Suspect Device

Vestas strike

2009-11-13T23:38:00.004Z

The following words are not mine, but those of Marina Pepper - treat them with respect:

"Can you believe it? Not content to occupy their factory for 18 days, kettle Ed Miliband at the TUC and banner drop the main hall, take over a roundabout outside their old workplace, and blockade the factory with a tripod, ex-Vestas workers are taking it a stage further."

for the full story visit: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/inbox/?tid=1017436051318 (you may need a facebook account - get one, the article is certainly worth it!!!)

Is the CIA going to get full access to YOUR banking transactions?

2009-11-12T21:41:00.004Z

-- LEAKED DOCUMENT --

European banking data transfer operation may move to the U.S. as part of a new set of operations for the "Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme".

Thats right!

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) has drafted secret proposals to move its European operations hub from Belgium to the U.S.

This follows a concerted interest held by the CIA and other intelligence agencies in these banking records.

The U.S. government seemingly entered in to a secret agreement in 2002 to acquire SWIFT records

Swift currently sends the details of 4.6M transactions per year to the CIA for investigation, it seems that Uncle Sam wants more.

Who's watching your account?

Find the full document here: http://www.wikileaks.org/leak/swift-draft.pdf

Labour MP taking on BNP over Immigration

2009-11-12T16:54:00.002Z

MP for Sandwell, Labours Tom Watson is asking his constituents how they want government to deal with immigration.

Watson is keen to show voters that Labour is not 'soft' on immigration, in an effort to curtail the growth in support for the BNP.

His survey, sent out to Sandwell constituents this month asks:

Should citizenship be earned over a number of years, or given automatically?
Should immigrants have to get involved with community work?
(and) Can you help Tom Watson to stuff envelopes?

Well, at least the survey is kind-of about immigration.

But what of Tom's leading questions, a poor start to his tough immigration policy, and a clear BNP strategy - pose the question in such a way that there is only one socially acceptable answer.

Shame on you Tom Watson MP.

p.s. Anybody that wants to stuff envelopes (or something else) for Tom can reach him via snail-mail at: Tom Watson MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

For a copy of the survey and accompanying letter visit: http://www.wikileaks.org/leak/survey-tom-watson-mp-nov-2009.pdf

Polish police fail victims of neo-nazi group "Blood & Honour" - But leak names the accused

2009-11-12T16:00:00.003Z

Polish police will not be pursuing charges against "Blood & Honour" and it violent hate project 'Redwatch'.

The official 'case dismissal' from the Polish police has been leaked, and it shows that the neo-nazi group with not be brought to court.

Redwatch endorsed attacks against:

Antifacists
Jews
Homosexuals
Left-leaning people

What can the potential victims of Redwatch do when the Polish authorities display a sickening inability to tackle a rising, violent neo-nazi campaign.

For more on this shocking story, visit wikileaks: http://www.wikileaks.org/leak/pl-bh.pdf

Wikileaks is back!!!

2009-11-08T23:17:00.004Z

Good news,

Wikileaks is back!!!!!

Whatever the reason for their earlier shut down, the guardians of the light have returned.

For more: http://www.wikileaks.org/

Where's my Wikileaks

2009-11-08T15:06:00.001Z

Wikileaks has gone walkies.

The anti-corruption, leak publishing website seems to have offline.

Wikileaks been the victim of odious courts orders in attempts to gag and shutdown the service in the past, is this yet another attempt to silence the whistle-blowers’ route to the general public?

I am sure that we will find out soon enough.

Blackwater / Xe documents suing for civil action in Georgia re Iraq

2009-11-08T01:50:00.006Z

This is what they don't want you to see....

Well, lets be fair, they don't care if you or I see it, as long as their employers, such as the U.S. Govt don't see it they don't care, why should they?

In any case Xe (Blackwater) have had the following chargers filed against them regarding crimes committed, the Washington Post states:

"The founder of Blackwater USA deliberately caused the deaths of innocent civilians in a series of shootings in Iraq, attorneys for Iraqis suing the security contractor told a federal judge Friday"

For more information visit:

https://secure.wikileaks.org/leak/xe-blackwater-warcrimes-and-complaint-2009.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/28/AR2009082803782.html

Wes Streeting Campaign on Uni Fees

2009-11-08T00:59:00.002Z

Wes Streeting, president of the UK National Union of Students (NUS) declares:

"We're taking over"

in response to proposals to increase the university tuition fee beyond its current £3,225 limit.

Wes is battling against:

Students unable to afford places

An education system where students are forced to look at the price tag before deciding what to study

graduates compelled to race for the highest salaries to pay off mountains of debt

Find out more at:

http://www.nus.org.uk/en/News/Wes-Streetings-Blog/Dates/2009/10/Calling-all-politicians-Were-taking-over/

Dora the Explorer doesn't respect the rights of indigenous people!!!

2009-11-08T00:16:00.004Z

It seems that our child-friendly, latino explorer friend does not have any time for the native (canadian) north american indians.

Viacom have launched legal action against what, in real terms, is a puny orgainsation, over the usage of theimage of Dora the explorer.

The organisation - Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) - have used images of Dora to help to demonstrate the fact that the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded indigenous land in Canada.

Seemingly, Viacom want to apply the blinkers to young Dora's exploration.

Full Report here:

* https://secure.wikileaks.org/leak/viacom-international-comic-2009.pdf

and here:

* http://olympicresistance.net/category/categories/orn-updates

Big Brother IS watching you

2009-11-07T22:10:00.006Z

Yes, just because your paranoid doesn't mean your not being watched....

It seems that the CIA want to know all about YOUR TWEETS!!!.

The following report was accidentally released by a department within the European Union that specialises in "intelligence gathering".

But what does it mean?

your tweets are being read by more than twitter anoraks
you need to be careful about which facebook groups you join
"Myspace" is not just your space, but potential virtual evidence

So remember, whatever you do, don't dare express yourself across the social webosphere, lest you be chained and gagged.... and much more beside.... anybody for a spot of extreme rendition?

The report: http://bit.ly/1wVLXE

What really happened to Madeleine McCann

2009-11-07T21:30:00.004Z

Carter Ruck, whose recent exploits include the attempt to stop the Guardian from reporting on parliament, have also sought to silence Tony Bennett, author of "What really happened to Madeleine McCann "

The full text of his publication follows, do not let lawyers with deep pockets silence the public:

What really happened
to Madeleine McCann?
10 key reasons which suggest
that she was not abducted

Madeleine McCann was reported missing by her mother, Dr Kate McCann, at 10pm on Thursday 3rd May, 2007. Since then, Madeleine, who was then nearly four, has become the best-known ‘missing child’ in the world. The McCanns claimed she was abducted, by an abductor who has never been traced. They said they were wining and dining in a Tapas bar 100 yards away from where they had left their three young children in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, on the beautiful Algarve coast.

The Portuguese police believed the McCanns were involved in the disappearance of Madeleine. They were made official suspects on 7 September 2007 - and remained so until July 2008. Then, the Portuguese Attorney-General announced that there was insufficient evidence for any person to be charged in connection with Madeleine’s ‘disappearance’, though he added that there was evidence that Madeleine was dead. The McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, who used to head the government’s 40-strong Media Monitoring Unit, whose function Mr Mitchell said was ‘to control what comes out in the media’, claimed that the McCanns had been ‘cleared’.

In October 2007, the senior detective in charge, Goncalo Amaral, was replaced, claiming British government interference in his investigation. A few years earlier, he solved another ‘missing child’ case - that of 8-year-old Joana Cipriano. Her mother and uncle were convicted for her murder, having initially claimed she was abducted. Goncalo Amaral has since written a book, ‘The Truth About A Lie’, showing that Madeleine died in Praia da Luz. A documentary he made about Madeleine’s death can be seen on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxGhlYTNisw

This leaflet gives 10 key reasons which suggest Madeleine was not abducted. It is a shortened version of a 64-page booklet published in Britain in December 2008, titled: “What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 Reasons which suggest she was not abducted”. Information on how to obtain this booklet is on the back of our leaflet.

Reason 1: Statistics show that the vast majority of young children reported abducted from their homes are already dead
Time after time, when young children die or are killed in their own homes, parents claim their child has really been abducted. The death may be from an accident, negligence, neglect or deliberate act. We can simply say: young children are almost never kidnapped from inside their own homes. The Portuguese police were bound to be suspicious of the parents’ claims that Madeleine had been abducted. But these statistics, though very persuasive, do not prove anything. So let us look at nine other reasons which suggest that she was not abducted.
Reason 2: The world-renowned British sniffer dogs, Eddie and Keela, detected the scent of a corpse in 10 places which strongly suggested Madeleine died in the McCanns’ holiday apartment
Here are the main facts about the findings of the two British springer spaniels, Eddie and Keela:
· they were trained by expert dog-handler Martin Grime and are internationally famed for being able to detect the presence of a corpse (Eddie) or blood (Keela)
· Grime said that Eddie had never ever given a ‘false alert’ in 200 previous outings
· Eddie alerts only to human cadaverine - the scent of a human corpse. This is usually only produced in a corpse when the body has been dead for over 2 hours
· Eddie alerted to the scent of a corpse in the following places: the living room, the McCanns’ bedroom, the veranda and the garden of their holiday apartment, on two of Dr Kate McCann’s clothes, on a T-shirt belonging to Madeleine or brother Sean, and on the pink soft toy, ‘Cuddle Cat’ (despite the fact that Dr Kate McCann had already washed Cuddle Cat at least once)
· Eddie also detected the smell of death in the McCanns’ hired Renault Scenic car
· Keela found blood at some of the same locations
· Eddie and Keela were taken to many other apartments and cars in Praia da Luz, but did not alert anywhere else
· checks were made by the Portuguese police as to whether anyone else had died in the McCanns’ apartment or in their car. No-one had
· a neighbour made a witness statement saying that for weeks she saw the McCanns’ hired car with its boot open all night long.

The dogs’ evidence was therefore very clear: a corpse had been in all those 10 locations, and it could only have been the corpse of Madeleine McCann.

Reason 3: The strange reactions of the McCanns when they became aware of the sniffer dogs’ findings
The McCanns initially reacted by desperately inventing possible explanations for the dogs’ findings. Family members claimed the death smell on Dr Kate McCann’s clothes was due to having attended six corpses at work during the fortnight before her holiday. She even claimed that the death smell on ‘Cuddle Cat’ was because she took Madeleine’s toy to work. Then they claimed the smell of death and body fluids found in the car could have come from ‘rotting meat’ and ‘dirty nappies’ in the boot. Finally, they fell back on claiming the dogs’ findings were ‘unreliable’ and ‘valueless’. These explanations were offered only to the media, not to the police.

Reason 4: The sheer impossibility of the abduction scenario
The McCanns have claimed that the abductor entered through an unlocked patio door, found Madeleine in the dark, then decided to open curtains, window and shutter of the children’s bedroom and climb through a window 3 feet above the ground and barely 2 feet wide. He is supposed to have done this without waking any of the three children. According to the McCanns and their friends, he must have done this within the space of 2-3 minutes, in the dark, without being seen or heard, nor leaving any forensic traces like fingerprints, hair, fibres, skin fragments, shoe prints, or glove marks, nor any trace of abrasion marks on or around the window and window-sill. This scenario is so unlikely that we can simply say: this did not happen. When the window-frame was examined, only Dr Kate McCann’s fingerprints were found on it.
Reason 5: The refusal of the McCanns and their friends to help the police
· in September 2007, the police asked Dr Kate McCann 48 questions about Madeleine’s disappearance. She only answered this one: “Are you aware that in not answering the questions, you are jeopardising the investigation, which seeks to discover what happened to your daughter?” She answered: “Yes, if that’s what the investigation thinks".
· the McCanns deleted mobile ’phone records, and refused to allow the Portuguese police to examine any of their medical or financial records including credit card records.
· the McCanns publicly offered to take a lie detector test, then changed their minds
· the McCanns and their ‘Tapas 7’ friends also refused to attend a proposed police reconstruction of the events the night Madeleine was reported missing. Yet they travelled to Portugal for a Channel 4 film which reconstructed their own version of what happened the night Madeleine was reported missing
· a Portuguese newspaper, Sol, tried to talk to one of the McCanns’ friends, Dr David Payne, about what had happened. He refused to talk, saying: “This is our matter. We have a pact”. He added that all requests for quotes and interviews must go through Dr Gerald McCann. Why would the group need to have what has been called a ‘Pact of Silence’ about the circumstances surrounding Madeleine’s ‘disappearance’?

Reason 6: Changes of story by the McCanns and their friends
There have been many changes of story by the McCanns and their friends, and many contradictions within their versions of events - far too many to list here. For example:
· initially, the McCanns claimed that an abductor forced entry to the apartment by ‘jemmying open the shutters’. The police and Mark Warners’ staff examined the shutters, proving this was untrue. The McCanns quickly changed their story to say the abductor must have come in via the open patio door and exited through a small bedroom window
· the description of an abductor by McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner changed several times
· until very recently, the McCanns’ website described a moustachioed man, over 6ft tall, as ‘the probable abductor’, when there was no evidence connecting this man, seen by a tourist days before Madeleine was reported missing, to the events the night Madeleine went missing. Further, he looks nothing like the 5’ 7” man described by Jane Tanner.

Reason 7: The McCanns’ rush to appoint lawyers and PR experts
Immediately Madeleine was reported missing, the McCanns appointed many lawyers and public relations experts to help them, including extradition lawyers. What use would lawyers and PR experts be in finding their daughter? Maybe the McCanns knew from the outset that they would need lawyers and PR folk to defend them?

Reason 8: The strange reactions of the McCanns and their friends after she claimed to have found Madeleine missing
What is one to make of these reactions of Dr Kate McCann on finding Madeleine missing and stating she noticed the shutter and window open?
· she searched the apartment ‘for 10 minutes’, despite on her own evidence the probability that she was not there
· she left the twins in her apartment whilst she ran to the ‘Tapas Bar’ to raise the alarm
· she failed to check on the twins’ well-being. The first thought through most mothers’ minds would have been whether they could also have been interfered with.

In addition:
· in the days after Madeleine went missing, the McCanns were apparently happy to leave the twins in the crèche whilst they courted the media. If they were genuinely distraught by losing one child, would they not stay protectively close to the two they had left?
· the McCanns admit they never physically searched for Madeleine
· despite the claim of Jane Tanner that she had seen a man walking with a child in a certain direction, the McCanns and their friends failed to organise a concerted search in along the route he might have taken.
Reason 9: Making long-term plans to mark Madeleine’s alleged abduction - whilst claiming she was alive and could still be found
From the early days, the McCanns made plans for events to mark the day Madeleine went missing - a sign they didn’t expect to find her:
· just a month after she ‘disappeared’, Dr Gerald McCann said: “We want a big event to raise awareness that she is still missing. It won’t be a one-year anniversary, it will be sooner than that”
· then, on 28 June 2007, he said: “I have no doubt we will be able to sustain a high profile for Madeleine’s disappearance in the long-term”
· the McCanns trade-marked the name ‘Madeleine’s Fund’ and highlighted Madeleine’s eye defect - the coloboma - boasting that her eye defect was ‘a valuable marketing ploy’. This was against the advice of the Portuguese police. You can view where Dr Gerald McCann says this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvdnzIGtf50

Why make long-term plans if Madeleine could be found at any time? Strangely, Madeleine’s eye defect doesn't figure in ‘Missing Person’ descriptions of her on the Portuguese police or Interpol websites. In March 2009, before a Parliamentary Committee, Dr McCann claimed British media made Madeleine ‘a commodity'. Yet just a fortnight after Madeleine went missing, he and his advisors set up a website, a private company to raise money (note: not a charity), and produced goods for sale.

Reason 10: Dr Kate McCann washing the toy ‘Cuddle Cat’
The McCanns claimed Madeleine always took her favourite soft toy, ‘Cuddle Cat’, with her. They then said the abductor had handled ‘Cuddle Cat’, placing it on ‘a high shelf or ledge’. The abductor could have left valuable forensic traces on the toy. So why did Dr Kate McCann decide to thoroughly wash it, something most mothers say they could never do to the soft toy of their missing child. Later, despite Dr Kate McCann washing Cuddle Cat, cadaver dog Eddie detected the smell of death on it. The smell of death remains on items long after they have been thoroughly cleaned.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

If Madeleine McCann was not abducted, and died in the McCanns’ apartment in Portugal, as the original senior detective in the case has very good reason to believe, then those that caused or allowed her death have - so far - got away with it. To read more about what really happened to Madeleine McCann, you can order “What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 reasons which suggest she was not abducted” from our website: www.madeleinefoundation.org or from the address below. Or visit one of these three websites which also have further information:
www.mccannfiles.com www.truthformadeleine.com www.the3arguidos.net
To join our campaign for justice for Madeleine McCann, contact The Madeleine Foundation, 66 Chippingfield, HARLOW, Essex, CM17 0DJ Tel: 01279 635789 e-mail: ajsbennett@btinternet.com website: www.madelelinefoundation.org

Second edition published and printed by Supporters of The Madeleine Foundation, 15 August 2009

Misconceptions, Faux Representations, Failed Responsibilities

2009-03-14T21:10:00.002Z

Dear All,

The past week has seen the murder of two soldiers and of one PSNI Officer. The past week has seen a cross-political consensus that these actions of wanton brutality serve the cause of none, other than those who seek to re-ignite the violence in Northern Ireland (NI). The past week has seen the media celebrate the inter-communal protests against the violence, celebrating it as a sign of the normalising of the social and political situation in NI, promoting the (faux) representation of NI as a place that has reconciled itself with its history, as a place that has near Utopian community relations... .

The media have, generally (but not absolutely), addressed the political response to the killings accurately. The unionists have managed to address the brutality of the murders without reverting to jingoistic calls for the expulsion of republican opposition (on a political level) and have managed to draw a line under the difference between republicans that are determined to follow the peaceful, political path towards a politically normative NI, and those fractious, violent groups that care for little more than their own ability to inflict pain. Likewise, the republicans have condemned (to varying degrees) the violence in NI. Both of these scenarios would have been unthinkable even after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, realistically, few would have predicted such a comprehensively agreeable political consensus, even at this stage in the peace process. This is undoubtedly a positive.

Many negatives remain. One of which is this - even though the vast majority of the people of NI are abhorred by the horror visited upon three families by the recent violence, a minority, and i would argue a significant minority, support the actions. Why is this minority significant? This minority is significant because the historically polarized communities of NI are not nearly as closely bound as the recent reports on the peace marches might suggest. Currently only 5% of NI students study at 'mixed' (mixed protestant & catholic) schools. While the are many reasons for the violence in NI, one key aspect to the violence is that it is (emotionally/psychologically etc.) easier to kill, without remorse, someone that you consider to be the permanent 'other'. The 'other' is easily dehumanised, the 'other' cannot be empathised with, the 'other' is simply not the same as 'me' or 'us'.

The 'other' is still a very important entity in NI, and little has been done to make it otherwise. The other is, in many areas, still separated from 'us' by the 'peace wall'. Massive, concrete or steel, barriers that deny access to the 'other', barriers that deny access to the understanding or 'humanisation' of the other, barriers that help to maintain a social position that offers access to a return to the violent sectarian past of NI.

Hari, in the Indie, offers a simple, but none the less accurate reading of the current situation in NI at the moment, his argument is along these lines: a kid that grows up with a crush on a kid of the 'other' religion, or a kid that grows up playing football alongside a kid of the 'other' religious persuasion is a lot less likely to take up arms in order to inflict trauma upon the 'other' .

An attempt has been made in NI to establish a new narrative, one based upon a normative political situation, a narrative that deals directly with social issues and is above the Manichean tendencies of the recent past. But the fact is that this narrative is fragile, easily broken due to the existing divisiveness of social patterns. During the 70's, 80's & 90's many called for politics to accurately represent a general social call for the end of polarising politics, and demanded a system of politics that above all demanded equality and free speech. Now we stand at fork, a chasm (or at least a difference of opinion). The politicians are representing the aspirations of the people of NI reasonably accurately, but the media seems intent on sowing discontent.

Historically, politics has struggled to represent the 'real' in NI, but now they (imperfectly) are, and culture (historically stronger than politics at representing the 'real') is almost assuming the position of fomenting further violence by adopting a nonsensical critical position of political republican response and accepting as fact (but wrongly so) the cohesive nature of modern NI society.

Obama - Change we can believe?

2008-11-23T19:26:00.002Z

Dear All,

The votes have been counted, the speeches have been given and the jobs are currently being handed out - But will the change promised by President-Elect Barack Obama prove to be beneficial for the middle-east?

This change may prove to have mixed results for different parts of the middle-east. There is a degree of 'box ticking' required when acting as a presidential candidate - one of these boxes requires the candidate to promise full support for the Israeli government actions against Palestinians, Obama, depressingly, duly ticked this box.

It is hard to believe that Obama will support the Israeli government as blindly as Bush has done, and the fact that he felt that he had to offer his vocal support for Israel may have more to do with the Washington power-brokers than his unfettered belief in destroying Palestinian terrorist (freedom fighting?) groups.

Obama's future relationship with Israel/Palestine can only be treated as an unknown. There may be as much potential for a mutually-beneficial outcome as there is for following the current, violent path to the destruction of the Palestinian people.

On a brighter note, one of Obama's key pledges was to take the troops out of Iraq (and posting a significant number to Afghanistan - far from a perfect scenario). Handing security control of Iraq to Iraqi soldiers and police has to be the way forward. The presence of armed foreigners in any country will create disquiet amongst the national population. Obama's aims are matched by the demands of the Iraqi Parliament. There are two important points to consider about the withdrawal from Iraq: The Iraqi security services must be capably equipped to deal with the violence that has become the norm over the past seven years; the withdrawal must be total,this means that Obama must resist the temptation to play puppet-master.

The members of the Iraqi Parliament are by no means a group of saintly, democratically minded Iraqi's. Many have links to the former Bathist regime, 'terrorist groups' and drug trafficking, we can only hope that with the withdrawal of American forces, the Iraqi public can begin to assume the control over government that is celebrated (rightly or wrongly) elsewhere in the world.

There are undoubtedly positive prospective aspects to Obama's presidency, but there are also some questions that have not been fully answered, what of: Israel; Afghanistan; Saudi-Arabia; Lebanon; Somalia; DR Congo, even a resurgent Russia, the bear that is intent of roaring despite its obviously horrific injuries?

These are all grand tasks, but perhaps Obama's greatest task will be to undo and unravel the Bush Doctrine, complete with it's own narrative that has redefined words, nations and groups. Bush's black and white view of the world will have to be broken into a colour scheme that, at the very least, contains shades of gray.

Will this shift in leadership of the worlds mightiest nation shift the world view? Will terrorism cease to be the reply to any concerns about invasion of other nations? Will Obama offer the pen before the sword? How much can a change of face affect a change of policy when Obama must work with the same political system the Bush did?

Only time will tell, lets hope for the best... eh? We have little other choice.

Somalia - Missing The Point?

2008-11-20T12:38:00.004Z

If you allow me, i would like to engage in pseudo-medical, metaphorical speak for a moment. The piracy in the Gulf of Aden, as detrimental to shipping and international trade as it may be, is not a disease or illness - it is a symptom. This symptom suggests an altogether more serious ailment.

Somalia is a broken nation, amalgamated from the joining of the British and Italian protectorates of Somaliland in the 1960's, decades of oppressive rule and cyclical violence has meant that the country has spent the last 15 years in a state of civil war, broken into three distinct regions.

A history of rapacious European imperialism and post-imperialist unrest due to borders that take no account of cultural, ethnic and tribal loyalties and rivalries has left Somalia insecure, violent and insolvent. While there is technically a government, it's influence fails to extend very far beyond the Mogadishu city limits.

The lack of any functional government has allowed European trawlers a free role to exploit the wealth of Somali fish stocks, to the cost of local Somali fishermen. Somalia, with more coastline than any other African country and little organised manufacturing and agricultural economy, fishing is an invaluable resource, but one that they can not protect.

It is in this context, a country on it's knees, in a state of civil war and with no functioning government, that piracy has become such a lucrative industry. While the blame cannot be wholly directed at former imperial powers, they have undoubtedly left a toxic legacy. The Clinton administration's violent efforts in the country, hastily abandoned after the Black Hawk Down incident, proved to be extraordinarily poorly planned.

Somalia currently has an extraordinarily under-manned AU and UN presence in the country. This will need to be substantially increased, and a key part of the AU/UN must be to address the sovereignty of Somali waters, protecting Somali fishing stocks for the Somali people. Semi-functioning, un-official, elected governments in regions such as Puntland must be addressed as Representatives of the people, and the question of Independence needs to be tackled. While this is happening, there will be a need to address the economy: promoting modern agricultural techniques; promoting manufacturing; improving communications, and then improvements in education.

If all that you tackle is the symptom, you can expect the symptom to repeatedly return. The illness itself needs to be effectively targeted. Not by a campaign of 'shock and awe' and certainly not by Blackwater - rather by an effective twin pronged approach that deals with economic issues at the same time as dealing with cultural, ethnic, tribal, regional and nationalistic aspirations.

'In The Navy' With Blackwater

2008-11-20T11:46:00.008Z

One man's misfortune is often anther's gain. Even piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean has it's silver lining... at least for one company. Blackwater is ready and waiting to deploy it's own private navy to help fulfil it's desire for a safer world, at a cost.

Blackwater, infamous for the massacre of civilians on Baghdad's Bloody Sunday, will charge £8,000 - £12,000 for 3 -5 day transits through the Gulf. They are not the only company to offer such services, Hollow Point Services and Eos are amongst a raft of security providers that are offering specialist services for the Gulf, Blackwater are however the most significant players.

Blackwater's shadow army in Iraq, estimated at anywhere between 25,000 and 100,000 personnel (no accurate figures are available), gained notoriety for their indiscriminate murdering of civilians. These extremely well armed and highly trained veteran mercenaries proved that they were not psychologically prepared for the sensitive role required in Iraq. This bodes poorly for shipping in the Gulf.

Companies such as Aramco that lost a tanker carrying two million barrels of oil may see a cost of £12,000 for protection to be well worth it - particularly when considering the ransoms from piracy in the Gulf are estimated to have earned £75M this year alone.

Woe betide any fishing ship, trawler or small freighter that sails too close to a Blackwater protected freighter. The policy of 'shoot first, ask questions later' is likely to be employed to the detriment of Somalian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, Djibouti and Yemeni fishermen. It remains to be seen how much protection can be offered by the Blackwater navy, and, indeed, what the real cost of such protection will be.

It's Nothing New

2008-04-18T15:13:00.006+01:00

In response to the killing of Fadel Shana, Reuters camera-man in Gaza, the Israeli government has promised a "swift, honest, and impartial investigation". The possibility of a fair, thorough and in depth investigation into this 'incident', as the likes of Jeremy Bowen and Robert Fisk may agree, is highly unlikely. The government also stated, as a pathetic form of excuse, that the area was unsafe due to "ongoing fighting against armed, extreme and dangerous terrorist organisations on a daily basis".

Mr. Shana, one of twenty people killed in a day of violence across Gaza, wore a flak-jacket with his press credentials clearly displayed and the car which he was filming near also had clear signs indicating that the occupants were journalists.

Mr. Shana filmed the tank that fired the round that killed him as the round was fired. It has emerged that a number of sources believe, and all of the evidence collected from the attack shows, that the shell used was of a type that was outlawed under the 1980 UN Convention on anti-personnel weapons. The shell explodes in mid-air, shooting out inch-long darts called fletchettes - a number of these were found to have fatally injured Mr. Shana.

The Israeli military have little time for journalists, regularly allowing them to be killed and maimed during conflicts. To claim that the Israeli military intentionally target journalists would be a libelous statement without any proof, it does however seem odd that by looking at Mr. Shana's footage we could clearly see the tank in detail, but the tank commander and gunner seemed to have failed to spot the journalist markings that adorned Mr. Shana and his car.

I have said nothing of the dead Palestinians, Western media does not offer names to the Palestinian dead. The are represented as statistics, they do not have names, so they cannot be people. As long as they are not people, then there is no argument against Israel appropriating the "wilderness" in which these statistics exist and then cease to exist - a statistic does not live or die. It is the duty of western media to report the truths, the reality of the situation, the human impact, rather than to fall back to a few derisive comments on the Israeli social, political and military machine and offer statistics which have the effect of removing any human characteristics of the dead.

AHHH! WMD's

2007-11-28T10:53:00.000Z

Don't you remember it, in the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq? Fictitious and inaccurate reports of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the claim that Iraq could launch it's WMD's in 45 minutes, the genocidal properties of it's chemical and biological weapons. In the months leading up to the war in Iraq the media machines in British and American foreign policy offices ratcheted up their p.r. operations. The mentions of the threats listed above made more and more appearances across the board in media organisations - Creating an atmosphere of fear and justification for the invasion of Iraq.

Have you noticed that over the past few weeks and months that more and more mentions of Iran's military capabilities are appearing in the press? It does not matter that many of these mentions are unsubstantiated rumour or political posturing - they are attempting to create an atmosphere of fear, and with that a semblance of justification for the future invasion of Iran.

They Iranian leadership do themselves no favours, they are not the kind of people that are used to self-effacement. It is clear that their are mixed messages being sent, on the one hand denying that they are in the early stages of producing nuclear weapons, but at the same time celebrating the possibility of destroying Israel with their weapons of mass destruction.

People, watch this space. Follow the reports on Iran that appear in the newspapers and magazines, on television and the radio. Are the reports increasing, is the ground being laid for an eventual declaration of war?

Annapolis - The Death Sentance

2007-11-28T10:30:00.000Z

The Independent took the obvious step of condemning the Annapolis conference with a front page that accurately refereed to Ehud Olmert as the leader of a crumbling coalition government, Mahmoud Abbas as the leader of only half the Palestinian people and the mediator George Bush as mistrusted and unpopular.
At best, the conference is likely to signal the death sentence of Olmert's reign in Israel and Abbas' presidency in the occupied territories. At worst the conference will provoke further internecine killings in Palestine as well as further polarisation of the two major political forces in Palestine - Hamas and Fatah. They conference is also likely to provoke attacks and counter attacks between Israeli and Palestinian forces. The one thing that the conference will not achieve is peace, or indeed any progress on working towards peace.
Given the positions of the three leader i have mentioned, none are in a position to change foreign policy, or to speak on behalf of their respective peoples. Bush is set to step down from the American presidency soon, Olmert's cabinet will not survive and meaningful decisive decisions, and Abbas is not in a position to speak for, or to state that he can control the actions of Palestinians.
The only honest reason for Mr. Bush calling this peace conference (as it is clear that it will achieve little on the peace front) is perhaps to shade over his current reputation of warmonger with the far more acceptable reputation of international statesman and peace broker. It is a cynical view, but what other reason can there be?

Hunger Strike

2007-11-21T13:54:00.000Z

So, it has come to this. The last effort of any peaceful protest has begun - Hunger Strike. As of the 19th November 2007, Imran Khan has gone on hunger strike, protesting at the Pakistani state of emergency imposed by Pervez Musharraf and the seizure of the judiciary.
Mr. Khan, having successfully completed the transformation from superstar cricketer to politician may now be about to make another transformation, from politician to martyr.
The hunger strike has been a weapon of mixed affect when it has been used in the past, Republican Bobby Sands died on hunger strike in prison in Northen Ireland, but perhaps more aptly, Gandhi went on hunger strike to stop the violence that followed the partition of India and Pakistan. After five days of Gandhi's hunger strike, opposing leaders agreed to end the bloodshed, but only twelve days after Gandhi stopped his hunger strike he was shot dead by a Hindu gunman.
While any comparison between Imran Khan and Gandhi would be at best premature, the power and the historic context of the hunger strike will not be lost upon the Pakistani population. My fear for Khan is that Musharraf will not back down from his position, and that the Pakistani people may need martyr to truly unify their stance and organise their demands for a free and democratic Pakistan.
I am not using the term martyr lightly, but for a figure as popular as Imran Khan to die on hunger strike while calling for the freedom of Pakistan will surely be forever seen as a martyr. Almost 67 years after the death of Gandhi, Musharraf may be about to consign another peaceful protester to an early grave and in the process be the architect of his own downfall.

Rise Up – Imran Khan’s Battle Cry

2007-11-14T16:19:00.000Z

This was Imran Khan’s message to the students of Pakistan: “The students have to be mobilised to save the judiciary.” Whether or not Khan sees a political advantage in inspiring the students to rise up is unimportant. Khan sees the need for a revolt – either through political means, civil disobedience or even violent revolution – as necessary to protect Pakistan.
Khan fears that regardless of what the Musharraf junta does regarding the emergency, even if it was to be lifted tomorrow, renders the elections meaningless. Khan’s statement could prove extremely accurate. If Musharraf was not re-elected in the election, would he simply step down, or would he prop himself up in power with the army behind him? One is reminded of the old Ford quote “You can have any colour car, as long as it’s black.” You can have anyone as president of Pakistan, as long as they are Pervez Musharraf.
Another problem of perhaps equal importance is how will the current state of affairs in Pakistan change Pakistan’s future relationship with the U.S.? At the moment the U.S. still supports General Musharraf, although it may be fair to say that the support is far more tentative than it has been in the past. However, as the pro-democracy supporters in Pakistan decry the actions of Musharraf at the same time that they see the U.S. supporting him, the popular mass pro-democracy movement in Pakistan can quite easily morph into the popular mass anti-American movement in Pakistan.
This would be something that the Americans should be trying very hard to avoid. They already suspect that Osama Bin Laden and many of his henchmen currently reside just inside Pakistan on the Afghan border, if their suspicions are correct; they will need all the support that they can get from the future Pakistani government.
The political climate currently on show in Pakistan is not unlike that in Afghanistan during the period directly before the Russian exit in the late 1980’s. Groups from all walks of life formed alliances to drive out the Russian invaders, but once the common enemy had been removed, the alliances were shattered as various groups fought for dominance in Afghanistan, until the Taliban eventually won out.
The Americans, in their support for Musharraf, could be creating fertile conditions for anti-American ‘extremist’ organisation to be conceived and grow.

"The War On Terror".. oops

2007-11-06T11:07:00.000Z

Ah, the worm seems have turned Mr. Crusader against terror.
How odd it must feel for Mr. Bush that having created a phrase that gives him the green light to take unilateral action against any nation in the world he wishes, other nations are now using his tool to do as they like.
The Turks, in a harsh form of poetic justice, have decided that the only way they can counter the Kurdish rebel threat is to invade Iraq (or at least a small section in the north of the country). Mr. Bush has no real recourse to this action, as not only are the Turks fighting the "war on terror" by doing this, they are taking the same actions the U.S. and British did five years ago, even to the point of invading the same country. While there is a clear funny side to this Turkish story, there is nothing amusing about the situation.
Many countries outside of the U.S. have already used the "War on Terror" to lesser extents in order to justify funding from the U.S. and to gain local political advantages, but the Turkish move has in my view set a precedent, a benchmark for other nations to reach and perhaps surpass.
One of these nations is Pakistan, its leader Pervez Musharraf (do not forget that he is a military dictator brought to power by a military coup), has long been a recipient of money weapons and training from the U.S. Now, the U.S. and Britain has had many poor experiences with the dictatorial types. Their secular Iranian King was deposed in the 1950's and replaced by the Ayatollah, their man in Afghanistan needs no introduction - Mr. Bin Ladin, their man in Iraq - Mr. Hussein, their Saudi regime - allowing Islamic fundamentalism to grow, the list goes on and on, but I'm sure that you get the idea.
Mr. Musharraf would probably not still be in power had the U.S. not propped up his economy. But now their man in Pakistan has shut down the free press, he is arresting lawyers and members of the judiciary, as well as civil rights leaders, he is seeking out members of the political opposition for arrest, he has held the constitution in limbo - it is there but being disregarded. Safe houses are being set up by the population in towns and cities around Pakistan to ferry and protect those with arrest warrants on their heads.
These steps are being taken, according to Mr. Musharraf, to help crack down on Islamic extremism, ie. a battle in the "War on Terror." This is the story that Mr. Musharraf would like us to believe, however, with the Pakistani Supreme likely to rule (or at least it would be had they not been arrested or in hiding) that no man or woman may lead the nation and hold a post in the Pakistani army at the same time (Mr. Musharraf's title being General Musharraf), coinciding with elections due in January, these bizarre steps can be seen as Mr. Musharraf desperately seeking to cling to power in a manner that may destabilise the country, demolish its fragile economy and perhaps even lead to civil war, or yet another military coup.
As the benchmark of what one can get away with while fighting the "War on Terror" continues to be pushed further and further, one wonders how far it may go. Will the fearsome Irish Army invade the Isle of Man in order to destroy the WMD factories there that specifically threaten our Ostrich farms (Information on the WMD factories sourced from the creative writing department of the Pentagon). Will the Royal Marines leap over Hadrian's wall and re-conquer Scotland based on the threat of the militant wing of the S.N.P. (Information courtesy of those that brought you evidence of Iraq's uranium enrichment circa 2000). Surely if these actions are part of the "War on Terror", then surely they are justifiable. Even if the evidence is not just wrong but completely fictitious.
P.s. - As of the time this article was published there were/was no (firm evidence of, but we are still looking) WMD factories on the Isle of Man, nor do (we have any solid proof that) the S.N.P. have a military wing.

Protest Songs

2007-11-06T11:05:00.000Z

Last week saw large protests at the official visit to Britain of King Abdullah of Saudi-Arabia. These protests were clearly justifiable, you do not need me to go into the details of the reasons for the protests as they were intensely covered by just about every British media outlet over the last week.
The point that I wish to make (and please do not under any circumstances think that I am defending Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud, or any of the domestic or foreign policies practised by the Saudi Government) is that a lot of the problems and abuses attributed to Saudi Arabia, the problems and abuses that have protestors out on the march, also exist closer to home, not just geographically, but politically. Perhaps Britain’s greatest International partner for the past half-century, the United States of America is responsible for internment without trial, notoriously so in its Guantanamo Bay ‘detention centre’. The U.S. is also responsible, with the assistance of British airfields, for transporting ‘terror suspects’ to foreign countries, perhaps even Saudi Arabia, to exercise its ‘extreme rendition’ policy. ‘Extreme rendition’ is a term, much like ‘collateral damage’ or ‘road map’ (to peace etc. – read Oslo Accords, Madrid Conference, Camp David Summit) that military/defence/diplomat types like to use to poorly disguise the real meaning of a term. The ‘road map’ is code for a peace process, ‘collateral damage’ is code for the loss of civilian life or infrastructure and ‘extreme rendition’ is code for interrogation under torture. It seems that while Mr. Bush managed to inflict huge damage to human rights in the ‘Patriot Act’ that followed September 11th 2001, he did not quite get the senate to sign up for systematically torturing prisoners on American soil, instead they are shipped to other countries where CIA men supervise the torture interrogations.
The political system in Saudi Arabia has also come under fierce criticism, and rightly so, it is an archaic, medieval system. But then again, wasn’t there doubt over Mr. Bush’s first presidential success, and his re-election success if I remember correctly? In Britain the past two Labour wins have been pretty much beyond doubt, but the problem here begins when you consider that even up until the 1980’s Britain had two major political parties that had polarized political views, but of late the Conservatives and Labour seem to be doing their best to mimic each other. When the choice is only cosmetic, is it a choice at all?
I have read in more than one source that the Saudi regime fund militant Wahabbi Madrassa’s in various countries. Clearly this can’t be a good thing, teaching Islamic fundamentalism alongside weapons training and bomb making. I can hear you say “okay, I believe what you said about the politics and the torture and internment, but surely Britain or the U.S. haven’t funded militant madrassa’s?” Well, not quite, however they did provide money, weapons and training for the Taliban in the 1980’s. This was around about the same time that they were providing chemicals used to make poison gas and weapons and money to Saddam Hussein. Also there are the small matters of the Contras in Nicaragua, the Bolivian military dictatorship, General Pinochet in Chile – all former friends of and receivers of support from the British and American governments.
It is a wonder that the truth can be so well hidden in what is supposed to be an indubitably democratic state. It seems that many people, even the tree hugging protesting types (and I would likely be one of them had I the time), are so easily led by just a little deceit and low quality deception.
So the next time you see Mr. Bush paying a visit to Mr. Brown, or whomever happens to be in charge of misleading the public at that time, think to yourself: ‘I should be out there, protesting as vociferously as we did against Mr. Abdullah.’ I will, or at least I would had I the time.

Nuclear Wind - Our Poisoned War

2007-10-17T15:42:00.000+01:00

"DU is a crime against God and humanity. It has to be stopped" Major Doug Rokke, Health physicist assigned to US Army DU Assessment Team, 1991. US Army DU Project Director.
But what is DU, and why is it so bad? DU, short for Depleted Uranium, is a substance 1.7 times denser than lead, it is the waste product from uranium enrichment and it is used by both British and American armed forces for its 'bunker busting' abilities. When a round containing a DU head or core is fired at an armoured vehicle or building it bursts through the outer defence and explodes inside the vehicle or building, as it explodes it turns into a burning cloud of vapour, which in turn settles on the ground as radio-active dust.
DU ammunition was widely used in the Gulf War of 1991, and in the recent Gulf War during the allied 'shock and awe' campaign.
Now, an intelligent person may argue that using radioactive weapons, under any circumstances is a bad idea - Not former British Secretary of Defence, Chris Hoon in 2003 "DU will remain part of our arsenal for the foreseeable future because we have a duty to provide our troops with the best available equipment with which to protect themselves and succeed in conflict."
In order to gain perspective on this issue we will look not at the result of using DU munitions in the most recent gulf war, as those results will not be clear for many more years. We will look at the affect of the use of DU munitions in the first gulf war, 16 years ago.
Throughout the first gulf war, the allies dropped thousands of tonnes of bombs on Iraq, hitting the essential services such as electricity plants, water refining plants etc. Many of these munitions contained DU. The result of this was that in heavily bombed areas, entire families that had no history of any serious illnesses began to contract cancer. Al Mansour Children's Hospital in Baghdad, which saw 270 cases of cancer and leukemia in the 24 year period between '78-'92, saw 1,714 cases in the 10 years following the gulf war between '92-'02.
In 2001, 611 children were born with serious defects (compared to 37 in 1990): no limbs; no eyes and numerous other serious defects. The one factor that applied to all of these victims was that they lived in areas where the allied shelling was particularly heavy during the first gulf war. Another sad footnote to these problems was that many of those affected by the spread of cancer had no access to cancer drugs, or even effective painkillers (in order to die a more comfortable death) due to the trade sanctions placed on Iraq after the war.
Many of the cancers were caused by inhaling minute, unnoticeable amount of DU radio-active dust. These cancers affected the internal organs such as the kidneys, lungs and caused bone cancer, as well as dozens of other areas.
A further shocking factor in this debacle is that the ground is now radio-active, the water is infected. The choice between dieing of thirst or drinking cancer causing water is one that i hope i never have to make.
I admit, this sounds like one depressing fact after another, and i am sorry to say that there is one more important factor that may affect us all more directly. The radio-active pollution from the Chernobyl disaster reached England and Wales, and the microns of radio-active dust from these weapons is finer than the red Sahara sand than can reach Britain when the wind blows from the south. It is not unreasonable to assume that radio-active winds may reach Britain from Iraq from time to time.
For everything that i have said, i have left much more out. Please refer to http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=199 (Stop the war coalition) or Robert Fisk's "The Great War For Civilisation - The conquest of the Middle-East" for vastly more information

Olmert to split Jerusalem?!?

2007-10-17T11:27:00.000+01:00

Ehud Olmert has suggested that the previously indivisible Jerusalem, may in fact be divided. Such a statement is tantamount to blasphemy to most Zionist Israeli's, and any action to engage in the division of Jerusalem is sure to be met with firebrand resistance by a significant section of the Israeli population.
Jerusalem is of central importance not just to the Israeli's (as their spiritual and geographical capital), but Jerusalem also holds some of the holiest shrines in Islam and is seen by many Palestinians as their spiritual and geographical capital. Israel captured the city of Jerusalem during the six days war in 1967, and the question of Jerusalem has been proven to be a fatal stumbling block in every attempt at peace negotiations since.
The division of Jerusalem is seen to be absolutely essential in any possible two state peace solution in Israel/Palestine, and it will be a bitter pill for any Zionist to swallow, but it is necessary. However, within the division of Jerusalem there is little space for negotiation with both sides claiming sovereignty over many of the same areas of Jerusalem that hold historical or religious importance.
The division will be tough for both sides, but the prospects of future peace will make any interim pain worth while. It is a brave politician that sacrifices his/her career for making the right choice on important, because if Olmert is ultimately responsible for the division he will be an extremely unpopular figure in Israel, his political career will have died.
By the way, he could wake up tomorrow and change his mind, ignoring his previous call for the division of Jerusalem, it seems to be a problem that affects the memory of many a right-wing Israeli politician.

Blackwater Blunder

2007-10-10T15:18:00.000+01:00

Care to imagine, if you will, a private security company. Its staff are made up of highly trained, combat hardened, former soldiers. They are equipped, man for man, better than the U.S. army. They are not subject to the laws of the country that they operate in, nor are the subject to the laws of the country in which they are based. In essence, this private security company could do as they liked, well, almost.
Is this or is this not a scary thought. The company that I am talking about does exist, it is called Blackwater, and amongst its clients are the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Last month the jumpy security personnel shot dead 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians, their punishment was that they were ordered to pay $4 million to each of the families of the victims. They will not go to court neither in Iraq nor the U.S. for any sort of criminal acts, they will not even lose the contract that they hold with the American Embassy in Baghdad.
Yesterday they shot dead two Iraqi women in a car that they felt had passed too close to the convoy that they were escorting. There were also a number of children in the back of the car that were fortunate not to have been killed or seriously injured. Blackwater can probably expect to be ordered to pay compensation to the families of those involved, but it would seem that they will escape all charges of criminality or murder.
While the jumpiness and perhaps fear felt by the security personnel of Blackwater is understandable, it is absolutely no excuse for their trigger-happy, murderous antics.
The people of Baghdad, the Baghdadis', walk the streets knowing that they do not just risk kidnap, being caught up in a bombing, being caught up in tribal warfare, in internecine fighting as well as regular criminality, but now they know that they could be the victims of any number of private security companies operating in the area. All they have to do is to come to close to a convoy, appear as though they may be concealing something, or even just walking around with a camera (camera's are notorious in war zones, many a photographer has been killed because from a distance soldiers thought that his camera was a gun).
To the Baghdadis, i bid them good luck.

..........................................................They'll need it.