The number of people still prepared to defend the Iraq War in public is tiny. The interesting thing is the very strong correlation between those people, and those prepared to pretend to give credence to the farcical sexual allegations about Julian Assange. Zoe Williams Guardian piece about what a jolly good chap Blair is I find breathtaking. War crimes like Blair’s result in terrible anguish for millions. I am prepared for purposes of argument to believe that Williams’ anguish for female victims of crime is genuine; why she can’t extend that to the tens of thousands of women who were raped because of Blair’s Iraq War, or had the still worse agony of seeing their children killed and mutilated I don’t know. Nick Cohen is just very, very sad. I just hold up these two in the hope that those deceived by feminist political correctness into following their lead against Assange will see to what they are subscribing.
Rather a side issue, but even if we accept Zoe Williams view that dead Iraqi children don’t matter, she appears not to have noticed that Blair introduced tuition fees, academies, kick-started NHS privatization, allowed the banksters’ bonanza leading to worldwide economic crash and oversaw the greatest widening of the gap between rich and poor in British history.
Much earlier BBC News went live to Kuala Lumpur for what they said was an important press conference about the search for the missing flight.
It turned out it was the same spokesman we keep seeing, the defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein, but he was speaking about this exhibition opening tomorrow. He was boasting about the thousands who were taking part and attending and paid special thanks to the US delegation led by a General. The BBC presenter shuffled his papers and the transmission ended abruptly.
Welcome to DSA 2014.
The Global Defence Services and Government Security Event!
Hosted, Supported and Co-Organised by the Malaysian Government.
Coming off the back of the extremely successful DSA 2012, we are already deep in planning the BIGGER and BRIGHTER DSA2014 show. We will be updating the site regularly to keep you informed of what is in store for you in 2014.
http://www.dsaexhibition.com/images/DSA2014logo.png
I like the doves of peace there placed above the silhouettes of weapons of war.
I see we are in the list of attendees and are placed between Ukraine and the US!
http://dsaexhibition.com/docs/DSA2014_VVIP_Master_Website1.pdf
Ms Power (aka Mrs Susstein) is temporarily not bovvered about Ukrainian events. Too busy attending the baseball with the old croaker, the war criminal Kissinger.
https://twitter.com/AmbassadorPower/status/454467914419429377/photo/1
Rhostislav Dysidinko. 8 33am
“For those of us who might prefer sources of information other than RT as to what is happening in Slaviansk.”
I’m sure you can grow a neurone to help you sift the truth from RT News, but if that’s too scary here’s another source from the right side of the Atlantic. The Evil Red Army is at it again!
“…Several days ago three masked men gave Kiev an ultimatum that if by April 5th the Kiev authorities do not announce a national referendum about federalization of Ukraine, the People’s Army of the East will start the national uprising…”
From, https://futuristrendcast.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/breaking-south-east-of-ukraine-on-fire-kharkov-donetsk-lugansk-nikolaev-want-independence/
Lizzie Phelan? You must be desperate! The woman whose reporting from Libya was the subject of two upheld complaints to OFCOM. She who described Libyan rebels as “counter revolutionaries” and stated that “90% of the tribes in Libya are supportive of the government”. Who supported the deportation of foreign journalists who upset the government and who denounced rebel advances on Tripoli as “misinformation” right up until the last.
She was one of several western journalists held captive by Qaddafi’s forces prior to the fall of Tripoli but appeared on a Skype interview on Russia Today claiming she was being “protected” by the government and that gunfire was really celebratory fireworks because the rebels had been defeated!
Yup, accurate, dispassionate and utterly unbiased!
“I think it was Gordon Brown, or possibly Blair, who described how he felt quite impotent faced with executives from BP or Shell at the time of the dispute about petrol prices a number of years ago and how the businessman treated him with contempt, not out of any political viewpoint but because he was ‘only’ a prime minister.”
I believe Ted Heath got a similar shock back in 1973 when he expected BP to give the UK priority when it came to allocating oil supplies during the crisis of that year. They refused point blank citing commitments they had in other countries.
I forgot to mention that that bastion of human rights, Bahrain, is attending the KL arms fest. Their representative is one of the Al Khalifa lot, probably all known to our political and regal representatives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Khalifa
All the usual suspects here including the subject of this thread seen walking al Khalifa through his home which looks very grand and worthy of a self-aggrandizing war criminal.
‘In July, 2002 Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair walked al-Khalifa through Blair’s London residence.’ photo
US-European backed Bahrain regime tortures, murders critics
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_62774.shtml
LOL, Kempe. Reminds me of the Iraqi Information Minister. I guess that if you are “media” being protected by a dying regime with opposition troops approaching, you have to say what they want you to. Whatever happened to that Iraqi Information Minister, I wonder…
” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XorKTwkFPDU ”
Same propaganda we had earlier. Most of it so obscure it’s difficult yo verify either way, Gaddafi may have left his old dad living in a tent until he died while he housed the rest of Libya, as he was a nomadic shepherd it may have been how he wanted it but as Mummar owned property worth at least £1 billion in the UK alone and had an Airbus A340 as his personal jet I’d have thought it a tad unlikely.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/22/gaddafi-libya-oil-wealth-portfolio
http://www.globalwitness.org/library/£10m-house-expensive-london-suburb-recovered-libya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ba9ItsdxqY
http://www.corporatejetinvestor.com/articles/selling-a-vip-business-jet-to-muammar-gadafi/
Mary
“Ms Power (aka Mrs Susstein)…”
______________
Actually she’s married to Professor Cass Sunstein, which makes her aka Mrs Sunstein.
Kempe
““I think it was Gordon Brown, or possibly Blair, who described how he felt quite impotent faced with executives from BP or Shell at the time of the dispute about petrol prices a number of years ago and how the businessman treated him with contempt, not out of any political viewpoint but because he was ‘only’ a prime minister.”
I believe Ted Heath got a similar shock back in 1973 when he expected BP to give the UK priority when it came to allocating oil supplies during the crisis of that year. They refused point blank citing commitments they had in other countries.”
___________________
Your recollection is correct. The Chairman of BP asked Heath to give the instruction in writing, and Heath, citing the problems that this would cause with the UK’s new European Communnity partners said “you know very well that I can’t do that”. To which the Chairman of BP replied “well then I won’t do it”.
” Whatever happened to that Iraqi Information Minister, I wonder… ”
Yes the state of denial is very similar.
http://news.sky.com/story/181082/the-best-of-comical-ali
Comical Ali was arrested post war but realised without charge and now lives in the UAE.
The talk of PM and business reminds me when at the outset of WW1 the City’s insurers’ were asked if they proposed to pay out for German battle ships which we sank and they said but of course.
Yes, agreed, Foolish Dissenter, but didn’t the game change when 1) Margaret Thatcher changed UK law to allow the government to be able to interfere with organisational bank accounts 2) Brown did something similar regarding banks and “terrorism”, which caused to farce of the Icelandic bank’s assets being frozen in about 2009. Presumably, Heath didn’t have the “balls” to get government to interfere in the normal working of business, but since the Thatcher-Reagan era big business and government have become more intertwined. In my opinion, Heath would have been right not to try to intervene in BP’s affairs, and Thatcher’s sequestrations started the slippery slope, which has of course led to bank accounts being frozen all over the place… This is to some extent speculation, and I’m happy to be corrected on the facts, so fellow contributors please educate me…
Developments in Ukraine/Russia
There is a lot of ill-concealed glee on this thread about the latest developments in eastern Ukraine.
On the basis that the posters concerned (1) wish the best for the people of Ukraine and (2) wish the best for Britain and the British people (if not its govt), I invite them to share their thoughts with us on the following:
in which way do they see the latest developments in eastern Ukraine as being to the benefit of the Ukraine/Ukrainian people and/or to the benefit to Britain and the British people?
Foolish Dissenter
Your anecdote about the battleships of the Imperial German Navy having been insured with British insurers is a little surprising. It does seem odd that a state would insure part of its military apparatus (rather than self-insuring) and that it would do so with a foreign insurer.
But I’m sure you know what you’re on about. Could you possibly supply us with sources and links so that I can look into this in more detail?
Thank you.
Timeline. 12 03
Commissioner Yevgeni Lyobotomko has assured journalists that the huge crowds gathered across Eastern Ukraine are only “…out to enjoy the spring sunshine and welcome the re-emergence of fascism in their country…”
Meanwhile witnesses report the entire Red Army entering Івана Кафе for Дерево миски борща и кофе
http://rt.com/news/kiev-clashes-rioters-police-571/
Further to Mary’s indirect mention of Professor Cass Sunstein, I’d recommend a careful read of the biography and outstanding career of this most interesting and distinguished lawyer, which you can find on Wikipedia. He sounds like a very good, intelligent, liberal and humane guy.
The typo king corrects one of my typos. LOL.
Mrs SuNStein is as liberal and humane as her husband then.
‘But the agenda of the humanitarian hawks seemed off the radar as the quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan deepened. Bringing human rights and democracy to the Middle East with bombs and bayonets was increasingly seen as a delusional folly. Foreign policy realism, not human rights, ascended in mainstream thinking. Power gained prominence as a national security strategist nonetheless, writing a comprehensive 2007 New York Times review of current books on military doctrine. While carefully separating herself from President George W. Bush’s policies in Iraq, she endorsed the Army and Marine Counterinsurgency Field Manual associated with Gen. David Petraeus and co-produced with Power’s close colleague Sarah Sewall at the Harvard Center for Human Rights. Power believed that counterinsurgency provided greater protection for civilians, despite mounting evidence of Iraq’s secret prisons, torture chambers, thousands of civilian casualties and top-secret assassination operations carried out by Lt. General Stanley McChrystal in 2006, described in Bob Woodward’s The War Within. Liberal interventionists cringed at the outcome in Iraq, but Power apparently thought the counterinsurgency doctrine was a step towards greater emphasis on human rights.’
http://www.thenation.com/article/159570/samantha-power-goes-war
Samantha Power’s case for striking Syria – Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/09/07/samantha-powers-case-for-striking-syria/
Samantha Power’s Case for War on Libya
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/23/libya-war-samantha-power-and-the-case-for-liberal-interventionism.html
A very dangerous female psychopath.
“…out to enjoy the spring sunshine and welcome the re-emergence of fascism in their country…”
Are they going off-script, Sofia?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2hS_LhslTw
Update News
Habbabreak V5 now has a button to easily turn the entire script on and off. So you can choose when you want to use it and when not, at the push of a button.
I have also tidied up the web page and added some more comments (by Anon and Clark).
I am open to feature requests but no promises. The Greasy Fork owner is looking to fix the install counter. Fred and I share dreams of peace.
It’s always interesting, not to mention instructive, not to focus on just one blog but to keep one’s eye on what’s going on in other selected parts of the blogosphere in general.
So, with that in mind, I thought I’d pop in to visit AlcAnon’s (“Squonk”‘s) blog to take a look at what’s going on there…
Well, the first thing I noticed to my surprise is that most of the Emninences posting here are also rather busy on Squonk (Ben, Fujisan, Mary, Phil,Macky, Fred, lots of Clark, etc..) and have come out with some quite – let us say – “intimate” revelations.
But the second thing I noticed is that, very much to my disappointment, the variety of themes brought up there is very limited by comparison with what you find here on Craig – there’s some technical stuff, a lot of self-advertisement by our new old poster “Afrend” for his Habbabreak, and above all, a lot of agonized and cross talk about myself and Resident Dissident. In fact, the Squonk posters seem fascinated by Resident Dissident and me, which is very flattering given that neither of us has posted on there.
But, despite the absence of Resident Dissident, ESLO, Anon and myself from “Squonk”, it still appears that there’s trouble at th’mill. At least judging from a post from Blogmaster Squonk, who writes (in bold and large font):
“This is getting out of hand. I didn’t set up this blog for people to learn to hate each other a little more and to hurl insults back and forwards.
If it doesn’t stop I’ll switch all comments to be pre-moderated and stop it that way. Of that drives people away then I’ll shutdown the blog as a natural consequence.”.
Perhaps Squonk had comments like the followng in mind?
From Phil to Clark, “You don’t need protecting frpm Macky because he’s just another gob shite on the internet”
Tut, tut! Such brotherly love, even in the absence of myself and Resident Dissident, Anon and ESLO. I weep.
And from Clark to Phil, “So fuck off Phil, you’re no longer needed or wanted.”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do recommend that all non-Eminences briefly visit Squonk’ blog – you’ll learn a lot about the Eminences and their curious ways. 🙂
Syria; the forgotten war and our (heh) misLeaders.
http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2014/04/08/the-eyeopener-report-the-forgotten-war-libya-after-nato/
Yes it is fascinating that AA created a blog during a black-out at CM because of the pre-eminences.
It’s a mystery why comments there derive from Craig’s blog. A genuine conundrum.
‘The US’s Secretary of State John Kerry and its UN ambassador, Samantha Power have been pushing for more assistance to be given to the Syrian rebels. This is despite strong evidence that the Syrian armed opposition are, more than ever, dominated by jihadi fighters similar in their beliefs and methods to al-Qa’ida. The recent attack by rebel forces around Latakia, northern Syria, which initially had a measure of success, was led by Chechen and Moroccan jihadis.
America has done its best to keep secret its role in supplying the Syrian armed opposition, operating through proxies and front companies. It is this which makes Seymour Hersh’s article “The Red Line and The Rat Line: Obama, Erdogan and the Syrian rebels” published last week in the London Review of Books, so interesting.’
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/mi6-the-cia-and-turkeys-rogue-game-in-syria-9256551.html
Power seems to be lacking the female quality of nurturing and is desperate for more killing and maiming instead.
Kempe. Thanks for your critique. It is apparent then that Gaddafi was over thrown for his abuse of money and power and that now that money and power is safely out of his regimes hands, that money and power can now be better manipulated.
It’s nearly all about money and power. Good luck to the honest hard working people.
Shame,
“Yes it is fascinating that AA created a blog during a black-out at CM because of the pre-eminences.”
__________________
And equally fascinating that it’s still going strong even after the welcome return of CM!
Some Eminences obviously like to hear themselves in sterio 🙂
In stereo at 100 watts! Well done, Ben and friends!
Ben. I looked up Joseph N Welch. Good that he stood up for the junior under attack by the McCarthyite witchhunt. Nothing much has changed over 60 years. Would anyone do the same now?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_N._Welch
Habbabkuk, I think your memory is going! – https://squonk.tk/blog/2013/12/19/the-new-yorker-state-of-deception/comment-page-1/#comment-1800
Thanks for the review anyway. No such thing as bad publicity they say 🙂
Squonk
Yes, I posted there a couple of times while CM was down. But not since, as you well know.
Nevertheless, you will be aware that there have been many comments about Resident Dissident and me on your blog over the last 30 days. True or false?
Good to know that posters on Squonk seem to spend most of their time posting about me and Resident Dissident posting on CM. Very flattering (and as you say, good publicity) for you.