The Tough Questions
Amidst all the coverage of the events in Basra nobody seems to want to ask the tough questions; what were two SAS guys doing in Arab dress? Why was their mission not known the local cops? Were they carrying bomb-making kit?

J.V. Grady is a former member of US Military Intelligence; "It is quite possible, even probable, that many of the bombings against the Shi’ia and Sunni populations are being carried out by American, British, and even Israeli operatives.

Perhaps the most interesting and sinister field in Intelligence is Covert Action (also referred to as Clandestine Operations, Black Ops, and Black Operations).

The main thing about Covert Action is that it must be deniable. There is a term called 'plausible deniability'. When a government authorizes a covert action operation, the operation must be done in such a way that the government can claim that it knows nothing about it; in other words, the operation must not be attributable to the government that authorized it

The British regularly employed Covert Action operations in Ireland, with the result that it is likely that the IRA often took the blame for violent actions with which they had no involvement, although they were hardly innocent players in the general mayhem....The policy in Iraq is to keep the country destabilized and on the verge of civil war to show that it cannot govern itself and that it therefore requires the continued presence of American and British forces. The man accused of being behind much of the bombing going on there is Al-Zarqawi, a man known to be dead for some time now. Also, because he is (or, rather, was) a Sunni, bombings against the Shi’ia population, if blamed on him and the Sunni insurgents, can keep the pot of civil war simmering, thus giving further justification to keeping American and British forces there.

Most recently, two British Covert Operations specialists were captured in Basra, in Southern Iraq. They were disguised as Arabs and were carrying bomb-making materials. When Iraqi police tried to apprehend them, the two covert action operatives resisted arrest and killed two policemen. They were eventually caught and held in jail. After the British military learned that they had been captured, it sent tanks into Basra to forcibly free the two men. An enraged mob attacked the tanks with petrol bombs, and people around the world saw British soldiers jumping out of a flaming tank and being stoned. The reaction was one of sympathy for the British soldiers. Few stopped to wonder what was behind the anger and the assault. Most were sympathetic towards the 'poor' British soldiers, who were perceived as being unjustly victimized.

So, who is behind many of the bombings against the Shi’ia and Sunni populations? It is quite possible, even probable, that many of them are being carried out by American, British, and even Israeli Covert Action operatives."

The Moral High Ground

I read an interesting article in the Independent about 'Fuck For the Forests' where volunteers make free porn and then upload it to the main site. People can subscribe to the site to watch it - and the money raised goes to forest conservation projects - 'Fuck For the Forests' or FFF. I've been involved in many fundraisers in my time and the sums they have raised ($100,000 since the site went live in April last year) are pretty impressive. What I found a little irking about the article is that the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) refuses to accept their money, not happy with out its raised. Hmmmmmm. I'm not up to date on the WWF for '05, but in '01 I don't think they were in any position to take up any moral high ground:

"The World Wide Fund for Nature has moved even closer to its new friends, by appointing as its boss the former chief executive of one of Britain’s most controversial quarrying companies. In Papua New Guinea, it struck a deal with the oil firms Chevron and BP. The oilmen gave a WWF conservation project $1 million. In return, leaked documents from Chevron revealed, 'WWF will act as a buffer for the joint venture against … international environmental criticism'. Last year the NGO held back publication of a damning report on tropical forest destruction, for fear of upsetting the companies it named."

Iraq – No News is Always Bad News

The phrase goes; no news is good news. Except this does not seem to apply in Iraq. Even though the mainstream media tends not to report on the war – the war goes on nonetheless. For example, if you check AlertNet.org, the Reuters service informing humanitarian organisation what’s going on where, you’ll see how thick the shit is caked on the fan. For example this is an edited version of yesterday (8th):

TIKRIT - Two Iraqi soldiers guarding oil industry assets were killed and another nine wounded by a roadside bomb in the al-Jazeera area, west of Tikrit, a police source said.

TIKRIT - An Iraqi lawyer was killed late on Wednesday after being abducted by kidnappers dressed in military uniforms and travelling in civilian cars, a police source said.

BAGHDAD - A civilian was wounded by a car bomb that exploded in a residential area near the al-Sadeer Hotel in the central Karrada district of Baghdad, a police source said.

MOSUL - Iraqi and U.S. forces have killed seven insurgents and detained another seven since Wednesday during a cordon and search operation in the northern town of Tal Afar, near Mosul, a U.S. military statement said on Thursday.

And this is today, as of 8.15 GMT:

BAGHDAD - One policeman was killed and five wounded when unknown gunmen fired on their patrol in western Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - One civilian was injured when a roadside bomb exploded targeting a Shi'ite mosque in southern Baghdad on Thursday, police said.

This is in addition to the normal news feeds from Iraq covering larger stories. This goes on and on, each morning you can see more. The Independent reporter, Robert Fisk also pointed out in an article about a year ago, that many security incidents don’t event get reported. Plus the many many civilian deaths by the collation forces – they don’t get logged.

Quagmire.

PS. In regard to the post - http://anarchist606.blogspot.com/2005/08/disarm-dsei-2005-protests-win-economic.html - It was pointed out to me that this might not be the victory I had speculated. If the police set a president that events (including protests) have to pay their own policing – it would mean that protesting would become priced-out for most people. Another expression, like freedom of speech, commodified and so given to the rich and not the poor.