Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Oh, what a lovely war! posted by Richard Seymour
First news of the day, CIA commander confirms that the US deliberately let Osama bin Laden get away in the mountains at Tora Bora . Why, I wonder, would they do that?Additionally, I've found a new holiday destination for Gary Glitter. Yes sir, Mr Glitter, Iraq has now joined Cuba as a choice terminus for those seeking sex with young boys . The irony is that this is facilitated in part by the homophobic violence condoned by a number of Iraqi religious leaders.
Discontent continues to brew against Bush's occupation of Iraq among Americans.
The occupation of Afghanistan (remember that?) is set to last twenty years .
Blair's snubbing of Cook's funeral is unsurprising in light of this :
Blair arranged Robin Cook’s defeat at Cabinet when Cook wanted to stop the export of British Aerospace Hawk jets to the Suharto regime of Indonesia, which has a strong history of vicious repression of its disparate peoples. I was told by a Cabinet Minister who sided with Cook, that Blair managed Cook’s cabinet defeat in as confrontational and humiliating a manner as possible.
Meanwhile, The Economist takes a long hard look at the Prime Minister's reaction to the London bombings: "Tony Blair this week vowed that his government would yield 'not one inch' to the terrorists. It just has." ( Via ).
Meanwhile, to all of this, Iraqi academics, journalists professionals and religious leaders issue a call for a united resistance to the occupation :
We aspire to a front that is inclusive of all the patriotic, Islamic and Leftist movements, groups, and individuals in their full spectrum; a front that covers the whole of Iraq’s territory: north, centre and south; a front that represents all the strata and components of our people: Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and minorities, and aims to guarantee their legitimate aspirations.
...
We strive for the unity of our people's patriotic factions, both in content and methods of struggle. Some patriotic forces have resorted to armed struggle, and some others to non-violent and public resistance methods but do, nonetheless, support the armed resistance against the occupation.
Therefore, it should be acknowledged that the two strands of the struggle, the armed and the political, do complement and strengthen each other, and do need each other. An atmosphere of mutual understanding, and coordination between both types of resistance should prevail. At a later stage, we should aim for a single front for liberation, construction and democratization, encompassing all.
We also believe that the unity of our people mandates extending the dialogue to include factions and personalities whose positions have not yet solidified behind the resistance. We need to bring them closer to actively oppose the occupation and to support the armed resistance. ( Via ).