Iraq: Reality Behind the Spin

Iraq has dropped from the news somewhat recently following a spin-campaign by the Bu$h administration to (again) say how Iraq had 'turned the corner';

Rocket and mortar attacks in Iraq are reported to have fallen to their lowest levels for nearly two years. The US military said such attacks in October fell to 369, half the level during October 2006. This is the third month running of reduced rocket fire Mortar and rocket attacks in Baghdad showed a similar pattern, falling to 53 in October from more than 200 in June.

So we are to believe that its all going great. But I personally doubt that this is the case. When you read between the lines of the few reports that come out of Iraq outside the Green Zone it all seems far from improving and instead, that the seeds of further destruction are being laid;

Meet Abu Abed: the US's new ally against al-Qaida...The Americans pay him $400 (£200) a month for each fighter he provides, he said, and he had 600 registered. His men are awed by his courage, his piety and his neurotic rages....When we arrived at the house where the alleged al-Qaida commander was hiding, Bakr [one of Abu Abed's gunmen] was already in action. He was dragging a plump man into a car, grabbing his neck with one hand and his BKC machine gun with the other. The horrified man begged them not to take him. "By Allah, I didn't say Qaida is better than you, you are our brothers, just let me go!" A gunman kicked the man and pushed him into a car. The suspect's brother, still in his pyjamas, pleaded, and women in nightgowns stood in the street wailing and begging the gunmen to release him...Abu Abed, screaming and pointing his gun, charged at the crowd. "Qaida is better than me? I will show you!"

Great tactic, replacing one group of psychopathic thugs for another. That what is being called 'progress' in Iraq. Meanwhile in Basra, things are also nothing like the 'democratic' lace UK soldiers have supposedly fought for;

To reach Basra airport, the last remaining British base in Iraq, you have to pass through a series of Iraqi and British checkpoints. I took an official taxi, one that is permitted to drive into the airport. At a British checkpoint, a young soldier with sandy hair and a dirty flak jacket stuck his head through the window and said: "Badges."

The driver handed over his ID badge and I gave him my passport. He handed the passport back and kept the driver's badge. "Money," he said to the driver.

"Me no money," the driver said in broken English, forcing a big smile on to his face. "Money, moneeeyyy," said the soldier. He pointed at the driver's shirt pocket. "Me no money ... me badge please," the driver said, laughing.

"You give money, I give you badge," said the soldier. "Camera, camera," said driver, pointing at the nearby British watchtower. "Money, money," repeated the soldier.

The driver handed the soldier a 5,000 Iraqi dinar note, worth around £1.50.

The soldier tucked it in his pocket and said: "No, I want that." He pointed at a red 25,000 note in the driver's hand. The driver insisted, "No." After a bit of haggling, he was handed the badge.

"Fuck you, British," the driver said as he sped off.

Wicked plan, sting the taxi drivers for £1.50 - that'll help the War of Terror progress and 'turn the corner'. And finally, the price women continue to pay and pay in the global War of Terror;

Khalaff told the BBC this week that 42 women had been killed in Basra between July and September as part of a campaign by religious extremists elements carrying out a campaign of violence and intimidation against women.

Great - they could meet up and chat with the Saudi's and exchange tips on terrorising women.

Maori Resistance and the War of Terror


I read an article in the Guardian recently about a group of Maori's who were arrested under a giant terrorist sweep:

Sixteen people are on trial in Auckland district court following the raids, the culmination of a year-long police undercover operation that involved up to 300 officers and was centred on the isolated North Island hamlet of Ruatoki, gateway to the Urewera mountains that are home to the fiercely independent Tuhoe tribe. The raids followed sightings of "armed men in camouflage and balaclavas moving through forests carrying heavy packs and firearms". There are unconfirmed claims that among the weapons seized was a napalm bomb, or perhaps some molotov cocktails, and rumours that the prime minister, Helen Clark, may have been a target

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It all sounds very dramatic and seems to follow the pattern of similar UK raids that were all hype and no substance; the duff Forest Gate raid the so-called ricin plot and so on - the War of Terror gone mad (or exploited for political reasons). Thanks to Indymedia New Zealand we are able to find out loads more about this case and how it has panned out, and yes, so far the 'terrorism' looks like all smoke and mirrors:

At a press conference broadcast live on radio new zealand, solicitor-general David Collins has announced his decision denying a police request to lay charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act. This means that none of the 17 people arrested in so-called "terror raids" will be charged under the terrorism act. The solicitor general had access to police evidence which has not been made public. Although he stated that the police had 'acted properly' in their investigation, he denied the request to lay charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act.

The War of Terror has always had a duplicitous and insidious hidden agenda of geo-strategic control and this is now becoming increasingly clear - it is a War on Democracy, for example we see Musharraf in Pakistan, our ally, arresting democracy supporters under the guise of 'combating extremism', given the billions of dollars he receives in military aid, his move could not have happened without some form of complicity.

PS. Its remembrance day and a couple of links of note:
http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/
http://www.ppu.org.uk/poppy/index.html

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I SHIT YOU NOT! The U$ is Funding Violent Al Qaeda-Linked Groups to Contain Iran

OK, I'm a fairly obsessive Iraq-watcher, even I was gob-smacked by this one and think it should be front page news:

The US is Funding Violent Al Qaeda-Linked Groups to Contain Iran

"In Lebanon, the Administration has co-perated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda...."We are in a program to enhance the Sunni capability to resist Shiite influence, and we’re spreading the money around as much as we can,” the former senior intelligence official said. The problem was that such money “always gets in more pockets than you think it will,” he said. “In this process, we’re financing a lot of bad guys with some serious potential unintended consequences. We don’t have the ability to determine and get pay vouchers signed by the people we like and avoid the people we don’t like. It’s a very high-risk venture."

Now if the news had come from some nutty conspiracy theorist, you could ignore it, but it comes from Seymour Hersh - one of the most respected and decorated investigative journalists in the world today.

War on Terror? Nope - just a War of Terror.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/05/070305fa_fact_hersh
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Dawkins Smashed Religion

Richard Dawkins hammers at the idea the religion begets morality: