Traversing the fantasy... posted by Richard Seymour

It wasn't what I thought it would be. There just hasn't been enough bloodshed or mayhem . Truth be told, I feel wan and dejected.

However, one felicitous designation has lifted my heels just above the clouds.

The name of the beast which will eventually take or break Fallujah is Operation Phantom Fury. Is this phantom in any way related to the phantom identified by Fallujan residents recently?

We know that we live in a world of double standards. In Fallujah the US has created a new and shadowy target—Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Al-Zarqawi is a new excuse to justify the US’s criminal actions. A year has passed since this new excuse was dreamed up, and every time they attack homes, mosques and restaurants, killing women and children, they say, “We have launched a successful operation against al-Zarqawi.”

They will never say they have killed him, because he does not exist.

The people of Fallujah assure you that this person is not in the city, nor probably anywhere else in Iraq.

Many times the people of Fallujah have asked that if anyone sees al-Zarqawi they should kill him. We know now that he is nothing but a phantom created by the US.

Of course he exists!! ITN told me so, Channel Five News told me so, and BBC Newsnight told me so - at the very least, I must protest - Kirsty Wark would never lie...