For our much loved friend Maria

We met you at the student festival. You were wise witty and kind. You were a country girl from a small town who came to Madrid so you could work as cleaning lady and study to be a teacher at night. You were murdered two years ago. We will never forget you. du and Erdla

I suppose they'll just have to be "liberated" all over again

Official: Iraq may still seek WMDs BY TIMOTHY M. PHELPS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF March 10, 2006 WASHINGTON -- A former top CIA official said Thursday that despite the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraq is likely to be looking for weapons of mass destruction within the next five to 10 years. Paul Pillar, who until last year was in charge of intelligence assessments for the Middle East, said the CIA warned the Bush administration before the Iraq invasion in 2003 that a change of regimes would not necessarily solve any WMD problem. In a speech at the Middle East Institute here, Pillar said Iraqis live in "a dangerous neighborhood," with rival countries pursuing weapons of mass destruction. So the CIA had warned that a future Iraqi government would likely want the very weapons Hussein was (wrongly) suspected of hiding, including nuclear weapons, he said. "Iraq may turn once again to ... a WMD program," Pillar, who is retired from the CIA, said Thursday. "And wouldn't that be ironic?" Pillar recently published an article in Foreign Affairs magazine that for the first time fully laid out the CIA's side of the battle with the Bush administration over Iraq intelligence. [ snip ] Complete Article Here

Protocols of the elders of Dubai

I comment on a number of American sites. During the ports imbroglio I read completely without surprise but with horrified contempt the naked racism engaged in by many on both sides. There were (and are) all sorts of valid criticisms to be made of that deal but what swung against it was politicians kowtowing to naked racism. I have two questions for my American readers: How much of the US telecomms and internet structure is controlled by Israeli firms - Do you have the answer to that? I do, and I know damned well that the only reason that why similar revolting tactics weren't used on Israeli investors is because they'd blow up in the faces of those trying the anti-semitic card, and rightly so. How much of airline security is controlled by Israeli firms who for very good reason are the best there is in the world at preventing hijackings - Do you have the answer to that? I do and I know damned well that the only reason that why similar revolting tactics weren't used on those Israeli businessmen is because they'd blow up in the faces of those trying the anti-semitic card and rightly so. . Here's the way it is. Americans are damned quick to assume they can take over other people's assets. It's a two way street and American self-indulgence has put America and Americans in the situation where you need foreigners to prop up an unearned lifestyle. You've put yourselves in the situation where you need foreigners most notably the Arabs and the Chinese to pump money into America more than they need to do the pumping. Earlier generation made huge sacrifices to get the US to where it is. They did it with courage, decency, and a hell of a lot of hard work, if they wanted something they made sure they could afford it. That's not the way things are now. Here's a little song for you translated from "furrin" to "amurkin": We own all your helmets. We own all your shoes. We own all your weapons. Touch us and you'll lose. Get used to it. Now go read this and then this and then this.

On bulls, bullshitters, and china shops

I've posted a partial transcript of a Rumsfeld press conference over at my other place, together with a little list, I'm sorry folks I'm too sickened to do second posting today. Click

Quick Summary

Berri says progress is being made. Jumblatt says Berri's fibbing. Jumblatt also says that Washingtom should pressurise Babby more. Lahoud says he'll serve out his term. Babby says he's thrilled skinny that they're talking. Daddy's ghost says "you're no son of mine." Hizb are doing a Heston. In not completely unrelated news looks like it was two mercenaries in Basrah.

Will some nice American for the love of jaysus

Take a baseball bat to John Bolton and then proceed to do the same to the rest of the US administration. "It is unusual for an administration official to go into detail about possible military action against Iran. To produce significant amounts of enriched uranium, Iran would have to set up a self-sustaining cycle of processes. Mr Bolton appeared to be suggesting that cycle could be hit at its most vulnerable point. The CIA appears to be the most sceptical about a military solution and shares the state department's position, say British MPs, in suggesting gradually stepping up pressure on the Iranians. The Pentagon position was described, by the committee chairman, Mike Gapes, as throwing a demand for a militarily enforced embargo into the security council "like a hand grenade - and see what happens". Yesterday Mr Bolton reiterated his hardline stance. In a speech to the annual convention of the American-Israel public affairs committee, the leading pro-Israel US lobbyists, he said: "The longer we wait to confront the threat Iran poses, the harder and more intractable it will become to solve ... we must be prepared to rely on comprehensive solutions and use all the tools at our disposal to stop the threat that the Iranian regime poses." The IAEA referred Iran to the security council on February 4, but a month's grace was left for diplomatic initiatives. By yesterday, those appeared exhausted. A meeting of European and Iranian negotiators broke down on Friday over Tehran's insistence that even if Russia was allowed to enrich Iran's uranium, Iran would enrich small amounts for research. Iran says that it needs enrichment for electricity. Update: And this is supposed to increase NATO's security? How exactly? I begin to wonder whwther I shouldn't just rename this blog to "Ohfuck" and have done with it.

Emmm Tony ...

Hi Tony, This is God - long time no thunder, long time no moving finger writing and moving on, long time no smite, though that last one is subject to change without notice. Listen you horrible little whited sepulchre you. The next time you and that toxic Texan you make sheep eyes at all the time decide to masturbate your Messiah complexes by bearing false witness, and committing mass murder, leave me out of it OK? God.