regime denies it).

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has "repeated warnings to Syria to stop giving Iraq military supplies". (BBC Ceefax, 3 April 03)

"Halt! HALT!! HALT!!!" — Was it corrupt cop William Holden who said it before shooting his love-rival in the chest?

(BBC News 24, 4 April 03 at 1:20am BST)

'The Guardian urges Tony Blair to stand up to "US hawks" over the future of Iraq and demand a UN interim government.

'The Daily Telegraph says the US administration is itself in turmoil over [Iraq's] future — with plans to install Iraqi leaders now on ice.

'The Daily Mirror actually praises Mr Blair for standing up to what it sees as plans to turn Iraq into a new US colony.'

(BBC Ceefax, 3 April 03, p.148, review of British papers)

'[British] AIRBASE STOP-AND-SEARCH POWERS EXTENDED

'Special powers which allow anyone near RAF Fairford [a report last month said the whole two counties of Gloucs and Wilts] to be stopped and searched have been extended.

'A group of American B-52 bombers are currently based at the airbase and have been carrying out missions over Iraq.

'The new powers mean that cars, vehicles and pedestrians can be stopped without an explicit reason being given.

'The original Section 44 order for RAF Fairford ran out on Wednesday [2 April 2003], but the Government has now renewed it until the end of this month.'

(BBC Ceefax West, 3 April 03, p.161)

Al-Jazeera withdrew its reporters from Iraq after two of them were banned by Iraq, for reasons not specified in the report.

The US is scaling down its embassy and consulates staff in China "because of the SARS virus". (BBC News 24)

China has been criticised for secrecy over SARS.

Yep, China next.

4 April 03

US troops have taken Baghdad Airport, 12 miles from the city centre.

'CHEMICAL WARFARE ITEMS FOUND [a somewhat sanguine headline ...]

'US troops in Iraq have found thousands of boxes of white powder, nerve agent antidotes and documents on how to wage chemical warfare, an official has said.

'Col John Peabody of the 3rd Infantry Division said the materials were found at the Latifiyah industrial complex, 25 miles south of Baghdad.

'A senior US official later said initial tests showed the white powder found at the complex was probably explosives.'

(ITV Teletext, p.307)

'... Military spokesman [Brigadier-General] Vincent Brooks said tests on the substances were ongoing.' (BBC Ceefax, 4 April 03, p.107)

A second "suspicious site" has also been found. (TV news)

Bit-by-bit we're being eased towards the "discovery" of war-justifying banned weapons.

'CLERIC HAMZA SET TO LOSE [British] CITIZENSHIP

'The Home Office has begun proceedings to strip radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza of his British citizenship.

'Ministers have given the cleric 10 days to appeal against the decision.

'Powers introduced this week allow removal of UK nationality from people who take part in anti-British activity, paving the way for their deportation. [My emphasis. But apparently it only applies to those with dual nationality.]

'Hamza, 44, was banned from preaching at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London for his anti-Western speeches. [He was "preaching" killing of Jews, amongst other things.]'

(BBC Ceefax, 4 April 03, p.120)

While such measures may seem only aimed at a few violent extremists, yet in this day and age they may well be the thin end of a wedge which eventually encompasses whole immigrant communities and all those who express dissenting views from the official line. Situations with which citizens of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia became all-too-familiar.

'USA[:] President George W. Bush has given health officials authority to quarantine Americans sick with the deadly flu-like illness SARS.'

(ITV Teletext, p.318)

Indeed, totalitarianism is a social disease that "quarantines" whole populations and threatens to decimate all neighbouring nations.

5 April 03

Hans Blix has said he doesn't think the US will plant bio/chem weapons in Iraq (to justify the American invasion) — it would be too difficult to pull off; it would be another Watergate.

But the "exiled" Blix himself is the best evidence that the US junta can get away with blinding outside observers.

The Americans say they sent an armoured expedition through Baghdad, to show they can penetrate at will, etc. But outside media correspondents didn't see them, and the Iraqi regime denies it happened.

'IRAQ WHITE POWDER "NOT CHEMICAL WEAPONS"

'A white powder found in thousands of boxes near Baghdad is not a chemical weapon, according to initial tests.

'Colonel John Peabody, of the 3rd Infantry Division, said the tests had revealed most of it appeared to be atropine, an antidote to nerve gas. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 5 April 03, p.115)

'COALITION RAIDS "KILLED 600 VOLUNTEERS"

'Six hundred Arab volunteers were killed during a 15-hour bombardment by US and British planes, satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera has reported.

'Al-Jazeera said they were killed at a camp near Al-Kut, south of Baghdad.

'The raids were also said to have resulted in the wounding of hundreds of other Arab volunteers in the camp.

'Iraqi officials claim thousands of Arab volunteers, including Jordanians and Egyptians, are helping to defend Iraq.'

(BBC Ceefax, 5 April 03, p.110)

Effective moral-sapping propaganda from a supposedly impartial Arab TV station. Is it at last discarding its sheep's clothing to emerge explicitly as another weapon in the US arsenal? Iraq recently expelled two of Jazeera's reporters because their coverage was too, apparently, graphic. Is the station's touted "impartiality" an unsheathing sword against the Mideastern targets of the US oil cabal?

For Jazeera's impeccable Western origins, its hosting by the Qatari Western-satellite regime, and its probable use as a mouthpiece for faked-up Qaeda tapes, see 'The Three Centres of Cabalistic Conspiracy' on this website.

Al-Jazeera, not so much Arab satellite TV, more CIA puppet theatre.

'US "TO REVEAL FIRST POST-WAR IRAQ PLAN"

'... Some reports claimed each [Iraqi government] ministry would be headed by a US official, aided by four Iraqi advisers.'

(BBC Ceefax, 5 April 03, p.113)

SARS has now 'killed 90 people worldwide, with Hong Kong the worst affected place.' (Ibid, p.124)

Time to get that dirty commie Chink regime too.

'Hundreds of anti-war protesters have gathered outside the United States embassy in London to demonstrate against the conflict in Iraq ...'

(ITV Teletext, 5 April 03, p.309)

The British demonstrations are said to be small, but widespread. But this is still far below the heyday of 1 to 2 million in London (15 Feb.); assuming the mainstream news can still be trusted. This apparent loss of backbone contrasts, unsurprisingly, with the vast demonstrations still held in Muslim countries.

'Two-thirds of the [British] public approve of PM Tony Blair's handling of the war and more than half back British involvement in military action, a new [ITV YouGov] poll found. ...'

(Ibid, p.309/2)

Again, assuming that the published polls are normally trustworthy. Do you believe that 80% of British people support ID cards? That was the figure published last year in one or two polls. Perhaps it's up to 110% now.

'ISRAELI TROOPS "SHOOT US HUMAN SHIELD"

'A US peace activist has allegedly been shot in the face by Israeli troops in the West Bank.

'Brian Avery, 24, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was seriously injured when troops shot at him and two others, the International Solidarity Movement said.

'Mr Avery was acting as a human shield for the Palestinian-backed group.

'Rachel Corrie, another US member of the group, died on March 16 while trying to stop an Israeli military bulldozer.'

(BBC Ceefax, 5 April 03, p.117)

We can assume that the Bush-fronted junta will make the expected critical noises about this shooting too, while laughing up their sleeves.

6 April 03

'ISRAEL TRYING FATAH "TERROR" LEADER

'Marwan Barghouti, the Secretary General of the Palestinian Fatah movement, has gone on trial in Israel, accused of leading a terror organisation.

'Mr Barghouti, who refuses to recognise the Tel Aviv court, is alleged to be responsible for 26 Israeli deaths. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.119)

'Some 2,000 to 3,000 Iraqi fighters were killed in the US infantry sweep through south Baghdad, US officials say. ...'

(Ibid, p.108)

'ARMY EXAMINING "IRAQ CHEMICAL WEAPONS"

'the US Army says it has found evidence in an Iraqi training facility of what it believes are chemical weapons, including VX gas.

'Experts are investigating the find at Quryet Albu Aziz, Don Dahler of the US's ABC network reported.

'Troops in Karbala also believe they have found chemical weapons in a drum rigged with explosives at a bridge.

'that discovery is also undergoing further examination.'

(BBC Ceefax, 6 April 03, p.114)

'... US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz predicts [!] it will take "more than six months" to set up [a native] Iraqi government, post-Saddam Hussein.'

(Ibid, p.109)

7 April 03

US troops occupied two presidential palaces in Baghdad on the east bank of the Tigris. The Information Ministry and other government buildings on the west bank remain in Iraqi hands.

'IRAQI CHEMICAL ARMS "STORE SITES FOUND"

'US arms experts believe they may have found two types of chemical weapons in Iraq at two different storage sites.

'Teams are carrying out detailed testing of missile warheads which they believe are equipped with [the] nerve agent sarin.

'The cache was found at a camp in Albu Mahawish, on the Euphrates river between Karbala and Hilla.

'At a second site, near Kerbala, barrels thought to contain a "blister agent" chemical weapon have also been found.

(BBC Ceefax, p.107)

'CHEMICAL WEAPONS" FOUND

'US forces in Iraq have found suspected chemical weapons, officials at the Pentagon have said.

'Preliminary tests on substances found at a military training camp in central Iraq suggest they contain several banned weapons, including nerve agents.

'But Gen Ben Freakly of the 101st Airborne said the substances could be some kind of pesticide or a chemical agent usually stored in drums.'

(ITV Teletext, 7 April 03, p.306)

They will need to find out for sure that Iraq has no chemical weapons before planting any of their own. No point in being caught out unnecessarily.

'HONG KONG[:] A 78-year-old woman has died of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) virus, becoming the 100th victim worldwide.'

(ITV Teletext, p.318)

8 April 03

'SEVEN DIE IN GAZA STRIKE

'An Israeli air strike in Gaza City has killed seven people, including a Hamas commander, witnesses have said.

'An F-16 warplane fired a missile at a car and one of the dead has been identified as Saed Arabeed, 38, a senior Hamas commander.'

'Doctors have said 47 people were injured in the attack. It was the first Israeli air strike in Gaza since the beginning of the war in Iraq.'

(ITV Teletext, 8 April 03, p.310)

Saddam Hussein escaped a targeted air raid by minutes, according to British security sources. (BBC Ceefax)

We can see the way this is going. Hussein is to be a second Osama bin Laden, another shadow-chimera-excuse for the US empire-builders to rampage through country after country.

Fourteen drums, found at an agricultural site near Hindiya in Iraq, initially suspected of containing sarin and tabun, are now thought to be pesticides. (ITV Teletext, 8 April 03, p.309)

'COLD VIRUS THEORY OVER SARS

'A new and dangerous type of common cold virus has been named as chief suspect behind the deadly Sars infection that has caused 100 deaths worldwide.

'Scientists in Hong Kong found strong evidence that a new kind of human corona virus is the main cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

'Coronaviruses infect a wide range of domestic animals. One theory is that the human virus spread from animals.'

(ITV Teletext, 8 April 03, p.316)

American animals, perhaps.

9 April 03

The Iraqi war (rabbit-shoot, rather) is essentially over as the regime, and resistance, melted away in Baghdad.

US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has said there is "evidence that Syria may be helping family members and supporters of missing Iraqi president Saddam Hussein flee the country. [He] added Syria was a stopping off point for some, but was also providing 'safekeeping' there". (BBC Ceefax, p.108) The Syrians have condemned the US neocon agenda.

Perhaps the US junta can also use this to "explain" where the alleged Iraqi bio/chem weapons have "disappeared". This was in fact Israeli PM Sharon's suggestion about a month ago. A Syrian invasion would be basically to please Israel.

Will the junta attack straightaway, or (more likely) do as they have done with Iraq : run a campaign of 12 - 18 months to acclimatize Western public opinion to the idea?

The US regime is now intimidating independent (non-"embedded") journalists with missiles and tank shells — "accidentally" of course. The old-established mainstream UK journalist Robert Fisk has raised this matter:-

'Is there some element in the US military that wants to take out journalists?', The Independent, 9 April 03

'CHENEY OFFERS TO HELP REBUILD IRAQ

'Iraq's oil output could be rapidly stepped up to help drive the country's reconstruction, US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said.

'With outside aid, oil production could rise as much as 50% from 2002 levels, he told US newspaper editors.

'He spoke of an organisation to "oversee the functioning of their oil ministry".

'The US was ready to help, though governance of Iraq and its rebuilding had yet to be finalised, he added.'

(BBC Ceefax, 9 April 03, p.142)

And Cheney no doubt believes that "The Lord helps those who help themselves".

'N Korea issues threat to Japan', BBC News online, 9 April 03

'China under pressure over Sars', BBC News online, 9 April 03

10 April 03

'IRAQ LEADERS PURSUED "WHEREVER THEY GO"

'The US will pursue Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi leaders "wherever they go", even if they seek diplomatic immunity, the US's top military official has said.

'US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Richard Myers made the vow on Arabic news channel Abu Dhabi TV.

'Reports have suggested Iraq leaders may seek refuge in Russia's Baghdad embassy.

'General Myers said: "I will respect diplomatic immunity only if the person holds a diplomatic passport".'

(BBC Ceefax, p.109)

And they've already bombed a column of Russian diplomats retreating from Baghdad.

The whole world is now a shooting gallery for the barely-disguised imperialism of the US junta. A fig-leaf of idealism is still considered necessary to "convince" some fools and cowards. The bottom line of constraint is still the old Soviet nuclear arsenal.

But, the cabal hopes, all others can be psycho-battered like Iraq into folding without real resistance.

They are, of course, gambling with Armageddon.

SHI'ITE LEADER ASSASSINATED IN IRAQ

Abdul Majid al-Khoei — son of the late Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei, was stabbed to death outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, together with an aide.

Khoei represented the liberal Shi'ite movement. He was British government's favourite, and had recently returned from London.

He is believed to have been killed by a rival Shi'ite faction (backed by the Americans?).

(BBC Ceefax; ITV Teletext; British Channel 4 News

If so, we see in miniature, and by proxy, the incipient butcherous world struggle between neocons and liberals.

Looting is still rife in Basra, and has spread to Baghdad and Kirkuk. The US and UK military forces are slow to react to this new problem.

Partly, no doubt, because the Anglo-Americans don't have a moral leg to stand on. They are looters on a far greater scale.

'US WILL SELECT IRAQ'S LEADERS — POWELL

'The US will select leaders for an interim authority in a post-war Iraq, Colin Powell has said.

'In an interview with Los Angeles Times, the US Secretary of State said the UN would not play a leading role in the political transformation of Iraq.

'However, he said the US needed UN endorsement for a new administration.

'He added that the United Nations was the key to plans for distributing humanitarian aid and oil sales.'

(BBC Ceefax, 10 April 03, p.112)

Did the diplomatic Powell really talk this bluntly? I must check the LA Times.

I predict that the US junta, far from dismantling Saddam's apparatus of terror-control, will take it over and use it for its own purposes. This will be an experiment for the world at large : first for America's overseas empire, then for the "homeland" itself.

The Syrian deputy ambassador to the US says that senior CIA officials have dismissed accusations (by Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz etc) of Syrian arms smuggling to Iraq.

(BBC Newsnight, 10 April 03)

'DEADLY SARS VIRUS LINKED TO COMMON COLD

'Scientists have identified the virus behind the deadly Sars disease as a mutant relation of the common cold.

'The previously unknown coronavirus is thought to have originated in animals, mutated and passed on to humans, the New England Journal of Medicine says.

'The finding should enable researchers to develop a test to detect the illness.

'Sars has infected more than 2,700 people worldwide and killed 106, World Health Organisation figures show.'

(BBC Ceefax, 10 April 03, p.117)

11 April 03

'SUSPECTED MOBILE CHEMICAL LAB UNCOVERED

'Tests are to be carried out on a suspected Iraqi mobile biological weapons laboratory, found in a van stopped by US marines, Fox News reports.

'The troops opened fire on the vehicle when it failed to stop at a construction site, the US channel said.

'Inside the van the soldiers found fake side panels hiding equipment which they say are typical of a bioweapons lab. [The Marines also happened to be experts on bioweapons labs? This needs further explanation.]

'The news report did not identify where the air-conditioned vehicle was stopped.' [Well, I'm sure they waited until it had left USAMRIID.]

(BBC Ceefax, p.115)

And all this straight from the foxy Fox's mouth. Just before the war, Fox claimed that Iraqi troops were being armed with chemical shells. (AP, , Fox News, 18 March 03) We've heard nothing more of this.^*

Such "discoveries" have no validity when "found" by those with an ulterior motive — oil. The UN inspectors were at least relatively independent. And to repeat, one motive for forcing them out of Iraq prematurely was — doubtless — to prevent them from discovering that the country had no bio/chem weapons.

'NUCLEAR FIND "KNOWN TO UN"

'US troops who suggested they uncovered evidence of a nuclear weapons programme in Iraq may have stumbled across known stocks of uranium, experts have said.

'soldiers said they found an underground network of laboratories beneath the Tuwaitha nuclear research centre.

'But an expert familiar with UN nuclear inspectors said the US troops may have broken UN seals meant to keep control of the radioactive material.'

(ITV Teletext, 11 April 03, p.307)

'ARAB WORLD "DESPAIRS" AT FALL OF SADDAM

["He may have been a sonofabitch, but he was our sonofabitch!" :-)]

'Much of the Arab world has been plunged into despair at the sudden collapse of the Iraqi army, BBC correspondents say.

'Many are talking of it as a new era of illegal and colonial occupation rather than liberation, they report.

'Egyptian taxi driver Adel Farouq, 45, said : "All of Egypt is sad. My wife has been weeping this morning".

'And Tunis teacher Somari Ahmed said : "People are asking angrily why Saddam's forces 'crumbled like a biscuit'".'

(BBC Ceefax, 11 April 03, p.142)

In Dec. 2002 Eric Margolis assessed the US administration's view as follows : "The swift, ruthless crushing of Iraq is expected to terrify Arab states, Palestinians, and Iran into obeying US political dictates". ('America's New Mideast Empire' [9 Dec. 2002]). It appears that the US junta was on the right lines.

'BLIX DOUBTS WAR AIMS

[Hans Blix told the Spanish paper El Pais that the US and UK's concern with finding WMD was relatively minor. "Today the main aim is to change the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein".]

'... Blix said that he thought the US might initially have believed Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction — although its "fabrication" of evidence raised doubts about even that — but that Washington was now less convinced by its own claims.

'"I think the Americans started the war thinking there were some. I think they now believe less in that possibility. But I don't know — you ask yourself a lot of questions when you see the things they did to try and demonstrate that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons, like the fake contract with Niger," he explained.

'That was a reference to US allegations — later denied — that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium from the west African state of Niger. ...'

('Blix Doubts War Aims', Sky News, 11 April 03)

For the faked Niger uranium documents, see March 2003 diary, under 7 March. These were said to have been obtained by Western intelligence agencies from someone who had forged them to make money. They were said to be crude fakes. ('documents linking Iraq to uranium were forged', The Globe and Mail, 8 March 03)

The US administration, of course, was ready to use them as "evidence" against Iraq. Is Blix now saying that they themselves forged the documents? If so, he may be shifting his earlier position that the US wouldn't plant evidence (in this case he said the weapons themselves) in Iraq.

But the CIA, for example, would have been ashamed to forge such obvious fakes as the "Niger-uranium" papers — unless they intended them to be taken for what they are.

'The American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has dismissed Indian comments likening the US military action on Iraq to a possible Indian strike on Pakistan.

'Speaking on Pakistan television, Mr Powell said he did not think there was a direct parallel between the two situations.

'He was referring to reports earlier this month, in which the Indian foreign minister, Yashwant Sinha, was quoted as saying that India had a better case for pre-emptive action against Pakistan than the USA had for attacking Iraq.

Mr Powell also said that America would stay engaged in efforts to resolve the differences between India and Pakistan in a peaceful way.'

'US dismisses Iraq Pakistan comparison', BBC News online, 11 April 03)

The US junta's kid blood-brother, the Indian Janata regime, shouldn't get too big for its boots. Besides, unlike Iraq, Pakistan really does have WMD — nukes. The conquest-price for India could be 12 million Indian deaths (at the last estimate).

12 April 03

The British paper The Guardian headlines the news that a "secret" US-UK team is being sent to Iraq "to hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

Or plant the evidence. "Evidence" produced by those with a vested interest in finding it is questionable, to say the least.

Another Western peace activist has been shot and critically wounded, in Gaza.

'Thomas Hurndall was shot in the head after Israeli soldiers opened fire from a tank-mounted machine gun.

'It is thought the 22-year-old member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was trying to protect civilians under gunfire from troops. ...

'[Three similar cases have occurred this March and April.]'

('Briton critical after Israel shooting', BBC News online, 12 April 03)

There is less disorder in the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk than further south. The Kurdish Peshmerga guerrillas, who have occupied the city, have made efforts to restore looted property.

There have been anti-war demos in various countries, but on a smaller scale than the early ones.

'The US has cautiously welcomed North Korean statements indicating it would be willing to hold multilateral talks on its nuclear programme. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.115)

'... Worldwide, the SARS virus has [now] killed 120 people and infected more than 3,100.' (Ibid, p.116)

The anti-war movement may be the origin of the counter-faction which will "have its revenge" in some years' time. A "constitutionalist" movement against the present US junta's thinly-veiled banditry. A Sulla to the junta's Marius — except that left and right will be switched.

The counter-faction may be the vehicle of a left-totalitarian regime. It may also be ridden (in both senses) by the Antichrist Tendency, the rival far-right US socio-political tendency to the junta or Petroleum Faction. The Antichrist Tendency has already infiltrated the peace movement to some degree.

13 April 03

'The Sunday Telegraph claims to have proof that Russia provided Iraq with "widespread assistance" before the war.

'The paper claims secret documents show Moscow passed on, among other things, intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other leaders.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.148, reviews of British papers)

'MAIL[:] US Marines set up a ring of steel around Baghdad's oil headquarters — while allowing the sacking of the rest of the city to continue unchecked.'

(ITV Teletext, 13 April 03, p.328, reviews of British Sunday papers)

The "privatization of American foreign policy" in the 1990s, and the pursuit of individual material interests by members of the current US junta through these means (e.g. Cheney's "ex" Halliburton in Iraq), anticipates Spengler's "private and family policies of individual leaders" and "world as spoil" of the "late"-Imperial phase of every culture-cycle. (Why did Spengler attribute these features this late? They were a clear and present phenomenon throughout the imperial phase — though they may have become more crudely pronounced as time passed.)

(For the "privatization of American foreign policy", see Richard Labeviere, Dollars for Terror (Algora, 2000), chapter X. For "private and family policies" and "world as spoil", see Spengler's Decline of the West, vol. I, endpaper : table of "contemporary" political epochs.)

Amir al-Saadi, former head of Saddam's "advanced weapons programme", has surrendered to the Yanks. He still denies Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

'China has said its embassy in Baghdad has been attacked by looters and has demanded the US help in protecting the building and replacing stolen items.'

(ITV Teletext, 13 April 03, p.305)

I couldn't help but remember that other "incident" : the "accidental" bombing of China's Belgrade embassy in 1999, instigated by the CIA.

Iraqi National Congress leader Dr. Ahmad Chalabi is said to be the US's favourite to head post-war Iraq.

Colin Powell is confident that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction will turn up.

The CIA probably believe that Iraq probably has no WMD of its own, but planting them is a risky business. They will no doubt wait until they are reasonably sure that Iraq didn't have them in significant quantities, before a spring planting begins.

'Any discoveries of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq should be verified by an independent authority, [British] Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has said. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 13 April 03, p.111)

In the current atmosphere, forgive me if I suspect that this is a clever and cynical ploy rather than a sincere gesture.

'FRANKS MAKES WEAPONS VOW

'Up to 3,000 potential weapons-of-mass-destruction sites are being probed across Iraq, the Commander of US forces in the Gulf has said.

'General Tommy Franks said in any given 24 hours up to 10 or 15 sites were having samples taken from them.

'There has not yet been any positive test despite the testing programme, but Gen Franks said he was "absolutely confident" of finding them.'

(ITV Teletext, 13 April 03, p.307)

Because of the risk of being caught out, they will want to make reasonably sure that that there are no genuine Iraqi WMD, before beginning to "discover" their own plants.

14 April 03

'SYRIANS ATTACK "BUSH'S MISINFORMATION"

'Syria has attacked President Bush for mounting what it called a "campaign of misinformation" against the country.

'Claims that Syria was harbouring Iraqi Baath Party officials and had chemical weapons were part of an "ongoing series of false accusations", [said] officials.

'US leaders have issued a series of warnings about Syria acting as a haven.

'Last night Mr Bush said Syria must not harbour any Iraqis "who need to be held to account".

(BBC Ceefax, p.111)

15 April 03

'US SAYS SYRIA HAS TESTED CHEMICAL ARMS

'The US Defence Secretary has accused Syria of carrying out chemical weapons tests in the "past 12 to 15 months".

'Donald Rumsfeld said intelligence had also shown Damascus was also allowing Iraqis to flee into Syrian territory.

'Earlier US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the US was considering imposing sanctions against Syria.

'Syria's deputy ambassador to the UN, Faisal Mekdad, said his country was not developing illegal weapons.'

(BBC Ceefax, 15 April 03, p.105)

"SILENT TALKER" TO BE USED ON SUSPECTS

'Police in [North-West England] are set to use lie detection tests to interrogate suspects — the first UK forces to do so.

'The Silent Talker device uses a video camera linked to an artificial intelligence system that spots small movements people make when they lie.

'Liverpool University staff have held talks with Cheshire, Manchester and Merseyside forces regarding the trial.

'But human rights groups warn the move would erode the right to remain silent.'

(BBC Ceefax, 15 April 03, p.154)

Politicians too are in big trouble if this system is all it's cracked up to be. I for one would like to see it used in connection, for example, with real responsibility for 9/11, on people like Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice, Perle, Tenet, Mueller ...

The question of planted WMD would be another use. But I'm probably naive to place too much trust in technology ...

'IRAQI GROUPS MEET TO ASSESS FUTURE

'The US is beginning the first formal moves towards establishing a new government in Iraq.

'Representatives from exiled Iraqi opposition groups are being flown to Iraq for talks with local tribal and religious leaders near Nasiriyah.

'The US and UK have set a target of having Iraqis run Iraq within weeks.

'But a key Shi'ite Muslim group in Iraq is boycotting the meeting, in protest at it being run by the US.'

(BBC Ceefax, 15 April 03, p.104)

The delegates met in a marquee by the ancient site of Ur. The meeting was arranged by the same US man who "set the scene", also in a tent, for the current Afghan government.

The flimsiness of the accommodation reflecting that of the governments' independent standing in both cases, no doubt.

And Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, favourite of the US, isn't attending (though he's sending his representative), and says he doesn't want to be involved in politics.

An opposition (Shi'ite) demonstration of 20,000 chanted the ditty,

"Yes to Freedom, Yes to Islαm; No to America, No to Saddαm."

'BURIED FIND "MAY BE LABS"

'Eleven containers buried close to an artillery ammunition plant in southern Iraq have been discovered by US troops.

'The 20ft by 20ft metal containers could be dual-use mobile chemical and biological laboratories, US Army General Ben Frankly said.

'They were found by members of the 101st Airborne [Division] in Karbala. About 1,000lbs of documents were also found at the site. There was no evidence of weapons. [No, we're being eased into it.]

(ITV Teletext, 15 April 03, p.305)

16 April 03

TRIPARTITE TALKS PLANNED BETWEEN US, CHINA AND N KOREA

'Talks between the US, China and North Korea are reportedly due to be held in Beijing next week to discuss the crisis over N Korea's nuclear programme.

'S Korea's Yonhap news agency said it was a compromise between the US desire for multilateral talks and Pyongyang's demand for one-to-one talks with the US. [Alone at last! As Dracula said to his next victim. (N Korea is only the matchmaker.)]

'The US ambassador to South Korea has said the US is eager for talks to start.

'Thomas Hubbard told the BBC China had a critical role to play. [It has. As the next junta target.]'

(BBC Ceefax, 16 April 03, p.118)

'US court refuses China "spy" bail', BBC News online, 16 April 03

This is the Chinese-American Katrina Leung, who worked for the FBI and whom the US government accuses of being a double agent working for the Chinese.

'According to the New York Times, US intelligence officials fear it could have been Ms Leung who tipped off China about US efforts to bug the Chinese presidential airplane, a case that came to light in January 2002.

The Chinese could hardly have failed the bugs, anyway : 20 before they stopped counting. The radio noise was said to be being picked up on everything bar President Jiang's electric toothbrush. It smacked more of calculated provocation, which the Chinese nevertheless took in their stride.

'BREAKTHROUGH IN SARS BATTLE

'The mystery virus which has claimed the lives of more than 150 people worldwide is a new form of the common cold, scientists have confirmed.

'The World Health Organization said tests prove severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) is a mutant form of the corona virus, the cause of the common cold. ...

These latest tests were carried out on monkeys by scientists at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. ...'

('Breakthrough in Sars battle', BBC News online, 16 April 03)

Scientists also said it was a whole new genome-type, and there was no chance that it was man-made.

'Israel seals off [Palestinian] territories for Passover', BBC News online, 16 April 03

The aim is to seal them off permanently and make them into regular prisoners.

I was quite surprised that the Israelis didn't try to use the Iraq war as "cover" for ethnic cleansing of Palestine. But the war was a mere rabbit-shoot, as Bismarck might have said, and would have provided no cover.

17 April 03

The cost of the Iraq war so far to the US has been $20 billion, the Pentagon (McChrystal) says. $20bn per month have been anticipated as long as US forces remain in Iraq.

Bush laid out $49bn for the (initial) cost of the war. (The cost of "reconstructing" Iraq will be much more.)

(BBC Ceefax)

The US junta cares nothing about this last. The calculation they are interested in is:-

112bn barrels (proven reserves) x $25 (per barrel, say) = $2800bn

At an outlay of 1% or so, this is not a bad return in stolen Iraqi oil.

'BLIX WANTS TO TAKE WEAPONS TEAM [back] TO IRAQ

'... saying they could corroborated any coalition finds of weapons of mass destruction.

'He said: "I think the world would like a credible report on the absence or eradication of the programme of WMDs".

'Although his team had found no such weapons before the war, thousands of sites had not been searched, he said.

'But he admitted he is now more ready to believe Iraqi claims they do not exist. [My emphasis.]'

(BBC Ceefax, 17 April 03, p.104)

'COLLUSION [of security forces] BLAMED FOR KILLINGS [in Northern Ireland]

'Rogue elements in the security forces were involved in a plot with loyalist killers to carry out sectarian murders in N Ireland, a report has confirmed.

'After a four-year inquiry, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens concluded there was damning proof of collusion by Special Branch and Army officers.

'Sir John said the shooting of Belfast solicitor pat Finucane by the UDA in 1989 could have been prevented.'

(ITV Teletext, 17 April 03, p.303)

Of course, "today it's different". It always is. Remember the staged break-in at Special Branch headquarters in Belfast last year? (See March 2002 diary, under 19 March.) That may yet prove to be Britain's Watergate.

18 April 03

The US has again called for the UN to lift sanctions on Iraq, which Russia opposes until Iraq is declared free of WMD.

'The US has also called on its G8 partners to write off Iraq's debt, estimated to be more than £65bn[ c.$100bn].'

(BBC Ceefax, p.108)

Iran has called on OPEC to cut oil production to prevent a slump in prices. (BBC Ceefax, p.111)

But that's what the invasion of Iraq was all about. America may want to "punish" Iran by seizing Khuzestan, the south-western corner of Iran which contains all its oil.

'Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of central Baghdad [after Friday prayers] to protest against what they say is an American occupation of Iraq. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 18 April 03, p.107)

'MAYOR RESIGNS AMID CHILD PORN INQUIRY [in Britain]

'A directly elected mayor has resigned from his post a day after he was arrested and bailed on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

'Chris Morgan, North Tyneside Council's Tory mayor, was arrested as he answered bail on an unrelated assault allegation.

'The 33-year-old, of Whitley Bay, was the region's first elected mayor.

'Mr Morgan's solicitor said leaks about the inquiries before any decision on charges had made his position untenable.'

(BBC Ceefax, 18 April 03, p.122)

Another case of death by suspicion. On a political target.

19 April 03

'SOUTH KOREA TALKS WITH NORTH STILL ON

'Talks with North Korea on its alleged nuclear weapons programme are still on despite a row over fuel reprocessing, the South Korean government has said.

'It had been thought a claim by North Korea that it was reprocessing nuclear fuel rods put next week's talks at risk.

'But the US said Pyongyang only claimed to be "on the point" of reprocessing. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.112)

A US State Department official said there had been (or seems to have been) a mistranslation of the N Korean statement, which thus cast N Korea as saying that it had begun reprocessing fuel rods (which would have produced material for six to eight nukes), whereas they really said only that they were on the verge of reprocessing. (I.e. threatening to do it?)

(BBC World Service news, 19 April 03)

We've been here before. Last autumn there was a fuss over the translation of a N Korean TV broadcast, whether they'd said that N Korea had "come to have" nuclear weapons", or just that it "reserved the right" to have such weapons.

And it was the US State Department in the first place that made the claim, initially reported as a N Korean announcement, that N Korea had resumed its nuclear weapons programme. (Now the media is more carefully calling it an "alleged resumption".) (See Jan. 2003 dairy, under 22 Jan, and the references there.)

(And from a BBC Ceefax review of the N Korea nuclear saga:-)

'... Government officials in North Korea reacted angrily to US claims that Pyongyang was developing nuclear arms.

In January [2003] the country's official newspaper described the claim as "an invention fabricated by the US with sinister intentions".'

(BBC Ceefax, 19 April 03, p.126, 3/6)

A record 12 people have died from SARS in a single day in Hong Kong. The total death toll there is now 81.

'ISRAELI FORCES PUSH INTO CAMP

'Israeli forces moved into the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in one of the largest military incursions in 30 months of fighting, witnesses said.

'Official reports said five men died in the fighting. Witnesses said at least 16 Palestinians were also injured.

'The Israeli forces penetrated the refugee camp from three directions using tanks and armoured personnel carriers, bulldozers and helicopters.'

(ITV Teletext, 19 April 03, p.307)

20 April 03

'US "WANTS FOUR BASES" IN POST-WAR IRAQ 'The sites are at Baghdad airport, at Bashir in the Kurdish north, at Tallil near Nasiriyah and in the western desert, the paper claims. ...

'There will be "a long-term defence relationship" with a new Iraq, a senior US official is quoted as saying.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.105)

I.e. Iraq is to be a US protectorate (amongst other things).

'[British ]MPs CALL FOR INQUIRY INTO ARMS IN IRAQ

'Labour backbenchers are demanding a Commons probe on whether ministers were misled on the scale of the threat posed by arms of mass destruction in Iraq.

'Tory shadow foreign office minister Alan Duncan said there was a "moral obligation" to prove such weapons exist.

'Some Labour MPs want the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee to launch an inquiry, the Guardian reports.

'Downing Street is said to be reluctant to agree to such an inquiry.'

(BBC Ceefax, 20 April 03, p.113)

China's Health Minister and Beijing's mayor have been sacked after 12 new deaths and 339 cases in Beijing were confirmed.

'A national week-long holiday has been cancelled to stop the disease spreading.'

(BBC Ceefax, 20 April 03, p.113)

21 April 03

The unprepossessing Jay Garner has arrived in Baghdad. Meanwhile the US, while saying "Iraq for the Iraqis", are unprepared to accept the new Iraqi "governor" of Baghdad, of uncertain derivation.

Admitted cases of SARS in China have increased by seven percent "in a day".

21 April 03

'SCIENTIST QUIZZED BY US

'an Iraqi scientist has reportedly told US chiefs that Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological equipment just days before the war began.

'He has led US troops to a supply of material that proved to the building blocks of illegal weapons and officials now consider him credible, reports [The New York Times] say.

'The unidentified scientist [surprise surprise!] has also claimed that Iraq had recently been co-operating with al-Qaeda. [Evidently he's a polymath.]'

(ITV Teletext, p.305)

'Claims that the US is planning to set up permanent military bases in Iraq have been flatly denied by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

'The likelihood of this was "low", he insisted at a White House briefing. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 21 April 03, p.108)

He isn't quite sure. ...

22 April 03

The number of SARS deaths and cases in Hong Kong is slightly higher than (those admitted in) the whole of China> How does this jib with SAR's supposed origin in China (Guangdong province)?

The first identified case was of an American businessman who flew from Hong Kong to Hanoi (and subsequently died of the disease). ...

'NORTH KOREA POSES THREAT TO PEACE — US

'North Korea poses threats to global stability and is "a thorn to the passage of peace", the commander of US forces in South Korea has said.

'General Leon LaPorte was speaking a day before expected nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea.

'Among the threats were an economy on the brink of collapse [how they avoided World War III during the Biafran crisis I'll never know] and an active nuclear weapons programme [alleged by the American right, denied by N Korea], he said.

'Pyongyang also had missile technologies and large conventional forces. [Clearly, another Upper Volta with nuclear missiles.]'

(BBC Ceefax, 22 April 03, p.110)

'LABOUR PROBES GALLOWAY-IRAQ CASH CLAIMS

'Claims that [British] Labour MP George Galloway was paid by Saddam Hussein's regime are to be investigated by the Labour Party, chairman Ian McCarthy has said.

'Mr Galloway has strongly denied the claims in the Daily Telegraph and said he plans to sue for libel.

'The newspaper says it found papers in Iraq showing he received up to £375,000 a year from the oil-for-food programme.

[The paper's reporter David Blair says he went to the Iraqi foreign ministry, where one room of documents had survived bombing and looting, and his translator went to a shelf and returned with a box or two of documents relevant to Britain. — TV news]

'But the Glasgow MP insists such papers were either forged or doctored. [Galloway dismissed them as "intelligence hocus pocus" — ITV Teletext, p.303]'

(BBC Ceefax, 22 April 03, p.104)

Not in the same league of amazing discoveries as the "passport" of one of the 9/11 hijackers allegedly found in the incinerated ruins of the World Trade Center, perhaps. But still a pretty neat discovery for a government that wants revenge on the left-wing MP who called on British troops to disobey orders to attack Iraq. ...

'WE WERE VICTIMS OF US SPIN, BLIX SAYS

'The UN's chief weapons inspector has accused the US of trying to undermine the arms inspection process in Iraq.

'Dr Hans Blix said some official leaked information that had been falsified but "this is a rough and tough game".

'Dr Blix told BBC2's The Road To War programme that disinformation was "almost as big as information".

'He hopes to return to Iraq to finish the job he started, and is to address the Security Council in New York.'

(BBC Ceefax, 22 April 03, p.105)

'US "TRIED TO DISCREDIT UN"

'American officials sought to discredit United Nations weapons inspectors in the period ahead of the outbreak of war against Iraq, Hans Blix has claimed.

'The chief weapons inspector also argued that the US and UK had relied on "shaky" intelligence when building the case for military action.

'The US is expected to cold-shoulder a call by Dr Blix, who is due to address the UN, for his team to return to Iraq.'

(ITV Teletext, 22 April 03, p.304)

23 April 03

'DON'T INTERFERE IN IRAQ, US WARNS IRAN

'... "We've made it clear to Iran that we would oppose any outside interference [!!!] in Iraq's road to democracy", said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

'He warned specifically against "destabilising" the Shi'ite population.

'He said the message had been sent via "well known channels" [CNN? Al-Jazeera?] to Iran, with which the US has no diplomatic relations.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.108)

'an engineer with the US TV network Fox News has been charged with smuggling 12 stolen Iraqi paintings and other items into the us ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 23 April 03, p.111)

'The Palestinian leadership has agreed on a new Cabinet ...' (Ibid, p.113)

'Britons should avoid the Canadian city of Toronto, Hong Kong and three Chinese provinces [Guangdong, Beijing and Shanxi] for the next three weeks due to the Sars virus, the [British] Government says. ...

'Some 106 people have now died from Sars in China, 105 in Hong Kong and 16 in Toronto.'

(BBC Ceefax, 23 April 03, p.114)

'[Toronto] MAYOR CONDEMNS TRAVEL ADVICE

'Toronto's mayor has reacted furiously to the World Health Organisation's warning against travel to his city amid fears over the deadly Sars virus.

'Mel Lastman challenged WHO officials to visit Toronto "tomorrow" to investigate the situation in its hospitals, clinics and streets — and not wait three weeks.

'The mayor added: "I'm shocked that the medical evidence we have before us does not support this advisory".'

(ITV Teletext, 23 April 03, p.304)

The Daily Telegraph ( 23 April 03) has published another alleged Iraqi government document, a purported memo from Saddam Hussein rejecting British Labour MP Galloway's "request for more money".

'France will suffer consequences for opposing the US over Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned, ... but did not elaborate.

'His comments came during an interview on CBS television.'

(BBC Ceefax, 23 April 03, p.142)

The British Daily Mirror editor, who published an article about UK miners' leader Arthur Scargill during the 1984 miners' strike, alleging that Scargill misused funds to pay off his house mortgage, says he now thinks the story was an MI5 plant.

This is small fry compared to the Goebbelistic, Vyshinkyite levels being aspired to today.

24 April 03

'DETAIN SUSPECTED SARS CASES, SAY TORIES

'The [British Labour] Government's response to the Sars virus outbreak has been branded as "feeble" by the Shadow Health Secretary.

'Dr Liam Fox called on ministers to use powers to detain people suspected of having the potentially fatal illness. [This sounds like already-existing powers.] ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.115)

This could be a good excuse to execute the plans for corralling and evacuating cities established "to combat bioterrorism".

And of course, anyone infected with SARS deserves to be sent to a Corrective-Labour Camp.

This is a "spontaneous" socio-historic move toward totalitarianism.

Meanwhile, police have surrounded a hospital in Peking (Beijing) and are preventing anyone from entering or leaving it : a SARS quarantine.

(ITV Teletext, 24 April 03, p.303)

Our own dear West learns at the knee of the original totalitarians (or at least of the Soviets' Chinese spin-off).

'NORTH KOREA "SAYS IT HAS NUCLEAR ARMS"

'North Korea has confirmed it has nuclear weapons during talks with the US and China in Beijing, according to US administration sources[ my emphasis].

'But the Communist state reportedly did not discuss testing the weapons.

'"They said what we always knew — that they did have (nuclear) weapons," an American source said. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 24 April 03, p.122)

NK nukes according to America — repeat show.

'A British headteacher leading a school trip to Beijing says life is going on as normal there despite the Sars crisis.

'Kevin Hollins, of Knutsford High School in Cheshire, said most people were not wearing masks and that no panic was apparent on the streets. ...'

(Ibid, p.115)

A contrasting report to TV news depicting the Beijing population in fear and rushing to get out of the city.

'BBC CONDEMNS US MEDIA'S COVERAGE OF WAR

'The US media's credibility was undermined by its "unquestioning" coverage of the war in Iraq, BBC director-general Grey Dyke has said.

'In a speech at the University of London he said he had been "shocked" by the US news broadcasts.

'Since the attacks of September 11, many networks had swapped impartially for patriotism," Mr Dyke said. [This is only the sequel to "dumbing down".

'He singled out Fox News accusing it of a "gung-ho" attitude.

(BBC Ceefax, 24 April 03, p.108)

'... To date there have been 4,288 probable cases of Sars worldwide, and 251 deaths.' (Ibid, p.114)

'Iraqis will be free to form their own government as long as it is not an Iranian-style theocracy, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said. ...'

(ITV Teletext, 24 April 03, p.306)

They can have any colour they like as long as it's (not) black.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denied that coalition force would try to plant weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to justify their invasion. Critics would say they were planted whatever was found, he said in a "bold" move to turn the tables on them. Why on earth would we want to plant these weapons? Straw asked.

A question so naive as to raise suspicions he will try to get off on a plea of incapacitating stupidity, if brought to book for a role in war crimes.

BAFFLING SARS TURNS UP IN ONLY 40% OF A LAB'S TEST CASES

'Canada's main virology laboratory has found the virus for severe acute respiratory syndrome in only 40 percent of probable and suspect cases, a surprisingly low rate that puzzles the laboratory's scientific director and other health officials.

'Also, for unknown reasons, the portion of recent cases testing positive for the virus is declining, and a number of people who are not suspected of having the disease are testing positive, the director, Dr Frank Plummer, said.

'Dr Plummer described his teams findings as "Weird". He said they had the potential to weaken the link in Canada between the disease, known as SARS, and a previously unknown member of the coronavirus family that the World Health Organization said last week was the cause of SARS. ...'

(Lawrence K Altman, 'Virus Proves Baffling ...', New York Times online, 24 April 03)

26 April 03

'AMERICAN TO OVERSEE IRAQI OIL INDUSTRY

'The US is planning to install an American chairman on a planned management team of the Iraqi oil industry, providing further ammunition to critics who have questioned the Bush administration's agenda in the Middle East.

'The administration is planning to structure the potentially vast Iraqi oil industry like a US corporation, with a chairman and chief executive and a 15-strong board of international advisers. ...

'The Middle East has, since the early-to-mid-1970s, largely closed the door on foreign oil firms [my emphasis] ...'

('American to oversee Iraqi oil industry', The Guardian)

... and people like Henry Kissinger (US Secretary of State during the oil crisis starting in 1973) have long memories. At that time Kissinger blustered wildly about seizing Saudi oilfields — an unrealistic idea that would have provoked Soviet counter-intervention.

Now, with the Soviet bloc gone, and rightist hardliners in power in America, comes the counterstrike, with accrued interest. This is what 9/11 and the Iraq invasion were all about : seizing once-for-all the oil resources of the entire Mideast region, and keeping them forever secure — and cheap — within the American patrimony.

And Dr Kissinger is still — quietly, behind the scenes, playing the wide-eyed innocent  at the heart of foreign policy-making, in the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, which is a back-seat centre of the administration's imperial drive.

27 April 03

'USA[:] A Washington state police chief shot his wife then killed himself a day after abuse allegations in the couple's divorce case surfaced in news reports.'

(ITV Teletext, p.318)

'OBSERVER[:] George Galloway, the anti-war Labour MP, faces the prospect of a criminal prosecution for treachery.'

(Ibid, p.328, reviews of British Sunday papers)

Is treachery a sly false inference for treason?

SARS death tolls in Hong Kong and (the rest of) China have risen to 133 and 131 respectively. (Ibid, p.305)

Still in competition.

'SELF-DECLARED [Baghdad] MAYOR ARRESTED

'US forces have arrested Iraqi exile Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, who had proclaimed himself Baghdad's mayor.

'He was arrested "for his inability to support the coalition authority and for exercising authority which was not his", said a US military spokesman. [Well, at least the "coalition" forces can support themselves.]

'Captain David Connolly said soldiers have arrested seven others found with al-Zubaidi, but did not go into further details.'

(ITV Teletext, 27 April 03, p.306)

'US CHEMICAL TESTS POSITIVE

'Initial tests on drums of chemicals found in Iraq by US special forces have shown traces of nerve gas and mustard gas, an US army officer has said. [Reported by ABC News.]

'Lt Col Ted Martin of the 10th Cavalry Regiment said troops were suspicious because of surface-to-air missiles guarding the site at Bayji.

'One drum tested positive for cyclosarin — a nerve agent — and a blister agent, which could have been mustard gas. [A cocktail party?]'

(ITV Teletext, 27 April 03, p.307)

'SADDAM "LINKED TO AL-QAEDA"

'... Secret papers discovered in the bombed HQ of Iraq's intelligence service refer to the visit of an al-Qaeda envoy to Iraq in March 1998, it was reported.

'It said a visit by Bin Laden to Baghdad was planned after talks based on mutual hatred of the US and Saudi Arabia.'

(ITV Teletext, 27 April 03, p.308)

Yep, it looks like a cocktail party.

'Papers found yesterday in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's intelligence service, reveal that an al-Qa'eda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998.

'The documents show that the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and al-Qa'eda based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia. The meeting apparently went so well that it was extended by a week and ended with arrangements being discussed for bin Laden to visit Baghdad. ...

'Over the past three weeks, The Telegraph has discovered various other intelligence files in the wrecked Mukhabarat building, including documents revealing how Russia passed on to Iraq details of private conversations between Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, and how Germany held clandestine meetings with the regime. [Not to mention the "documents" allegedly implicating the left-wing British Labour MP George Galloway in Saddam payoffs.]...'

(Inigo Gilmore, 'The proof [!!] that Saddam worked with Bin Laden', The Telegraph, London, filed 27 April 03)

This right-wing British paper has gone into overdrive with "Iraqi intelligence documents" it claims were found in the Mukhabarat HQ, bombed and looted, and for all-too-long open to all comers. Its "exposιs" are fast becoming an inventory of the entire gamut of US-junta agitprop against its world opponents.

"Iraqi-Qaeda links" were a wholly-artificial, almost-certainly fraudulent device to try to provide further "justification" for the junta's invasion of Iraq.

Let me predict. The next Telegraph "revelation" will be "documentary proof" of Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction". The paper may as well move its headquarters to Langley or the Pentagon. It is just another mouthpiece for their lies.

28 April 03

'TIMES[:] Sweeping new powers to control the spread of Sars that allow doctors to detain sufferers against their will may be introduced by the [British] Government.'

(ITV Teletext, p.328, reviews of British papers)

So dissidents won't necessarily be arrested as paedophiles ...

'TELEGRAPH[:] France colluded with Iraq's secret service to undermine an event held by a human rights group, according to documents found in Baghdad.'

(Ibid.)

No, it doesn't take much "intelligence" to figure out where these documents are coming from.

Oh, well, maybe the next-but-one Telegraph "revelation" will be Iraqi WMD.

'[British] PM CONFIDENT IRAQ WEAPONS WILL BE FOUND

'... The coalition's list of sites where WMDs may be hidden had grown from 150 to over 1,000, he said. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 28 April 03, p.106)

I.e., they're giving themselves leeway to find possible genuine WMD before taking the risky step of planting them. But not so risky in this day and age ...

'BLAIR PLAYS DOWN NEW INVASION FEARS

'There is no conspiracy to invade Syria or Iran, but both countries must play their part in the Middle East peace process, Tony Blair has said.

'People were wrong to think a "series of invasions" was planned, he said at a prime ministerial press briefing.

'He was convinced President Bush was committed to taking the Middle East peace process forward.

'But he said Syria and Iran had hindered that process in the past.'

(BBC Ceefax, 28 April 03, p.107)

Meanwhile, reports say that British forces face overstretch, and couldn't be ready for other such invasions for one to two years.

Did this sordid little Blair wretch ever really imagine he was putting a break on American imperialism? He has done his petty best to facilitate it. And will probably continue to do so.

'A meeting of US administrators and delegates from Iraq's political factions has agreed on a timetable for picking an interim government. ...'

(ITV Teletext, 28 April 03, p.303)

Tariq Aziz claims that Saddam Hussein is still alive — at least that's what 'a senior US defence official told USA Today. (Ibid, p.304)

29 April 03

'US FURIOUS AT FRANKS WAR CRIMES PLAN

'The US has reacted angrily to claims that General Tommy Franks might be charged in Belgium with war crimes.

'A Brussels lawyer says he is planning a case under a law allowing non-Belgians to be prosecuted for war crimes.

'He claims, among other things, the commander of the Iraq war did nothing to stop Baghdad hospitals being looted.

'A US official has warned that even the issuing of indictments would result in "diplomatic consequences" for Belgium.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.106)

15 IRAQI DEMONSTRATORS "KILLED BY US TROOPS"

'Fifteen Iraqis were killed and about 50 wounded when US troops opened fire on a demonstration in the town of Fallujah, the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera said.

'The station said the shooting started after someone in the 200-strong crowd protesting against American troops in Iraq threw a stone at the soldiers.

'US Central Command said it had no information about any incidents in the town, about 30 miles west of Baghdad.'

(ITV Teletext, 29 April 03, p.305)

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has broadcast on al-Jazeera TV.

update ...

'US FORCES "SHOOT 13 DEAD" NEAR BAGHDAD

'US troops fired on a crowd of Iraqi protesters at Falluja, a town [30 miles] west of Baghdad, and a hospital director said 13 people had been killed.

'Ahmed Ghanim al-Ali said three boys aged under 11 had also been hurt.

'A US lieutenant said his troops only fired after being shot at and estimated that between seven and 10 people died.

'But locals told Reuters it had been an unarmed protest against the US presence[, of troops in a school which the locals want for its intended use].'

(BBC Ceefax, 29 April 03, later, p.106)

Hawaii Legislature Becomes Nation's first to Pass Pro-Civil Liberties Bill'
American Civil Liberties Union, 29 April 03

'HONOLULU — The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii today applauded the state legislature for being the first in the nation to stand up for the rights of individuals by passing a joint resolution affirming and protecting the individual liberties of all the people of Hawaii and calling for the repeal of the most egregious provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. ...

'Ninety-three communities in 23 states across the country have passed similar resolutions. A similar resolution opposing the USA PATRIOT Act passed overwhelmingly with strong bipartisan support in the New Mexico House of Representatives, although it failed to reach the New Mexico Senate floor in time for a vote before the end of the legislative term. The city of Juneau, Alaska passed a similar resolution late Monday night.'

30 April 03

'US troops have opened fire on protesters in the Iraqi town of Falluja for a second day, with local hospital officials reporting two Iraqis dead. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.106)

Army Seizes Massive Files On Iraq's Secret Prisoners
Scott Wilson, Washington Post, 30 April 03, p.A01

Addressing US troops in Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld said allied forces had no intention of running Iraq.

He can say that again. But with the spoils of empire comes the responsibility of administration, something that America must grow into.

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