We’re here because we’re here

BSSC – Foot Meets Bullet: He gave the sovereign Prime Minister of Iraq five minutes notice of the fact that he’d been granted a brief audience with his master. Whether Maliki had to kiss the great one’s feet has not been reported. Five minutes?

BSSC – Who Decides?: The last thing Maliki needed, just as a small ray of hope began to hint at its existence, was an unannounced visit by President Bush. “Thank you for having me” Bush told the Prime Minister. As if he’d had a choice.

See also:

LA Times – Iraq’s Pentagon Papers: A joint resolution referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) calls for the withdrawal of all American military forces from Iraq by Dec. 31. Boxer’s “redeployment” bill cites in its preamble a January poll finding that 64% of Iraqis believe that crime and violent attacks will decrease if the U.S. leaves Iraq within six months, 67% believe that their day-to-day security will increase if the U.S. withdraws and 73% believe that factions in parliament will cooperate more if the U.S. withdraws. If that’s true, then what are we doing there?

I think it’s worth repeating a ‘popular’ song from the trenches of World War I, sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne:

We’re here, because we’re here,
Because we’re here, because we’re here;
We’re here, because we’re here,
Because we’re here, because we’re here.

(Repeat. Often. With Gusto.)

When you’re done with that, I want you to pop into the kitchen or kitchenette, make yourself a steaming hot cup of coffee or tea, and settle in for a long but rewarding read (in honour of a long but rewarding war)…

London Review of Books – Why read Clausewitz when Shock and Awe can make a clean sweep of things?: The invasion plan that Rumsfeld bludgeoned Franks into drafting foresaw a relatively small force rushing towards Baghdad at breakneck speed, swiftly toppling the Baath regime, and just as quickly extricating itself. ‘The Iraq War would be like a thunderstorm: a short, violent episode that swept away the enemy but would not entail a burdensome, long-term troop commitment.’ Underlying these expectations were three key assumptions: that the regular Iraqi army wouldn’t fight; that the Iraqi people would greet US and British troops as liberators; and that major Iraqi institutions would survive the war intact, facilitating the rapid withdrawal of all but a small contingent of occupying forces.








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Giving it 101 percent

Independent – Mohammed Abdulkahar tells the story of terror raid that backfired: To come into my house like that, accusing me, shooting me in my chest, and saying that I was a terrorist, it really hurt. As to the identity or motive of the police informant, I have no idea. I’m in the same situation as everyone else. In my eyes, the person that said this – gave the police inaccurate intelligence – they are the terrorists to me. They terrorised me and my family. The comments of Tony Blair, that comment I heard, it was the most hurtful thing. He said he was 101 per cent for the raid, 101 per cent for the hole in my chest. I’m the same age as his son – I’m as innocent as his son.

After these brothers were arrested, certain representatives of the media assured us that the hunt was on for a ‘missing bomb’…

This same crowd did their best to discredit/smear either or both parties when it looked like the police might have made a bit of a mistake. Here’s just one example clearly designed to assure the public that the police had moral cause, if not solid grounds…

7 June: Daily Mail – Brother of terror raid men took part in Prophet cartoon demo: When this photograph of a man dressed up as a suicide bomber was published around the world, it caused widespread disgust. But today it has taken on a more significant meaning, for the man on the left is an older brother of the suspects arrested during last Friday’s controversial terror raid in East London. Mohammed Abdullah Hasnath was pictured standing next to Omar Khayam, who was dressed as a suicide bomber at a demonstration in London in February against the publication of satirised cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. He was pictured wearing a scarf on his face and waving a black flag during the protest. Khayam, 22, later publicly apologised for causing offence by dressing up as a suicide bomber.

(Click here for clarification on that last ‘point’.)

Someone raised the following possibility the other day, and the more I consider the circumstances of this event – and the way it was reported – the more it rings true:

Is it possible that the source of this ‘quality’ intelligence was a ‘helpful’ reporter?

(Psst! Remember this?)

UPDATE – Some more smears, ‘proof of guilt’ by proximal osmosis, and other helpful items, with many ‘insider’ extras appearing to originate from the Murdoch camp. Watch carefully for the all-important echo-effect as the timeline progresses:

4 June: NOTW – Bomb suspect shot by brother (By Lucy Panton and Ryan Sabey): Security sources say the cops were confronted by the Muslim brothers, who were trying to run down the steps, and a scuffle broke out. This is understood to have climaxed with 20-year-old Abdul Koyair making a grab for a police firearm, which already had its safety catch off. In the desperate struggle that followed, the gun was fired and the bullet hit 23-year-old mail worker Abdul Kahar in the shoulder.

4 June: The Sun – Stooge sketched bomb (by Simon Hughes and Mike Sullivan): A stooge helped sketch a cyanide bomb he claimed to have seen for security chiefs, it was revealed last night. The high-level informant – operating in the midst of extremist Islamic groups – assisted artists in putting together a drawing of what the device looked like. And it was information from the grass, who is regarded as highly reliable, which led to a police raid on a house in East London where a man was shot. Victim Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, was transferred from hospital to top-security Paddington Green pority sources said the link with Hasnath justified the raid. One said: “It is highly significant that there is a link between Hasnath and the brothers. Hasnath took part in an anti-West demo and was seen associating with the mock suicide bomber Khayam. He gave the prison authorities the address where the raid was carried out as his home. He certainly lived there before he was jailed. This only helps to prove that we were 100 per cent right to carry out that raid.” Hasnath was on day release from Springhill Open Prison, Bucks, when he attended the London rally. Marchers’ banners proclaimed “Britain you will pay – 7/7 on its way”. Hasnath was returned to jail for breaching parole. Khayam – a convicted drug dealer – had also been released on licence and was immediately sent back to jail. Last Friday Hasnath, who has a different father to the two brothers, flew into a rage in his cell when he heard of the raid. Fellow inmates heard him shout: “That’s my brother, that’s my brother. I want to break free, I want to get out of here.” As a result of the outburst, he was moved to Grendon top security prison in Bucks.

(*Sigh*…. the ‘he set out to look like a suicide bomber’ assertion again. I ask you to click here for clarification and wonder why the police are playing this same game. Oh, and where the Scum are getting this inside information. Oh, and I’ve already linked to this article, but need to pop a copy into the timeline for reasons that should be obvious.)

7 June: Daily Mail – Brother of terror raid men took part in Prophet cartoon demo

7 June: The Sun – ‘Poison’ bro armed robber (by John Kay and Mike Sullivan): The jailed half-brother of two terror suspects seized over a feared “poison bomb” plot is a vicious armed robber, The Sun can reveal. Mohammad Abdullah Hasnath – who we pictured yesterday at an anti-West rally while on day release from jail – is serving six years for three raids. The Flying Squad arrested him after he held up two shoe shops and an East London money exchange armed with a handgun. Hasnath was jailed in 2003 after admitting armed robbery and firearms offences… Neighbour Zeyn Atcha told yesterday how the two idolised Hasnath. The student, 17, said: “They used to hang on his every word, and would even dress in similar styles.”

UPDATE – Hard to believe, but they’re still at it…

15 June: The Sun – Raid brothers’ 38k stash (By Mike Sullivan): Anti-terror cops were last night trying to find out why the two brothers arrested over a suspected poison bomb plot had a 38,000 pound stash in their house. The fortune – in CASH – was allegedly found in a bedroom after the pair were arrested in a swoop on their modest terraced home. Police quizzed Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and his brother Abul Koyair, 20, about the money during the week they spent in custody. But neither would tell them where it came from. Last night a security source said: “It was a hell of a lot to have knocking around. The cash was in a bedroom, much of it in 50 pound notes. Urgent inquiries are being carried out to trace the source of the money and what it was intended for.” Police were desperate to learn how Kahar, a postal worker, and Tesco shelf-stacker Koyair could have had such a vast sum in their house. The pair denied being involved in terrorism after they were released without charge from London’s top-security Paddington Green nick. They also slammed police as they held a press conference accusing officers of brutality. Kahar, who was shot in the chest as gun cops stormed the house in Forest Gate, East London, insisted: “They tried to murder me.” Koyair – with his brother whose arm is in a sling – added that whoever ordered the raid should be “put to justice”. But neither they nor their lawyers made any mention of the 38,000 pounds.

That’s funny… the police didn’t say (or do) anthing about the cash either… when they had these men in custody! The article goes on…

The brothers were arrested after an MI5 informant said he had seen a cyanide device which was believed to have been stored at their home. No such bomb was found – but the security services are still taking the information seriously. Experts are examining a computer found in the house. The Met’s assistant commissioner Andy Hayman defended the raid, insisting: “The intelligence received did raise serious concerns for public safety. “On that basis we had no choice but to mount a robust operation, which required a fast armed response.” Another factor in deploying armed officers was that the address had a previous link with firearms. The elder brother of Kahar and Koyair was arrested for three armed robberies in 2002 and later jailed for six years. Mohammed Abdullah Hasnath used a black pistol during the East London raids. He was living at the Forest Gate house at the time of his arrest. The gun was never recovered. Kahar is also believed to have nine convictions for offences committed while he was a juvenile between 1996 and 1999. He was given a two-year sentence in a young offenders’ institution for false imprisonment and also has convictions for robbery, burglary, possession of an offensive weapon and theft. Koyair does not have a criminal record.

UPDATE – I think it’s pretty obvious what a certain asexual ginger freak is implying here. What a pity she couldn’t find space for this today…

16 June: Guardian – Cash found in house raid was ‘rent’: “We cannot understand how and why a further false account is being printed about our family,” she added. “What is being said is reckless and wrong and being recycled by those who wish to believe the worst of my family and ensure that their slur reaches the widest audience.”

UPDATE – In light of this new evidence (below), I’m going to rephrase the question:

Is it possible that the source of this ‘quality’ intelligence was a ‘helpful’ tabloid journalist?

18 June: Independent – Police source for Forest Gate raid ‘had IQ of 69’: A man with lower-than-average intelligence is believed to have prompted the anti-terror raid in London’s Forest Gate, during which one man was shot, it was claimed last night. In what could prove to be highly embarrassing for the police and security services, the 22-year-old man, who has an IQ of just 69, was the trigger behind the dawn raid this month, according to the Sunday Mirror.








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Nosemonkey tagged and released back into wild

Europhobia – “Renew for freedom”? Well, sort of…: Largely because it had run out, but partially because of the Renew for Freedom campaign, last month I renewed my passport, sending the thing off with plenty of time for the potential three week turnaround time. Perhaps thanks to the claimed “resounding success” of the campaign to get as many people as possible renewing in May to avoid the cut-off before the introduction of the new computer-chipped biometric passports, I now have a passport with an issue date of 2nd June – more than three weeks after I sent the thing with next day delivery – an even worse photo than usual, a microchip of some description, and a little leaflet which “contains important information about your new biometric passport”. (Although, of course, despite forking out fifty quid for the thing, “Your passport belongs to the government”.) Yes, despite “renewing for freedom”, I now have a biometric passport. Cheers guys.








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The new Golden Rule

I’m going to restrict today’s bloggage to the following comment, spotted here at Comment is free. See if you can spot the minor flaws in this all-too-common argument:

ClaudeMynott – June 12, 2006 05:55 PM:

When our nation faces terrorism, we have to bend the rules, change our methods and yes, sometimes take harsh measures to defend the innocent from those who have, by their terrorist loyalties and actions, LOST ANY CLAIM TO HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE CHANCE OF FAIR PLAY.

Give me any day a terrorist suspect shot dead over the repetition of the July 7th terrorist attack.

(Predictably, later in this thread, ClaudeMynott falls back on the ticking time bomb scenario. Always fun to watch.)








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Playing politics with the police

The UK Today – Who’s running this show?: So the Metropolitan Police were ordered to go in. In spite of concerns over the quality of the intelligence. In spite of a spate of raids based on flawed intelligence which have done nothing other than to alienate a segement of society that we should be engaging with. Now, the order to proceed came from the Cabinet Office, so the motivation behind the raid needs to be questioned. Rather than public safety, it would seem that the motivation may well have been political, that the raid must go ahead to prove to the public that they are at risk, thus justifying the Government’s anti-terror measures.








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Well, I’m shocked

Obsolete – Sun, Star and Express-watch: Burying bad news








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LaRRaBee staggers on

Guardian – Reform bill climbdown fails to satisfy critics: Critics of a new law giving ministers greater powers have renewed their attack despite a major climbdown, warning that the government got its proposals “badly wrong”. The Cabinet Office was forced to drastically prune the legislation – dubbed the “parliamentary scrutiny (abolition) bill” – last month, after whips warned that the Lords would throw it out. Opponents said it would allow ministers to change laws almost at will, even introducing new criminal offences or amending the constitution.

Heads-up:The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (provisionally) receives its Second Reading in the House of Lords on June 13. Background here and here if you need it.








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A cry for publicity

Guardian – ‘Killing themselves was unnecessary. But it certainly is a good PR move’ : “It does sound like this is part of a strategy – in that they don’t value their own lives, and they certainly don’t value ours; and they use suicide bombings as a tactic,” Colleen Graffy, the deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, told BBC’s Newshour yesterday. “Taking their own lives was not necessary, but it certainly is a good PR move.” On Saturday, the camp’s commander, Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris, said the suicides were an al-Qaida tactic. “They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us,” he said.

BBC – Guantanamo suicides a ‘PR move’: Speaking to the BBC’s Newshour programme, Ms Graffy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, said the three men did not value their lives nor the lives of those around them. Detainees had access to lawyers, received mail and had the ability to write to families, so had other means of making protests, she said, and it was hard to see why the men had not protested about their situation.

The Herald – Suicides at Camp X-ray a publicity stunt, says US official: The three had taken part previously in extended hunger strikes and been force-fed. They all left suicide notes, but no details were made public.

Ignore for the moment the shocking inhumanity of this position and the bald-faced lie that these men had not protested about their situation, and take a moment to ponder on this message:

These men committed suicide, so what further* proof does one need that they are suicide bombers?

(*Not that the Bush administration has come up with any other proof of their guilt these past few years…. but surely their presence in Guantanamo Bay is proof in itself.)

Related bloggage:
Another Guantanomaly
But… but… but… we gave them Happy Meals!

Fresh bloggage:
Daily Kos – Suicides an ‘Act of War’, Says US Admiral
Not Little England – Incredulity
BSSC – The Anomaly

UPDATE – BBC – Dead detainee ‘was to be freed’: One of the three men who committed suicide at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay was due to be released – but did not know it, says a US lawyer. Mark Denbeaux, who represents some of the foreign detainees said the man was among 141 prisoners due to be released. He said the prisoner was not told because US officials had not decided which country he would be sent to.

(Well, obviously they’ll need to review the other 140 cases. If someone earmarked for release is capable of an act of asymmetrical warfare, then there’s something profoundly wrong with the system.)








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Alastair Campbell launches World Cup Blog

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

UPDATE (2:47) – Tch. For some reason they deleted this comment. Coincidentally, they have also just started reviewing comments before publishing them.

UPDATE (3:01) – Oh dear. Actually, it looks like comments have been disabled entirely.

UPDATE (3:07) – BBC – Campbell World Cup blog own goal?

UPDATE (3:15) – Game on! Comments are back, but mine don’t seem to be making it through. Funny, that.

UPDATE (3:39) – Awwwww…World Cup Blog faw down, go boom! In fact, the whole Labour website has ground to a near-halt. Probably a demand issue. They might be able to spin this as a success yet! (Oh, and one of the most recent entries labels every dissenting entry a ‘Tory comment’. How lovely it must be to live on Fantasy Island.)

UPDATE (4:25) – Tut. They just can’t help themselves, can they? Now they’ve deleted the very first comment I made, which looked like this:

UPDATE (5:09) – Hehehehehehe. OK, I’m done. Weekend starts here.

UPDATE (8:42) – OK, one more – but only because Alastair himself is at it now… attributing negative comments to the “forces of conservatism”… and having a stab at the BBC. He goes on to add:

Of course the Daily Mail are in on the act, their star reporters digging round trying to find out whether I’ve got tickets for England games (are those Paul Dacre muppets sad or what?) I haven’t by the way but any website visitors with a few spare can contact me through the press office.

Oh, I think can go one further than that. Anybody with ‘a few spare’ can contact him via the phone and fax numbers in these documents.

Cheers all.

ABSOLUTELY FINAL UPDATE:
Chicken Yoghurt – Campbell’s End?
Chicken Yoghurt – We’ve had our fun. Time to move on.








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And now, the news…

Reuters – Oil drops below $70 after Zarqawi killed: Oil fell $1.50 to below $70 a barrel after U.S. aircraft killed al Qaeda’s Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Thursday, raising faint hopes for a let-up in attacks on Iraq’s wrecked oil industry.

See also: CNN

(Sorry I haven’t posted more than this… only I’m all choked up. Obviously, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is was a close, personal friend of mine.)

PS – If you simply *must* dive headlong into an opinion thread…

UPDATE – Needs to be noted for the record: Every weblog based on the Blogger platform slllllloowwwwwed riiiiight dowwwwwwn following the release of this news. The Chatter Alert Level has subsequently been raised to Orange. Oh, and meanwhile, ‘Zarkawi’ is only 2nd on the Technorati chart. In first place is… ‘Armando‘ (trial trail begins here).

UPDATE – BSSC – Celebrating Death








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