1 March 04

'The US's puppet Governing Council in Iraq has agreed an "interim constitution", after being leaned on, and reportedly made to undergo a long discussion session without sleep, by the Americans (Bremer or whoever).

2 March 04

'TIMES[:] The race to recruit hundreds more MI5 officers to wage war on terrorism has been boosted by "a wave of patriotism", said security chiefs. [British government sources said it. Three thousand have reportedly applied so far.]'

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

'IRAQI SHIA'S MASSACRED ON HOLY DAY [of Ashura]

'More than 140 people have been killed in blasts targeting Iraqi Shias as they celebrated [sic] the climax of a holy ritual in the cities of Karbala and Baghdad. ["...the blasts in Karbala killed 85 people and simultaneous bombings at Baghdad's Kazima shrine killed at least 58. ..." (ITV Teletext)]

'US military officials say 400 were hurt in the bloodiest day since the war began [sic].

'The carnage was soon blamed [by a member of the Iraqi Governing council? Cf. BBC TV news] on a man accused of links to al-Qaeda.

'There has been confusion over what caused the blasts, but mortars may have been used in what correspondents say is an alarming new method for the insurgents.'

(BBC Ceefax, 2 March 04, p.107)

At least 37 people were killed and over 100 wounded in an attack on Shia Muslims in the Pakistan city of Quetta, hospital officials say. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 2 March 04, p.109)

'CALL TO PROBE BLAIR "CRIMES"

'The International Criminal Court has been asked to investigate allegations of war crimes and genocide by top [British] politicians over the war in Iraq.

'A team of lawyers wants the court to look into the actions of the Prime Minister [Tony Blair], Foreign Secretary [Jack Straw], Defence Secretary [Geoff Hoon] and Attorney General [Lord Goldsmith].

'The lawyers, led by Michael Mansfield QC, said the reasons given for war were not justified under the UN charter.'

(ITV Teletext, 2 March 04, p.304)

Britain's Barclay brothers have abandoned their attempt to buy Lord Conrad Black's majority shareholding of Hollinger, which owns the British Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun-Times.

3 March 04

'ZARQAWI BLAMED FOR IRAQ MASSACRE

'The US says it has evidence linking a Jordanian-born al-Qaeda suspect to Tuesday's devastating attacks in Iraq which killed up to 271 people.

'The American commander in Iraq, Gen John Abuzaid, hardened the US line on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in testimony to Congress in Washington.

'A letter purporting to be from al-Qaeda has denied any involvement. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.111)

"FUNDAMENTALLY IN CONFLICT WITH THE RULE OF LAW":-
Lord Chief Justice Woolf's verdict on UK Government plans

'The Lord Chief Justice has launched an unprecedented attack on Government constitutional and asylum plans.

'Lord Woolf said proposals for a supreme court to replace the House of Lords as the highest court in the land would create a "second class" institution [and it would be subservient to Parliament].

'He also stepped up his condemnation of plans to bar the courts from reviewing asylum cases, saying it would be a "blot" on the Government's reputation [!!]. [He called the plans "fundamentally in conflict with the rule of law", and asked what area of law such a precedent might not be applied to in future.]'

(ITV Teletext, 3 March 04, p.303; British Channel 4 News)

Two cheers for Woolf's comments. But it's a pity he isn't half so vocal about the Blairites' explicit police-state legislation and plans — Terrorism Act 2000, arbitrary detention laws of 2001, Civil Contingencies Bill, etc.

Most of the latter has been contingent on the terrorist attacks of 2001 — the American far right's not-so-imaginative rerun of the Reichstag fire.

4 March 04

Moroccan Mounir al-Motassadek is to get a retrial in Germany on 9/11 charges.

5 March 04

'INDEPENDENT[:] The former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has declared that the war in Iraq was illegal, dealing another devastating blow to Tony Blair.'

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

'"MORTAL DANGER" OF TERRORISM — [British] PM

'The threat of terrorism means Britain cannot afford to "err on the side of caution", Tony Blair has said in one of his starkest terror warnings yet. [In this he is in the best possible company — Lenin, Vyshinky, etc.]

'In a speech in his Sedgefield constituency, he said the threat was "a challenge of a different nature from anything the world has faced before". [On the contrary. The Zinoviev-Trotsky-imperialist and Judeo-Bolshevik threats shared the same degree of reality.]

''The prime minister warned of the "mortal danger" [Has he been reading Solzhenitsyn too? What a black irony.] of under-estimating the threat of unconventional attacks.

'Mr Blair also rejected challenges to the legality of war in Iraq.'

(BBC Ceefax, 5 March 04, p.108)

... He also spoke of 9/11 as his world-view-changing moment of "revelation". (BBC TV news)

Which only underlines the founding role of this second Reichstag Fire for the satanic world Reich.

... 'Tony Blair has called for reform of the United Nations to reflect the reality of a changing 21st-century world.

'Speaking in Sedgefield, the PM insisted it is no linger possible to regard what happens inside another country's borders as its own internal affair. [Overwhelmingly true of America, though that's not what the muppet meant ...]

'And he said international laws may have to change to reflect that military action may be needed for humanitarian reasons [war is peace, he almost said!] or to tackle unstable regimes.'

(ITV Teletext, 5 March 04, p.305)

And here we see the facade-doctrine of world conquest laid out, by a top Useful Fool, no less.

6 March 04

'CHAVEZ DECRIES "US INTERVENTION"

'Embattled Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has demanded the US "get its hands off" his country.

'Mr Chavez, who accused the US of being behind an abortive coup in 2002, said he had evidence that Washington was financing opposition to his rule.

'At least eight people have died and dozens have been hurt in protests since Venezuela's electoral council refused to approve an opposition petition.

'The US government has persistently denied it is trying to oust Mr Chavez.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.115)

7 March 04

'BLUNKETT IN [US] TERROR TALKS

'[British] Home Secretary David Blunkett is heading to the US for high-profile discussions on combating terrorism.

'The visit is expected to finalise plans for a joint counter-terrorism exercise simulating an attack on both sides of the Atlantic.'

In Boston 'he will speak on the challenge of balancing anti-terror laws with human rights. [With this blind puppet's arse placed firmly on the repression side of the scales, of course.]

'Mr Blunkett is also expected to urge the US to join forces with Britain to shut down [violent] porn [web]sites after the murder of teacher Jane Longhurst. [I.e he is mixing into his mission a pretext to suppress — as a whole, mistake this not — the independent conduit of information known as the web.]'

(ITV Teletext, p.306; BBC Ceefax, p.108)

8 March 04

The Daily Telegraph focuses on the case against the four British Muslims being held in Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

'The paper claims to have summaries on the men, in which US officials say they were trained al-Qaeda terrorists.'

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

The Telegraph, owned by the Hollinger company (where Henry Kissinger and Richard Perle are board members), continues to be a useful mouthpiece for "information" helpful to the cause of Anglo-Saxon oil aggrandizement in the Middle East.

'The Independent reports that Downing Street tried to "muzzle" the government's top scientific adviser.

'Ivan Rogers was told to "limit contact with the media" after he warned global warming was a more serious threat than international terrorism [my emphasis].'

(BBC Ceefax, 8 March 04, p.148, reviews of British papers)

'US [military and intelligence] CONDEMNED FOR AFGHAN "ABUSES"

'The actions of US military and intelligence units in Afghanistan have been heavily criticised in a new report by an international human rights group.

'US-based Human Rights Watch accuses US personnel of using excessive force, carrying out arbitrary detentions and mistreating people in custody. [The future fate of the US itself is first appearing in its external empire.]

'Washington keeps about 9,000 troops on Afghan soil involved primarily in fighting the Taleban and al-Qaeda [this phantom pretext for imperial aggrandizement].'

(BBC Ceefax, 8 March 04, p.109)

"... Human Rights Watch concludes that the U.S.-administered system of arrest and detention in Afghanistan exists outside the rule of law [my emphasis]. ..."

'PEERS DELAY LAW REFORM BILL

'[The British House of Lords has] set up a huge constitutional clash with the Government by ambushing plans to scrap the post of Lord Chancellor and to set up a Supreme Court.

'In a highly unusual move, regarded as a wrecking tactic by ministers, peers voted to send the constitutional Reform Bill to a special select committee.

'The vote of 216 to 183 casts doubt on whether the Bill can be pushed through before the general election next year.'

(ITV Teletext, 8 March 04, p.304)

9 March 04

Battle for the soul of the BBC
Tim Luckhurst, The Independent (Britain)

'Mark Byford [the acting director-general] is trying to steady the corporation after Lord Hutton's damning verdict. But many of the BBC's news staff have deep misgivings about his conduct. ...'

10 March 04

CIA says Cheney was wrong [over "Saddam-Qaeda links" and bioweapons program]
Jonathan S Landay, Kansas City Star

'CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday [9 March 04] rejected recent assertions by Vice President Dick Cheney that Iraq had cooperated with the al-Qaida network.

'Tenet also rejected Cheney's statements that the administration had proof of an illicit Iraqi biological warfare program.

'Tenet's comments to the Senate Armed Services Committee were expected to fuel frictions between the White House and intelligence agencies ...

'Tenet at first appeared to defend the administration, saying that he did not think the White House misrepresented intelligence provided by the CIA. ...

'But under sharp questioning by Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, Tenet reversed himself,

HEAD OF PLO DIES IN US CUSTODY IN IRAQ

'Palestinian militant Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro [Laro?] Italian cruise ship hijacking, has died in US custody in Iraq.

'Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Front, apparently died of natural causes, US officials said.

'Abbas, 56, was convicted in absentia by an Italian court for the hijacking, in which wheelchair-bound American tourist Leon Klinghoffer was killed.

'Abbas was captured in Baghdad last year by US special forces.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.107)

'BLIX CRITICISES "WITCH HUNT"

'former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has likened the run-up to the war in Iraq to a "witch hunt".

'He also argued that the subsequent failure to find weapons of mass destruction would dent public faith in the US and British governments.

'Mr Blix said: "They were so convinced there were witches in Iraq, every black cat became proof of it". [Is he really that naive?]'

(ITV Teletext, 10 March 04, p.306)

11 March 04

Ten bombs placed on four trains in Madrid have killed about 200 people and injured 1,400. ETA's political wing denied responsibility, but the explosives used were consistent with ETA usage, and ETA has been mounting a bombing campaign recently.

On the other hand, others plump for al-Qaeda. A van was found with Arabic script and detonators (though it could be a blind). An email from a branch of al-Qaeda to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reportedly claimed responsibility, but British intelligence sources have dismissed it.

(BBC + ITV news, 11-12 March 04)

12 March 04

Two million people have demonstrated in Madrid, and millions more in other cities, against "terrorism". The Spanish elections are due.

How easy it seems to manipulate the masses.

Meanwhile, overshadowed by the Madrid event, released two British Guantanamo inmates, Terek Dergoul and Jamal Udeen, have spoken of their ill-treatment and "torture" at the American detention camp in Cuba.

13 March 04

Tony Blair has made another noble speech, calling terrorism "the new totalitarianism".

And he's right. He is the puppet of the new totalitarianism.

'EX-SAS MAN ON COUP CHARGE

'A former SAS officer is among suspected mercenaries set to appear in a Zimbabwe court over an alleged coup plot.

'Officials in the African state have confirmed Simon Mann, a former member of the elite regiment and an old Etonian, is among 64 men being held.

'Zimbabwe claims those arrested were hired to help overthrow the government in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea with the help of foreign intelligence agencies [my emphases].'

(ITV Teletext, 13 March 04, p.311)

U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
Tehran Times, 13 March 04

'TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) — Over the past few days, in the wake of the bombings in Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed the signing of Iraq's interim constitution, there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq.

'A reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions.

'He added that the cargo was unloaded during the night as attention was still focused on the aftermath of the deadly bombings in Karbala and the signing of Iraq's interim constitution.

'The source said that in order to avoid suspicion, ordinary cargo ships were used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons produced in the 1980s and 1990s.

'He mentioned the fact that the United States had facilitated Iraq's WMD program during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq [war] and said that some of the weapons being downloaded are similar to those weapons, although international inspectors had announced Saddam Hussein's Baath regime had destroyed all its WMD.

'The source went on to say that the rest of the weapons were probably transferred in cans to an unknown location somewhere in the vicinity of Basra overnight.

'"Most of the weapons are of Eastern European origin and some parts are from the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The U.S. obtained them through confiscations during sales of banned arms over the past two decades," he said. ...

'A security official for the coalition forces [Shane Wolf] in Iraq said that he has not received any information about the unloading of weapons of mass destruction in ports in southern Iraq. ...'

14 March 04

The British paper The Observer reports that "marshals" are to be placed on trains in the United Kingdom.

A "Qaeda" video has been found in Spain, appropriately in a rubbish bin, claiming responsibility for the Madrid bomb attacks. The Spanish authorities have not been able to identify the speaker, and are working on verifying the tape.

Three Moroccans and two Indians have been arrested by Spanish police in connection with the bomb attacks. They are said to have been linked with a mobile phone (to be used a remote-signal detonator, presumably) found with an unexploded bomb of the same type (presumably) as was used.

Two of the Moroccans were "associated with Qaeda".

The "Qaeda" bombings (already it's pretty-well decided) have, Zinoviev-style, turned a probable ruling-Conservative victory in the Spanish elections into an actual Socialist one.

A result that, on the face of it, is against the interests of the world-guzzling US cabal (of whom Spain was a junior "coalition" partner), and in the interests of a genuine Qaeda movement.

15 March 04

NEW SPANISH PRIME MINISTER TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM IRAQ

'Spain's new Socialist prime minister says he intends to withdraw the 1,300 Spanish troops still stationed in Iraq.

'Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said: "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation of Iraq was a disaster."

'The Socialist Party won a shock poll victory after voters appeared to turn on the government in the wake of the Madrid bombs, for backing the Iraq war.

'Mr Zapatero said he planned to call the troops home on June 30 if the situation in Iraq remained unchanged.'

(BBC Ceefax, p.104)

ANTI-TERROR POLICE TO PATROL LONDON UNDERGROUND

'Plain clothes anti-terrorist police are patrolling the public transport system in London for the first time.

'British Transport Police have also announced that more people will be randomly stopped and searched. [And these measures, ostensibly just for terrorism, will no doubt be put to general use.]

'A spokesman stressed the moves have been planned for some time and are not a reaction to the attacks in Madrid. [Indeed. But such attacks are necessary to persuade the public to accept them.]'

'Posters are being put up to encourage public vigilance, while Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has urged people to report anything unusual to police.'

(BBC Ceefax, 15 March 04, p.108)

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City have followed the suicide killings of 10 of its citizens yesterday. ... "Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade say they carried out the suicide blasts in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.' (BBC Ceefax, 15 March 04, p.108)

16 March 04

The Oxford coroner has ruled that there is no need for a further inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly. This is in spite of several outstanding questions ...

'LONDON TERROR ATTACK "INEVITABLE"

'A terror attack on London is inevitable, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens has said.

'Sir John's comments were echoed [at the same venue] by the capital's mayor, Ken Livingstone ["Red Ken, as he used to be known, so it looks good], who said it would be "miraculous" if London escaped attack. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 16 March 04, p.105)

'SAUDI ARABIA[:] Khaled Ali Haj, Osama bin Laden's top man in the Arab peninsula, has been killed by security forces in a gun battle in the capital Riyadh.'

(ITV Teletext, 16 March 04, p.318)

17 March 04

Bin Laden Caught On Camera Before 9.11 Attacks : Drone Plane Filmed Bin Laden in 2000
NBC10 News [page has links to "slideshow" and video footage]

'NBC News has obtained exclusive CIA videotape secretly recorded by a U.S. spy drone 15,000 feet above Afghanistan, which shows a man, believed to be Osama bin Laden [it takes a bit of imagination ...] walking at a known Al Qaida camp in 2000.

'The tape raises the question, if the CIA was able to get close to bin Laden, why did they let him go?

'At the time, bin Laden had been connected to two terrorist attacks on U.S. interests, and in 1998, he had declared holy war on America.

'The extraordinary secret video was shot by the U,S, government in 2000, and obtained exclusively by NBC News.

'In the fall of 2000 in Afghanistan, the unmanned, unarmed Predator spy plane flew over known Al Qaida training camps.

'The pictures were transmitted live to CIA headquarters ...

'Also in that fall, the Predator captured even more extraordinary pictures, showing a tall figure in flowing white robes.

'Many intelligence analysts believed then and now it was Osama bin Laden. ...

'... The video is shot at Tarnak Farm, the walled compound where bin Laden was known to live. ...'

19 March 04

Glasgow Kelvin MP George Galloway has been paid undisclosed but "substantial" damages by the US Christian Science Monitor. The paper ran a story last year claiming that the anti-war activist was in the pay of the Saddam Hussein regime.

The Monitor apologised and said it based the story on forged documents which it had believed were genuine.

(ITV Teletext)

And we can reasonably guess that MI5/6 were up to their necks in this deception operation.

20 March 04

'GUARDIAN[:] a disciplinary procedure, launched by the BBC against its staff involved in the David Kelly affair, has turned into a divisive process.'

(ITV Teletext, p.328)

22 March 04

'Londoners are being urged to make the capital a "hostile place" for terrorists by telling police about any suspicious activities they notice.

'The Metropolitan and City of London forces said that everyone had a role to play in helping save lives and gave tips for spotting potential terrorists.

'They are running a campaign encouraging anyone with any information or concerns to call the Anti-Terrorism Hotline.'

(ITV Teletext, p.304)

[British] Security boss details terror threat
BBC News online, 22 March 04

'Tony Blair's security adviser has warned that al-Qaeda has a growing interest in getting hold of chemical and biological weapons.

'Sir David Omand told a conference in London the next generation of terrorist was already being trained — and were likely to attack economic institutions. ...'

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual head of the Hamas movement, has been killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Bush attacked on terrorism record
BBC News online, 22 March 04

'A former White House security expert has accused President Bush of doing a "terrible job" of tackling terrorism.

'Richard Clarke said Mr Bush ignored warnings of the threat from al-Qaeda before the 11 September 2001 attacks.

'US officials denied this, saying the administration had developed an anti-terror strategy before the attacks. [And how! See "The Lead-Up to 9/11".] ...

'Mr Clarke's comments came ahead of the publication of his book, Against All Enemies, on Monday [today].

'He said Mr Bush appeared obsessed with the idea of blaming former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein [for 9/11].

'"See if Saddam did this, See if he's linked in any way," Mr Clarke quoted Mr Bush as saying in the book.

'"The entire conversation left me in absolutely no doubt that George Bush wanted me to come back with a report that said Iraq did this," he added. ...'

23 March 04

'BUSH AND CLINTON BLAMED [by 9/11 probe]

'Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush failed to act on intelligence and eliminate key al-Qaeda terrorists in the years before Sept. 11, a probe says.

'It said the Clinton administration knew as early as 1995 that Osama bin Laden and Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were linked to terrorism.

'And the commission added the Bush administration did not act on urgent warnings from anti-terror officials.'

(ITV Teletext, p.303)

British Channel 4 News says that Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric detained indefinitely without trial since 9/11, was collaborating with MI5 in the later 1990s, in moves to "immunize" Britain from extremist attacks.

(Cf. Simon Israel, MI5 courted terror suspect", Channel 4 News online, 23 March 04. The page contains a link to a copy [in PDF format] of the report of the Special Immigration Appeals Tribunal.)

24 March 04

Bush team 'agreed plan to attack the Taliban the day before September 11
Julian Borger in Washington, The Guardian (Britain)

'The day before the September 11 attacks the Bush administration agreed on a plan to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan by force if they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, according to a report by a bipartisan commission of inquiry.

'The reported pointed out that agreement on the plan, which involved a steady escalation of pressure over three years, had been repeatedly put off by the Clinton and Bush administrations, despite the repeated failure of attempts to use diplomatic and economic pressure. ...

'... in testimony to the commission, the secretary of state, Colin Powell, said the September 10 meeting of top White House officials, to agree the strategy towards the Taliban, demonstrated a new determination to deal with al-Qaida.

'At a meeting of the Bush administration's top national security officials on September 10, a three-phase strategy was agreed. The Taliban would be presented with a final ultimatum to hand over Bin Laden. Failing that, covert military aid would be channeled to anti-Taliban groups. If both these options failed, "the deputies agreed that the United would seek to overthrow the Taliban regime through more direct action. ...'

Doubtless truthful testimony from honest soft-cop Colin. Except he made a little word-slip: he said "three years" instead of "three weeks" ...

Cf. my essay "The Lead-Up to 9/11".

And come Sept. 10, 2001, "The stocks were sold, the press was squared, the middle class was quite prepared", so to speak.

'[T]he Daily Mirror report[s] that a 15ft concrete wall is to protect the Houses of Parliament.

'Police will "shoot to kill" as part of a "Fortified Commons" clampdown, it adds.' [Presumably, if they blew up the House of Lords, they'd be doing the Blairites a favour.]

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

'The Guardian says Israel's government has approved defence chiefs' plans to "wipe out" the entire Hamas leadership. ...'

(Ibid.)

'FAULTS "MEANT [9/11] PLOT MISSED" [says CIA chief Tenet]

'The White House tried to disrupt al-Qaeda but faults in US intelligence agencies allowed the Sept. 11 hijackers to slip through the net, a probe heard.

'CIA director George Tenet also told the Sept. 11 commission he does not believe the attacks would have been prevented had Osama bin Laden been eliminated. [My emphasis.] [We can be sure of it, old buddy.]

'But he said if intelligence had been better shared among agencies, the US "might have had a chance" to stop them. [Yeah, you and yours might have been caught out.]'

(ITV Teletext, p.305)

25 March 04

'The Financial Times leads on claims that the US administration was warned to step up its fight against al-Qaeda a week before the September 11 attacks. [Which seems to tie in with the plan "to eliminate al-Qaeda", with the administration "completed exactly one week" before 9/11. See "The Lead-Up to 9/11". "Coincidence" piled upon "coincidence".]

'It says the ex-adviser's [Clarke's, presum.] evidence makes Mr Bush's insistence on the wisdom of focusing on Iraq "shakier by the day".'

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

Roy Eccleston, The Australian, 27 March 04

'Imagine a day after a terrorist attack when hundreds of Americans lay dead in the US or abroad, wrote the White House's top terrorism official Richard Clarke on September 4, 2001, and ask yourself what more you could have done.

'The memo to Clarke's boss, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, left no doubt what he felt the answer was: one heck of a lot. He railed about those at the CIA and pentagon whom he perceived as too slow or reluctant to strike with force at terrorist targets.

'One week later, 3000 people were dead, touching off a war on terrorism that specialists such as Clarke, and some at the CIA and Pentagon, had been arguing the US should have started long before. ...

'Back [in Jan. 2001, when the Bush administration came to power, Clarke] claims that he unsuccessfully argued for Rice to accept an updated strategy he had devised to try to "roll back" al-Qa'ida over three to five years.

'But even if it had been adopted by Bush ... it would not have been enough to stop the [9/11] strikes.

'It was not adopted. Rice maintains Clarke did not offer a plan or strategy — just a memo with some ideas, some of which were included in a more "robust" strategy developed over the course of 2001 and settled just before September 11. [See "The Lead-Up to 9/11" for this.] ...

'The CIA had been watching bin Laden closely since setting up a special unit in 1996 while he was in Sudan, where he was seen as a financier of terrorism. [And this unit may well be the key to al-Qaeda — the CIA's most notorious, and successful, front company.]

'By 1997, the CIA received reliable information that al-Qa'ida was a worldwide terrorist organisation, with a formal structure headed by [George Tenet? No —] bin Laden — by then in Afghanistan — and hunting for nuclear material.

'This alarmed the CIA unit [if you like black comedy, you'll be off your seat with laughter any second], but not many others. The officers "felt their zeal attracted ridicule". The State Department did not designate al-Qa'ida as a terrorist organisation until two years later. ...'

See also

"Clarke's book, testimony alter election-year landscape", CNN.com, 26 March 04

Coincident with Tony Blair's visit to Gadaffi's Libya, Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has made a £200 million contract with the formerly-verboten country.

Mexican president Vicente Fox has angrily demanded to know what trapped British potholers (now believed to be from the UK armed forces, perhaps the SAS) were doing on tourist visas in Mexico.

Mexico is a major oil supplier to the USA. Are the "potholers" up to some mischief on behalf of their Big Brothers in Langley and Washington?

British Channel 4 News comments that "conspiracy theorists" will note that the area where they were "potholing" is noted for uranium deposits.

"Conspiracy theorists" is an apology which the British media feels it increasingly necessary to make in a world apparently turned into a real-life giant strip cartoon.

For anyone naive enough to believe we are still living in the age of constitutional democracy ...

'FBI CHIEF IN TERROR WARNING

'Terrorists could attempt to influence the outcome of this year's presidential election by launching attacks in the US and abroad, the FBI director warned.

'Robert Mueller said the Madrid bombings just days before the Spanish election could lead to attacks by extremists [!!!] in the run-up to the US poll in November.

'He added terrorists are now trying to recruit local sympathisers [!!] who are less likely to arouse suspicion.'

(ITV Teletext, 25 March 04, p.307)

Here are some clues to these "local sympathisers", comrades:-

'On 9/11, CIA was running a simulation ...', and "The Purge of the FBI".

'TERROR ALERT FOR OIL PLANTS

[The terror-scare season is late this year.]

'Oil refineries in Texas are on alert after a warning from the FBI that they may be targeted by terrorists.

'Security was tightened at plants along the Gulf of Mexico [nothing to do with those "potholers", of course?] after agents said there had been non-specific threats, based on intelligence from overseas.

'An FBI spokesman said the agency had alerted the Texas Coastal Region Advisory System, a shared information and communication system.'

(Ibid.)

'The Untied States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ahmad Yassin. ...

'Eleven countries voted in favour of the resolution [and] three abstained ... . [The Security council has a membership of 15.]'

(ITV Teletext, 25 March 04, p.309)

26 March 04

'SOHAM INQUIRY URGES NEW ID SCHEME

'[British] SOHAM INQUIRY URGES NEW ID SCHEME

'An identity card for people working with children could be [another back door for a general one? Well ...] introduced as a result of an inquiry into the Soham murders.

'The possibility of such a move came out of the Bichard Inquiry which has been looking at how Ian Huntley got a job as a school caretaker.

'Inquiry counsel James Eadie said it could be part of a "positive vetting" procedure.

'This could lead to "a portable [!] card carrying scheme or a passport scheme".'

(BBC Ceefax, p.115)

The Soham murders case has been raked up to fever pitch and kept there for the specific purpose of promoting a British police state. As an experiment on behalf of our American cabalistic puppet-masters, of course. (See "Ashcroft's Paedophile Terror".)

'CAVERS: FOX "NOT SATISFIED"

'Mexican President Vicente Fox has said he is "not satisfied" with Britain's explanation of the activities of six men who were rescued from a cavern.

'The party of cavers, from the UK military, endured six days underground after becoming trapped by rising water.

'The men were taken to an immigration office in eastern Mexico City where they were questioned about possible violations of their immigration status.'

ITV Teletext, 26 March 04, p.303)

'The US is sending up to 2,000 more marines to Afghanistan to step up the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda and Taleban leaders.

'The troops will join about 12,000 US troops already in the country. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 26 March 04)

Real target, Iran? Cf. the recent and ongoing Iraqi troop "recycling".

27 March 04

'[T]he Independent asks in its headline: " "September 11 attacks: what did Bush know?"

'After a "tumultuous" week in Washington, the question, it says, remains — could the Bush administration have prevented the September 11 attacks.'

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

The next, and penultimate, key date [in 2001 before 9/11] is 6 August 2001. That day Mr Bush, on holiday at his Texas ranch, received his top-secret "President's Daily Briefing", or PDB. The document contained the CIA's latest assessment of the terrorist threat, including renewed intelligence hijacked aircraft might be used in an attack. Calls for its release have been resisted.

28 March 04

'The panel responsible for picking a new BBC chairman has made its recommendation, [UK Media Secretary] Tessa Jowell has said.

'[She] said [the] name of the replacement for Gavin Davies — who quit in January over the Hutton report — was likely to be announced in three weeks. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, p.122)

'The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has handed over the first of the country's 25 government ministries to the interim Iraqi leadership.

'Mr Bremer told Health Minister Khidr Abbas: "You are in the driver's seat on the road to sovereignty". [Only thing is, the driving's back-seat.] ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 28 March 04)

'Afghanistan's first post-Taleban elections have been postponed until September due to security concerns. ...'

(BBC Ceefax, 28 March 04)

29 March 04

An Israeli parliamentary inquiry has severely criticised both Mossad and military intelligence for misleading US and British intelligence over "Iraqi WMD" (and also for under-estimating Libya's WMD programme).

The report said the services "fell far below their usual standard" in presenting their "evidence".

(BBC News 24)

'[UK Home Secretary] BLUNKETT ANNOUNCES "BRITISH FBI"

'Home Secretary David Blunkett has set out plans for a nationwide agency to combat the "scourge" of organized crime.

'Several thousand Serious and Organised Crime Agency [SOCA] staff will fight people-smuggling, drug trafficking and fraud.

'Under the proposals, phone tapping could become admissible as evidence [my emphasis], and sentences cut for informers.

'The agency will replace the National Criminal Intelligence Service, National Crime Squad, parts of the Immigration Service and of Customs and Excise.'

(BBC Ceefax, 29 March 04, p.154)

'... Plans to force [gangster] "godfathers" to hand over their bank statements to prove they have gone straight [my emphasis] and a new "supergrass" system have been proposed.'

(ITV Teletext, 29 March 04, p.303)

Will the above emphasised privacy-busting measures apply just to the hard core of gangsters they are nominally intended for, or to the public in general?

'APOLOGY TO GALLOWAY OVER WAR QUIZ

'[British] MP George Galloway says he has received an apology from police after an officer allegedly unfairly questioned him at Heathrow Airport earlier this month. [Cf. above, under 19 March, for an apology to him from the Christian Science Monitor

'Mr Galloway, the independent MP for Glasgow Kelvin, said he was stopped on the way to an anti-war rally in Belfast.

'Police officers questioned him about where he was going and what he planned to say, under the Terrorism Act 2000. [My emphases]

'A Scotland Yard spokesman said a letter had been written to Mr Galloway but could not comment on the details.'

(BBC Ceefax, 29 March 04, p.114)

For more evidence of emerging British police-state practices, see tomorrow's entries.

'BUSH "PLANNED AL-QAEDA BLITZ" [says Condoleezza Rice]

'The Bush administration had plans in place to destroy al-Qaeda before the September 11 terror attacks, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said.

'Defending herself from attacks from former White House counter-terror aide Richard Clarke, she said the al-Qaeda terrorist threat had not been ignored.

'Pressure is mounting on Dr Rice to give open testimony when she appears before the US commission probing September 11.'

ITV Teletext, p.313)

The British Home Office, and its head David Blunkett, will do everything in their power to close loopholes in vetting procedures, to ensure another Soham tragedy does not occur, Home Office spokesman Stephen Rimmer told the Bichard Inquiry.

(ITV Teletext, p.312)

See "Ashcroft's Paedophile Terror" for some of the background.

30 March 04

Complaints have been voiced in south-west England of the over-zealous use of special powers by police, who interrogated 60 men at Bristol Airport in connection with soccer hooliganism. Travellers complained that they had nothing to do with it; police said that hooligans have been trying to travel indirect routes to the UK-Swedish match (Sweden has no direct air link to Britain).

(BBC Points West regional news)

'RICE WILL TESTIFY [in public] OVER 9/11

'The White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice testify in public under oath in the September 11 commission hearing.

'In addition, President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney have agreed to a single joint private session with all 10 commissioners, an official said.

'The reversal was made on condition that the panel seeks no further public testimony from White House officials.'

(ITV Teletext, 30 March 04, p.307)

'[UK] PHONE TAP THREAT TO YOUNG YOBS

'Police may be given new power to tap the phones of teenage tearaways who cause misery in their communities, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.

'He revealed the [London] Met[ropolitan] Police had asked for a review of rules on intercepting telephone calls and e-mails.

'Mr Blair said there may now be a case for using "intelligence surveillance" against people suspected of committing anti-social behaviour. [E.g., those suspected of intending to vote Conservative or, horror of horrors, for the Lib Dems?]'

(ITV Teletext, 30 March 04, p.308)

We are in the very early, but still crystal-clear, stages of the establishment of a British police state.

MI5 is to establish regional centres throughout Britain to "help in the fight against terror".

(TV news, 30 March 04)

In London and south-east England, eight British citizens (described as "of Pakistani origin") have been arrested in 24 raids. A half-ton of ammonium nitrate was also found.

The operation is said to have been planned, and surveillance carried out, for several weeks or months.

(TV news, 30 March 04)

This agitprop may have been designed, along with "terrorist threats to oil facilities in Texas", etc, to distract attention from the 9/11 commission's revelations in Washington.

UN FOOD SUPPLY TO GAZA "BEING STOPPED"

'Food deliveries to the Gaza Strip will be halted this week because of Israeli restrictions, the United Nations says.

'Peter Hansen, the UN chief responsible for Palestinian refugees, said his agency was no longer allowed to take empty food containers out of Gaza.

'This loss "added intolerable costs to a programme already stung by underfunding", Mr Hansen complained.

'An Israeli spokesman told BBC News Online suicide bombers had used the containers for hiding in.'

(BBC Ceefax, 30 March 04, p.109)

'Pete Hansen ... said the 600,000 people in Gaza could face real hunger. ...'

(Ibid, updated page)

'CONCERN OVER BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS

'Civil rights campaigners have voiced concern over plans to implement a global biometric identity system for air travellers.

'The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is set to agree an international standard for facial recognition on all new passports.

'The plans have the backing of the US government and European Union.

'It will create a global database of over a billion people by 2015, warned Privacy International.'

(BBC Ceefax, 30 March 04, p.154)

31 March 04

'Today's papers seem keen to whip up the terrorism hysteria that surrounds the seizure of potential bomb-making equipment in south-east England.

'"Targets were football grounds, pubs and shops," the Daily Express [the organ of the pornographer/Labour-financier Desmond] announces. ...'

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

'GUARDIAN[:] MI5 played a key role in foiling what the security forces say could have been the most devastating bombing campaign in the UK.'

(ITV Teletext, 31 March 04, p.328, reviews of British papers)

'FAMILY'S MI5 CLAIMS REJECTED

'Relatives of two brothers suspected of a terror plot in Britain have made extraordinary claims that they were visited by an MI5 agent before their arrests.

'Security sources dismissed the claims as "rubbish" but the men's family remained adamant an agent called "Mr Gould" spoke with the pair three times.

'Omar Khyam, 22, and Shujah Khyam, 17, are among eight suspects being quizzed over a find of ammonium nitrate.'

(ITV Teletext, 31 March 04, p.304)

More next month ...

US petrol prices hit record highs
BBC News online, 31 March 04

'... following an explosion and fire at a refinery in Texas.

'The blaze at the BP plant in Texas saw the price of unleaded gasoline hit a record $1.1768 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

'US petrol prices were already high because of a lack of stocks and concern that Opec — meeting on Wednesday [today] — will stick to plans to cut production.

'The fire is not believed to have been caused by "any outside influence". ...

'Like all oil companies in the US, BP has been maintaining high security at its Texan refineries after the FBI warned on March 25 of an unsubstantiated threat of an attack. [Amazing coincidence! But then, we're used to these by now ...] ...'

The refinery is the third-largest in the US.

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