War in Iraq and its aftermath - archives back to Feb 9 2003

Jan 22 ~ "...within the Bush White House lies an ugly beast that never gets acknowledged" Washington Post

Richard Cohen of the Washington Post speaks out after President Bush's State of the Union speech " The administration misled the American people, either purposely or out of incompetence. This is not a minor matter, because war, with all its unforeseen consequences, is not itself a minor matter -- nor is the loss of some 500 American lives." Read in full

Jan 22 ~ Yesterday Jack Straw hinted that elections in Iraq could be brought forward to this summer

Times ..Mr Straw told the World Economic Forum in Davos: "We want elections as soon as it is feasible to hold them. We have to take account of what Ayatollah al-Sistani is proposing. Either a solution is possible or not. The discussion which has been stimulated by Ayatollah al-Sistani is whether there could be an element of elections injected into the earlier part of the process.....A senior UN official said yesterday that it wanted to bridge the differences between the two sides and hoped to have a report ready by the end of next month. He said that the organisation was wary of being caught in the middle.
A spokesman for Ayatollah al-Sistani said that the cleric welcomed the expected arrival of the UN team, the first officials to visit Iraq since UN staff were evacuated from the country last year after two suicide-bomb attacks. ..
... Although there is no electoral register, there is a national list used for rations..." "

Jan 22 ~ Mr Bush's self-serving timeline

Guardian Leader "......Another rethink is required before it is too late. As we have said before, direct, democratic elections must be held as swiftly as is feasible. If the UN concludes that practical problems truly prevent that happening by June (for such problems, while significant, have been exaggerated), then Mr Bush's self-serving timeline must be altered accordingly. He has often pledged, after all, to see the job through, however lengthy, to "do what it takes for what is right". He started it; he must finish it, not cut and run. There is no good reason why, if more time is needed to ensure a legitimate process and to avoid chaotic alternatives, Iraq should not aim for a national poll this autumn. In the US itself, November 2 is thought to be a good day for an election."

Jan 21 ~ "UN the only possible legitimate body in the area. There will not be a transition to a peaceful self determination in Iraq as long as US and UK occupiers are still there."

An emailer writes of BBC Radio 4 "Taking a Stand"
" This was fascinating today, with Keane interviewing Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentgon papers re the reasons for the Vietnam war and how the grounds for conflict were manufactured.
Ellsberg stated towards the end that Bush and Blair had lied outrageously to the people "systematically and outrageously deceived their publics", and implied that he hoped that someone would feel duty bound to leak papers on a big scale as he had done in order to expose the crimes.
He said there would be a mass of incriminating evidence in the UK. No transcript is available unfortunately. The audio will only be available until the next programme in the series, presumably until next Tuesday."

Jan 21 ~ Kurds turn against US after losing control over oil-rich land

Kurdish community claims it had more autonomy under Saddam Independent "Iraqi Kurds, the one Iraqi community that has broadly supported the American occupation, are expressing growing anger at the failure of the United States and its allies to give them full control of their own affairs and allow the Kurds to expel Arabs placed in Kurdistan by Saddam Hussein. Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told The Independent in an interview that the Kurds had been offered less autonomy "than we had agreed in 1974 with the regime of Saddam Hussein".
..... ..... Before the war, Washington intended to invade Iraq from the north using Turkish bases and accompanied by a Turkish army. The Kurds were told by the US to keep quiet, though they protested furiously. In the event, the Turkish parliament rejected the US demand. The Americans were compelled to rely on the Kurds to create a northern front against Saddam. As the regime in Baghdad collapsed, Kurdish forces swept into the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. The Kurds saw that as a first step towards reversing ethnic cleansing which pre-dates Saddam's regime. ................ There are the seeds here for a savage ethnic conflict. The Arabs and Turkomans in Kirkuk are frightened. Many of the Arab settlers have been there for more than a generation and it is not clear where they would go. The last year has seen a number of small-scale but bloody clashes. ......they fear that their current superiority may not last and their gains over the past year will be chipped away as the face of the country changes. ..."

Jan 21 ~ George Bush stepped up efforts to calm the dispute over transition to self rule in Iraq,

calling in the Iraqi Governing Council president, Adnan Pachachi, and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a Shia member of the council who is close to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, for talks in Washington.
Last night, there were reports that the British and US governments were looking at running direct elections in time for the handover of power to Iraqis by 1 July. The Guardian reported that unnamed British officials said the Government had been swayed by the Shia argument. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said it had been studying using dyes on voters' hands as a means of working without an electoral roll. " Independent as above

Jan 21 ~ Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are considering a request by an international body of lawyers to try the Prime Minister for alleged war crimes during the invasion of Iraq.

Independent " A report alleging illegal deployment of cluster bombs and weapons using depleted uranium was handed to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the court's chief prosecutor in The Hague, yesterday. He will decide whether to begin a formal investigation which could include questioning of Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, and Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence. If he concludes that a prosecution has a "reasonable prospect of success", the case will go before the pre-trial chamber of the court, which has the power to try individuals and governments for war crimes. No case has been made against the US administration because America has not signed the treaty that established the court. The report was written by eight international lawyers after a "war crimes inquiry" in London last November heard evidence from eye-witnesses and expert witnesses and leading counsel.
The panel concluded there was enough evidence for the prosecutor to investigate members of the Government for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes during the conflict and occupation. They said that he should investigate the use of cluster bombs in urban areas, and whether attacks had been launched on non-military targets.They also want the prosecutor to look into attacks on media targets and whether weapons were used which caused excessive loss of life or injury to civilians."

Jan 20 ~" About 100,000 protesters marched through Baghdad to al-Mustansiriyah University shouting "Yes to elections" and "No to occupation"..."

Independent "....The Shia, believed to number some 15 to 16 million out of a total Iraqi population of 25 million, fear the US and its local allies will seek to rob them of power by appointing members of a new assembly and government to which the US has pledged to hand over power on 1 July.
The demonstration was clearly aimed at Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN, seeking to persuade him not to endorse US plans for indirect elections. Mr Annan met Paul Bremer, the chief US official in Iraq, and a delegation from the US-selected Iraq Governing Council in New York yesterday.....
...Amar Abdul Hassan, a student protester, said: "The Americans want to choose our leaders for us. We want to choose them ourselves through elections."
Giant banners billowed in the wind as the marchers, almost all men, chanted praise to Ali and Hussein, the martyred founders of the Shia faith. US observation helicopters flew overhead.... The demonstration marks another stage in the elevation of Ayatollah Sistani, the 73-year-old leader of the Hawza, or network of religious schools in Najaf, as perhaps the most important Iraqi leader. If he issues a fatwa denouncing the political process organised by the US and the Governing Council then it will have little legitimacy in the eyes of Iraqis....It will be embarrassing for the US to hold elections denounced as undemocratic by Ayatollah Sistani and the largest Iraqi community.... "

Jan 20 ~" Mr Annan has expressed a desire for more "clarity" before committing the UN to a renewed mission.."

Telegraph "...America and the US-backed Iraqi Governing Council were pushing for the the UN to send a "technical mission" to Baghdad, but there had been no decision yet as to how to respond, Mr Annan said."

Jan 19 ~The case of Ms Gun, which is likely to go to trial in the autumn, will call into question the legality of the war in Iraq.

Leader Observer "..... At the time of the disclosure Ms Gun had no reason to believe the British Government would go to war without a second resolution. Most experts in international law believed then that intervention would be illegal. Many still do.
The Government has been under pressure to disclose the Attorney General's legal advice, which made the case for war without a second resolution. If it helps Ms Gun get a fair trial, then we believe that advice should be released immediately. "
See also warmwell pages about Iraq and the UK Attorney General, Lord Goldsmithe.g. "...the hapless Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, was rushed forward ... to refute almost all legal opinion and invent an eccentric interplay between resolutions 678, 687 and 1441 to deny the fact that last year's coalition was forged on the explicit understanding that war was for the Security Council to determine..." Simon Jenkins on March 19th 2003

Jan 19 ~ Shells found near Basra were not chemical weapons

Rupert Cornwell in Washington Independent Three dozen mortar shells found buried in southern Iraq did not contain chemical blister agents as initially reported, the Danish army said yesterday.
The conclusion, after a week of tests by British, US and Danish experts, is a further blow to the dwindling hopes of finding the barred chemical, biological or nuclear weapons whose alleged existence was the official reason for the 20 March invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. .... Earlier reported finds of caches of chemical weapons also proved false, while supposed mobile biological weapons laboratories found after the war appear to have been for other purposes. No trace of any biological agent has been discovered on them. With every passing day it seems more likely that Iraq did destroy its WMD stockpiles in the early 1990s after the Gulf War in 1991 - just as Baghdad claimed."

Jan 19 ~ Washington will press the United Nations today to send a veteran troubleshooter to Iraq

The Times "....Washington and London are pushing Mr Annan to send Mr Brahimi to help bring Ayatollah al-Sistani on board. The former Algerian Foreign Minister, who worked closely with the Americans in setting up a new Government in Afghanistan, has acted as an informal go-between for the United States and Iran. His good relations with Teheran could give him leverage with Ayatollah al-Sistani. Mr Brahimi has also just been named a special adviser to the UN chief in New York amid speculation that he will take on new responsibilities in Iraq.
He has made clear that he does not want to replace Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN Special Representative who was killed in a suicide bomb attack at the UN headquarters in Baghdad, but he does not rule out playing a role."

Jan 18 ~ commanders are seeking to reach out to tribal leaders by relying on a report devised in 1918 by Britain, the country's then ruler.

Independent
"..... Lieutenant-Colonel Alan King, head of the Tribal Affairs Bureau set up by the US-led coalition last month, admitted last week that he had been referring to the pages of the British report to fathom Iraq's network of tribal sheikhs - regardless of the fact that it dates back to the First World War. The revelation is not likely to improve confidence in the ability of the US to sort out the deepening muddle over how it means to relinquish political power to the Iraqi people by this summer. .. His bureau - the Office of Provincial Outreach - was awarded US$900,000 last week to establish "Tribal Democracy Centres", to provide resources to the sheikhs. .."

Jan 18 ~Tomorrow, Paul Bremer will travel to New York on an urgent mission to seek help from the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

(From Independent article above )The US is increasingly anxious to persuade the UN to return to Iraq and assist in selecting the interim government as well as preparing for the first full election in 2005 and the writing of a constitution. "The UN has a lot of expertise in organising elections, electoral commissions, electoral laws, and has a great deal of expertise it can bring to bear," said Mr Bremer, who will be accompanied by the head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Adnan Pachachi.
But it is not clear how far Mr Annan will go to answer the American call. The Secretary General withdraw his staff from Baghdad after a bomb attack on his headquarters there last summer that killed 22 people, including his envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. "The meeting is really for us to listen and see what he has to say, and we'll take it from there," one UN official said. "We're not there to give the seal of approval ... Whatever process is adopted needs to be fair and inclusive, and everybody needs to have a stake in it."

Jan 18 ~ Blair faces new 'war crimes' accusation

Independent "An eminent panel of legal experts is to accuse Tony Blair of committing war crimes in Iraq in a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The panel, which includes law professors from universities in Britain, Ireland, France and Canada, will claim on Tuesday there is compelling evidence that the Prime Minister broke international law and UN treaties by invading Iraq last year.
The eight experts will recommend that the ICC launches a formal investigation into the Government's conduct - the first step towards indicting ministers for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their dossier will add to the renewed controversy over Mr Blair's stance on Iraq. It will be published a week before Lord Hutton issues his report into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly, which examines the Prime Minister's role in the decision to name him...."

Jan 17 ~ "Under the pretext of the war against terrorism, the United States has violated all international conventions on human rights." Shirin Ebadi

The anti-globalisation forum, World Social Forum at Mumbai, India is taking place this week. It is an "open platform to discuss strategies of resistance to the model for globalisation formulated by multinational corporations, governments, International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the WTO," as the WSF Charter says.
The organizers chose not to accept money for the $1.8 million event from the U.S.-based Ford Foundation, but took donations from Britain's Oxfam and Canada's state-run humanitarian agency.
José Bové said "...we are here to express our solidarity and to show our concern." W.R. Varada Rajan, a trade union leader said "This forum will explode the myth that this model of globalization has universal acceptance."
Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP, said "The terror of war has brought about a change: the privatization of an entire country...the United States wants to send a message to the world: "The Americans can do it if they want to do it... ..The Iraq war, however, also has motivated people from around the world to forge stronger alliances against forces of globalization. It has mobilized young people in a way I had not thought before."
Iran's Shirin Ebadi, who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, said at the opening ceremony, "Under the pretext of terrorism, the United States has violated all international conventions on human rights. We are here to say that humans who are suffering from war have no dignity."
Among those also attending are Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, economist Samir Amin and former UN Human Rights chief Mary Robinson. (account taken from several news sources - see for example BBC)

Jan 17 ~ Bremer tries to salvage appointed-government plan amid Shia opposition

Independent Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad "..... Ayatollah Sistani insists that "each Iraqi must have the right to vote". It is his refusal to give his blessing that sent Paul Bremer, the chief US civilian official in Iraq, rushing to Washington yesterday to discuss the Shia leader's objections with President George Bush. Mr Bremer and his British deputy in the Coalition Provisional Authority, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, will join a delegation on Monday of the Iraqi Governing Council to see Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, in New York. They will press for the UN to send back its staff to Iraq and play a role in supervising the indirect elections. But the UN fears its participation will give legitimacy to the dubious local caucuses. The grand ayatollah has also said that a new Iraqi government must be able to rule on whether or not US and allied troops can remain in Iraq.
After the fall of Baghdad, the ayatollah did not call for resistance to the occupation. He told his followers they could co-operate with the US but after every discussion with an American official they should ask: "And when are you Americans going to leave?" .....

Jan 17 ~ The Pentagon inspector general's office is said to be investigating possible criminal violations involving fuel imports to Iraq by Halliburton Co

Independent as above the oil services company once headed by Dick Cheney, the Vice-President.
The Democratic politicians Joseph Lieberman, Henry Waxman and John Dingell said they were told by the inspector general's staff on Thursday that an overcharging issue involving Halliburton's Kellogg Brown and Root unit was now being investigated."

Jan 17 ~ Bush forced to rethink plans for transfer of power

The Times Roland Watson in Washington and Richard Lloyd Parry in Tokyo
President Bush was rewriting the terms of America's handover of power in Iraq yesterday after the country's leading Shia cleric threatened to boycott the plans....... As Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, arrived at the White House for crisis talks with Mr Bush, officials said the Administration was ready to "refine and improve" the handover plans. After his talks Mr Bremer said there would be no changes in the handover date. ... he added that the US was prepared to change its proposals of how the caucuses are convened, opening up the process in an effort to meet Ayatollah al-Sistani's demands.
Mr Bremer will appeal to Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, on Monday to give the UN's stamp of approval to the US plan, which is also backed by the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC).
The US insists that it would be impossible to organise direct elections by the end of June. There has been no census in Iraq for years and a register of voters does not exist.
..... the US would lose a lot of face if it postponed the handover date to accommodate elections.

...Separately, the commander of US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, ordered an investigation into reports of abuse of prisoners at coalition centres. The military gave no further details"

Jan 16 ~ Hutton report out on January 28

Matthew Tempest, political correspondent of the Guardian "....Lord Hutton's report was originally expected in November, then December, then the "new year", and now confirmed for January 28. After those lengthy delays, it was announced today that publication would be on the Wednesday - the same day as PMQs. Lord Hutton will also broadcast a live television address from Court 73 of the Royal Courts of Justice summarising his conclusions. The relevant parties to the report - the government, the BBC, Dr Kelly's family, the Speaker's counsel, Andrew Gilligan and Susan Watts - will have 24 hours notice of the report. The complex logistics of publication mean that Lord Hutton's report will actually go to the printers on January 19. BBC sources have already been quick to insist that they will not pass their advance copy on to their news-gathering teams, but keep the report within its legal team and top brass. Parties will be required to sign an undertaking not to reveal the contents of the report before publication. ..."

Jan 16 ~ "Paul Bremer has been recalled from Baghdad

for brainstorming consultations at the White House and the United Nations, in a scramble to salvage a timetable for Iraqi self-rule. " Scotsman

Jan 16 ~ "US baffled by Shia leader who refuses to cut a deal"

The Times "Defiant cleric continues to frustrate coalition efforts to handpick a new government"
"President Bush is desperate to transfer power to an Iraqi government and start withdrawing troops before the presidential election in November. But whether he succeeds depends largely on a venerable, self-deprecating 75-year-old cleric who gives no interviews, never appears on television and has not left his spartan home in the backstreets of Najaf, central Iraq, since Saddam Hussein's agents tried to kill him ten years ago. ......
....there were plenty of signs that this was a man to be reckoned with...... After the fall of Saddam, Ayatollah al-Sistani denounced looting, which rapidly died down in Shia towns and cities.
His representatives helped to organise local councils to enforce law and order and restore basic services. He issued a more controversial edict prohibiting lethal reprisals against former officials of the Baathist regime. "People even respected that, at least for a while," one Shia politician said.
...... his own lifestyle remained rigorously austere. "You get just one glass of tea, and the mattresses you sit on are very thin," said a recent visitor. .... in June he dropped a bombshell, issuing a ruling that declared the American plan to have a new constitution written by an unelected committee unacceptable and demanding that any new constitution be written by an elected assembly.
Eventually persuaded that this edict might be serious, Paul Bremer, Iraq's American administrator, requested a meeting with Ayatollah al-Sistani, which was refused.
Mr Bremer then requested that the Ayatollah nominate representatives to meet his officials to negotiate a compromise. "Mr Bremer, you are American. I am Iranian. I suggest we leave it to the Iraqis to devise their constitution," the Ayatollah replied.
Subsequent US efforts to find a way to hand power to a malleable Iraqi government have elicited unwavering demands from Ayatollah al-Sistani for one man, one vote.
.... It is clear that Ayatollah al-Sistani could seriously derail coalition ambitions for the region by calling on his followers to protest en masse. ..."

Jan 16 ~ Iraq's Shia Muslims march to demand early elections

Independent "Tens of thousands of Shia Muslims marched through the streets of Basra yesterday demanding early elections for an Iraqi national assembly. They shouted: "No to America" and "Yes to Sistani", after their spiritual leader, Ali Sistani, demanded elections.
The march, attended by 20,000 to 30,000 people, shows that Iraq's Shia Muslims, some 60 per cent of the population, who were denied power by Saddam Hussein, are increasingly fearful that they will be denied political power if a new assembly is selected indirectly by caucuses...."

Jan 15 ~ "a spin on the truth to justify a war that could well become one of the worst blunders in more than two centuries of American foreign policy." Senator Edward Kennedy

.... Kennedy said "if Congress and the American people knew the whole truth, America never would have gone to war." ... the administration "has broken faith with the American people, aided and abetted by a congressional majority willing to pursue ideology at any price - even the price of distorting the truth." He also said the Iraq war had made the effort to stop "terrorism" more difficult. See Washington Post

Jan 15 ~ the risk of Iraq splitting up

BBC Middle East pages "With less than six months to go before sovereignty in Iraq is due to be handed to a transitional government, the political path is beginning to look as obstacle-strewn as the security one. .......Ayatollah Sistani has said that "if the transitional assembly is formed by a mechanism which doesn't have the necessary legitimacy, it would not be possible for the government to perform a useful function". Mr Bremer has rejected elections, arguing that they are not practical in such a short timeframe....
The coalition is pinning its hopes on the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. It is meeting him in New York on 19 January. It would like him to use his authority to send a message to Ayatollah Sistani that elections are not possible. If there is no agreement, the prospect opens up of the transitional government failing to command the support of the country's Shias, who make up 60% of Iraq's people. And beyond that, if this is handled badly, there could be the risk of Iraq splitting up. ..."

Jan 15 ~ "At least 21 US military personnel involved in the Iraq war have committed suicide since the conflict began last March

the Pentagon revealed. It is higher than the normal suicide rate in the US military recently." BBC latest on Iraq violence.

Jan 13 ~ war against Iraq "a strategic error"

BBC "A report published by the US Army War College has criticised the war against Iraq as a strategic error. It also suggests that the Bush administration's global war on terror may be unsustainable....
..The author of the report is a visiting professor at the prestigious college in Pennsylvania and his conclusions about the Bush administration's conduct of its war on terrorism appear quite damning.."

Jan 13 ~Michael Howard told Tony Blair he was "very much looking forward" to debating the findings of the forthcoming Hutton Report. The Prime Minister mouthed back: "So am I." It was unconvincing.

The Scotsman yesterday comments that "the Prime Minister has ducked every public question with a stock response: don't be impatient. Let's wait for Lord Hutton's report. "....
"....The tactic Mr Blair was attempting yesterday was "closing down" the Hutton Inquiry issue - knowing that the report may still be a fortnight away. The more questions he answers, he believes, the more he will be asked - keeping the Hutton Inquiry in the news and keeping him in trouble.
His fear is that, by the time Lord Hutton's report is published, he will be boxed into a corner by the Conservatives if he keeps responding to the issues they raise - and fuelling their attempts to push Lord Hutton in the news. It is a long time since Mr Blair took the Tories so seriously..." Read in full

Jan 12/13 ~ mortar shells found on friday "appeared to have been abandoned for at least 10 years" says Danish army

BBC "Coalition experts are currently examining the 120mm mortar rounds to see if the initial tests are borne out. "

Jan 12 ~ Blair: I don't know if we'll find WMD

Independent (new window) ".....The Prime Minister said that on the issue of WMD: "You can't be definitive at the moment about what has happened." His words mark a stark contrast with his assertion before the war that Saddam Hussein was capable of launching a WMD attack within 45 minutes. He later said claims that Iraq had destroyed all its weapons were "palpably absurd".
Mr Blair, who is facing one of his most difficult months as Prime Minister, was also accused of preparing to "run away" from the findings of Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of the weapons scientist David Kelly. Mr Blair again refused to say whether he would face MPs in a full Commons debate on its conclusions or whether a vote would take place.
The Conservative leader, Michael Howard, said it was "absolutely extraordinary" that the PM had failed to give the commitment. But Mr Blair insisted: "I have no intention of hiding away from this. On the contrary, I am enthusiastic about at long last being able to debate these issues."

Jan 11 ~ Blair comes under pressure for Commons vote on Hutton inquiry

Independent on Sunday

Jan 11 ~ The President saying, ‘Go find me a way to do this.'"

Former Bush aide: US plotted Iraq invasion long before 9/11 Sunday Herald

Jan 11 ~ Powell withdraws al-Qa'ida claim as hunt for Saddam's WMD flags

Independent on Sunday (new window) "...Significantly, the Prime Minister made no mention of WMD during his lightning visit to Iraq last weekend, instead stressing the role of British forces in bringing stability to the country.
The Carnegie Endowment report, compiled over six months, is scathing about the deliberate errors and omissions of the White House - and, by extension, Downing Street - saying the thesis that Iraq or another rogue state would make WMD available to terrorists was "questionable" and "unexamined".
Officials ignored caveats by the intelligence agencies, and consistently adopted "worst case" assumptions. .."

Jan 10 ~ "For the "independence" of Iraq, Washington has plucked a different date from the air: June 30, 2004.

The timing has nothing to do with any sane estimate of the time Iraq needs to prepare. It is dictated by George W. Bush's re-election campaign. Nobody denies this. It is criminal. .." Matthew Parris in the Times

Jan 10 ~ "However sincerely, Mr Blair got it wrong about WMD

as three more events this week have underlined. The first was a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, which concluded that Saddam could not have destroyed, hidden or exported chemical and biological weapons and related production facilities on the scale that he was alleged to possess, without US surveillance noticing what he was up to. The second was a detailed report from Iraq by the Washington Post (see below) which quoted a previously undisclosed Saddam regime document that suggested Iraq destroyed its biological weapons as long ago as 1991; it also documented an internal culture of deceit over Iraq's special weapons programmes in which weapons designers and project managers who exaggerated their achievements and abilities in order to impress Saddam, thereby simultaneously misled foreign inspectors and intelligence agencies about the scale and modernity of Iraqi programmes. And the third was the quiet withdrawal from Iraq this week (see below) of 400 military inspectors, whose work of searching for chemical and biological weapons caches and launchers was said by Washington to have been "essentially done". ..." Guardian Leader today.

Jan 10 ~ Iraq's Arsenal Was Only on Paper

Since Gulf War, Nonconventional Weapons Never Got Past the Planning Stage Washington Post "...David Kay, who directs the weapons hunt on behalf of the Bush administration, reported no discoveries last year of finished weapons, bulk agents or ready-to-start production lines. Members of his Iraq Survey Group, in unauthorized interviews, said the group holds out little prospect now of such a find. Kay and his spokesman, who report to Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet, declined to be interviewed. ..
... Program managers promised more than they could deliver, or things they could not deliver at all, to advance careers, preserve jobs or conduct intrigues against rivals. Sometimes they did so from ignorance, failing to grasp the challenges they took on. Lying to an absolute ruler was hazardous, Iraqi weaponeers said, but less so in some cases than the alternatives. "No one will tell Saddam Hussein to his face, 'I can't do this,' " said an Iraqi brigadier general who supervised work on some of the technologies used in the rail gun. .... "

Jan 10 ~ Military team seeking WMD pulled out of Iraq

Guardian (Jan 9)"...It was an important element of the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group (ISG), which has spent seven months hunting for the arsenal that was the justification for the invasion.
Over the past few months the ISG has been stripped of translators, special forces troops and other specialists.
....The ISG, according to some weapons experts in Washington, has been reduced to a remnant of a few hundred specialists from its peak strength of 1,400. Its leader, David Kay, is said to be on the point of resignation. A colleague in Washington said: "His family is worried about his safety and he is disenchanted, both by the failure to find weapons he was sure were there and because his team has been cut in half." The withdrawal of JCMEG became known only yesterday, but a defence official said its members had been sent back to their home countries in October, and called its disbanding "old news". ...The CEIP produced a report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq yesterday, co-authored by Mr Cirincione, comparing prewar claims by US officials and postwar findings that concluded that the administration had "systematically misrepresented" the Iraqi threat. Yesterday, the US secretary of State, Colin Powell, acknowledged that he saw no "smoking gun, concrete evidence" of ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida terror network...."

Jan 10 ~ Howard accuses Blair over Hutton

PM charged with reneging on promise and fighting shy of debate The Guardian Tony Blair was last night engaged in pre-Hutton report skirmishes on two fronts as Michael Howard accused him of reneging on a promise to give the Tories an advance copy - and backbench MPs accused him of running away from the debate on its findings. Quite why Downing Street has refused for the past 48 hours to confirm that the prime minister would open the inevitable debate - as well as make a statement on publication day - has baffled and irritated ministers as well as MPs. One reason why No 10 is hesitating on Mr Blair's role in the debate is its optimistic hope that Lord Hutton's focus will be on weapons of mass destruction, or even the BBC - making Jack Straw, Geoff Hoon or even Tessa Jowell the right minister to debate the report. Yet most observers think it inconceivable that Mr Blair would - or could - avoid such a debate, any more than Margaret Thatcher did in the 1986 Westland affair. None the less, No 10's evasiveness triggered predictable accusations that he is running scared.
....... the growing tension and suspicion between politicians as time for the Hutton report to appear gets closer. No 10 expects it late this month....... Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman, said: "When the Scott report [on covert arms sales to Iraq] was published, Robin Cook and myself were given just three hours in a basement at the Department of Trade and Industry to wade through it by the government ..."

Jan 9 ~ Bush's America, "... a menace to itself and to mankind".

by John Pilger; January 08, 2004 http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=4806 This important article may be read in full here.

Jan 9 ~ The domination effect

Guardian "Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, the US has sought not just to influence but to control all information, from both friend and foe ....
......Nor is information dominance something dreamt up by the Bush White House. It is a mainstream US military doctrine that is also embraced in the UK. According to US army intelligence there are already 15 information dominance centres in the US, Kuwait and Baghdad. Both the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in this country have staff assigned to "information operations". In future conflicts, according to the MoD, "maintaining morale as well as information dominance will rank as important as physical protection". " Read in full "

Jan 9 ~ The choices are beginning to look stark for NGOs providing humanitarian relief in "war on terror" conflicts - either act as sub-contractors for the superpower or pull out.

The Pentagon has pulled out a 400-strong military team which was searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, but US officers insisted yesterday that the hunt would go on. The disbanded multinational team was known as the Joint Captured Materiel Exploitation Group (JCMEG) ..... In September, a report was published by the chief institution for defining and prescribing aid policy - the development assistance committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report, entitled A Development Cooperation Lens on Terrorism Prevention, appalled NGOs. Although it speaks of the need to prevent development aid becoming "an instrument of nondevelopment interests", the thrust of the report is that the resources and capacities of development agencies should be "calibrated" to serve the counter-terrorism agenda. .......The concern in the NGO community, particularly in the US, is that the taint of terrorism may be used to discredit the work of politically dissenting international NGOs, or even to stop their funding. .....
..... the "war on terror" has created an acute need for NGOs' international expertise while at the same time providing justification for glossing over or rooting out their progressive political agenda. At a time when it is needed most, "the conscience of the world" looks vulnerable." Guardian

Jan 7 ~ Downing St 'corrects' its evidence to Hutton

Independent (new window) "..... last night Whitehall dismissed speculation that the move was a last-minute panic measure aimed at preventing Mr Blair being criticised by Lord Hutton, who is now finalising his report. ...... Sir Kevin's testimony, which raised the most serious questions at the inquiry about Mr Blair's involvement, came at a special sitting a month after Lord Hutton had finished taking evidence from other witnesses. His cross-examination was delayed because he had an eye operation. After news broke of Dr Kelly's death last July, Mr Blair was asked by journalists on board an official flight in China: "Did you authorise anyone in Downing Street or in the Ministry of Defence to release Dr Kelly's name?" He responded: "I did not authorise the leaking of the name of David Kelly. Nobody was authorised to name Dr Kelly. I believe we have acted properly throughout." But Sir Kevin told the inquiry that a meeting at Downing Street on 8 July, chaired by Mr Blair, decided to issue an MoD press statement giving some details about Dr Kelly. The following day, the scientist's name was revealed in the media.
.......... Greg Dyke, the director-general, told staff in an e-mail: "There will be no scapegoating inside the BBC as a result of the inquiry."
See also Democracy page on warmwell

Jan 4 ~ The truth about WMD lies beyond Hutton

Michael Meacher in the Observer (new window) "..... It is crucial, if Lord Hutton feels unable to tackle these central issues, that a separate judicial inquiry is now set up to establish beyond doubt what the truth really is and what the implications are for Britain's governance. ....... It is quite clear that throughout 2002 both Washington and London were actively seeking, contrary to intelligence assessments, evidence to justify the case for war. Four key items were deployed for this purpose. One was almost immediately exposed as plagiarised from a student thesis more than 10 years old. The other three were documents purporting to show that Iraq had been trying to buy uranium for nuclear bombs from Niger, the claim that Iraq was able to deploy WMDs within 45 minutes, and 'evidence' from a top-level Iraqi defector that Iraq had produced several tons of the deadly nerve agent VX.
Each of these raise worrying questions of credibility which require systematic investigation by an independent inquiry. ..." Read in full

Jan 4 ~ the new Iraqi government will reign but not rule "CIA plans new secret police to fight Iraq terrorism"

Telegraph (new window) " Nine months after the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime and his feared mukhabarat (intelligence) operatives, Iraq is to get a secret police force again - courtesy of Washington.
... The force will cost up to $3 billion (£1.8 billion) over the next three years in money allocated from the same part of the federal budget that finances the Central Intelligence Agency. .........
John Pike, an expert on classified military budgets at the Washington-based Global Security organisation, told The Telegraph: "The money for this has been buried in the 'other procurements' section of the Air Force budget. The CIA is funded out of that category.
"The creation of a well-functioning local secret police, that in effect is a branch of the CIA, is part of the general handover strategy. If you are in control of the secret police in a country then you don't really have to worry too much about who the local council appoints to collect the garbage."....... "The presence of a powerful secret police, loyal to the Americans, will mean that the new Iraqi political regime will not stray outside the parameters that the US wants to set," said Mr Pike. "To begin with, the new Iraqi government will reign but not rule."

Jan 3 ~ Mr Bush has one priority for 2004: Get America out of Iraq. Fast.

Independent " Iraq is breaking up into rebels and collaborators, with a vast heap of innocent bodies turning up each day at the morgues.." writes Robert Fisk. "More desperate attempts by the Americans to escape from Iraq and more talk of turning "New Iraq" into ethnic statelets. More Arab humiliation. More anger. More "war on terror". Flak jackets on for 2004. Read in full

Jan 1 2004 ~ Defence agency takes over oil supply

Reuters (Guardian) "The US forces fuel agency is taking over the supply of oil products to Iraq, bringing to an end the controversial arrangement with Halliburton, the former company of Vice-President Dick Cheney. .... Halliburton has increasingly come under criticism for its behaviour in the arrangements for Iraq. Many Democrats have seized on the issue as an indication of the government's failure to act fairly in awarding contracts, an accusation the White House has denied. DESC will take over the fuel contracting plans within 60 to 90 days, officials said. ..."

Dec 31 ~ Hawks tell Bush how to win war on terror

Telegraph "President George W Bush was sent a public manifesto yesterday by Washington's hawks, demanding regime change in Syria and Iran and a Cuba-style military blockade of North Korea backed by planning for a pre-emptive strike on its nuclear sites.
The manifesto, presented as a "manual for victory" in the war on terror, also calls for Saudi Arabia and France to be treated not as allies but as rivals and possibly enemies.
The manifesto is contained in a new book by Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser and "intellectual guru" of the hardline neo-conservative movement, and David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter. They give warning of a faltering of the "will to win" in Washington...." ( Read in full)

Dec 29 ~ "The new row about how the Government treats sensitive information

threatened to destroy the political dividend the Prime Minister has enjoyed since the capture this month of Saddam Hussein.
In his Christmas message to troops a fortnight ago, which reached British soldiers in the Gulf, Mr Blair said the Iraq Survey Group searching for evidence of Saddam's weapons had unearthed "massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories". This, he claimed, showed that the former Iraqi dictator had attempted to "conceal weapons".
But Mr Bremer, interviewed on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby Programme, who was initially unaware that it was the Prime Minister who had made the claim, ridiculed the comment.
"I don't know where those words come from, but that is not what [ISG chief] David Kay has said," he told Dimbleby as the interviewer tried to interrupt to tell him the source...." Telegraph(new window)

Dec 29 ~ " it does seem rather curious that Paul Bremer, who is running Iraq, doesn't know about it."

Guardian (new window) "....Robin Cook, who has become a formidable backbench critic on the war, said: "If there is massive evidence of clandestine laboratories it does seem rather curious that Paul Bremer, who is running Iraq, doesn't know about it. The truth is the Iraq Survey Group found no evidence of weapons, no delivery systems, no chemical or biological weapons and found no laboratories to produce them. "This is unquestionably embarrassing for those who try and claim there is a chemical and biological arsenal and if they can't convince Paul Bremer, who is remarkably on-message, how can they convince anyone outside?"

Dec 28 ~" The government yesterday confirmed that MI6 had organised Operation Mass Appeal, a campaign to plant stories in the media

about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. ..." The Sunday Times (new window)
"Stories ran in the media about secret underground facilities in Iraq and ongoing programmes (to produce weapons of mass destruction)," said Ritter. "They were sourced to western intelligence and all of them were garbage."

Dec 28 ~ " a hollow ring for future historians"

Sunday Herald (new window) ".... in time, the US will be able to withdraw its forces to leave Iraq much as it has been throughout its short existence – prey to factionalism and internal discord. As one disillusioned analyst in the US state department saw the problem, free and fair elections will probably allow radical religious forces to sweep into power, and pluralism will quickly give way to an all too familiar theocracy.......If this is the Pax Americana demanded by the neo-conservatives in the Bush administration, then it will have a hollow ring for future historians. Iraq was invaded and Saddam ousted not because they posed a terrorist threat or that they possessed weapons of mass destruction (both legitimate reasons for intervention) but because the US and its allies wanted to reshape the international order. ..."

Dec 28 ~ Bush's man rejects Blair weapon claim

The Observer (new window)
"Tony Blair was at the centre of an embarrassing row last night after the most senior US official in Baghdad bluntly rejected the Prime Minister's assertion that secret weapons laboratories had been discovered in Iraq. In a Christmas message to British troops, Blair claimed there was 'massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories'. The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) had unearthed compelling evidence that showed Saddam Hussein had attempted to 'conceal weapons', the Prime Minister said. But in an interview yesterday, Paul Bremer, the Bush administration's top official in Baghdad, flatly dismissed the claim as untrue - without realising its source was Blair.
It was, he suggested, a 'red herring', probably put about by someone opposed to military action in Iraq who wanted to undermine the coalition. 'I don't know where those words come from but that is not what [ISG chief] David Kay has said,' he told ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme. ....... Menzies Campbell said he would be pressing Ministers when Parliament returned in the New Year on what precisely the Government knew. 'It is high time the Prime Minister cleared this matter up once and for all,' he said.

Dec 28 ~ There were no weapons of mass destruction; there was no 45 minutes.

"...But the decision to invade Iraq led to the deaths of more than 50 British servicemen, hundreds of US troops and thousands of Iraqi civilians.
..... we didn't go to war in Iraq to remove Saddam. Nor did we invade the country for humanitarian reasons. We went to war in Iraq because we were told by Blair that there was a real and present danger to British national security from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This was manifestly not the case. ..." Iain Macwhirter in the Sunday Herald(new window) ..."

Dec 27 ~ "With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them ..."

Robert Fisk in Baghdad on Dec 26 (new window) "(The Independent) Something very unpleasant is being let loose in Iraq. Just this week, a company commander in the US 1st Infantry Division in the north of the country admitted that, in order to elicit information about the guerrillas who are killing American troops, it was necessary to "instill fear" in the local villagers. An Iraqi interpreter working for the Americans had just taken an old lady from her home to frighten her daughters and grand-daughters into believing that she was being arrested..."
"...To point out that the intimidation is largely coming from the American occupation force - to the horror of the British in southern Iraq who fear, understandably, that Iraqi revenge will be visited upon them as it was on the Italians and the Spanish - is useless." Read in full

Dec 24 ~ Rumsfeld backed Saddam even after chemical attacks

Independent (new window) Fresh controversy about Donald Rumsfeld's personal dealings with Saddam Hussein was provoked yesterday by new documents that reveal he went to Iraq to show America's support for the regime despite its use of chemical weapons. The formerly secret documents reveal the Defence Secretary travelled to Baghdad 20 years ago to assure Iraq that America's condemnation of its use of chemical weapons was made "strictly" in principle. The criticism in no way changed Washington's wish to support Iraq in its war against Iran and "to improve bi-lateral relations ... at a pace of Iraq's choosing". Earlier this year, Mr Rumsfeld and other members of the Bush administration regularly cited Saddam's willingness to use chemical weapons against his own people as evidence of the threat presented to the rest of the world. .......
America's relationship with Iraq at a time when Saddam was using chemical weapons is well-documented but rarely reported. During the war with Iran, America provided combat assistance to Iraq that included intelligence on Iranian deployments and bomb-damage assessments. In 1987-88 American warships destroyed Iranian oil platforms in the Gulf and broke the blockade of Iraqi shipping lanes...."

Dec 24 ~ Hans Blix says Libya's disarmament plans showed that Iraq could have been contained without "rushing to war".

"Dr Blix spoke out as Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, said that snap checks of nuclear sites in his country could begin as soon as next week." Independent (new window)

Dec 23 ~" It's simple: the only good Saddam is a dead one"

Much has happened during the break since warmwell last reported - continuing misery and useless death in Iraq, the US decision to employ Israeli consultants for training death squads, the capture of Saddam Hussein, inspections of Libya's nuclear weapons facilities - and the unwelcome news of Lord Hutton's retirement (not that this will delay his report). More wise words from Robert Fisk Saddam's capture will not stop the relentless killings from insurgents
Meanwhile, this article by Simon Jenkins is unmissable.

Dec 4 ~ " the American occupation officials rejected the plan to compile a voter roll rapidly, they also argued to the Governing Council that the lack of a voter roll meant national elections were impractical."

New York Times U.S. Rejects Iraqi Plan to Hold Census by Summer
" ....... One American official acknowledged in an interview that American authorities had been aware of the quick census plan but rejected it.
................. Informed of the proposal this week, several members of the Governing Council who advocated a direct national ballot next June 30 said they were upset that they had not seen it. The Census Bureau said it had delivered the plan to the Governing Council on Nov. 1, but apparently it was lost in the bureaucracy."

Dec 3 ~ the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.

(Newsnight daily email) "... The Americans are said to have decided to form a paramilitary unit composed of militiamen from the country's five largest political parties, as part of the wider strategy to hand over ultimate responsibility to the Iraqi people. But how will this work and to whom will these militias be accountable? "

Dec 3 ~ since realpolitik has overtaken idealism as Washington's ruling ethos, at least an orderly break-up of Iraq should be planned, not denied.

Simon Jenkins in the Times, under the headline, The only hope now is to divide Iraq into three "...Those who try to do the undoable must also think the unthinkable. American strategists in Iraq are contemplating what they have always denied, the search for a "strong man with a moustache" to stop the present rot. If the result is not democracy, so be it. If the result is the dismemberment of Iraq, so be it. Iraq has become a mess. There is only one priority, to "get out with dignity". This strategy is now being rammed down the throat of the Pentagon proconsul in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, by George Bush's new "realist" Deputy National Security Adviser, Bob Blackwill. He answers to Condoleezza Rice, not Donald Rumsfeld, and is the new boss of Iraq. The Pentagon, Mr Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, architects of the old "idealist" strategy, are in retreat. The Iraqi Governing Council, which Mr Bremer reluctantly created, will be disbanded. Washington must find someone with whom it can do business, someone who can deliver order in return for power. That search is Mr Blackwill's job. ....
...... "In 20 years of meddling, America and Britain have made a mess of this nation. They owe it the least blood-spattered path they can fashion to whatever the future has in store. " Read in full

Dec 2 ~ No advance warning for Hutton report

"Lord Hutton has alarmed the government by refusing to send drafts of his report into the death of David Kelly to ministers, officials and others - including the BBC - who will be the subject of criticism.....
Ministers and officials at Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence are concerned the judge's approach gives them virtually no opportunity to challenge the verdict before it reaches the public domain.
Lord Hutton has decided to eschew "Maxwellisation" - sending drafts of criticisms to the affected parties - because this summer's inquiry included a second stage of cross-examination. Staff for the inquiry told the FT this second phase "effectively gave parties the chance to refute any criticisms, [so] the plan is not to present the parties with relevant extracts from the report unless something new has come up". There were no examples of such new criticisms, the official added, but "there's nothing to stop people putting in submissions at any time".
But government insiders argue that some of the most damaging criticism only surfaced after the individual concerned had faced cross examination. Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary, was accused of lying to the inquiry after his denial of any plot to out Mr Kelly as the BBC source appeared to be contradicted by Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's former head of communications. ..." FT

Dec 2 ~ Bottom of the barrel

The world is running out of oil - so why do politicians refuse to talk about it? George Monbiot "....On Thursday, the government approved the development of the biggest deposit discovered in British territory for at least 10 years. Everywhere we are told that this is a "huge" find, which dispels the idea that North Sea oil is in terminal decline. You begin to recognise how serious the human predicament has become when you discover that this "huge" new field will supply the world with oil for five and a quarter days. Every generation has its taboo, and ours is this: that the resource upon which our lives have been built is running out. We don't talk about it because we cannot imagine it. This is a civilisation in denial. ....
The only rational response to both the impending end of the oil age and the menace of global warming is to redesign our cities, our farming and our lives. But this cannot happen without massive political pressure, and our problem is that no one ever rioted for austerity. People tend to take to the streets because they want to consume more, not less. Given a choice between a new set of matching tableware and the survival of humanity, I suspect that most people would choose the tableware.
In view of all this, the notion that the war with Iraq had nothing to do with oil is simply preposterous. ..."

Dec 1 ~ "we shall be mobilising a further tranche of around 1,100 reservists to support operations in Iraq.

We expect these personnel to deploy from mid-February 2004 onwards.... "
Hansard

Dec 1 ~Tricky stuff, Evil

Robert Fisk in the Independent on " The lies we tell to appease the enemies who are now our friends"
"....... . As the Americans try ever more desperately to escape from Iraq, the thugs and assassins will become the good guys again and the men of Evil in Iraq will be working for us. The occupation authorities have already admitted re-hiring some of Saddam's evil secret policemen to hunt down the evil Saddam.
Tricky stuff, Evil. "

Dec 1 ~ US kills 46 resisting Iraq attack

BBC " The US military has reported killing 46 militants and wounding 18 in clashes in the central Iraqi city of Samarra. ... Two logistical convoys were moving into Samarra when they came under attack from roadside bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.......The engagement is the biggest clash involving US troops since the fall of Baghdad in April. ... Frightened witnesses in Samarra told a correspondent for the French news agency AFP who managed to enter the city that US forces had repeatedly come under attack on Sunday. However, they added that, in the aftermath of one attack at about 1255 (0955 GMT), an American tank had opened fire on workers leaving a factory at the end of their shift, killing two and wounding "many"..."

Nov 30 ~ 'Two great weeks' says general.... For who?

US commander's triumphal note jars with deadly toll from guerrilla attacks - which grow ever more brazen Independent on Sunday "....Although a significant number of Iraqis want the US to stay for now - fearing a premature withdrawal would produce a bloodbath - there is little love lost between the occupied and the occupier. Complaints abound among Iraqis in Baghdad about the continuing electricity and petrol shortages, raging unemployment, lack of security, and the abrasive behaviour of some of the American soldiers..."

Nov 30 ~ Inside story of how Washington is losing its bottle

Andrew Neil in Scotland on Sunday "....President Bush's bold Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad gave US troops a much-needed fillip and he said all the right things. But behind the scenes the war on terror is going badly wrong in its two main theatres. "In both places it is worse than you think," I was warned before arriving in the US capital for a series of off-the-record briefings. The warning was accurate. Take Afghanistan first. You don't read or see much about it these days. The reality is grim. ..."

Nov 30 ~ "... incredible than an intelligent commentator can caricature the protesters collectively by referring to the burning of the Stars and Stripes"

letters to the Observer The case of the burning Bush ... Andrew Rawnsley doesn't say if he was at the demonstration against Bush's visit. I took part and find it incredible than an intelligent commentator can caricature the protesters collectively by referring to the burning of the Stars and Stripes (Comment, last week).
Maybe a lunatic fringe indulged in this display of anti-American prejudice, but the overwhelming body of the tens of thousands who participated, which included many Americans, made it clear that the march was against Bush and his coterie. The slogan on one banner, 'God bless America. Dump Bush', summed up our sentiments.
Nor was the central message that the terrorist bombings were the inevitable consequence of the failure to resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict, only that that running sore and the war in Iraq were, qua Mary Riddell and Clare Short, 'recruiting sergeants' for the terrorists.
Benedict Birnberg London SE3
It saddened me to read Andrew Rawnsley imply that the US steel tariffs, which break WTO regulations, was just so much 'piffle' to be set along side the latest tabloid palace revelations, when evaluating the major events of the week of Bush's visit to Britain. The hypocrisy is the US enforcing, in the name of free trade, exploitative trade relations with the developing world, while simultaneously flouting international trade agreements.
Hugh Tynan
London SW17
I regularly admire the acuity of Andrew Rawnsley's analyses but take issue with his comment that 'those protesters who toppled that papier-mache Bush in Trafalgar Square... were made to look naïve'.
It is an entirely consistent position to be passionately against al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist attacks at the same time as being passionately opposed to the war in Iraq.
Conflating Iraq (and thus opposition to the war) with Islamic terror merely falls for the lies of the Bush administration in linking these issues in the first place. The toppling of the Bush 'statue' must be seen as an example of using irony to subvert those who abuse their power in keeping with the best traditions of popular protest.
James Waugh
London E1

Nov 29 ~ Given that British intelligence about the status of Iraq's WMD has been shown to be fundamentally flawed, the genesis of this failure should be addressed.

Scott Ritter the former UN weapons inspector, in a letter today to the Guardian
"Operation Rockingham's role in this is not small.
Morrison speaks of the "independent" nature of the intelligence work conducted by Operation Rockingham. The reality is that it institutionalised a process of "cherry-picking" intelligence produced by the UN inspections in Iraq that skewed UK intelligence about Iraqi WMD towards a preordained outcome that was more in line with British government policy than it was reflective of ground truth.
Many examples can be offered to counter Morrison's assertions that Operation Rockingham was little more than a "tiny intelligence cell", the sole purpose of which was to provide intelligence leads to the UN inspectors. Far from being the "shining example of the effective use of intelligence in support of the international community", Operation Rockingham was, in fact, more reflective of an institutional predisposition towards the politicised massaging of intelligence data that resulted in the massive failure of intelligence that we all have tragically witnessed regarding Iraq and WMD. ..." Read in full

Nov 28 ~ two gender equality public servants will cost £152,000 for six months to teach the Iraqis about feminism

at a time when the locals are concentrating on dodging terrorist attacks and trying to scrape together a living. They are being paid for by the Ministry of Defence, which yesterday admitted that it was so strapped for cash that the first soldier who died in the Iraq war did so because he had been forced to hand over his flak jacket to an infantryman...." Telegraph

Nov 28 ~ Guantanamo treatment is 'monstrous', says law lord

Independent "...Lord Steyn said in a speech to lawyers in London last night that judges "have the duty, in times of crisis, to guard against an unprincipled and exorbitant executive response.
"As a lawyer brought up to admire the ideals of American democracy and justice, I would have to say that I regard this a monstrous failure of justice. The military will act as interrogators, prosecutors and defence counsel, judges, and when death sentences are imposed, as executioners. The trials will be held in private. None of the guarantees of a fair trial need be observed."
He also said the type of justice meted out at Guantanamo "is likely to make martyrs of the prisoners in the moderate Muslim world with whom the West must work to ensure world peace and stability".
Human rights lawyers praised Lord Steyn for his courage. Stephen Solley QC, a former chairman of the Bar's human rights committee, said Lord Steyn's comments would send a strong signal to the US Supreme Court, which is about to rule on American jurisdiction in Guantanamo Bay. He added: "It might help to persuade some of the waverers to rule in favour of the detainees."...." Read in full

Nov 28 ~ How British charity was silenced on Iraq

Guardian Save the Children UK "was ordered to end criticism of military action in Iraq by its powerful US wing to avoid jeopardising financial support from Washington and corporate donors, a Guardian investigation has discovered. ..."

Nov 26 ~ "President Bush, our hero in the "war on terror", won't be attending their funerals.

The man who declined to serve his nation in Vietnam but has sent 146,000 young Americans into the biggest rat's nest in the Middle East doesn't do funerals..." Robert Fisk in the Independent

Nov 25 ~ These people were marching for life, for tolerance, for the dialogue of cultures

not the policy of tanks and air strikes, what Bush had maladroitly termed his "Crusade against terror." ...the bronze painted papier machéstatue of George Bush pulled down - an apt material for a president who was so doubtfully elected. "
An emailer writes, "... spoken to many who were on the march, this article is an excellent report."

Nov 25 ~ "Superpowers act out of self-interest, not morality, and the US in Iraq is no different"

"The Moral Myth" George Monbiot in the Guardian".... I do believe that there was a moral case for deposing Saddam - who was one of the world's most revolting tyrants - by violent means. I also believe that there was a moral case for not doing so, and that this case was the stronger. That Saddam is no longer president of Iraq is, without question, a good thing. But against this we must weigh the killing or mutilation of thousands of people; the possibility of civil war in Iraq; the anger and resentment the invasion has generated throughout the Muslim world and the creation, as a result, of a more hospitable environment in which terrorists can operate; the reassertion of imperial power; and the vitiation of international law. It seems to me that these costs outweigh the undoubted benefit.
But the key point, overlooked by all those who have made the moral case for war, is this: that a moral case is not the same as a moral reason. Whatever the argument for toppling Saddam on humanitarian grounds may have been, this is not why Bush and Blair went to war......... " Read in full

Nov 25 ~ ....Is Mr Hoon suggesting that the dossier implied some African country other than Niger?

In view of the latest Panorama, these Parliamentary questions and replies may be of interest. (Iraq Survey group and phials, uranium, David Kay etc) What is puzzling is the answer from Hoon stating that the governnment had never asserted that Niger had tried to sell uranium to Iraq since the 1980s. Downing Street attempted to underline the threat posed by Saddam Hussein by claiming in last September's dossier that Iraq had attempted to acquire nuclear material from Africa. The dossier said: "Uranium has been sought from Africa that has no civil nuclear application in Iraq." The dossier did not name a country, but, as the Guardian pointed out on June 28th, " the finger of blame was quickly pointed at Niger." Is Mr Hoon suggesting that the dossier had in mind some other African country?
Here too is Tam Dalyell trying to pin Mr Blair down on the 45 minute claim.

Nov 23 ~ Britain on red alert as terrorist threat rises

Scotland on Sunday (Simon Jenkins article on Thursday concluded, "...Western systems and traditions cannot be imposed on Arab peoples. When we realise that, the bombs will cease. Until then, they will remain the white man's burden. ")

Nov 22 ~ "... adoption of Israeli revenge tactics, using F-16 aircraft to drop 500lb bombs on residential areas called "suspect zones". They are also burning crops...."

John Pilger New Statesman (via Zmag.com) "An unprecedented gathering of senior American intelligence officers, diplomats and former Pentagon officials met in Washington the other day to say, in the words of Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and friend of Bush's father: "Now we know that no other president of the United States has ever lied so baldly and so often and so demonstrably . . . The presumption now has to be that he's lying any time that he's saying anything."
And Blair and his foreign secretary dare to suggest that the millions who have rumbled the Bush gang are "fashionably anti-American". ......
.....There are signs that the Shia storm is gathering in southern Iraq, an area for which the British are responsible. A Shia underground army is said to be forming, quietly and patiently, as it did under the shah of Iran. If or when they rise, there will be a great deal more British blood on the Prime Minister's hands.
For 11 November, Remembrance Day, Hywel Williams wrote movingly in the Guardian about the exploitation of "the usable past - something that can be packaged into propaganda . . . [by those] with careers to build and their own causes to advance . . . We are now a country draped in the weeds of war . . . The remembrance we endure now is no longer a seasonal affair. It is a continuous festival of death as individual souls are press-ganged into the justification of all British-American wars. To this sorrow there seems no end."
Yes, but only if we allow it. "

Nov 22 ~ Robert Fisk: We are paying the price of an infantile attempt to reshape the Middle East

By Robert Fisk 21 November 2003 The Independent The Australians paid the price for the alliance with Bush in Bali. The Italians paid the price in Nasiriyah. Now it is our turn...
. ....Bush claimed yet again that we "tolerated" the dictatorships of the Middle East. Rubbish. We created them, Saddam's regime being the most obvious example.... " Read in full

Nov 22 ~ "... an explosion simplifies..... The peacemakers' babble is silenced, and people take sides.

An iron fist is demanded. It will be now, after Istanbul. ...Both sides in this war - the US-led coalition and the al-Qaeda terrorist network - will be quietly reinforced by what has happened: reinforced in their prejudices; reinforced in their own self-belief, and reinforced in the new support this will bring them. Both gain. The world loses. " Matthew Parris in the Times .".....It is bad taste, but true, to say that terrorist atrocities are good for the careers of our Prime Minister and the US President. It is bad taste, but true, to say that Britain would probably not have been the target in Turkey on Thursday, had our country not been a key member of Mr Bush's coalition. It is bad taste, but true, to say that British interests and British lives are paying to sustain in office a prime minister who has joined the Americans in a colossal military and diplomatic blunder and now has no choice but to plough on with it. .......
In international relations, as in spiritual teaching, the mistake Dualists make is to see the world in terms of invisible forces rather than real people. But such forces are an illusion except in the heads of men. A l- Qaeda does not exist. The Free World does not exist. Only people exist. ..."

Nov 22 ~ The only plausible explanation can be that it might be embarrassing to Downing Street and the White House

Lib Dems ask for investigation into Iraqi WMD claim Guardian " A US government ban on the release to parliament of crucial information which could reveal whether two mobile biological laboratories discovered in Iraq are weapons of mass destruction or harmless equipment is to be investigated by Ann Abraham, the parliamentary ombudsman. .."

Nov 21 ~"....Yesterday's bombs were due to a mix of political circumstance to which Britain is an active party."

Simon Jenkins in the Times
"....The bombers of the World Trade Centre two years ago were granted precisely the response they sought, the traumatisation of American society and a retaliation which stirred anti-Americanism across the Muslim world. It was not just an outrage but an invitation to war.
I believed then, and believe now, that the West should have declined that invitation. It should never have glamorised al-Qaeda as evil-empire successor to the Soviet Union. Al-Qaeda was a mafia of murderous fanatics, to be hunted down by spies, bribery and subterfuge. In no way did it constitute a threat to Western values or the stability of Western states, whatever George Bush and Tony Blair might claim. I have more faith in those values and in that stability. All al-Qaeda could do was explosions. Overreact, and the West would merely fuel the support on which all outlaws ultimately depend. .... Iraq was different. Here the intention was "pre-emptive retaliation" against an ill- defined threat. Ironically that threat came not from fundamentalism but from its most ferocious foe.... When Saddam could not realistically be protrayed as a threat to the West, America and Britain abruptly changed the casus belli to his threat to his own people. Yet even after the most powerful force on Earth has been brought to bear on him, he remains at large, a submerged but continuing threat to his people. .....
.Yesterday's bombs.... are the inevitable outcome of Britain's decision over the past year to intervene in the region with armed force.
..... the motives behind the bombs must not be smothered in rhetoric or there will be no clear thinking, merely an upward ratchet of violence. The West has intervened in the Middle East for the best part of a century. As Mr Bush points out, it has not brought peace. Nor does peace beckon now. ..." Read in full

Nov 21 ~ "... ordinary people had sent their own statesmanlike message."

Independent "200,000 marched from Bloomsbury to Trafalgar Square via the Houses of Parliament....... you've also got to look at who is marching. You have middle-class, middle-England people who don't go to protests mixing with all other causes and creeds. Because of Iraq, because of what Bush has done to the environment, because of the erosion of our liberties, they have marched peacefully through the streets....... The nearest thing to violence most marchers saw was the showpiece toppling of an 18ft effigy of Mr Bush in Trafalgar Square.......Mr Michaels, 74, said: "There is a tradition of popular protest in this country that sometimes gets forgotten. We felt we had to come here to show that it's not just anarchists or what the media portrays as extremists who care about what Bush is doing through carbon dioxide emissions or his axis of evil." ..... those who pointed to yesterday's bombings in Istanbul as evidence of the need to demonstrate. "That's going to happen increasingly because of the policies of the Western world," he said. "The attacks in Turkey and Bush's visit to Britain were no mere coincidence. People are playing for very high stakes.".....
For Scot Ferguson, 30, the guilt of being a Texan in London during Mr Bush's visit was too much so he chose to stand on Westminster Bridge with a brown paper bag over his head. Mr Ferguson said: "I'm tired of the guilt by association with Texas. I don't really get any abuse but a lot of raised eyebrows. My message to Mr Bush would be, how dare you spill so much blood for the sake of a $1.7bn [£1bn] Halliburton contract [the conglomerate that had the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, on its board]. It doesn't get more blatant than that."

Nov 21 ~ Caroline Lucas, of the Green Party, told the crowd gathered in Trafalgar Square that the bombing in Istanbul "shows us our world is anything but more secure today".

The Times
She added: "Our Prime Minister is an ally of George Bush but the British people are not. We are not anti the American people. We are against a US Administration which has turned the United States of America into the greatest rogue state in the world." Sally Maxwell, 67, from Bristol, said: "This isn't anti-American. Bush worries a lot of people. He represents a whole right-wing, protectionist and globally narrow minded grab-what-you-can view."
Brother Oswin, who joined the march in the brown robe and sandals of the Roman Catholic Society of St Francis, said: "I doubt we'll achieve much today, but at least I'll have registered my protest." ....A number of Americans took part in the protest, some of them marching under a banner bearing the slogan "Vietnam Veterans Against the War".

Nov 20 ~ "...at least 25 dead, including the British Consul-General, and on figures so far, 400 injured - a deadly riposte to George Bush's appearance here."

From Kirsty Wark's "Newsnight" email which concerns the morning's suicide bomb attacks in Istanbul, following on the weekend's attacks on synagogues in the city
"Most of the casualties were Turkish, with several British among the dead. At the joint press conference with the US President and Tony Blair, both men cited this devastating attack as re-emphasising the importance of the war on terror, but for the tens of thousands starting out on the Stop the War march in London as I write, it was cause and effect - one deadly result of the coalition's war in Iraq. .."

Thursday 20th November ~ UK National Demonstration


Assemble 2pm at Malet Street, Central London (nearest tubes: Goodge Street, Russell Square and Euston/Euston Sq). March to Trafalgar Square where a statue of George Bush will be pulled down. This event will continue until 7pm to allow for people coming from work. Route: Malet St - Russell Square - Southampton Row - Kingsway - Aldwych - Waterloo Bridge - York Road - Westminster Bridge - Parliament Square - Whitehall - Trafalgar Square.
Map from Stop the War org.

Nov 20 ~".. lest he even breathe the same air as the protesters outside, he was ferried by limousine from the back door of the palace round to the front.

It was the shortest political car ride since Pauline Prescott saved her hairdo on the seafront at Bournemouth..."
Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian "...The combination of ceremony and security required for this, the first state visit ever granted to an American president, ensured that George Bush spent yesterday sealed off from any potential intrusions of nastiness. He moved in a bubble that enveloped him wherever he went, allowing him and his hosts to think only pleasant thoughts. ....
Bush delivered a very good speech yesterday, well-constructed, well-written and, yes, well-delivered - ....He made a powerful case for multilateralism, against the go-it-alone muscularity that has characterised so much of his rhetoric and record. ....noble and wise sentiments and, since he was in the bubble, he could make them with no fear of contradiction. No one was going to spoil the mood by mentioning America's ongoing support for non-democracies like Saudi Arabia, or its desire in Iraq to do exactly what he said could not be done - to impose freedom by force....
...Sheltered away, whether at an indoor wreath-laying ceremony for the victims of 9/11 or at last night's state banquet, the spell could hold. But only until the bubble bursts - which may come as soon as today. "

Nov 20 ~" In a largely peaceful and satirical demonstration

about 500 people, marching under banners from CND and the Stop The War Coalition, gathered beneath the London Eye and crossed Waterloo Bridge to congregate in Trafalgar Square. Ley Stone, a children's entertainer, spent several weeks constructing a pink wooden tank to travel the route with her son, Juan, six, and daughter, Hannah, 16, aboard shouting anti-war slogans under the banner of the Daventry Stop The War Coalition. The tank, which is the size of a small car, will feature today when it pulls down a mock statue of President Bush, aping the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. "When I heard that Bush was coming I felt physically sick. I have given up work and put all my effort into this demo," said Ms Stone. Husband and wife David and Rachel Milling, from Birmingham, wore dyed orange boiler suits and plastic chains in protest at the incarceration of terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay. Mr Milling, who works with his wife at a Quaker centre, said: "We chose this form of protest to illustrate the immorality of their detention. But it's only one way in which Bush is getting it wrong." Tony Caccavone, a taxi driver aged 60, ignored rules prohibiting the use of black cabs for political protests and drove the route of the march. Mr Caccavone, who claims to represent the views of thousands of cabbies, said: "I'm against the outrage of the United States labelling countries as terrorist states who don't conform to their economical planning." Independent

Nov 20 ~" international law stood in the way of doing the right thing" Richard Perle

Guardian "International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."
President George Bush has consistently argued that the war was legal either because of existing UN security council resolutions on Iraq - also the British government's publicly stated view - or as an act of self-defence permitted by international law. But Mr Perle, a key member of the defence policy board, which advises the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that "international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone", and this would have been morally unacceptable. ..."

Nov 19 ~ Explosions, shortages, instability: In Baghdad, it's back to the future

Independent "..US jets pounding Iraqi positions. City-wide power cuts. And long, long petrol queues. Yesterday was flashback time for Iraq's disgruntled, unstable and unsafe capital. As night fell the city was repeatedly rattled by the sounds of heavy explosions, part of what the US military said was its largest air bombardment in central Iraq since President George Bush declared an end to major combat in May. ..."

Nov 19 ~ President strolls into Fortress Britain

Times "...an aerial detour via Tower Bridge and the illuminated landmarks of Central London, and flew directly over hundreds of protesters marching from the Strand to the American Embassy. The visit is of major importance to Tony Blair, Mr Bush's principal ally in the Iraq war, but with many thousands of demonstrators preparing to take to the streets to voice opposition to US and British policy in the Middle East, security chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic wish the trip could have been postponed to a more propitious time. ..."
Independent "...Environmental campaigners offered a taste of what is to come in the three-day visit by Tony Blair's ally in the war on Iraq, several hundred setting off from Holborn, central London, under banners showing the President and the words: "Wanted for crimes against the planet" and "Bush go home"...."

Nov 18 ~ Bush Flies in to Storm of Protest

Scotsman " The feverish atmosphere surrounding George Bush's state visit intensified yesterday, as a peace protester scaled the gates of Buckingham Palace..."
ITV Armed police on the streets are setting up "Fortress London" ahead of US President George W Bush's arrival later.
Guardian One Visit - Two Agendas (details of both the protest marches - e.g. 7.30 pm today "Stop Bush rally with Harold Pinter, Tony Benn, Caroline Lucas, George Galloway, Alice Mahon, Ron Kovic, Kate Hudson and John Rees. 7.30pm, Friends Meeting House, Euston. - and the official agenda)
Guardian Leader "...What matters about the demonstration in London in two days time is that it should take place, that it should be large and that it should be peaceful. It matters much less whether the march is routed through Parliament Square and up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square - the route on which the police and the organisers commendably agreed last night - than that it should speak in a dignified manner for millions of Britons in the centre of our capital city..."
Independent "...One in nine police officers in England and Wales will be protecting George Bush on his state visit to Britain, which begins today. Ten thousand more police officers have been drafted in amid rising concerns about the threat from terrorists and the scale of anti-war demonstrations. That brings to 16,000 the number of policemen and women who will be deployed during the four-day trip. The bill will run to at least £7m, and the British taxpayer will pay for it.."
Telegraph "Protests about the state visit to Britain of US President George W Bush have begun after a woman climbed the front gates of Buckingham Palace..."
Many more

Nov 17 ~ His opinions of President Bush no more make him anti-American than my opinions of Prime Minister Blair make me anti-British.

Independent letter from Earl Russell"Sir: I am delighted that Robin Cook (Opinion, 14 November) has attacked the simplistic identification of opposition to President Bush with anti-Americanism. I was recently having dinner with an American colleague who was filling the air with denunciation of George Bush. After half an hour I asked him whether he knew any American who supported the policies of Bush; I got the instant answer - "No". His opinions of President Bush no more make him anti-American than my opinions of Prime Minister Blair make me anti-British.
EARL RUSSELL
House of Lords"

Nov 17 ~ Michael Moore in the Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/story.jsp?story=464491 The author of the best-selling critique of corporate America, Stupid White Men, says one of the "many lies" told by the US Government about the Iraq war (alongside claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and helped plan 9/11) was the suggestion that "the British are with us on this, the British are our allies and our friends". This claim, Moore believes, will be reinforced if the President's state visit is allowed to proceed as the meticulously stage-managed event he believes is being planned as part of Mr Bush's strategy for winning next year's election. "It is a photo-opportunity. With the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jacks flying in Pall Mall and the whole royal thing he is going to be treated to, this is all about trying to shore him up for next year," he says. The President's London photo-opportunities, he hopes, will be tarnished. "That can happen only in one way, and that's a very large physical presence in the streets of London..." Read in full

Nov 17 ~ Get mad - and get even

"Bush deserves our rage, but Blair should take the brunt of it. We elected him, now we must get rid of him.." writes Gary Younge in the Guardian. ".. carefully crafted, wilful ignorance...... we can only hope that the huge demonstrations that greet him will give him more than a glimpse of where this "perception gap" might have come from. ...... the upcoming demonstrations around Bush's visit are not only necessary but demand our full support.
.... For if the demonstrations show our strength in numbers they also reveal a weakness in application. We have shown that we can get mad; we have yet to show that we can get even. This is a global problem, not a local one. The vast majority of humanity did not want this war to happen, and it happened anyway. Even in those countries that are prosecuting it, including America, opinion polls showed that most were opposed to military action without UN approval.
.... the charges that the demonstrations are anti-American as ridiculous as they are predictable. Americans are not the problem: Bush is. ..... Bush comes to the same country that turned out in droves to welcome Bill Clinton, when he walked through the centre of London with a smile and a wave and not a combat vehicle in sight. Bush is not synonymous with America any more than Blair is synonymous with Britain. We can make Bush uncomfortable; it is only Blair we can make unemployed.

Nov 17 ~ US agrees to international control of its troops in Iraq

Independent "The United States accepts that to avoid humiliating failure in Iraq it needs to bring its forces quickly under international control and speed the handover of power.......The litany of setbacks, growing US casualties and the recent killing of 18 Italian servicemen has brought intense domestic and international pressure on the Bush administration to give the occupying force more legitimacy. .....
... Nato remains the only strong possibility because it would provide international credibility while leaving control with a military organisation which Washington dominates. ... to allow it to deploy in Iraq would mean getting the approval of all 19 Nato allies including France, Germany and Belgium, all staunch opponents of the war. They would need to be satisfied that the UN had been given a sufficient role in the political control of Iraq. Diplomats say that the US and Britain will need to be certain that no one will block an Iraq mission before they make a request.
....Mr Bremer said that work would start on a constitutional settlement. "We'll have a bill of rights. We'll recognise equality for all citizens. We'll recognise an independent judiciary. We'll talk about a federal government," he said.

Nov 17 ~ "We suffered through the economic theories of socialism, Marxism and then cronyism..Now we face the prospect of free-market fundamentalism."

Asia Times Will the real collaborators please stand up? "In the aftermath of the bloodiest period of the Iraqi occupation since the invasion, the US unveiled a new political plan at the weekend that will end the role of the US-handpicked Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). ...
....."We suffered through the economic theories of socialism, Marxism and then cronyism," IGC member Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi said at the exclusive World Economic Forum meeting in Singapore. "Now we face the prospect of free-market fundamentalism." Perhaps unaware of just how close the plan is to the hearts of the administration officials, Allawi dismissed it as being guided by a "flawed logic that ignores history". "These things are not yet being thrust down our throat but I strongly disagree with the call for fast and radical change," he said. Allawi probably did not read Donald Rumsfeld's commentary in the Wall Street Journal last May 27 in which he promised to install a regime composed of people who "favor market systems" and who will "encourage moves to privatize state-owned enterprises". With Allawi's pronouncements, it was clear that he had no room in Rumsfeld's regime.
....Faced with an intensifying resistance outside the headquarters, the US does not intend to tolerate criticism from within. Fending off criticism from all sides, the US will not take kindly to internal dissent. And the US needs scapegoats. So they're kicking the IGC members out sooner rather than later...."

Nov 16 ~ Police reverse ban on march to avert threat of violence

Met to allow marchers into Whitehall after organisers warn that restricting their route would provoke uncontrolled protests Independent on Sunday "...The coalition has guaranteed the police its event will be peaceful. In an attempt to rebut claims by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that the protests were just "fashionable anti-Americanism", Thursday's march will be led by US anti-war protesters, including Ron Kovic, the Vietnam veteran profiled in Oliver Stone's anti-war movie, Born on the Fourth of July. Mr Kovic said: "I and other Vietnam vets can't help but see a mirror image of the Vietnam tragedy unfolding in Iraq. I think one of the most patriotic and democratic things a citizen can do, right now, is march against war and in favour of peace." Organisers claim scores of coaches have now been booked for the march from around the UK..."
(Numbers are surely likely to equal the huge demonstration of February 15th this year. Unofficial estimates on that day ranged from two to three million.)

Nov 16 ~ The Prime Minister would like to write them off as extremists

" - but Andrew Johnson (in the Independent on Sunday) talks to those preparing to protest next week and finds the same diversity that made the anti-war movement impossible to ignore....the school pupil (15), the barrister (52), the Muslim (29), the war veteran (76) , the seasoned activist (37), the young mother (23)

Nov 16 ~ "Let's just say it's not a good time to be doing this," said the American diplomat.

Sunday Telegraph ".. the dream visit has turned into a transatlantic nightmare. A trip intended to celebrate the "special relationship" between Tony Blair and Mr Bush has become a frantic exercise in crisis management....c.What ought have been a straightforward celebratory visit has become fraught with tension, as controversy has raged over the failure - thus far - to unearth Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and the horrific guerrilla warfare which has afflicted certain parts of liberated Iraq (most recently last week's suicide bomb attack in Nasiriyah, which killed 27, including 18 Italians....
....Tentative suggestions that the visit might be postponed have been angrily waved away by the Prime Minister. Bush aides are just as full of trepidation and foreboding. "It was a good idea at the time and now we're stuck with it," said one Bush administration official. Black humour has already set in. "Maybe they'll just keep the lights off and pretend they're not home," joked another White House aide. And when one American official was asked where the Bush entourage would be landing, it is said he replied: "Heathrow... if it's big enough."...."

Nov 15/16 ~ The US President was branded a threat to world peace by a clear majority, 60%, of those questioned by YouGov.

One in Three Britons Think Bush Is Stupid - Poll - Scotsman "....The findings are published in The Sunday Times ahead of his state visit to Britain next week, the first by a US leader. A slim majority of those questioned opposed the visit by 26% to 21% although half did not care. There was sympathy with anti-war campaigners who plan a series of protests to mark the visit with a majority of 53% to 41% supporting the demonstrations. The antipathy toward Mr Bush is matched by an increasingly gloomy view of Iraq. "

Nov 15 ~Bush will arrive with "...enough military hardware to invade a small nation"

From Thursday's Scotsman
"... As Air Force One touches down at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, an entourage of about 900 people, including secret service agents, heavily armed commandos, politicians, secretaries and 200 journalists will join the most powerful man in the world.
Accompanying the presidential aircraft will be two identical Boeing 747-200 jets and three huge military cargo planes carrying fleets of limousines, surveillance vans, a squadron of helicopters and enough military hardware to invade a small nation -- stealth is unlikely to be an option for the secret service agents responsible for White House security. The most conservative estimates suggest that the three-day state visit will cost almost £10 million. .... according to a growing army of UK-based critics of the visit, the logistical exercises serve as nothing more than a political function -- the huge entourage, they claim, is nothing more than a manifestation of US might...."

Nov 15 ~"American expatriates to lead the protests against Bush" (next Thursday)

See also Stop the War Coalition - details of protest
Independent "Americans marching beneath a banner proclaiming "Proud of My Country, Shamed by My President" will lead a demonstration against George Bush during his state visit next week. The Stop the War Coalition, which is organising the rally, expects up to 100,000 people to take to the streets of London and express their hostility to the American President....
... Michael Moore, the American film maker and comedian who is known for his outspoken views on the US leader, is donating $1,000 to transport demonstrators in from Manchester. A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said: "We are not anti the American people - in fact many share our reservations about President Bush. This is about the President. There are 500 local Stop the War groups who are bringing people from around the country and the phones are ringing non-stop. ...."
...The march represents the main event in four days of anti-Bush events, for which the President has drafted in an entourage of more than 500 people, including up to 200 secret service and security personnel. On Tuesday activists are organising a public rally in London with high-profile speakers including the acclaimed playwright and actor Harold Pinter, and the Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, whose story inspired the Tom Cruise film Born on the Fourth of July. The former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn and George Galloway MP, who was recently thrown out of the Labour Party for his public comments about the war, will also speak.
There will be a march to the American consulate in Edinburgh on Wednesday and a petition from people throughout Britain will be presented to Downing Street on Monday.

Nov 15 ~ Fear UK soldiers may be flown in for GIS

Scotsman fears were growing today that British troops could be sent to replace American soldiers in Iraq as President George W Bush tries to pull out United States servicemen in a bid to secure re-election next year.

Nov 14 ~ her alleged disclosures exposed serious wrongdoing by the US and could have helped to prevent the deaths of Iraqis and British forces in an "illegal war".

The Guardian A sacked GCHQ employee charged yesterday under the Official Secrets Act said last night that her alleged disclosures exposed serious wrongdoing by the US and could have helped to prevent the deaths of Iraqis and British forces in an "illegal war". ...In a statement last night, Ms Gun said: "Any disclosures that may have been made were justified because they exposed serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the US government which attempted to subvert our own security services. Secondly, they could have helped prevent widescale death and casualties amongst ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces in the course of an illegal war."

Nov 14 ~ I'd walk to London to tell Bush my son's blood is on his hands

was the original headline to this story on the icWales website "The father of a Welsh soldier killed in Iraq said last night he would gladly walk to London to meet President George Bush face to face, to be able to tell him he was responsible for his son's death. The US President yesterday revealed he will be meeting relatives of British soldiers killed during the war, to tell them their loved ones died for a "noble cause" and "did not die in vain"....
( Mr Bush's words ) "do not convince Mr Keys,whose 20- year-old son Thomas was one of six British Military Policemen killed on June 24. He says he would love to meet the President and "give him a piece of my mind". "He is the man responsible for my son's death, with his gung-ho tactics of rushing off to war," said Mr Keys, from Bala, Gwynedd. ."Bush thinks he has won the war by storming through Iraq in three weeks and pulling down a statue - it's ridiculous." The talk of praying for the families also rankled with Mr Keys. "This is Bible-bashing Bush who thinks he has some divine power to be doing this - it infuriates me."

Nov 14 ~ Only British troops can sort out America's mess

Simon Jenkins in the Times
" The March invasion .....was illegal, lacking both international and regional support. It failed to capture Saddam who, for all we know, is now orchestrating a devastating guerrilla campaign. The invasion was opposed by almost every Arabist expert in Washington and London, not to mention the Middle East. It was in effect a private war, a latter-day Jameson Raid, by Donald Rumsfeld and his Pentagon Office of Special Plans under Paul Wolfowitz, reckless and ill-conceived.
Iraqis fear that America is about to make yet another mistake: precipitate withdrawal...." Read in full

Nov 14 ~ The Stop the War Coalition is considering taking legal action

against the Metropolitan police if it is banned from marching through Parliament Square and up Whitehall during next week's protests against the visit of President George Bush. Guardian

Nov 14 ~ George Bush is to meet relatives of British soldiers bereaved by the Iraq war

during his state visit next week, telling them that he shares their grief and that their loved ones died for a "noble cause"....Scotsman

Nov 14 ~ Blair 'dishonest, shallow and cheap' in justifying Bush visit, says Cook

Independent "...Writing in The Independent today, the former cabinet minister discloses that a proposed state visit by Bill Clinton was blocked because of the Monica Lewinsky affair. He says: "I was Foreign Secretary at the time the Royal Visits Committee quietly dropped President Clinton from the forward programme of state visits because of his impending impeachment. I am bewildered that the same committee that concluded Bill Clinton did not merit a state visit has decided that George Bush has the stronger claim to be so honoured..... If the state visit takes on the character of the US boss visiting his wholly owned British subsidiary it will do further damage to relations with the Bush administration in the eyes of the British public and further diminish the stature of their Prime Minister." "

Nov 14 ~"... hundreds of armed security officers, instructed to carry guns and use them in defence of the President if need be."

" Hostility to the war has converted this state visit into a furtive occasion, with the President scuttling around here and there and making his arrivals unannounced. "
The Spectator is worth looking at this week for the cover picture alone.
"...Factored into the election plan has been what is known in the White House as the 'British boost'. It is important for US image-makers to foster as best they can, for domestic consumption at least, the notion of a cosmopolitan, well-travelled president. Practically the only international figure known to the insular US electorate - leaving aside the Pope, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein - is the Queen of England. ..
..The idea of an address to MPs has been dropped, presumably because of fears about the kind of disruption that blighted President Bush's visit to Canberra last month..
...The President brings with him a substantial staff, including hundreds of armed security officers, instructed to carry guns and use them in defence of the President if need be. The White House initially pressed for 250 of these Rambo-type figures to be let loose on British streets, while the US secret service is said to be making strong demands that agents who use their guns should be immune from prosecution. "

Nov 13 ~ One Man's World

From an article by Chomsky - the cover story of the New Statesman
".......Arthur Schlesinger, the former adviser to President Kennedy, observed, George W Bush's "policy of 'anticipatory self-defence' [against Iraq] is alarmingly similar to the policy that imperial Japan employed at Pearl Harbor, on a date which, as an earlier American president said it would, lives in infamy . . . today, it is we Americans who live in infamy....
Occasionally the educated classes do depart from the common stance of subordination to power: in Turkey and Colombia today, for example, where US military aid has sustained harsh and repressive regimes. In Turkey, prominent writers, journalists, academics, publishers and others not only protest atrocities and draconian laws but also carry out regular civil disobedience, facing and sometimes enduring severe and prolonged punishment. In Colombia, courageous priests, academics, human rights and union activists and others face the constant threat of assassination in one of the world's most violent states. Their actions should elicit humility and shame among their western counterparts." ".

Nov 13 ~ US expats face a wave not of anti-Americanism but anti-Bushism.

Reuters "It`s tougher being an American in London than it used to be. Our President has made it so," said Newsweek Magazine`s London correspondent Stryker McGuire.
"Even among friendly Britons, there`s a growing scepticism about the gun-toting, electric-chairing land that has let Dubya be Dubya for nigh on three years now."

Nov 13 ~ Primaries approach...."Bush speeds up the exit strategy"

Telegraph "President George W Bush ordered his senior envoy in Iraq last night to speed up the handover of power to local politicians, following warnings from the CIA of impending disaster and a suicide bombing that killed 18 Italian paramilitary police.
..The atmosphere of crisis in Washington was palpable.
Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, was rushed back from Baghdad to plot a new course for American officials who have been forced to use the word "war" for what had been described as mopping-up operations. Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, had to abandon a planned trip. The meeting was also attended by Dick Cheney, the vice-president, Colin Powell, the secretary of state, and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser. ."

Nov 13 ~ Governing council put in frame as US makes no bones about how situation is unravelling

Guardian "The unscheduled summit in Washington over the future of Iraq reflected intense White House unease about the way the situation is unravelling in the country. ... the Iraqis on the council are aware that as American appointees they lack the legitimacy of an elected body. They say they lack authority and that key decisions are taken without reference to the council. "The governing council should not alone bear the responsibility of any inefficiency," Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd member of the council, told the Associated Press. "This is supposed to be a partnership based on equality, but when the Americans want to find solution for their problems, they do it in any way that suits them....Several council members were furious last month when they found the Americans had agreed to send Iraqi police officers to Jordan for training. Many in Iraq still remember Jordan as an ally of Saddam Hussein. The council was angry again when it learned that the US had invited Turkish troops into Iraq. Weeks of complaints from the council appear to have shelved that plan.
Council members have also pressed to take more control over security in Iraq, and until now their plans have largely met with resistance from the Americans.
Each of the 24 is a likely target for the guerrilla movement because of their perceived support for the Americans. Aqila al-Hashimi, one of only three women on the council, was shot dead outside her home in September. " ."

Nov 12/13 ~" It is not only Bush the Chicken-hawk warmonger and promoter-in-chief of the great illusion about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction who they will be denouncing.

It is also Bush the ignorant, self-righteous Christian warrior, Bush the smirking executioner and Bush the believer in one law for America and another for everyone else. And, of course, Bush the "Toxic Texan", an image made flesh by the "ghost ships" bearing down on Hartlepool, whose US-produced contaminants will find a last resting place on Britain's unpolluted isle...
...today's Washington has a whiff of Soviet ways; suffocating internal discipline, resentment of even reasoned, moderate opposition, and a refusal to admit even the tiniest error. For imperialists, read "evildoers". With their condescending "we know best" attitude, Messrs Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest offer as close an impersonation of the Politburo as you will find. " Independent

Nov 12 ~ Bush visit: " Tens of thousands of demonstrators against the war in Iraq are expected to descend on the city."

Reuters "The expected tight security measures have been seized upon by critics, among them London's left-leaning Mayor, Ken Livingstone, who has taken part in previous demonstrations against the Iraq war. "Any attempt to try and help Bush avoid protesters would be inconceivable. To create a situation in which up to 60,000 people would remain unseen would require a shutdown of central London which is just unacceptable," he said on Tuesday...."

Nov 12 ~ José Bové welcomes the fact that mainstream politicians are taking cues from the anti-globalisation movement.

"Thousands of anti-globalisation activists have converged on Paris for a meeting that seeks to challenge mainstream politicians on everything from genetically modified food to free trade and immigration. ...Campaigners like Susan George, vice-president of Attac, believe the EU must use the constitution to guarantee basic rights for its citizens and stand up to U.S. hegemony. "There's no other political entity to stop the American steamroller from creating more and more imbalances," she said. Mainstream political parties, seeking to stem a haemorrhage of disillusioned voters to more radical groups, have rushed to show solidarity with a movement that seeks alternatives to globalisation. ..." Reuters

Nov 12 ~ So who did invite him?

Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian ".... how did it happen? The Foreign Office suggests a call to the palace, who promptly insist this was not their doing. "This whole visit is being done with advice - with a capital A," says a palace spokeswoman firmly. The royal family did not do this on their own; government was involved. The two sides cannot even agree on when this wizard idea first surfaced. The Foreign Office says it was settled in June 2002; the palace and US embassy say the first they heard of it was early this year.
All of which makes you wonder if even the hosts are getting cold feet. You can hardly blame them. For who does this trip really benefit? Not Blair, who's getting a headache he could do without. Not the Queen, who has an allergy to political controversy and, given recent events, can hardly be eager to see her already beleaguered institution tarred by association with the "toxic Texan". ..." No, there is only one beneficiary of this visit and it is the Bush White House.

Nov 12 ~ We are ordinary people and we do wish to protest

An emailer writes today, "I, like so many others, have been infuriated by Blair preventing investigations into past government wrongdoings/mishandling of events by saying that we have to move on, and that we must not seek to blame, that what the public are really interested in is what the government is doing to help schools, hospitals, etc. It is this culture of unaccountability which he is nourishing that I find dangerous.  The letter puts it rather well I think http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1083098,00.html