2 July 2008
'US ADMIRAL URGES CAUTION ON IRAN
'America's top military officer has said opening up a new front in the Middle East would be "extremely stressful" for US forces.
'Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was commenting on the likelihood of US or Israeli military action over Iran's nuclear programme.
'Tensions have risen amid reports Israel could be planning a possible strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
'Iran denies its nuclear programme is anything other than peaceful.'
(BBC Ceefax)
4 July 08
At last! Good news! :-D
9/11 Third Tower Mystery "Solved"
Mike Rudin, BBC News online, based on the upcoming Conspiracy Files programme (see next)
'The final mystery of 9/11 will [oh!] soon be solved, according to US experts investigating the collapse of the third tower at the World Trade Center.
'The 47-storey third tower, known as Tower Seven [in fact as World Trade Center (WTC) 7], collapsed seven hours after the twin towers.
'Investigators are expected to say ordinary fires on several different floors caused the collapse.
'Conspiracy theorists have argued that the third tower was brought down in a controlled demolition. ...
'The National Institute of Standards and Technology's lead investigator, Dr Shyam Sunder, spoke to BBC Two's "The Conspiracy Files":
'"Our working hypothesis [!] now actually suggests that it was normal building fires that were growing and spreading throughout the multiple floors that may [!] have caused the ultimate collapse of the buildings [sic]." ...'
(BBC Ceefax)
It's taken a very long time for NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to reach this conclusion. I had wondered if this was because there were deep differences of opinion between panel members. Will this be just a "majority conclusion"?
Incidentally, the official — NIST — theory has (itself) undergone a radical change since about 2002, with "ordinary office fires" on several floors of WTC 7 now substituted for the original hypothesis of a massive basement fire (in diesel fuel stored there) as the "explanation for" the building's collapse.
7 July 08
In Equatorial Guinea, former SAS soldier Simon Mann has been sentenced to 34 years for leading an attampt to overthrow the government of the oil-rich west African state.
Mark Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher's son, had been implicated in the plot.
10 July 08
'US WARNS IRAN ON MISSILE THREAT
'The US has said it will not hesitate to defend its interests [and we all know what they are] and those of its allies as Iran continues missile tests.
'Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [herself a former oil-company director] said the US had increased its security in the region and Iran should not be "confused" about US capabilities.
'Iran tested missiles on Wednesday [yesterday] that could reach Israel and on Thursday carried out further tests.
'Meanwhile French energy giant Total has said it will not invest in Iran because it is too politically risky.'
(BBC Ceefax, p.109)
In the aftermath of 9/11 — the petro-imperialists' version of the Reichstag Fire — it seemed that they were embarking on a series of rapid conquests on the compressed timescale of the Nazis' acquisitions in the late 1930s. It seems they have reduced this to a more patient — and realistic — approach, waging a political campaign against their next target, Iran, on a projected timetable comparable to that against Iraq 1991-2003. ...
Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak has hinted that the country is ready to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, but added that diplomatic solution should be pursued before "other options" are taken up.
13 July 08
'FEARS GROW OVER INFORMATION PLANS
'[UK] Government plans to collect more data on mobile phone calls and internet usage have been further criticised as an attack on civil liberties.
'The government is considering a new system which will automatically retrieve communications and information from a centralised database.
'Liberal Democrat Norman Baker said it was another example of Britain's "surveillance society".
'The Home Office says intercepting data is vital to fight crime and terrorism [now in that order].'
(BBC Ceefax, p.123)
15 July 08
'GUARDIAN[:] MPs want an investigation into claims UK intelligence has "outsourced" the torture of British citizens to Pakistani security agencies [for which read "ISI", presumably].'
(ITV Teletext, p.32, reviews of British papers)
17 July 08
The US has "refused to deny" reports that it will open a diplomatic mission in Iran in the next few weeks. (ITV Teletext)
19 July 08
'US ATTENDS HISTORIC IRAN MEETING
'A senior United States official is taking part for the first time in international talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.
'The official, William Burns, is joining envoys from the EU and permanent members of the UN security council.
'Their talks with top Iranian nuclear negotiator Jaeed Jalili were expected to focus on incentives for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.
'Mr Burns' attendance is being seen as a major shift in US policy.'
(BBC Ceefax, p.108)
A little later ... 'IRAN COOL ON ENRICHMENT
'Iran has ruled out freezing its uranium enrichment programme, casting doubt over talks with six world powers less than an hour after they started.
'The presence of US official William Burns at the talks — the first instance of America attending such a meeting — had led to hopes of compromise.
'But comments from Keyvan Imani appeared to indicate Tehran was not prepared to budge on the issue of enrichment.'
(ITV Teletext, 19 July 08, p.306) 21 July 08
'BIN LADEN'S DRIVER DENIES CHARGES
'A former driver of Osama bin Laden has pleaded not guilty at the first war crimes trial to be held in the US prison in Guantanamo Bay.
'Yemeni national Salim Hamden, 37, is accused of conspiracy and supporting terrorism, and faces life in prison if he is convicted.
'The right of the military tribunal to try him was earlier unsuccessfully challenged by his lawyers.
'About 270 suspects remain in detention in Guantanamo Bay."
(BBC Ceefax)
26 July 08
'FIVE DIE IN GAZA CITY EXPLOSION
'A powerful explosion inside a car travelling past a beach in the Gaza Strip has killed four Hamas militants and a young girl, medics have said.
'At least 20 other people, including many enjoying a day by the sea, were said to be injured by the explosion on Gaza City's coast road.
'Leaders of the Islamist movement [viz. Hamas] have blamed Israeli collaborators in Gaza. [But weren't Hamas themselves originally "Israeli collaborators" set up to divert the thunder of the secular Palestinian Liberation Organization? And haven't they currently been playing the objective flunkies of the divide-and-rule boys in the Gaza Strip (the most recent of a history of such activity)?]
'It was the third bomb attack in a day — one of the bloodiest since Hamas and Israel agreed a ceasefire last month.'
(BBC Ceefax, p.114)
'IRAN ANNOUNCES NUCLEAR EXPANSION
'President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium — nearly twice the number of only a few months ago.
'He has claimed the West has accepted the increase.
'Iran is under UN sanctions, with the demand that it suspend the enrichment programme, which the West fears may be used for nuclear bombs [or rather, semi-invalid US petro-imperialism still sees the "issue" as a top pretext for its rotting plans to seize the next Persian-Gulf oil target]]
'His announcement is likely to be met with a degree of scepticism by the outside world.'
(BBC Ceefax)
27 July 08
A little-known group calling itself the "Indian mujaheddin" has claimed responsibility in an email/internet message for the recent triple bombing in Ahmadabad, Gujarat province, India, which claimed 29 lives. At least some of the
This could be another manifestation of the Hindu-fascist Janata party, blood-brothers of the US petro-imperialists and the Conspirators of Imperialist America. The most notorious apparent example of the former's false-flag operations was the — failed — 2001 truck-bombing of the Indian parliament, an imitation of 9/11, which the then-ruling Janata blamed on Pakistan. Janatists may also have been behind the catalyzing event for communal violence in Gujarat a few years later, arson deaths on a train ...
<
28 July 08
In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service has ruled that there is insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution in the case of the killing of ITN journalist Terry Lloyd.
(British Channel 4 News at noon + 7pm)
Lloyd was shot by US marines when he was covering the US-led Iraq invasion in 2003. According to the military, he "got in the line of fire" or something. It appears to have been part of the terror campaign against independent reporters and reporting, waged in Iraq and Afghanistan from that time ...
China has seated itself more firmly on the war-on-terror bandwagon. BBC TV news footage shows an anti-aircraft battery the Chinese set up on a lawn to defend against terrorists, who are said to be intending to attack Olympic events with missiles.
A "terrorist" video message, by the "Turkestan Islamic Party", had — of course, what else? — the IntelCenter logo in its top-right-hand corner. Perhaps China is running a US franchise.